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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/13783-0.txt b/13783-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f907099 --- /dev/null +++ b/13783-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6304 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13783 *** + +[Illustration: (Frontispiece) Jack experienced an odd thrill as he +prepared to send the first spoken word ever exchanged between an +airship and land--_Page_ 71.] + +THE +BOY INVENTORS' RADIO- +TELEPHONE + +BY + +RICHARD BONNER + +AUTHOR OF "THE BOY INVENTORS' WIRELESS TRIUMPH," "THE BOY +INVENTORS AND THE VANISHING GUN," "THE BOY INVENTORS' +DIVING TORPEDO BOAT," "THE BOY INVENTORS' FLYING +SHIP," "THE BOY INVENTORS' ELECTRIC +HYDROAEROPLANE," ETC., ETC. + +_WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY_ +_CHARLES L. WRENN_ + +NEW YORK +HURST & COMPANY +PUBLISHERS + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + +I. THE POWER OF THE AIR + +II. AN ENCOUNTER WITH A CHARACTER + +III. THE PROFESSOR'S DILEMMA + +IV. "WHERE IS HE?" + +V. CHESTER CHADWICK--INVENTOR + +VI. THE RADIO TELEPHONE + +VII. THE GREAT TEST + +VIII. TALKING THROUGH SPACE + +IX. THE BOYS FACE TROUBLE + +X. AN INVOLUNTARY AËRONAUT + +XI. BY THE ROADSIDE + +XII. MAKING ENEMIES + +XIII. THE LEADEN TUBE + +XIV. IN THE HOSPITAL + +XV. A TALE OF THE COLORADO + +XVI. ZEB CUMMINGS + +XVII. IN THE LABORATORY + +XVIII. INTO THE STORM + +XIX. THE "LIGHTNING CAGE" + +XX. THROUGH THE AIR + +XXI. VAULTING TO THE RESCUE + +XXII. "Z. 2. X." + +XXIII. ON THE BORDER LINE + +XXIV. "THE THREE BUTTES" + +XXV. INTO THE BEYOND + +XXVI. THE START FOR THE UNKNOWN + +XXVII. THE PROFESSOR'S SECOND DILEMMA + +XXVIII. THE UPPER REGIONS + +XXIX. A MUD BATH + +XXX. NIGHT ON THE COLORADO + +XXXI. THE ISLAND OF MYSTERY + +XXXII. THROUGH THE WOODS + +XXXIII. THE SECRET AT LAST + +XXXIV. THE INTERLOPERS + +XXXV. TRIUMPH + +XXXVI. THE HOMECOMING + + + + +The Boy Inventor's Radio-Telephone. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE POWER OF THE AIR. + + +"That's it, Jack. Let her out!" + +"Suffering speed laws of Squantum, but she can travel!" exclaimed Dick +Donovan, redheaded and voluble. + +"I tell you, electricity is the thing. Beats gasoline a million ways," +chimed in Tom Jesson. Tom sat beside his cousin, Jack Chadwick, on the +driver's seat of a curious-looking automobile which was whizzing down +the smooth, broad, green-bordered road that led to Nestorville, the +small town outside Boston where the Boy Inventors made their home. + +The car that Jack Chadwick was driving differed in a dozen respects +from an ordinary automobile. There was no engine hood in front. +Instead of a bonnet the car, which was low slung, long and painted +black, had a sharp prow of triangular shape. Its body, in fact, might +be roughly compared to the form of a double-ended whaleboat. + +As it sped along outside the city limits, and immune from hampering +speed laws, the car emitted no sound. + +It moved silently, without the usual sharp staccato rattle of the +exhaust. Behind it there was no evil-smelling trail of gasoline and +oil smoke. The car glided as silently as a summer breeze on its +wire-wheels, like those of a bicycle enlarged. + +"I'll get a great story out of this," declared Dick Donovan, who, as +readers of other volumes of this series know, was a reporter on a +Boston paper. "That is, if you'll let me write it," he added, leaning +forward over the front seat from the tonneau as he spoke. + +"How about it, Jack?" asked Tom with an amused smile. "Shall we let +Dick here get famous at our expense again?" + +"I don't see why not," said Jack. "Everything about the Electric +Monarch is patented. The new reciprocating device, and the +self-feeding storage batteries are fully covered. If Dick wants to +write a romance about it he can, provided he leaves our pictures out." + +"Oh, I'll do that," Dick readily promised. "Are you making top speed +now, Jack?" + +"Nowhere near; I wouldn't dare to. I believe that the Monarch is +capable of ninety miles an hour. I wish we had a place like Ormond +Beach to try her out on." + +"You can count me out on that," chuckled Dick. "This is fast enough +for me." + +The boys were trying out their latest invention, an electric car +capable of making the speed of a gasoline-driven vehicle, and one +which could be operated at a minimum of cost, almost a nominal +expense, as compared with the high price of a vehicle run by an +explosive engine. + +It was the trial trip of the Electric Monarch, as they had decided to +call it, and so far the performances of the machine had exceeded, +instead of fallen below, their expectations. Dick, who had been +invited to the "tryout," was full of questions as they sped silently, +and with an absolute lack of vibration, along the road. + +"How do you generate your electricity?" he asked eagerly. + +"By a device geared to the rear axle," answered Tom. "It runs a sort +of dynamo, though it would be difficult for you to understand it if I +went into details. It's something like the ordinary generator and +turns a constant stream of 'juice' into the storage batteries that, in +turn, feed the engines." + +"Yes, that's all plain enough," said the inquisitive Dick, "but how do +you get your power for starting?" + +"If there is not enough juice in the storage batteries for the purpose +we resort to compressed air," was the reply from Tom, for Jack, with +keen eyes on the unrolling ribbon of road, was too busy to have his +attention distracted. + +"And that?" Dick paused interrogatively. + +"Is pumped into a pressure tank as we go along. See that gauge?" he +pointed to one on the dashboard of the car in front of the driver's +seat. + +Dick nodded. + +"Well, that's a pressure gauge. You see, we have sixty pounds of air +in the tank now. That can generate enough electricity to start the car +going. After that the process is automatic." + +"Yes, you explained that. Suppose the tank should, through an +accident, be empty, and you wanted to start?" + +"We've provided for that" + +"I expected so. Wabbling wheels of Wisconsin, you fellows are +certainly wonders." + +"Nothing very wonderful about it," disclaimed Tom. "Well, if we find +the tank is empty we have a powerful, double-acting hand pump by +which, without much effort, we can get up any pressure we need." + +"And then you turn a valve?" + +"Exactly, and the air-motor turns over the dynamo which starts +generating electricity right away." + +"Then, except for the first cost of the car, the expense of operating +it is comparatively nothing?" asked Dick. + +"Yes, you might say we get our power out of the air, and that's +free--so far." + +"And there's no limit, then, to what you can do or where you can go +with the Electric Monarch?" + +"None; that is, so long as the machinery holds out. We are independent +of fuel and the lubricating system is so devised that the oiling is +automatic and requires attending to only once a month. We could easily +carry a year's supply of lubricant." + +"Tall timbers of Taunton!" burst out Dick enthusiastically. "You've +solved the problem of the poor man's car. All the owner of an +Electric Monarch has to do is to pump a little pump-handle or press a +little button and he's off without it costing him a cent. My story +will sure make a big sensation!" + +"Well, you want to tone down that part about its not costing a cent," +chimed in Jack as they coasted down a hill. "The expense of the motor +and the self-lubricating bearings and so on is pretty steep. But we +hope in time to be able to cheapen the whole car." + +They were shooting swiftly down the hill as he spoke. The next moment +he looked ahead again as they shot round a curve. As they did so his +hand sought a button and an ear-splitting screech arose from a +powerful siren. + +In the center of the road, quite oblivious to the oncoming automobile, +was an odd figure, that of a small man in a rusty, baggy suit of +black. + +He had a hammer in his hand and was hitting some object in the roadway +over which he was bending with a concentrated interest that made him +quite unconscious of the onrushing car. + +"Hi! Get out of the way!" yelled the boys. + +But the man did not look up. Instead, he kept tapping away with his +hammer at whatever it was that absorbed his attention so intently. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +AN ENCOUNTER WITH A "CHARACTER." + + +Jack jammed down the emergency brakes, which were pneumatic and +operated from the pressure tank, with a suddenness that sent Dick +Donovan almost catapulting out of the tonneau. + +"Jumping jiggers of Joppa!" he shouted, for he had not yet seen the +obstacle in the road, "what's happened? Are we bust up?" + +"No, but if I hadn't stopped when I did we'd have bust someone else +up," declared Jack. "Look there!" + +"Can you beat it?" exclaimed Tom. + +As the brakes brought the car to a stop within a foot of his stout, +rotund figure, the little man in the center of the road looked up with +a sort of mild surprise through a pair of astonishingly thick-lensed +eyeglasses secured to his ears by a thick, black ribbon. He wore a +broad-brimmed black hat and wrinkled, baggy clothes of bar-cloth, and +a huge pair of square-toed boots that looked as if their tips had been +chopped off with an ax. + +Over his shoulder was slung a canvas bag which appeared to be heavy +and bulged as if several irregularly shaped, solid substances were +inside of it. The spot where this odd encounter took place was some +distance from any town, but a bicycle leaning against a tree at the +roadside showed how the little man had got there. + +"Say, would you mind letting us get by?" asked Jack. + +The little man raised a hand protestingly. + +"I'll be delighted to in just a moment," he said, "but just now it's +impossible. You see, I've just discovered a vein of what I believe to +be Laurentian granite running across the road. I am trying to trace it +and--what's that? Good gracious! Back up your machine, please. I +believe it runs under your wheel. I must make sure." + +Jack obligingly threw in the reverse to humor the little man, who +darted forward and began scraping up the dust in the road with his +hands as if he had been a dog scratching out a rabbit hole. He began +chipping away eagerly with his hammer at some rock that cropped up out +of the road. + +He broke off a piece with his hammer, which was an oddly shaped tool, +and drawing out a big magnifying glass scanned the chip intently. He +appeared to have forgotten all about the waiting boys. But now he +seemed to remember them. He looked up, beaming. + +"A magnificent specimen. One of the finest I have ever seen. Most +remarkable!" + +And with that he popped the bit of stone into his bag, which the boys +now saw was filled with similar objects. + +"Maybe he'll let us get by now," remarked Tom, but a sudden +exclamation from Dick Donovan cut him short. + +"Why, hullo, professor," he said, "out collecting specimens?" + +The little man peered at him sharply. And then broke into a smile of +recognition. + +"Why, it's Dick Donovan!" he beamed, hastening up to the car, "the +young journalist who wrote an article about my specimens once and +woefully mixed them up. However, to an unscientific mind----" + +"They are all just rocks," finished Dick with a grin. + +"I have had unusual success to-day," said the professor, who appeared +not to have heard the remark. "I must have at least fifty pounds of +specimens on my back at this minute." + +He broke off suddenly. The next moment he darted off to the side of +the road and chipped off a fragment of rock from a bank that overhung +it. + +"This is lucky, indeed," he exclaimed, holding it up to the light so +that some specks in the gray stone sparkled. "An extremely rare +specimen of mica that I had no idea existed in this part of New +England." + +The odd little man opened his bag and introduced his latest +acquisition into it While he was doing this Dick had been explaining +to the boys: + +"He's a queer character. Professor Jerushah Jenks. They say he's a +great authority on mineralogy and so on. I interviewed him once. He's +always out collecting." + +"Does he always carry a quarry like that around on his back?" asked +Tom. + +"Always when he's getting specimens," Dick whispered back. + +By this time the professor, his eyes agleam over his latest discovery, +was back at the side of the car. + +"Ah, my beauty, I have you safe now," he said, patting the side of the +bagful of specimens. "Boys, this is my lucky day." + +The boys could hardly keep from smiling at the little man's delight. +It appeared hard to believe that anyone could find pleasure in packing +about a sackful of heavy rocks on a hot day. But the professor's eyes +were sparkling. It was clear he considered himself one of the most +fortunate of men. + +Dick introduced the boys and, to their surprise, the professor +declared that he had read of their various adventures and inventions. + +"We are actually fellow adventurers in the field of science," he +cried, rattling his bag of specimens enthusiastically. "Some time I +should like to call on you and see your workshops." + +"You will be welcome at any time," said Jack cordially, and then the +professor declared that he must be getting home. + +"If we are going your way we can give you a ride," said Tom. + +"Thank you, I'll accept that invitation. But what an odd-looking +automobile you have there." + +The boys explained to him that it was a new type of car that they were +trying out for the first time and then Dick helped the scientist lift +his bicycle into the tonneau. He would have helped him with his +weighty load of specimens, but the professor refused to be parted from +them. As they started off again he sat with the bag firmly gripped +between his knees, as if afraid someone would separate him from it. + +The professor lived with a spinster sister to whom his specimens were +the bane of her life. As the car rolled swiftly along, he occupied his +time by peeping into the bag at frequent intervals to see that none of +the specimens, by some freak of nature, flew out. + +All at once he reached forward and clutched Jack by the shoulder. + +"Stop! My dear young friend, please stop at once!" + +"What's the matter?" asked Jack, slowing down at the urgent summons. + +"Look! Look there at that rock!" + +To Jack the rock in question was just an ordinary bit of stone in a +wall fencing in a pasture in which some cattle were grazing. But +evidently the professor thought otherwise. + +"It's a fine specimen of green granite," he exclaimed. "I must have +it. How did such a fine piece ever come to be placed in a common +wall?" + +The car having now been brought to a stop, he leaped nimbly out, +clutching his geological hammer in one hand and his precious sack of +specimens in the other. He rushed up to the wall and stood for a +minute with his head on one side, like an inquisitive bird. + +"Too bad. That stone's a large flat one and goes right through the +center of the wall," he mused. "The wall must come down." + +And then, to the boys' consternation, he began demolishing the wall, +pulling down the stones and throwing them right and left. + +"Professor, you'll get in trouble," warned Dick in alarm. "Those +cattle will get out. The farmer will be after us." + +But the professor paid not the slightest attention. Taking off his +coat, he resumed his operations with even greater vigor than before. +The cattle in the field eyed him curiously. Then they began to move +toward him. In front of the rest of the herd was a big +black-and-white animal with sharp horns and big, thick neck. + +It gave a sudden bellow and then rushed straight at the considerable +gap the man of science had made in the stone fence. + +"It's a bull!" yelled Dick suddenly. "Run, professor! Run or he'll +toss you!" + +With lowered horns the bull rushed down upon the unconscious scientist +at locomotive speed. But the professor was oblivious to everything +else but uncovering the odd-looking green stone embedded in the heart +of the wall. + +The boys shouted to him but he didn't hear them. On rushed the bull, +bellowing, charging, ready to annihilate the scientist. + +"Run!" yelled the boys at the top of their lungs. "Run!" + +But the professor, with his precious bag in one hand and his hammer in +the other, stood staring at the advancing bull through his thick +glasses as if the maddened creature had been some sort of new and +interesting specimen. + +"Gracious! He's a goner!" groaned Dick. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE PROFESSOR'S DILEMMA. + + +But the professor was seen to suddenly dart, with an activity they +would hardly have expected in him, across the road. He was only in the +nick of time. + +Almost opposite to the gap in the fence he had made was a tree with +low-hanging boughs. As the bull charged through the gap, right on his +heels, the professor, still with his bag, slung by its leather strap +across his shoulders, swung himself up into the lower limbs. + +The boys set up a cheer. + +"Good for you, professor!" cried Dick, as the bull, with lowered head +and horns, charged into the tree and made it shake as if a storm had +struck. + +[Illustration: He was only in the nick of time.--_Page 22._] + +"Wow! That's the time he got a headache!" cried Tom excitedly, as the +professor, clinging desperately to his refuge, was almost flung +from it by the shock. + +"Gracious, boys, what shall I do?" he asked, looking about him from +his leafy perch with a glance of despair that would have been comical +had the situation not been serious, for the bull, instead of accepting +his defeat, stood under the tree pawing and ramping ferociously. + +"Well, here's a fine kettle of fish!" exclaimed Jack. "What are we +going to do now?" + +"Blessed if I know," said Dick helplessly. "By the bucking bulls of +Bedlam, this is a nice mess." + +"Maybe we could throw rocks at him and chase him away," suggested Tom. + +"No chance; he's got his eye on the professor," returned Jack, "and if +we did get out he would chase us and that wouldn't do the professor +any good." + +"Can't you help me, boys," inquired the professor in an agonized tone. +"This tree limb is not exactly--er--comfortable." + +"You're in no danger of falling, are you?" called Jack, in an alarmed +voice. + +"No--er--that is, I don't think so. But this is an extraordinary +position. Most--er--undignified. I'm glad my sister can't see me." + +"Try throwing some of the rocks out of your satchel at him," suggested +Dick. + +But the professor waxed indignant at this proposal. + +"And cast my pearls before swine! or rather my specimens before a +bull!" exclaimed the professor, in helpless indignation. "No, young +gentlemen, not a pebble from this bag is wasted on that creature." + +"I'd drop the whole bag on him," said Dick, "if I was in that +position. It's heavy enough to knock out an elephant, let alone a +bull." + +"Can't you suggest anything?" wailed the professor. + +"I'm trying to think of something right now," declared Jack, racking +his brains for some way out of the predicament. + +"I wish the farmer that owned him would come along and get his old +bull out of there," said Dick. + +"Yes, and then there would be fresh complications," declared Jack. + +"How do you make that out?" came from Dick. + +"He'll probably know how to handle him," supplemented Tom. + +"Yes, he would if he's a bull-fighter," scoffed Dick, "and I never +heard of there being any matadors in the vicinity of Nestorville." + +"Lots of doormats, though," grinned Tom. + +"Say, if you do that again I'll throw you out of the car," cried Jack +at this atrocious pun. + +"Sorry, couldn't help it. Just slipped out," said Tom contritely. + +"Well, you'll slip out if the offense is repeated," retorted Dick. +"But," he went on, "seriously, fellows, we've got to do something." + +"Try blowing the horn," suggested Tom. "It has scared everything else +we met. Horses shy at it, so do other autos. Maybe it will get the +bull's goat." + +"I'll try it, at all events," said Jack. + +He pressed the button and the unearthly screech of the electric auto's +siren split the air. But the bull merely cast an inquiring glance in +their direction and then resumed his vigil over the professor. + +"Boys," wailed the unhappy geologist, "can't you do something, +anything? I can't roost in this tree all night, like a bird." + +The boys couldn't help grinning at this. With his sharp nose, big +spectacles and flapping black garments, the professor did look like a +mammoth black crow. + +"Reminds me of the fox and the crow," said Dick, in a low voice, to +his companions. + +"Only, in this case, the fox is a bull, and the piece of cheese is the +bag of specimens," added Tom. + +They looked about helplessly. There was no farmhouse in sight and the +road did not appear to be much traveled. + +"We'll have to go for help," declared Jack. + +"The only thing to do," agreed Tom. + +The professor was hailed. He had climbed to another limb with infinite +difficulty, because of the encumbering bag of rocks on his back. He +declared that he could manage to get along till the boys came back. + +"By a merciful provision of providence," he said whimsically, "bulls +can't climb trees. The situation might be worse if it was a bear." + +"It would be unbearable," declared Dick to Tom. + +"But just the same there's trouble a brewin'," retorted Tom. "I wish +that farmer would show up." + +"As I said before--I don't," responded Jack, as he prepared to start +off. + +"Why?" + +For answer Jack waved an eloquent hand toward the gap in the stone +fence. + +"I guess he wouldn't be best pleased to find that his fence had been +torn down," explained Jack, as the car drove off, leaving the +professor marooned in his tree with the sentinel bull waiting +patiently below. + +Some distance down the road the boys came to a farmhouse. Several men +were working in the field under the direction of a stout, red-faced +man. Jack shouted to them, and when the red-faced man came up he +explained the situation to him. The man was good-natured, or perhaps +he rather liked the idea of a ride in such a novel-looking car. +Anyhow, he called three of his hands and told them to get pitchforks. + +"Never see a bull I couldn't handle," he said as the men, having +returned, scrambled into the car. + +"Do you know who it belongs to?" asked Jack, as he turned round and +headed back to where they left the luckless professor. + +"I reckon it's that big Holstein of Josh Crabtree's. He's pretty near +as mean as his owner, and that's considerable." + +Jack thought of the hole in the wall and hoped they would reach there +before farmer Crabtree, and so avoid serious complications. + +He drove at top speed, while the friendly farmer and his workmen clung +to the sides of the car and looked rather scared at the rate they were +going. + +"There's the tree," exclaimed Jack, as they came in sight of it, "and +there's the gap in the fence." + +"And where's the bull?" asked Tom. + +"And where's the professor?" added Dick. + +Not a trace of the man of science or of the ferocious animal was to be +seen. + +"Are you sure you boys didn't dream all this?" asked the red-faced +farmer suspiciously. + +"There ain't even a cow in sight in the pasture lot," said one of the +men. + +"I reckon this is some sort of a fool joke," added another. + +"It isn't. Indeed, it isn't," protested Jack. + +"The professor is some place around," said Tom. + +But a lengthy search of the vicinity failed to show anything except +that the professor had vanished as if the earth had swallowed him. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +"WHERE IS HE?" + + +"Professor!" hailed Dick, at the top of his lungs. + +"Professor!" bawled the farm hands. + +The red-faced farmer himself regarded the boys quizzically. + +"What sort of a chap is this professor of yours?" he asked with an odd +intonation. + +"He's a geologist," replied Dick. "Why?" + +"Oh, I thought he might be a conjurer," was the rejoinder. "He seems +to be pretty good at hiding himself." + +"Hark!" exclaimed Jack suddenly, standing at pause and listening +intently. + +"What's up?" demanded Dick, instantly on the alert, too. + +"I heard something. It sounded like----" + +"There it is again," cried Tom. + +A faint, far-off cry, impossible to locate, was borne to their ears. + +"It's a call for help," declared Dick. + +"That's what it is," agreed the red-faced farmer. "Must be that +perfusser of yours, but where in the name of Sam Hill is he?" + +It was a puzzling question. The faint cries appeared to be muffled in +some way. They looked about them, endeavoring to locate their source. +Suddenly one of the farm hands spoke. + +"I used to work fer old Crabtree," he said. "There's an old well +hereabouts somewheres and maybe he's fell down that." + +"Where is it?" demanded Jack. + +"Back in the meadow yonder," said the man, pointing in the direction +of the pasture lot. + +"Let's go over there and see at once," said Dick. "Frantic frogs of +France, if the professor's tumbled into a well he may be in serious +trouble." + +They set off on the run to where a pile of stones showed a well-curb +had once been. The hoards at the top, which had covered it over, had +rotted, and there was a jagged hole in them. Jack cautiously bent over +and placed his mouth at the edge of the hole. + +"Professor, are you down there?" he hailed. + +"Y-y-y-y-yes," came up in feeble, stuttering tones. "I'm almost +frozen. I'm hanging above the water but I can't hold on much longer. +The bag of specimens is too heavy." + +"Throw it away," urged Jack. + +"N-n-n-not for worlds," was the reply. "I was looking for another rare +bit of quartz when I fell in here." + +"I'll run to the car," said Jack, who had made out that the well was +not very deep. "Fortunately, we've got a rope and tackle in there. +Hold on, professor, we'll soon have you out." + +He hurriedly explained the situation to the others and ran at top +speed to the car, in which the boys--like most careful motorists, who +never know when such a piece of apparatus may come in useful for +hauling a car out of mud or sand, for instance, or for towing an +unlucky autoist home--had a block and tackle stowed. + +He was soon back, and the rope was lowered to the professor, who made +it fast under his arms. Then, aided by the husky muscles of the farm +hands, they soon drew him to the surface. But his weight was +materially added to by the stones, and it was no light task to rescue +him, dripping and shivering, from the dark, cold shaft. + +He explained that soon after they had gone some men came up and drove +the bull away. But they had seen the gap in the stone wall first. + +"They were positively violent," declared the professor, "and said that +they'd have the man who did it arrested if they could find him. Under +the circumstances, I deemed it prudent to stay up in the tree, where +they could not see me. They drove the bull off into another pasture. +As soon as the coast was clear I climbed down, but I happened to see a +rare bit of quartz sparkling in the sun on the edge of the well-curb. +Imprudently I stood on the planking and fell in." + +"Gracious, it's a lucky thing you weren't drowned, with all that +weight round your neck," declared Jack. + +"It was fortunate," said the scientist mildly, as if such a thing as +drowning was an everyday occurrence. "As a matter of fact, if I hadn't +succeeded in grasping a projecting stone and held on, I might have +gone down. It was an--er--a most discomforting experience." + +"Well, of all things," exclaimed the red-faced man, "to go trapesing +round the country collecting rocks!" + +"Not rocks, sir--geological specimens," rejoined the professor with +immense dignity, "and--great Huxley! Under your foot, sir! Under your +foot!" + +"What is it, a snake?" yelled the farmer, jumping backward as the +scientist dashed at him with a wild expression. + +"No, sir, but a remarkably fine specimen of what appears to be a +granolithic substance," exclaimed the professor, and he began +energetically chipping at a rock upon which the farmer had been +standing. + +"Crazy as a loon," declared the farmer, winking at his men. "Gets +nearly drowned in a well and then begins chopping at a rock as soon as +he gets out." + +"Oh, this has been a lucky day for me," said the professor with huge +satisfaction, as he placed his latest acquisition in the satchel. "As +fine a specimen, boys, as ever I encountered," he declared, turning to +the boys. + +"Gracious," exclaimed Tom and Dick in low tones, "does he call getting +chased by a bull and then tumbling down a well a satisfactory day?" + +"I should call it a rocky time," grinned Dick. + +But at this moment further conversation was cut short by the sudden +arrival of a gray-haired, short little old man with a tuft of gray +whiskers on his chin. + +"Josh Crabtree!" exclaimed the red-faced farmer. + +"Wow! now the music starts," declared Dick. + +Josh Crabtree, his face ablaze, and his small, malignant eyes +sparkling angrily, emitted a roar like that of his Holstein that had +caused the professor so much tribulation. + +"Say, be you the pesky varmints that tore down my fence and scared my +bull out'n two years' growth?" he bellowed. + +"I removed some stones from your fence, sir," said the professor, "but +it was in the interests of science. You may not have been aware of it, +but embedded in your enclosing structure was a fine specimen of green +granite." + +"Great hopping water-melyuns!" roared Old Crabtree, "and you tore down +my fence to git at a pesky bit of rock?" + +"Rock to you, sir," responded the scientist calmly, "like the man in +the poem a 'primrose by the river's brim, a yellow primrose is to you, +and it is nothing more.'" + +"Dad rot yer yaller primroses," yelled Old Crabtree, dancing about in +his rage. "You make good for tearing down my fence, d'ye hear me?" + +"I shall take great pleasure in forwarding you a check for any damage +I may have done," said the professor. + +"I want ther money now," said the farmer truculently. + +"I regret that I have left my wallet at home," said the professor. +Then he brightened suddenly. "I can leave my bag of specimens with you +as security," he said, "if you will promise to be careful with them." + +He unslung his bag and tendered it to the angry farmer who received it +with a look of amazement that the next moment turned to wrath when he +saw its contents. + +"By hickory, what kind of a game is this?" he demanded. "Nothing but a +lot of old rocks. By heck, thar's enough here to build a new fence!" + +He flung the bag down indignantly just as the professor darted forward +with one of his odd, swift movements. He shoved Old Crabtree back +without ceremony and bending swiftly to the spot where the angry +farmer had been standing he picked up and pocketed a small rock. + +"Wa'al land o' Goshen," gasped out the farmer, bewildered. "What in +ther name of time is this?" + +"A splendid specimen of gneiss," explained the professor triumphantly, +"and now, Mr.--er--you were saying?" + +"That I wants ter be paid fer ther damage ter my fence." + +"How much do you want?" asked Jack, coming to the rescue. + +"Reckon a dollar'll be about right." + +"If you will let me lend it to you till we reach your home, I'll be +very glad to pay him," said Jack aside to the professor. + +"But, my dear young friend, there is no necessity. He has ample +security till I can send him a check. Why, that bag of specimens is +worth fifty dollars at least." + +"Them old rocks," sniffed the farmer, who had overheard this last +remark, "I wouldn't give yer ten cents fer a cartload uv 'em. They're +too small fer fences an' too big to throw at cows." + +"You'd better let me pay him," said Jack, and the professor finally +consented to this arrangement. + +This done, they started back on the run to the professor's home, which +was about three miles off. On the way they dropped the red-faced +farmer and his hands, who clearly regarded the professor as some sort +of an amiable lunatic. But that worthy man, supremely happy despite +his wet clothes, was quite contented, and from time to time dipped +into his satchel, like a bookworm into a favorite volume, and drew out +a particularly valued specimen and admired it. + +They soon reached his home, a pretty cottage on the outskirts of +Creston, a small town with elm-shaded streets. The professor invited +the boys to accompany him into the house. They were met in the passage +by a shrill-voiced woman who looked like the professor in petticoats. + +"My sister, Miss Melissa," said the professor. "My dear, these +are----" + +But he got no further in his introduction. Miss Melissa's hands went +up in the air and her voice rose in a shrill shriek as she saw her +brother's condition. + +"Lan's sakes, Jerushah, where have you been?" she exclaimed. + +"My dear, I must apologize for my condition," said the professor +mildly. "You see I----" + +"You're dripping a puddle on my carpets. You're wringing wet through!" +shrilled Miss Melissa. + +"Yes, you see, my dear, I've been down a well," explained the man of +science calmly. + +"Do tell! Down a well, Jerushah? At your time of life!" + +"You see I was after specimens, my dear," went on the professor. + +"Specimens!" exclaimed Miss Melissa. "The whole house is full of old +rocks now, Jerushah, an' you have ter go down a well to get more." + +"These are very valuable, my dear," said the professor, floundering +helplessly. + +"Oh, don't tell me. A passel of old rocks. I'm going to get you a hot +mustard footbath and some herb tea right away," and without another +word, except something about "death of cold, passel of boys," the good +lady flounced off. + +"She's like that sometimes, but she means well, Melissa does," +explained the professor, with a rather sheepish look as he stood in +the midst of a puddle that was rapidly converting him into an isolated +island in the midst of Miss Melissa's immaculate hall carpet. +Suddenly, with one of his impulsive movements, he darted off into a +room opening off the hall and came back with a dollar bill he had +unearthed from a desk. He handed it to Jack, and then, raising his +finger to his lips, he said: + +"Don't let Melissa see it. She's the best of women, is Melissa, but +peculiar about some things--er--very peculiar." + +"Je-ru-shah!" came Miss Melissa's voice. + +"Yes, my dear, coming," said the professor, and shouldering his bag +of specimens he shook hands with the boys and hastened off to answer +his sister's dictatorial call. + +"I guess we'd better be going," said Jack, with a smile that he could +not repress. + +The others agreed, and they were soon speeding back to High Towers, as +the estate of Jack's father, also a noted inventor, was called, with +plenty to talk about as a result of the events of the day. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +CHESTER CHADWICK--INVENTOR. + + +As readers of the preceding volumes of this series, know, Jack +Chadwick and Tom Jesson, his cousin, had won the titles of Boy +Inventors through their ingenuity and mechanical genius. Jack's +father, Chester Chadwick, was an inventor of note, and unlike the +majority of inventors, he had turned his devices to such good account +that he had accumulated a substantial fortune and was able to maintain +a fine estate, already referred to as High Towers where, with +splendidly equipped workshops and a miniature lake, he could +experiment and work out his ideas. + +In the first book of this series it was related how Tom Jesson, Jack's +cousin, came to make his home at High Towers. Tom's father, an +explorer of international fame, had departed on an expedition to +Yucatan and had not been heard from since that time. This volume, +which was called the Boy Inventors' Wireless Triumph, told of the +boys' exploits in the radio-telegraphic field and the uses to which +they were able to turn them. In a flying machine, the invention of Mr. +Chadwick, they discovered Tom's father, under remarkable +circumstances, a prisoner of a tribe of savages, and also found a +fortune in precious stones. + +In the succeeding story of their adventures, the boys helped an +inventor in trouble. The Boy Inventors' Vanishing Gun, as this volume +was entitled, set forth in a graphic way the triumph of the boys over +the machinations of a gang of rascals intent on stealing the plans of +the wonderful implement of warfare which they had helped bring to +successful completion. + +We next encountered the lads in the Boy Inventors' Diving Torpedo +Boat. Here they were placed in a new environment on the surface and in +the depths of the ocean. The way in which the wonderful diving craft +aided Uncle Sam in a crisis with enemies of the United States was +told, and their ingenuity and bravery played no small part in the +affair. + +The Boy Inventors' Flying Ship was devoted to a detailed narrative of +the boys' long and unexpected cruise to the unexplored regions of the +Upper Amazon. The boys were shipwrecked and cast away without an +apparent hope of rescue on a yacht belonging to a German scientist, +the crew of which had mutinied. The boys' capture by a strange tribe +and subsequent escape in their Flying Ship formed thrilling portions +of this story, while Dick Donovan's researches in natural history +provided the boys with a lot of fun. + +The volume immediately preceding this showed the boys coming to the +rescue of a poor lad, a waif and orphan, who yet had a fortune in the +plans and specifications of a new type of craft invented by his dead +father who had lacked the capital to develop it. Enemies strove +desperately to secure the papers, and even went to the length of +forging a will for the purpose, but partly through the agency of an +odd German lad, Heiney Pumpernickel Dill, their schemes were +frustrated and the invention was developed and set upon a working +basis. This book was called the Boy Inventors' Hydroaëroplane, and +dealt with some astonishing adventures and perils all of which the +boys encountered with plucky spirits and resourceful minds. + +For some weeks preceding the opening of the present book relating of +the Boy Inventors, Mr. Chadwick had been closeted in his own private +laboratory. The boys had seen him only at rare intervals, and then he +had appeared abstracted and preoccupied. This, the boys knew, was a +sure sign that he was at work on a new idea. + +Sometimes the lights burned in his laboratory far into the night and +in the morning he would appear at breakfast pale and silent. The boys +had indulged in much speculation as to what the new invention could +be, but had arrived at no satisfactory conclusion when, two days after +their experience with the eccentric professor, Mr. Chadwick summoned +them to his private workshop. The boys, who had been at work on the +Wondership, the flying automobile with which they had met such +surprising adventures in Brazil, obeyed the summons with alacrity. It +was delivered to them by Jupe, the negro factotum of the place. + +"Massa Chadwick send me on de bustelbolorium," explained Jupe, who had +a vocabulary that was all his own, "for yo' alls to come right away by +his laburnumtory." + +"All right, Jupe, we'll be right over," said Jack, "just as soon as +we've got some of this grease off our hands." + +The boys' workshop was equipped with a washbasin and they soon made +themselves presentable. Then they hurried to Mr. Chadwick's workshop. +They found him standing before a roughly-built table on which were +ranged some odd-looking bits of apparatus. + +There was a gasoline motor in one corner, geared to a generator--or +what appeared to be one--from which feed wires led to a square metal +box on the table. Attached to this metal box was a sort of horn-shaped +mouthpiece something like the transmitter of a telephone. Hanging from +its side was what looked like an enlarged telephone receiver. Jack +regarded his father questioningly. + +"You sent for us, dad?" + +"Yes, Jack," was the reply. "I'm in a quandary. Have you any idea what +this apparatus is?" + +Both boys shook their heads. + +"Looks like some kind of a telephone," ventured Tom. + +"It is a telephone," replied Mr. Chadwick. + +"But--but--where are the wires?" asked Jack, glancing about him, "or +haven't you connected it up yet?" + +"It's connected up as much as it will ever be," said Mr. Chadwick with +a smile. "Can't you guess what it is?" + +"I've got it," cried Jack suddenly. "It's a wireless telephone." + +"That's right," admitted his father, and, in response to a flood of +questions from the boys, he told them how he had been working day and +night to bring the device to perfection. + +"Now," he said, as he concluded, "I want you boys to go down to that +shed that was put up last week at the northwest corner of the +orchard." + +"The one that was put up to store gasoline?" asked Tom. + +"I said it was for that purpose in order to avoid questions till I had +my work completed," said Mr. Chadwick with a smile. "Here is the key +to it. Inside you will find an apparatus similar to this one. Start +the dynamo and then stand in front of the transmitter and place the +receiver to your ear. If you don't hear anything at once use the +inductor to tune your aërial earth circuit to the transmitted current +from my end just exactly as you would tune up a wireless telegraph +instrument to catch certain wave lengths from another instrument" + +"Then the principle of the radio telephone is the same as that of the +wireless telephone?" asked Tom. + +"I'll explain that to you later in as plain language as I can," said +the inventor, "but now I am anxious to see how this instrument will +transmit sound." + +The boys were excited. Anything novel in the way of science attracted +their bright, active minds as an electromagnet attracts steel. The +idea of a wireless telephone, of the possibility of transmitting +actual speech through space, just as the dots and dashes of the +wireless telegraph are sped through the ether, quickened their +inventive faculties to the highest pitch. Both felt a glow of pride +that they had been selected, even before their father's scientific +friends, to make the first test of this wonderful new invention. + +They hurried across the broad lawn that intervened between the +workshops and the orchard where the newly erected shed stood, and +which, it had been given out, was to serve for the storage of +gasoline. Unlocking the door, they found inside an apparatus +resembling in almost every detail the one in Mr. Chadwick's workshop. + +Jack's hands fairly trembled as he started up the motor and the +generator began to buzz. With shining eyes and throbbing pulses he +placed the receiver to his ear as his father had directed. But the +next moment a flood of disappointment swept through him. + +"Well?" demanded Tom, himself a tiptoe with expectation. + +"Nothing doing," replied Jack, shaking his head. "I guess the thing +isn't at a practical stage yet." + +"Wait a minute, give it a chance," urged Tom. "By the way, how about +that tuning device, have you tried that yet?" + +"No, good gracious, my head must be turning into solid ivory from the +neck up. I guess that's just what the trouble is." + +Jack began carefully sliding a small block connected to the +instruments up and down the coiled wire which formed the tuning +apparatus, and brought the sending and receiving ends into harmony +just as if they had been two musical instruments. When the right +electric "chord" was struck he should be able to hear, just as in +wireless he would be able to catch the message of an instrument whose +wave lengths were attuned to his. + +Suddenly Tom saw his chum and cousin give a start and then a shout. +Over the space between the workshop and the small shed a human voice +had been borne on electric waves. Sharp and clear as though he had +been listening to a "wire" 'phone, Jack caught and recognized his +father's voice: + +"Hul-lo!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE RADIO TELEPHONE. + + +Back and forth through space they talked for quite a time. The boys +were jubilant. The despair of many inventors, the wireless or radio +telephone appeared to be an accomplished fact. But they didn't dream +how much yet remained to be done. At length Mr. Chadwick told them to +"hang-up" and come back to the workshop. + +The boys were glad to do this for they were extremely anxious to learn +something of the forces controlling this aërial method of +conversation. So far, they had not the least understanding, beyond a +general idea, of how the thing was done. Of the details by which Mr. +Chadwick had worked out this radical departure in telephony, they knew +nothing. + +"Well, what did you think of it, boys?" asked Mr. Chadwick when they +returned to the workshop. + +"Wonderful, beyond anything I could have imagined," declared Jack. + +"How far will it work?" asked Tom. + +"That's just the point," said Mr. Chadwick. "That's where I'm at sea. +I need a metal of greater conductivity than any attainable to get real +results. The carbon that I am using does not throw off enough radio +activity to produce a sufficient number of electric impulses to the +atmosphere." + +Jack and Tom looked puzzled. + +"You don't understand me I see," said Mr. Chadwick. + +"No, I must say I don't," said Jack; "you see----" + +"It's pretty technical," broke in Tom. + +"Well, then I'll try to explain to you, in simple language, the +general principles of radio telephony," said Mr. Chadwick. "In the +first place you know, of course, from your wireless studies, that an +electric wave sent into the air will travel till it strikes something, +such as an aërial." + +"To use the old illustration, an electric impulse sent into the air +spreads out in all directions just like the ripples from a stone +chucked into a mill-pond," said Jack. + +"That's it," said Mr. Chadwick. "Now then, as you also know the wire +telephone works by a metal disc in the receiver, vibrating in exactly +the same way as does the microphone in the transmitter. According to +the vibrations of the voice of the person sending the spoken message, +the electric current along the wire, acted upon by the microphone in +the transmitter, increases or decreases. This increasing and +decreasing current acts on a thin metal disc or diaphragm in the +receiver which is held to the ear of the person listening to the +message." + +"That's plain sailing so far," said Jack. "For instance, when you say +'Hullo' over a phone, the microphone or transmitter gets busy and +records it in electrical impulses and shoots it all along the wire +where the receiver picks it up and wiggles the metal disc inside it to +just the same tune." + +"That's it exactly," said Mr. Chadwick. "Now we are ready to go a step +further. Now, as this metal disc is attracted or released by the +current coming over the wire, it compresses or rarefies the air +between it and the ear-drum of the person to whose oral cavity it is +held. In this way the sensation of the same sound as was spoken at the +transmitter end is reproduced at the receiver end. In other words, the +transmitter jerks and jumps just as the needle of a phonograph does in +traveling over a record, and transmits these jerks and jumps over the +wire to the metal disc which by aërial pressure on the ear drums of +the receiver of the message, causes the aural membrane to translate +the words, or vibrations along the nerves, to the brain. + +"Following up this line," said Mr. Chadwick, "we find that the problem +in radio telephony is the same as that met with in ordinary wire +telephony. That is to say, we are required to cause a distant metal +disc to repeat every inflection of the transmitter. But in the case of +radio telephony the result is to be obtained by Hertzian waves, +instead of by a current passing through an insulated wire." + +"The same sort of waves that are employed in wireless telegraphy?" +asked Tom. + +"Just the same, only in radio telephony we are confronted by a problem +not met with in wireless telegraphy. We have not only to transmit +sound, such as isolated dots and dashes, but to send through the air +every rise and fall and inflection of the human voice just as it is +recorded in the minute lines of a phonographic record. + +"Experiments have shown that articulation, that is, understand, a +speech, depends upon overtones and upper harmonies of a frequency of +5,000 or 8,000 or more." + +"What do you mean by frequency?" asked Tom. + +"Speaking in reference to radio telephony it means the number of +electrical vibrations per second required to produce a certain sound. +In electric currents 100 per second is a low frequency current, +100,000 per second is spoken of as high frequency. In early +experiments with radio telephony it was found that the chief +difficulty lay in obtaining a current of sufficiently high frequency +to transmit the human voice, the currents used in wireless telephony +being much too weak for this purpose. + +"I had, therefore, to invent my own alternator, which is attached to +that gasoline motor. There is a similar one in the shed from which you +just talked with me." + +"But why does radio telephony require a stronger current than wireless +telegraphy?" Tom wanted to know. + +"Because, up to the present, no way has been found of utilizing in +radio telephony the entire energy of the electric waves sent out," +replied Professor Chadwick. "Only the variations in the waves can be +detected, or transformed into sound at the receiving end of a radio +telephone system. Therefore an immense amount of electrical energy has +to be manufactured in order that the voice vibrations may register +their variations as powerfully as possible." + +"What percentage of the electrical energy manufactured by a high +frequency alternator can be transformed into variations of sound?" +asked Jack. + +"Not more than five to eight per cent. of the total energy. So +therefore the waste is enormous. In wireless telegraphy, on the other +hand, the entire energy radiated from a sending station can be picked +up to the limit of the receiver's capacity to detect it." + +"Isn't there any way in which this difficulty could be overcome?" +inquired Tom. + +"Yes, there is," said Mr. Chadwick, after a moment's thought, "and I +believe that I am the only man in the world employed with radio +telephonic problems who knows of it." + +"Why can't you use it, then?" asked Jack. + +"Because there are almost insurmountable difficulties in the way. +There is a substance chemically known Z. 2. X. which, if it could be +applied to purposes of transmission and detection, has such immense +powers of electrical absorption that messages could be sent almost any +distance, and with far greater economy of power than at present." + +"How far can you send them now?" asked Jack. + +"About five miles. At least I think so. I'm not even sure of that," +was Mr. Chadwick's reply. + +But Jack was impatient to get back to Z. 2. X. + +"Why can't you use this Z. 2. X.," he questioned, "if it would +practically wipe out your troubles in sending and receiving?" + +"Because there is even less of it in the world than there is of +radium," was the startling reply. "At present Z. 2. X. costs far more +than radium. It is the most intensely radio-active stuff in the world. +It is capable of being wrought into metal if anybody had ever found +enough of it, but except for a small deposit in South Africa, which +has been devoted to experimental purposes, nobody has any. + +"But enough of that now. That is only a dream. I am anxious, though, +to test out my present apparatus thoroughly, and to do it I shall need +the help of you boys." + +"In what way?" asked Jack. + +"In giving it a thorough trial to ascertain over how great a space I +can transmit wireless speech." + +"Are you going to put up another station outside the grounds?" asked +Tom. + +"No; I don't want to attract attention to my experiments. You boys +have a wireless telegraph outfit on your Wondership?" + +Jack nodded. He was curious, as was Tom, to know the Professor's plan. +They did not have long to wait. + +"I wish you would get the machine ready to install a radio-telephone +outfit in its place. In that way I can gauge the limits of my +invention without attracting undue attention, as everybody in this +vicinity has seen you in flight and would imagine that you were merely +taking a trip through the air." + +"But can you get out an apparatus light enough for us to take up?" +asked Jack. + +"I am working on that now," said Mr. Chadwick. "I'll have it ready in +a week." + +"We'll be ready for you," promised Jack. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE GREAT TEST. + + +A week later to the day on a sunshiny, windless morning, the +Wondership was run out of its shed, glistening with new paint and with +every bit of bright work burnished till it shone and sparkled like +newly-minted silver. Amidships on the craft, the general construction +of which is familiar to readers of foregoing volumes of this series, +was a square metal box with small wires leading to long copper wires +stretched from end to end of the Wondership's body. + +These long copper wires were to form the aërials by which the messages +from Mr. Chadwick's workshop were to be caught. The smaller wires +underneath were connected with the metal work of the engine. These +wires formed a "ground" similar to the kind employed in aërial +wireless telegraphy. + +The details of the Wondership having been fully described in the Boy +Inventors' Flying Ship, we shall not enter here into any but a brief +and general description of the craft. The Wondership, then, was a +combination of dirigible balloon, automobile and boat. Her motive +power was furnished by engines driven by an explosive volatile gas +which was also used when occasion arose to inflate the bag of the +balloon feature of her design. The gas was generated in the lower part +of the craft's semi-cylindrical metal body. + +On land two big aërial propellers, geared to the engine, drove the +Wondership swiftly along on four solid-tired wheels. When it was +desired to take to the air the balloon bag, which was neatly folded on +a framework supported by upright stanchions above the body of the car, +was inflated by turning on a valve connecting with the gas tanks in +the base of the body. + +When the Wondership was intended to navigate the water she was driven +by the same aërial propellers that afforded her motive power on land +or in the air. She then became what may be called a hydromobile. If it +chanced to be rough weather, special hermetically sealed panels could +be drawn together, completely enclosing the body and making the craft +a water-tight "bottle." Ventilation was provided in such a case by a +hollow telescopic tube which reached twenty-five feet into the air. It +was divided in two. Fresh air was drawn by a fan down one section, +while the stale air in the "cabin" was forced out by a similar device +up the other part of the tube. Stability was afforded by hollow +pontoons, which worked on toggle joints, and could be raised or +lowered as desired. + +With the aid of Jupe, the gas bag was inflated to a point where only a +slight additional quantity of gas would cause the craft to shoot +upward to the sky. When all was ready a test of the instruments was +made and they were found to be working perfectly. The powerful +alternator on the Wondership was, of course, worked by the same motor +that drove the big propellers. + +"Well, I guess there's nothing to keep you back now," said Mr. +Chadwick, who looked pale and ill after his long days and nights of +work on his invention. + +"No, we're as ready as we ever will be," said Jack, making ready to +climb into the machine above which the big yellow balloon bag was +billowing and sending impatient quiverings through the Wondership. + +"I want you to promise me one thing, dad," said Jack, when he had +climbed into the driver's seat, in front of Tom, whose duty it was to +look after the engine. + +"What is that, my boy?" asked the inventor. + +"That after this test, whatever the result may be, you will take a +long rest." + +"Yes, I will, I must," agreed his father. "I've been working too hard, +I guess, but in the excitement of perfecting the radio telephone I +hardly noticed it. But recently I've had dizzy spells." + +"Two weeks' rest will make you well," declared Jack, as he adjusted +the controls. + +"Good-by and good luck," said his father. + +Both boys waved their hands. + +"All ready, Tom?" hailed Jack. + +The other boy nodded and then turned on a valve so that with a hissing +sound additional gas rushed into the bag. Jack pulled a lever. The big +motors roared and a queer, sickly smell of burned gas filled the air. +The propellers began to revolve slowly and then increased their speed +till they became a mere blur. + +"Dere she go! Gollyumption, dere she go!" cried Jupe, capering about. + +As the old black spoke, the Wondership shot up like a rocket, tilting +her nose slightly into the air. But the next moment Jack had her on an +even keel. In an incredibly short space of time those watching below +saw her only as a glinting, golden speck against the blue sky, +circling like some strange bird far above their heads. + +"Now for the tests," said Mr. Chadwick, as he hastened to his +workshop. + +He set the big alternator at work at top speed. It droned like a gaunt +bee. The inventor's face, worn by his anxious vigils at his +experiments, was as keen as a hawk's, while he adjusted the +instruments and placed his long, lean fingers on the tuning device. + +Far above the earth Jack and Tom could look down upon a patchwork of +villages, farms, green pastures, yellow grain fields and stretches of +woodland. They were too far up to distinguish figures, but they could +see the white steam of rushing trains along the railroad tracks, and +even catch the sound of the engines' whistles. + +Beyond glinted the blue of the sea flecked with sails and with here +and there a steamer's smoke smudging the horizon. Both lads were in +high spirits. It seemed good to be navigating the air again. Every now +and then inquisitive, high-flying crows would swoop toward the machine +and then dash off again with alarmed squawks. + +Although they were making a high rate of speed, they hardly seemed to +be moving as they soared in long circles. To get a sense of rapid +motion, stationary objects must be in sight. In the lonely air it was +hard to tell that they were moving at all except by looking down at +the earth which, as they rose, appeared to be rushing from them, as if +it were sinking through space. + +But novel as all these sensations would be to an aërial novice, they +were an old story to the boys. Jack devoted his attention to testing a +new steering appliance he had equipped the craft with, and Tom watched +his engines with an eagle eye to detect a skip or a "knock." + +"How high now?" asked the young engineer after an interval. + +Jack glanced at the barograph on the dashboard in front of him. + +"Three thousand feet," he said. + +"Might as well connect the alternator?" said Tom interrogatively. + +Jack nodded, and Tom threw a lever which brought the generator of +high frequency currents in contact with the motor by means of a +friction fly-wheel. The alternator began to buzz and spark, crackling +viciously. + +A sort of metal helmet with two receivers attached to it, one on each +side, lay handy at Jack's hand. In front of him was the transmitter +joined to the metal box which contained the microphone, transformers +and inductance tuning coil. Tuning in the aërial apparatus was +effected by means of a small knob projecting through a slit in the +metal box enclosing the delicate instruments including the detector. +By working this knob the tuning block was moved up and down the coil +till a proper "pitch" was obtained. + +Jack experienced an odd thrill as he prepared to send the first spoken +word ever exchanged between an airship in motion and a station on +land. He and Tom had sent plenty of wireless messages while soaring +through the ether, but somehow, the dot and dash system had not half +the fascination and mystery of the possibility of exchanging coherent +speech between land and air. + +He placed his lips close to the receiver, and with his hand on the +tuning knob sent forth a loud, clear hail: + +"Hullo, High Towers!" + +There was no answer for a few seconds while he patiently adjusted the +tuning knob. But then came a faint buzz like the humming of a drowsy +bee. Suddenly, sharp and distinct, as if his father was at his elbow, +came Mr. Chadwick's voice in reply: + +"Hullo!" + +"This is the Wondership. Three thousand feet in the air," cried Jack. + +"Congratulations, my boy. It's a success so far." + +"What shall we do now?" asked Jack. + +"I want you to fly in the direction of Rayburn, and try to keep in +communication all the way." + +"All right, dad," responded Jack, and altered the course of the +Wondership. + +Rayburn was a small village some twenty-five miles to the north of +Nestorville. Jack kept the receivers on his ears as he flew along. +From time to time he exchanged conversation with his father. So far +everything appeared to be working as if there were no limit to the +distance over which the voices from the air and land could converse. + +But suddenly there came a startling interruption to the experiments. + +Jack felt a sharp "Bang" at his ears as if a small cannon had been +fired close at hand. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +TALKING THROUGH SPACE. + + +As the distance increased between air and land stations, the currents +became stronger, and frequent tuning was necessary. But Jack was able +to keep up a constant conversation with his father, telling him all +the details of the country as they flew along. The sudden explosion, +however, for it sounded like nothing else, startled him into a sharp +exclamation. + +"What in the world was that?" + +As if he had spoken the question to someone close at hand, came back +the explanation. + +"Wireless telegraph wave crossing ours," said his father. "Some +powerful land station is sending out a message, possibly to some +ship." + +"It almost broke my ear drum," said Jack, and inwardly resolved to +devote some time to trying to solve the problem of avoiding such +"collisions" in the future. It occurred to him that some sort of a +circuit breaker might be devised to cut off, temporarily, the +telephone talk by automatic means when a cross-wave of high energy +struck its current. + +The shock was not repeated, and the conversation went on, still as +sharp and as clear as when they had started out. A few minutes later +Jack was able to report they were passing over Rayburn. + +"You'd better keep on," said his father, his voice aglow with +enthusiasm. "It's working beyond my wildest expectations." + +"It's dandy," agreed Jack. + +They talked without raising their voices to any great extent, but it +was necessary to articulate very clearly so that each variation of +sound might be sent out into space as clearly as the notes of a singer +come from the record of a phonograph. But it was amazing, almost +uncanny to Jack that such results could be obtained at all. + +"Goodness, if only we could get that mineral substance that dad was +talking about I believe you could rig up a radio telephone that would +talk across the ocean," he said to Tom, "and think what that would +mean. For instance, instead of bothering with the cable you could step +into a radio-telephone office and say: 'Give me the London Exchange.' +In a few minutes the central would answer and you could tell her what +number you wanted on some regular wire line. Before long you'd get it, +and be talking to whoever you had called just as if they were +twenty-five miles off instead of three thousand!" + +"It seems like a dream," said Tom. + +"Not much of a dream about it. All it needs is development. We've +proved to-day it can be done," declared Jack, bubbling over with +enthusiasm. + +They flew over meadow land and pasture, farmhouses where tiny figures +emerged from buildings and looked up at them, over rivers and +railroads, and still the alternator spat and sparked and the messages +between Jack and his father were interchanged in a steady stream. +Rayburn had been left behind. They were now over a small town Jack +believed to be Hempstead. + +He looked at his map to make sure. It was one that he had specially +plotted out himself from observations he had made when flying in the +vicinity. Having verified their whereabouts he found that they had +flown about fifty miles, possibly a fraction more. + +But at this juncture he noticed that the voice of his father pulsing +through space began to grow thin and weak. Obviously the limit of the +radio 'phone's capacity had been reached. + +"Better turn back," said Mr. Chadwick. + +Jack turned to Tom and gave him the necessary instructions. Then he +set over his guiding wheel, turning the big rudder at the stern of the +Wondership and she acted as obediently as a sea-going craft answering +her helm. Never had she behaved better. + +They flew swiftly back toward High Towers and were soon in sight of +Rayburn. In order to test what effect the magnetism of the earth had +upon the radio messages, Jack brought the great flying craft close to +the ground. They almost grazed the treetops as they flew along. + +Skimming a patch of trees they roared above a farmhouse with a great +red barn adjoining it. The barn attracted Jack's attention because of +the fact that it had a flat roof, an almost unique feature in that +part of the country. He supposed it was used to dry some sort of +produce on and noted that there were several hop-fields near at hand. +Undoubtedly the roof was used for exposing them to the sun and thus +drying the moisture from them without the expense of wood for the +drying fires usually used for the purpose. + +He had hardly noted all this when there came a sudden tug at the +Wondership as if a titanic hand had reached up from below and grasped +her. She pitched wildly and, but for Jack's skill as an airman, there +might have been a serious accident. But he brought the big craft +under control by skillful manipulation. + +The next instant he discovered what had occurred. The grapple of the +aircraft had, in some way, dropped from its fastenings and, trailing +behind the Wondership, had caught in the roof of the farmer's barn. + +A great section of it was torn away and as Jack brought the Wondership +to rest on the roof, the only available place, for the rope was in +danger of fouling the propellers if he descended to the ground, the +farmer and a number of his men came running from the farmhouse. + +In the hands of the farmer was a formidable looking shotgun. As the +Wondership settled on the roof of the barn the man began shouting +angrily. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE BOYS FACE TROUBLE. + + +"Phew! looks as if we are in for trouble," exclaimed Tom, as he saw +the warlike expression on the farmer's face. + +"It does that," agreed Jack. "Hop out, will you, Tom, and get that +grapple clear? Confound it, I don't see how it came loose." + +"Wore through the lashing," said Tom, who had been examining the place +where the big hooked steel anchor was usually tied. + +"We ought to have seen to it before we started out," said Jack. "We +haven't had it loose since that time we anchored above the Brazilian +forest." + +The farmer's angry voice hailed them from below. + +"Hey there! Don't yew move a foot till we've had a reck'nin'." + +"I am awfully sorry," said Jack. "It was an accident you see. We----" + +"Don't care what it was. Thet thar was a new roof. Don't you move a +step till Si here gits ther constabule." + +"We'll pay you for the roof," said Jack apologetically. "After all it +isn't much damaged." + +Indeed it appeared as if the damage was not so great as they had at +first imagined. After tearing off some shingles the grapple had caught +in a beam and was prevented from doing further harm. + +"Yes, yew'll pay, and yew'll go ter jail tew," declared the farmer. +"Consarn it all, what's the country comin' tew? Las' week tew pesky +dod-ratted balloonists hit Hi Holler on ther head with a bag of sand, +and now yew come along in thet thar contraption and try to bust up my +dryin' roof. I'll have ther law on yer." + +Matters began to look serious. Jack had no doubt but what the farmer +would accept a money payment for the damaged roof. But it appeared +that the old fellow was bent on more stringent vengeance. + +In the meantime Tom had been busy in the stern of the craft and had +succeeded in getting the grapnel loose from the beam into which its +sharp points had dug. It was not till that moment that the farmer +observed him. + +He leveled his shotgun at the balloon of the Wondership. + +"Don't yew dare ter move er I'll bust a hole right plumb through that +ther airbag of yourn," he said. + +"Can't you be reasonable?" asked Jack. "Here's my name." He wrote his +name and address on a slip of paper and threw it down. + +But the irate farmer paid no attention to the missive. He kept his gun +steadily trained on the Wondership. + +"Move an' I'll bust yer!" he said grimly. + +A buggy drove out of the yard. It raced through the gate and then +struck the highroad leading to Rayburn. + +"Thar' goes Si arter ther constabule," said the farmer, licking his +thin lips as if with relish. "Hi Ketchum is a rare one arter +automobubblists. I reckon he'll be right smart tickled to death when +he hears I got a whole airship fer him ter 'rest." + +"Bother the old grouch," muttered Tom, as he climbed back into the +Wondership, the bag of which was deflated just enough to keep her at +rest on the roof. + +"He's evidently mighty serious in his intentions," said Jack, with a +troubled face. "What are we going to do?" + +There was a sudden puff of wind and the big yellow balloon bag swayed +slightly. + +Instantly the farmer's finger crooked on his trigger. He thought the +boys were going to give him the slip. + +"No you don't," he shouted, "you don't fool Ezry Perkins that 'er +way!" + +"We're not trying to fool you," said Jack disgustedly. "Why can't you +be sensible. You've our names and addresses on that paper I threw +down to you. If you like I'll make a cash settlement right here for +any damage we've done." + +"I'm goin' ter git yer in ther court," insisted the farmer sullenly. +"Las' week some autermobubblists killed three uv my chickens, week +afore thet I had a hog knocked off ther road. I'm er goin' ter git +even on yer fer ther lot uv them." + +It was plain that the man was not to be moved by promises or +persuasion. He had conceived in his mind a hatred against automobiles, +with which, in a vague way, he classed airships and all such modern +inventions. Jack thought, too, that Ezra Perkins was the kind of man +who liked to shine out among his neighbors, and what better +opportunity could he have to satisfy this ambition than by blossoming +forth as a man who, single handed, had captured a great aircraft? + +The boys looked down. The farmer was pacing grimly up and down like a +sentry, his eyes never leaving the Wondership. + +"I'd like to drop a bag of ballast on his head, the same as those +balloonists did on Si's," muttered Tom. + +"Wouldn't do any good," said Jack. "It would only bounce off again." + +"I guess it would at that," agreed Tom with a grin. + +"I've half a mind to take a chance," said Jack suddenly. + +"And get a hole blown in the balloon bag," protested Tom. "We wouldn't +be better off than before in that case." + +"I wonder if he'd really shoot or if he's only bluffing," mused Jack. + +"Take a look at him," advised Tom. + +Jack did. One glance was enough. There was no bluffing about the grim, +overalled farmer. The very way in which he held his gun expressed +positive determination not to let the boys escape. + +But as it so happened, by no action of the boys', matters were +suddenly brought to a sharp crisis. Over the patch of woods beyond the +farm there came a vagrant puff of wind. It was followed by a sharper +gust. + +The Wondership swayed and then, before Jack could check the motion, +drifted off the roof like a piece of thistledown blown by the wind. +Instinctively, to check the downward motion, Jack's hand sought the +gas valve. With a hiss the volatile vapor rushed into the bag. + +The big aircraft shot up like an arrow. For a second the farmer stood +paralyzed at the suddenness of it all. His farm hands lounged about, +gaping and looking upward like country folks at a fireworks display. + +Then, without any warning: + +"Bang!" + +The farmer let loose with both barrels at once. But the Wondership +still rose. + +All at once, from below, came a yell of surprise and terror. The boys +looked over the side. As they did so they uttered simultaneous gasps +of consternation. + +The trailing grapnel, for Tom had forgotten to tie it back in place +in the excitement, had caught the farmer by the waistband of his +overalls and he was being carried skyward by the Wondership, dangling +at the end of the anchor rope like some sprawling spider. + +His wife, screaming at the top of her voice, rushed from the kitchen +door. + +"Hey, you come back with my husband!" she shouted. + +"Lemme go! Lemme go!" bawled the farmer as loudly as he could, for, +held securely by his stout overalls, he was carried high above his own +buildings. He kicked and struggled furiously. + +"Keep still," shouted Jack, in serious alarm, from the side of the +Wondership. "Keep still or you'll kick yourself off." + +The farmer had sense enough to obey. He hung upside down like a limp +scarecrow, while his farm hands gaped up at him and the hired girl was +busy pouring buckets of water over his wife who was in hysterics. + +"Gracious, now we've done it!" gasped Tom in dismay. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +AN INVOLUNTARY AËRONAUT. + + +"Steady, Tom, steady," warned Jack, as he set the pumps to work +drawing gas from the bag into the reservoir. + +The Wondership, her buoyancy thus diminished, began to descend. + +"What are you going to do?" asked Tom. + +"Drop our passenger," said Jack, with a grin he could not suppress, +for the struggling farmer was within a few feet of the ground now and +even if he did kick himself loose, for his struggles had begun again, +he could not have hurt himself much. + +"Back up till we get over that haystack," said Jack, "and then play +out rope till we lower him. It'll make a nice soft jumping-off place." + +Tom obeyed, pulling a reverse lever. The Wondership, steered with +skill by Jack's practiced hand, backed slowly up. At length they hung +directly over the haystack. Jack turned and nodded. Tom sprang to the +rope and lowered the indignant farmer into the soft hay. The man lost +no time in disentangling himself. Then he sprang to his feet and began +hurling vituperation at them at the top of his lungs. + +"I'll have ther law on yer fer this," he yelled. "Tryin' ter kidnap me +and bustin' down my barn. I'll see whether such goin's on is allowed +in ther sufferin' state uv Massachusetts, yew see if I don't, consarn +yer. I'll----" + +But the Wondership, bearing the two boys who could not help laughing +heartily, although they feared serious consequences might come of the +accident, was winging its way onward out of earshot of the not +unnaturally indignant Ezra Perkins. + +They passed Rayburn before Jack noticed a peculiar smell in the +atmosphere. + +It was leaking gas. Then, for the first time, he recollected that the +farmer might have hit the gas bag above them with his double shots, +although, till then, there had been no indication that such was the +case. + +He called Tom to the wheel, explaining his suspicions and clambered +out on the rigging to see if he could find any holes in the balloon. +It would have made a less steady boy dizzy and sick to stand on the +edge of the Wondership, clinging to one of the supports that held the +body of the craft to the gas-bag, while the whole affair plunged and +swayed five hundred feet above the earth. But Jack, used as he was to +navigating the air, felt none of these qualms. + +His suspicions were speedily confirmed. There was a jagged hole in the +underbody of the balloon, from which gas was rushing. Jack's face grew +grave. The situation was dangerous. + +He knew, as does every balloonist, that out-rushing gas can make an +electric spark in the atmosphere which, in turn, ignites the gas +itself, sometimes with fatal results. Experts in aëronautics attribute +the disasters befalling the long series of Zeppelins, the giant +German dirigibles, to this cause. + +"Tom, we must go down. Drop at once," he said. "That old fellow +succeeded in blowing a hole in us all right." + +The pumps were set to work and the Wondership fell rapidly. They +dropped in a field by the roadside, landing on the running wheels as +lightly as a feather, thanks to the shock absorbers, similar to those +of an automobile, with which the Wondership was equipped. + +"Now for the repair kit," said Jack, rummaging a locker. + +He soon had balloon silk, big shears, a quick-drying gum solution and +a pot of gasproof varnish, ready for the job of patching up the hole. +But first they had to empty the big bag of gas. This was speedily +done, for already enough had escaped to wrinkle the bag like a walnut, +with hollows and creases. + +Jack cut out a patch of balloon silk large enough to fit the hole and +spread it with the adhesive gum solution. This he placed inside the +hole, spreading it out so that when pressure was applied it would be +pressed firmly against the aperture. Then he coated the patch with the +gasproof varnish, and both boys sat down to give the job time to +"set." + +Their eyes turned idly to the high-road. It was about noon and there +was a heavy sort of silence in the air. Far on the horizon they could +make out great billowy masses of white cloud. Piled and castellated +against the sky they assumed all kinds of odd shapes. + +"Thunder heads," said Jack. "We shall have a storm before to-night." + +"It's sultry enough for anything," said Tom, taking off his cap and +mopping his forehead. "I'd hate to be walking in this weather like +that fellow yonder." + +A man had come into sight, plodding along with bent head and eyes on +the ground as if he was very tired. The gray dust of the road coated +him from head to foot. He walked with a kind of dragging gait. + +Over his shoulder he carried some sort of a bundle on a stick. His hat +was a broad sombrero, like a cowboy's. It was a kind of headgear +seldom seen in the east and attracted the boys' attention. Round the +man's neck was a red handkerchief, the only spot of color on his +dust-covered person. He had a great yellow beard and rather long, +unkempt hair. + +"Tramp," hazarded Tom. + +Jack shook his head. + +"Doesn't look like that to me somehow," he said. "I rather think----" + +Round the corner whizzed a big red automobile. It was coming fast. The +driver, a young man, had his head turned and was talking to three +companions who sat in the tonneau. He did not see the dusty traveler +in the road ahead. + +The boys set up a shout. + +"Look out! you'll run him down. Look out----" + +But their caution came too late. At top speed the auto struck the +wayfarer, and before the boys' horrified eyes he was thrown high in +the air, to fall, a confused sprawl of legs and arms, at the wayside. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +BY THE ROADSIDE. + + +The boys ran forward across the few yards of meadow that intervened +between the Wondership and the roadway. The autoists did not, +apparently, notice them. They had stopped the car and were looking +back. + +"Come on and let's get out of this quick," one of them, a hawk-faced +youth, with a long motoring duster on, was shouting to the driver. + +"Yes, let's beat it while the going's good, Bill," came from his +companion as he addressed the driver of the car. + +"I guess we'd better," said the man addressed as Bill. + +Before the boys could intervene the car was on its way again, at top +speed, leaving the unconscious form of its victim at the roadside. + +"Of all the cold-blooded scoundrels!" gasped Jack, horrified at such +callousness. + +"Never mind them now," advised Tom. "Let's see if this poor fellow is +badly hurt. He may even be----" + +He did not finish the sentence, but Jack knew what he meant. Hastily +the boys scrambled down the low bank that separated the field from the +road. They ran quickly to the man's side. To their great relief, for +they had feared that he might have been killed, the man was breathing. +But his breath came pantingly from his parted lips and there was a bad +cut on his forehead. + +"Get some water from the creek yonder," said Jack, and Tom hastened up +the road to where, beneath the small wooden bridge, there flowed a +rivulet of water. + +He was soon back, with his handkerchief well soaked, and with an old +can, that he had been lucky enough to find, filled with water. They +bathed the man's wound and then bound it up as best they could. But he +still lay senseless. + +"Now what's to be done?" asked Tom. + +"We ought to get him over to the Wondership and rush him to the +hospital at Nestorville," said Jack. + +"Yes, that would be the thing to do. But he's too heavy for us to +carry," objected Tom. + +"Why not fly over here alongside him. I guess we could lift him in; +that patch ought to hold by this time," suggested Jack. + +"That's a good idea. What a pack of cowardly sneaks those chaps in +that car were." + +"I wish we could have stopped them. It would give me real pleasure to +see a gang like that get its just deserts. They might have killed this +poor fellow." + +The unconscious man was powerfully built, with face tanned brown above +a yellow beard, from exposure to sun and wind. As Jack had said, he +did not look like a tramp. Suddenly the boy noticed lying near him an +object which had evidently fallen from the man's pocket when he was +struck and flung through the air by the auto. + +It was a small cylinder, apparently made of lead, and about three +inches long. Jack picked it up, and for the time being did not attempt +to examine it but thrust it into his pocket for safe keeping. Little +did either of the boys think how much that little cylinder was to mean +to them, and how it was to influence some of the most important +adventures of their lives. + +Making the man as comfortable as they could, by rolling up their coats +and placing them under his head, the boys hurried back to the +Wondership. When they arrived there they saw that a feature of the +radio 'phone, which has not yet been mentioned, was working in urgent +appeal. This was a tiny red electric light attached to the top of the +case containing the sensitive parts of the apparatus. + +By an ingenious device, worked as a call signal from the transmitting +station, the electric waves converted a lighting circuit for this +purpose. + +It was winking and twinkling, and Jack knew that his father was +trying to call them. + +He sent out some flashes by starting the dynamo going and pressing a +key devised for the purpose. This, he knew, would cause a similar +light attached to his father's apparatus to flash a reply. This done +he waited a second and then adjusted the receivers to his ears. + +"What's the matter?" came his father's voice. + +Jack gave him a rapid account of the accident, not stopping just then +to say anything about the incident of the farmer and his barn. + +"What are you going to do about it?" asked his father. + +"He appears to be seriously hurt," said Jack. "I was thinking of +rushing him to the hospital at Nestorville." + +"That seems to be the best plan," said his father. "By the way, did +those autoists get clear away?" + +"I'm afraid so. They never even waited a second to see if the man was +badly injured. They----" + +Jack suddenly stopped short. An inspiration had come to him. The +accident had happened on a road that, as he knew, led straight through +Nestorville. He had thought of a plan to bring the autoists to book +for their callousness and negligence. + +"Dad--oh, dad!" he called. + +"Yes, what is it?" came back Mr. Chadwick's voice. + +"Those fellows will pass through Nestorville. I had a flash of the +number of the car. It was 4206 Mass. It's a red car and a powerful +one, with three men in it." + +"What do you want to do?" asked Mr. Chadwick. + +"Can't you 'phone to the Nestorville police, telling them what has +happened and have those fellows stopped. I'm not vindictive, but they +ought to be brought to book for running down a man and then speeding +off and leaving him like that." + +"I agree with you," replied Mr. Chadwick. "I'll do so at once. +Good-by." + +"Good-by," said Jack and "rang off." + +"That was a great idea of yours, Jack, old boy," approved Tom. "I hope +they land those fellows." + +"Of course it was an accident," said Jack, "but that fellow who was +driving was too busy talking to watch the road, and then going off +like that--they deserve all they get." + +Examination of the patch showed that it would hold fast and the bag +was refilled. As soon as it was sufficiently inflated, the Wondership +sailed over to the road and was brought down alongside the still +unconscious man. + +"Looks as if he's badly hurt," said Tom with some anxiety. + +"It does. His skull may be fractured," agreed Jack. "If he is +seriously injured those fellows may get into trouble." + +It required all the boys' strength to raise the man and get him into +the Wondership. Here they laid him out on the floor of the rear +section. They had just done this when the red light signaled Jack +again. It was Mr. Chadwick. He had notified the Nestorville police +force, consisting of a chief and two men, and they were on the lookout +for the offending auto. + +"Good," said Jack. "Say, dad, the radio telephone has shown its +usefulness on the first day out, hasn't it?" + +They were soon in the air once more. The run to Nestorville was made +quickly. On the outskirts of the town they came to earth and deflated +the balloon bag, since the hospital stood in a group of trees and it +would have been impossible to make a landing there. The Wondership was +converted into an auto and sent speeding toward the main street of the +village. + +Suddenly they heard a whir of wheels behind them and an impatient +tooting of a horn. They looked back and uttered a simultaneous cry of +astonishment. + +The red auto that had run down the yellow-bearded man was behind them. +Its occupants were shouting and sounding their horn impatiently for +the right of way. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +MAKING ENEMIES. + + +The road was narrow where they were, and unless the boys' machine was +run to one side of the road there was no chance for the red machine to +pass. Jack made it clear that he didn't intend to let them. + +He paid no attention to the shouts that came from behind. + +"Hey, you kids, with that queer-looking car, get off the road and give +a real machine a chance to get by," shouted the driver, he who had +been addressed as Bill. + +Jack did not turn his head. + +"I'll knock your head off if you don't turn out--and turn out quick!" +came another shout. + +Still the boys did not pay any attention. In this order they came into +Nestorville. Lined up, with a look of stern determination on his +face, and with his nickel star of office newly polished, was Chief +Biff Bivins. Behind him were Lena Hardy and Joe Curley, his "force." + +"Say, boys," hailed Chief Biff, as the boys rolled up abreast of him +and his men, "hain't seen hair nor hide of that car your dad was arter +'phonin' me about." + +"Well, you soon will, chief," said Jack. + +"Haow do yew know that?" asked the chief, his little eyes blinking +curiously. + +"Because it's right behind us now," declared Jack. "It's that red +one." + +"Ther dickens you say. How'd you come ter git erhead of 'em?" + +"They must have stopped to fix a tire or something," said Jack. + +But Biff was paying no attention to him. The majesty of the law was +strong upon him. Calling his minions to his side he stepped into the +middle of the road in front of the red car. + +"Get out of the way!" shouted the man who was driving. + +"Not much I won't," declared Biff valorously. "Halt that gasoline +gadabout o' yourn instanter." + +"What for, you old Rube?" + +"Old Rube am I?" sputtered Biff, feeling that the law had been +insulted in his person, "jes' fer thet yer under 'rest." + +"What for?" demanded the driver of the red car angrily. + +"Fer running daown and grievously wounding a man and then speedin' off +without stoppin' ter see if you'd killed him dead or what all. That's +what fer." + +The driver of the red machine lost his blustering tone. + +"Why, there's some mistake," he stammered, his face very pale, +"I--er--we--er--that is, we didn't run anybody down." + +"Oh, yes, you did," said Jack. "We saw you, and what's more we've got +the man you struck right here in our car. You're a fine pack of +cowards to run off like that. If we hadn't happened along he might +have lain there for hours before help came." + +"You saw us!" gasped the driver of the car, losing his bravado +completely. "Well, I might as well admit we did run a man down. But we +didn't think he was badly hurt and so we put on all speed to rush into +town here and get a doctor for him. We'd have been here sooner only +one of our tires punctured." + +"Thet's a dern good story," said the chief, "but you'll hev ter +'splain that ter ther squire. Come on with me ter ther court-house. +Too bad fer you thet them Chadwick boys had some sort of a do-funny +dingus on their sky buggy that talks through the air, otherwise you'd +hev got clar' away." + +The man had, by this time, got out of the car which they halted at the +side of the street. A crowd of curious villagers gathered and were +staring at the scene and the actors in it. + +At Chief Biff's words the driver of the red car flashed an angry look +at the boys. His companions looked equally vindictive. + +"So, it's to you we owe our arrest, is it?" he said in a low voice, +coming quite close to Jack. "All right. You'll hear from me later. I'm +not going to forget you or that other kid, either. Do you understand?" + +Jack made no reply, and as he was anxious to get the injured man to +the hospital as quickly as possible he drove off. At the institution +the man was carried to a cot by two orderlies, and the doctor in +charge told the boys that, so far as he could see, his injuries were +not mortal, although he added that a fracture of the skull was +possible. + +"In which case," he said, "his recovery is problematical. How did you +happen to pick him up?" asked the doctor, who knew the boys quite +well. + +Jack told him as briefly as he could, and received the physician's +warm congratulations. + +"It was fortunate that you happened along," he said. "Otherwise a +long exposure to the sun, unattended, might have resulted in the man's +death. Have you any idea who he is?" + +"Not the least," replied Jack. "All that we know is that, just after +he had plodded round the corner as if he was tired after walking a +long way, that auto came whizzing round and struck him. Somehow he +doesn't look like a tramp." + +"No, he doesn't," agreed the doctor. "However, he should be conscious +to-morrow if there are no complications, and we can find out. One +thing is certain, he ought to be grateful to you." + +"Oh, that's all right," laughed Jack, much relieved to hear that the +man wasn't going to die. "It was all we could do." + +They drove back through the village. Outside the court-house was quite +a crowd. Events were few and far between in sleepy Nestorville, and +the arrest of the autoists had caused quite a sensation. From a friend +in the crowd the boys learned that the three men were being arraigned +before Squire Stevens. + +"Let's go in," suggested Tom. + +"All right," nodded Jack, and they climbed out of the Wondership and +ascended the long steps leading into the court-house. As they entered +Squire Stevens' court-room, Chief Bivins spied them. + +"Here they be now, Squire," he said. "Glad you came, boys. It saved me +the trouble of serving subpoenas on you. These are the boys who saw +the whole thing, judge." + +"Was it an accident?" asked Squire Stevens, a dignified-looking old +man with an imposing white beard. + +"Yes, entirely so," said Jack, who did not bear any malice. + +"But after they had struck the man, these young men ran away?" + +"Yes," Jack was forced to admit. The men shot him a glance of hatred. + +"I understand you have been to the hospital," went on Squire Stevens. +"Did you learn how badly the man they hit is hurt?" + +"The doctor told us that his injuries don't appear to be serious," +said Jack, "but that it was possible there might be complications." + +"In that case I shall have to hold you young men under bond," said the +squire. "Will you be able to furnish it?" + +"In any amount," said the man who had driven the car, in a loud, +boastful voice. "My father, Evans Masterson, owns the _Boston Moon,_ +the evening paper. If I can telephone to him he will soon get us out +of this scrape." + +"Very well, then," said the Squire, frowning slightly at young +Masterson's tone. "I shall fix your bond at $500, as you were driving +the car and directly responsible for the accident, and that of your +companions at $100 each." + +Young Masterson gave an ironical bow. Chief Biff Bivins escorted him +to the telephone. The elder Masterson, who had had a good deal of +experience with his son's escapades, at first administered a lecture +over the 'phone which ended by his saying that he would come +post-haste to Nestorville and extricate his son and his chums from +their unpleasant fix. + +But the boys did not wait for this. As soon as the case was over they +hastened back to the Wondership. The run home was made without +incident and it was not till the Wondership was safely in its shed +that Jack suddenly thought of the odd cylinder of lead that he had +picked up by the man's side as he lay on the road. + +"I ought to have left it at the hospital," he thought, "but I entirely +forgot it." + +He drew it out and looked at it. He now saw that the lead cylinder +enclosed a glass vial carefully corked and sealed. The bottle was +wrapped in flannel. Jack could not withstand the temptation of pulling +it out and looking at it. He hardly knew what he had expected to see, +but he was distinctly disappointed, as was Tom, to find that the +carefully protected vial contained nothing more than some dark, almost +black, stuff that looked like sand. In it were particles that +glittered like mica. + +"Pshaw!" he exclaimed in a disappointed tone, "nothing but a bottle +full of sand. Wonder why in the world that fellow carried trash like +that so carefully wrapped up for?" + +The solution of the question, which was near at hand, was to have an +important bearing on the lives of the Boy Inventors, and that in the +immediate future. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE LEADEN TUBE. + + +The following day, while they were experimenting and practicing with +the radio telephone, the boys received word that the man in the +hospital was conscious and wished to see them, if possible. + +"Perhaps now we shall get some explanation of that queer tubeful of +sand," said Jack, as he hung up the telephone receiver, having +informed the physician that they would be at the hospital shortly. + +"It's certainly a queer sort of thing for a man to carry about--a +glass vial full of black grit so carefully protected, unless he is +crazy or something," commented Tom. + +"I think that there is some explanation back of all this," said Jack, +"and for my part the sooner we get to the hospital, the better I shall +be pleased. The man told the doctor he was a miner and his name is +Zeb Cummings. Perhaps that sand is gold-bearing or something like +that." + +"That might be the case," agreed Tom. + +The boys decided to take out the electric car. It was in perfect +running order and the indicator showed that there was plenty of +electricity in storage for the start. They told Mr. Chadwick where +they were going and then rolled out of the High Towers gates onto the +broad, smooth road bordered with pleasant green elms. + +They bowled along smoothly and silently with the car working as +perfectly as delicate clockwork. They had gone about a mile from the +house and were on a steep grade which the car took as easily as if it +had been going down hill, when their attention was attracted by a +sudden shout from the vicinity. + +Jack brought the car to a halt. The voice came again. + +"Hi! Help me! Ouch! Help!" + +"What in the world is the matter now?" wondered Tom. + +"Somebody in trouble in that field yonder. We'd better get out and see +what's up," proposed Jack. + +The shouts seemed to issue from beyond a high bank at one side of the +road. On its summit was a hedge which prevented the boys seeing what +was going on in the field that lay beyond. + +As they got out of the car, however, Jack spied a bicycle at one side +of the road. A satchel that he remembered very well was slung from its +frame. + +"It's the professor in trouble again!" declared Jack. + +"I do believe you are right," replied Tom as they scrambled up the +bank. "That's sure enough his wheel." + +They found a gate in the hedge and on the other side an odd sight met +their eyes. Kneeling on the ground was the professor. His right arm +was thrust almost up to the shoulder into a hole in the ground. He +was shouting lustily for help and appeared to be imprisoned in his +queer posture. + +"Some animal has got hold of his hand," cried Jack. "Come on, Tom." + +"Oh, boys, thank goodness you've come," gasped the scientist. + +"What's the matter?" demanded Jack. + +"I can't get my arm out of this hole," declared the professor. + +"How did you get it in?" asked Tom. + +"A fine specimen that I dropped accidentally rolled into it," was the +reply. "I reached in to get it and now I can't get my hand out." + +"But you got it in easily enough," said Jack in a puzzled tone. + +"Ah, yes," replied the professor, "but then I didn't have my hand +clenched. Now my fist is closed and I have the specimen in it. Oh, +boys, it's a beauty. One of the finest I have ever seen. It shows +distinct monolithic traces." + +"But if you don't drop it you can't get your hand out," argued Tom. + +"I know that. That's why I shouted for help," said the professor +simply. + +"You'll have to let go of it," decided Jack, almost choking with +laughter at the plight of the eccentric little man. + +"Let go of it? My dear sir," murmured the professor in a shocked tone, +"this specimen is worth at least twenty dollars, not to speak of its +scientific value." + +"But you can't stay here," said Jack decisively. + +"And I won't let go of the specimen," declared the professor with +equal firmness. + +"What on earth are we to do?" said Jack, looking helplessly at Tom. + +Not far off Tom had noticed a man digging potatoes. It gave him an +idea. + +"We can borrow that man's shovel and dig his arm out," he suggested. + +"It's about the only thing to do, I guess," said Jack. "You go and +see if you can get it. I'll keep the professor company." + +Tom soon came back. The potato-digger accompanied him. The man was +much interested in the eccentric man's plight. + +"If that ain't the beatingest I ever heard on," he remarked, gazing at +the professor, and then he tapped his head significantly and looked at +the boys in a knowing way. + +"Nobody home, eh?" he said with a grin. Fortunately the professor did +not hear him; but the boys could hardly keep from laughing outright as +they set to work with the spade. A few minutes of brisk digging set +the professor at liberty and he was able to stand upright and +triumphantly exhibit a small black rock which looked in no way +remarkable, but which, it was evident, he esteemed highly. + +"Ah, my little gem," he said, gazing at it fondly. "You thought you'd +escape me; but you didn't. A wonderfully fine specimen, boys." + +"Tell yer what," said the yokel, from whom they had borrowed the +spade, "I'll pay you fifty cents a day to clean up my back pasture +yonder. It's chock full of them black rocks." + +"It is?" exclaimed the professor eagerly. "I must visit it some day. +It would be worth writing a paper about. Most remarkable. A whole +field of these stones. Well, well, this is a great day for science. +But how did you boys happen to come along so opportunely?" + +Jack explained, and then, suddenly, he thought of the tube of +queer-looking black sand. Possibly the professor would know what it +was. He drew it out and briefly narrated how he came in possession of +it. The professor took the little glass vial out of its protecting +lead and flannel. He adjusted his glasses and held it up to the light. +Then he uncorked it and sprinkled a few grains on the palm of his +hand. + +He regarded it carefully for a few minutes and then drew out a huge +magnifying glass. The next instant he dropped his scientific calm and +uttered a sharp exclamation of astonishment. + +"Where is the man who owns this?" he exclaimed. "We must see him at +once." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +IN THE HOSPITAL + + +"We are on our way to see him now," said Jack. "He is in the +Nestorville hospital." + +"May I go with you?" asked the professor, with astonishing eagerness +for him. + +"Why, of course. But that black sand," said Jack. "What is +it--gold-bearing material of some kind?" + +"Gold!" exclaimed the professor with fine scorn, "gold would be dross +beside it. Of course I haven't analyzed it yet, but if it is what I +think it is, it is the most valuable stuff in the world." + +The boys exchanged bewildered glances. Clearly their discovery of the +injured man, Zeb Cummings, had an aspect they had not hitherto +suspected. But the professor refused to tell them what the sand was, +or what he thought it was, till he had seen Zeb Cummings himself. + +Leaving the potato-digger under the firm impression that they were +all crazy, they hurried back to the road, the professor's bicycle was +placed in the tonneau, and Jack drove just within the speed law to the +hospital. + +They found the injured man sitting up in bed, his great yellow beard +gleaming like gold. His head was bandaged but even the pallor induced +by the accident had not materially altered the ruddy glow of his thick +coat of tan. + +"So these are the boys who saved me," he said, extending a big, +gnarled hand. "Shake, pardners. The doc here tells me if I'd laid much +longer out there in the sun, there might hev been a first-class +funeral fer Zeb Cummings." + +"Oh, that's all right," said Jack easily. "I'm only glad that we came +along when we did." + +"Well, you sure acted different from them other varmints," said Zeb +with deep conviction. "The doc tole me all about it." + +His face suddenly grew grave as he changed the subject. + +"Did you find anything on the ground thereabouts after I got knocked +out?" he asked. + +"What sort of a thing?" asked Jack. + +"Oh, nothing that looked very valuable. Jes' a little lead roll with a +bottle full of what looked like black sand in it." + +"Got it right here," said Jack, producing the bottle which the +professor had given back to him. + +"Glory be!" exclaimed Zeb Cummings, as he took the lead-wrapped vial +as though it was something precious. "I was afeard that if anyone +found it they might hev thrown it away, bein' as it don't look as if +it amounted ter anything much." + +"Is it valuable?" asked Jack, who could not restrain his curiosity. + +"That's jes' what I don't rightly know," rejoined Zeb. "I reckon I'd +better tell yer how I come ter git it an' then you kin judge fer +yourselves." + +"We'd like to hear," said Jack, who had felt all along that there was +some mystery about the yellow-bearded giant. + +"All right! Sit down and I'll tell yer ther yarn. But say, who is yer +friend? No offense meant, ye understand." + +"This is Professor Jerushah Jenks," said Jack. + +"What, the guy that knows all about rocks and such like?" burst out +the miner. + +"I believe I have achieved some small fame in that line," said the +professor. + +"Wa'al if this don't beat pay dirt I'm a Piute," exclaimed the miner. +"Give us your hand, Professor. I was on my way ter see you when that +thar buzz wagon busted me higher nor a turkey buzzard." + +"On your way to see me?" echoed the professor in amazed tones. + +"Yes, siree bob, that very identical thing," was the bronzed miner's +reply. + +"But I don't quite understand. You see I----" + +"That's all right, Professor. We'll git down ter pay dirt direc'ly," +said the miner. "You know of the Scientific Society in Bosting, of +course?" + +"I am a member of that body, sir," was the dignified reply of the +little man. + +"Well, they giv' me your name. Said you was the biggest bug on rocks, +minerals and sich in the country and so I sets out to pay a call on +you." + +"But you were many miles from where I live," said the professor. "The +railroad, or the trolley----" + +"Don't carry folks for nothing," interrupted Zeb, "and nothing's my +capital right now." + +"You mean that you were walking from Boston?" asked the professor. + +"That's right," was the reply. "Landed there on ship from round the +Horn last week. Got paid off but some sneak thief in the boarding +house I was stopping at got my roll. So I had to hoof it." + +"But what did you want with me?" asked the professor. + +"I wanted you ter tell me ef that thar stuff in the glass tube is +worth anything or nothing," was the reply. + +"Why, do you know where there is more of it?" asked the professor, and +the boys could see that he was oddly excited, although preserving an +appearance of outward calm. + +"Yes, siree," was the emphatic reply. "I know whar thar's enough of it +to load a freight train." + +"Shades of Huxley!" gasped the professor, actually turning pale. "Do +you mean that?" + +"I sure do, Professor. It's all down on a map what Blue Nose Sanchez +give me afore he passed in his checks." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +A TALE OF THE COLORADO. + + +"Do you fully realize what you are telling me?" asked the professor. +The doctor and the nurse had left the room, and the miner, the +scientist and the boys were alone. + +"Course I do," was the rejoinder of the yellow-bearded giant with the +bandaged head. "There ought ter be a fortune in it 'cording to what +Blue Nose Sanchez said. Was he lyin', Professor?" + +"I don't think so. But tell us your story," urged the man of science. + +"Well, it begins some months ago. I was prospecting down along the +Colorado River. It was in a mighty bad place. Don't rightly know just +how I ever got thar, but thar I was. Wonder was I wasn't killed ten +times over 'fore I got to whar I was. But I guess I'm pretty tough. + +"That Colorado River is a pretty tough place down where I was. +Nothing but desert all around, and just a swift dashing current at the +bottom of a canyon that looks like it went into the middle of the +earth with steep, dark walls that seem to go straight plum up to the +sky. + +"But I was lured on by the thought of making a big strike. At last I +got down to a place where the banks was so high and steep that it was +like twilight even at noon. Grub was gittin' to be a question with me, +and I'd about made up my mind to turn back, but I thought I'd make one +more last try. + +"I set to work on a rocky bank with my pick but nary a color--that's +what we call a trace of gold--could I uncover. + +"Wa'al, says I to myself, it's up stakes fer you, Zeb, unless you want +to starve afore you git back to civilization. But as it was evenin' +then I decided to stay whar I was that night and strike back early the +next day. + +"Here's whar Blue Nose Sanchez comes inter ther story. They called +him 'blue nose,' I guess, because of a premature blast that had blown +powder into his nose and turned it that color. Anyway, he was a mighty +homely specimen. + +"It was just gittin' light in the canyon, although it must have been +broad day up above, when I hears an almighty hollering up the gulch. +The next thing I knows, round a bend comes a small boat. There's two +men in it. They must have been crazy to try to make the passage, for +the river is just a mass of rapids and whirlpools, and I never heard +of anyone trying to shoot 'em. + +"But thar was these two fellows in this boat, and they was scared, +too, I kin tell you. Wa'al, I stood thar like a stuffed pig on the +bank watching 'em as they came toward me at the speed of an express +train. Suddenly one of 'em, the chap that was trying to steer, twisted +the oar he was guiding the boat with and it cracked under his weight. +He went overboard in a flash. + +"The next moment, with a yell of fright that I kin hear yit, the boat +was hurried past me on that water that boiled like yeast in a kittle, +and in a flash it had disappeared round another bend. What became of +it I never knew, but it must have been upset and the man in it +drowned. No boat could have lasted long in that water, even with an +oar to steer it, and that was gone. + +"I waded out inter ther water as far as I dared and by some freak of +the current the man who had toppled out of the boat came within my +reach. I grabbed him and dragged him ashore, more dead than alive. I +done what I could for him and he came to after a while. That was how I +met Blue Nose Sanchez. + +"Well, sir, Blue Nose was a mighty sick man, even then. He had fever +and was a ravin' lunatic at times, but at intervals he made out to +tell me suthin' of his story. Him and his partner, a fellow he called +Foxy Joe, was on their way to find a little island down ther river +where no white man but only one had been. This man was a friend of +Foxy Joe's and the two met up in Yuma. Foxy's friend had a lot to tell +him about a wonderful island some Injuns had told him about whar +there was some sort of mysterious mineral. By what Joe could make out +this mineral was nuthin' more nor less than radium." + +"Radium!" exclaimed the boys. + +"That's right," went on the miner. "Foxy's friend allowed that there +was cartloads of it lyin' loose thar 'cording to the description the +Injuns give him, and he showed Foxy a sample of the stuff. That sample +is in this little lead-wrapped bottle. It's wrapped in lead 'cos +otherwise it 'ud make sores on you when you carry it about. It's +workin', workin' all the time, frum what I kin make out. + +"Well, 'cordin' ter ther way Blue Nose Sanchez tells it, Foxy and the +man who knew about the island and had a rough plan of it the Injuns +drew fer him, had a fight, and Foxy kills him, or thinks he has. Blue +Nose sees it and sees Foxy take the map and the little lead-wrapped +bottle off the body. He suspects somethin' and tells Foxy that he'll +give him up to the law if he don't let him in on it. So Foxy tells +him all about it and him and Sanchez, who was then a mule rustler, +agrees ter go partners and go git ther radium, or whatever it is. + +"They builds this boat, the one that disappeared, and in order that +Foxy shouldn't play no tricks, that bein' his disposition, Sanchez +'lows he'll take both the sample and the map. Foxy sees no way out of +it but to give in and that's the way it's fixed. + +"The boat is taken out of Yuma in sections and then put together in a +place whar nobody ain't likely to come nosin' around. Then they starts +out on what I guess was the most darn-fool enterprise any two locoed +fortune-hunters ever undertook. How it ended you know. They both got +fever, but Sanchez was the worst. He died that same evening, his +tumble in the water havin' made him worse. I buried him there as best +I could and then, as he had wished, I takes the sample and the map. + +"'Some day,' he told me, just afore he closed his eyes for good, +'you'll be glad you saved me, even though it was too late.' + +"Well, I beat it back and get out of the canyon more dead than alive +and finally make a small strike. I go to San Francisco with it and try +to git ther stuff analyzed, but everyone I tole about it laughed at me +and said I was crazy. So, thinks I, I'll come East. My money was about +all gone, so I shipped afore ther mast on a Cape Horn ship, and got +here. + +"Now, you have me tale, old top," grinned the good-natured miner, and +added: "Well, has my toe-and-heeling been worth its salt?" + +The professor nodded solemnly. + +"What is it?" cried Jack, his heart beating with a strange, wild hope. + +Tom and Zeb echoed Jack's eager question. + +"My friends," declared the little man of science pompously, "we have +reason to believe that a wonderful discovery has been made, namely, +Z.2.X." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +ZEB CUMMINGS. + + +"Z.2.X., the most radio-active stuff in the world!" exclaimed Jack. + +"I suppose that approximately describes it," said the professor, "but +what do you know about it?" + +Jack explained how ardently his father had wished for the missing +element to make his system of radio telephony the most efficient in +use. + +"Well, if what Sanchez said was true, and the map is right, there is +plenty of it right on that island," said the miner. + +"Yes, that may all be," objected the professor, "but how are you going +to get at it?" + +"Wa'al that's a poser. You can't reach it in a boat and you can't +reach it over the desert," said Zeb. "The country all round there is +dry as an oven and, anyhow, if you got to ther banks of ther Colorado +right by ther island ther's no way of gitting _down_ to ther island. +Sanchez says that the Injuns told Foxy's friend that a long time ago, +when first they found the stuff on the island, there was a way of +getting down to it. But an earthquake sunk the river bed and nobody +had been thar since the Injuns that found it. He said that they first +come to take notice of it by reason of the way it shined at night. But +only a few of the tribe would go near on account of their thinking the +place was haunted." + +"Have you got that map?" asked the professor. + +"Yes, if you'll reach my coat I'll show it you," said the miner. + +Jack gave him the ragged garment off a hook at the back of the door. +Zeb fumbled in the pockets for a minute and then brought out a knife. + +"A rip more or less won't make no difference," he said, and cut a +slash down the lining. There, carefully stowed inside, where it could +not be suspected, was a folded, time-yellowed paper. + +The miner opened it slowly and spread it out on the counterpane. The +boys, not without a sense of shock, noted a dark, rusty-looking stain +upon it. It struck them that the marks might be the life blood of the +treacherous Foxy's friend who had met a tragic end in Yuma. + +Zeb, with a broad and blackened forefinger, traced the course of the +Colorado. At length his finger paused at an island marked in red. +There was some fantastic Indian lettering, or sign-drawing, about it, +and underneath, in a white man's handwriting, were the words: +"Rattlesnake Island." + +"I reckon Foxy Joe's friend must hev written that in," commented Zeb. + +"It looks that way," said the professor, who had poured the sample of +mineral-bearing sand back into the vial and restored it to Zeb +Cummings. + +"Rattlesnake Island," repeated Jack. "Are there any rattlers down that +way?" + +"Yes, and gila monsters and tarantulas and centipedes," replied Zeb +cheerfully. "But you soon get used to 'em." + +Some other islands were marked on the map, but Rattlesnake Island was +the only one designated by name. + +"That must be the place whar all that stuff is, then," decided Zeb. "I +wish thar was some way of gittin' thar." + +"If there is even only a small fraction of the mineral-bearing sand +there," said the professor, "there's a fortune in it." + +"Wa'al if you can't git it out what good is it?" said Zeb +philosophically. "Anyhow, I'm glad that Sanchez spoke the truth with +his dying words. Maybe thar is some way, except by water, in spite of +what he said." + +"Maybe there is," said Jack. "It seems a shame to think of all that +rich stuff lying there neglected and unobtainable." + +"It does indeed," agreed the professor. "In that sample I find traces +of metals from which filaments for electric lights could be made and +substances invaluable in medicine for X-ray purposes as well as the +Z.2.X. which your father is convinced would make the radio telephone +as practical as the wireless telegraph." + +They would like to have stayed there all the morning poring over the +map and asking further questions of the rugged miner, but at that +moment the nurse came in and declared that the injured man must have +quiet. + +And so there, for the present, the matter rested. The professor +departed for his home greatly excited over the events of the morning, +but his excitement was a little allayed by the fear that he would be +late for his mid-day meal with dire results from Miss Melissa. + +As for the boys, they could talk of nothing else. The idea of that +lonely island, lying at the bottom of an unscalable canyon in the +midst of a burning, desolate desert, appealed powerfully to their +imaginations. Their minds were in a whirl over the strange coincidence +that had brought them in contact with a man who knew where possibly +inexhaustible supplies of the mysterious Z.2.X. lay ready for the +taking, provided it could be reached. + +"I'd give a whole lot to be able to fix up an expedition to go out +there and get that stuff," said Jack with a sigh. + +"So would I," agreed Tom. "But I guess, as Zeb Cummings said, it will +be a long time before anyone sets foot on Rattlesnake Island." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +IN THE LABORATORY. + + +That afternoon Jack broached to his father the events of the morning. +Mr. Chadwick's enthusiasm may be imagined as his son told him of the +professor's hasty analysis of the contents of Zeb Cumming's glass +vial. + +But there remained the insuperable obstacle of the remoteness of the +island where the deposits lay, and the difficulties--in fact, almost +the impossibilities--that barred the way. For the time being, however, +the matter was set aside while further experiments with the radio +telephone were conducted. As a means of increased transmitting power, +Mr. Chadwick had in mind a series of sending devices attached to one +mouthpiece. In this way he believed he could at least partially +overcome the resistance of the atmosphere, and get a higher percentage +of current. + +He had been working on the idea all the morning and was anxious for a +test. The Wondership was, therefore, wheeled out, and before long the +boys were in the air once more. As before, they sailed in the +direction of Rayburn. As they passed above the farm where they had met +with their adventure the day before, they turned to each other with a +laugh. + +Below them they could see men working on the damaged roof of the barn +and Tom burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter as he recalled +the queer sight the farmer presented dangling from the grapnel high +above his broad acres. + +"That reminds me," said Jack. "We must send him some money for that +roof." + +"How about his personal feelings?" grinned Tom. + +"I guess he wiped that score out when he blazed away at the balloon +bag." + +"Just the same, I think we'd better go pretty high up," advised Tom. +"He might fancy trying another shot at us." + +"That's so," agreed Jack, studying the men moving about far below. + +He pulled a lever and the Wondership began to rise. It was as well he +did so perhaps, for as they shot upward they could see that their +presence had been noted. They watched the men scurrying about and +pointing upward. But whether the Wondership was too high, or his +animosity had cooled after his involuntary ascension, the farmer made +no hostile demonstration, and they were soon out of Perkins' sight. + +Apparently the new device worked fine, for all through the afternoon, +at various heights and distances, they kept in perfect touch with Mr. +Chadwick. Every intonation of his voice was borne plainly to their +ears, Tom at times taking the wheel and the receivers while Jack +relieved him at the engines. + +The storm which had threatened the night before, still was hovering +about, as was evidenced by the white thunderheads piled on the +horizon. But the electricity in the air did not, as is sometimes the +case, interfere with the powerful impulses sent out from workshop and +airship. Although the air felt heavy, the instruments worked +perfectly. + +The boys flew over hill and dale for more than seventy miles prior to +any perceptible weakening in the current. But once it began to fail it +reduced rapidly until the messages were scarcely audible. But the +experiments were kept up till almost dusk, when Mr. Chadwick told the +boys to come back. + +As they returned the radio 'phones were kept working and as the +distance decreased the impulses grew stronger. + +"If only I had some of that Z.2.X.," said Mr. Chadwick, "I believe it +would be possible to send a message across the ocean or the +continent." + +Not long after this Jack heard again from his father. It was a +commonplace message enough. Sent merely to keep the air-line in +operation. + +"Here is Jupe with the afternoon mail," he said. + +"Anything for us?" asked Jack, enjoying the novel sensation of +talking through the air concerning such everyday matters. + +"Yes, there's one from Ned Nevins," was the rejoinder, "and here is +one for me from my New York brokers. Let me see--ah-h-h-h!" + +The last was a sharp exclamation, as if Mr. Chadwick had received a +sudden shock. It was followed by silence. Again and again Jack flashed +the red signaling lamp but there was no reply. + +He was seriously worried. The sudden sharp intake of breath, almost +like an outcry, that he had heard, oppressed him with a sense of +apprehension. What could have happened? Turning to Tom he called for +full speed ahead for the trip back. + +Tom was not slow in responding. He speeded the motors up to their top +capacity. In the air there were no speed laws to look out for, or +other motorists or pedestrians to avoid. It was a clear road. The +steel stays and stanchions of the stanch Wonder ship fairly hummed as +she shot forward, while an indefinable fear clutched at Jack's heart. + +He knew that his father was subject to fainting spells and he had been +overworking recently. Fast as the Wondership was cutting through the +air it felt like an eternity to Jack before the gray walls and the +well-laid-out grounds of High Towers came into view. + +The boys lost no time in landing, and not waiting to place the +Wondership in her shed, set out to look for Mr. Chadwick. Jupe came +shuffling by on his way from the cornpatch. + +"Where's dad, Jupe?" asked Jack. + +"In his labveroratory, ah reckons," answered the old colored man. +"Leastways ah ain't obfustucated any obserwations ob him round der +contagiois atmosferics." + +"Come on, Tom," said Jack. "Let's get to dad's workshop as quick as we +can." + +"Why, Jack, you--you don't think that anything has happened to him, do +you?" asked Tom. + +"I don't know. He was talking quite cheerfully to me and then, +without any warning, he gave a sort of gasp and then everything was +silent." + +The next minute the boys entered the workshop of the inventor. + +Jack's worst fears were realized as they gazed at the scene before +them. On the floor, stretched out inanimate before the radio telephone +apparatus, lay Mr. Chadwick. His right hand grasped a letter. + +His head lay in a pool of blood, oozing from a cut at the back of his +head. + +"Dad! dad! What has happened?" cried Jack, in an agony of alarm, as he +fell to his knees at his father's side. + +But Mr. Chadwick did not answer. The next moment Tom's shout for help +brought everybody about the place running toward the workshop where +the alarming discovery had been made. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +INTO THE STORM. + + +"Carry him into the house and get him to bed," cried Mrs. Bagley, the +housekeeper, wringing her hands distractedly. "Oh dear! poor +gentleman, he's bin a-workin' too hard, that's what's the matter." + +Jupe and Hank Hawkins, the handy man, picked the unconscious man up +and carried him to bed, where he was made comfortable. + +Jack and Tom made an investigation of the workshop. At first the cut +on Mr. Chadwick's head had given Jack the impression that he might +have been the victim of foul play. + +But a brief survey of the place soon dispelled these conclusions. When +he fell, the inventor struck his head against the sharp corner of a +table right behind him, Jack concluded, and in this way inflicted the +wound. + +The letter that his father had been reading when he was stricken +still lay on the floor. Jack picked it up. It was from the brokers in +New York, the same missive Mr. Chadwick had referred to over the radio +'phone just before the silence that so alarmed Jack. + +Glancing over it Jack's eyes widened. He perceived at once that the +cause of his father's sudden attack no doubt lay in the shock he had +received when he opened the envelope. The letter was curt and to the +point. + +"Your securities wiped out in panic," it said. "Wire us and advise +what to do." + +That was all, but it was enough. Jack knew that most of his father's +money was invested with the firm that had written the letter, and now +they had been wiped out in a money panic. Jack had no idea how much of +his father's fortune was affected, but it was evident from Mr. +Chadwick's collapse that he had been dealt a heavy blow. + +He was in the midst of talking to Tom about the letter when the +housekeeper came running from the house. + +"Oh, here you boys are!" she exclaimed. "You must get Dr. Mays at +once. Those red drops he gave your father are finished and I can't +find any more." + +"I'll telephone," said Jack promptly, stuffing the letter into his +pocket. + +"I've already tried that," said Mrs. Bagley, "but the line is out of +order." + +"Can't we get some other doctor?" asked Tom. + +Mrs. Bagley shook her head. + +"Dr. Mays is the only one who understands your father's case," she +said. "You must get him as soon as possible." + +"Is dad conscious yet?" asked Jack anxiously. + +"Yes, he has been trying to tell me something but I won't let him +talk." + +"We'll get Dr. Mays right away," said Jack, but then he suddenly +recollected that the electric car was slightly out of order. There +would be no time to stop and repair it then. + +Luckily the Wondership still stood outside the shed. Five minutes +later the boys were soaring aloft, bound for the doctor's house, which +was some distance away. It was not till they had fairly started that +they noticed the change in the weather. + +The thunderheads they had seen earlier in the day now spread and +covered the whole sky with a dark pall. The air was very still, as if +nature was holding her breath. Far off, though in plain view, the sea +was lying like a smooth sheet of steel-gray velvet. A sailing ship, +with sails flapping, was becalmed some distance from shore. + +"Going to rain," said Tom. + +"Worse than that, I think," said Jack. "We're in for the storm that's +been making up for two days now." + +"Well, we can get there and back before it breaks." + +"Easily. Let those motors out, Tom, we want to make good time." + +It was oppressively hot, and had it not been for Jack's anxiety he +would have enjoyed the swift cooling passage through the thundery air. +But he was strangely troubled. Did that letter mean that his father +was on the verge of ruin? + +Suddenly he bethought himself of Ned Nevins' letter. He opened it, +having pushed it into his pocket when they entered the workshop, where +Mr. Chadwick had placed it before opening the ominous epistle from his +brokers. It was a friendly, chatty note from the boy, and enclosed the +checks covering the joint dividends of Jack and Tom in the +Hydroaëroplane Company. + +"Well, at any rate, that's something," declared Jack to Tom, as he +handed him the letter and his check. + +"Yes, but if Uncle Chester is ruined, it's only a drop in the bucket," +said Tom. + +"Well, it's no use crossing your bridges till you come to them," said +Jack, "and anyhow, that letter may be only a false alarm. I've heard +they get these financial panics in Wall Street just like kids get the +measles, and they get over them as quickly." + +"I trust it will be so in this case," said Tom. + +"So do I," said Jack hopefully, but a cold fear that his father was +ruined possessed him, and made his heart feel heavy as lead. + +Suddenly, from the purple firmament, came the sound of distant +thunder. Following it a puff of wind, hot as the exhalation of an +opened oven, blew in their faces. In the distance they saw a ragged +streak of lightning tear the cloud curtains. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE "LIGHTNING CAGE." + + +"Look at that, will you!" exclaimed Tom. + +"What, you are not scared, are you?" asked Jack. + +"N-no, but I must say I'm not fond of thunderstorms Particularly when +we are carrying all that gas over our heads." + +"That new invention of mine will take care of that all right," said +Jack confidently. + +He referred to a new device of his with which the Wondership was +equipped for protecting balloon bags from lightning. In a thunderstorm +a balloon, or gas-filled dirigible, is subject to sudden variations of +electric charge which, under certain conditions, might produce sparks +leading to its annihilation. + +More especially was this the case with such a craft as this +Wondership, carrying as she did so much metal and steel wiring. The +netting of the bag, with the idea of making it as conductive as +possible, was of metal, connecting with the other metal parts of the +craft so that when a steel drag rope was lowered to the ground a +discharge of lightning striking the balloon would be passed off +harmlessly into the earth, as is the case with a lightning conductor. + +It might be supposed that making the outside of a balloon a good +conductor would invite danger from lightning. But the Boy Inventors +knew that this was not the case. While the ordinary balloon envelope +is a fairly good insulator against low voltage, it is unable to resist +the high tension of atmospheric electricity. + +Jack ascertained these facts by touching an electroscope with a bit of +balloon cloth of the kind used on the Wondership, and charged with +2,000 volts of electricity. The electroscope instantly responded. + +This showed that the balloon bag increased the electrical tension +immediately above and below it as much as it would do if it was a +perfect conductor, but the destructive action of a lightning bolt +would be greater in proportion to the resistance opposed to it. So +that, in reality, Jack's device was one of the safest that could be +imagined for protecting balloonists in a heavy storm. + +In effect, the occupants of the Wondership were enclosed in a cage. +Lightning might zip through the wires and stays, but it could not +touch them. As to the danger of letting out gas through the valve in a +strong electric field, which is almost certain to produce sparks, the +boys did not have to worry about that for to deflate the bag they +simply pumped some of its contents back into the reservoir with the +powerful gas pumps. + +But after all, Jack's device had never been tested. It looked as if it +was due to be. The wind came in sharp puffs, now hot and now cold. + +Ragged, white clouds, like wind-driven fragments of filmy lace, began +to whip across the dark heavens. The sea turned a peculiar light +green and was flecked with whitecaps. + +"We're in for it," said Jack. "Better get up the storm curtains, Tom." + +While Jack steered, Tom drew up the waterproof curtains and top which, +in rainy weather, made the Wondership quite dry and weather-tight. +Mica portholes gave light inside this extemporized cabin, and enabled +the steersman to see. + +This had hardly been done when a wild gust of wind struck the +Wondership and sent it staggering off its course. But in a jiffy Jack +regained control of the craft and headed her straight for the white +house occupied by Dr. Mays, which could now be seen, its lofty cupola +poking up above the trees surrounding it. + +"Glad we're nearly there," said Tom. "I don't much like this." + +"We're O.K.," Jack assured him. "We went through a lot worse than this +in that circular storm in Yucatan." + +"Can't we drop and run along the road?" + +"It's much longer by the road than by the air line, and remember we +are in a big hurry." + +"That's so. But we've got the return trip ahead of us." + +"Well, if it gets too bad, we'll have to come back by road," said +Jack, "but I haven't got a doubt that she'll stand anything that will +come out of this storm." + +Crash! + +The sky was rent from end to end by jagged lightning. With a deafening +roar the thunder broke, rumbling and crashing in the sultry air. + +S-w-i-s-h! + +The rain came in torrents, tearing at the storm curtains. It beat +frantically at them with a noise like that of surf on a beach. But +inside the boys were snug and dry, and the Wondership forged steadily +forward. It was a weird experience for the boys. About them the +artillery of heaven thundered and flashed. They could see each other's +faces and the black outlines of their craft in the livid flare of +flash after flash of lightning. + +Jack, with his hands firmly gripping the steering wheel, anticipating +every move of the storm-tossed Wondership like a skillful pilot, felt +his pulses throb. There was something fine in battling with the +elements like this in a stanch craft they had perfected. He felt that +no other airship then in existence would have been able to keep up the +fight. + +All at once there came a crash that drove his eardrums in. The +Wondership staggered and then seemed to leap into lambent flame. +Blinded, Jack threw his hands before his eyes, utterly forgetting for +the minute the steering wheel. + +Tom gave a shout of alarm, as he felt the craft stagger as if dealt a +mortal blow, and then begin to drop earthward. + +"We've been struck!" he yelled in panic. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THROUGH THE AIR. + + +For the fraction of a second the faculties of both boys were +paralyzed. A tingling sensation was in their limbs. Jack was the first +to recover his wits. He snatched his hands from his eyes and seized +the wheel. In a jiffy the Wondership's earthward plunge was checked. +Once more she regained an even keel. + +"Wh-what happened?" stuttered Tom anxiously. + +"We were hit by lightning," replied Jack. + +"Goodness! I thought we were goners, for a minute." + +"I confess that I did, too. But I guess the 'electric cage' worked. +Everything seems to be shipshape." + +Jack was right. Thanks to his ingenious invention, the lightning, +which had struck the aircraft, had been diffused through the safety +"cage" and safely convoyed to the earth by the ground chain made of +light manganese bronze, which had been lowered when the storm broke. + +"Just the same I don't want to get hit again," said Tom. "I thought +for a minute the world had come to an end." + +"My fingers are tingling yet," said Jack, "and I can see stars, but I +think if it hadn't been for the cage we would have likely been blown +to smithereens." + +By this time they were almost over the doctor's house and extensive +grounds. Jack manipulated the Wondership against the storm, flying in +a circle, and snapped on the powerful searchlight. With the help of +its rays he picked out a good landing place, and having set the pumps +at work abstracting gas from the bag, they soon made a good landing. + +Doctor Mays stood on his porch as they left the ship and ran through +the downpour for the house. + +"Gracious, boys!" he exclaimed, "but you certainly gave me a fright. +I thought when that bolt hit you that you were going to be +annihilated." + +"How did it look from below?" asked Jack. + +"As if you were enveloped in blue flame. Then suddenly a ball of red +fire slid from the ship to the ground----" + +"Down the conducting rope," put in Jack. + +"And exploded with a loud bang when it struck the ground," continued +the doctor. "But all's well that ends well, and now tell me what +brings you here, for I know it must be urgent business or you'd never +have ventured through such a storm." + +Jack hastily told the doctor of his father's stroke. The medical man +looked grave. + +"I'll go with you just as soon as I can pack my bag," he said. "Your +father had been overworking. I warned him of what would happen if he +did not rest up, some time ago, but he has, seemingly, disregarded my +advice." + +In a few minutes the doctor, muffled up in a raincoat, was ready to +start. But he stipulated that the run to High Towers should be made by +the road. + +"I like excitement as well as anybody," he said, "and I've been up in +your Wondership before----" + +"When it was the Roadracer," interpolated Jack. + +"Exactly; but I must confess that when I saw you a short time ago +looking like a floating ball of fire, I lost my taste for aërial +travel." + +"We'll go back by road, then," said Jack, as through the rain, which +was falling in torrents, they ran to the Wondership. + +"My, but you have it snug in here," said the doctor, as he entered the +tight, waterproof cabin. + +"Hang up your coat, doctor," said Tom, and he took the physician's +dripping mackintosh and slung it on a hook attached to one of the +stanchions. Then the start was made, with the bag partially deflated +and lying in limp, wet folds on its framework. + +Through the night, under skies fretted with lightning, the Wondership +shot forward. Out on the open road Jack ordered full speed, the great +searchlights illuming the roadway as if it were day. He felt little +apprehension of meeting other vehicles. The night was too bad to +permit of any save emergency traveling. + +The roads were deep in mud, and water spurted up from the wheels of +the flying car as it raced through the storm. But seated snug and dry +in the cabin none of them bothered about this. Little was said. Jack +had to concentrate his mind on handling the Wondership, for driving +under the conditions, and at such speed, required all the +wheel-handler's attention. + +On and on they flew, down hills and over bridges, under which, +ordinarily, quiet streams flowed, but now swollen by the rains, they +boiled and raced like angry torrents. They flashed through villages +and past farmhouses without encountering a soul, while overhead the +tempest roared and raged and flared. + +They were shooting down a hill at top speed when Jack suddenly gave a +gasp. Right in front of them, vividly outlined in the searchlight's +glare, was an obstacle. A big wagonload of hay, covered with a +tarpaulin, and deserted by its driver who, despairing of mounting the +hill in the storm, had unhitched his horses and driven off till the +weather cleared. + +The wagon was in such a position that it blocked the road, which was +sunken between high banks at that point. Jack ground down his brakes +in chagrin. + +"Blocked!" he exclaimed disgustedly. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +VAULTING TO THE RESCUE. + + +"What awful luck," muttered Tom. + +"Isn't there any way we can get by?" inquired the doctor anxiously. +"It's important that I should reach Mr. Chadwick as soon as possible." + +Jack made no reply, but bent over the gas-valve. In an instant the gas +was hissing into the balloon bag. Its wet folds swelled out, and +presently Jack started the propellers. Like a racehorse leaping a +barrier, the Wondership rose skyward. + +"Hold fast!" cried the boy in a triumphant voice. + +"Wow!" yelled Tom, "there are more ways of killing a cat than by +choking it with cream." + +The next moment the Wondership was in the road on the other side of +the hay wagon, having hurdled it like a high jumper, and was once more +on her way. + +"Jove, you boys are marvels!" exclaimed the doctor. "Is there +anything you can't do with this craft, or auto, or whatever it is, of +yours?" + +"Lots of things, I guess," said Tom, "but we haven't found many of +them yet." + +At uninterrupted speed the journey was resumed. At times so swift was +the pace that the Wondership seemed to be half flying. Thanks to her +shock absorbers, but little motion was felt, although in places the +roadway had been washed out by the torrential downpour and was very +rough. + +"Whereabouts are we?" shouted Tom, as they rushed along. + +"Near the Coon Creek Bridge," flung back Jack over his shoulder. "We +ought to sight it at any moment now." + +He peered through the blackness ahead. The searchlights failed to show +any bridge. But the young driver saw an abandoned cottage by the +roadside which had formerly been used as a toolhouse. Just beyond it +he knew the bridge should loom up with its white railings. + +But there was not a sign of it. + +Not till it was too late to stop did Jack realize what had happened. +The bridge had been washed away by the rising waters of the creek and +he was tearing at top speed for the steep banks. + +It was a moment for lightning thinking. Right ahead loomed a black pit +which he knew marked the water course. + +Suddenly it flashed into Jack's mind that in former times, before the +bridge had been built, there had been a ford at the point. + +The banks, steep elsewhere, almost wall-like in fact, were still +graded at the place where the old crossing spot had been. + +He jerked over the steering wheel with a suddenness that threatened to +overturn the Wondership. The auto-craft plunged wildly to one side and +then rushed downward. + +Before he realized it, Jack had steered her into the rushing waters of +the swollen creek. + +"All the power you've got," he cried to Tom, as the Wondership +careened and tipped madly and then recovered an even keel. Jack headed +her up stream while Tom, who hardly knew what had happened, blindly +obeyed orders. + +Jack's chief fear was that the rush of the torrential water would +carry him too far down to make a landing on the opposite side of the +old ford. In that case they would be in a bad fix, for the creek ran +for some distance between steep walls of limestone rock. + +It was a hard struggle. The twin propellers beat the air furiously, +clawing the Wondership up stream, while the water hissed and roared +all about her, and the engine labored with a noise like that of a +giant locust. + +And then, almost before he knew it, and before either Tom or the +doctor realized in the least what had happened, they found themselves +safe on the other side. They had gained the opposite slope of the ford +with hardly an inch to spare, but that was enough. + +The Wondership sped up the bank as if glad to be free of the battle +with the swollen creek, and not half an hour afterward they rolled up +to High Towers. + +Dr. Mays was met almost tearfully by Mrs. Bagley. + +"How is he?" was his first question. + +"He seems to be better, doctor, but something is worrying him," said +the worthy woman. + +"I'll go up to him at once. You boys had better stay here," said the +doctor. + +The physician was upstairs a long time. When he came down he looked +grave. + +"Is dad any better?" asked Jack anxiously. + +"He is suffering from a nervous breakdown due to overwork," said the +doctor. "The cut on his head is a mere flesh wound. But he appears to +have something on his mind. Do you know what it is?" + +Then, and not till then, for in the rush of events he had completely +forgotten it, Jack remembered the letter from the brokers. + +"Dr. Mays," he said, "you are an old friend?" + +"I hope so, my boy. You may confide in me freely if you know any +reason for your father's disquiet." + +"If you will read this, doctor, you will understand," and Jack handed +him the letter. + +Dr. Mays read it with knitted brows. + +"So this explains it," he said as he returned it to Jack. "Your father +kept muttering about foolish speculations and ruin, but would not tell +me what he meant. Now it is all clear. Poor Chadwick, I'm afraid from +what he said that his fortune, all but a small amount, is wiped out." + +"But will he get better, doctor?" asked Jack anxiously, disregarding +the monetary aspect of the affair. + +"That all depends," said the doctor seriously, "on his freedom from +anxiety." + +"You mean that he must not worry over money matters?" + +"Precisely; but, as that letter states he is ruined, it will be hard +to set his mind at rest. If there were only some way of meeting the +situation!" + +In the crucible of that moment an idea was borne to Jack that was +destined to lead him into strange paths. + +"I think I know of a way," he said quietly, "that is, if the brokers' +message is not exaggerated." + +But it was not. The next day confirmatory reports arrived of the wreck +of Mr. Chadwick's fortunes. In his room, attended constantly by Dr. +Mays, his friend as well as physician, the inventor raved of his +losses. + +"We have got to think of some way of easing his mind," said Dr. Mays, +who had placed his regular practice in the hands of another doctor so +that he might be with Mr. Chadwick. "If only his fortune could be won +back." + +"I think I know of a way," said Jack quietly. + +The doctor stared at him as if he thought the boy had taken leave of +his senses. + +"You know of a way?" he questioned incredulously. + +"Yes, sir. At least if the information Tom and I have on the subject +is correct." + +"I don't follow you," said the puzzled doctor. "Your father has lost +thousands." + +Jack nodded. + +"I know all that," he said. + +"And yet you are prepared to get it back?" + +"I said I thought there was a possibility," was Jack's quiet reply. + +"And what may that be?" + +"Did you ever hear of Z.2.X., doctor?" was the entirely unexpected +question. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +"Z.2.X." + + +"Z.2.X.? Well, such things are rather out of my line, but I have heard +of it--yes," replied the doctor, looking more puzzled than ever. "But +what do you know about it?" + +"Till two days ago--nothing," replied Jack, "but now I believe that I +know where there is a trainload of it." + +"Good heavens, boy, you don't know what you're talking about. Why, the +stuff is as valuable--as valuable as radium. Possibly it is worth +more." + +"Then even a small quantity would restore my father's fortune and his +health?" asked Jack, persisting in his line of inquiry. + +"Undoubtedly it would restore his fortune, and in my belief his +health, which he is unlikely to gain otherwise." + +"Then I'll do it," said Jack, speaking for himself and Tom, for the +two lads had discussed the idea the night before. "Those dividends +from our share of the hydroaëroplane plant will fit out an expedition, +and if we fail--well, we can still sell out our interest and help dad +get on his feet again." + +The telephone bell jangled. Jack answered it. The voice that came over +the wire was that of Professor Jenks. His tones trembled with +excitement as he spoke to the boy. + +"I have analyzed that sample from the Colorado River," he said. + +"Well, what is your verdict?" asked Jack, with a painfully beating +heart. + +"That when all the expenses of reduction and refining and +transportation and digging are deducted that it will be worth at least +$100 an ounce," was the reply. "It would bring an even higher price, +for the placing of a large amount on the market will probably have the +effect of lowering it." + +"Great Scott!" breathed Jack, "and there's a whole island of it there +for the taking." + +"Yes; but how are yow going to get it? The cliffs are unscalable, the +river unnavigable. It might as well be in Mars for all the good it +does anyone," objected the professor. + +Jack's next words were direct, to say the least. + +"I've figured out all that," he said. "We can get it, if it's there to +be got. I've a reason now for going out there if it's possible to come +to some arrangement with Zeb Cummings. Can you meet me at the hospital +this afternoon to talk over the matter?" + +"Are you serious?" gasped the professor. + +"Perfectly," Jack assured him. "If we can't get at it by earth or +water we can reach it from the air, can't we?" + +"Heaven bless my soul, I never thought of that," choked out the +professor. "I--Melissa's calling me. I'll meet you at the hospital +this afternoon." + +"Tom and I will be there," said Jack, but the professor, at the +imperious bidding of Melissa, had hung up the receiver. + +The result of the conference held that afternoon at the bedside of Zeb +Cummings was the formation of the Z.2.X. Exploration Company, the +members being Jack, Tom, Zeb Cummings and the professor. The capital +was to be furnished in equal amounts by the professor and the boys, +and Zeb Cummings was to be an equal partner in the enterprise, he +having furnished the information on which Jack hoped to rehabilitate +his father's fortunes. + +As for the professor, he did not so much regard the pecuniary side of +the expedition as the opportunity he would have to write an +epoch-making book and confound his scientific rivals. In their +enthusiasm, the adventurers did not take into consideration the fact +that the map might be wrong, or that the strange metals be just +visionary deposits. The boys' enthusiasm drowned all doubts in their +minds; Zeb and the professor never were as optimistic. + +Dr. Mays, when he had been placed in full possession of the facts and +considered them, decided that under the circumstances the boys could +go and undertook to quiet any apprehensions Mr. Chadwick might have +concerning the trip. It was found that enough had been saved from the +wreck of the inventor's fortunes to enable him to live comfortably +while the boys were away, besides which he had royalties from several +inventions coming in. Still, the bulk of his fortunes had vanished and +the radio telephone was not yet a practicable instrument to put upon +the market. + +But with Z.2.X. the boys hoped to make it a perfect transmitter of +speech over great distances. + +Of course, Jack's plan was to utilize the Wondership on the enterprise +of finding Rattlesnake Island and its treasures. After long +consultations with Zeb, who was now convalescent, it was decided to +ship the craft, in sections, to Yuma on the Colorado River and make +the start secretly from some point below there. + +It was in the midst of these plans, and while the boys' workshed was +littered with lists of provisions and equipment that Dick Donovan +injected himself into the situation. The red-headed young reporter +descended upon them one day when they were busily packing the +Wondership away in big crates, which were labeled in various ways so +as to give no inkling of the contents. + +Of course Dick, being in a way a member of the firm, had to be told +what was going on, and the result was that after a lot of hard +pleading the boys consented to allow him to come along. + +"He's got red hair," said Zeb, "and that ought to make him good on the +trail, same as a buckskin cayuse." + +The boys didn't quite see the logic of this, but they knew from former +experiences that the young reporter was a good campmate, and they +were, on the whole, glad that they had included him. But when young +Donovan came to High Towers, he was not aware that he was followed by +Bill Masterson, who, as we know, was the son of the proprietor of the +_Boston Moon_, on which paper young Masterson also worked as a +reporter. + +Ever since Dick Donovan had written for his paper, the _Boston Evening +Eagle_, the wonderful story of the boys' adventures on the trail of +the giant sloth of Brazil, other Boston reporters had regarded him as +worth watching. In some way, young Masterson learned of Dick's +frequent visits to High Towers while the preparations for the Colorado +trip were going forward. + +"It's my idea," he told his father, "that those Boy Inventors are +planning another big stunt and that Dick Donovan is to go along and +write the story. Do we want to get beaten again?" + +"We do not," said his father, a heavily-set, dictatorial man, +perpetually at war with the _Evening Eagle_. "That last beat of +Donovan's on the Brazil story jumped the _Eagle's_ circulation sky +high." + +"Well, why not let me trail along after them and find out what I can?" +said young Masterson. "No use letting the _Moon_ get soaked again, and +besides, I want to get even on those young fellows, anyhow, for the +mean trick they played in having me arrested, even if it didn't come +to anything, and the case was dropped. + +"Jove!" he cried suddenly, as a new train of thought was suggested to +him. "I'll bet I've got it. This trip, or whatever it is, they are +planning has something to do with that miner, Zeb Cummings, the chap I +ran down." + +"Well, it's worth keeping a weather eye on, anyway," decided his +father. "I guess you'll get the assignment." + +"And I'll run it down, too," declared young Masterson boastfully. "I +owe that red-headed, chesty Donovan a grudge anyhow." + +That evening young Masterson met by appointment the two youths who had +been with him in the automobile the day that Zeb was run down. They +were both sons of wealthy men, and had more money than was good for +them. Masterson found that both Sam Higgins and Eph Compton were +willing to do all they could to harm the boys who had been responsible +for their arrests, and so it came about that Jupe, on his way to the +village to post some letters, was enticed into talk one night, and +while he was chatting and accepting the good cigars three amiable +young men pressed upon him, the mail was abstracted from his pocket. + +There were two letters, one from Dick to his city editor telling him +of the progress made and informing him of the day for the start, and +the other from Jack to his father, who was a guest of Dr. Mays. Jack +gave full details of their plans and other information concerning the +trip, so that the three plotters, a few days before the expedition set +out, knew as much about it as the boys themselves. + +Armed with this information, Masterson, Higgins and Compton had no +difficulty in getting money from their parents, all of whom would have +described themselves as "keen business men." As for Jupe, he was too +badly scared to say anything about the loss of the letters, and as +Masterson, after steaming them open and abstracting what he wanted of +their contents, posted them to their proper destinations, the boys +started out on their long journey west without the slightest idea that +anyone but themselves and one or two others knew of their plans. + +The professor's going was not unaccompanied by difficulties. Miss +Melissa had insisted that if he was to accompany the expedition, she +was going along, too. This being manifestly impossible, the man of +science was driven to the subterfuge of placing a bag of fossils in +his bed to represent him. On the night of the start, Miss Melissa +looked into his room every few minutes to make sure he had not +escaped. + +It was not till morning that she discovered that the man of science +had effected his escape through his bedroom window, climbing down a +latticework to the ground. At first she was half inclined to pursue +him, but thought the better of it when she read the note the professor +had left behind. + +"Well," said Miss Melissa to her little maid, "there's one good +thing--he won't be cluttering up the house with old stones and rocks +for some time to come." + +"What shall I do with them fossils what he put in his bed to make +believe it was him, miss?" asked the maid. + +"You may throw them into the creek at the back of the house, Mary," +said Miss Melissa, and went placidly about her dusting and sweeping +and "setting to rights." + +But of all this, the professor, on the train speeding westward, was +blissfully unconscious. Perhaps even if he had known it, he would not +have cared much, for even his scientific mind was warmed and thrilled +by the prospect of the aërial search for the mineral treasures of +Rattlesnake Island. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +ON THE BORDER LINE. + + +The long train of gray-coated coaches, filmed with the arid dust of +the desert, rolled into Yuma, the little town at the junction of the +Gila and Colorado River, popularly supposed to be the hottest place in +America. The boys, glad that their long journey had come to an end, +felt that it was living up to its reputation as they alighted and +stood in the blistering heat while their personal baggage was thrown +off. + +The professor, however, was quite oblivious to the scorching rays of +the afternoon sun. He darted about seeking specimens, and he had soon +gathered up quite a collection of small rocks. In the meantime Zeb +Cummings, who was quite in his element, had helped the boys get their +things together and see them loaded on a mule wagon which rattled them +off to a small hotel, for they did not want to make themselves any +more conspicuous than was necessary. + +The boys wore gray flannel shirts, khaki trousers, stout high boots +and broad-brimmed hats, and had fastened red handkerchiefs round their +throats to keep off the sun from the back of their necks. Zeb had a +similar outfit. + +The professor, however, still wore his baggy black garments, his only +concession to the heat being a big green umbrella, which looked like a +gigantic verdant mushroom. As they drove off in a rickety sort of bus, +having with difficulty persuaded the professor to leave off specimen +hunting for a while, the boys did not notice that from the opposite +side of the train three young men had alighted who, from a point of +vantage behind a water tower, watched their movements. + +The trio were Bill Masterson and his two cronies, Sam Higgins and Eph +Compton. + +"Well, here we are, Eph," said Bill, as they watched the boys drive +off. + +"Yes, and here they are, too," grunted Eph. + +"I'm glad we've got here at last, though. Keeping out of sight on +that train was beginning to get on my nerves." + +"Same here," said Sam Higgins, stretching himself. "But I guess we +succeeded in keeping ourselves hidden all right." + +"Sure," rejoined Masterson. "They haven't a notion we are here." + +In the meantime the lads found accommodations till the next day at the +small hotel on a back street where Zeb had insisted on their coming so +as to escape observation. Yuma is full of prospectors and miners, and +every stranger in town is suspected of having some sort of a scheme, +he explained, and as a consequence is closely watched. + +Zeb's first care, therefore, was to circulate a story that the +professor, a noted savant and geologist, was going into the desert +with his party to collect specimens. This appeared to satisfy the +landlord, who was at first inclined to be curious. + +The professor had hardly been shown his room before he was out again +with his hammer and satchel and his attention was almost at once +attracted by a big stone that held up one corner of the barn at the +back of the hotel. The boys knew nothing of what he was doing till +they heard a loud, angry voice crying: + +"Hey, you in ther preacher's suit! Quit tryin' ter pull thet thar barn +down, will yer?" + +"But, my dear sir," came the professor's voice, in mild expostulation, +"are you aware that you have built your barn on the top of a splendid +specimen of primordial rock?" + +"Don't know nuthin' about a prime order of rock," came back the other +voice. + +The boys looked out of the window. They saw the landlord of the hotel, +a surly-looking fellow, with a big black mustache and tanned cheeks, +striding across the yard to the professor, who had blissfully resumed +his chipping. + +The landlord reached out one brawny hand to grab his guest, when +something happened that made him temporarily cease hostilities. A big +chunk of rock suddenly flaked off under the professor's assault. It +flew in the air and the next instant a yell of pain apprised them that +the landlord had got it right in the eye. + +The professor looked round as the man emitted a bellow of rage. + +"Bless me, where did that bit of rock go? Ah, there it is! Right at +your feet, sir," and he darted forward with a smile of satisfaction +and, picking up the chunk of rock that had struck the indignant +landlord, placed it in his satchel. + +"Thank you very much for stopping it, sir," he said, with a bow, and +then, before the thunderstruck landlord could say anything, the +scientist strolled off under his umbrella in search of more specimens. +The boys fairly choked with laughter. + +But the landlord was too dumfounded even to speak for a minute. His +face grew as purple as a plum. He appeared to be about to burst. + +"He's locoed," he burst forth at last, "locoed as a horn toad, by the +'tarnal hills." + +Then, holding a hand to his eye, he reëntered the hotel and could be +heard shouting for hot water to bathe his injury. + +Zeb, who had been out looking for a trustworthy man to take their +effects out to a spot along the river where they could put the +Wondership together without exciting undue curiosity, returned shortly +before supper with news that he had been successful in his search, an +old, wrinkled prospector named Pete McGee, who had learned the secret +of silence during the long years he had spent on the desert. + +After the evening meal old McGee put in an appearance and a bargain +was struck. But if he was, as Zeb put it, "close-mouthed" on some +subjects, he was not on others. + +"So yer are a'goin' out inter the desert, hey?" he asked the boys. + +"That's our intention," said Dick. + +The old man shook his head. + +"The desert's a tough place," he said. "A mighty tough place. Reckon +it's likely yer are er goin' prospectin', maybe?" + +The boys returned an evasive answer. But old McGee rambled on with the +crisscross wrinkles forming and fading round his washed-out blue eyes. + +"Wa'al, I had my share on it, ain't I, Zeb?" said the old man to Zeb, +who had just strolled up, smoking a short, black pipe. The professor, +after adjusting his difficulties with the landlord, was sorting and +labeling specimens in his room. + +"Reckon you have, Pete," responded the yellow-bearded miner. "You +didn't never find that thar lost Peg-leg Smith mine, did yer?" + +"No; but I will some day," declared the old man, a fanatic gleam +shining in his faded optics. "I'll find it some day, Zeb. I never got +to it, but I come mighty close--yes, sir, ole Pete he come mighty +close." + +"Tell the boys about Peg-leg Smith's lost mine," suggested Zeb. + +"Give me the fillin's, then, an' I will," said old Pete, holding out +a blackened and empty corncob, "though I'm surprised they ain't never +heard on it. Thought everybody had heard of Peg-leg's mine." + +"Wa'al, you see they come frum ther East," explained Zeb +apologetically. + +"Ah, that accounts fer it," said old Pete indulgently. "You couldn't +'spec Easterners ter know nuthin' 'bout it. 'Wa'al, young sirs, +somewheres out on the desert ter the east uv here thar is three buttes +a stickin' up, and right thar is Peg-leg Smith's lost mine whar they +say the very sands is uv gold. + +"Who was Peg-leg? Wa'al, that's in a way not very well known. Anyhow, +his name was Smith, and he was shy an off leg, and so he gets his +name. Back in 1836 Peg-leg he blows inter Yuma with a party of +trappers that hed worked down ther Colorado. + +"They decides to quit trapping and go ter gold huntin', and makes +their way up the Gila River and then cuts off inter ther desert. Frum +Yuma they goes southeast and kep' on fer four days across the desert. +At ther end of the fourth day they 'lows that ther water ain' a-goin' +ter hold out a turrible lot longer, and they decides to look fer a +water-hole in a canyon at ther end uv which stands three lone buttes +sticking up, like sentinels against ther sky. + +"Wa'al, they hunts ther canyon through but nary a drop of water. In +time they reaches ther buttes. They climbs to ther top ter see what +might lay beyond, but they see nuthin' but ther same God-forgotten +country. + +"But Peg-leg, who fer all he was minus a limb, could travel with any +of 'em, he finds at the top of the southernmost butte a lot of chunks +of black rock lying round promiscous, an' some of them has specks an' +chunks of yaller as bright as Zeb's beard on 'em. Peg-leg he opines +ther yaller is nuthin' but copper, or maybe fool's gold. + +"That night they camps, feelin' considerable blue, fer ther's mighty +little water left an' they've come too far ter go back. But in ther +distance thar's a big mountain and they make up their minds they'll +find water thar or bust and wither on the desert. + +"Ther next evening, more dead than alive, they reaches the mountain +and finds a little spring. It was ther finest thing they'd seen fer a +long time, and in honor of Peg-leg, who suggested going to ther +mountain, they calls it Smith Mountain, and that's its name to this +day. In time they worked round to San Bernardino and then Smith he +hunts up a mineral sharp who tells him that what he had found was +gold. + +"Wa'al, Smith was a curious feller, frum all accounts, and it was not +till '49 when ther big gold rush came that he thought much more about +those three buttes with the gold lying round loose as dirt on 'em. +Then he got ther gold fever. He went to 'Frisco and gets up an +expedition to find them three buttes. + +"They got down inter ther desert country all right and locates Smith +Mountain. But the dern Indians they had with 'em as guides cleaned +out the camp one fine night, and they had a hard time getting back to +civilization alive. Well, that's where Peg-leg Smith goes out of the +story." + +"Wasn't he ever heard of again?" asked Jack. + +"No, siree, not hide nor hair on him. Nobody never knows what became +of him arter they got back to San Bernardino. Some says that he went +back alone lookin' fer the three buttes and was lost in the desert and +that his bones is out thar some'eres to-day, an' others says that he +got so plum disgusted he went back home to St. Louis. But nobody +rightly knows. + +"The next heard of ther three buttes was many years later when an +Indian, who worked on Governor Downey's ranch, not far from Smith +Mountain, developed a habit of goin' away fer a few days and then +comin' back with bits of black rock chock full of gold which he traded +fer firewater and such. He didn't seem ter care if he got full value +or not. + +"'Plenty more where those came from,' he'd say. + +"Wa'al, they set a watch on him and found that he always headed off +inter ther desert by way of Smith Mountain, which would be the nat'ul +way of gettin' ter ther three buttes that Peg-leg had described. + +"Guv'ner Downey he come to hear about this in course of time, and he +come down frum Sacramento to question ther Injun. But in ther meantime +ther pesky coyote had gone and got himself killed in a quarrel over +cards and so there they was up agains' a blank wall ag'in." + +The old prospector paused to fill his pipe. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +"THE THREE BUTTES." + + +"The Injun bein' dead, the guv'ner did the nex' best thing. He +questioned his squaw. But she couldn't tell 'em much 'cept that the +Injun told her he got his last water at t'other side of Smith Mountain +and then traveled toward ther sun till erbout mid-afternoon when he +found mucho, mucho oro. + +"The guv'ner made two or three tries to locate them buttes, but he +failed. Then come along a man named McGuire, who said he knew where +the buttes was and showed black rocks with gold in 'em to prove it, +jes' like the ones Peg-leg and ther Injun had found, they was. Well, +McGuire he gets five other dern fools and off they starts and that's +the end of them. They ain't never heard of ag'in. + +"Then comes a prospector who gets lost, and in hunting for water +finds these same three buttes and the black, gold-specked rocks that +are scattered about. But he wasn't bothering about gold just then, so +he keeps on and in time finds the water hole at the foot of Smith +Mountain. + +"He comes back to Los Angeles and tries to organize a company to go to +ther three buttes. But he falls ill and when he learns he's goin' ter +die he tells Dr. De Courcy, that's his physician, that he knows whar +Peg-leg's lost mine is an' gives him a map an' directions. Arter ther +man dies, Dr. De Courcy spends all his money trying ter find ther +buttes, but he fails. Then comes a young chap named Tom Cover of +Riverside. He's wealthy and fits out a dozen or more outfits to hunt +fer ther three buttes. But after setting out on his twelfth trip he +never comes back, so they know that Peg-leg Smith's mine has claimed +another victim." + +"Is there anything to prove that Peg-leg really ever found the Three +Buttes?" asked Tom, whom this romance of the desert, like his +companions, had strangely interested. + +"You tell 'em, Zeb," said the old man. "Likely they wouldn't believe +me." + +"Proofs?" said Zeb, "plenty of 'em. The records of the old Bank of San +Francisco show that McGuire deposited thousands of dollars' worth of +gold nuggets there, and my old dad knew Peg-leg Smith and saw the +black rocks with the gold fillings that he brought out uv ther desert. +Them three golden buttes is out thar somewhar's, and some day +somebody's goin' to locate 'em and then there'll be another +millionaire in the country." + +Old McGee chuckled over his pipe. It was clear that, ancient and +feeble as he was, he still believed with all the fanaticism and +optimism of a prospector that he would be the one to find the three +buttes of gold. + +"It stands ter reason thar's gold out thar," declared old man McGee, +waving his pipe about argumentatively. "Ther good Lord never made +nuthin' thet wasn't of some use, even ther fleas on a houn' dawg, for +they keep him frum thinkin' uv his troubles. Very well, then, the +desert is good fer nuthin' else but mineral wealth, and Providence +made it so plagued hard ter git at so that everyone couldn't git rich +at oncet." + +The boys had to laugh at this bit of philosophy, but as they went to +bed they could not help thinking of the toll of lives the great barren +stretches of the Colorado desert has exacted from gold-seekers. In +Jack's dreams he seemed to be traversing vast solitudes of sand and +desolation dotted with bleaching bones, and he woke with a start to +find that it was daybreak and that Tom was shaking him out of his +sleep. + +Below, old man McGee was ready with his team and had already got on +his wagon some of the crates from the freight shed. They made a hasty +breakfast and then started out. There was hardly anybody about and +they congratulated Zeb on his strategy in conducting affairs with such +secrecy. + +But as they passed into the outskirts of the town, where the Mexicans +and Indians lived, Dick Donovan uttered a sudden exclamation. + +"Hopping horn-toads!" he gasped. + +"What's up?" asked Jack, who sat beside him. + +"Oh, nothing," said Dick, "the wagon gave an extra hard jolt, that was +all, and I thought my head was coming off." + +But the cause of Dick's exclamation had been this: From behind a +squalid hut he caught sight of three shadowy figures, dimly seen in +the half light, apparently watching the wagon and its occupants. + +They quickly withdrew as they saw Dick looking at them, but not before +the young reporter had received a startling impression that one of +them at least was familiar to him. The wagon drove out over the desert +and rumbled along till it came to a deep arroyo, or gulch, in which +stood a deserted, bleaching hut. + +"This is the place," said Zeb. + +"Sure, you can stay thar fer a year an' a day an' nuthin' but +tarant'las an' rattlers ull ever bother ye," said old McGee +cheerfully. + +The cases they had brought were quickly unloaded and lowered into the +arroyo which led down to where they could see the turgid flood of the +Colorado flowing between low banks. For at this spot the river is a +very different stream from what it is above and below, where it makes +its way to the Gulf of California between unscalable walls of cliffs +and is a succession of cruel rapids and unpassable falls. + +When old McGee drove back for the second and last load, for the +Wondership was constructed so as to "take-down" very compactly, Dick +elected to go with him. When they arrived at the freight depot the +young reporter took the first opportunity to wire his paper in Boston. + +"Find out if Bill Masterson is in town," was the substance of his +message. + +They were not to return to the camp till after the mid-day meal, so he +had plenty of time to receive an answer. This is it: + +"Masterson and two others left for the West five days ago." + + * * * * * + +"The same day that we did," mused Dick. "I wonder--but no, I'm sure. +One of those three figures lurking behind that hut was Masterson, and +he's planning some mischief, sure as a gun." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +INTO THE BEYOND. + + +"Well, this is something like camping," said Tom that evening, +stretching himself out luxuriously under a mesquite bush. + +"See here, young feller," said Zeb, who by unanimous consent had been +put in charge of the adventurers. "Are you on a pleasure trip, jes' +dropped in as a visitor like, or air you a part of this expedition?" + +"I guess I'm a part of it all right," said Tom, with rather a sheepish +grin. "At least I was under that impression." + +"Same here," said Zeb dryly. "Thar's lots to be done yet afore we're +all shipshape fer ther night. Ther's lamps ter be filled and tent +ropes set right an' then I want a trench dug around ther tents." + +"What's the trench for?" asked Jack, who had been busy with the three +tents, for they had decided on Zeb's advice not to use the old +roofless shack to sleep in. + +"No tellin' what kind of varmints, from skunks to rattlers, ain't +makin' a hotel out of it," he said, "not to mention tarant'las, which +has a most unpleasant bite, and scorpions and centipedes that ain't +much nicer bedfellows." + +This was quite enough to make the boys willing, nay anxious, to set up +the waterproof silk tents. + +"What's the trench for?" asked Zeb. "Well, if it should come on ter +rain in ther night it'll keep us dry to have a trench round each +tent." + +"Rain!" exclaimed Tom incredulously. "Why, it doesn't look as if it +ever rained here." + +"It doesn't, not more'n about two inches a year," rejoined Zeb, "but +when it does you'd think ther flood gates uv heaven had been ripped +wide open." + +"Do you think it will rain to-night?" asked Jack. + +"It looks uncommon like it," answered Zeb. "See them clouds off there +yonder?" + +He pointed to some heavy-looking masses of vapor hanging above a dim +range of saw-backed mountains off to the east. + +"In my opinion they're plum full of rain," he said. + +"In that case we'd better get ready with the trenches," declared Jack. +He picked up one shovel and gave another to Tom. The latter made a wry +face but said nothing. Tom liked hard work no better than most boys, +but he realized that the work had to be done, and so tackled it with +the best grace he could. + +Secretly he wished himself to be with Dick Donovan, who had been +assigned to go fishing to see if he couldn't get "something" fresh for +supper. The professor, as usual, was off somewhere collecting +specimens. + +But the task of digging the trenches was not as arduous as it had +appeared. The sand was soft and yielding, and the shovels made rapid +work with it. Soon a fairly deep trench was dug round each of the +temporary shelters. + +By the time the lanterns had been filled, and Zeb had cut a goodly +stack of mesquite wood, everything was ready to begin preparations for +supper. + +"We'll have a blow-out to-night," said Zeb. "Canned salmon, beans, +crackers, cheese and canned fruit, but don't expect to get that right +along. I've lived on beans and bacon for six months in this very neck +of the woods, and thought myself lucky to get that." + +"Hullo!" came a cry from the direction of the river. + +"There's Dick!" exclaimed both boys, and then as the young reporter +came into sight, "What luck, Dick?" + +"What do you know about this?" and Dick held up a fine string of +glittering fish. There were catfish, perch and two eels. + +"Good; we won't go hungry," said Zeb. "Nothing better than fried eels +and catfish." + +He greased the frying pan with a strip of bacon rind and then skinned +the scaleless catfish and eels as if he had been doing nothing else +all his life. Soon the savory odors of the frying with crisp slices of +bacon, and the aroma of coffee, filled the camp. + +The boys were so busy setting out the tin cups and plates that it was +not till Zeb beat on a tin basin with a spoon to announce that the +evening meal was ready that anyone noticed that the professor was +missing. Night was closing in and the sky was overcast. + +The boys began to worry. They set up a loud shout. + +"Pro-fess-or! Oh, pro-fess-or!" + +The little gulch rang with it. But no answer came. + +"Now what in the world has happened to him?" frowned Jack. "We must go +and find him at once. He must have----" + +[Illustration: Soon the savory odors of the frying with crisp slices +of bacon, ...filled the air--_Page_ 208.] + +The sentence was never completed. At that instant Zeb set up a shout, +and a ton of earth and rocks, more or less, came hurtling down the +steep bank into the camp. The stones and dirt were mingled with +mesquite bushes and in the midst of the landslide was a figure that +they made out to be the professor. + +Luckily, the avalanche had missed the camp-fire and the supper table, +and when they had extricated the professor, and brushed him off, the +boys learned that he had almost missed his way, and being +shortsighted, in the dark had walked right over the edge of the +steepest part of the arroyo instead of by a sloping path up above. + +However, nothing was injured about him but his feelings, and since his +bag of specimens was intact, the man of science, after a few minutes, +was able to sit down and eat with as good an appetite as any of them. + +Zeb proved himself a good weather profit. About midnight it started +raining, and such rain as the boys had never seen. It was not rain. It +was sheets of water. Even the waterproof tents began to leak, and the +fact that the trenches had been dug did not serve to keep the floors +dry, for the hard, sun-baked earth did not absorb the moisture, and +the downpour speedily spread half an inch or more of water over the +ground. + +"Turn out! turn out!" shouted Dick, who shared one of the three tents +with the boys. + +"What's the matter?" began Tom sleepily, and then splash! went his +hand into the water. + +"Gracious, has the river overflowed?" demanded Jack. + +"No, but it's raining handsaws and marlin spikes," cried Dick. "Wow! +my bed's wet through." + +"Same here," cried Jack ruefully. "I guess we'd better get out of +this." + +Outside they found the professor hopping about barefooted in the +water. He had on his pajamas with a blanket thrown round his shoulders +for protection against the rain. The boys, despite their discomfort, +could not help laughing at the odd figure. Zeb joined them, grumbling: +"We made a big mistake in camping in this arroyo. + +I ought to have had better sense. It's nothing more nor less than a +river. All the desert up above is draining into it." + +It was true. The water was almost ankle deep. Luckily, the old shanty +in which their supplies were stored was raised above the ground, and +the goods were all covered with a big waterproof canvas. + +"Let's camp out in the shanty till daylight," suggested Jack. + +"That would be a good idea if it had a roof," commented Zeb dryly. + +"Why can't we spread some of the canvas over us?" asked Tom. + +This was finally done, and thus passed most of their first night on +the desert. Yet none of them complained, but made the best of it. The +boys knew that it is the wisest plan to meet all camping mishaps with +a smiling face. + +By morning the rain had ceased. The sky was clear and the sun shone +brightly. Their wet bedding and garments were soon dried and then the +work of unpacking the sections of the Wondership was begun, for they +were anxious to have the job completed and be on their way as soon as +possible. + +Old McGee had told the truth when he said they would not be molested. + +An old Indian jogging by on a spavined horse and wrapped in a dirty +blanket was the only person they saw all day. He was looking along the +arroyo for a strayed burro. He stared at them in stolid silence for a +while and then rode off, shaking his head. No doubt he was at a loss +to account for such strange goings on. + +That evening when Dick took his line down to the river, he met with +unusually good luck. He had just added a fine carp to his pile of fish +when, chancing to look up, he saw a boat coming round the bend. + +In the craft were three figures, one of whom he recognized instantly +as Masterson. The recognition was mutual and Masterson, who had the +oars, started hastily to pull away from the place. But Dick shouted to +him. + +"Don't let me drive you away," he cried. + +Masterson shouted back something about "fresh kid" but kept pulling up +the stream, and soon he was round the bend and out of sight. + +"Now, I wonder what he is doing out here?" mused Dick, "and those two +cronies of his. They look sort of shady to me." + +He cudgeled his brains to find a reason for the presence of Masterson +so far from home, but was unable to arrive at any solution till an +idea suddenly struck him. + +"They're out here trailing us," he muttered. "Yes, I'm sure of it. But +how in the world did they ever learn our plans? I guess I'll get back +to camp and put the rest on their guard, for we don't want any spies +hanging about, and those fellows were out on a spying expedition or I +miss my guess." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +THE START FOR THE UNKNOWN. + + +But the days went by, and the Wondership stood once more assembled and +ready to take the greatest flight of her career, and no further sign +of the three worthies, whom Dick suspected of designs against them, +appeared. Zeb went to town once or twice, using a small burro for a +saddle animal. Jack heard from his father, who said that he was +progressing well, but was very much worried over money matters. + +"If only you can find the Z.2.X.," he wrote, "we can all be happy +again." + +"I will find it," Jack murmured to himself, as he concluded reading +the letter, and passed it over to Tom for his perusal. + +Dick helped with the Wondership and spent the rest of the time fishing +and hunting. He managed to get a few rabbits, but there was no other +game in the vicinity. It was too barren for deer, although it was said +there were plenty of them further down the river. The young reporter, +who had quite a mechanical genius of his own, constructed a rough sort +of boat out of boards from the walls of the old shack, and used it on +his fishing expeditions, "punting" it along with a long pole made from +a willow sapling from a grove on the river bank some distance below +where they were camped. + +One afternoon the fancy took him to pole up the current and round the +bend below which Masterson's boat had appeared the evening Dick saw +and recognized the son of the _Moon_ proprietor. + +He had not gone that way before and was surprised to find that, +instead of the low banks that edged the river where the boys were +camped, round the bend were steep, almost clifflike acclivities on +both sides of the stream. In places these were honeycombed with caves, +running back, apparently, some distance into the bank. Although Dick +did not know it, these caves had once been the dwelling places of an +extinct tribe of Indians. + +The boy was surprised to see smoke coming from one of them, for he had +supposed that they were uninhabited. + +"Maybe there are Indians up there," thought the boy. "I guess I'll +give them a look, and maybe get a good picture," for Dick invariably +carried his camera with him on the chance of getting a good snapshot +at something or other. + +A rough path led up to the cave and it was well worn by feet which +had, apparently, traversed it recently. Dick reached the entrance of +the cave and peered in. + +It was deserted; but to his astonishment he saw, from the way it was +fitted up, that whoever lived in it were not Indians. Blankets lay on +the floor, and the smoke was coming from a fire which had been used +for cooking and was dying out. The utensils were not such as Indians +use, being made of agate ware. Then, too, he noticed some old coats +and other garments hanging on nails that had been driven into the +wall. + +As his eyes grew more accustomed to the light, he saw a suitcase in +one corner. There were initials on it. Dick made them out to be W. M. + +'"W. M.'? Who can that be?" he mused. "Whoever lives here is a white +man, that is plain. But why is he a hermit? Anyhow, I'd better be +getting out of this before he comes back. I've really got no business +in here at all." + +At this juncture he heard voices coming from the river. They were +punctuated by the dip of oars. As he heard the speakers outside, +Dick's mind suddenly realized who "W. M." was. + +"What a chump I was not to think of it before!" he exclaimed. "It's +William Masterson, of course, and that's his voice outside. Gee +whillakers, they must have camped here on purpose to spy on us." + +Just then it occurred to Dick that he was, as a matter of fact, spying +on Masterson. He went to the cave door. Below was a boat containing +Masterson and his two friends. They had apparently been to town for +supplies, for the boat was full of canned goods and provisions. + +Just as Dick got to the door Masterson spied the home-made boat lying +on the bank at the foot of the cliff. + +"Say, fellows," he exclaimed, "somebody's been paying us a call." + +"Some thieving Indian, judging from the looks of that boat," said Sam +Higgins. + +"Well, we're not receiving callers of any kind right now," sputtered +Eph angrily. + +Dick crouched back into the doorway of the cave. He was trying to +think what to do. It was an awkward situation. He didn't want to be +caught in what looked, on the face of it, like an act of spying, and +yet he didn't wish Masterson and his cronies to think him a coward. + +"Say, fellows," spoke up Higgins suddenly, "you don't think it could +be one of those kids from the camp below, do you? They may have seen +us snooping around there at night and got wise to where we are +hiding." + +"It had better not be one of them," said Masterson in a loud, +threatening voice. "If I catch him, I'll break every bone in his +body." + +"I guess I'll have a fight on my hands," muttered Dick. "Well, serves +me right for butting in," he added philosophically. + +"Let's go up and see who it is?" said Eph. "He must be in the cave." + +"You go first," said Sam Higgins, who was not over-brave, "it might be +a bad man or an Indian." + +"Pshaw, I'm not afraid!" said Masterson. "Give me your pistol, Sam, if +you're scared." + +"I'm not scared, but there's no use running into trouble," said Sam. +"Besides I'm kind of lame. I think I--er--wrenched my ankle getting +out of the boat." + +"I guess you wrenched your nerve," sneered Eph. + +Then, headed by Masterson, with the pistol in his grasp, they began +to ascend the pathway. Dick was in a quandary. But he decided that the +only way to tackle the problem was to take the bull by the horns. As +Masterson reached the mouth of the cave the boy dashed out like a +redheaded thunderbolt. + +Taken utterly by surprise, Masterson stepped back. + +Bang! + +The pistol went off in the air and the next instant Masterson, despite +his efforts to save himself, toppled off the narrow path and went +rolling down the bank into the river. Luckily for him, he was a good +swimmer, and struck out lustily as he came to the surface. + +"Wow!" yelled Dick, and charged like a young buffalo at Eph. + +Young Compton tried to strike him but Dick, with lowered head, charged +him in the stomach. With a grunt Eph fell back, and in his fall +knocked over Sam Higgins, just behind him. + +"Whoop-ee!" shouted Dick, rejoicing in his triumph. He leaped over +the recumbent forms of Eph and Sam and dashed down the path to the +place where he had beached his boat. + +He jumped on board and poled off just as young Masterson reached the +shore and pulled himself out of the water. + +"You infernal young spy!" shrieked Masterson, beside himself with +rage, "I'll get even with you for this, see if I don't!" + +Sam and Eph, who had picked themselves up, shouted other threats at +Dick. But he turned round and, with a pleasant smile, waved a hand as +the current carried his boat round the bend. He felt in high good +humor at the way he had gotten out of a difficult situation. It was +fortunate for him, though, that he had taken Masterson and his cronies +so utterly by surprise, otherwise the adventure might have had a +different conclusion. + +He had established one fact, however, and that was that Masterson and +the others were spying on them every night and watching every step in +their preparations for the departure for Rattlesnake Island. + +That night a strict watch was kept in the camp, all the adventurers +taking turns at sentry duty. But nobody came near the place. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +THE PROFESSOR'S SECOND DILEMMA. + + +Early the next day old man McGee paid them a call. He came to take +back the burro they had hired from him for convenience in getting back +and forth from Yuma. He also wanted to get a ladder which had been +left at the deserted shanty. The old man rode into camp on a +razor-backed horse and professed great astonishment when he saw how +nearly completed the work on the Wondership was. + +"But you kain't fool me," he said knowingly. "I may be old but I'm +wise. That thing fly? Why, you might as well tell me the Nat'nul Hotel +in Yuma could go kerflopping about in the air. By the way," he went +on, "frum ther talk in ther town you ain't ther only ones as is goin' +down ther river. There's three young chaps has bought two boats and +allows that they're fixin' to take a trip." + +"Is that so?" exclaimed Jack with a significant look at his chums. "I +think we can guess who they are." + +But old man McGee was busy fussing with the donkey and didn't hear +him. He was going to carry the ladder back to town on the little +creature's back. He lashed the ladder across the saddle so that it +stuck out on both sides of the burro, who viewed the proceedings with +a kind of mild surprise. It brayed loudly and flapped its long ears in +a way that made the boys laugh heartily. + +"There," said old man McGee at last, "that's done. Now I reckon I'll +bid you so-long and good-luck, and be on my way. When are you goin' +ter start?" + +"To-morrow morning," replied Jack, "if everything is all right." + +"Hold on a minute," said Tom suddenly, as old man McGee was riding +off. "I've got a notion for some rabbit pie. Give me the rifle, Dick, +and I'll go a little way with Mr. McGee, as far as that little willow +wood where you got the cotton-tails." + +"All right," said Dick, "and tell you what I'll do. I'll come, too. I +can borrow Jack's rifle." + +"It's in the tent," said Jack. "Take good care of it." + +"I'll do that," promised Dick. + +Jack and Zeb went back to their task of putting the finishing touches +on the Wondership, stocking her lockers with provisions for the +Rattlesnake Island trip, while old man McGee, accompanied by the two +boys, rode out of the camp. + +The professor was away collecting specimens somewhere and had not been +seen since breakfast time. + +The donkey, carrying its odd burden, walked behind old McGee's horse +and the boys kept pace alongside, listening to the old prospector's +everlasting stories of how some day he would strike it rich. His faith +never wavered. He believed implicitly that eventually he would make +the "big strike" and live in affluence for the remainder of his life. + +The willow grove, where Dick went rabbit-hunting, was up the river and +on its banks far away from the water nothing grew but cactus, +greasewood and mesquite. As they neared it the monotony of the walk +began to pall on Dick. He wanted to have some fun. + +He fell behind and took a magnifying glass from his pocket. It was one +he used in his photographic work. Holding it up he focused the sun's +rays through it so that they fell in a tiny burning spot on the +donkey's back. After a few seconds the heat burned through. The donkey +gave a loud bray and kicked up its heels wildly. + +Before old man McGee knew what was happening, the creature had jerked +the rope by which he was leading it out of the old man's hand and +dashed off toward the willow wood. + +"Hey, come back, consarn ye!" shouted old McGee. "What's the matter +with ther critter, anyhow? He's gone plum daffy." + +Dick, doubled up with laughter, watched the circus. There was the +donkey with the ladder across its back racing at full speed toward the +wood, and after it came old McGee on his bony old horse, shouting at +the top of his voice. + +Straight for the wood the donkey raced, kicking up its heels and +braying loudly. It dashed in among the trees of the willow wood and at +the same instant there came an appalling yell from among the trees. + +"Gracious, what's happened now!" gasped Tom, and then catching Dick's +laughing eye, he exclaimed: + +"Dick, this is some of your work!" + +"Maybe," said Dick, still choking with laughter, "but what on earth is +happening in the wood?" + +"Help! Lions! Help! They're after me! Help!" + +The cries came thick and fast. + +"It's the professor," choked out Dick. + +"He says there are lions in there," cried Tom, looking rather +alarmed, but at this juncture something happened to the donkey that +momentarily distracted their attention. In trying to pass between two +saplings the animal had bumped the ladder against them and brought +itself up with a round turn. But it still struggled forward and kept +up its braying: + +"Cotched, by ginger!" shouted old man McGee. He galloped toward the +runaway donkey, but the next moment a curious thing happened. + +In pressing forward, the donkey had bent the saplings over with the +ladder until it became entangled in their branches. Suddenly the +animal ceased struggling and the saplings sprang up, no longer having +any pressure on them, and the donkey was fairly lifted from its feet +and carried up into the air. And there he hung, threshing about with +his hoofs and suspended from the ladder. At the same instant the +figure of the professor emerged from the wood. He looked rather +sheepish. + +The boys ran up to him. + +"What's the matter, professor?" asked Dick. + +"Yes, you called for help," added Tom. + +"Um--er--ah did I call?" inquired the man of science. + +"You certainly did. You scared us almost to death," said Dick. + +"Something about lions," added Tom. + +"Lions--er--did I say _lions_, boys?" + +"You did," Dick assured him. + +The professor gave a rather shamefaced smile. He looked at the donkey +suspended from the ladder between the two straightened saplings. + +"Um--er--perhaps it would be better to say no more about it," he said. +"I do not suppose that I am the first man to have been scared by a +sheep in wolf's clothing." + +"Or a donkey in a lion's skin," chuckled Dick. + +In the meantime old man McGee had arrived at the donkey's side and was +scratching his head to think of some way to relieve it from its +predicament. The boys solved the problem for him by cutting the +branches that held the ladder and Mr. Donkey came down to earth. The +professor, with rather a red face, had gone back to his work of +collecting specimens, which the arrival of the long-eared beast had +interrupted in such a startling manner. + +"Thar, I hope that's taught you some sense," said old man McGee, as +the donkey was once more on terra firma. As he rode off, Dick burst +into shouts of laughter. His little joke had certainly turned out to +be better than he expected and for many days after that he had only to +slyly introduce some talk about a lion to cause the professor to look +at him in a very quizzical way. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +THE UPPER REGIONS. + + +The boys were up with the sun the next day. It was the morning which +was to witness the start of the flight for Rattlesnake Island. +Everything about the Wondership was in readiness for the enterprise, +and there only remained the tin breakfast utensils and the tents to be +packed when they had concluded the morning meal. + +Naturally excitement ran high. The hunt for the island, too, might be +a long one. But they felt that ultimately they would find it, that it +would not be like the three buttes of Peg-leg Smith. + +When everything was declared ready, Jack opened the charging-tube of +the gas reservoir and poured in some of the volatile powder that made +the lifting vapor. In fifteen minutes the gauge showed a good +pressure in the tank and the valve was turned. + +In the hot sun the balloon bag expanded quickly. At length the bag was +almost full. + +"Everything ready?" cried Jack, at length, when all were on board. + +"Ready," said Tom at the engines. + +"Then off we go!" + +Tom pulled the clutch lever and the propellers whirled. Jack gave the +steering and controlling wheel an impulse and like a huge bird the +Wondership shot up. But she rose slowly, for besides the unusual +number of passengers, she was also carrying a great weight in +supplies. + +As the craft rose three figures watched it from under the concealment +of a clump of mesquite. + +"There they go, boys," said Masterson, for it was he and his two +cronies. + +"Yes, they're off for Rattlesnake Island," sneered Eph. "I hope they +get bitten." + +"I'll bet they don't dream that we know everything about their +plans," chuckled Sam. "I'd like to get even with that red-headed kid." + +"Well, you'll get a chance before long," declared Bill Masterson. "I +don't see that there's any use in hanging around here any longer," he +went on. "The thing to do now is to get our boats and go down the +river." + +"Won't they be astonished when they see us," said Eph. + +"Maybe they'll try to chase us away. They outnumber us," said the +timid Sam. + +"They'd better not," vaunted Bill Masterson. "I guess we've got as +good a right to that old island as they have." + +"That's right," echoed Eph, following his leader's sentiments. "I +guess they haven't got any mortgage on it." + +Viewed from the Wondership, the desert spread out below was a +wonderful panorama. Through it, like a deep wound, the Colorado cut +its way and far beyond were the pale, misty outlines of mountains. As +they flew onward, the character of the scenery began to change. + +The river appeared to sink, while mighty walls, of most gorgeous +colors, cliffed it in. The rocks glowed with red and yellow and blue +like a painter's palate. But this was only in the deep canyon. On +either side the desert, vast and unlimited, stretched away grayly to +the horizon. + +"It must have taken centuries for the river to have cut such a deep +valley," said Tom, looking down as they flew far above it. + +"Some say that the river didn't cut it," said Zeb. "They claim that +there was a big earthquake or some sort of a shake-up, and that made +that big hole in the ground." + +Below them they could see birds circling above the swiftly racing +waters flecked with white foam. So far no sign of land answering the +description of Rattlesnake Island had come in view. But several small, +isolated spots of land were encountered, and on one, which looked +something like Rattlesnake Island described on the map, they +descended. + +The boys were delighted at the way the great Wondership settled down +into the canyon and then came to rest on the back of the island round +which the water rushed and roared. They scattered and ran about on it, +enjoying the opportunity to stretch their legs. + +Jack, Tom and Dick took a rifle along with them and they were glad +they had done so, for as they made their way through a patch of brush +a beautiful deer sprang out and dashed off. Jack had the rifle at his +shoulder in a minute and the creature bounded into the air, as the +crack of the report sounded, and then fell dead. + +The boy felt some remorse at having killed it, but he knew they would +be in need of fresh meat and some venison would be a welcome addition +to the ordinary camp fare. The boys carried the deer back and Zeb +skillfully skinned and quartered it. While he was doing this, the boys +speculated as to how the animal could have come to the island. + +Zeb set their discussion at rest by explaining that it had probably +swum the rapids to escape a mountain lion or a lynx. He said that he +had often shot deer under similar conditions. As it was almost noon, +they decided to wait on the island till they had eaten lunch. Zeb +sliced off some venison cutlets and cooked them to a turn over hot +wood coals. The boys thought they had never tasted anything better +than the fresh meat. + +While the plates and knives and forks were being washed and put away, +the professor wandered off on his perennial quest of rocks and +specimens. He said that he would be back in a short time but was +anxious not to miss the opportunity of finding some possibly rare +stones. + +But everything was ready and the boys were waiting impatiently half an +hour later, and there was no sign of the professor. + +Suddenly they heard his voice shouting to them from the distance. + +"What's he saying?" asked Jack. + +"Hark!" admonished Tom. + +The professor's shouts came plainly to their ears the next minute, +borne on a puff of wind that swept through the canyon. + +"Help! Help!" was the burden of his cries. "Get me out!" + +"Now, what's happened to him?" demanded Zeb, with a trace of +impatience. + +"I don't know, but he must be in trouble of some sort," cried Jack. + +"Maybe it's another donkey," mischievously suggested Dick. + +The cries were redoubled. They waited no longer but started off across +the island on the run. Zeb carried his big forty-four revolver. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +A MUD BATH. + + +The ground was rough and rocky but they made good time. Bursting +through a screen of trees from beyond which came the professor's +piteous cries, they received a shock. + +The man of science was in the center of a large, round hole full of +black mud that bubbled and boiled and steamed as if it were alive. All +that was visible of the professor was the upper part of his body. + +Seriously alarmed, the boys shouted to him to keep up his courage, and +that they would get him out. + +"How did you get in?" asked Zeb, cupping his hands. + +"I fell in," rejoined the poor professor. "The ground gave way under +my feet. Hurry and get me out, it's terribly hot." + +They looked about them desperately for some means of extricating him +from his predicament. But just at the moment none was offered, and +with every struggle the professor was sinking deeper in the black, +evil-smelling pool of mud. + +"Gracious, what are we to do?" cried Jack in despair. + +"He's too far out to reach him," said Zeb, equally at a loss. + +"But we must do something," chimed in Tom. + +Suddenly Zeb had an inspiration. A tree grew on the banks of the mud +volcano, the sudden caving in of which, under the professor's weight, +had precipitated him into it. + +"If I could get out on that branch," said Zeb, "I might be able to +bend it enough to bring my feet over him and then work back toward the +edge of the mudhole." + +"It's worth trying--anything is worthy trying," agreed Jack. + +Zeb took off his coat and then shinned up the tree. Then, hanging by +his hands he began working out along the branch. As he went it bent +till it hung right over the mudhole. Before long his feet dangled +above the professor's head. + +"Now then, professor," panted Zeb, "take hold on my feet and work +along toward the edge of the hole with me." + +The professor seized Zeb's boots with the grasp of a drowning man. The +branch cracked ominously. + +"Easy thar, professor," warned Zeb earnestly. "Don't pull more'n you +can help or we'll both be in the soup." + +The professor lightened his grip and slowly, hand over hand, Zeb began +the slow journey back along the branch. It was a feat only possible to +a man whose muscles were of iron. And before it was over even Zeb was +almost overcome. Perspiration streamed from his forehead and soaked +his shirt as he dropped from the branch, having accomplished the +journey and pulled the professor to the bank. + +[Illustration: The professor seized Zeb's boots with the grasp of a +drowning man.--_Page_ 240.] + +"That's what I call toeing a man out of trouble," punned Dick, in +the general relief that followed. + +"Good thing it warn't no further," puffed Zeb, mopping his forehead. +"My arms feels as if they'd been stretched on one of them racks you +read about in the history books." + +"How did it happen, professor?" asked Jack, as they scraped the mud +off the scientist. + +"It's hard to say," was the response. "I was walking along, intent on +my collecting, when I came to a barren patch of ground that was +crusted over with stuff that looked like salt. I stepped out on it to +investigate and suddenly in I went. Faugh! how it smells." + +"Yes, it isn't exactly perfumed," said Jack. "But how did such a place +come there?" + +"It's one of those mud-springs of hot water that are found in several +places throughout the West," said the scientist. "It must have been +quiescent for some time and then the thin skin of alkaline earth +formed over it. In Europe, or if we had that spring near a large +city, it would be possible to make a fortune with it." + +"In what way?" asked Dick. + +"As a curative bath," replied the professor. "Every year people spend +fortunes to go to Europe and take just such baths." + +"Reckon I'd go without washin' then," commented Zeb. + +"I'd just as soon bathe in rotten eggs," said Dick. + +"Well," said Jack, "I guess we've got off about all the mud we can for +the present. We'd better be getting back. It's mighty fortunate that +we came in time." + +"Yes, I was slipping into the stuff all the time," said the professor. +"If I'd been alone on the island I might have never been seen again," +he added in quite a matter-of-fact tone. "It's too bad I lost that bag +of fossils, though. I had some fine specimens." + +"Goodness, no wonder you sank down!" exclaimed Jack. "Why didn't you +let go of them?" + +The scientist was mildly surprised. + +"Why, how could I," he asked, "until it became a question of life or +death? It's too bad I had to lose them," and he shook his head +mournfully at the thought. + +The journey was soon resumed, the Wondership rising buoyantly out of +the dismal canyon. They were not sorry to get back to the upper air +for the gloom of the deep gulch had affected their spirits. But so +much time had been consumed in getting the professor out of his +predicament that it was not long before twilight set in and they still +had caught no glimpse of anything resembling the island they were in +search of. + +They decided to come to earth and make camp for the night and resume +the search in the morning. They made a hearty supper off the venison +which remained, and turned in, without setting any watch, as there was +no necessity for it out there with not a soul about for scores of +miles. + +It was about midnight when Jack was awakened by a wild yell from Tom. + +"Ow! Ouch! Leggo my toe!" the younger of the Boy Inventors was +shouting. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +NIGHT ON THE COLORADO. + + +"What's the matter? What has happened?" cried Jack. + +"Is it Indians?" cried Dick, who had a lively imagination. + +"Something grabbed my foot," declared Tom. + +"Grabbed your foot?" repeated Jack. + +"Well, maybe, nibbled at it, would be better," replied Tom. "It isn't +hurt, but I was awakened by it. I guess the thing, whatever it was, +must have been scared away." + +"What could it have been?" came from Dick. + +"Perhaps it was a bear," suggested Tom. + +"A bear, nonsense. I guess it was all imagination," scoffed Jack. "You +ate too much at supper, Tom." + +"It was not imagination, I tell you," retorted Tom indignantly. "I +felt it just as plainly as anything." + +"Well, I don't see what----" began Jack and then he broke off. + +From outside the tent had come an appalling crash of tin dishes, +followed by unearthly grunts and squeals. The uproar was terrific. It +sounded as if every piece of tinware in the camp was being hurled and +battered around. + +"What under the sun----?" gasped Jack. + +"It's Indians; they've attacked the camp," cried Dick. + +A weird screech split the night. Jack seized up a rifle. + +"Come on, boys," he cried, but it might have been noticed that Dick +was not particularly alert in following. + +Zeb and the professor rushed out of their tents and their shouts added +to the confusion. There was a bright moon and by its light Jack saw a +small, peculiarly-shaped animal charging about blindly here and there. +The next minute he saw, too, that the creature's head was caught fast +in an enameled cooking pot. + +It rushed about and uttered the muffled squeals that had attracted +their attention. Jack raised his rifle and fired. The creature fell +dead at the first shot. Zeb and Jack rushed up to it. + +"A badger!" exclaimed Zeb, "and he's got his greedy head stuck fast in +that mush cooker." + +"And in charging about trying to get it off he'd made a wreck of our +pantry!" exclaimed Jack, looking at the tin utensils scattered in +every direction about the wooden box in which they were kept. + +"It must have been that badger that came sniffing at my toes," said +Tom. + +"Or maybe it was Indians," laughed Jack, looking slyly at Dick, who +was glad that they couldn't see how red he turned. + +"Indians?" exclaimed the professor guilelessly. "Were there any +Indians about?" + +"Dick thought he saw some," explained Jack with a chuckle. + +The dead badger was pulled out of the pot into which it stuck its +head to lick out the remains of some oatmeal that had adhered to its +side, and the boys went back to bed. But they did not sleep much after +the uproar into which the camp had been thrown, and were glad when it +began to grow light. + +Zeb cooked a fine breakfast to which he urged everybody to do justice, +as they had a long and possibly a trying day ahead of them. The badger +was given decent burial by Dick. + +"Let its fate be a lesson to you," said Jack, at which they all +laughed, for Dick was always on the spot at meal times. + +When the morning meal was finished and the things all packed away, the +Wondership was inflated and soared into the clear air. Nights and +early mornings on the desert are cool, and it was crisp and +invigorating in the hours before the sun had risen high. But by noon +the heat grew blistering, and they were still soaring above the river +without a trace of Rattlesnake Island being visible. + +However, that afternoon they sighted a group of islands of which the +largest at once attracted their attention. A prominent feature of +Rattlesnake Island, as outlined on the map, was a big dead pine, +situated like a beacon, at the summit of the peak into which the +island rose. + +The river at this point broadened out. Great cliffs overhung it. They +were made up of strata of brilliant colors. It looked from above as if +they had been painted by some titanic sign painter--nature, the +artist. + +Jack was the first to call attention to the island which had caught +his eye while he scanned the river below them with the binoculars. He +at once noticed its formation, long and narrow, with a high, rocky +peak rising out from amongst trees and bushes which clothed it almost +to the summit. + +Then his eye caught a great white pine trunk, standing like a +flagpole almost at the apex of the peak. + +"Hurrah, boys!" he cried. "I guess that's the place. Welcome to +Rattlesnake Island!" + +Tom was steering, "spelling" Jack at the wheel. + +"You can see the island?" he demanded. + +"Yes, or if it isn't it, it's like enough to be its twin brother." + +Everybody began to get excited. Zeb took the glasses and after a +careful scrutiny and a reference to the map, declared that the island +below them tallied in every way with its description. + +"Then down we go," said Jack. + +"All right," nodded Tom, who was almost as good an air pilot as his +cousin. + +The Wondership dropped rapidly. Soon they were immediately above the +island, which was now seen to be rocky and precipitous, except at one +end where there was a great open place, bare and desolate looking. + +On the edges of this cleared spot, which looked swampy and +unwholesome, were serried rows of trees, every one of which was dead +as if from a blight, and offering with their gaunt, leafless branches +a sharp contrast to the green leafiness of the rest of the island. + +Jack scanned the place sharply as they dropped down and Tom prepared +to land on the edge of the swamp. As they got closer to the ground, he +suddenly became aware of something that caused him a sharp shock of +surprise. + +"Why there's somebody on the island!" he exclaimed. + +"Somebody on the island?" echoed Zeb incredulously. + +"Yes, or at least there's a dwelling place." + +The boy pointed to a rude sort of shack built of logs and roofed with +boughs, which stood on the edge of the cleared space. + +"Great Methuselah!" ejaculated Zeb. "Can someone have stolen a march +on us?" + +"I don't know, but it looks queer, and see, there's a shovel. Somebody +has been digging here." + +"But who could it be?" demanded Tom, mystified. + +"Gosh! Looks as if we've bin euchered after all," grumbled Zeb. + +The Wondership came to earth at the edge of the lifeless-looking, bare +space. They clambered out of the machine and stood on what was, +undoubtedly, Rattlesnake Island, for every landmark on the map had +been verified as they dropped. + +They looked about them for a minute and then Zeb drew his revolver out +of the holster and began idly twiddling the cylinder. + +"I want ter make sure she's in workin' order," he said with a grim +comprehension of the lips, "before we do any investigating." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +THE ISLAND OF MYSTERY. + + +There was an air of oppression, hard to explain, about the island. But +they all felt it. The boys were inclined to talk in whispers and even +Dick Donovan's usual lively spirits seemed daunted. There was +something about the blistered, barren look of the cleared space on the +edge of which they had landed that gave them all an odd feeling of +melancholy. + +Zeb was the first to shake this off. + +"Our first job," he said, "is to find out who is on the island and +what they've been doing." + +Here and there in the black, swampy-looking bare space, they could see +where holes had been dug, but when they examined the spade, which Jack +had seen from the Wondership as they descended, they found that it was +rusty and had evidently not been used for a long time. + +It was the same in the rude hut which they examined. Some rusty +utensils and a few ragged old garments were all that was inside. The +dust lay thick on the floor and a large squirrel leaped out of the +roof as they entered. + +"Well, whoever was on the island has moved on again," declared Zeb. + +"Or died," said Jack in a low tone. + +"Wa'al, what I say is," observed Zeb, "ther sooner we git at that +what-yer-may-call-um stuff and get away agin, the better it'll be for +all of us. There's suthin' about this island I don't like." + +The others agreed, all except the professor, who, on hands and knees, +was examining some rocks with his magnifying glass. + +"Where shall we make camp?" asked Dick. + +"I don't much fancy this side of the island, somehow," said Jack, "but +we could pitch the tents on that little plateau up there and be +comfortable and have a good view up and down the river at the same +time." + +And so it was arranged. Leaving the Wondership on the edge of the +clearing, they made camp on the flat ledge of sandy soil interspersed +with rocks that Jack had selected. From it they had a good view in +both directions. Above them was a small island, and below them the +river leaped and roared in a series of big rapids. + +Their preparations for camping occupied all the afternoon. It was +supper time when they had finished and everything was shipshape and +comfortable. In the meantime Dick had wandered off with the rifle and +returned with four good-sized rabbits and three squirrels which Zeb +cooked into a savory stew. + +They turned in early as they had all worked hard and were tired. Just +what time it was that he awakened, Jack did not know. But he thought +it was after midnight. Taking his watch he went to the door of the +tent to look at it in the moonlight, as he did not wish to arouse the +others by striking a light. + +The moon flooded the island. Jack looked about him, enjoying the +beauty of the scene. The cliffs were great masses of black and white +and the rushing river gleamed like silver. He glanced toward the black +waste, on the edge of which they left the Wondership. The next instant +he uttered a startled exclamation. Above the bare patch of +dark-colored earth tall white figures were dancing, gleaming in the +moonlight. + +Jack's heart gave a bound and he caught his breath for an instant. +Then he felt inclined to laugh at his own fears. What he had taken for +ghostly figures were columns of vapor writhing and twisting as they +steamed upward from the bare end of the island. What caused them, Jack +did not know. He noticed, too, that the whole patch of barren land +glowed with a strange phosphorescence like rotted wood. + +Fascinated by the spectacle, he stood gazing at it. There was +something eerie about the dancing, pirouetting columns of vapor. They +looked like a party of ghosts dancing a quadrille. They twisted and +contorted and bowed and soared upward and sank again in a kind of +rhythm. + +"Gracious, this is a spooky sort of place," thought Jack. "I wonder +what causes those wavering columns? Maybe some sort of hidden hot +springs like the one the professor fell into. I know one thing, I +don't like this island overmuch. As Zeb said, there is something queer +about it--something in the air. I don't know what, but I for one won't +be sorry when we leave it." + +He fell to musing about his father waiting so many miles away for news +of the discovery that was to rehabilitate his fortunes and place the +radio telephone in the list of practical inventions that have created +an epoch in the world's history. + +"Poor old dad," he thought "After all, he's really having the most +trying part of this thing. Waiting back there for he doesn't know +what, and with nothing to do but wait. I wonder if we are going to +succeed? We will, we must! But, supposing that the map was wrong and +that----" + +His musing broke off suddenly and he crouched forward watching +intently. His eyes were staring wide-open and startled at the +Wondership. Its bulk lay blackly against the faint, phosphorescent +glow of the black barren. + +Then he felt his scalp tighten and his mouth go dry while his heart +seemed to stop for an instant and then pound furiously, shaking his +frame. + +For a second he had seen something that had almost startled him into a +cry. A dark figure was creeping round the Wondership, crouched like an +ape as it examined the craft. + +The boy had hardly caught a glimpse of it before it vanished, gliding +swiftly like an animal into the brush. Jack rubbed his eyes. + +"Am I seeing things?" he asked himself, "but no, I'm positive, as sure +as I stand here, that that was a human figure sneaking about down +there. Who could it have been?" + +Jack did not sleep much more that night. The thought that they were +not alone on the island was a disquieting one. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +THROUGH THE WOODS. + + +The next morning Jack watched his opportunity, and under the pretext +of hunting, left camp after breakfast and made his way to the side of +the Wondership. He wanted to examine the vicinity for footmarks. But +he found none, which was not surprising, for the ground on which the +craft had been brought to rest was hard and firm, and not likely to +take on any impressions. + +In the bright, sunny glow it was hard for the boy to believe that he +had actually seen the mysterious figure in the moonlight. But although +he tried to assure himself that he had been the victim of an illusion, +and that he had mistaken the shadow of a waving tree branch for a man, +Jack knew that he was not laboring under a mistake. He was certain he +had seen rightly; but he decided, for the present, to say nothing to +his companions about the events of the night. + +Having failed to find any tracks round the Wondership, he started off +through the trees on his hunt. He was traversing a small glade when, +in a clump of flowering bushes, he heard a sudden scuffling noise. + +Startled, he stopped. The sound came again and this time it was +accompanied by a shrill scream as of some creature in pain. Jack +parted the bushes and made his way through them. On the other side he +came across a rabbit. The little creature was struggling violently and +squealing with the peculiarly human screech that rabbits have when in +pain. + +The boy saw that it had been caught in some way and could not get +away. Greatly mystified, he dropped to his knees beside it and the +next instant solved the puzzle. + +The rabbit was caught in a trap ingeniously made from pliable willow +twigs and set in a "rabbit run." For a minute the full significance of +his discovery did not dawn upon Jack. Then it came like a bolt from +the blue. + +Somebody on the island, other than themselves, had set that trap! +Perhaps it was the strange, half-ape-like man he had seen by the +Wondership the night before. The boy looked round him in the silent +wood as if he half expected to see somebody watching him. + +He was not afraid, but he felt that creepy feeling that accompanies +the mysterious. Suddenly he recollected that he had left his rifle +behind when he plunged into the bushes. + +He remembered this when the desire came to him to put the rabbit out +of its misery. It had been caught by the hind leg and had wrenched it +out of joint in its frantic struggles to get free. Jack made his way +back to where he had left his rifle. But when he got back to the trap +ready to end the poor creature's life, the rabbit was not there! + +The trap was empty! + +Then he looked about him. The ground was covered with blood and fur +as if the rabbit had been torn to pieces. + +"Some animal," was his first thought. Then, on examining the trap, he +found that the thong which had ensnared the rabbit had not been broken +or torn loose as would have been the case had some wild creature +pounced on the rabbit and dragged it off. + +It had been untied! + +Jack had just made this discovery when he noticed something fluttering +from a thornbush. He was sure it had not been there before, for he had +noted the surroundings of the trap carefully. He examined the object +that had caught his attention. It was a bit of canvas, seemingly torn +from a garment made of that material. + +"There _is_ somebody else on the island!" gasped Jack, looking round +with white cheeks. + +He clutched his rifle firmly. Looking about him he half expected to +see some wild face peering at him out of parted bushes. But nothing of +the sort happened. Feeling very uncomfortable, Jack came away from +the place and made his way back to camp. + +This time he made up his mind to confide in Zeb. The prospector was as +mystified as Jack over the events of the night and the incident of the +rabbit trap. But he was unable to throw any light on the affair. + +"It might be an Indian," he said, "or----" + +"It might be the man that built that hut and left the shovel sticking +in that barren place down yonder," said Jack. + +"In that case, wouldn't he be livin' in ther hut instead of snoopin' +round the island?" asked Zeb. + +This view seemed to be incontrovertible. At noon the professor, who +had been scouting over the island looking for specimens which might +give him some clue as to the mineral deposits they had come in search +of, arrived in camp breathless and indignant. + +"A joke's a joke," he said to the boys, "but this is going too far." + +"What's the matter, professor?" asked Dick. + +"Yes, what's happened?" asked Tom, who saw that the man of science +was really angry, and for some reason blamed them for whatever had +irritated him. + +"As if you didn't know," declared the professor. "I set my bag of +specimens down on a rock while I went to investigate a +peculiar-looking formation." + +"Well?" said Jack. + +"Well, I heard a soft footstep and the crackling of some twigs. I +looked round and my bag of specimens had gone. Now which of you boys +played that foolish joke on me?" + +"I'll give you my word we know nothing about it, professor," declared +Tom. "Dick and I have been working all the morning unpacking stuff +from the Wondership." + +The professor looked at them incredulously. + +"That's right," struck in Zeb, "they haven't been out of my sight." + +"But--but," stammered the professor, "my dear sir, that bag of +specimens didn't walk off, you know. Besides," he added, "I heard a +human footfall distinctly." + +"It may not have been the boys, though," spoke up Jack seriously. + +"Indeed, who else then?" inquired the professor stiffly. + +"An unwelcome neighbor," replied Jack. "We are not alone on this +island." + +"Not alone? What do you mean?" demanded the professor in thunderstruck +tones. + +"Just this, that there is someone else on it. Who or what it is I +don't know." + +And Jack went on to explain all that he had seen. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +THE SECRET AT LAST. + + +Mysteries are always uncomfortable. As Jack proceeded with his +narrative, Dick and Tom looked nervously about them. Even the boys' +two elders looked grave. The presence of a man on the island was +almost inexplicable. But Jack's story was so circumstantial that there +was no room to suppose that he might be mistaken. Besides, he had the +bit of canvas to show, the scrap that he had taken from the thornbush. + +After dinner Tom and Dick resumed their work of unloading necessaries +from the Wondership. Jack and the two elder members of the party +discussed plans. + +"You haven't found any trace of mineral-bearing rock yet, have you, +professor?" asked Jack. + +The professor shook his head. + +"Not a speck of anything that even remotely corresponds with the +black sand that Zeb brought East with him," said the man of science, +dejectedly. + +"It isn't possible that we have been fooled," said Zeb. + +"Or landed on the wrong island," struck in Jack. + +"It must be the right island," declared Zeb. + +"How do you make that out?" asked Jack. + +"Well, it's got every mark on it that the map gives, for one thing," +said Zeb. + +"That's so," agreed the professor, and then he added hopefully: +"However, I haven't covered half the ground yet." + +Tom and Dick came tramping back at that juncture. They carried some +canned goods and Dick bore the rusty shovel that they had seen the day +before sticking up in the black barren. + +"It was sticky and moist out there," he said, "but I figured we could +always use this shovel, so I went out and brought it along." + +He flung himself down full length in the shade for it was hot and +there was not a breath of wind to fan the canyon. The professor, who +sat facing Dick, concentrated his attention for an instant on the +soles of the youngster's boots. Then he leaped up with a yell that +startled them. + +"What is it? The wild man?" gasped Dick, looking round him in alarm. + +"No, your boots, your boots; look at them!" cried the professor. + +"Is there a snake on them?" cried Dick, preparing to jump up. + +"Don't move! Don't move for your life!" fairly screamed the dumpy +little geologist, springing forward. He fell on his knees at Dick's +boots as if they had been sacred, and with trembling fingers flaked +off, into his left palm, some black mud which stuck to them. + +Then he stood erect, his face aglow with triumph and enthusiasm such +as the man of science rarely permitted himself. + +"Gentlemen," he said, with a flourish, "there is no reason to look +further for the mineral-bearing ground." + +"You have found it?" choked out Jack. + +"Yes." + +"Where?" + +"On Dick Donovan's boots." + +They looked at him as if they thought he had suddenly gone demented. +Dick examined his boots carefully as if he expected to see money +plastered all over them. + +The professor extended his palm. In it lay the black earth he had +scraped from Dick's boots. In it tiny particles glittered and gleamed +like myriads of infinitesimal eyes. + +"Z. 2. X.," said the professor in solemn tones, and he waved his hand +down toward the black barren where the moist, unhealthy-looking bare +patch lay quivering and sweltering in the sun. A kind of haze hung +above it, like a very thin fog. + +"There it is," he went on, "down there. Waiting to be extracted from +that black earth. Look." + +He shook the black earth from his palm. Where it had lain there was a +red, irritated-looking patch. The professor showed it. It looked like +a slight burn. + +"Did that stuff do it?" asked Jack. + +"Yes; and that's almost as definite a proof as an analysis, of its +intense radio activity. You noticed that the sample that Zeb had was +enclosed in a leaden tube. That was the reason. Such powerful stuff +would inflict bad burns if not handled properly." + +"So that was why you made us include asbestos gloves and foot +coverings and black goggles in the outfit?" cried Tom, who had been +much puzzled over the reason for that part of the equipment. + +"That was why," said the professor, "and that also is the reason we +brought along those lead containers. Z. 2. X. or its ally, radium, or +in fact vanadium or any of the allied radio-active metals, would +destroy any other sort of container." + +"Let's go down now and start digging," suggested impulsive Dick. + +"Don't venture out there till you are fully equipped for the job," +said the professor. "Serious results might ensue. In the meantime, I +am going to analyze this sample in order to be doubly sure." + +Jack gave a deep sigh of relief. After all, it was not a dream. They +had found the valuable earth. It was now only a question of +transportation. His father's fortunes were saved. The radio-'phone +would be rushed to perfection and placed on the market within a short +time of their return home. + +While Jack lay back and indulged in daydreams, the others watched the +professor as he tested the black sand over a portable assaying furnace +and made all sorts of experiments to determine its value and the +proportion of the different precious metals contained in it. + +There was a slight rustling in the bushes behind him. Jack, whose +nerves had been rather on edge since the occurrences of the preceding +night and that morning, faced round quickly. + +The next instant he uttered a loud shout. + +Peering out of the bushes was a hideous, hairy face, more like an +ape's than a human being's. From it glowed two wild, piercing eyes, +like those of a beast of prey. + +As Jack shouted and the others started toward him, the face vanished +like a flash. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +THE INTERLOPERS. + + +"Well, we'll git ter ther bottom uv this afore we leave ther island," +declared Zeb vehemently, "but right now, pussonally, I'm more +interested in gitting those lead carboys filled up with Z. 2. X. and +gitting away from here." + +"So are we," said Jack, thinking of his father. + +They all donned their asbestos gloves and foot coverings under the +professor's directions and put on the huge black goggles that had been +brought along at the scientist's directions. + +"I guess we'd scare that wild man into conniption fits if he could see +us now," chuckled Tom, surveying his mates as they started out for the +black barren. + +"Yes, we look like a lot of men from Mars," agreed Dick. + +Armed with shovels they attacked the dark, soft earth at a place the +professor indicated. For an hour or more they worked and filled three +of the lead carboys. Then Jack spoke. + +"It's queer," he said, "but I begin to feel terribly tired, and I +haven't worked long, either." + +"So do I," said Tom. "I don't feel as if I could lift another +shovelful." + +"I'm all in," added Dick, throwing down his spade. + +"Same here. Jes' 'bout tuckered out," chimed in Zeb. + +"It's the effect of the stuff we are working in," said the professor. +"Anyhow, we've done enough for to-day. We'll load the lead carboys on +the Wondership and then knock off. I don't want you boys to get sick." + +They took the loaded carboys to the grounded craft and the professor +sealed and soldered a cover on each of them. Then they went back to +the camp. Curiously, as soon as they reached it, the lassitude they +had felt while working on the black barren left them. Jack proposed a +hunting trip to Tom. Dick said he wanted to write up his notes from +which, on their return, he was going to construct a big "story" for +his paper. + +The two chums struck out across the island. They met with fairly good +luck. Jack brought down some rabbits and a partridge. Tom got three +partridges and some squirrels. Game appeared to be plentiful on the +island and Jack had a theory that at one time it must have been +connected with the mainland. + +At last their walking brought them out on the upper end of the island +facing the smaller spot of land above. As they emerged from the trees, +both boys got a big surprise. + +Two boats had just been beached there! + +"What in the world!" stammered out Jack. + +"Who can----" began Tom, when the question was answered. The boys saw +three figures coming down to the beach. They, seemingly, had been +looking for a camp site. + +"It's that fellow, Bill Masterson," explained Jack. + +"So it is, and those other two are his cronies. The sneaks, they've +followed us here!" cried Tom indignantly. + +"Let's watch from behind these bushes and see what they do," said +Jack. + +They watched from a place of concealment while the three youths on the +island above unloaded the second boat which they had towed down the +river, carrying their camping equipment and provisions in it. They set +up their tents quite boldly in full view of the other island and then +proceeded to build a fire. + +"How on earth did they get down the river without having a spill?" +cried Jack. + +"How did they know where Rattlesnake Island was?" wondered Tom, +neither of the boys, of course, knowing of the opened letters. + +"They seem prepared to make a long stay," commented Tom, after a +minute, "but it's a wonder they weren't wrecked." + +"I don't know," said Jack. "Zeb says the river is much higher now +than he has ever seen it. That means that the rapids are not so +dangerous as at low water. But they were taking quite a chance, at +that." + +The boys watched for a while longer and then returned to camp with +their game and their news. + +"If they try to land on this island, we'll soon chase 'em off," +declared Dick vehemently. + +"Then they'd have a case at law agin us," said Zeb. + +"How do you mean?" asked Jack. + +"Wa'al, we ain't filed no claim yet and in the eyes of the law them +deposits down there in the black barren is as much theirs as ours." + +That evening Zeb occupied himself with making several signs of +intention to file claim which he intended to post all round the black +barren, thus marking it off as if it had been a mine. Before they went +to bed, Jack and Tom made another excursion to the upper end of the +island where they watched the campfires of the interlopers for some +time. + +Suddenly, while they watched, they saw one of the boats with three +figures in it shoved off. The craft began to drop down the river. +Masterson, who was at the oars, steered straight for Rattlesnake +Island. + +"They're going to land here," declared Jack. + +"What do you think of that for nerve," gasped Tom. + +"The worst of it is, we can't stop them." + +"No, that's so. Let's hide behind this rock and see what they do." + +The boys slipped behind a big boulder and a moment later the boat was +beached. + +"Well, here we are," came in Eph's voice, "and if the stuff is worth +all you say it is, we ought to get enough out in a couple of nights to +make us rich." + +"Gee! I can hardly wait till it's time to start digging," said Sam +Higgins. "Here we are, on Tom Tiddler's ground, picking up gold and +silver." + +"Wait till we get it before you start hollering," said Masterson +gruffly. + +"What time will we start over?" asked Sam. + +"About midnight. It will be plenty of time." + +"But how are we going to locate it?" objected Eph. + +"We can see where they've been digging, can't we?" said Bill +Masterson, "or if they haven't started yet, we can hang around and +watch till they do." + +The three worthies sat under a rock not far from where the boys were +and talked. It appeared that Bill Masterson had read up on mining and +claim law and knew that the boys could not order them off the island. +They had a right to take all of the mineral-bearing earth that they +could. + +Suddenly, however, their talk stopped. + +"What are you doing, Eph?" demanded Sam indignantly. + +"Nothing. What do you mean?" asked Eph in an astonished voice. + +"You threw a rock at me." + +"I didn't." + +"You did. Ouch! There's another." + +"One hit me, too," cried Eph, springing up, and at the same moment a +yell came from Masterson. + +Jack and Tom, as much surprised as the three marauders, heard the +rocks pelting around them. Suddenly they looked up. Standing on a high +rock above the place where Masterson and his cronies were talking, was +a strange-looking figure in tattered clothes outlined in the +moonlight. + +He was busily hurling rocks down at the intruders. Suddenly a +demoniacal laugh split the air and the creature vanished, running +swiftly, crouched, with long arms hanging. + +"It's the wild man!" gasped Tom, while the three worthies on the beach +uttered a startled cry. + +"It's ghosts, that's what it is," declared Sam Higgins shuddering. + +"Nonsense. It's those kids. That's who it is," said Bill, but his +voice was rather shaky. + +"I never heard anything human laugh like that," declared Eph. "Ugh! it +makes my blood run cold." + +"Maybe we'd better go back," said Sam. "If we've got a right here I'd +just as soon land in the daylight." + +"You're a fine pair of babies," growled Bill. "I'm sorry I brought you +along. Ghosts indeed--Wow! what was that?" + +Another long ringing peal of laughter sounded through the night. It +reverberated against the steep walls of the canyon and was flung +mockingly from crag to crag. The boys felt their blood chill as they +heard it. There was something diabolical in the merriment of the wild +man who, they knew, was making the hideous sounds. + +"I'm going back to the other island," declared Sam. + +"If you move I'll knock your head off," said Masterson. "It's just a +trick of those kids to scare us, that's all it is." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +TRIUMPH. + + +It was midnight. The moon rode high in a cloudless sky, and the camp +of the Boy Inventors, to all appearances, was wrapped in slumber. +Through the woods came three creeping, cautious figures. Each carried +a spade and a sack. They paused by the camp and looked about them. + +Then, by the bright moonlight, they saw the bare plateau below. The +black barren where the adventurers had been working that afternoon. +Masterson was the first to see traces of digging. He seized Eph's arm +and pointed. + +"That's the place," he said in a hoarse whisper. "See, they've been at +work there already." + +"Tom Tiddler's ground," whispered Eph. + +"I guess we'll get some of it, too," chuckled Sam, who had gotten over +his fright in a sudden greed at the thought of riches. + +Silently, for they had sacks tied round their feet, the three +interlopers crept down the rocky slope toward the black barren. The +dark ground, thickly sown with mineral wealth, glittered in the +moonlight as if a frost had fallen on it and made it gleam +iridescently with millions of sparkling points of light. + +As the trio stole down the slope, dark figures from the Boy Inventors' +camp followed them. Led by Zeb, they found hiding places and watched +operations as Masterson and his cronies began to dig. They wielded +their shovels frantically. + +"And we can't stop them," groaned Dick. + +"Wait a minute," said the professor. + +They continued to watch, and before many minutes had passed they saw +Sam Higgins lay down his shovel with a grunt. + +"Go on and dig," ordered Masterson. + +"Yes, hurry up, we haven't got all night," urged Eph. + +Sam made a few more feeble movements and then quit. + +'"I can't do any more," he said languidly. + +"Ouch! my hands are burning," cried Eph suddenly, "and I feel as if +all my bones had turned to water. What's the matter with the place?" + +After a few minutes more both Eph and Sam gave up, but Masterson stuck +doggedly to his task, although his hands were burning terribly, and +the radio-active stuff was eating through the sacking on his feet. At +last he, too, had to give in. They were too weak to carry the sacks +they had partially filled across the island, owing to the effects of +the black barren, and staggeringly they hid them to call for them at a +later time. + +"I thought so," said the professor, as the hidden watchers saw +Masterson and the other two wearily clamber up the slope. "They'll +have bad sores to-morrow and may be crippled for some time." + +"But they'll recover?" said Jack, whose conscience began to smite him. + +"Oh, yes, but they will have quite a lesson first," rejoined the +professor. + +"Let's see what they do next," suggested Jack, and he and Tom +carefully made their way to where the trio had left the boat. +Masterson ordered Sam to get on board; but just as the timorous youth +was about to obey another hideous laugh from near at hand startled him +so that he almost jumped out of his skin. + +He leaped forward, but in his alarm missed the boat and gave it a +shove that sent it into the stream. Sam fell flat on his face, while +Masterson, with an exclamation of dismay, leaped for the boat. But the +swift current had it in its grasp and bore it rapidly away. Masterson +sprang on Sam and began beating him violently as the cause of all the +trouble. It was serious enough for them. The loss of the boat had +marooned them on the island. + +The boat drifted past a rocky point further down the island shore. Had +they been there, they would have been able to seize it. They watched +it with alarmed eyes as it sailed down the current. All at once a dark +figure dashed from the trees and made a spring from a high rock, +hoping, seemingly, to land in the boat. Instead, there was the sound +of a heavy fall and then a piteous groan. + +Whoever it was had jumped for the boat, had missed it and fallen on +the rocks. Not caring whether Masterson and his cronies saw them or +not, the boys raced along the beach. From the groans of the injured +person they knew that he was badly, possibly mortally, hurt. + +In a few minutes they reached his side. + +"It's the wild man!" cried Jack, as they gazed at a hairy, +wild-looking man who lay stretched out, breathing heavily, on the +rocks where he had fallen. His only clothing was a pair of tattered +canvas trousers and a ragged shirt. + +"Poor old Foxy. He's done for at last, is Foxy, for his sins," groaned +the man in an insane voice. "He suffered terrible for his crimes, has +Foxy, but it's all over now." + +"Foxy!" exclaimed Jack. "That's the man that came down the river with +Blue Nose Sanchez. The man who stayed in the boat." + +"He must have landed here and then gone crazy from privation," said +Jack. "I can't find that any bones are broken," he said after a brief +examination. "Suppose we carry him back to camp?" + +"I wonder where that Masterson outfit has got to?" said Tom, as they +picked up the wasted form of Foxy, who was raving and moaning by +turns. + +"I don't know. They are in a fine predicament now. They've got no food +and no boat They're marooned on this island." + +"I suppose we'll have to help them out," said Tom. + +"I guess so, though they don't deserve it." + +"I lost that boat," moaned Foxy. "I could have got away in it. Poor +old Foxy. It's tough on Foxy," and he began to weep. + +The professor found that the man had not suffered any broken bones +but the fall had bruised and sprained him and he was helpless. From +scattered bits of his ravings they learned what he had endured on the +island and how, when the black sand began to burn him, he had had to +give up working on it. Then his boat had drifted away and since then +he had lived the life of a wild man, setting snares for rabbits and +partridges, and eating them raw, tearing them with his clawlike +fingers. + +Early the next day the expected happened. Chastened, and with burned +and swollen hands and feet, Masterson and his cronies came into the +boys' camp at breakfast time. They looked crestfallen and sheepish, +but the boys did not want to make them feel any worse than they did, +so they spared them questions at first. + +But when Masterson begged them to get them out of their predicament +and take them back to Yuma, Jack felt that it was time to put them +through a cross examination. + +"You followed us here to try to cut out some ground from under our +feet, Masterson," he said, "and you know you told me in Nestorville +you wanted to get even with me." + +"Don't rub it in, Chadwick," said the humbled Masterson. "I'll do +anything you say if you'll only get us out of this terrible place. I +can hardly walk, and my hands feel as if they'd been burned in a +fire." + +"How did you know our destination?" asked Tom. Masterson made a full +confession and at the end begged forgiveness. + +"This ought to be a good lesson to you to mind your own affairs," said +Jack as he concluded. + +"I know a man who made a big fortune just minding his business," said +Dick. "For my part," he went on, "I'll forgive you, but I want you to +sign a paper promising not to publish anything about this expedition." + +"I will--oh, I will," said Masterson. And then he wrote as Dick +dictated. The boys witnessed and signed the paper. + +"And now you'd better eat breakfast," said Jack. + + +Three days later, the Wondership made two trips to Yuma. On the first +she took the original party with the addition of the insane Foxy, who +was placed in an asylum. He never recovered his reason but died in the +institution. Also, there was carried a part of the leaden carboys +which they had filled. + +Masterson and his cronies had been left behind on the island to pack +up the camping equipment and thus make themselves useful. Zeb went to +the U.S. Assay Office and formally filed their claim to the island and +its riches. In the meantime, the professor took charge of Foxy and +turned him over to the authorities. + +As for the boys, they sailed back to Rattlesnake Island, after sending +a telegram to Mr. Chadwick. It was brief. + +"We win," was all it said. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +THE HOMECOMING. + + +The next day Masterson and his companions, very much subdued, boarded +the Wondership as passengers. All of them were still suffering +painfully from the effects of the burns, their only reward from their +ill-advised raid on the black barren. + +"Boys," asked Masterson, "can't you take our camping equipment along? +It's a shame to have it rot here." + +"All right," said Jack. "I think we may be able to sell it for you. +Come on, we'll get to work now!" + +"You're not such a bad chap," said Eph when he heard Jack agree to +Masterson's suggestion. + +"He's the finest chap on earth!" exclaimed Tom. + +"That he is," added Dick Donovan. + +"He is a model young man," declared Professor Jenks, overhearing +Tom's last remark. + +Jack flushed with pleasure and embarrassment. It was very gratifying +to know that his friends thought highly of him, but at the same time +he wished they would not give him that uneasy feeling with their +sincere compliments. So he hurried away, asking the others to follow +him toward getting together Masterson's outfit. + +While the dumpy little geologist went once more to search for strange +specimens, the boys readily set to work and in a very short time the +camping equipment was placed on board the Wondership. + +When the boys arrived at Yuma, Masterson found no difficulty in +selling the camping outfit to old man McGee, who decided to make one +more try to find the Three Buttes. + +"Don't you think you're too old, and that the gold, after all, may not +be there?" Tom asked the eccentric miner. + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed McGee indignantly. "As I tole you afore, it +stands ter reason thar's gold out thar, and 'at it war'ent up to +Peg-leg Smith nor'n to Guv'nor Downey, nor'n to McGuire, nor'n to Dr. +De Courcy, nor'n to any of 'em to find the Buttes, but as I says +afore, I says ag'in--'at ther good Lord never made nuthin' thet wasn't +of some use. Very well, then, the desert is good fer nuthin' else but +mineral wealth, and Providence made it so plagued hard ter git at so +'at all of us couldn't git rich at once. I've been arter the Buttes +all me life, and _this_ wack I'm goin' to land it rich!" + +The fanatical old prospector, chuckling gleefully and sucking his +pipe, ambled away while Tom looked after him, shaking his head +sympathetically. + +"Look out! Look out!" someone shouted in Tom's ear. "There's a beauty, +a wonder!" + +Tom, startled, whirled about to see the professor, gazing intently at +a small rock upon which one of Tom's heels was resting. The professor +violently pushed him aside, out came his little hammer, and in a +moment the new specimen was in his bag. Then, the man of science, +without looking up to see whom he had spoken to, pounced on another +stone. + +Tom could not help laughing outright at the professor's queer ways and +deep concentration on his pet hobby. + +"What a funny world this is!" remarked Tom, still amused. "Here is a +man forever after rocks, rocks, and there goes a miner set upon +becoming rich and discovering some imaginary mine." + +He saw Jack waving to him from the veranda of the hotel. + +"Listen, Tom," said his chum when they stood side by side, "I was +thinking that it would be a splendid idea to send the Wondership to +New York, and that from there we travel to Nestorville, _via_ the air +route." + +"Great!" cried Tom, delighted. "But say, are we to take Masterson +along?" + +"Of course not," replied Jack. "He can go back to Boston on the +train." + +"Good for you!" declared Tom, slapping his chum on the back. + +"But I haven't told you my main idea yet," said Jack, smiling, + +"What is that?" asked the other wonderingly. + +"Can't you guess?" + +"No," Tom began to say, and then the roguish twinkle in Jack's eyes +gave him a sudden inspiration. "You don't mean to use the Z.2.X. to +send messages with while we fly nearer and nearer to our old home +town?" + +"That is exactly what I wish to do," said Jack quietly. + +"Whoop! It's great!" cried Tom, throwing his hat in the air; and as he +saw Dick coming toward them, he fairly pounced on the astonished +reporter with the news. + +"Flamjam flapcakes of Florida!" gasped Dick. + +And so it was arranged. A few days later our party boarded a train for +the East. Jack, Tom, Dick and Professor Jenks arrived at New York. + +(They had left Zeb behind to attend to the work in the barren +fields.) + +The Wondership, as on the previous occasion, was quietly but quickly +assembled, and made ready to take its homeward flight. They had chosen +a spot on Manhattan island still very meagerly developed, and so were +not at all troubled by curious onlookers. Jack, to whom his father had +explained in detail the use of Z.2.X.--or Coloradite, as they had +decided to call it--busied himself almost exclusively with the radio +telephone apparatus. When all was ready, he sent his father the +following telegram: + +"Expect message, using Coloradite from New York." + +The next morning they ascended. Round and round the Wondership +circled, a golden speck against the blue sky. In a quarter of an hour +the great metropolis seemed nothing but a giant beehive, with millions +of busy workers ever hurrying in hundreds of different directions. The +cars and automobiles were only like giant bees, moving somewhat +swifter than those on what looked like fine threads of cotton or wool. + +"What a small place New York is after all," observed the professor. + +"It is larger than Boston," said Tom slyly, + +"Perhaps," admitted the man of science haughtily, "but not as learned +or stately--no city can take its culture away from Boston." + +Jack smiled, and in order to change the conversation, asked Tom, "How +high now?" + +"About fifteen hundred feet," guessed Tom. + +"Wrong," said Jack, glancing at the barograph on the dashboard in +front of him. "We have reached two thousand eight hundred feet." + +"I must be asleep," said Tom, frowning. "Shall I connect the +alternator?" + +Jack nodded and prepared to send greetings to his father, hundreds of +miles away. They were out in the country now. As the Wondership glided +through the air, the professor, in viewing the villages, farms, green +pastures, and stretches of woodland, regretfully shook his head as the +thought occurred to him that he was missing many a precious stone. He +looked over to Jack with the idea of suggesting a descent, but he saw +the boy inventor patiently adjusting the tuning knob, and waited, +realizing how anxious Jack was to test the Coloradite. + +The little professor, extremely interested, saw Jack place his lips to +the receiver, and for the second time in his life, send out the +distinct call: + +"Hullo, High Towers!" + +Many minutes passed without an answer. Jack's face became grave. Was +part of the machinery not properly adjusted? He went over the +instrument very carefully. In so far as he could see, everything was +just as it should be. Then a thought came that made him dizzy--was it +possible that the Coloradite was not suited for the work, that Mr. +Chadwick had been misinformed? + +"What's up?" inquired Tom, glancing up from his engines. + +"By the ghost of Guzzlewits!" gasped Dick. "Don't say it won't work, +Jack!" + +The professor, ordinarily cool and very calculating, was strangely +stirred. He watched the young inventor's face. Did it mean failure? + +"I don't know," said Jack at last with forced calmness. "I will try +again." + +Once more Jack, oppressed by a vague fear, sent out the words: + +"Hullo, High Towers!" + +The reply came with startling swiftness, relieving the party from the +mental strain. In one voice--the professor included--they yelled, + +"Hurrah!" + +"Congratulations!" came Mr. Chadwick's voice in return. + +"Why the delay?" asked Jack, smiling with + +"A small lever snapped. It required a few minutes to repair it. How +far from New York are you now?" + +"About forty miles." + +"Good! Try to land here before sunset." + +"Why?" asked Jack. + +"Nestorville has a little surprise for you!" replied Mr. Chadwick, and +Jack heard him chuckle. + +"Good for Mr. Chadwick!" cried Dick in glee, for Jack had so arranged +the instrument that all of them in the Wondership could hear Mr. +Chadwick's voice. + +Then followed a long conversation between father and son. Mr. Chadwick +had almost completely recovered his health, and was again working over +new experiments. Dick insisted that he be permitted to tell the story +of their adventures on the island of the Coloradite Treasure. + +"You won't tell it right," he declared to Jack, and insisted so +strenuously that the boy inventor had to let him speak to Mr. +Chadwick. + +Dick set his choicest language agoing, and his vivid description of +Jack's part in every incident was embellished by the most flowery +adjectives in his vocabulary. Jack had to listen, and grin. + +By the time his long story was done, Nestorville was sighted. As soon +as the people saw the Wondership, pandemonium broke loose. Not only +Nestorville, but officials and crowds from the neighboring towns had +poured in, and the reception the boys and the professor received +lingered with them for many, many years. + +Later, as time went on, Mr. Chadwick's fortune was completely +rehabilitated. Professor Jenks no longer was so eager to search for +rocks, and while doing so get into all sorts of difficulties. He lived +more at home, becoming at last, as his spinster sister declared, "a +man with the proper spirit to make an ideal husband." Of course, the +professor had received a very substantial sum of money from the boys. + +Jack and Tom soon found themselves wealthy, and often in fancy trace +the days back to that afternoon when they found the sturdy miner lying +on the roadside, having been knocked unconscious by Masterson's +careless driving of his automobile. + +Zeb, continued to take charge of the work on Rattlesnake Island, to +which the boys never returned. For a long time the supply from the +black barren appeared to be inexhaustible. Suddenly, however, it +ceased, and no more was dug. But what had been mined had been more +than sufficient to make all prosperous. + +Dick, with his share of the proceeds, which the boys insisted that he +accept, bought the _Nestorville Bugle_. From the very start, he made +it a live, progressive paper. Sometimes, when the now busy editor had +a spare hour, he invariably visited his two friends, and the +three--sometimes, too, the little professor joined them +unexpectedly--recounted old-time stories. + +But the boys were not made lazy by wealth and fame. To this very day, +Jack and Tom, with Mr. Chadwick's aid, are devising many inventions +calculated to benefit mankind. Possibly, at some future time, we shall +hear something more about these, but for the present let us take our +leave and say good-by. + +THE END + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Boy Inventors' Radio Telephone +by Richard Bonner + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13783 *** diff --git a/13783-h/13783-h.htm b/13783-h/13783-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e8f0087 --- /dev/null +++ b/13783-h/13783-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6340 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= + "text/html; charset=UTF-8"> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Boy Inventors' Radio-Telegraph, by Richard Bonner. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + P { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + text-indent: 1.25em; + margin-bottom: 1.25em; + } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + } + HR { width: 33%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 7%; + margin-right: 7%; + } + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .note {margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} /* footnote */ + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */ + </style> + </head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13783 ***</div> + +<br> +<div align="center"> +<img src="images/cover.gif" alt="Illustration: Cover" width="382" height="560" border="0"> + +<h1>THE</h1> +<h1>BOY INVENTORS' RADIO-</h1> +<h1>TELEPHONE</h1> + + +<div align="center"></div> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>RICHARD BONNER</h2> +<div style="height: 2em;"></div> +<h5>AUTHOR OF "THE BOY INVENTORS' WIRELESS TRIUMPH," "THE BOY</h5> +<h5>INVENTORS AND THE VANISHING GUN," "THE BOY INVENTORS'</h5> +<h5>DIVING TORPEDO BOAT," "THE BOY INVENTORS' FLYING</h5> +<h5>SHIP," "THE BOY INVENTORS' ELECTRIC</h5> +<h5>HYDROAEROPLANE," ETC., ETC.</h5> +<div style="height: 2em;"></div> +<h4><i>WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY</i></h4> +<h4><i>CHARLES L. WRENN</i></h4> +<div style="height: 2em;"></div> +<h5>NEW YORK</h5> +<h5>HURST & COMPANY</h5> +<h5>PUBLISHERS</h5> +</div> + +<div style="height: 4em;"></div> + +<h3>CONTENTS</h3> + +<p class="blkquot"><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>CHAPTER I.</b></a> THE POWER OF THE AIR</p> +<p class="blkquot"><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>CHAPTER II.</b></a> AN ENCOUNTER WITH A CHARACTER</p> +<p class="blkquot"><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>CHAPTER III.</b></a> THE PROFESSOR'S DILEMMA</p> +<p class="blkquot"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>CHAPTER IV.</b></a> "WHERE IS HE?"</p> +<p class="blkquot"><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>CHAPTER V.</b></a> CHESTER CHADWICK—INVENTOR</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>CHAPTER VI.</b></a> THE RADIO TELEPHONE</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>CHAPTER VII.</b></a>THE GREAT TEST</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b>CHAPTER VIII.</b></a> TALKING THROUGH SPACE</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b>CHAPTER IX.</b></a> THE BOYS FACE TROUBLE</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_X"><b>CHAPTER X.</b></a> AN INVOLUNTARY AËRONAUT</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><b>CHAPTER XI.</b></a> BY THE ROADSIDE</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><b>CHAPTER XII.</b></a> MAKING ENEMIES</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><b>CHAPTER XIII.</b></a> THE LEADEN TUBE</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><b>CHAPTER XIV.</b></a> IN THE HOSPITAL</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XV"><b>CHAPTER XV.</b></a> A TALE OF THE COLORADO</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XVI"><b>CHAPTER XVI.</b></a> ZEB CUMMINGS</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XVII"><b>CHAPTER XVII.</b></a> IN THE LABORATORY</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII"><b>CHAPTER XVIII.</b></a> INTO THE STORM</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XIX"><b>CHAPTER XIX.</b></a> THE "LIGHTNING CAGE"</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XX"><b>CHAPTER XX.</b></a> THROUGH THE AIR</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXI"><b>CHAPTER XXI.</b></a> VAULTING TO THE RESCUE</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXII"><b>CHAPTER XXII.</b></a> "Z. 2. X."</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII"><b>CHAPTER XXIII.</b></a> ON THE BORDER LINE</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV"><b>CHAPTER XXIV.</b></a> "THE THREE BUTTES"</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXV"><b>CHAPTER XXV.</b></a> INTO THE BEYOND</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI"><b>CHAPTER XXVI.</b></a> THE START FOR THE UNKNOWN</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII"><b>CHAPTER XXVII.</b></a> THE PROFESSOR'S SECOND DILEMMA</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII"><b>CHAPTER XXVIII.</b></a> THE UPPER REGIONS</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX"><b>CHAPTER XXIX.</b></a> A MUD BATH</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXX"><b>CHAPTER XXX.</b></a> NIGHT ON THE COLORADO</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI"><b>CHAPTER XXXI.</b></a> THE ISLAND OF MYSTERY</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII"><b>CHAPTER XXXII.</b></a> THROUGH THE WOODS</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII"><b>CHAPTER XXXIII.</b></a> THE SECRET AT LAST</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV"><b>CHAPTER XXXIV.</b></a> THE INTERLOPERS</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXXV"><b>CHAPTER XXXV.</b></a> TRIUMPH</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVI"><b>CHAPTER XXXVI.</b></a> THE HOMECOMING</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 6em;"></div> + +<h2>The Boy Inventor's Radio-</h2> +<h2>Telephone.</h2> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> +<a name="CHAPTER_I"></a><h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE POWER OF THE AIR.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"That's it, Jack. Let her out!"</p> + +<p>"Suffering speed laws of Squantum, but she can travel!" exclaimed Dick +Donovan, redheaded and voluble.</p> + +<p>"I tell you, electricity is the thing. Beats gasoline a million ways," +chimed in Tom Jesson. Tom sat beside his cousin, Jack Chadwick, on the +driver's seat of a curious-looking automobile which was whizzing down +the smooth, broad, green-bordered road that led to Nestorville, the +small town outside Boston where the Boy Inventors made their home.</p> + +<p>The car that Jack Chadwick was driving differed in a dozen respects +from an ordinary automobile. There was no engine hood in front. +Instead of a bonnet the car, which was low slung, long and painted +black, had a sharp prow of triangular shape. Its body, in fact, might +be roughly compared to the form of a double-ended whaleboat.</p> + +<p>As it sped along outside the city limits, and immune from hampering +speed laws, the car emitted no sound.</p> + +<p>It moved silently, without the usual sharp staccato rattle of the +exhaust. Behind it there was no evil-smelling trail of gasoline and +oil smoke. The car glided as silently as a summer breeze on its +wire-wheels, like those of a bicycle enlarged.</p> + +<p>"I'll get a great story out of this," declared Dick Donovan, who, as +readers of other volumes of this series know, was a reporter on a +Boston paper. "That is, if you'll let me write it," he added, leaning +forward over the front seat from the tonneau as he spoke.</p> + +<p>"How about it, Jack?" asked Tom with an amused smile. "Shall we let +Dick here get famous at our expense again?"</p> + +<p>"I don't see why not," said Jack. "Everything about the Electric +Monarch is patented. The new reciprocating device, and the +self-feeding storage batteries are fully covered. If Dick wants to +write a romance about it he can, provided he leaves our pictures out."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'll do that," Dick readily promised. "Are you making top speed +now, Jack?"</p> + +<p>"Nowhere near; I wouldn't dare to. I believe that the Monarch is +capable of ninety miles an hour. I wish we had a place like Ormond +Beach to try her out on."</p> + +<p>"You can count me out on that," chuckled Dick. "This is fast enough +for me."</p> + +<p>The boys were trying out their latest invention, an electric car +capable of making the speed of a gasoline-driven vehicle, and one +which could be operated at a minimum of cost, almost a nominal +expense, as compared with the high price of a vehicle run by an +explosive engine.</p> + +<p>It was the trial trip of the Electric Monarch, as they had decided to +call it, and so far the performances of the machine had exceeded, +instead of fallen below, their expectations. Dick, who had been +invited to the "tryout," was full of questions as they sped silently, +and with an absolute lack of vibration, along the road.</p> + +<p>"How do you generate your electricity?" he asked eagerly.</p> + +<p>"By a device geared to the rear axle," answered Tom. "It runs a sort +of dynamo, though it would be difficult for you to understand it if I +went into details. It's something like the ordinary generator and +turns a constant stream of 'juice' into the storage batteries that, in +turn, feed the engines."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's all plain enough," said the inquisitive Dick, "but how do +you get your power for starting?"</p> + +<p>"If there is not enough juice in the storage batteries for the purpose +we resort to compressed air," was the reply from Tom, for Jack, with +keen eyes on the unrolling ribbon of road, was too busy to have his +attention distracted.</p> + +<p>"And that?" Dick paused interrogatively.</p> + +<p>"Is pumped into a pressure tank as we go along. See that gauge?" he +pointed to one on the dashboard of the car in front of the driver's +seat.</p> + +<p>Dick nodded.</p> + +<p>"Well, that's a pressure gauge. You see, we have sixty pounds of air +in the tank now. That can generate enough electricity to start the car +going. After that the process is automatic."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you explained that. Suppose the tank should, through an +accident, be empty, and you wanted to start?"</p> + +<p>"We've provided for that"</p> + +<p>"I expected so. Wabbling wheels of Wisconsin, you fellows are +certainly wonders."</p> + +<p>"Nothing very wonderful about it," disclaimed Tom. "Well, if we find +the tank is empty we have a powerful, double-acting hand pump by +which, without much effort, we can get up any pressure we need."</p> + +<p>"And then you turn a valve?"</p> + +<p>"Exactly, and the air-motor turns over the dynamo which starts +generating electricity right away."</p> + +<p>"Then, except for the first cost of the car, the expense of operating +it is comparatively nothing?" asked Dick.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you might say we get our power out of the air, and that's +free—so far."</p> + +<p>"And there's no limit, then, to what you can do or where you can go +with the Electric Monarch?"</p> + +<p>"None; that is, so long as the machinery holds out. We are independent +of fuel and the lubricating system is so devised that the oiling is +automatic and requires attending to only once a month. We could easily +carry a year's supply of lubricant."</p> + +<p>"Tall timbers of Taunton!" burst out Dick enthusiastically. "You've +solved the problem of the poor man's car. All the owner of an +Electric Monarch has to do is to pump a little pump-handle or press a +little button and he's off without it costing him a cent. My story +will sure make a big sensation!"</p> + +<p>"Well, you want to tone down that part about its not costing a cent," +chimed in Jack as they coasted down a hill. "The expense of the motor +and the self-lubricating bearings and so on is pretty steep. But we +hope in time to be able to cheapen the whole car."</p> + +<p>They were shooting swiftly down the hill as he spoke. The next moment +he looked ahead again as they shot round a curve. As they did so his +hand sought a button and an ear-splitting screech arose from a +powerful siren.</p> + +<p>In the center of the road, quite oblivious to the oncoming automobile, +was an odd figure, that of a small man in a rusty, baggy suit of +black.</p> + +<p>He had a hammer in his hand and was hitting some object in the roadway +over which he was bending with a concentrated interest that made him +quite unconscious of the onrushing car.</p> + +<p>"Hi! Get out of the way!" yelled the boys.</p> + +<p>But the man did not look up. Instead, he kept tapping away with his +hammer at whatever it was that absorbed his attention so intently.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_II"></a><h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<p><strong>AN ENCOUNTER WITH A "CHARACTER."</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>Jack jammed down the emergency brakes, which were pneumatic and +operated from the pressure tank, with a suddenness that sent Dick +Donovan almost catapulting out of the tonneau.</p> + +<p>"Jumping jiggers of Joppa!" he shouted, for he had not yet seen the +obstacle in the road, "what's happened? Are we bust up?"</p> + +<p>"No, but if I hadn't stopped when I did we'd have bust someone else +up," declared Jack. "Look there!"</p> + +<p>"Can you beat it?" exclaimed Tom.</p> + +<p>As the brakes brought the car to a stop within a foot of his stout, +rotund figure, the little man in the center of the road looked up with +a sort of mild surprise through a pair of astonishingly thick-lensed +eyeglasses secured to his ears by a thick, black ribbon. He wore a +broad-brimmed black hat and wrinkled, baggy clothes of bar-cloth, and +a huge pair of square-toed boots that looked as if their tips had been +chopped off with an ax.</p> + +<p>Over his shoulder was slung a canvas bag which appeared to be heavy +and bulged as if several irregularly shaped, solid substances were +inside of it. The spot where this odd encounter took place was some +distance from any town, but a bicycle leaning against a tree at the +roadside showed how the little man had got there.</p> + +<p>"Say, would you mind letting us get by?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>The little man raised a hand protestingly.</p> + +<p>"I'll be delighted to in just a moment," he said, "but just now it's +impossible. You see, I've just discovered a vein of what I believe to +be Laurentian granite running across the road. I am trying to trace it +and—what's that? Good gracious! Back up your machine, please. I +believe it runs under your wheel. I must make sure."</p> + +<p>Jack obligingly threw in the reverse to humor the little man, who +darted forward and began scraping up the dust in the road with his +hands as if he had been a dog scratching out a rabbit hole. He began +chipping away eagerly with his hammer at some rock that cropped up out +of the road.</p> + +<p>He broke off a piece with his hammer, which was an oddly shaped tool, +and drawing out a big magnifying glass scanned the chip intently. He +appeared to have forgotten all about the waiting boys. But now he +seemed to remember them. He looked up, beaming.</p> + +<p>"A magnificent specimen. One of the finest I have ever seen. Most +remarkable!"</p> + +<p>And with that he popped the bit of stone into his bag, which the boys +now saw was filled with similar objects.</p> + +<p>"Maybe he'll let us get by now," remarked Tom, but a sudden +exclamation from Dick Donovan cut him short.</p> + +<p>"Why, hullo, professor," he said, "out collecting specimens?"</p> + +<p>The little man peered at him sharply. And then broke into a smile of +recognition.</p> + +<p>"Why, it's Dick Donovan!" he beamed, hastening up to the car, "the +young journalist who wrote an article about my specimens once and +woefully mixed them up. However, to an unscientific mind——"</p> + +<p>"They are all just rocks," finished Dick with a grin.</p> + +<p>"I have had unusual success to-day," said the professor, who appeared +not to have heard the remark. "I must have at least fifty pounds of +specimens on my back at this minute."</p> + +<p>He broke off suddenly. The next moment he darted off to the side of +the road and chipped off a fragment of rock from a bank that overhung +it.</p> + +<p>"This is lucky, indeed," he exclaimed, holding it up to the light so +that some specks in the gray stone sparkled. "An extremely rare +specimen of mica that I had no idea existed in this part of New +England."</p> + +<p>The odd little man opened his bag and introduced his latest +acquisition into it While he was doing this Dick had been explaining +to the boys:</p> + +<p>"He's a queer character. Professor Jerushah Jenks. They say he's a +great authority on mineralogy and so on. I interviewed him once. He's +always out collecting."</p> + +<p>"Does he always carry a quarry like that around on his back?" asked +Tom.</p> + +<p>"Always when he's getting specimens," Dick whispered back.</p> + +<p>By this time the professor, his eyes agleam over his latest discovery, +was back at the side of the car.</p> + +<p>"Ah, my beauty, I have you safe now," he said, patting the side of the +bagful of specimens. "Boys, this is my lucky day."</p> + +<p>The boys could hardly keep from smiling at the little man's delight. +It appeared hard to believe that anyone could find pleasure in packing +about a sackful of heavy rocks on a hot day. But the professor's eyes +were sparkling. It was clear he considered himself one of the most +fortunate of men.</p> + +<p>Dick introduced the boys and, to their surprise, the professor +declared that he had read of their various adventures and inventions.</p> + +<p>"We are actually fellow adventurers in the field of science," he +cried, rattling his bag of specimens enthusiastically. "Some time I +should like to call on you and see your workshops."</p> + +<p>"You will be welcome at any time," said Jack cordially, and then the +professor declared that he must be getting home.</p> + +<p>"If we are going your way we can give you a ride," said Tom.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, I'll accept that invitation. But what an odd-looking +automobile you have there."</p> + +<p>The boys explained to him that it was a new type of car that they were +trying out for the first time and then Dick helped the scientist lift +his bicycle into the tonneau. He would have helped him with his +weighty load of specimens, but the professor refused to be parted from +them. As they started off again he sat with the bag firmly gripped +between his knees, as if afraid someone would separate him from it.</p> + +<p>The professor lived with a spinster sister to whom his specimens were +the bane of her life. As the car rolled swiftly along, he occupied his +time by peeping into the bag at frequent intervals to see that none of +the specimens, by some freak of nature, flew out.</p> + +<p>All at once he reached forward and clutched Jack by the shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Stop! My dear young friend, please stop at once!"</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked Jack, slowing down at the urgent summons.</p> + +<p>"Look! Look there at that rock!"</p> + +<p>To Jack the rock in question was just an ordinary bit of stone in a +wall fencing in a pasture in which some cattle were grazing. But +evidently the professor thought otherwise.</p> + +<p>"It's a fine specimen of green granite," he exclaimed. "I must have +it. How did such a fine piece ever come to be placed in a common +wall?"</p> + +<p>The car having now been brought to a stop, he leaped nimbly out, +clutching his geological hammer in one hand and his precious sack of +specimens in the other. He rushed up to the wall and stood for a +minute with his head on one side, like an inquisitive bird.</p> + +<p>"Too bad. That stone's a large flat one and goes right through the +center of the wall," he mused. "The wall must come down."</p> + +<p>And then, to the boys' consternation, he began demolishing the wall, +pulling down the stones and throwing them right and left.</p> + +<p>"Professor, you'll get in trouble," warned Dick in alarm. "Those +cattle will get out. The farmer will be after us."</p> + +<p>But the professor paid not the slightest attention. Taking off his +coat, he resumed his operations with even greater vigor than before. +The cattle in the field eyed him curiously. Then they began to move +toward him. In front of the rest of the herd was a big +black-and-white animal with sharp horns and big, thick neck.</p> + +<p>It gave a sudden bellow and then rushed straight at the considerable +gap the man of science had made in the stone fence.</p> + +<p>"It's a bull!" yelled Dick suddenly. "Run, professor! Run or he'll +toss you!"</p> + +<p>With lowered horns the bull rushed down upon the unconscious scientist +at locomotive speed. But the professor was oblivious to everything +else but uncovering the odd-looking green stone embedded in the heart +of the wall.</p> + +<p>The boys shouted to him but he didn't hear them. On rushed the bull, +bellowing, charging, ready to annihilate the scientist.</p> + +<p>"Run!" yelled the boys at the top of their lungs. "Run!"</p> + +<p>But the professor, with his precious bag in one hand and his hammer in +the other, stood staring at the advancing bull through his thick +glasses as if the maddened creature had been some sort of new and +interesting specimen.</p> + +<p>"Gracious! He's a goner!" groaned Dick.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_III"></a><h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE PROFESSOR'S DILEMMA.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>But the professor was seen to suddenly dart, with an activity they +would hardly have expected in him, across the road. He was only in the +nick of time.</p> + +<p>Almost opposite to the gap in the fence he had made was a tree with +low-hanging boughs. As the bull charged through the gap, right on his +heels, the professor, still with his bag, slung by its leather strap +across his shoulders, swung himself up into the lower limbs.</p> + +<p>The boys set up a cheer.</p> + +<p>"Good for you, professor!" cried Dick, as the bull, with lowered head +and horns, charged into the tree and made it shake as if a storm had +struck.</p> + +<div align="center"><img src="images/illus024.gif" width="439" height="700" border="0" +alt="Illustration: He was only in the nick of time."></div> + +<p>"Wow! That's the time he got a headache!" cried Tom excitedly, as the +professor, clinging desperately to his refuge, was almost flung +from it by the shock.</p> + +<p>"Gracious, boys, what shall I do?" he asked, looking about him from +his leafy perch with a glance of despair that would have been comical +had the situation not been serious, for the bull, instead of accepting +his defeat, stood under the tree pawing and ramping ferociously.</p> + +<p>"Well, here's a fine kettle of fish!" exclaimed Jack. "What are we +going to do now?"</p> + +<p>"Blessed if I know," said Dick helplessly. "By the bucking bulls of +Bedlam, this is a nice mess."</p> + +<p>"Maybe we could throw rocks at him and chase him away," suggested Tom.</p> + +<p>"No chance; he's got his eye on the professor," returned Jack, "and if +we did get out he would chase us and that wouldn't do the professor +any good."</p> + +<p>"Can't you help me, boys," inquired the professor in an agonized tone. +"This tree limb is not exactly—er—comfortable."</p> + +<p>"You're in no danger of falling, are you?" called Jack, in an alarmed +voice.</p> + +<p>"No—er—that is, I don't think so. But this is an extraordinary +position. Most—er—undignified. I'm glad my sister can't see me."</p> + +<p>"Try throwing some of the rocks out of your satchel at him," suggested +Dick.</p> + +<p>But the professor waxed indignant at this proposal.</p> + +<p>"And cast my pearls before swine! or rather my specimens before a +bull!" exclaimed the professor, in helpless indignation. "No, young +gentlemen, not a pebble from this bag is wasted on that creature."</p> + +<p>"I'd drop the whole bag on him," said Dick, "if I was in that +position. It's heavy enough to knock out an elephant, let alone a +bull."</p> + +<p>"Can't you suggest anything?" wailed the professor.</p> + +<p>"I'm trying to think of something right now," declared Jack, racking +his brains for some way out of the predicament.</p> + +<p>"I wish the farmer that owned him would come along and get his old +bull out of there," said Dick.</p> + +<p>"Yes, and then there would be fresh complications," declared Jack.</p> + +<p>"How do you make that out?" came from Dick.</p> + +<p>"He'll probably know how to handle him," supplemented Tom.</p> + +<p>"Yes, he would if he's a bull-fighter," scoffed Dick, "and I never +heard of there being any matadors in the vicinity of Nestorville."</p> + +<p>"Lots of doormats, though," grinned Tom.</p> + +<p>"Say, if you do that again I'll throw you out of the car," cried Jack +at this atrocious pun.</p> + +<p>"Sorry, couldn't help it. Just slipped out," said Tom contritely.</p> + +<p>"Well, you'll slip out if the offense is repeated," retorted Dick. +"But," he went on, "seriously, fellows, we've got to do something."</p> + +<p>"Try blowing the horn," suggested Tom. "It has scared everything else +we met. Horses shy at it, so do other autos. Maybe it will get the +bull's goat."</p> + +<p>"I'll try it, at all events," said Jack.</p> + +<p>He pressed the button and the unearthly screech of the electric auto's +siren split the air. But the bull merely cast an inquiring glance in +their direction and then resumed his vigil over the professor.</p> + +<p>"Boys," wailed the unhappy geologist, "can't you do something, +anything? I can't roost in this tree all night, like a bird."</p> + +<p>The boys couldn't help grinning at this. With his sharp nose, big +spectacles and flapping black garments, the professor did look like a +mammoth black crow.</p> + +<p>"Reminds me of the fox and the crow," said Dick, in a low voice, to +his companions.</p> + +<p>"Only, in this case, the fox is a bull, and the piece of cheese is the +bag of specimens," added Tom.</p> + +<p>They looked about helplessly. There was no farmhouse in sight and the +road did not appear to be much traveled.</p> + +<p>"We'll have to go for help," declared Jack.</p> + +<p>"The only thing to do," agreed Tom.</p> + +<p>The professor was hailed. He had climbed to another limb with infinite +difficulty, because of the encumbering bag of rocks on his back. He +declared that he could manage to get along till the boys came back.</p> + +<p>"By a merciful provision of providence," he said whimsically, "bulls +can't climb trees. The situation might be worse if it was a bear."</p> + +<p>"It would be unbearable," declared Dick to Tom.</p> + +<p>"But just the same there's trouble a brewin'," retorted Tom. "I wish +that farmer would show up."</p> + +<p>"As I said before—I don't," responded Jack, as he prepared to start +off.</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>For answer Jack waved an eloquent hand toward the gap in the stone +fence.</p> + +<p>"I guess he wouldn't be best pleased to find that his fence had been +torn down," explained Jack, as the car drove off, leaving the +professor marooned in his tree with the sentinel bull waiting +patiently below.</p> + +<p>Some distance down the road the boys came to a farmhouse. Several men +were working in the field under the direction of a stout, red-faced +man. Jack shouted to them, and when the red-faced man came up he +explained the situation to him. The man was good-natured, or perhaps +he rather liked the idea of a ride in such a novel-looking car. +Anyhow, he called three of his hands and told them to get pitchforks.</p> + +<p>"Never see a bull I couldn't handle," he said as the men, having +returned, scrambled into the car.</p> + +<p>"Do you know who it belongs to?" asked Jack, as he turned round and +headed back to where they left the luckless professor.</p> + +<p>"I reckon it's that big Holstein of Josh Crabtree's. He's pretty near +as mean as his owner, and that's considerable."</p> + +<p>Jack thought of the hole in the wall and hoped they would reach there +before farmer Crabtree, and so avoid serious complications.</p> + +<p>He drove at top speed, while the friendly farmer and his workmen clung +to the sides of the car and looked rather scared at the rate they were +going.</p> + +<p>"There's the tree," exclaimed Jack, as they came in sight of it, "and +there's the gap in the fence."</p> + +<p>"And where's the bull?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>"And where's the professor?" added Dick.</p> + +<p>Not a trace of the man of science or of the ferocious animal was to be +seen.</p> + +<p>"Are you sure you boys didn't dream all this?" asked the red-faced +farmer suspiciously.</p> + +<p>"There ain't even a cow in sight in the pasture lot," said one of the +men.</p> + +<p>"I reckon this is some sort of a fool joke," added another.</p> + +<p>"It isn't. Indeed, it isn't," protested Jack.</p> + +<p>"The professor is some place around," said Tom.</p> + +<p>But a lengthy search of the vicinity failed to show anything except +that the professor had vanished as if the earth had swallowed him.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_IV"></a><h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<p><strong>"WHERE IS HE?"</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"Professor!" hailed Dick, at the top of his lungs.</p> + +<p>"Professor!" bawled the farm hands.</p> + +<p>The red-faced farmer himself regarded the boys quizzically.</p> + +<p>"What sort of a chap is this professor of yours?" he asked with an odd +intonation.</p> + +<p>"He's a geologist," replied Dick. "Why?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I thought he might be a conjurer," was the rejoinder. "He seems +to be pretty good at hiding himself."</p> + +<p>"Hark!" exclaimed Jack suddenly, standing at pause and listening +intently.</p> + +<p>"What's up?" demanded Dick, instantly on the alert, too.</p> + +<p>"I heard something. It sounded like——"</p> + +<p>"There it is again," cried Tom.</p> + +<p>A faint, far-off cry, impossible to locate, was borne to their ears.</p> + +<p>"It's a call for help," declared Dick.</p> + +<p>"That's what it is," agreed the red-faced farmer. "Must be that +perfusser of yours, but where in the name of Sam Hill is he?"</p> + +<p>It was a puzzling question. The faint cries appeared to be muffled in +some way. They looked about them, endeavoring to locate their source. +Suddenly one of the farm hands spoke.</p> + +<p>"I used to work fer old Crabtree," he said. "There's an old well +hereabouts somewheres and maybe he's fell down that."</p> + +<p>"Where is it?" demanded Jack.</p> + +<p>"Back in the meadow yonder," said the man, pointing in the direction +of the pasture lot.</p> + +<p>"Let's go over there and see at once," said Dick. "Frantic frogs of +France, if the professor's tumbled into a well he may be in serious +trouble."</p> + +<p>They set off on the run to where a pile of stones showed a well-curb +had once been. The hoards at the top, which had covered it over, had +rotted, and there was a jagged hole in them. Jack cautiously bent over +and placed his mouth at the edge of the hole.</p> + +<p>"Professor, are you down there?" he hailed.</p> + +<p>"Y-y-y-y-yes," came up in feeble, stuttering tones. "I'm almost +frozen. I'm hanging above the water but I can't hold on much longer. +The bag of specimens is too heavy."</p> + +<p>"Throw it away," urged Jack.</p> + +<p>"N-n-n-not for worlds," was the reply. "I was looking for another rare +bit of quartz when I fell in here."</p> + +<p>"I'll run to the car," said Jack, who had made out that the well was +not very deep. "Fortunately, we've got a rope and tackle in there. +Hold on, professor, we'll soon have you out."</p> + +<p>He hurriedly explained the situation to the others and ran at top +speed to the car, in which the boys—like most careful motorists, who +never know when such a piece of apparatus may come in useful for +hauling a car out of mud or sand, for instance, or for towing an +unlucky autoist home—had a block and tackle stowed.</p> + +<p>He was soon back, and the rope was lowered to the professor, who made +it fast under his arms. Then, aided by the husky muscles of the farm +hands, they soon drew him to the surface. But his weight was +materially added to by the stones, and it was no light task to rescue +him, dripping and shivering, from the dark, cold shaft.</p> + +<p>He explained that soon after they had gone some men came up and drove +the bull away. But they had seen the gap in the stone wall first.</p> + +<p>"They were positively violent," declared the professor, "and said that +they'd have the man who did it arrested if they could find him. Under +the circumstances, I deemed it prudent to stay up in the tree, where +they could not see me. They drove the bull off into another pasture. +As soon as the coast was clear I climbed down, but I happened to see a +rare bit of quartz sparkling in the sun on the edge of the well-curb. +Imprudently I stood on the planking and fell in."</p> + +<p>"Gracious, it's a lucky thing you weren't drowned, with all that +weight round your neck," declared Jack.</p> + +<p>"It was fortunate," said the scientist mildly, as if such a thing as +drowning was an everyday occurrence. "As a matter of fact, if I hadn't +succeeded in grasping a projecting stone and held on, I might have +gone down. It was an—er—a most discomforting experience."</p> + +<p>"Well, of all things," exclaimed the red-faced man, "to go trapesing +round the country collecting rocks!"</p> + +<p>"Not rocks, sir—geological specimens," rejoined the professor with +immense dignity, "and—great Huxley! Under your foot, sir! Under your +foot!"</p> + +<p>"What is it, a snake?" yelled the farmer, jumping backward as the +scientist dashed at him with a wild expression.</p> + +<p>"No, sir, but a remarkably fine specimen of what appears to be a +granolithic substance," exclaimed the professor, and he began +energetically chipping at a rock upon which the farmer had been +standing.</p> + +<p>"Crazy as a loon," declared the farmer, winking at his men. "Gets +nearly drowned in a well and then begins chopping at a rock as soon as +he gets out."</p> + +<p>"Oh, this has been a lucky day for me," said the professor with huge +satisfaction, as he placed his latest acquisition in the satchel. "As +fine a specimen, boys, as ever I encountered," he declared, turning to +the boys.</p> + +<p>"Gracious," exclaimed Tom and Dick in low tones, "does he call getting +chased by a bull and then tumbling down a well a satisfactory day?"</p> + +<p>"I should call it a rocky time," grinned Dick.</p> + +<p>But at this moment further conversation was cut short by the sudden +arrival of a gray-haired, short little old man with a tuft of gray +whiskers on his chin.</p> + +<p>"Josh Crabtree!" exclaimed the red-faced farmer.</p> + +<p>"Wow! now the music starts," declared Dick.</p> + +<p>Josh Crabtree, his face ablaze, and his small, malignant eyes +sparkling angrily, emitted a roar like that of his Holstein that had +caused the professor so much tribulation.</p> + +<p>"Say, be you the pesky varmints that tore down my fence and scared my +bull out'n two years' growth?" he bellowed.</p> + +<p>"I removed some stones from your fence, sir," said the professor, "but +it was in the interests of science. You may not have been aware of it, +but embedded in your enclosing structure was a fine specimen of green +granite."</p> + +<p>"Great hopping water-melyuns!" roared Old Crabtree, "and you tore down +my fence to git at a pesky bit of rock?"</p> + +<p>"Rock to you, sir," responded the scientist calmly, "like the man in +the poem a 'primrose by the river's brim, a yellow primrose is to you, +and it is nothing more.'"</p> + +<p>"Dad rot yer yaller primroses," yelled Old Crabtree, dancing about in +his rage. "You make good for tearing down my fence, d'ye hear me?"</p> + +<p>"I shall take great pleasure in forwarding you a check for any damage +I may have done," said the professor.</p> + +<p>"I want ther money now," said the farmer truculently.</p> + +<p>"I regret that I have left my wallet at home," said the professor. +Then he brightened suddenly. "I can leave my bag of specimens with you +as security," he said, "if you will promise to be careful with them."</p> + +<p>He unslung his bag and tendered it to the angry farmer who received it +with a look of amazement that the next moment turned to wrath when he +saw its contents.</p> + +<p>"By hickory, what kind of a game is this?" he demanded. "Nothing but a +lot of old rocks. By heck, thar's enough here to build a new fence!"</p> + +<p>He flung the bag down indignantly just as the professor darted forward +with one of his odd, swift movements. He shoved Old Crabtree back +without ceremony and bending swiftly to the spot where the angry +farmer had been standing he picked up and pocketed a small rock.</p> + +<p>"Wa'al land o' Goshen," gasped out the farmer, bewildered. "What in +ther name of time is this?"</p> + +<p>"A splendid specimen of gneiss," explained the professor triumphantly, +"and now, Mr.—er—you were saying?"</p> + +<p>"That I wants ter be paid fer ther damage ter my fence."</p> + +<p>"How much do you want?" asked Jack, coming to the rescue.</p> + +<p>"Reckon a dollar'll be about right."</p> + +<p>"If you will let me lend it to you till we reach your home, I'll be +very glad to pay him," said Jack aside to the professor.</p> + +<p>"But, my dear young friend, there is no necessity. He has ample +security till I can send him a check. Why, that bag of specimens is +worth fifty dollars at least."</p> + +<p>"Them old rocks," sniffed the farmer, who had overheard this last +remark, "I wouldn't give yer ten cents fer a cartload uv 'em. They're +too small fer fences an' too big to throw at cows."</p> + +<p>"You'd better let me pay him," said Jack, and the professor finally +consented to this arrangement.</p> + +<p>This done, they started back on the run to the professor's home, which +was about three miles off. On the way they dropped the red-faced +farmer and his hands, who clearly regarded the professor as some sort +of an amiable lunatic. But that worthy man, supremely happy despite +his wet clothes, was quite contented, and from time to time dipped +into his satchel, like a bookworm into a favorite volume, and drew out +a particularly valued specimen and admired it.</p> + +<p>They soon reached his home, a pretty cottage on the outskirts of +Creston, a small town with elm-shaded streets. The professor invited +the boys to accompany him into the house. They were met in the passage +by a shrill-voiced woman who looked like the professor in petticoats.</p> + +<p>"My sister, Miss Melissa," said the professor. "My dear, these +are——"</p> + +<p>But he got no further in his introduction. Miss Melissa's hands went +up in the air and her voice rose in a shrill shriek as she saw her +brother's condition.</p> + +<p>"Lan's sakes, Jerushah, where have you been?" she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"My dear, I must apologize for my condition," said the professor +mildly. "You see I——"</p> + +<p>"You're dripping a puddle on my carpets. You're wringing wet through!" +shrilled Miss Melissa.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you see, my dear, I've been down a well," explained the man of +science calmly.</p> + +<p>"Do tell! Down a well, Jerushah? At your time of life!"</p> + +<p>"You see I was after specimens, my dear," went on the professor.</p> + +<p>"Specimens!" exclaimed Miss Melissa. "The whole house is full of old +rocks now, Jerushah, an' you have ter go down a well to get more."</p> + +<p>"These are very valuable, my dear," said the professor, floundering +helplessly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't tell me. A passel of old rocks. I'm going to get you a hot +mustard footbath and some herb tea right away," and without another +word, except something about "death of cold, passel of boys," the good +lady flounced off.</p> + +<p>"She's like that sometimes, but she means well, Melissa does," +explained the professor, with a rather sheepish look as he stood in +the midst of a puddle that was rapidly converting him into an isolated +island in the midst of Miss Melissa's immaculate hall carpet. +Suddenly, with one of his impulsive movements, he darted off into a +room opening off the hall and came back with a dollar bill he had +unearthed from a desk. He handed it to Jack, and then, raising his +finger to his lips, he said:</p> + +<p>"Don't let Melissa see it. She's the best of women, is Melissa, but +peculiar about some things—er—very peculiar."</p> + +<p>"Je-ru-shah!" came Miss Melissa's voice.</p> + +<p>"Yes, my dear, coming," said the professor, and shouldering his bag +of specimens he shook hands with the boys and hastened off to answer +his sister's dictatorial call.</p> + +<p>"I guess we'd better be going," said Jack, with a smile that he could +not repress.</p> + +<p>The others agreed, and they were soon speeding back to High Towers, as +the estate of Jack's father, also a noted inventor, was called, with +plenty to talk about as a result of the events of the day.</p> + + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_V"></a><h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<p><strong>CHESTER CHADWICK—INVENTOR.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>As readers of the preceding volumes of this series, know, Jack +Chadwick and Tom Jesson, his cousin, had won the titles of Boy +Inventors through their ingenuity and mechanical genius. Jack's +father, Chester Chadwick, was an inventor of note, and unlike the +majority of inventors, he had turned his devices to such good account +that he had accumulated a substantial fortune and was able to maintain +a fine estate, already referred to as High Towers where, with +splendidly equipped workshops and a miniature lake, he could +experiment and work out his ideas.</p> + +<p>In the first book of this series it was related how Tom Jesson, Jack's +cousin, came to make his home at High Towers. Tom's father, an +explorer of international fame, had departed on an expedition to +Yucatan and had not been heard from since that time. This volume, +which was called the Boy Inventors' Wireless Triumph, told of the +boys' exploits in the radio-telegraphic field and the uses to which +they were able to turn them. In a flying machine, the invention of Mr. +Chadwick, they discovered Tom's father, under remarkable +circumstances, a prisoner of a tribe of savages, and also found a +fortune in precious stones.</p> + +<p>In the succeeding story of their adventures, the boys helped an +inventor in trouble. The Boy Inventors' Vanishing Gun, as this volume +was entitled, set forth in a graphic way the triumph of the boys over +the machinations of a gang of rascals intent on stealing the plans of +the wonderful implement of warfare which they had helped bring to +successful completion.</p> + +<p>We next encountered the lads in the Boy Inventors' Diving Torpedo +Boat. Here they were placed in a new environment on the surface and in +the depths of the ocean. The way in which the wonderful diving craft +aided Uncle Sam in a crisis with enemies of the United States was +told, and their ingenuity and bravery played no small part in the +affair.</p> + +<p>The Boy Inventors' Flying Ship was devoted to a detailed narrative of +the boys' long and unexpected cruise to the unexplored regions of the +Upper Amazon. The boys were shipwrecked and cast away without an +apparent hope of rescue on a yacht belonging to a German scientist, +the crew of which had mutinied. The boys' capture by a strange tribe +and subsequent escape in their Flying Ship formed thrilling portions +of this story, while Dick Donovan's researches in natural history +provided the boys with a lot of fun.</p> + +<p>The volume immediately preceding this showed the boys coming to the +rescue of a poor lad, a waif and orphan, who yet had a fortune in the +plans and specifications of a new type of craft invented by his dead +father who had lacked the capital to develop it. Enemies strove +desperately to secure the papers, and even went to the length of +forging a will for the purpose, but partly through the agency of an +odd German lad, Heiney Pumpernickel Dill, their schemes were +frustrated and the invention was developed and set upon a working +basis. This book was called the Boy Inventors' Hydroaëroplane, and +dealt with some astonishing adventures and perils all of which the +boys encountered with plucky spirits and resourceful minds.</p> + +<p>For some weeks preceding the opening of the present book relating of +the Boy Inventors, Mr. Chadwick had been closeted in his own private +laboratory. The boys had seen him only at rare intervals, and then he +had appeared abstracted and preoccupied. This, the boys knew, was a +sure sign that he was at work on a new idea.</p> + +<p>Sometimes the lights burned in his laboratory far into the night and +in the morning he would appear at breakfast pale and silent. The boys +had indulged in much speculation as to what the new invention could +be, but had arrived at no satisfactory conclusion when, two days after +their experience with the eccentric professor, Mr. Chadwick summoned +them to his private workshop. The boys, who had been at work on the +Wondership, the flying automobile with which they had met such +surprising adventures in Brazil, obeyed the summons with alacrity. It +was delivered to them by Jupe, the negro factotum of the place.</p> + +<p>"Massa Chadwick send me on de bustelbolorium," explained Jupe, who had +a vocabulary that was all his own, "for yo' alls to come right away by +his laburnumtory."</p> + +<p>"All right, Jupe, we'll be right over," said Jack, "just as soon as +we've got some of this grease off our hands."</p> + +<p>The boys' workshop was equipped with a washbasin and they soon made +themselves presentable. Then they hurried to Mr. Chadwick's workshop. +They found him standing before a roughly-built table on which were +ranged some odd-looking bits of apparatus.</p> + +<p>There was a gasoline motor in one corner, geared to a generator—or +what appeared to be one—from which feed wires led to a square metal +box on the table. Attached to this metal box was a sort of horn-shaped +mouthpiece something like the transmitter of a telephone. Hanging from +its side was what looked like an enlarged telephone receiver. Jack +regarded his father questioningly.</p> + +<p>"You sent for us, dad?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Jack," was the reply. "I'm in a quandary. Have you any idea what +this apparatus is?"</p> + +<p>Both boys shook their heads.</p> + +<p>"Looks like some kind of a telephone," ventured Tom.</p> + +<p>"It is a telephone," replied Mr. Chadwick.</p> + +<p>"But—but—where are the wires?" asked Jack, glancing about him, "or +haven't you connected it up yet?"</p> + +<p>"It's connected up as much as it will ever be," said Mr. Chadwick with +a smile. "Can't you guess what it is?"</p> + +<p>"I've got it," cried Jack suddenly. "It's a wireless telephone."</p> + +<p>"That's right," admitted his father, and, in response to a flood of +questions from the boys, he told them how he had been working day and +night to bring the device to perfection.</p> + +<p>"Now," he said, as he concluded, "I want you boys to go down to that +shed that was put up last week at the northwest corner of the +orchard."</p> + +<p>"The one that was put up to store gasoline?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>"I said it was for that purpose in order to avoid questions till I had +my work completed," said Mr. Chadwick with a smile. "Here is the key +to it. Inside you will find an apparatus similar to this one. Start +the dynamo and then stand in front of the transmitter and place the +receiver to your ear. If you don't hear anything at once use the +inductor to tune your aërial earth circuit to the transmitted current +from my end just exactly as you would tune up a wireless telegraph +instrument to catch certain wave lengths from another instrument"</p> + +<p>"Then the principle of the radio telephone is the same as that of the +wireless telephone?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>"I'll explain that to you later in as plain language as I can," said +the inventor, "but now I am anxious to see how this instrument will +transmit sound."</p> + +<p>The boys were excited. Anything novel in the way of science attracted +their bright, active minds as an electromagnet attracts steel. The +idea of a wireless telephone, of the possibility of transmitting +actual speech through space, just as the dots and dashes of the +wireless telegraph are sped through the ether, quickened their +inventive faculties to the highest pitch. Both felt a glow of pride +that they had been selected, even before their father's scientific +friends, to make the first test of this wonderful new invention.</p> + +<p>They hurried across the broad lawn that intervened between the +workshops and the orchard where the newly erected shed stood, and +which, it had been given out, was to serve for the storage of +gasoline. Unlocking the door, they found inside an apparatus +resembling in almost every detail the one in Mr. Chadwick's workshop.</p> + +<p>Jack's hands fairly trembled as he started up the motor and the +generator began to buzz. With shining eyes and throbbing pulses he +placed the receiver to his ear as his father had directed. But the +next moment a flood of disappointment swept through him.</p> + +<p>"Well?" demanded Tom, himself a tiptoe with expectation.</p> + +<p>"Nothing doing," replied Jack, shaking his head. "I guess the thing +isn't at a practical stage yet."</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute, give it a chance," urged Tom. "By the way, how about +that tuning device, have you tried that yet?"</p> + +<p>"No, good gracious, my head must be turning into solid ivory from the +neck up. I guess that's just what the trouble is."</p> + +<p>Jack began carefully sliding a small block connected to the +instruments up and down the coiled wire which formed the tuning +apparatus, and brought the sending and receiving ends into harmony +just as if they had been two musical instruments. When the right +electric "chord" was struck he should be able to hear, just as in +wireless he would be able to catch the message of an instrument whose +wave lengths were attuned to his.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Tom saw his chum and cousin give a start and then a shout. +Over the space between the workshop and the small shed a human voice +had been borne on electric waves. Sharp and clear as though he had +been listening to a "wire" 'phone, Jack caught and recognized his +father's voice:</p> + +<p>"Hul-lo!"</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_VI"></a><h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE RADIO TELEPHONE.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>Back and forth through space they talked for quite a time. The boys +were jubilant. The despair of many inventors, the wireless or radio +telephone appeared to be an accomplished fact. But they didn't dream +how much yet remained to be done. At length Mr. Chadwick told them to +"hang-up" and come back to the workshop.</p> + +<p>The boys were glad to do this for they were extremely anxious to learn +something of the forces controlling this aërial method of +conversation. So far, they had not the least understanding, beyond a +general idea, of how the thing was done. Of the details by which Mr. +Chadwick had worked out this radical departure in telephony, they knew +nothing.</p> + +<p>"Well, what did you think of it, boys?" asked Mr. Chadwick when they +returned to the workshop.</p> + +<p>"Wonderful, beyond anything I could have imagined," declared Jack.</p> + +<p>"How far will it work?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>"That's just the point," said Mr. Chadwick. "That's where I'm at sea. +I need a metal of greater conductivity than any attainable to get real +results. The carbon that I am using does not throw off enough radio +activity to produce a sufficient number of electric impulses to the +atmosphere."</p> + +<p>Jack and Tom looked puzzled.</p> + +<p>"You don't understand me I see," said Mr. Chadwick.</p> + +<p>"No, I must say I don't," said Jack; "you see——"</p> + +<p>"It's pretty technical," broke in Tom.</p> + +<p>"Well, then I'll try to explain to you, in simple language, the +general principles of radio telephony," said Mr. Chadwick. "In the +first place you know, of course, from your wireless studies, that an +electric wave sent into the air will travel till it strikes something, +such as an aërial."</p> + +<p>"To use the old illustration, an electric impulse sent into the air +spreads out in all directions just like the ripples from a stone +chucked into a mill-pond," said Jack.</p> + +<p>"That's it," said Mr. Chadwick. "Now then, as you also know the wire +telephone works by a metal disc in the receiver, vibrating in exactly +the same way as does the microphone in the transmitter. According to +the vibrations of the voice of the person sending the spoken message, +the electric current along the wire, acted upon by the microphone in +the transmitter, increases or decreases. This increasing and +decreasing current acts on a thin metal disc or diaphragm in the +receiver which is held to the ear of the person listening to the +message."</p> + +<p>"That's plain sailing so far," said Jack. "For instance, when you say +'Hullo' over a phone, the microphone or transmitter gets busy and +records it in electrical impulses and shoots it all along the wire +where the receiver picks it up and wiggles the metal disc inside it to +just the same tune."</p> + +<p>"That's it exactly," said Mr. Chadwick. "Now we are ready to go a step +further. Now, as this metal disc is attracted or released by the +current coming over the wire, it compresses or rarefies the air +between it and the ear-drum of the person to whose oral cavity it is +held. In this way the sensation of the same sound as was spoken at the +transmitter end is reproduced at the receiver end. In other words, the +transmitter jerks and jumps just as the needle of a phonograph does in +traveling over a record, and transmits these jerks and jumps over the +wire to the metal disc which by aërial pressure on the ear drums of +the receiver of the message, causes the aural membrane to translate +the words, or vibrations along the nerves, to the brain.</p> + +<p>"Following up this line," said Mr. Chadwick, "we find that the problem +in radio telephony is the same as that met with in ordinary wire +telephony. That is to say, we are required to cause a distant metal +disc to repeat every inflection of the transmitter. But in the case of +radio telephony the result is to be obtained by Hertzian waves, +instead of by a current passing through an insulated wire."</p> + +<p>"The same sort of waves that are employed in wireless telegraphy?" +asked Tom.</p> + +<p>"Just the same, only in radio telephony we are confronted by a problem +not met with in wireless telegraphy. We have not only to transmit +sound, such as isolated dots and dashes, but to send through the air +every rise and fall and inflection of the human voice just as it is +recorded in the minute lines of a phonographic record.</p> + +<p>"Experiments have shown that articulation, that is, understand, a +speech, depends upon overtones and upper harmonies of a frequency of +5,000 or 8,000 or more."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean by frequency?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>"Speaking in reference to radio telephony it means the number of +electrical vibrations per second required to produce a certain sound. +In electric currents 100 per second is a low frequency current, +100,000 per second is spoken of as high frequency. In early +experiments with radio telephony it was found that the chief +difficulty lay in obtaining a current of sufficiently high frequency +to transmit the human voice, the currents used in wireless telephony +being much too weak for this purpose.</p> + +<p>"I had, therefore, to invent my own alternator, which is attached to +that gasoline motor. There is a similar one in the shed from which you +just talked with me."</p> + +<p>"But why does radio telephony require a stronger current than wireless +telegraphy?" Tom wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"Because, up to the present, no way has been found of utilizing in +radio telephony the entire energy of the electric waves sent out," +replied Professor Chadwick. "Only the variations in the waves can be +detected, or transformed into sound at the receiving end of a radio +telephone system. Therefore an immense amount of electrical energy has +to be manufactured in order that the voice vibrations may register +their variations as powerfully as possible."</p> + +<p>"What percentage of the electrical energy manufactured by a high +frequency alternator can be transformed into variations of sound?" +asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"Not more than five to eight per cent. of the total energy. So +therefore the waste is enormous. In wireless telegraphy, on the other +hand, the entire energy radiated from a sending station can be picked +up to the limit of the receiver's capacity to detect it."</p> + +<p>"Isn't there any way in which this difficulty could be overcome?" +inquired Tom.</p> + +<p>"Yes, there is," said Mr. Chadwick, after a moment's thought, "and I +believe that I am the only man in the world employed with radio +telephonic problems who knows of it."</p> + +<p>"Why can't you use it, then?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"Because there are almost insurmountable difficulties in the way. +There is a substance chemically known Z. 2. X. which, if it could be +applied to purposes of transmission and detection, has such immense +powers of electrical absorption that messages could be sent almost any +distance, and with far greater economy of power than at present."</p> + +<p>"How far can you send them now?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"About five miles. At least I think so. I'm not even sure of that," +was Mr. Chadwick's reply.</p> + +<p>But Jack was impatient to get back to Z. 2. X.</p> + +<p>"Why can't you use this Z. 2. X.," he questioned, "if it would +practically wipe out your troubles in sending and receiving?"</p> + +<p>"Because there is even less of it in the world than there is of +radium," was the startling reply. "At present Z. 2. X. costs far more +than radium. It is the most intensely radio-active stuff in the world. +It is capable of being wrought into metal if anybody had ever found +enough of it, but except for a small deposit in South Africa, which +has been devoted to experimental purposes, nobody has any.</p> + +<p>"But enough of that now. That is only a dream. I am anxious, though, +to test out my present apparatus thoroughly, and to do it I shall need +the help of you boys."</p> + +<p>"In what way?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"In giving it a thorough trial to ascertain over how great a space I +can transmit wireless speech."</p> + +<p>"Are you going to put up another station outside the grounds?" asked +Tom.</p> + +<p>"No; I don't want to attract attention to my experiments. You boys +have a wireless telegraph outfit on your Wondership?"</p> + +<p>Jack nodded. He was curious, as was Tom, to know the Professor's plan. +They did not have long to wait.</p> + +<p>"I wish you would get the machine ready to install a radio-telephone +outfit in its place. In that way I can gauge the limits of my +invention without attracting undue attention, as everybody in this +vicinity has seen you in flight and would imagine that you were merely +taking a trip through the air."</p> + +<p>"But can you get out an apparatus light enough for us to take up?" +asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"I am working on that now," said Mr. Chadwick. "I'll have it ready in +a week."</p> + +<p>"We'll be ready for you," promised Jack.</p> + + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_VII"></a><h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE GREAT TEST.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>A week later to the day on a sunshiny, windless morning, the +Wondership was run out of its shed, glistening with new paint and with +every bit of bright work burnished till it shone and sparkled like +newly-minted silver. Amidships on the craft, the general construction +of which is familiar to readers of foregoing volumes of this series, +was a square metal box with small wires leading to long copper wires +stretched from end to end of the Wondership's body.</p> + +<p>These long copper wires were to form the aërials by which the messages +from Mr. Chadwick's workshop were to be caught. The smaller wires +underneath were connected with the metal work of the engine. These +wires formed a "ground" similar to the kind employed in aërial +wireless telegraphy.</p> + +<p>The details of the Wondership having been fully described in the Boy +Inventors' Flying Ship, we shall not enter here into any but a brief +and general description of the craft. The Wondership, then, was a +combination of dirigible balloon, automobile and boat. Her motive +power was furnished by engines driven by an explosive volatile gas +which was also used when occasion arose to inflate the bag of the +balloon feature of her design. The gas was generated in the lower part +of the craft's semi-cylindrical metal body.</p> + +<p>On land two big aërial propellers, geared to the engine, drove the +Wondership swiftly along on four solid-tired wheels. When it was +desired to take to the air the balloon bag, which was neatly folded on +a framework supported by upright stanchions above the body of the car, +was inflated by turning on a valve connecting with the gas tanks in +the base of the body.</p> + +<p>When the Wondership was intended to navigate the water she was driven +by the same aërial propellers that afforded her motive power on land +or in the air. She then became what may be called a hydromobile. If it +chanced to be rough weather, special hermetically sealed panels could +be drawn together, completely enclosing the body and making the craft +a water-tight "bottle." Ventilation was provided in such a case by a +hollow telescopic tube which reached twenty-five feet into the air. It +was divided in two. Fresh air was drawn by a fan down one section, +while the stale air in the "cabin" was forced out by a similar device +up the other part of the tube. Stability was afforded by hollow +pontoons, which worked on toggle joints, and could be raised or +lowered as desired.</p> + +<p>With the aid of Jupe, the gas bag was inflated to a point where only a +slight additional quantity of gas would cause the craft to shoot +upward to the sky. When all was ready a test of the instruments was +made and they were found to be working perfectly. The powerful +alternator on the Wondership was, of course, worked by the same motor +that drove the big propellers.</p> + +<p>"Well, I guess there's nothing to keep you back now," said Mr. +Chadwick, who looked pale and ill after his long days and nights of +work on his invention.</p> + +<p>"No, we're as ready as we ever will be," said Jack, making ready to +climb into the machine above which the big yellow balloon bag was +billowing and sending impatient quiverings through the Wondership.</p> + +<p>"I want you to promise me one thing, dad," said Jack, when he had +climbed into the driver's seat, in front of Tom, whose duty it was to +look after the engine.</p> + +<p>"What is that, my boy?" asked the inventor.</p> + +<p>"That after this test, whatever the result may be, you will take a +long rest."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I will, I must," agreed his father. "I've been working too hard, +I guess, but in the excitement of perfecting the radio telephone I +hardly noticed it. But recently I've had dizzy spells."</p> + +<p>"Two weeks' rest will make you well," declared Jack, as he adjusted +the controls.</p> + +<p>"Good-by and good luck," said his father.</p> + +<p>Both boys waved their hands.</p> + +<p>"All ready, Tom?" hailed Jack.</p> + +<p>The other boy nodded and then turned on a valve so that with a hissing +sound additional gas rushed into the bag. Jack pulled a lever. The big +motors roared and a queer, sickly smell of burned gas filled the air. +The propellers began to revolve slowly and then increased their speed +till they became a mere blur.</p> + +<p>"Dere she go! Gollyumption, dere she go!" cried Jupe, capering about.</p> + +<p>As the old black spoke, the Wondership shot up like a rocket, tilting +her nose slightly into the air. But the next moment Jack had her on an +even keel. In an incredibly short space of time those watching below +saw her only as a glinting, golden speck against the blue sky, +circling like some strange bird far above their heads.</p> + +<p>"Now for the tests," said Mr. Chadwick, as he hastened to his +workshop.</p> + +<p>He set the big alternator at work at top speed. It droned like a gaunt +bee. The inventor's face, worn by his anxious vigils at his +experiments, was as keen as a hawk's, while he adjusted the +instruments and placed his long, lean fingers on the tuning device.</p> + +<p>Far above the earth Jack and Tom could look down upon a patchwork of +villages, farms, green pastures, yellow grain fields and stretches of +woodland. They were too far up to distinguish figures, but they could +see the white steam of rushing trains along the railroad tracks, and +even catch the sound of the engines' whistles.</p> + +<p>Beyond glinted the blue of the sea flecked with sails and with here +and there a steamer's smoke smudging the horizon. Both lads were in +high spirits. It seemed good to be navigating the air again. Every now +and then inquisitive, high-flying crows would swoop toward the machine +and then dash off again with alarmed squawks.</p> + +<p>Although they were making a high rate of speed, they hardly seemed to +be moving as they soared in long circles. To get a sense of rapid +motion, stationary objects must be in sight. In the lonely air it was +hard to tell that they were moving at all except by looking down at +the earth which, as they rose, appeared to be rushing from them, as if +it were sinking through space.</p> + +<p>But novel as all these sensations would be to an aërial novice, they +were an old story to the boys. Jack devoted his attention to testing a +new steering appliance he had equipped the craft with, and Tom watched +his engines with an eagle eye to detect a skip or a "knock."</p> + +<p>"How high now?" asked the young engineer after an interval.</p> + +<p>Jack glanced at the barograph on the dashboard in front of him.</p> + +<p>"Three thousand feet," he said.</p> + +<p>"Might as well connect the alternator?" said Tom interrogatively.</p> + +<p>Jack nodded, and Tom threw a lever which brought the generator of +high frequency currents in contact with the motor by means of a +friction fly-wheel. The alternator began to buzz and spark, crackling +viciously.</p> + +<p>A sort of metal helmet with two receivers attached to it, one on each +side, lay handy at Jack's hand. In front of him was the transmitter +joined to the metal box which contained the microphone, transformers +and inductance tuning coil. Tuning in the aërial apparatus was +effected by means of a small knob projecting through a slit in the +metal box enclosing the delicate instruments including the detector. +By working this knob the tuning block was moved up and down the coil +till a proper "pitch" was obtained.</p> + +<div align="center"><img src="images/illus01.gif" width="369" height="550" border="0" +alt="Illustration: (Frontispiece) Jack experienced an odd thrill..."></div> + +<p>Jack experienced an odd thrill as he prepared to send the first spoken +word ever exchanged between an airship in motion and a station on +land. He and Tom had sent plenty of wireless messages while soaring +through the ether, but somehow, the dot and dash system had not half +the fascination and mystery of the possibility of exchanging coherent +speech between land and air.</p> + +<p>He placed his lips close to the receiver, and with his hand on the +tuning knob sent forth a loud, clear hail:</p> + +<p>"Hullo, High Towers!"</p> + +<p>There was no answer for a few seconds while he patiently adjusted the +tuning knob. But then came a faint buzz like the humming of a drowsy +bee. Suddenly, sharp and distinct, as if his father was at his elbow, +came Mr. Chadwick's voice in reply:</p> + +<p>"Hullo!"</p> + +<p>"This is the Wondership. Three thousand feet in the air," cried Jack.</p> + +<p>"Congratulations, my boy. It's a success so far."</p> + +<p>"What shall we do now?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"I want you to fly in the direction of Rayburn, and try to keep in +communication all the way."</p> + +<p>"All right, dad," responded Jack, and altered the course of the +Wondership.</p> + +<p>Rayburn was a small village some twenty-five miles to the north of +Nestorville. Jack kept the receivers on his ears as he flew along. +From time to time he exchanged conversation with his father. So far +everything appeared to be working as if there were no limit to the +distance over which the voices from the air and land could converse.</p> + +<p>But suddenly there came a startling interruption to the experiments.</p> + +<p>Jack felt a sharp "Bang" at his ears as if a small cannon had been +fired close at hand.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_VIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<p><strong>TALKING THROUGH SPACE.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>As the distance increased between air and land stations, the currents +became stronger, and frequent tuning was necessary. But Jack was able +to keep up a constant conversation with his father, telling him all +the details of the country as they flew along. The sudden explosion, +however, for it sounded like nothing else, startled him into a sharp +exclamation.</p> + +<p>"What in the world was that?"</p> + +<p>As if he had spoken the question to someone close at hand, came back +the explanation.</p> + +<p>"Wireless telegraph wave crossing ours," said his father. "Some +powerful land station is sending out a message, possibly to some +ship."</p> + +<p>"It almost broke my ear drum," said Jack, and inwardly resolved to +devote some time to trying to solve the problem of avoiding such +"collisions" in the future. It occurred to him that some sort of a +circuit breaker might be devised to cut off, temporarily, the +telephone talk by automatic means when a cross-wave of high energy +struck its current.</p> + +<p>The shock was not repeated, and the conversation went on, still as +sharp and as clear as when they had started out. A few minutes later +Jack was able to report they were passing over Rayburn.</p> + +<p>"You'd better keep on," said his father, his voice aglow with +enthusiasm. "It's working beyond my wildest expectations."</p> + +<p>"It's dandy," agreed Jack.</p> + +<p>They talked without raising their voices to any great extent, but it +was necessary to articulate very clearly so that each variation of +sound might be sent out into space as clearly as the notes of a singer +come from the record of a phonograph. But it was amazing, almost +uncanny to Jack that such results could be obtained at all.</p> + +<p>"Goodness, if only we could get that mineral substance that dad was +talking about I believe you could rig up a radio telephone that would +talk across the ocean," he said to Tom, "and think what that would +mean. For instance, instead of bothering with the cable you could step +into a radio-telephone office and say: 'Give me the London Exchange.' +In a few minutes the central would answer and you could tell her what +number you wanted on some regular wire line. Before long you'd get it, +and be talking to whoever you had called just as if they were +twenty-five miles off instead of three thousand!"</p> + +<p>"It seems like a dream," said Tom.</p> + +<p>"Not much of a dream about it. All it needs is development. We've +proved to-day it can be done," declared Jack, bubbling over with +enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>They flew over meadow land and pasture, farmhouses where tiny figures +emerged from buildings and looked up at them, over rivers and +railroads, and still the alternator spat and sparked and the messages +between Jack and his father were interchanged in a steady stream. +Rayburn had been left behind. They were now over a small town Jack +believed to be Hempstead.</p> + +<p>He looked at his map to make sure. It was one that he had specially +plotted out himself from observations he had made when flying in the +vicinity. Having verified their whereabouts he found that they had +flown about fifty miles, possibly a fraction more.</p> + +<p>But at this juncture he noticed that the voice of his father pulsing +through space began to grow thin and weak. Obviously the limit of the +radio 'phone's capacity had been reached.</p> + +<p>"Better turn back," said Mr. Chadwick.</p> + +<p>Jack turned to Tom and gave him the necessary instructions. Then he +set over his guiding wheel, turning the big rudder at the stern of the +Wondership and she acted as obediently as a sea-going craft answering +her helm. Never had she behaved better.</p> + +<p>They flew swiftly back toward High Towers and were soon in sight of +Rayburn. In order to test what effect the magnetism of the earth had +upon the radio messages, Jack brought the great flying craft close to +the ground. They almost grazed the treetops as they flew along.</p> + +<p>Skimming a patch of trees they roared above a farmhouse with a great +red barn adjoining it. The barn attracted Jack's attention because of +the fact that it had a flat roof, an almost unique feature in that +part of the country. He supposed it was used to dry some sort of +produce on and noted that there were several hop-fields near at hand. +Undoubtedly the roof was used for exposing them to the sun and thus +drying the moisture from them without the expense of wood for the +drying fires usually used for the purpose.</p> + +<p>He had hardly noted all this when there came a sudden tug at the +Wondership as if a titanic hand had reached up from below and grasped +her. She pitched wildly and, but for Jack's skill as an airman, there +might have been a serious accident. But he brought the big craft +under control by skillful manipulation.</p> + +<p>The next instant he discovered what had occurred. The grapple of the +aircraft had, in some way, dropped from its fastenings and, trailing +behind the Wondership, had caught in the roof of the farmer's barn.</p> + +<p>A great section of it was torn away and as Jack brought the Wondership +to rest on the roof, the only available place, for the rope was in +danger of fouling the propellers if he descended to the ground, the +farmer and a number of his men came running from the farmhouse.</p> + +<p>In the hands of the farmer was a formidable looking shotgun. As the +Wondership settled on the roof of the barn the man began shouting +angrily.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_IX"></a><h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE BOYS FACE TROUBLE.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"Phew! looks as if we are in for trouble," exclaimed Tom, as he saw +the warlike expression on the farmer's face.</p> + +<p>"It does that," agreed Jack. "Hop out, will you, Tom, and get that +grapple clear? Confound it, I don't see how it came loose."</p> + +<p>"Wore through the lashing," said Tom, who had been examining the place +where the big hooked steel anchor was usually tied.</p> + +<p>"We ought to have seen to it before we started out," said Jack. "We +haven't had it loose since that time we anchored above the Brazilian +forest."</p> + +<p>The farmer's angry voice hailed them from below.</p> + +<p>"Hey there! Don't yew move a foot till we've had a reck'nin'."</p> + +<p>"I am awfully sorry," said Jack. "It was an accident you see. We——"</p> + +<p>"Don't care what it was. Thet thar was a new roof. Don't you move a +step till Si here gits ther constabule."</p> + +<p>"We'll pay you for the roof," said Jack apologetically. "After all it +isn't much damaged."</p> + +<p>Indeed it appeared as if the damage was not so great as they had at +first imagined. After tearing off some shingles the grapple had caught +in a beam and was prevented from doing further harm.</p> + +<p>"Yes, yew'll pay, and yew'll go ter jail tew," declared the farmer. +"Consarn it all, what's the country comin' tew? Las' week tew pesky +dod-ratted balloonists hit Hi Holler on ther head with a bag of sand, +and now yew come along in thet thar contraption and try to bust up my +dryin' roof. I'll have ther law on yer."</p> + +<p>Matters began to look serious. Jack had no doubt but what the farmer +would accept a money payment for the damaged roof. But it appeared +that the old fellow was bent on more stringent vengeance.</p> + +<p>In the meantime Tom had been busy in the stern of the craft and had +succeeded in getting the grapnel loose from the beam into which its +sharp points had dug. It was not till that moment that the farmer +observed him.</p> + +<p>He leveled his shotgun at the balloon of the Wondership.</p> + +<p>"Don't yew dare ter move er I'll bust a hole right plumb through that +ther airbag of yourn," he said.</p> + +<p>"Can't you be reasonable?" asked Jack. "Here's my name." He wrote his +name and address on a slip of paper and threw it down.</p> + +<p>But the irate farmer paid no attention to the missive. He kept his gun +steadily trained on the Wondership.</p> + +<p>"Move an' I'll bust yer!" he said grimly.</p> + +<p>A buggy drove out of the yard. It raced through the gate and then +struck the highroad leading to Rayburn.</p> + +<p>"Thar' goes Si arter ther constabule," said the farmer, licking his +thin lips as if with relish. "Hi Ketchum is a rare one arter +automobubblists. I reckon he'll be right smart tickled to death when +he hears I got a whole airship fer him ter 'rest."</p> + +<p>"Bother the old grouch," muttered Tom, as he climbed back into the +Wondership, the bag of which was deflated just enough to keep her at +rest on the roof.</p> + +<p>"He's evidently mighty serious in his intentions," said Jack, with a +troubled face. "What are we going to do?"</p> + +<p>There was a sudden puff of wind and the big yellow balloon bag swayed +slightly.</p> + +<p>Instantly the farmer's finger crooked on his trigger. He thought the +boys were going to give him the slip.</p> + +<p>"No you don't," he shouted, "you don't fool Ezry Perkins that 'er +way!"</p> + +<p>"We're not trying to fool you," said Jack disgustedly. "Why can't you +be sensible. You've our names and addresses on that paper I threw +down to you. If you like I'll make a cash settlement right here for +any damage we've done."</p> + +<p>"I'm goin' ter git yer in ther court," insisted the farmer sullenly. +"Las' week some autermobubblists killed three uv my chickens, week +afore thet I had a hog knocked off ther road. I'm er goin' ter git +even on yer fer ther lot uv them."</p> + +<p>It was plain that the man was not to be moved by promises or +persuasion. He had conceived in his mind a hatred against automobiles, +with which, in a vague way, he classed airships and all such modern +inventions. Jack thought, too, that Ezra Perkins was the kind of man +who liked to shine out among his neighbors, and what better +opportunity could he have to satisfy this ambition than by blossoming +forth as a man who, single handed, had captured a great aircraft?</p> + +<p>The boys looked down. The farmer was pacing grimly up and down like a +sentry, his eyes never leaving the Wondership.</p> + +<p>"I'd like to drop a bag of ballast on his head, the same as those +balloonists did on Si's," muttered Tom.</p> + +<p>"Wouldn't do any good," said Jack. "It would only bounce off again."</p> + +<p>"I guess it would at that," agreed Tom with a grin.</p> + +<p>"I've half a mind to take a chance," said Jack suddenly.</p> + +<p>"And get a hole blown in the balloon bag," protested Tom. "We wouldn't +be better off than before in that case."</p> + +<p>"I wonder if he'd really shoot or if he's only bluffing," mused Jack.</p> + +<p>"Take a look at him," advised Tom.</p> + +<p>Jack did. One glance was enough. There was no bluffing about the grim, +overalled farmer. The very way in which he held his gun expressed +positive determination not to let the boys escape.</p> + +<p>But as it so happened, by no action of the boys', matters were +suddenly brought to a sharp crisis. Over the patch of woods beyond the +farm there came a vagrant puff of wind. It was followed by a sharper +gust.</p> + +<p>The Wondership swayed and then, before Jack could check the motion, +drifted off the roof like a piece of thistledown blown by the wind. +Instinctively, to check the downward motion, Jack's hand sought the +gas valve. With a hiss the volatile vapor rushed into the bag.</p> + +<p>The big aircraft shot up like an arrow. For a second the farmer stood +paralyzed at the suddenness of it all. His farm hands lounged about, +gaping and looking upward like country folks at a fireworks display.</p> + +<p>Then, without any warning:</p> + +<p>"Bang!"</p> + +<p>The farmer let loose with both barrels at once. But the Wondership +still rose.</p> + +<p>All at once, from below, came a yell of surprise and terror. The boys +looked over the side. As they did so they uttered simultaneous gasps +of consternation.</p> + +<p>The trailing grapnel, for Tom had forgotten to tie it back in place +in the excitement, had caught the farmer by the waistband of his +overalls and he was being carried skyward by the Wondership, dangling +at the end of the anchor rope like some sprawling spider.</p> + +<p>His wife, screaming at the top of her voice, rushed from the kitchen +door.</p> + +<p>"Hey, you come back with my husband!" she shouted.</p> + +<p>"Lemme go! Lemme go!" bawled the farmer as loudly as he could, for, +held securely by his stout overalls, he was carried high above his own +buildings. He kicked and struggled furiously.</p> + +<p>"Keep still," shouted Jack, in serious alarm, from the side of the +Wondership. "Keep still or you'll kick yourself off."</p> + +<p>The farmer had sense enough to obey. He hung upside down like a limp +scarecrow, while his farm hands gaped up at him and the hired girl was +busy pouring buckets of water over his wife who was in hysterics.</p> + +<p>"Gracious, now we've done it!" gasped Tom in dismay.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_X"></a><h2>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<p><strong>AN INVOLUNTARY AËRONAUT.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"Steady, Tom, steady," warned Jack, as he set the pumps to work +drawing gas from the bag into the reservoir.</p> + +<p>The Wondership, her buoyancy thus diminished, began to descend.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>"Drop our passenger," said Jack, with a grin he could not suppress, +for the struggling farmer was within a few feet of the ground now and +even if he did kick himself loose, for his struggles had begun again, +he could not have hurt himself much.</p> + +<p>"Back up till we get over that haystack," said Jack, "and then play +out rope till we lower him. It'll make a nice soft jumping-off place."</p> + +<p>Tom obeyed, pulling a reverse lever. The Wondership, steered with +skill by Jack's practiced hand, backed slowly up. At length they hung +directly over the haystack. Jack turned and nodded. Tom sprang to the +rope and lowered the indignant farmer into the soft hay. The man lost +no time in disentangling himself. Then he sprang to his feet and began +hurling vituperation at them at the top of his lungs.</p> + +<p>"I'll have ther law on yer fer this," he yelled. "Tryin' ter kidnap me +and bustin' down my barn. I'll see whether such goin's on is allowed +in ther sufferin' state uv Massachusetts, yew see if I don't, consarn +yer. I'll——"</p> + +<p>But the Wondership, bearing the two boys who could not help laughing +heartily, although they feared serious consequences might come of the +accident, was winging its way onward out of earshot of the not +unnaturally indignant Ezra Perkins.</p> + +<p>They passed Rayburn before Jack noticed a peculiar smell in the +atmosphere.</p> + +<p>It was leaking gas. Then, for the first time, he recollected that the +farmer might have hit the gas bag above them with his double shots, +although, till then, there had been no indication that such was the +case.</p> + +<p>He called Tom to the wheel, explaining his suspicions and clambered +out on the rigging to see if he could find any holes in the balloon. +It would have made a less steady boy dizzy and sick to stand on the +edge of the Wondership, clinging to one of the supports that held the +body of the craft to the gas-bag, while the whole affair plunged and +swayed five hundred feet above the earth. But Jack, used as he was to +navigating the air, felt none of these qualms.</p> + +<p>His suspicions were speedily confirmed. There was a jagged hole in the +underbody of the balloon, from which gas was rushing. Jack's face grew +grave. The situation was dangerous.</p> + +<p>He knew, as does every balloonist, that out-rushing gas can make an +electric spark in the atmosphere which, in turn, ignites the gas +itself, sometimes with fatal results. Experts in aëronautics attribute +the disasters befalling the long series of Zeppelins, the giant +German dirigibles, to this cause.</p> + +<p>"Tom, we must go down. Drop at once," he said. "That old fellow +succeeded in blowing a hole in us all right."</p> + +<p>The pumps were set to work and the Wondership fell rapidly. They +dropped in a field by the roadside, landing on the running wheels as +lightly as a feather, thanks to the shock absorbers, similar to those +of an automobile, with which the Wondership was equipped.</p> + +<p>"Now for the repair kit," said Jack, rummaging a locker.</p> + +<p>He soon had balloon silk, big shears, a quick-drying gum solution and +a pot of gasproof varnish, ready for the job of patching up the hole. +But first they had to empty the big bag of gas. This was speedily +done, for already enough had escaped to wrinkle the bag like a walnut, +with hollows and creases.</p> + +<p>Jack cut out a patch of balloon silk large enough to fit the hole and +spread it with the adhesive gum solution. This he placed inside the +hole, spreading it out so that when pressure was applied it would be +pressed firmly against the aperture. Then he coated the patch with the +gasproof varnish, and both boys sat down to give the job time to +"set."</p> + +<p>Their eyes turned idly to the high-road. It was about noon and there +was a heavy sort of silence in the air. Far on the horizon they could +make out great billowy masses of white cloud. Piled and castellated +against the sky they assumed all kinds of odd shapes.</p> + +<p>"Thunder heads," said Jack. "We shall have a storm before to-night."</p> + +<p>"It's sultry enough for anything," said Tom, taking off his cap and +mopping his forehead. "I'd hate to be walking in this weather like +that fellow yonder."</p> + +<p>A man had come into sight, plodding along with bent head and eyes on +the ground as if he was very tired. The gray dust of the road coated +him from head to foot. He walked with a kind of dragging gait.</p> + +<p>Over his shoulder he carried some sort of a bundle on a stick. His hat +was a broad sombrero, like a cowboy's. It was a kind of headgear +seldom seen in the east and attracted the boys' attention. Round the +man's neck was a red handkerchief, the only spot of color on his +dust-covered person. He had a great yellow beard and rather long, +unkempt hair.</p> + +<p>"Tramp," hazarded Tom.</p> + +<p>Jack shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Doesn't look like that to me somehow," he said. "I rather think——"</p> + +<p>Round the corner whizzed a big red automobile. It was coming fast. The +driver, a young man, had his head turned and was talking to three +companions who sat in the tonneau. He did not see the dusty traveler +in the road ahead.</p> + +<p>The boys set up a shout.</p> + +<p>"Look out! you'll run him down. Look out——"</p> + +<p>But their caution came too late. At top speed the auto struck the +wayfarer, and before the boys' horrified eyes he was thrown high in +the air, to fall, a confused sprawl of legs and arms, at the wayside.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XI"></a><h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<p><strong>BY THE ROADSIDE.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>The boys ran forward across the few yards of meadow that intervened +between the Wondership and the roadway. The autoists did not, +apparently, notice them. They had stopped the car and were looking +back.</p> + +<p>"Come on and let's get out of this quick," one of them, a hawk-faced +youth, with a long motoring duster on, was shouting to the driver.</p> + +<p>"Yes, let's beat it while the going's good, Bill," came from his +companion as he addressed the driver of the car.</p> + +<p>"I guess we'd better," said the man addressed as Bill.</p> + +<p>Before the boys could intervene the car was on its way again, at top +speed, leaving the unconscious form of its victim at the roadside.</p> + +<p>"Of all the cold-blooded scoundrels!" gasped Jack, horrified at such +callousness.</p> + +<p>"Never mind them now," advised Tom. "Let's see if this poor fellow is +badly hurt. He may even be——"</p> + +<p>He did not finish the sentence, but Jack knew what he meant. Hastily +the boys scrambled down the low bank that separated the field from the +road. They ran quickly to the man's side. To their great relief, for +they had feared that he might have been killed, the man was breathing. +But his breath came pantingly from his parted lips and there was a bad +cut on his forehead.</p> + +<p>"Get some water from the creek yonder," said Jack, and Tom hastened up +the road to where, beneath the small wooden bridge, there flowed a +rivulet of water.</p> + +<p>He was soon back, with his handkerchief well soaked, and with an old +can, that he had been lucky enough to find, filled with water. They +bathed the man's wound and then bound it up as best they could. But he +still lay senseless.</p> + +<p>"Now what's to be done?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>"We ought to get him over to the Wondership and rush him to the +hospital at Nestorville," said Jack.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that would be the thing to do. But he's too heavy for us to +carry," objected Tom.</p> + +<p>"Why not fly over here alongside him. I guess we could lift him in; +that patch ought to hold by this time," suggested Jack.</p> + +<p>"That's a good idea. What a pack of cowardly sneaks those chaps in +that car were."</p> + +<p>"I wish we could have stopped them. It would give me real pleasure to +see a gang like that get its just deserts. They might have killed this +poor fellow."</p> + +<p>The unconscious man was powerfully built, with face tanned brown above +a yellow beard, from exposure to sun and wind. As Jack had said, he +did not look like a tramp. Suddenly the boy noticed lying near him an +object which had evidently fallen from the man's pocket when he was +struck and flung through the air by the auto.</p> + +<p>It was a small cylinder, apparently made of lead, and about three +inches long. Jack picked it up, and for the time being did not attempt +to examine it but thrust it into his pocket for safe keeping. Little +did either of the boys think how much that little cylinder was to mean +to them, and how it was to influence some of the most important +adventures of their lives.</p> + +<p>Making the man as comfortable as they could, by rolling up their coats +and placing them under his head, the boys hurried back to the +Wondership. When they arrived there they saw that a feature of the +radio 'phone, which has not yet been mentioned, was working in urgent +appeal. This was a tiny red electric light attached to the top of the +case containing the sensitive parts of the apparatus.</p> + +<p>By an ingenious device, worked as a call signal from the transmitting +station, the electric waves converted a lighting circuit for this +purpose.</p> + +<p>It was winking and twinkling, and Jack knew that his father was +trying to call them.</p> + +<p>He sent out some flashes by starting the dynamo going and pressing a +key devised for the purpose. This, he knew, would cause a similar +light attached to his father's apparatus to flash a reply. This done +he waited a second and then adjusted the receivers to his ears.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" came his father's voice.</p> + +<p>Jack gave him a rapid account of the accident, not stopping just then +to say anything about the incident of the farmer and his barn.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do about it?" asked his father.</p> + +<p>"He appears to be seriously hurt," said Jack. "I was thinking of +rushing him to the hospital at Nestorville."</p> + +<p>"That seems to be the best plan," said his father. "By the way, did +those autoists get clear away?"</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid so. They never even waited a second to see if the man was +badly injured. They——"</p> + +<p>Jack suddenly stopped short. An inspiration had come to him. The +accident had happened on a road that, as he knew, led straight through +Nestorville. He had thought of a plan to bring the autoists to book +for their callousness and negligence.</p> + +<p>"Dad—oh, dad!" he called.</p> + +<p>"Yes, what is it?" came back Mr. Chadwick's voice.</p> + +<p>"Those fellows will pass through Nestorville. I had a flash of the +number of the car. It was 4206 Mass. It's a red car and a powerful +one, with three men in it."</p> + +<p>"What do you want to do?" asked Mr. Chadwick.</p> + +<p>"Can't you 'phone to the Nestorville police, telling them what has +happened and have those fellows stopped. I'm not vindictive, but they +ought to be brought to book for running down a man and then speeding +off and leaving him like that."</p> + +<p>"I agree with you," replied Mr. Chadwick. "I'll do so at once. +Good-by."</p> + +<p>"Good-by," said Jack and "rang off."</p> + +<p>"That was a great idea of yours, Jack, old boy," approved Tom. "I hope +they land those fellows."</p> + +<p>"Of course it was an accident," said Jack, "but that fellow who was +driving was too busy talking to watch the road, and then going off +like that—they deserve all they get."</p> + +<p>Examination of the patch showed that it would hold fast and the bag +was refilled. As soon as it was sufficiently inflated, the Wondership +sailed over to the road and was brought down alongside the still +unconscious man.</p> + +<p>"Looks as if he's badly hurt," said Tom with some anxiety.</p> + +<p>"It does. His skull may be fractured," agreed Jack. "If he is +seriously injured those fellows may get into trouble."</p> + +<p>It required all the boys' strength to raise the man and get him into +the Wondership. Here they laid him out on the floor of the rear +section. They had just done this when the red light signaled Jack +again. It was Mr. Chadwick. He had notified the Nestorville police +force, consisting of a chief and two men, and they were on the lookout +for the offending auto.</p> + +<p>"Good," said Jack. "Say, dad, the radio telephone has shown its +usefulness on the first day out, hasn't it?"</p> + +<p>They were soon in the air once more. The run to Nestorville was made +quickly. On the outskirts of the town they came to earth and deflated +the balloon bag, since the hospital stood in a group of trees and it +would have been impossible to make a landing there. The Wondership was +converted into an auto and sent speeding toward the main street of the +village.</p> + +<p>Suddenly they heard a whir of wheels behind them and an impatient +tooting of a horn. They looked back and uttered a simultaneous cry of +astonishment.</p> + +<p>The red auto that had run down the yellow-bearded man was behind them. +Its occupants were shouting and sounding their horn impatiently for +the right of way.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<p><strong>MAKING ENEMIES.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>The road was narrow where they were, and unless the boys' machine was +run to one side of the road there was no chance for the red machine to +pass. Jack made it clear that he didn't intend to let them.</p> + +<p>He paid no attention to the shouts that came from behind.</p> + +<p>"Hey, you kids, with that queer-looking car, get off the road and give +a real machine a chance to get by," shouted the driver, he who had +been addressed as Bill.</p> + +<p>Jack did not turn his head.</p> + +<p>"I'll knock your head off if you don't turn out—and turn out quick!" +came another shout.</p> + +<p>Still the boys did not pay any attention. In this order they came into +Nestorville. Lined up, with a look of stern determination on his +face, and with his nickel star of office newly polished, was Chief +Biff Bivins. Behind him were Lena Hardy and Joe Curley, his "force."</p> + +<p>"Say, boys," hailed Chief Biff, as the boys rolled up abreast of him +and his men, "hain't seen hair nor hide of that car your dad was arter +'phonin' me about."</p> + +<p>"Well, you soon will, chief," said Jack.</p> + +<p>"Haow do yew know that?" asked the chief, his little eyes blinking +curiously.</p> + +<p>"Because it's right behind us now," declared Jack. "It's that red +one."</p> + +<p>"Ther dickens you say. How'd you come ter git erhead of 'em?"</p> + +<p>"They must have stopped to fix a tire or something," said Jack.</p> + +<p>But Biff was paying no attention to him. The majesty of the law was +strong upon him. Calling his minions to his side he stepped into the +middle of the road in front of the red car.</p> + +<p>"Get out of the way!" shouted the man who was driving.</p> + +<p>"Not much I won't," declared Biff valorously. "Halt that gasoline +gadabout o' yourn instanter."</p> + +<p>"What for, you old Rube?"</p> + +<p>"Old Rube am I?" sputtered Biff, feeling that the law had been +insulted in his person, "jes' fer thet yer under 'rest."</p> + +<p>"What for?" demanded the driver of the red car angrily.</p> + +<p>"Fer running daown and grievously wounding a man and then speedin' off +without stoppin' ter see if you'd killed him dead or what all. That's +what fer."</p> + +<p>The driver of the red machine lost his blustering tone.</p> + +<p>"Why, there's some mistake," he stammered, his face very pale, +"I—er—we—er—that is, we didn't run anybody down."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, you did," said Jack. "We saw you, and what's more we've got +the man you struck right here in our car. You're a fine pack of +cowards to run off like that. If we hadn't happened along he might +have lain there for hours before help came."</p> + +<p>"You saw us!" gasped the driver of the car, losing his bravado +completely. "Well, I might as well admit we did run a man down. But we +didn't think he was badly hurt and so we put on all speed to rush into +town here and get a doctor for him. We'd have been here sooner only +one of our tires punctured."</p> + +<p>"Thet's a dern good story," said the chief, "but you'll hev ter +'splain that ter ther squire. Come on with me ter ther court-house. +Too bad fer you thet them Chadwick boys had some sort of a do-funny +dingus on their sky buggy that talks through the air, otherwise you'd +hev got clar' away."</p> + +<p>The man had, by this time, got out of the car which they halted at the +side of the street. A crowd of curious villagers gathered and were +staring at the scene and the actors in it.</p> + +<p>At Chief Biff's words the driver of the red car flashed an angry look +at the boys. His companions looked equally vindictive.</p> + +<p>"So, it's to you we owe our arrest, is it?" he said in a low voice, +coming quite close to Jack. "All right. You'll hear from me later. I'm +not going to forget you or that other kid, either. Do you understand?"</p> + +<p>Jack made no reply, and as he was anxious to get the injured man to +the hospital as quickly as possible he drove off. At the institution +the man was carried to a cot by two orderlies, and the doctor in +charge told the boys that, so far as he could see, his injuries were +not mortal, although he added that a fracture of the skull was +possible.</p> + +<p>"In which case," he said, "his recovery is problematical. How did you +happen to pick him up?" asked the doctor, who knew the boys quite +well.</p> + +<p>Jack told him as briefly as he could, and received the physician's +warm congratulations.</p> + +<p>"It was fortunate that you happened along," he said. "Otherwise a +long exposure to the sun, unattended, might have resulted in the man's +death. Have you any idea who he is?"</p> + +<p>"Not the least," replied Jack. "All that we know is that, just after +he had plodded round the corner as if he was tired after walking a +long way, that auto came whizzing round and struck him. Somehow he +doesn't look like a tramp."</p> + +<p>"No, he doesn't," agreed the doctor. "However, he should be conscious +to-morrow if there are no complications, and we can find out. One +thing is certain, he ought to be grateful to you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's all right," laughed Jack, much relieved to hear that the +man wasn't going to die. "It was all we could do."</p> + +<p>They drove back through the village. Outside the court-house was quite +a crowd. Events were few and far between in sleepy Nestorville, and +the arrest of the autoists had caused quite a sensation. From a friend +in the crowd the boys learned that the three men were being arraigned +before Squire Stevens.</p> + +<p>"Let's go in," suggested Tom.</p> + +<p>"All right," nodded Jack, and they climbed out of the Wondership and +ascended the long steps leading into the court-house. As they entered +Squire Stevens' court-room, Chief Bivins spied them.</p> + +<p>"Here they be now, Squire," he said. "Glad you came, boys. It saved me +the trouble of serving subpoenas on you. These are the boys who saw +the whole thing, judge."</p> + +<p>"Was it an accident?" asked Squire Stevens, a dignified-looking old +man with an imposing white beard.</p> + +<p>"Yes, entirely so," said Jack, who did not bear any malice.</p> + +<p>"But after they had struck the man, these young men ran away?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," Jack was forced to admit. The men shot him a glance of hatred.</p> + +<p>"I understand you have been to the hospital," went on Squire Stevens. +"Did you learn how badly the man they hit is hurt?"</p> + +<p>"The doctor told us that his injuries don't appear to be serious," +said Jack, "but that it was possible there might be complications."</p> + +<p>"In that case I shall have to hold you young men under bond," said the +squire. "Will you be able to furnish it?"</p> + +<p>"In any amount," said the man who had driven the car, in a loud, +boastful voice. "My father, Evans Masterson, owns the <i>Boston Moon,</i> +the evening paper. If I can telephone to him he will soon get us out +of this scrape."</p> + +<p>"Very well, then," said the Squire, frowning slightly at young +Masterson's tone. "I shall fix your bond at $500, as you were driving +the car and directly responsible for the accident, and that of your +companions at $100 each."</p> + +<p>Young Masterson gave an ironical bow. Chief Biff Bivins escorted him +to the telephone. The elder Masterson, who had had a good deal of +experience with his son's escapades, at first administered a lecture +over the 'phone which ended by his saying that he would come +post-haste to Nestorville and extricate his son and his chums from +their unpleasant fix.</p> + +<p>But the boys did not wait for this. As soon as the case was over they +hastened back to the Wondership. The run home was made without +incident and it was not till the Wondership was safely in its shed +that Jack suddenly thought of the odd cylinder of lead that he had +picked up by the man's side as he lay on the road.</p> + +<p>"I ought to have left it at the hospital," he thought, "but I entirely +forgot it."</p> + +<p>He drew it out and looked at it. He now saw that the lead cylinder +enclosed a glass vial carefully corked and sealed. The bottle was +wrapped in flannel. Jack could not withstand the temptation of pulling +it out and looking at it. He hardly knew what he had expected to see, +but he was distinctly disappointed, as was Tom, to find that the +carefully protected vial contained nothing more than some dark, almost +black, stuff that looked like sand. In it were particles that +glittered like mica.</p> + +<p>"Pshaw!" he exclaimed in a disappointed tone, "nothing but a bottle +full of sand. Wonder why in the world that fellow carried trash like +that so carefully wrapped up for?"</p> + +<p>The solution of the question, which was near at hand, was to have an +important bearing on the lives of the Boy Inventors, and that in the +immediate future.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE LEADEN TUBE.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>The following day, while they were experimenting and practicing with +the radio telephone, the boys received word that the man in the +hospital was conscious and wished to see them, if possible.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps now we shall get some explanation of that queer tubeful of +sand," said Jack, as he hung up the telephone receiver, having +informed the physician that they would be at the hospital shortly.</p> + +<p>"It's certainly a queer sort of thing for a man to carry about—a +glass vial full of black grit so carefully protected, unless he is +crazy or something," commented Tom.</p> + +<p>"I think that there is some explanation back of all this," said Jack, +"and for my part the sooner we get to the hospital, the better I shall +be pleased. The man told the doctor he was a miner and his name is +Zeb Cummings. Perhaps that sand is gold-bearing or something like +that."</p> + +<p>"That might be the case," agreed Tom.</p> + +<p>The boys decided to take out the electric car. It was in perfect +running order and the indicator showed that there was plenty of +electricity in storage for the start. They told Mr. Chadwick where +they were going and then rolled out of the High Towers gates onto the +broad, smooth road bordered with pleasant green elms.</p> + +<p>They bowled along smoothly and silently with the car working as +perfectly as delicate clockwork. They had gone about a mile from the +house and were on a steep grade which the car took as easily as if it +had been going down hill, when their attention was attracted by a +sudden shout from the vicinity.</p> + +<p>Jack brought the car to a halt. The voice came again.</p> + +<p>"Hi! Help me! Ouch! Help!"</p> + +<p>"What in the world is the matter now?" wondered Tom.</p> + +<p>"Somebody in trouble in that field yonder. We'd better get out and see +what's up," proposed Jack.</p> + +<p>The shouts seemed to issue from beyond a high bank at one side of the +road. On its summit was a hedge which prevented the boys seeing what +was going on in the field that lay beyond.</p> + +<p>As they got out of the car, however, Jack spied a bicycle at one side +of the road. A satchel that he remembered very well was slung from its +frame.</p> + +<p>"It's the professor in trouble again!" declared Jack.</p> + +<p>"I do believe you are right," replied Tom as they scrambled up the +bank. "That's sure enough his wheel."</p> + +<p>They found a gate in the hedge and on the other side an odd sight met +their eyes. Kneeling on the ground was the professor. His right arm +was thrust almost up to the shoulder into a hole in the ground. He +was shouting lustily for help and appeared to be imprisoned in his +queer posture.</p> + +<p>"Some animal has got hold of his hand," cried Jack. "Come on, Tom."</p> + +<p>"Oh, boys, thank goodness you've come," gasped the scientist.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" demanded Jack.</p> + +<p>"I can't get my arm out of this hole," declared the professor.</p> + +<p>"How did you get it in?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>"A fine specimen that I dropped accidentally rolled into it," was the +reply. "I reached in to get it and now I can't get my hand out."</p> + +<p>"But you got it in easily enough," said Jack in a puzzled tone.</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes," replied the professor, "but then I didn't have my hand +clenched. Now my fist is closed and I have the specimen in it. Oh, +boys, it's a beauty. One of the finest I have ever seen. It shows +distinct monolithic traces."</p> + +<p>"But if you don't drop it you can't get your hand out," argued Tom.</p> + +<p>"I know that. That's why I shouted for help," said the professor +simply.</p> + +<p>"You'll have to let go of it," decided Jack, almost choking with +laughter at the plight of the eccentric little man.</p> + +<p>"Let go of it? My dear sir," murmured the professor in a shocked tone, +"this specimen is worth at least twenty dollars, not to speak of its +scientific value."</p> + +<p>"But you can't stay here," said Jack decisively.</p> + +<p>"And I won't let go of the specimen," declared the professor with +equal firmness.</p> + +<p>"What on earth are we to do?" said Jack, looking helplessly at Tom.</p> + +<p>Not far off Tom had noticed a man digging potatoes. It gave him an +idea.</p> + +<p>"We can borrow that man's shovel and dig his arm out," he suggested.</p> + +<p>"It's about the only thing to do, I guess," said Jack. "You go and +see if you can get it. I'll keep the professor company."</p> + +<p>Tom soon came back. The potato-digger accompanied him. The man was +much interested in the eccentric man's plight.</p> + +<p>"If that ain't the beatingest I ever heard on," he remarked, gazing at +the professor, and then he tapped his head significantly and looked at +the boys in a knowing way.</p> + +<p>"Nobody home, eh?" he said with a grin. Fortunately the professor did +not hear him; but the boys could hardly keep from laughing outright as +they set to work with the spade. A few minutes of brisk digging set +the professor at liberty and he was able to stand upright and +triumphantly exhibit a small black rock which looked in no way +remarkable, but which, it was evident, he esteemed highly.</p> + +<p>"Ah, my little gem," he said, gazing at it fondly. "You thought you'd +escape me; but you didn't. A wonderfully fine specimen, boys."</p> + +<p>"Tell yer what," said the yokel, from whom they had borrowed the +spade, "I'll pay you fifty cents a day to clean up my back pasture +yonder. It's chock full of them black rocks."</p> + +<p>"It is?" exclaimed the professor eagerly. "I must visit it some day. +It would be worth writing a paper about. Most remarkable. A whole +field of these stones. Well, well, this is a great day for science. +But how did you boys happen to come along so opportunely?"</p> + +<p>Jack explained, and then, suddenly, he thought of the tube of +queer-looking black sand. Possibly the professor would know what it +was. He drew it out and briefly narrated how he came in possession of +it. The professor took the little glass vial out of its protecting +lead and flannel. He adjusted his glasses and held it up to the light. +Then he uncorked it and sprinkled a few grains on the palm of his +hand.</p> + +<p>He regarded it carefully for a few minutes and then drew out a huge +magnifying glass. The next instant he dropped his scientific calm and +uttered a sharp exclamation of astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Where is the man who owns this?" he exclaimed. "We must see him at +once."</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XIV"></a><h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<p><strong>IN THE HOSPITAL.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"We are on our way to see him now," said Jack. "He is in the +Nestorville hospital."</p> + +<p>"May I go with you?" asked the professor, with astonishing eagerness +for him.</p> + +<p>"Why, of course. But that black sand," said Jack. "What is +it—gold-bearing material of some kind?"</p> + +<p>"Gold!" exclaimed the professor with fine scorn, "gold would be dross +beside it. Of course I haven't analyzed it yet, but if it is what I +think it is, it is the most valuable stuff in the world."</p> + +<p>The boys exchanged bewildered glances. Clearly their discovery of the +injured man, Zeb Cummings, had an aspect they had not hitherto +suspected. But the professor refused to tell them what the sand was, +or what he thought it was, till he had seen Zeb Cummings himself.</p> + +<p>Leaving the potato-digger under the firm impression that they were +all crazy, they hurried back to the road, the professor's bicycle was +placed in the tonneau, and Jack drove just within the speed law to the +hospital.</p> + +<p>They found the injured man sitting up in bed, his great yellow beard +gleaming like gold. His head was bandaged but even the pallor induced +by the accident had not materially altered the ruddy glow of his thick +coat of tan.</p> + +<p>"So these are the boys who saved me," he said, extending a big, +gnarled hand. "Shake, pardners. The doc here tells me if I'd laid much +longer out there in the sun, there might hev been a first-class +funeral fer Zeb Cummings."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's all right," said Jack easily. "I'm only glad that we came +along when we did."</p> + +<p>"Well, you sure acted different from them other varmints," said Zeb +with deep conviction. "The doc tole me all about it."</p> + +<p>His face suddenly grew grave as he changed the subject.</p> + +<p>"Did you find anything on the ground thereabouts after I got knocked +out?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"What sort of a thing?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"Oh, nothing that looked very valuable. Jes' a little lead roll with a +bottle full of what looked like black sand in it."</p> + +<p>"Got it right here," said Jack, producing the bottle which the +professor had given back to him.</p> + +<p>"Glory be!" exclaimed Zeb Cummings, as he took the lead-wrapped vial +as though it was something precious. "I was afeard that if anyone +found it they might hev thrown it away, bein' as it don't look as if +it amounted ter anything much."</p> + +<p>"Is it valuable?" asked Jack, who could not restrain his curiosity.</p> + +<p>"That's jes' what I don't rightly know," rejoined Zeb. "I reckon I'd +better tell yer how I come ter git it an' then you kin judge fer +yourselves."</p> + +<p>"We'd like to hear," said Jack, who had felt all along that there was +some mystery about the yellow-bearded giant.</p> + +<p>"All right! Sit down and I'll tell yer ther yarn. But say, who is yer +friend? No offense meant, ye understand."</p> + +<p>"This is Professor Jerushah Jenks," said Jack.</p> + +<p>"What, the guy that knows all about rocks and such like?" burst out +the miner.</p> + +<p>"I believe I have achieved some small fame in that line," said the +professor.</p> + +<p>"Wa'al if this don't beat pay dirt I'm a Piute," exclaimed the miner. +"Give us your hand, Professor. I was on my way ter see you when that +thar buzz wagon busted me higher nor a turkey buzzard."</p> + +<p>"On your way to see me?" echoed the professor in amazed tones.</p> + +<p>"Yes, siree bob, that very identical thing," was the bronzed miner's +reply.</p> + +<p>"But I don't quite understand. You see I——"</p> + +<p>"That's all right, Professor. We'll git down ter pay dirt direc'ly," +said the miner. "You know of the Scientific Society in Bosting, of +course?"</p> + +<p>"I am a member of that body, sir," was the dignified reply of the +little man.</p> + +<p>"Well, they giv' me your name. Said you was the biggest bug on rocks, +minerals and sich in the country and so I sets out to pay a call on +you."</p> + +<p>"But you were many miles from where I live," said the professor. "The +railroad, or the trolley——"</p> + +<p>"Don't carry folks for nothing," interrupted Zeb, "and nothing's my +capital right now."</p> + +<p>"You mean that you were walking from Boston?" asked the professor.</p> + +<p>"That's right," was the reply. "Landed there on ship from round the +Horn last week. Got paid off but some sneak thief in the boarding +house I was stopping at got my roll. So I had to hoof it."</p> + +<p>"But what did you want with me?" asked the professor.</p> + +<p>"I wanted you ter tell me ef that thar stuff in the glass tube is +worth anything or nothing," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"Why, do you know where there is more of it?" asked the professor, and +the boys could see that he was oddly excited, although preserving an +appearance of outward calm.</p> + +<p>"Yes, siree," was the emphatic reply. "I know whar thar's enough of it +to load a freight train."</p> + +<p>"Shades of Huxley!" gasped the professor, actually turning pale. "Do +you mean that?"</p> + +<p>"I sure do, Professor. It's all down on a map what Blue Nose Sanchez +give me afore he passed in his checks."</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XV"></a><h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<p><strong>A TALE OF THE COLORADO.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"Do you fully realize what you are telling me?" asked the professor. +The doctor and the nurse had left the room, and the miner, the +scientist and the boys were alone.</p> + +<p>"Course I do," was the rejoinder of the yellow-bearded giant with the +bandaged head. "There ought ter be a fortune in it 'cording to what +Blue Nose Sanchez said. Was he lyin', Professor?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think so. But tell us your story," urged the man of science.</p> + +<p>"Well, it begins some months ago. I was prospecting down along the +Colorado River. It was in a mighty bad place. Don't rightly know just +how I ever got thar, but thar I was. Wonder was I wasn't killed ten +times over 'fore I got to whar I was. But I guess I'm pretty tough.</p> + +<p>"That Colorado River is a pretty tough place down where I was. +Nothing but desert all around, and just a swift dashing current at the +bottom of a canyon that looks like it went into the middle of the +earth with steep, dark walls that seem to go straight plum up to the +sky.</p> + +<p>"But I was lured on by the thought of making a big strike. At last I +got down to a place where the banks was so high and steep that it was +like twilight even at noon. Grub was gittin' to be a question with me, +and I'd about made up my mind to turn back, but I thought I'd make one +more last try.</p> + +<p>"I set to work on a rocky bank with my pick but nary a color—that's +what we call a trace of gold—could I uncover.</p> + +<p>"Wa'al, says I to myself, it's up stakes fer you, Zeb, unless you want +to starve afore you git back to civilization. But as it was evenin' +then I decided to stay whar I was that night and strike back early the +next day.</p> + +<p>"Here's whar Blue Nose Sanchez comes inter ther story. They called +him 'blue nose,' I guess, because of a premature blast that had blown +powder into his nose and turned it that color. Anyway, he was a mighty +homely specimen.</p> + +<p>"It was just gittin' light in the canyon, although it must have been +broad day up above, when I hears an almighty hollering up the gulch. +The next thing I knows, round a bend comes a small boat. There's two +men in it. They must have been crazy to try to make the passage, for +the river is just a mass of rapids and whirlpools, and I never heard +of anyone trying to shoot 'em.</p> + +<p>"But thar was these two fellows in this boat, and they was scared, +too, I kin tell you. Wa'al, I stood thar like a stuffed pig on the +bank watching 'em as they came toward me at the speed of an express +train. Suddenly one of 'em, the chap that was trying to steer, twisted +the oar he was guiding the boat with and it cracked under his weight. +He went overboard in a flash.</p> + +<p>"The next moment, with a yell of fright that I kin hear yit, the boat +was hurried past me on that water that boiled like yeast in a kittle, +and in a flash it had disappeared round another bend. What became of +it I never knew, but it must have been upset and the man in it +drowned. No boat could have lasted long in that water, even with an +oar to steer it, and that was gone.</p> + +<p>"I waded out inter ther water as far as I dared and by some freak of +the current the man who had toppled out of the boat came within my +reach. I grabbed him and dragged him ashore, more dead than alive. I +done what I could for him and he came to after a while. That was how I +met Blue Nose Sanchez.</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, Blue Nose was a mighty sick man, even then. He had fever +and was a ravin' lunatic at times, but at intervals he made out to +tell me suthin' of his story. Him and his partner, a fellow he called +Foxy Joe, was on their way to find a little island down ther river +where no white man but only one had been. This man was a friend of +Foxy Joe's and the two met up in Yuma. Foxy's friend had a lot to tell +him about a wonderful island some Injuns had told him about whar +there was some sort of mysterious mineral. By what Joe could make out +this mineral was nuthin' more nor less than radium."</p> + +<p>"Radium!" exclaimed the boys.</p> + +<p>"That's right," went on the miner. "Foxy's friend allowed that there +was cartloads of it lyin' loose thar 'cording to the description the +Injuns give him, and he showed Foxy a sample of the stuff. That sample +is in this little lead-wrapped bottle. It's wrapped in lead 'cos +otherwise it 'ud make sores on you when you carry it about. It's +workin', workin' all the time, frum what I kin make out.</p> + +<p>"Well, 'cordin' ter ther way Blue Nose Sanchez tells it, Foxy and the +man who knew about the island and had a rough plan of it the Injuns +drew fer him, had a fight, and Foxy kills him, or thinks he has. Blue +Nose sees it and sees Foxy take the map and the little lead-wrapped +bottle off the body. He suspects somethin' and tells Foxy that he'll +give him up to the law if he don't let him in on it. So Foxy tells +him all about it and him and Sanchez, who was then a mule rustler, +agrees ter go partners and go git ther radium, or whatever it is.</p> + +<p>"They builds this boat, the one that disappeared, and in order that +Foxy shouldn't play no tricks, that bein' his disposition, Sanchez +'lows he'll take both the sample and the map. Foxy sees no way out of +it but to give in and that's the way it's fixed.</p> + +<p>"The boat is taken out of Yuma in sections and then put together in a +place whar nobody ain't likely to come nosin' around. Then they starts +out on what I guess was the most darn-fool enterprise any two locoed +fortune-hunters ever undertook. How it ended you know. They both got +fever, but Sanchez was the worst. He died that same evening, his +tumble in the water havin' made him worse. I buried him there as best +I could and then, as he had wished, I takes the sample and the map.</p> + +<p>"'Some day,' he told me, just afore he closed his eyes for good, +'you'll be glad you saved me, even though it was too late.'</p> + +<p>"Well, I beat it back and get out of the canyon more dead than alive +and finally make a small strike. I go to San Francisco with it and try +to git ther stuff analyzed, but everyone I tole about it laughed at me +and said I was crazy. So, thinks I, I'll come East. My money was about +all gone, so I shipped afore ther mast on a Cape Horn ship, and got +here.</p> + +<p>"Now, you have me tale, old top," grinned the good-natured miner, and +added: "Well, has my toe-and-heeling been worth its salt?"</p> + +<p>The professor nodded solemnly.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" cried Jack, his heart beating with a strange, wild hope.</p> + +<p>Tom and Zeb echoed Jack's eager question.</p> + +<p>"My friends," declared the little man of science pompously, "we have +reason to believe that a wonderful discovery has been made, namely, +Z.2.X."</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XVI"></a><h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<p><strong>ZEB CUMMINGS.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"Z.2.X., the most radio-active stuff in the world!" exclaimed Jack.</p> + +<p>"I suppose that approximately describes it," said the professor, "but +what do you know about it?"</p> + +<p>Jack explained how ardently his father had wished for the missing +element to make his system of radio telephony the most efficient in +use.</p> + +<p>"Well, if what Sanchez said was true, and the map is right, there is +plenty of it right on that island," said the miner.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that may all be," objected the professor, "but how are you going +to get at it?"</p> + +<p>"Wa'al that's a poser. You can't reach it in a boat and you can't +reach it over the desert," said Zeb. "The country all round there is +dry as an oven and, anyhow, if you got to ther banks of ther Colorado +right by ther island ther's no way of gitting <i>down</i> to ther island. +Sanchez says that the Injuns told Foxy's friend that a long time ago, +when first they found the stuff on the island, there was a way of +getting down to it. But an earthquake sunk the river bed and nobody +had been thar since the Injuns that found it. He said that they first +come to take notice of it by reason of the way it shined at night. But +only a few of the tribe would go near on account of their thinking the +place was haunted."</p> + +<p>"Have you got that map?" asked the professor.</p> + +<p>"Yes, if you'll reach my coat I'll show it you," said the miner.</p> + +<p>Jack gave him the ragged garment off a hook at the back of the door. +Zeb fumbled in the pockets for a minute and then brought out a knife.</p> + +<p>"A rip more or less won't make no difference," he said, and cut a +slash down the lining. There, carefully stowed inside, where it could +not be suspected, was a folded, time-yellowed paper.</p> + +<p>The miner opened it slowly and spread it out on the counterpane. The +boys, not without a sense of shock, noted a dark, rusty-looking stain +upon it. It struck them that the marks might be the life blood of the +treacherous Foxy's friend who had met a tragic end in Yuma.</p> + +<p>Zeb, with a broad and blackened forefinger, traced the course of the +Colorado. At length his finger paused at an island marked in red. +There was some fantastic Indian lettering, or sign-drawing, about it, +and underneath, in a white man's handwriting, were the words: +"Rattlesnake Island."</p> + +<p>"I reckon Foxy Joe's friend must hev written that in," commented Zeb.</p> + +<p>"It looks that way," said the professor, who had poured the sample of +mineral-bearing sand back into the vial and restored it to Zeb +Cummings.</p> + +<p>"Rattlesnake Island," repeated Jack. "Are there any rattlers down that +way?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, and gila monsters and tarantulas and centipedes," replied Zeb +cheerfully. "But you soon get used to 'em."</p> + +<p>Some other islands were marked on the map, but Rattlesnake Island was +the only one designated by name.</p> + +<p>"That must be the place whar all that stuff is, then," decided Zeb. "I +wish thar was some way of gittin' thar."</p> + +<p>"If there is even only a small fraction of the mineral-bearing sand +there," said the professor, "there's a fortune in it."</p> + +<p>"Wa'al if you can't git it out what good is it?" said Zeb +philosophically. "Anyhow, I'm glad that Sanchez spoke the truth with +his dying words. Maybe thar is some way, except by water, in spite of +what he said."</p> + +<p>"Maybe there is," said Jack. "It seems a shame to think of all that +rich stuff lying there neglected and unobtainable."</p> + +<p>"It does indeed," agreed the professor. "In that sample I find traces +of metals from which filaments for electric lights could be made and +substances invaluable in medicine for X-ray purposes as well as the +Z.2.X. which your father is convinced would make the radio telephone +as practical as the wireless telegraph."</p> + +<p>They would like to have stayed there all the morning poring over the +map and asking further questions of the rugged miner, but at that +moment the nurse came in and declared that the injured man must have +quiet.</p> + +<p>And so there, for the present, the matter rested. The professor +departed for his home greatly excited over the events of the morning, +but his excitement was a little allayed by the fear that he would be +late for his mid-day meal with dire results from Miss Melissa.</p> + +<p>As for the boys, they could talk of nothing else. The idea of that +lonely island, lying at the bottom of an unscalable canyon in the +midst of a burning, desolate desert, appealed powerfully to their +imaginations. Their minds were in a whirl over the strange coincidence +that had brought them in contact with a man who knew where possibly +inexhaustible supplies of the mysterious Z.2.X. lay ready for the +taking, provided it could be reached.</p> + +<p>"I'd give a whole lot to be able to fix up an expedition to go out +there and get that stuff," said Jack with a sigh.</p> + +<p>"So would I," agreed Tom. "But I guess, as Zeb Cummings said, it will +be a long time before anyone sets foot on Rattlesnake Island."</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XVII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<p><strong>IN THE LABORATORY.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>That afternoon Jack broached to his father the events of the morning. +Mr. Chadwick's enthusiasm may be imagined as his son told him of the +professor's hasty analysis of the contents of Zeb Cumming's glass +vial.</p> + +<p>But there remained the insuperable obstacle of the remoteness of the +island where the deposits lay, and the difficulties—in fact, almost +the impossibilities—that barred the way. For the time being, however, +the matter was set aside while further experiments with the radio +telephone were conducted. As a means of increased transmitting power, +Mr. Chadwick had in mind a series of sending devices attached to one +mouthpiece. In this way he believed he could at least partially +overcome the resistance of the atmosphere, and get a higher percentage +of current.</p> + +<p>He had been working on the idea all the morning and was anxious for a +test. The Wondership was, therefore, wheeled out, and before long the +boys were in the air once more. As before, they sailed in the +direction of Rayburn. As they passed above the farm where they had met +with their adventure the day before, they turned to each other with a +laugh.</p> + +<p>Below them they could see men working on the damaged roof of the barn +and Tom burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter as he recalled +the queer sight the farmer presented dangling from the grapnel high +above his broad acres.</p> + +<p>"That reminds me," said Jack. "We must send him some money for that +roof."</p> + +<p>"How about his personal feelings?" grinned Tom.</p> + +<p>"I guess he wiped that score out when he blazed away at the balloon +bag."</p> + +<p>"Just the same, I think we'd better go pretty high up," advised Tom. +"He might fancy trying another shot at us."</p> + +<p>"That's so," agreed Jack, studying the men moving about far below.</p> + +<p>He pulled a lever and the Wondership began to rise. It was as well he +did so perhaps, for as they shot upward they could see that their +presence had been noted. They watched the men scurrying about and +pointing upward. But whether the Wondership was too high, or his +animosity had cooled after his involuntary ascension, the farmer made +no hostile demonstration, and they were soon out of Perkins' sight.</p> + +<p>Apparently the new device worked fine, for all through the afternoon, +at various heights and distances, they kept in perfect touch with Mr. +Chadwick. Every intonation of his voice was borne plainly to their +ears, Tom at times taking the wheel and the receivers while Jack +relieved him at the engines.</p> + +<p>The storm which had threatened the night before, still was hovering +about, as was evidenced by the white thunderheads piled on the +horizon. But the electricity in the air did not, as is sometimes the +case, interfere with the powerful impulses sent out from workshop and +airship. Although the air felt heavy, the instruments worked +perfectly.</p> + +<p>The boys flew over hill and dale for more than seventy miles prior to +any perceptible weakening in the current. But once it began to fail it +reduced rapidly until the messages were scarcely audible. But the +experiments were kept up till almost dusk, when Mr. Chadwick told the +boys to come back.</p> + +<p>As they returned the radio 'phones were kept working and as the +distance decreased the impulses grew stronger.</p> + +<p>"If only I had some of that Z.2.X.," said Mr. Chadwick, "I believe it +would be possible to send a message across the ocean or the +continent."</p> + +<p>Not long after this Jack heard again from his father. It was a +commonplace message enough. Sent merely to keep the air-line in +operation.</p> + +<p>"Here is Jupe with the afternoon mail," he said.</p> + +<p>"Anything for us?" asked Jack, enjoying the novel sensation of +talking through the air concerning such everyday matters.</p> + +<p>"Yes, there's one from Ned Nevins," was the rejoinder, "and here is +one for me from my New York brokers. Let me see—ah-h-h-h!"</p> + +<p>The last was a sharp exclamation, as if Mr. Chadwick had received a +sudden shock. It was followed by silence. Again and again Jack flashed +the red signaling lamp but there was no reply.</p> + +<p>He was seriously worried. The sudden sharp intake of breath, almost +like an outcry, that he had heard, oppressed him with a sense of +apprehension. What could have happened? Turning to Tom he called for +full speed ahead for the trip back.</p> + +<p>Tom was not slow in responding. He speeded the motors up to their top +capacity. In the air there were no speed laws to look out for, or +other motorists or pedestrians to avoid. It was a clear road. The +steel stays and stanchions of the stanch Wonder ship fairly hummed as +she shot forward, while an indefinable fear clutched at Jack's heart.</p> + +<p>He knew that his father was subject to fainting spells and he had been +overworking recently. Fast as the Wondership was cutting through the +air it felt like an eternity to Jack before the gray walls and the +well-laid-out grounds of High Towers came into view.</p> + +<p>The boys lost no time in landing, and not waiting to place the +Wondership in her shed, set out to look for Mr. Chadwick. Jupe came +shuffling by on his way from the cornpatch.</p> + +<p>"Where's dad, Jupe?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"In his labveroratory, ah reckons," answered the old colored man. +"Leastways ah ain't obfustucated any obserwations ob him round der +contagiois atmosferics."</p> + +<p>"Come on, Tom," said Jack. "Let's get to dad's workshop as quick as we +can."</p> + +<p>"Why, Jack, you—you don't think that anything has happened to him, do +you?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>"I don't know. He was talking quite cheerfully to me and then, +without any warning, he gave a sort of gasp and then everything was +silent."</p> + +<p>The next minute the boys entered the workshop of the inventor.</p> + +<p>Jack's worst fears were realized as they gazed at the scene before +them. On the floor, stretched out inanimate before the radio telephone +apparatus, lay Mr. Chadwick. His right hand grasped a letter.</p> + +<p>His head lay in a pool of blood, oozing from a cut at the back of his +head.</p> + +<p>"Dad! dad! What has happened?" cried Jack, in an agony of alarm, as he +fell to his knees at his father's side.</p> + +<p>But Mr. Chadwick did not answer. The next moment Tom's shout for help +brought everybody about the place running toward the workshop where +the alarming discovery had been made.</p> + + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<p><strong>INTO THE STORM.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"Carry him into the house and get him to bed," cried Mrs. Bagley, the +housekeeper, wringing her hands distractedly. "Oh dear! poor +gentleman, he's bin a-workin' too hard, that's what's the matter."</p> + +<p>Jupe and Hank Hawkins, the handy man, picked the unconscious man up +and carried him to bed, where he was made comfortable.</p> + +<p>Jack and Tom made an investigation of the workshop. At first the cut +on Mr. Chadwick's head had given Jack the impression that he might +have been the victim of foul play.</p> + +<p>But a brief survey of the place soon dispelled these conclusions. When +he fell, the inventor struck his head against the sharp corner of a +table right behind him, Jack concluded, and in this way inflicted the +wound.</p> + +<p>The letter that his father had been reading when he was stricken +still lay on the floor. Jack picked it up. It was from the brokers in +New York, the same missive Mr. Chadwick had referred to over the radio +'phone just before the silence that so alarmed Jack.</p> + +<p>Glancing over it Jack's eyes widened. He perceived at once that the +cause of his father's sudden attack no doubt lay in the shock he had +received when he opened the envelope. The letter was curt and to the +point.</p> + +<p>"Your securities wiped out in panic," it said. "Wire us and advise +what to do."</p> + +<p>That was all, but it was enough. Jack knew that most of his father's +money was invested with the firm that had written the letter, and now +they had been wiped out in a money panic. Jack had no idea how much of +his father's fortune was affected, but it was evident from Mr. +Chadwick's collapse that he had been dealt a heavy blow.</p> + +<p>He was in the midst of talking to Tom about the letter when the +housekeeper came running from the house.</p> + +<p>"Oh, here you boys are!" she exclaimed. "You must get Dr. Mays at +once. Those red drops he gave your father are finished and I can't +find any more."</p> + +<p>"I'll telephone," said Jack promptly, stuffing the letter into his +pocket.</p> + +<p>"I've already tried that," said Mrs. Bagley, "but the line is out of +order."</p> + +<p>"Can't we get some other doctor?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bagley shook her head.</p> + +<p>"Dr. Mays is the only one who understands your father's case," she +said. "You must get him as soon as possible."</p> + +<p>"Is dad conscious yet?" asked Jack anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Yes, he has been trying to tell me something but I won't let him +talk."</p> + +<p>"We'll get Dr. Mays right away," said Jack, but then he suddenly +recollected that the electric car was slightly out of order. There +would be no time to stop and repair it then.</p> + +<p>Luckily the Wondership still stood outside the shed. Five minutes +later the boys were soaring aloft, bound for the doctor's house, which +was some distance away. It was not till they had fairly started that +they noticed the change in the weather.</p> + +<p>The thunderheads they had seen earlier in the day now spread and +covered the whole sky with a dark pall. The air was very still, as if +nature was holding her breath. Far off, though in plain view, the sea +was lying like a smooth sheet of steel-gray velvet. A sailing ship, +with sails flapping, was becalmed some distance from shore.</p> + +<p>"Going to rain," said Tom.</p> + +<p>"Worse than that, I think," said Jack. "We're in for the storm that's +been making up for two days now."</p> + +<p>"Well, we can get there and back before it breaks."</p> + +<p>"Easily. Let those motors out, Tom, we want to make good time."</p> + +<p>It was oppressively hot, and had it not been for Jack's anxiety he +would have enjoyed the swift cooling passage through the thundery air. +But he was strangely troubled. Did that letter mean that his father +was on the verge of ruin?</p> + +<p>Suddenly he bethought himself of Ned Nevins' letter. He opened it, +having pushed it into his pocket when they entered the workshop, where +Mr. Chadwick had placed it before opening the ominous epistle from his +brokers. It was a friendly, chatty note from the boy, and enclosed the +checks covering the joint dividends of Jack and Tom in the +Hydroaëroplane Company.</p> + +<p>"Well, at any rate, that's something," declared Jack to Tom, as he +handed him the letter and his check.</p> + +<p>"Yes, but if Uncle Chester is ruined, it's only a drop in the bucket," +said Tom.</p> + +<p>"Well, it's no use crossing your bridges till you come to them," said +Jack, "and anyhow, that letter may be only a false alarm. I've heard +they get these financial panics in Wall Street just like kids get the +measles, and they get over them as quickly."</p> + +<p>"I trust it will be so in this case," said Tom.</p> + +<p>"So do I," said Jack hopefully, but a cold fear that his father was +ruined possessed him, and made his heart feel heavy as lead.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, from the purple firmament, came the sound of distant +thunder. Following it a puff of wind, hot as the exhalation of an +opened oven, blew in their faces. In the distance they saw a ragged +streak of lightning tear the cloud curtains.</p> + + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XIX"></a><h2>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE "LIGHTNING CAGE."</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"Look at that, will you!" exclaimed Tom.</p> + +<p>"What, you are not scared, are you?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"N-no, but I must say I'm not fond of thunderstorms Particularly when +we are carrying all that gas over our heads."</p> + +<p>"That new invention of mine will take care of that all right," said +Jack confidently.</p> + +<p>He referred to a new device of his with which the Wondership was +equipped for protecting balloon bags from lightning. In a thunderstorm +a balloon, or gas-filled dirigible, is subject to sudden variations of +electric charge which, under certain conditions, might produce sparks +leading to its annihilation.</p> + +<p>More especially was this the case with such a craft as this +Wondership, carrying as she did so much metal and steel wiring. The +netting of the bag, with the idea of making it as conductive as +possible, was of metal, connecting with the other metal parts of the +craft so that when a steel drag rope was lowered to the ground a +discharge of lightning striking the balloon would be passed off +harmlessly into the earth, as is the case with a lightning conductor.</p> + +<p>It might be supposed that making the outside of a balloon a good +conductor would invite danger from lightning. But the Boy Inventors +knew that this was not the case. While the ordinary balloon envelope +is a fairly good insulator against low voltage, it is unable to resist +the high tension of atmospheric electricity.</p> + +<p>Jack ascertained these facts by touching an electroscope with a bit of +balloon cloth of the kind used on the Wondership, and charged with +2,000 volts of electricity. The electroscope instantly responded.</p> + +<p>This showed that the balloon bag increased the electrical tension +immediately above and below it as much as it would do if it was a +perfect conductor, but the destructive action of a lightning bolt +would be greater in proportion to the resistance opposed to it. So +that, in reality, Jack's device was one of the safest that could be +imagined for protecting balloonists in a heavy storm.</p> + +<p>In effect, the occupants of the Wondership were enclosed in a cage. +Lightning might zip through the wires and stays, but it could not +touch them. As to the danger of letting out gas through the valve in a +strong electric field, which is almost certain to produce sparks, the +boys did not have to worry about that for to deflate the bag they +simply pumped some of its contents back into the reservoir with the +powerful gas pumps.</p> + +<p>But after all, Jack's device had never been tested. It looked as if it +was due to be. The wind came in sharp puffs, now hot and now cold.</p> + +<p>Ragged, white clouds, like wind-driven fragments of filmy lace, began +to whip across the dark heavens. The sea turned a peculiar light +green and was flecked with whitecaps.</p> + +<p>"We're in for it," said Jack. "Better get up the storm curtains, Tom."</p> + +<p>While Jack steered, Tom drew up the waterproof curtains and top which, +in rainy weather, made the Wondership quite dry and weather-tight. +Mica portholes gave light inside this extemporized cabin, and enabled +the steersman to see.</p> + +<p>This had hardly been done when a wild gust of wind struck the +Wondership and sent it staggering off its course. But in a jiffy Jack +regained control of the craft and headed her straight for the white +house occupied by Dr. Mays, which could now be seen, its lofty cupola +poking up above the trees surrounding it.</p> + +<p>"Glad we're nearly there," said Tom. "I don't much like this."</p> + +<p>"We're O.K.," Jack assured him. "We went through a lot worse than this +in that circular storm in Yucatan."</p> + +<p>"Can't we drop and run along the road?"</p> + +<p>"It's much longer by the road than by the air line, and remember we +are in a big hurry."</p> + +<p>"That's so. But we've got the return trip ahead of us."</p> + +<p>"Well, if it gets too bad, we'll have to come back by road," said +Jack, "but I haven't got a doubt that she'll stand anything that will +come out of this storm."</p> + +<p>Crash!</p> + +<p>The sky was rent from end to end by jagged lightning. With a deafening +roar the thunder broke, rumbling and crashing in the sultry air.</p> + +<p>S-w-i-s-h!</p> + +<p>The rain came in torrents, tearing at the storm curtains. It beat +frantically at them with a noise like that of surf on a beach. But +inside the boys were snug and dry, and the Wondership forged steadily +forward. It was a weird experience for the boys. About them the +artillery of heaven thundered and flashed. They could see each other's +faces and the black outlines of their craft in the livid flare of +flash after flash of lightning.</p> + +<p>Jack, with his hands firmly gripping the steering wheel, anticipating +every move of the storm-tossed Wondership like a skillful pilot, felt +his pulses throb. There was something fine in battling with the +elements like this in a stanch craft they had perfected. He felt that +no other airship then in existence would have been able to keep up the +fight.</p> + +<p>All at once there came a crash that drove his eardrums in. The +Wondership staggered and then seemed to leap into lambent flame. +Blinded, Jack threw his hands before his eyes, utterly forgetting for +the minute the steering wheel.</p> + +<p>Tom gave a shout of alarm, as he felt the craft stagger as if dealt a +mortal blow, and then begin to drop earthward.</p> + +<p>"We've been struck!" he yelled in panic.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XX"></a><h2>CHAPTER XX.</h2> + +<p><strong>THROUGH THE AIR.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>For the fraction of a second the faculties of both boys were +paralyzed. A tingling sensation was in their limbs. Jack was the first +to recover his wits. He snatched his hands from his eyes and seized +the wheel. In a jiffy the Wondership's earthward plunge was checked. +Once more she regained an even keel.</p> + +<p>"Wh-what happened?" stuttered Tom anxiously.</p> + +<p>"We were hit by lightning," replied Jack.</p> + +<p>"Goodness! I thought we were goners, for a minute."</p> + +<p>"I confess that I did, too. But I guess the 'electric cage' worked. +Everything seems to be shipshape."</p> + +<p>Jack was right. Thanks to his ingenious invention, the lightning, +which had struck the aircraft, had been diffused through the safety +"cage" and safely convoyed to the earth by the ground chain made of +light manganese bronze, which had been lowered when the storm broke.</p> + +<p>"Just the same I don't want to get hit again," said Tom. "I thought +for a minute the world had come to an end."</p> + +<p>"My fingers are tingling yet," said Jack, "and I can see stars, but I +think if it hadn't been for the cage we would have likely been blown +to smithereens."</p> + +<p>By this time they were almost over the doctor's house and extensive +grounds. Jack manipulated the Wondership against the storm, flying in +a circle, and snapped on the powerful searchlight. With the help of +its rays he picked out a good landing place, and having set the pumps +at work abstracting gas from the bag, they soon made a good landing.</p> + +<p>Doctor Mays stood on his porch as they left the ship and ran through +the downpour for the house.</p> + +<p>"Gracious, boys!" he exclaimed, "but you certainly gave me a fright. +I thought when that bolt hit you that you were going to be +annihilated."</p> + +<p>"How did it look from below?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"As if you were enveloped in blue flame. Then suddenly a ball of red +fire slid from the ship to the ground——"</p> + +<p>"Down the conducting rope," put in Jack.</p> + +<p>"And exploded with a loud bang when it struck the ground," continued +the doctor. "But all's well that ends well, and now tell me what +brings you here, for I know it must be urgent business or you'd never +have ventured through such a storm."</p> + +<p>Jack hastily told the doctor of his father's stroke. The medical man +looked grave.</p> + +<p>"I'll go with you just as soon as I can pack my bag," he said. "Your +father had been overworking. I warned him of what would happen if he +did not rest up, some time ago, but he has, seemingly, disregarded my +advice."</p> + +<p>In a few minutes the doctor, muffled up in a raincoat, was ready to +start. But he stipulated that the run to High Towers should be made by +the road.</p> + +<p>"I like excitement as well as anybody," he said, "and I've been up in +your Wondership before——"</p> + +<p>"When it was the Roadracer," interpolated Jack.</p> + +<p>"Exactly; but I must confess that when I saw you a short time ago +looking like a floating ball of fire, I lost my taste for aërial +travel."</p> + +<p>"We'll go back by road, then," said Jack, as through the rain, which +was falling in torrents, they ran to the Wondership.</p> + +<p>"My, but you have it snug in here," said the doctor, as he entered the +tight, waterproof cabin.</p> + +<p>"Hang up your coat, doctor," said Tom, and he took the physician's +dripping mackintosh and slung it on a hook attached to one of the +stanchions. Then the start was made, with the bag partially deflated +and lying in limp, wet folds on its framework.</p> + +<p>Through the night, under skies fretted with lightning, the Wondership +shot forward. Out on the open road Jack ordered full speed, the great +searchlights illuming the roadway as if it were day. He felt little +apprehension of meeting other vehicles. The night was too bad to +permit of any save emergency traveling.</p> + +<p>The roads were deep in mud, and water spurted up from the wheels of +the flying car as it raced through the storm. But seated snug and dry +in the cabin none of them bothered about this. Little was said. Jack +had to concentrate his mind on handling the Wondership, for driving +under the conditions, and at such speed, required all the +wheel-handler's attention.</p> + +<p>On and on they flew, down hills and over bridges, under which, +ordinarily, quiet streams flowed, but now swollen by the rains, they +boiled and raced like angry torrents. They flashed through villages +and past farmhouses without encountering a soul, while overhead the +tempest roared and raged and flared.</p> + +<p>They were shooting down a hill at top speed when Jack suddenly gave a +gasp. Right in front of them, vividly outlined in the searchlight's +glare, was an obstacle. A big wagonload of hay, covered with a +tarpaulin, and deserted by its driver who, despairing of mounting the +hill in the storm, had unhitched his horses and driven off till the +weather cleared.</p> + +<p>The wagon was in such a position that it blocked the road, which was +sunken between high banks at that point. Jack ground down his brakes +in chagrin.</p> + +<p>"Blocked!" he exclaimed disgustedly.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXI"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> + +<p><strong>VAULTING TO THE RESCUE.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"What awful luck," muttered Tom.</p> + +<p>"Isn't there any way we can get by?" inquired the doctor anxiously. +"It's important that I should reach Mr. Chadwick as soon as possible."</p> + +<p>Jack made no reply, but bent over the gas-valve. In an instant the gas +was hissing into the balloon bag. Its wet folds swelled out, and +presently Jack started the propellers. Like a racehorse leaping a +barrier, the Wondership rose skyward.</p> + +<p>"Hold fast!" cried the boy in a triumphant voice.</p> + +<p>"Wow!" yelled Tom, "there are more ways of killing a cat than by +choking it with cream."</p> + +<p>The next moment the Wondership was in the road on the other side of +the hay wagon, having hurdled it like a high jumper, and was once more +on her way.</p> + +<p>"Jove, you boys are marvels!" exclaimed the doctor. "Is there +anything you can't do with this craft, or auto, or whatever it is, of +yours?"</p> + +<p>"Lots of things, I guess," said Tom, "but we haven't found many of +them yet."</p> + +<p>At uninterrupted speed the journey was resumed. At times so swift was +the pace that the Wondership seemed to be half flying. Thanks to her +shock absorbers, but little motion was felt, although in places the +roadway had been washed out by the torrential downpour and was very +rough.</p> + +<p>"Whereabouts are we?" shouted Tom, as they rushed along.</p> + +<p>"Near the Coon Creek Bridge," flung back Jack over his shoulder. "We +ought to sight it at any moment now."</p> + +<p>He peered through the blackness ahead. The searchlights failed to show +any bridge. But the young driver saw an abandoned cottage by the +roadside which had formerly been used as a toolhouse. Just beyond it +he knew the bridge should loom up with its white railings.</p> + +<p>But there was not a sign of it.</p> + +<p>Not till it was too late to stop did Jack realize what had happened. +The bridge had been washed away by the rising waters of the creek and +he was tearing at top speed for the steep banks.</p> + +<p>It was a moment for lightning thinking. Right ahead loomed a black pit +which he knew marked the water course.</p> + +<p>Suddenly it flashed into Jack's mind that in former times, before the +bridge had been built, there had been a ford at the point.</p> + +<p>The banks, steep elsewhere, almost wall-like in fact, were still +graded at the place where the old crossing spot had been.</p> + +<p>He jerked over the steering wheel with a suddenness that threatened to +overturn the Wondership. The auto-craft plunged wildly to one side and +then rushed downward.</p> + +<p>Before he realized it, Jack had steered her into the rushing waters of +the swollen creek.</p> + +<p>"All the power you've got," he cried to Tom, as the Wondership +careened and tipped madly and then recovered an even keel. Jack headed +her up stream while Tom, who hardly knew what had happened, blindly +obeyed orders.</p> + +<p>Jack's chief fear was that the rush of the torrential water would +carry him too far down to make a landing on the opposite side of the +old ford. In that case they would be in a bad fix, for the creek ran +for some distance between steep walls of limestone rock.</p> + +<p>It was a hard struggle. The twin propellers beat the air furiously, +clawing the Wondership up stream, while the water hissed and roared +all about her, and the engine labored with a noise like that of a +giant locust.</p> + +<p>And then, almost before he knew it, and before either Tom or the +doctor realized in the least what had happened, they found themselves +safe on the other side. They had gained the opposite slope of the ford +with hardly an inch to spare, but that was enough.</p> + +<p>The Wondership sped up the bank as if glad to be free of the battle +with the swollen creek, and not half an hour afterward they rolled up +to High Towers.</p> + +<p>Dr. Mays was met almost tearfully by Mrs. Bagley.</p> + +<p>"How is he?" was his first question.</p> + +<p>"He seems to be better, doctor, but something is worrying him," said +the worthy woman.</p> + +<p>"I'll go up to him at once. You boys had better stay here," said the +doctor.</p> + +<p>The physician was upstairs a long time. When he came down he looked +grave.</p> + +<p>"Is dad any better?" asked Jack anxiously.</p> + +<p>"He is suffering from a nervous breakdown due to overwork," said the +doctor. "The cut on his head is a mere flesh wound. But he appears to +have something on his mind. Do you know what it is?"</p> + +<p>Then, and not till then, for in the rush of events he had completely +forgotten it, Jack remembered the letter from the brokers.</p> + +<p>"Dr. Mays," he said, "you are an old friend?"</p> + +<p>"I hope so, my boy. You may confide in me freely if you know any +reason for your father's disquiet."</p> + +<p>"If you will read this, doctor, you will understand," and Jack handed +him the letter.</p> + +<p>Dr. Mays read it with knitted brows.</p> + +<p>"So this explains it," he said as he returned it to Jack. "Your father +kept muttering about foolish speculations and ruin, but would not tell +me what he meant. Now it is all clear. Poor Chadwick, I'm afraid from +what he said that his fortune, all but a small amount, is wiped out."</p> + +<p>"But will he get better, doctor?" asked Jack anxiously, disregarding +the monetary aspect of the affair.</p> + +<p>"That all depends," said the doctor seriously, "on his freedom from +anxiety."</p> + +<p>"You mean that he must not worry over money matters?"</p> + +<p>"Precisely; but, as that letter states he is ruined, it will be hard +to set his mind at rest. If there were only some way of meeting the +situation!"</p> + +<p>In the crucible of that moment an idea was borne to Jack that was +destined to lead him into strange paths.</p> + +<p>"I think I know of a way," he said quietly, "that is, if the brokers' +message is not exaggerated."</p> + +<p>But it was not. The next day confirmatory reports arrived of the wreck +of Mr. Chadwick's fortunes. In his room, attended constantly by Dr. +Mays, his friend as well as physician, the inventor raved of his +losses.</p> + +<p>"We have got to think of some way of easing his mind," said Dr. Mays, +who had placed his regular practice in the hands of another doctor so +that he might be with Mr. Chadwick. "If only his fortune could be won +back."</p> + +<p>"I think I know of a way," said Jack quietly.</p> + +<p>The doctor stared at him as if he thought the boy had taken leave of +his senses.</p> + +<p>"You know of a way?" he questioned incredulously.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. At least if the information Tom and I have on the subject +is correct."</p> + +<p>"I don't follow you," said the puzzled doctor. "Your father has lost +thousands."</p> + +<p>Jack nodded.</p> + +<p>"I know all that," he said.</p> + +<p>"And yet you are prepared to get it back?"</p> + +<p>"I said I thought there was a possibility," was Jack's quiet reply.</p> + +<p>"And what may that be?"</p> + +<p>"Did you ever hear of Z.2.X., doctor?" was the entirely unexpected +question.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXII.</h2> + +<p><strong>"Z.2.X."</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"Z.2.X.? Well, such things are rather out of my line, but I have heard +of it—yes," replied the doctor, looking more puzzled than ever. "But +what do you know about it?"</p> + +<p>"Till two days ago—nothing," replied Jack, "but now I believe that I +know where there is a trainload of it."</p> + +<p>"Good heavens, boy, you don't know what you're talking about. Why, the +stuff is as valuable—as valuable as radium. Possibly it is worth +more."</p> + +<p>"Then even a small quantity would restore my father's fortune and his +health?" asked Jack, persisting in his line of inquiry.</p> + +<p>"Undoubtedly it would restore his fortune, and in my belief his +health, which he is unlikely to gain otherwise."</p> + +<p>"Then I'll do it," said Jack, speaking for himself and Tom, for the +two lads had discussed the idea the night before. "Those dividends +from our share of the hydroaëroplane plant will fit out an expedition, +and if we fail—well, we can still sell out our interest and help dad +get on his feet again."</p> + +<p>The telephone bell jangled. Jack answered it. The voice that came over +the wire was that of Professor Jenks. His tones trembled with +excitement as he spoke to the boy.</p> + +<p>"I have analyzed that sample from the Colorado River," he said.</p> + +<p>"Well, what is your verdict?" asked Jack, with a painfully beating +heart.</p> + +<p>"That when all the expenses of reduction and refining and +transportation and digging are deducted that it will be worth at least +$100 an ounce," was the reply. "It would bring an even higher price, +for the placing of a large amount on the market will probably have the +effect of lowering it."</p> + +<p>"Great Scott!" breathed Jack, "and there's a whole island of it there +for the taking."</p> + +<p>"Yes; but how are yow going to get it? The cliffs are unscalable, the +river unnavigable. It might as well be in Mars for all the good it +does anyone," objected the professor.</p> + +<p>Jack's next words were direct, to say the least.</p> + +<p>"I've figured out all that," he said. "We can get it, if it's there to +be got. I've a reason now for going out there if it's possible to come +to some arrangement with Zeb Cummings. Can you meet me at the hospital +this afternoon to talk over the matter?"</p> + +<p>"Are you serious?" gasped the professor.</p> + +<p>"Perfectly," Jack assured him. "If we can't get at it by earth or +water we can reach it from the air, can't we?"</p> + +<p>"Heaven bless my soul, I never thought of that," choked out the +professor. "I—Melissa's calling me. I'll meet you at the hospital +this afternoon."</p> + +<p>"Tom and I will be there," said Jack, but the professor, at the +imperious bidding of Melissa, had hung up the receiver.</p> + +<p>The result of the conference held that afternoon at the bedside of Zeb +Cummings was the formation of the Z.2.X. Exploration Company, the +members being Jack, Tom, Zeb Cummings and the professor. The capital +was to be furnished in equal amounts by the professor and the boys, +and Zeb Cummings was to be an equal partner in the enterprise, he +having furnished the information on which Jack hoped to rehabilitate +his father's fortunes.</p> + +<p>As for the professor, he did not so much regard the pecuniary side of +the expedition as the opportunity he would have to write an +epoch-making book and confound his scientific rivals. In their +enthusiasm, the adventurers did not take into consideration the fact +that the map might be wrong, or that the strange metals be just +visionary deposits. The boys' enthusiasm drowned all doubts in their +minds; Zeb and the professor never were as optimistic.</p> + +<p>Dr. Mays, when he had been placed in full possession of the facts and +considered them, decided that under the circumstances the boys could +go and undertook to quiet any apprehensions Mr. Chadwick might have +concerning the trip. It was found that enough had been saved from the +wreck of the inventor's fortunes to enable him to live comfortably +while the boys were away, besides which he had royalties from several +inventions coming in. Still, the bulk of his fortunes had vanished and +the radio telephone was not yet a practicable instrument to put upon +the market.</p> + +<p>But with Z.2.X. the boys hoped to make it a perfect transmitter of +speech over great distances.</p> + +<p>Of course, Jack's plan was to utilize the Wondership on the enterprise +of finding Rattlesnake Island and its treasures. After long +consultations with Zeb, who was now convalescent, it was decided to +ship the craft, in sections, to Yuma on the Colorado River and make +the start secretly from some point below there.</p> + +<p>It was in the midst of these plans, and while the boys' workshed was +littered with lists of provisions and equipment that Dick Donovan +injected himself into the situation. The red-headed young reporter +descended upon them one day when they were busily packing the +Wondership away in big crates, which were labeled in various ways so +as to give no inkling of the contents.</p> + +<p>Of course Dick, being in a way a member of the firm, had to be told +what was going on, and the result was that after a lot of hard +pleading the boys consented to allow him to come along.</p> + +<p>"He's got red hair," said Zeb, "and that ought to make him good on the +trail, same as a buckskin cayuse."</p> + +<p>The boys didn't quite see the logic of this, but they knew from former +experiences that the young reporter was a good campmate, and they +were, on the whole, glad that they had included him. But when young +Donovan came to High Towers, he was not aware that he was followed by +Bill Masterson, who, as we know, was the son of the proprietor of the +<i>Boston Moon</i>, on which paper young Masterson also worked as a +reporter.</p> + +<p>Ever since Dick Donovan had written for his paper, the <i>Boston Evening +Eagle</i>, the wonderful story of the boys' adventures on the trail of +the giant sloth of Brazil, other Boston reporters had regarded him as +worth watching. In some way, young Masterson learned of Dick's +frequent visits to High Towers while the preparations for the Colorado +trip were going forward.</p> + +<p>"It's my idea," he told his father, "that those Boy Inventors are +planning another big stunt and that Dick Donovan is to go along and +write the story. Do we want to get beaten again?"</p> + +<p>"We do not," said his father, a heavily-set, dictatorial man, +perpetually at war with the <i>Evening Eagle</i>. "That last beat of +Donovan's on the Brazil story jumped the <i>Eagle's</i> circulation sky +high."</p> + +<p>"Well, why not let me trail along after them and find out what I can?" +said young Masterson. "No use letting the <i>Moon</i> get soaked again, and +besides, I want to get even on those young fellows, anyhow, for the +mean trick they played in having me arrested, even if it didn't come +to anything, and the case was dropped.</p> + +<p>"Jove!" he cried suddenly, as a new train of thought was suggested to +him. "I'll bet I've got it. This trip, or whatever it is, they are +planning has something to do with that miner, Zeb Cummings, the chap I +ran down."</p> + +<p>"Well, it's worth keeping a weather eye on, anyway," decided his +father. "I guess you'll get the assignment."</p> + +<p>"And I'll run it down, too," declared young Masterson boastfully. "I +owe that red-headed, chesty Donovan a grudge anyhow."</p> + +<p>That evening young Masterson met by appointment the two youths who had +been with him in the automobile the day that Zeb was run down. They +were both sons of wealthy men, and had more money than was good for +them. Masterson found that both Sam Higgins and Eph Compton were +willing to do all they could to harm the boys who had been responsible +for their arrests, and so it came about that Jupe, on his way to the +village to post some letters, was enticed into talk one night, and +while he was chatting and accepting the good cigars three amiable +young men pressed upon him, the mail was abstracted from his pocket.</p> + +<p>There were two letters, one from Dick to his city editor telling him +of the progress made and informing him of the day for the start, and +the other from Jack to his father, who was a guest of Dr. Mays. Jack +gave full details of their plans and other information concerning the +trip, so that the three plotters, a few days before the expedition set +out, knew as much about it as the boys themselves.</p> + +<p>Armed with this information, Masterson, Higgins and Compton had no +difficulty in getting money from their parents, all of whom would have +described themselves as "keen business men." As for Jupe, he was too +badly scared to say anything about the loss of the letters, and as +Masterson, after steaming them open and abstracting what he wanted of +their contents, posted them to their proper destinations, the boys +started out on their long journey west without the slightest idea that +anyone but themselves and one or two others knew of their plans.</p> + +<p>The professor's going was not unaccompanied by difficulties. Miss +Melissa had insisted that if he was to accompany the expedition, she +was going along, too. This being manifestly impossible, the man of +science was driven to the subterfuge of placing a bag of fossils in +his bed to represent him. On the night of the start, Miss Melissa +looked into his room every few minutes to make sure he had not +escaped.</p> + +<p>It was not till morning that she discovered that the man of science +had effected his escape through his bedroom window, climbing down a +latticework to the ground. At first she was half inclined to pursue +him, but thought the better of it when she read the note the professor +had left behind.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Miss Melissa to her little maid, "there's one good +thing—he won't be cluttering up the house with old stones and rocks +for some time to come."</p> + +<p>"What shall I do with them fossils what he put in his bed to make +believe it was him, miss?" asked the maid.</p> + +<p>"You may throw them into the creek at the back of the house, Mary," +said Miss Melissa, and went placidly about her dusting and sweeping +and "setting to rights."</p> + +<p>But of all this, the professor, on the train speeding westward, was +blissfully unconscious. Perhaps even if he had known it, he would not +have cared much, for even his scientific mind was warmed and thrilled +by the prospect of the aërial search for the mineral treasures of +Rattlesnake Island.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2> + +<p><strong>ON THE BORDER LINE.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>The long train of gray-coated coaches, filmed with the arid dust of +the desert, rolled into Yuma, the little town at the junction of the +Gila and Colorado River, popularly supposed to be the hottest place in +America. The boys, glad that their long journey had come to an end, +felt that it was living up to its reputation as they alighted and +stood in the blistering heat while their personal baggage was thrown +off.</p> + +<p>The professor, however, was quite oblivious to the scorching rays of +the afternoon sun. He darted about seeking specimens, and he had soon +gathered up quite a collection of small rocks. In the meantime Zeb +Cummings, who was quite in his element, had helped the boys get their +things together and see them loaded on a mule wagon which rattled them +off to a small hotel, for they did not want to make themselves any +more conspicuous than was necessary.</p> + +<p>The boys wore gray flannel shirts, khaki trousers, stout high boots +and broad-brimmed hats, and had fastened red handkerchiefs round their +throats to keep off the sun from the back of their necks. Zeb had a +similar outfit.</p> + +<p>The professor, however, still wore his baggy black garments, his only +concession to the heat being a big green umbrella, which looked like a +gigantic verdant mushroom. As they drove off in a rickety sort of bus, +having with difficulty persuaded the professor to leave off specimen +hunting for a while, the boys did not notice that from the opposite +side of the train three young men had alighted who, from a point of +vantage behind a water tower, watched their movements.</p> + +<p>The trio were Bill Masterson and his two cronies, Sam Higgins and Eph +Compton.</p> + +<p>"Well, here we are, Eph," said Bill, as they watched the boys drive +off.</p> + +<p>"Yes, and here they are, too," grunted Eph.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad we've got here at last, though. Keeping out of sight on +that train was beginning to get on my nerves."</p> + +<p>"Same here," said Sam Higgins, stretching himself. "But I guess we +succeeded in keeping ourselves hidden all right."</p> + +<p>"Sure," rejoined Masterson. "They haven't a notion we are here."</p> + +<p>In the meantime the lads found accommodations till the next day at the +small hotel on a back street where Zeb had insisted on their coming so +as to escape observation. Yuma is full of prospectors and miners, and +every stranger in town is suspected of having some sort of a scheme, +he explained, and as a consequence is closely watched.</p> + +<p>Zeb's first care, therefore, was to circulate a story that the +professor, a noted savant and geologist, was going into the desert +with his party to collect specimens. This appeared to satisfy the +landlord, who was at first inclined to be curious.</p> + +<p>The professor had hardly been shown his room before he was out again +with his hammer and satchel and his attention was almost at once +attracted by a big stone that held up one corner of the barn at the +back of the hotel. The boys knew nothing of what he was doing till +they heard a loud, angry voice crying:</p> + +<p>"Hey, you in ther preacher's suit! Quit tryin' ter pull thet thar barn +down, will yer?"</p> + +<p>"But, my dear sir," came the professor's voice, in mild expostulation, +"are you aware that you have built your barn on the top of a splendid +specimen of primordial rock?"</p> + +<p>"Don't know nuthin' about a prime order of rock," came back the other +voice.</p> + +<p>The boys looked out of the window. They saw the landlord of the hotel, +a surly-looking fellow, with a big black mustache and tanned cheeks, +striding across the yard to the professor, who had blissfully resumed +his chipping.</p> + +<p>The landlord reached out one brawny hand to grab his guest, when +something happened that made him temporarily cease hostilities. A big +chunk of rock suddenly flaked off under the professor's assault. It +flew in the air and the next instant a yell of pain apprised them that +the landlord had got it right in the eye.</p> + +<p>The professor looked round as the man emitted a bellow of rage.</p> + +<p>"Bless me, where did that bit of rock go? Ah, there it is! Right at +your feet, sir," and he darted forward with a smile of satisfaction +and, picking up the chunk of rock that had struck the indignant +landlord, placed it in his satchel.</p> + +<p>"Thank you very much for stopping it, sir," he said, with a bow, and +then, before the thunderstruck landlord could say anything, the +scientist strolled off under his umbrella in search of more specimens. +The boys fairly choked with laughter.</p> + +<p>But the landlord was too dumfounded even to speak for a minute. His +face grew as purple as a plum. He appeared to be about to burst.</p> + +<p>"He's locoed," he burst forth at last, "locoed as a horn toad, by the +'tarnal hills."</p> + +<p>Then, holding a hand to his eye, he reëntered the hotel and could be +heard shouting for hot water to bathe his injury.</p> + +<p>Zeb, who had been out looking for a trustworthy man to take their +effects out to a spot along the river where they could put the +Wondership together without exciting undue curiosity, returned shortly +before supper with news that he had been successful in his search, an +old, wrinkled prospector named Pete McGee, who had learned the secret +of silence during the long years he had spent on the desert.</p> + +<p>After the evening meal old McGee put in an appearance and a bargain +was struck. But if he was, as Zeb put it, "close-mouthed" on some +subjects, he was not on others.</p> + +<p>"So yer are a'goin' out inter the desert, hey?" he asked the boys.</p> + +<p>"That's our intention," said Dick.</p> + +<p>The old man shook his head.</p> + +<p>"The desert's a tough place," he said. "A mighty tough place. Reckon +it's likely yer are er goin' prospectin', maybe?"</p> + +<p>The boys returned an evasive answer. But old McGee rambled on with the +crisscross wrinkles forming and fading round his washed-out blue eyes.</p> + +<p>"Wa'al, I had my share on it, ain't I, Zeb?" said the old man to Zeb, +who had just strolled up, smoking a short, black pipe. The professor, +after adjusting his difficulties with the landlord, was sorting and +labeling specimens in his room.</p> + +<p>"Reckon you have, Pete," responded the yellow-bearded miner. "You +didn't never find that thar lost Peg-leg Smith mine, did yer?"</p> + +<p>"No; but I will some day," declared the old man, a fanatic gleam +shining in his faded optics. "I'll find it some day, Zeb. I never got +to it, but I come mighty close—yes, sir, ole Pete he come mighty +close."</p> + +<p>"Tell the boys about Peg-leg Smith's lost mine," suggested Zeb.</p> + +<p>"Give me the fillin's, then, an' I will," said old Pete, holding out +a blackened and empty corncob, "though I'm surprised they ain't never +heard on it. Thought everybody had heard of Peg-leg's mine."</p> + +<p>"Wa'al, you see they come frum ther East," explained Zeb +apologetically.</p> + +<p>"Ah, that accounts fer it," said old Pete indulgently. "You couldn't +'spec Easterners ter know nuthin' 'bout it. 'Wa'al, young sirs, +somewheres out on the desert ter the east uv here thar is three buttes +a stickin' up, and right thar is Peg-leg Smith's lost mine whar they +say the very sands is uv gold.</p> + +<p>"Who was Peg-leg? Wa'al, that's in a way not very well known. Anyhow, +his name was Smith, and he was shy an off leg, and so he gets his +name. Back in 1836 Peg-leg he blows inter Yuma with a party of +trappers that hed worked down ther Colorado.</p> + +<p>"They decides to quit trapping and go ter gold huntin', and makes +their way up the Gila River and then cuts off inter ther desert. Frum +Yuma they goes southeast and kep' on fer four days across the desert. +At ther end of the fourth day they 'lows that ther water ain' a-goin' +ter hold out a turrible lot longer, and they decides to look fer a +water-hole in a canyon at ther end uv which stands three lone buttes +sticking up, like sentinels against ther sky.</p> + +<p>"Wa'al, they hunts ther canyon through but nary a drop of water. In +time they reaches ther buttes. They climbs to ther top ter see what +might lay beyond, but they see nuthin' but ther same God-forgotten +country.</p> + +<p>"But Peg-leg, who fer all he was minus a limb, could travel with any +of 'em, he finds at the top of the southernmost butte a lot of chunks +of black rock lying round promiscous, an' some of them has specks an' +chunks of yaller as bright as Zeb's beard on 'em. Peg-leg he opines +ther yaller is nuthin' but copper, or maybe fool's gold.</p> + +<p>"That night they camps, feelin' considerable blue, fer ther's mighty +little water left an' they've come too far ter go back. But in ther +distance thar's a big mountain and they make up their minds they'll +find water thar or bust and wither on the desert.</p> + +<p>"Ther next evening, more dead than alive, they reaches the mountain +and finds a little spring. It was ther finest thing they'd seen fer a +long time, and in honor of Peg-leg, who suggested going to ther +mountain, they calls it Smith Mountain, and that's its name to this +day. In time they worked round to San Bernardino and then Smith he +hunts up a mineral sharp who tells him that what he had found was +gold.</p> + +<p>"Wa'al, Smith was a curious feller, frum all accounts, and it was not +till '49 when ther big gold rush came that he thought much more about +those three buttes with the gold lying round loose as dirt on 'em. +Then he got ther gold fever. He went to 'Frisco and gets up an +expedition to find them three buttes.</p> + +<p>"They got down inter ther desert country all right and locates Smith +Mountain. But the dern Indians they had with 'em as guides cleaned +out the camp one fine night, and they had a hard time getting back to +civilization alive. Well, that's where Peg-leg Smith goes out of the +story."</p> + +<p>"Wasn't he ever heard of again?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"No, siree, not hide nor hair on him. Nobody never knows what became +of him arter they got back to San Bernardino. Some says that he went +back alone lookin' fer the three buttes and was lost in the desert and +that his bones is out thar some'eres to-day, an' others says that he +got so plum disgusted he went back home to St. Louis. But nobody +rightly knows.</p> + +<p>"The next heard of ther three buttes was many years later when an +Indian, who worked on Governor Downey's ranch, not far from Smith +Mountain, developed a habit of goin' away fer a few days and then +comin' back with bits of black rock chock full of gold which he traded +fer firewater and such. He didn't seem ter care if he got full value +or not.</p> + +<p>"'Plenty more where those came from,' he'd say.</p> + +<p>"Wa'al, they set a watch on him and found that he always headed off +inter ther desert by way of Smith Mountain, which would be the nat'ul +way of gettin' ter ther three buttes that Peg-leg had described.</p> + +<p>"Guv'ner Downey he come to hear about this in course of time, and he +come down frum Sacramento to question ther Injun. But in ther meantime +ther pesky coyote had gone and got himself killed in a quarrel over +cards and so there they was up agains' a blank wall ag'in."</p> + +<p>The old prospector paused to fill his pipe.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2> + +<p><strong>"THE THREE BUTTES."</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"The Injun bein' dead, the guv'ner did the nex' best thing. He +questioned his squaw. But she couldn't tell 'em much 'cept that the +Injun told her he got his last water at t'other side of Smith Mountain +and then traveled toward ther sun till erbout mid-afternoon when he +found mucho, mucho oro.</p> + +<p>"The guv'ner made two or three tries to locate them buttes, but he +failed. Then come along a man named McGuire, who said he knew where +the buttes was and showed black rocks with gold in 'em to prove it, +jes' like the ones Peg-leg and ther Injun had found, they was. Well, +McGuire he gets five other dern fools and off they starts and that's +the end of them. They ain't never heard of ag'in.</p> + +<p>"Then comes a prospector who gets lost, and in hunting for water +finds these same three buttes and the black, gold-specked rocks that +are scattered about. But he wasn't bothering about gold just then, so +he keeps on and in time finds the water hole at the foot of Smith +Mountain.</p> + +<p>"He comes back to Los Angeles and tries to organize a company to go to +ther three buttes. But he falls ill and when he learns he's goin' ter +die he tells Dr. De Courcy, that's his physician, that he knows whar +Peg-leg's lost mine is an' gives him a map an' directions. Arter ther +man dies, Dr. De Courcy spends all his money trying ter find ther +buttes, but he fails. Then comes a young chap named Tom Cover of +Riverside. He's wealthy and fits out a dozen or more outfits to hunt +fer ther three buttes. But after setting out on his twelfth trip he +never comes back, so they know that Peg-leg Smith's mine has claimed +another victim."</p> + +<p>"Is there anything to prove that Peg-leg really ever found the Three +Buttes?" asked Tom, whom this romance of the desert, like his +companions, had strangely interested.</p> + +<p>"You tell 'em, Zeb," said the old man. "Likely they wouldn't believe +me."</p> + +<p>"Proofs?" said Zeb, "plenty of 'em. The records of the old Bank of San +Francisco show that McGuire deposited thousands of dollars' worth of +gold nuggets there, and my old dad knew Peg-leg Smith and saw the +black rocks with the gold fillings that he brought out uv ther desert. +Them three golden buttes is out thar somewhar's, and some day +somebody's goin' to locate 'em and then there'll be another +millionaire in the country."</p> + +<p>Old McGee chuckled over his pipe. It was clear that, ancient and +feeble as he was, he still believed with all the fanaticism and +optimism of a prospector that he would be the one to find the three +buttes of gold.</p> + +<p>"It stands ter reason thar's gold out thar," declared old man McGee, +waving his pipe about argumentatively. "Ther good Lord never made +nuthin' thet wasn't of some use, even ther fleas on a houn' dawg, for +they keep him frum thinkin' uv his troubles. Very well, then, the +desert is good fer nuthin' else but mineral wealth, and Providence +made it so plagued hard ter git at so that everyone couldn't git rich +at oncet."</p> + +<p>The boys had to laugh at this bit of philosophy, but as they went to +bed they could not help thinking of the toll of lives the great barren +stretches of the Colorado desert has exacted from gold-seekers. In +Jack's dreams he seemed to be traversing vast solitudes of sand and +desolation dotted with bleaching bones, and he woke with a start to +find that it was daybreak and that Tom was shaking him out of his +sleep.</p> + +<p>Below, old man McGee was ready with his team and had already got on +his wagon some of the crates from the freight shed. They made a hasty +breakfast and then started out. There was hardly anybody about and +they congratulated Zeb on his strategy in conducting affairs with such +secrecy.</p> + +<p>But as they passed into the outskirts of the town, where the Mexicans +and Indians lived, Dick Donovan uttered a sudden exclamation.</p> + +<p>"Hopping horn-toads!" he gasped.</p> + +<p>"What's up?" asked Jack, who sat beside him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, nothing," said Dick, "the wagon gave an extra hard jolt, that was +all, and I thought my head was coming off."</p> + +<p>But the cause of Dick's exclamation had been this: From behind a +squalid hut he caught sight of three shadowy figures, dimly seen in +the half light, apparently watching the wagon and its occupants.</p> + +<p>They quickly withdrew as they saw Dick looking at them, but not before +the young reporter had received a startling impression that one of +them at least was familiar to him. The wagon drove out over the desert +and rumbled along till it came to a deep arroyo, or gulch, in which +stood a deserted, bleaching hut.</p> + +<p>"This is the place," said Zeb.</p> + +<p>"Sure, you can stay thar fer a year an' a day an' nuthin' but +tarant'las an' rattlers ull ever bother ye," said old McGee +cheerfully.</p> + +<p>The cases they had brought were quickly unloaded and lowered into the +arroyo which led down to where they could see the turgid flood of the +Colorado flowing between low banks. For at this spot the river is a +very different stream from what it is above and below, where it makes +its way to the Gulf of California between unscalable walls of cliffs +and is a succession of cruel rapids and unpassable falls.</p> + +<p>When old McGee drove back for the second and last load, for the +Wondership was constructed so as to "take-down" very compactly, Dick +elected to go with him. When they arrived at the freight depot the +young reporter took the first opportunity to wire his paper in Boston.</p> + +<p>"Find out if Bill Masterson is in town," was the substance of his +message.</p> + +<p>They were not to return to the camp till after the mid-day meal, so he +had plenty of time to receive an answer. This is it:</p> + +<p>"Masterson and two others left for the West five days ago."</p> + +<hr> + +<p>"The same day that we did," mused Dick. "I wonder—but no, I'm sure. +One of those three figures lurking behind that hut was Masterson, and +he's planning some mischief, sure as a gun."</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXV"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXV.</h2> + +<p><strong>INTO THE BEYOND.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"Well, this is something like camping," said Tom that evening, +stretching himself out luxuriously under a mesquite bush.</p> + +<p>"See here, young feller," said Zeb, who by unanimous consent had been +put in charge of the adventurers. "Are you on a pleasure trip, jes' +dropped in as a visitor like, or air you a part of this expedition?"</p> + +<p>"I guess I'm a part of it all right," said Tom, with rather a sheepish +grin. "At least I was under that impression."</p> + +<p>"Same here," said Zeb dryly. "Thar's lots to be done yet afore we're +all shipshape fer ther night. Ther's lamps ter be filled and tent +ropes set right an' then I want a trench dug around ther tents."</p> + +<p>"What's the trench for?" asked Jack, who had been busy with the three +tents, for they had decided on Zeb's advice not to use the old +roofless shack to sleep in.</p> + +<p>"No tellin' what kind of varmints, from skunks to rattlers, ain't +makin' a hotel out of it," he said, "not to mention tarant'las, which +has a most unpleasant bite, and scorpions and centipedes that ain't +much nicer bedfellows."</p> + +<p>This was quite enough to make the boys willing, nay anxious, to set up +the waterproof silk tents.</p> + +<p>"What's the trench for?" asked Zeb. "Well, if it should come on ter +rain in ther night it'll keep us dry to have a trench round each +tent."</p> + +<p>"Rain!" exclaimed Tom incredulously. "Why, it doesn't look as if it +ever rained here."</p> + +<p>"It doesn't, not more'n about two inches a year," rejoined Zeb, "but +when it does you'd think ther flood gates uv heaven had been ripped +wide open."</p> + +<p>"Do you think it will rain to-night?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"It looks uncommon like it," answered Zeb. "See them clouds off there +yonder?"</p> + +<p>He pointed to some heavy-looking masses of vapor hanging above a dim +range of saw-backed mountains off to the east.</p> + +<p>"In my opinion they're plum full of rain," he said.</p> + +<p>"In that case we'd better get ready with the trenches," declared Jack. +He picked up one shovel and gave another to Tom. The latter made a wry +face but said nothing. Tom liked hard work no better than most boys, +but he realized that the work had to be done, and so tackled it with +the best grace he could.</p> + +<p>Secretly he wished himself to be with Dick Donovan, who had been +assigned to go fishing to see if he couldn't get "something" fresh for +supper. The professor, as usual, was off somewhere collecting +specimens.</p> + +<p>But the task of digging the trenches was not as arduous as it had +appeared. The sand was soft and yielding, and the shovels made rapid +work with it. Soon a fairly deep trench was dug round each of the +temporary shelters.</p> + +<p>By the time the lanterns had been filled, and Zeb had cut a goodly +stack of mesquite wood, everything was ready to begin preparations for +supper.</p> + +<p>"We'll have a blow-out to-night," said Zeb. "Canned salmon, beans, +crackers, cheese and canned fruit, but don't expect to get that right +along. I've lived on beans and bacon for six months in this very neck +of the woods, and thought myself lucky to get that."</p> + +<p>"Hullo!" came a cry from the direction of the river.</p> + +<p>"There's Dick!" exclaimed both boys, and then as the young reporter +came into sight, "What luck, Dick?"</p> + +<p>"What do you know about this?" and Dick held up a fine string of +glittering fish. There were catfish, perch and two eels.</p> + +<p>"Good; we won't go hungry," said Zeb. "Nothing better than fried eels +and catfish."</p> + +<p>He greased the frying pan with a strip of bacon rind and then skinned +the scaleless catfish and eels as if he had been doing nothing else +all his life. Soon the savory odors of the frying with crisp slices of +bacon, and the aroma of coffee, filled the camp.</p> + +<img src="images/illus212.gif" width="444" height="700" border="0" +alt="Illustration: Soon the savory odors of the frying ...filled the air"> + +<p>The boys were so busy setting out the tin cups and plates that it was +not till Zeb beat on a tin basin with a spoon to announce that the +evening meal was ready that anyone noticed that the professor was +missing. Night was closing in and the sky was overcast.</p> + +<p>The boys began to worry. They set up a loud shout.</p> + +<p>"Pro-fess-or! Oh, pro-fess-or!"</p> + +<p>The little gulch rang with it. But no answer came.</p> + +<p>"Now what in the world has happened to him?" frowned Jack. "We must go +and find him at once. He must have——"</p> + +<p>The sentence was never completed. At that instant Zeb set up a shout, +and a ton of earth and rocks, more or less, came hurtling down the +steep bank into the camp. The stones and dirt were mingled with +mesquite bushes and in the midst of the landslide was a figure that +they made out to be the professor.</p> + +<p>Luckily, the avalanche had missed the camp-fire and the supper table, +and when they had extricated the professor, and brushed him off, the +boys learned that he had almost missed his way, and being +shortsighted, in the dark had walked right over the edge of the +steepest part of the arroyo instead of by a sloping path up above.</p> + +<p>However, nothing was injured about him but his feelings, and since his +bag of specimens was intact, the man of science, after a few minutes, +was able to sit down and eat with as good an appetite as any of them.</p> + +<p>Zeb proved himself a good weather profit. About midnight it started +raining, and such rain as the boys had never seen. It was not rain. It +was sheets of water. Even the waterproof tents began to leak, and the +fact that the trenches had been dug did not serve to keep the floors +dry, for the hard, sun-baked earth did not absorb the moisture, and +the downpour speedily spread half an inch or more of water over the +ground.</p> + +<p>"Turn out! turn out!" shouted Dick, who shared one of the three tents +with the boys.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" began Tom sleepily, and then splash! went his +hand into the water.</p> + +<p>"Gracious, has the river overflowed?" demanded Jack.</p> + +<p>"No, but it's raining handsaws and marlin spikes," cried Dick. "Wow! +my bed's wet through."</p> + +<p>"Same here," cried Jack ruefully. "I guess we'd better get out of +this."</p> + +<p>Outside they found the professor hopping about barefooted in the +water. He had on his pajamas with a blanket thrown round his shoulders +for protection against the rain. The boys, despite their discomfort, +could not help laughing at the odd figure. Zeb joined them, grumbling: +"We made a big mistake in camping in this arroyo.</p> + +<p>I ought to have had better sense. It's nothing more nor less than a +river. All the desert up above is draining into it."</p> + +<p>It was true. The water was almost ankle deep. Luckily, the old shanty +in which their supplies were stored was raised above the ground, and +the goods were all covered with a big waterproof canvas.</p> + +<p>"Let's camp out in the shanty till daylight," suggested Jack.</p> + +<p>"That would be a good idea if it had a roof," commented Zeb dryly.</p> + +<p>"Why can't we spread some of the canvas over us?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>This was finally done, and thus passed most of their first night on +the desert. Yet none of them complained, but made the best of it. The +boys knew that it is the wisest plan to meet all camping mishaps with +a smiling face.</p> + +<p>By morning the rain had ceased. The sky was clear and the sun shone +brightly. Their wet bedding and garments were soon dried and then the +work of unpacking the sections of the Wondership was begun, for they +were anxious to have the job completed and be on their way as soon as +possible.</p> + +<p>Old McGee had told the truth when he said they would not be molested.</p> + +<p>An old Indian jogging by on a spavined horse and wrapped in a dirty +blanket was the only person they saw all day. He was looking along the +arroyo for a strayed burro. He stared at them in stolid silence for a +while and then rode off, shaking his head. No doubt he was at a loss +to account for such strange goings on.</p> + +<p>That evening when Dick took his line down to the river, he met with +unusually good luck. He had just added a fine carp to his pile of fish +when, chancing to look up, he saw a boat coming round the bend.</p> + +<p>In the craft were three figures, one of whom he recognized instantly +as Masterson. The recognition was mutual and Masterson, who had the +oars, started hastily to pull away from the place. But Dick shouted to +him.</p> + +<p>"Don't let me drive you away," he cried.</p> + +<p>Masterson shouted back something about "fresh kid" but kept pulling up +the stream, and soon he was round the bend and out of sight.</p> + +<p>"Now, I wonder what he is doing out here?" mused Dick, "and those two +cronies of his. They look sort of shady to me."</p> + +<p>He cudgeled his brains to find a reason for the presence of Masterson +so far from home, but was unable to arrive at any solution till an +idea suddenly struck him.</p> + +<p>"They're out here trailing us," he muttered. "Yes, I'm sure of it. But +how in the world did they ever learn our plans? I guess I'll get back +to camp and put the rest on their guard, for we don't want any spies +hanging about, and those fellows were out on a spying expedition or I +miss my guess."</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXVI.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE START FOR THE UNKNOWN.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>But the days went by, and the Wondership stood once more assembled and +ready to take the greatest flight of her career, and no further sign +of the three worthies, whom Dick suspected of designs against them, +appeared. Zeb went to town once or twice, using a small burro for a +saddle animal. Jack heard from his father, who said that he was +progressing well, but was very much worried over money matters.</p> + +<p>"If only you can find the Z.2.X.," he wrote, "we can all be happy +again."</p> + +<p>"I will find it," Jack murmured to himself, as he concluded reading +the letter, and passed it over to Tom for his perusal.</p> + +<p>Dick helped with the Wondership and spent the rest of the time fishing +and hunting. He managed to get a few rabbits, but there was no other +game in the vicinity. It was too barren for deer, although it was said +there were plenty of them further down the river. The young reporter, +who had quite a mechanical genius of his own, constructed a rough sort +of boat out of boards from the walls of the old shack, and used it on +his fishing expeditions, "punting" it along with a long pole made from +a willow sapling from a grove on the river bank some distance below +where they were camped.</p> + +<p>One afternoon the fancy took him to pole up the current and round the +bend below which Masterson's boat had appeared the evening Dick saw +and recognized the son of the <i>Moon</i> proprietor.</p> + +<p>He had not gone that way before and was surprised to find that, +instead of the low banks that edged the river where the boys were +camped, round the bend were steep, almost clifflike acclivities on +both sides of the stream. In places these were honeycombed with caves, +running back, apparently, some distance into the bank. Although Dick +did not know it, these caves had once been the dwelling places of an +extinct tribe of Indians.</p> + +<p>The boy was surprised to see smoke coming from one of them, for he had +supposed that they were uninhabited.</p> + +<p>"Maybe there are Indians up there," thought the boy. "I guess I'll +give them a look, and maybe get a good picture," for Dick invariably +carried his camera with him on the chance of getting a good snapshot +at something or other.</p> + +<p>A rough path led up to the cave and it was well worn by feet which +had, apparently, traversed it recently. Dick reached the entrance of +the cave and peered in.</p> + +<p>It was deserted; but to his astonishment he saw, from the way it was +fitted up, that whoever lived in it were not Indians. Blankets lay on +the floor, and the smoke was coming from a fire which had been used +for cooking and was dying out. The utensils were not such as Indians +use, being made of agate ware. Then, too, he noticed some old coats +and other garments hanging on nails that had been driven into the +wall.</p> + +<p>As his eyes grew more accustomed to the light, he saw a suitcase in +one corner. There were initials on it. Dick made them out to be W. M.</p> + +<p>'"W. M.'? Who can that be?" he mused. "Whoever lives here is a white +man, that is plain. But why is he a hermit? Anyhow, I'd better be +getting out of this before he comes back. I've really got no business +in here at all."</p> + +<p>At this juncture he heard voices coming from the river. They were +punctuated by the dip of oars. As he heard the speakers outside, +Dick's mind suddenly realized who "W. M." was.</p> + +<p>"What a chump I was not to think of it before!" he exclaimed." It's +William Masterson, of course, and that's his voice outside. Gee +whillakers, they must have camped here on purpose to spy on us."</p> + +<p>Just then it occurred to Dick that he was, as a matter of fact, spying +on Masterson. He went to the cave door. Below was a boat containing +Masterson and his two friends. They had apparently been to town for +supplies, for the boat was full of canned goods and provisions.</p> + +<p>Just as Dick got to the door Masterson spied the home-made boat lying +on the bank at the foot of the cliff.</p> + +<p>"Say, fellows," he exclaimed, "somebody's been paying us a call."</p> + +<p>"Some thieving Indian, judging from the looks of that boat," said Sam +Higgins.</p> + +<p>"Well, we're not receiving callers of any kind right now," sputtered +Eph angrily.</p> + +<p>Dick crouched back into the doorway of the cave. He was trying to +think what to do. It was an awkward situation. He didn't want to be +caught in what looked, on the face of it, like an act of spying, and +yet he didn't wish Masterson and his cronies to think him a coward.</p> + +<p>"Say, fellows," spoke up Higgins suddenly, "you don't think it could +be one of those kids from the camp below, do you? They may have seen +us snooping around there at night and got wise to where we are +hiding."</p> + +<p>"It had better not be one of them," said Masterson in a loud, +threatening voice. "If I catch him, I'll break every bone in his +body."</p> + +<p>"I guess I'll have a fight on my hands," muttered Dick. "Well, serves +me right for butting in," he added philosophically.</p> + +<p>"Let's go up and see who it is?" said Eph. "He must be in the cave."</p> + +<p>"You go first," said Sam Higgins, who was not over-brave, "it might be +a bad man or an Indian."</p> + +<p>"Pshaw, I'm not afraid!" said Masterson. "Give me your pistol, Sam, if +you're scared."</p> + +<p>"I'm not scared, but there's no use running into trouble," said Sam. +"Besides I'm kind of lame. I think I—er—wrenched my ankle getting +out of the boat."</p> + +<p>"I guess you wrenched your nerve," sneered Eph.</p> + +<p>Then, headed by Masterson, with the pistol in his grasp, they began +to ascend the pathway. Dick was in a quandary. But he decided that the +only way to tackle the problem was to take the bull by the horns. As +Masterson reached the mouth of the cave the boy dashed out like a +redheaded thunderbolt.</p> + +<p>Taken utterly by surprise, Masterson stepped back.</p> + +<p>Bang!</p> + +<p>The pistol went off in the air and the next instant Masterson, despite +his efforts to save himself, toppled off the narrow path and went +rolling down the bank into the river. Luckily for him, he was a good +swimmer, and struck out lustily as he came to the surface.</p> + +<p>"Wow!" yelled Dick, and charged like a young buffalo at Eph.</p> + +<p>Young Compton tried to strike him but Dick, with lowered head, charged +him in the stomach. With a grunt Eph fell back, and in his fall +knocked over Sam Higgins, just behind him.</p> + +<p>"Whoop-ee!" shouted Dick, rejoicing in his triumph. He leaped over +the recumbent forms of Eph and Sam and dashed down the path to the +place where he had beached his boat.</p> + +<p>He jumped on board and poled off just as young Masterson reached the +shore and pulled himself out of the water.</p> + +<p>"You infernal young spy!" shrieked Masterson, beside himself with +rage, "I'll get even with you for this, see if I don't!"</p> + +<p>Sam and Eph, who had picked themselves up, shouted other threats at +Dick. But he turned round and, with a pleasant smile, waved a hand as +the current carried his boat round the bend. He felt in high good +humor at the way he had gotten out of a difficult situation. It was +fortunate for him, though, that he had taken Masterson and his cronies +so utterly by surprise, otherwise the adventure might have had a +different conclusion.</p> + +<p>He had established one fact, however, and that was that Masterson and +the others were spying on them every night and watching every step in +their preparations for the departure for Rattlesnake Island.</p> + +<p>That night a strict watch was kept in the camp, all the adventurers +taking turns at sentry duty. But nobody came near the place.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXVII.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE PROFESSOR'S SECOND DILEMMA.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>Early the next day old man McGee paid them a call. He came to take +back the burro they had hired from him for convenience in getting back +and forth from Yuma. He also wanted to get a ladder which had been +left at the deserted shanty. The old man rode into camp on a +razor-backed horse and professed great astonishment when he saw how +nearly completed the work on the Wondership was.</p> + +<p>"But you kain't fool me," he said knowingly. "I may be old but I'm +wise. That thing fly? Why, you might as well tell me the Nat'nul Hotel +in Yuma could go kerflopping about in the air. By the way," he went +on, "frum ther talk in ther town you ain't ther only ones as is goin' +down ther river. There's three young chaps has bought two boats and +allows that they're fixin' to take a trip."</p> + +<p>"Is that so?" exclaimed Jack with a significant look at his chums. "I +think we can guess who they are."</p> + +<p>But old man McGee was busy fussing with the donkey and didn't hear +him. He was going to carry the ladder back to town on the little +creature's back. He lashed the ladder across the saddle so that it +stuck out on both sides of the burro, who viewed the proceedings with +a kind of mild surprise. It brayed loudly and flapped its long ears in +a way that made the boys laugh heartily.</p> + +<p>"There," said old man McGee at last, "that's done. Now I reckon I'll +bid you so-long and good-luck, and be on my way. When are you goin' +ter start?"</p> + +<p>"To-morrow morning," replied Jack, "if everything is all right."</p> + +<p>"Hold on a minute," said Tom suddenly, as old man McGee was riding +off. "I've got a notion for some rabbit pie. Give me the rifle, Dick, +and I'll go a little way with Mr. McGee, as far as that little willow +wood where you got the cotton-tails."</p> + +<p>"All right," said Dick, "and tell you what I'll do. I'll come, too. I +can borrow Jack's rifle."</p> + +<p>"It's in the tent," said Jack. "Take good care of it."</p> + +<p>"I'll do that," promised Dick.</p> + +<p>Jack and Zeb went back to their task of putting the finishing touches +on the Wondership, stocking her lockers with provisions for the +Rattlesnake Island trip, while old man McGee, accompanied by the two +boys, rode out of the camp.</p> + +<p>The professor was away collecting specimens somewhere and had not been +seen since breakfast time.</p> + +<p>The donkey, carrying its odd burden, walked behind old McGee's horse +and the boys kept pace alongside, listening to the old prospector's +everlasting stories of how some day he would strike it rich. His faith +never wavered. He believed implicitly that eventually he would make +the "big strike" and live in affluence for the remainder of his life.</p> + +<p>The willow grove, where Dick went rabbit-hunting, was up the river and +on its banks far away from the water nothing grew but cactus, +greasewood and mesquite. As they neared it the monotony of the walk +began to pall on Dick. He wanted to have some fun.</p> + +<p>He fell behind and took a magnifying glass from his pocket. It was one +he used in his photographic work. Holding it up he focused the sun's +rays through it so that they fell in a tiny burning spot on the +donkey's back. After a few seconds the heat burned through. The donkey +gave a loud bray and kicked up its heels wildly.</p> + +<p>Before old man McGee knew what was happening, the creature had jerked +the rope by which he was leading it out of the old man's hand and +dashed off toward the willow wood.</p> + +<p>"Hey, come back, consarn ye!" shouted old McGee. "What's the matter +with ther critter, anyhow? He's gone plum daffy."</p> + +<p>Dick, doubled up with laughter, watched the circus. There was the +donkey with the ladder across its back racing at full speed toward the +wood, and after it came old McGee on his bony old horse, shouting at +the top of his voice.</p> + +<p>Straight for the wood the donkey raced, kicking up its heels and +braying loudly. It dashed in among the trees of the willow wood and at +the same instant there came an appalling yell from among the trees.</p> + +<p>"Gracious, what's happened now!" gasped Tom, and then catching Dick's +laughing eye, he exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Dick, this is some of your work!"</p> + +<p>"Maybe," said Dick, still choking with laughter, "but what on earth is +happening in the wood?"</p> + +<p>"Help! Lions! Help! They're after me! Help!"</p> + +<p>The cries came thick and fast.</p> + +<p>"It's the professor," choked out Dick.</p> + +<p>"He says there are lions in there," cried Tom, looking rather +alarmed, but at this juncture something happened to the donkey that +momentarily distracted their attention. In trying to pass between two +saplings the animal had bumped the ladder against them and brought +itself up with a round turn. But it still struggled forward and kept +up its braying:</p> + +<p>"Cotched, by ginger!" shouted old man McGee. He galloped toward the +runaway donkey, but the next moment a curious thing happened.</p> + +<p>In pressing forward, the donkey had bent the saplings over with the +ladder until it became entangled in their branches. Suddenly the +animal ceased struggling and the saplings sprang up, no longer having +any pressure on them, and the donkey was fairly lifted from its feet +and carried up into the air. And there he hung, threshing about with +his hoofs and suspended from the ladder. At the same instant the +figure of the professor emerged from the wood. He looked rather +sheepish.</p> + +<p>The boys ran up to him.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, professor?" asked Dick.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you called for help," added Tom.</p> + +<p>"Um—er—ah did I call?" inquired the man of science.</p> + +<p>"You certainly did. You scared us almost to death," said Dick.</p> + +<p>"Something about lions," added Tom.</p> + +<p>"Lions—er—did I say <i>lions</i>, boys?"</p> + +<p>"You did," Dick assured him.</p> + +<p>The professor gave a rather shamefaced smile. He looked at the donkey +suspended from the ladder between the two straightened saplings.</p> + +<p>"Um—er—perhaps it would be better to say no more about it," he said. +"I do not suppose that I am the first man to have been scared by a +sheep in wolf's clothing."</p> + +<p>"Or a donkey in a lion's skin," chuckled Dick.</p> + +<p>In the meantime old man McGee had arrived at the donkey's side and was +scratching his head to think of some way to relieve it from its +predicament. The boys solved the problem for him by cutting the +branches that held the ladder and Mr. Donkey came down to earth. The +professor, with rather a red face, had gone back to his work of +collecting specimens, which the arrival of the long-eared beast had +interrupted in such a startling manner.</p> + +<p>"Thar, I hope that's taught you some sense," said old man McGee, as +the donkey was once more on terra firma. As he rode off, Dick burst +into shouts of laughter. His little joke had certainly turned out to +be better than he expected and for many days after that he had only to +slyly introduce some talk about a lion to cause the professor to look +at him in a very quizzical way.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE UPPER REGIONS.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>The boys were up with the sun the next day. It was the morning which +was to witness the start of the flight for Rattlesnake Island. +Everything about the Wondership was in readiness for the enterprise, +and there only remained the tin breakfast utensils and the tents to be +packed when they had concluded the morning meal.</p> + +<p>Naturally excitement ran high. The hunt for the island, too, might be +a long one. But they felt that ultimately they would find it, that it +would not be like the three buttes of Peg-leg Smith.</p> + +<p>When everything was declared ready, Jack opened the charging-tube of +the gas reservoir and poured in some of the volatile powder that made +the lifting vapor. In fifteen minutes the gauge showed a good +pressure in the tank and the valve was turned.</p> + +<p>In the hot sun the balloon bag expanded quickly. At length the bag was +almost full.</p> + +<p>"Everything ready?" cried Jack, at length, when all were on board.</p> + +<p>"Ready," said Tom at the engines.</p> + +<p>"Then off we go!"</p> + +<p>Tom pulled the clutch lever and the propellers whirled. Jack gave the +steering and controlling wheel an impulse and like a huge bird the +Wondership shot up. But she rose slowly, for besides the unusual +number of passengers, she was also carrying a great weight in +supplies.</p> + +<p>As the craft rose three figures watched it from under the concealment +of a clump of mesquite.</p> + +<p>"There they go, boys," said Masterson, for it was he and his two +cronies.</p> + +<p>"Yes, they're off for Rattlesnake Island," sneered Eph. "I hope they +get bitten."</p> + +<p>"I'll bet they don't dream that we know everything about their +plans," chuckled Sam. "I'd like to get even with that red-headed kid."</p> + +<p>"Well, you'll get a chance before long," declared Bill Masterson. "I +don't see that there's any use in hanging around here any longer," he +went on. "The thing to do now is to get our boats and go down the +river."</p> + +<p>"Won't they be astonished when they see us," said Eph.</p> + +<p>"Maybe they'll try to chase us away. They outnumber us," said the +timid Sam.</p> + +<p>"They'd better not," vaunted Bill Masterson. "I guess we've got as +good a right to that old island as they have."</p> + +<p>"That's right," echoed Eph, following his leader's sentiments. "I +guess they haven't got any mortgage on it."</p> + +<p>Viewed from the Wondership, the desert spread out below was a +wonderful panorama. Through it, like a deep wound, the Colorado cut +its way and far beyond were the pale, misty outlines of mountains. As +they flew onward, the character of the scenery began to change.</p> + +<p>The river appeared to sink, while mighty walls, of most gorgeous +colors, cliffed it in. The rocks glowed with red and yellow and blue +like a painter's palate. But this was only in the deep canyon. On +either side the desert, vast and unlimited, stretched away grayly to +the horizon.</p> + +<p>"It must have taken centuries for the river to have cut such a deep +valley," said Tom, looking down as they flew far above it.</p> + +<p>"Some say that the river didn't cut it," said Zeb. "They claim that +there was a big earthquake or some sort of a shake-up, and that made +that big hole in the ground."</p> + +<p>Below them they could see birds circling above the swiftly racing +waters flecked with white foam. So far no sign of land answering the +description of Rattlesnake Island had come in view. But several small, +isolated spots of land were encountered, and on one, which looked +something like Rattlesnake Island described on the map, they +descended.</p> + +<p>The boys were delighted at the way the great Wondership settled down +into the canyon and then came to rest on the back of the island round +which the water rushed and roared. They scattered and ran about on it, +enjoying the opportunity to stretch their legs.</p> + +<p>Jack, Tom and Dick took a rifle along with them and they were glad +they had done so, for as they made their way through a patch of brush +a beautiful deer sprang out and dashed off. Jack had the rifle at his +shoulder in a minute and the creature bounded into the air, as the +crack of the report sounded, and then fell dead.</p> + +<p>The boy felt some remorse at having killed it, but he knew they would +be in need of fresh meat and some venison would be a welcome addition +to the ordinary camp fare. The boys carried the deer back and Zeb +skillfully skinned and quartered it. While he was doing this, the boys +speculated as to how the animal could have come to the island.</p> + +<p>Zeb set their discussion at rest by explaining that it had probably +swum the rapids to escape a mountain lion or a lynx. He said that he +had often shot deer under similar conditions. As it was almost noon, +they decided to wait on the island till they had eaten lunch. Zeb +sliced off some venison cutlets and cooked them to a turn over hot +wood coals. The boys thought they had never tasted anything better +than the fresh meat.</p> + +<p>While the plates and knives and forks were being washed and put away, +the professor wandered off on his perennial quest of rocks and +specimens. He said that he would be back in a short time but was +anxious not to miss the opportunity of finding some possibly rare +stones.</p> + +<p>But everything was ready and the boys were waiting impatiently half an +hour later, and there was no sign of the professor.</p> + +<p>Suddenly they heard his voice shouting to them from the distance.</p> + +<p>"What's he saying?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"Hark!" admonished Tom.</p> + +<p>The professor's shouts came plainly to their ears the next minute, +borne on a puff of wind that swept through the canyon.</p> + +<p>"Help! Help!" was the burden of his cries. "Get me out!"</p> + +<p>"Now, what's happened to him?" demanded Zeb, with a trace of +impatience.</p> + +<p>"I don't know, but he must be in trouble of some sort," cried Jack.</p> + +<p>"Maybe it's another donkey," mischievously suggested Dick.</p> + +<p>The cries were redoubled. They waited no longer but started off across +the island on the run. Zeb carried his big forty-four revolver.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXIX.</h2> + +<p><strong>A MUD BATH.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>The ground was rough and rocky but they made good time. Bursting +through a screen of trees from beyond which came the professor's +piteous cries, they received a shock.</p> + +<p>The man of science was in the center of a large, round hole full of +black mud that bubbled and boiled and steamed as if it were alive. All +that was visible of the professor was the upper part of his body.</p> + +<p>Seriously alarmed, the boys shouted to him to keep up his courage, and +that they would get him out.</p> + +<p>"How did you get in?" asked Zeb, cupping his hands.</p> + +<p>"I fell in," rejoined the poor professor. "The ground gave way under +my feet. Hurry and get me out, it's terribly hot."</p> + +<p>They looked about them desperately for some means of extricating him +from his predicament. But just at the moment none was offered, and +with every struggle the professor was sinking deeper in the black, +evil-smelling pool of mud.</p> + +<p>"Gracious, what are we to do?" cried Jack in despair.</p> + +<p>"He's too far out to reach him," said Zeb, equally at a loss.</p> + +<p>"But we must do something," chimed in Tom.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Zeb had an inspiration. A tree grew on the banks of the mud +volcano, the sudden caving in of which, under the professor's weight, +had precipitated him into it.</p> + +<p>"If I could get out on that branch," said Zeb, "I might be able to +bend it enough to bring my feet over him and then work back toward the +edge of the mudhole."</p> + +<p>"It's worth trying—anything is worthy trying," agreed Jack.</p> + +<p>Zeb took off his coat and then shinned up the tree. Then, hanging by +his hands he began working out along the branch. As he went it bent +till it hung right over the mudhole. Before long his feet dangled +above the professor's head.</p> + +<p>"Now then, professor," panted Zeb, "take hold on my feet and work +along toward the edge of the hole with me."</p> + +<img src="images/illus246.gif" width="466" height="700" border="0" +alt="Illustration: The professor seized Zeb's boots with the grasp of a drowning man."> + +<p>The professor seized Zeb's boots with the grasp of a drowning man. The +branch cracked ominously.</p> + +<p>"Easy thar, professor," warned Zeb earnestly. "Don't pull more'n you +can help or we'll both be in the soup."</p> + +<p>The professor lightened his grip and slowly, hand over hand, Zeb began +the slow journey back along the branch. It was a feat only possible to +a man whose muscles were of iron. And before it was over even Zeb was +almost overcome. Perspiration streamed from his forehead and soaked +his shirt as he dropped from the branch, having accomplished the +journey and pulled the professor to the bank.</p> + +<p>"That's what I call toeing a man out of trouble," punned Dick, in +the general relief that followed.</p> + +<p>"Good thing it warn't no further," puffed Zeb, mopping his forehead. +"My arms feels as if they'd been stretched on one of them racks you +read about in the history books."</p> + +<p>"How did it happen, professor?" asked Jack, as they scraped the mud +off the scientist.</p> + +<p>"It's hard to say," was the response. "I was walking along, intent on +my collecting, when I came to a barren patch of ground that was +crusted over with stuff that looked like salt. I stepped out on it to +investigate and suddenly in I went. Faugh! how it smells."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it isn't exactly perfumed," said Jack. "But how did such a place +come there?"</p> + +<p>"It's one of those mud-springs of hot water that are found in several +places throughout the West," said the scientist. "It must have been +quiescent for some time and then the thin skin of alkaline earth +formed over it. In Europe, or if we had that spring near a large +city, it would be possible to make a fortune with it."</p> + +<p>"In what way?" asked Dick.</p> + +<p>"As a curative bath," replied the professor. "Every year people spend +fortunes to go to Europe and take just such baths."</p> + +<p>"Reckon I'd go without washin' then," commented Zeb.</p> + +<p>"I'd just as soon bathe in rotten eggs," said Dick.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Jack, "I guess we've got off about all the mud we can for +the present. We'd better be getting back. It's mighty fortunate that +we came in time."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I was slipping into the stuff all the time," said the professor. +"If I'd been alone on the island I might have never been seen again," +he added in quite a matter-of-fact tone. "It's too bad I lost that bag +of fossils, though. I had some fine specimens."</p> + +<p>"Goodness, no wonder you sank down!" exclaimed Jack. "Why didn't you +let go of them?"</p> + +<p>The scientist was mildly surprised.</p> + +<p>"Why, how could I," he asked, "until it became a question of life or +death? It's too bad I had to lose them," and he shook his head +mournfully at the thought.</p> + +<p>The journey was soon resumed, the Wondership rising buoyantly out of +the dismal canyon. They were not sorry to get back to the upper air +for the gloom of the deep gulch had affected their spirits. But so +much time had been consumed in getting the professor out of his +predicament that it was not long before twilight set in and they still +had caught no glimpse of anything resembling the island they were in +search of.</p> + +<p>They decided to come to earth and make camp for the night and resume +the search in the morning. They made a hearty supper off the venison +which remained, and turned in, without setting any watch, as there was +no necessity for it out there with not a soul about for scores of +miles.</p> + +<p>It was about midnight when Jack was awakened by a wild yell from Tom.</p> + +<p>"Ow! Ouch! Leggo my toe!" the younger of the Boy Inventors was +shouting.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXX"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXX.</h2> + +<p><strong>NIGHT ON THE COLORADO.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"What's the matter? What has happened?" cried Jack.</p> + +<p>"Is it Indians?" cried Dick, who had a lively imagination.</p> + +<p>"Something grabbed my foot," declared Tom.</p> + +<p>"Grabbed your foot?" repeated Jack.</p> + +<p>"Well, maybe, nibbled at it, would be better," replied Tom. "It isn't +hurt, but I was awakened by it. I guess the thing, whatever it was, +must have been scared away."</p> + +<p>"What could it have been?" came from Dick.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it was a bear," suggested Tom.</p> + +<p>"A bear, nonsense. I guess it was all imagination," scoffed Jack. "You +ate too much at supper, Tom."</p> + +<p>"It was not imagination, I tell you," retorted Tom indignantly. "I +felt it just as plainly as anything."</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't see what——" began Jack and then he broke off.</p> + +<p>From outside the tent had come an appalling crash of tin dishes, +followed by unearthly grunts and squeals. The uproar was terrific. It +sounded as if every piece of tinware in the camp was being hurled and +battered around.</p> + +<p>"What under the sun——?" gasped Jack.</p> + +<p>"It's Indians; they've attacked the camp," cried Dick.</p> + +<p>A weird screech split the night. Jack seized up a rifle.</p> + +<p>"Come on, boys," he cried, but it might have been noticed that Dick +was not particularly alert in following.</p> + +<p>Zeb and the professor rushed out of their tents and their shouts added +to the confusion. There was a bright moon and by its light Jack saw a +small, peculiarly-shaped animal charging about blindly here and there. +The next minute he saw, too, that the creature's head was caught fast +in an enameled cooking pot.</p> + +<p>It rushed about and uttered the muffled squeals that had attracted +their attention. Jack raised his rifle and fired. The creature fell +dead at the first shot. Zeb and Jack rushed up to it.</p> + +<p>"A badger!" exclaimed Zeb, "and he's got his greedy head stuck fast in +that mush cooker."</p> + +<p>"And in charging about trying to get it off he'd made a wreck of our +pantry!" exclaimed Jack, looking at the tin utensils scattered in +every direction about the wooden box in which they were kept.</p> + +<p>"It must have been that badger that came sniffing at my toes," said +Tom.</p> + +<p>"Or maybe it was Indians," laughed Jack, looking slyly at Dick, who +was glad that they couldn't see how red he turned.</p> + +<p>"Indians?" exclaimed the professor guilelessly. "Were there any +Indians about?"</p> + +<p>"Dick thought he saw some," explained Jack with a chuckle.</p> + +<p>The dead badger was pulled out of the pot into which it stuck its +head to lick out the remains of some oatmeal that had adhered to its +side, and the boys went back to bed. But they did not sleep much after +the uproar into which the camp had been thrown, and were glad when it +began to grow light.</p> + +<p>Zeb cooked a fine breakfast to which he urged everybody to do justice, +as they had a long and possibly a trying day ahead of them. The badger +was given decent burial by Dick.</p> + +<p>"Let its fate be a lesson to you," said Jack, at which they all +laughed, for Dick was always on the spot at meal times.</p> + +<p>When the morning meal was finished and the things all packed away, the +Wondership was inflated and soared into the clear air. Nights and +early mornings on the desert are cool, and it was crisp and +invigorating in the hours before the sun had risen high. But by noon +the heat grew blistering, and they were still soaring above the river +without a trace of Rattlesnake Island being visible.</p> + +<p>However, that afternoon they sighted a group of islands of which the +largest at once attracted their attention. A prominent feature of +Rattlesnake Island, as outlined on the map, was a big dead pine, +situated like a beacon, at the summit of the peak into which the +island rose.</p> + +<p>The river at this point broadened out. Great cliffs overhung it. They +were made up of strata of brilliant colors. It looked from above as if +they had been painted by some titanic sign painter—nature, the +artist.</p> + +<p>Jack was the first to call attention to the island which had caught +his eye while he scanned the river below them with the binoculars. He +at once noticed its formation, long and narrow, with a high, rocky +peak rising out from amongst trees and bushes which clothed it almost +to the summit.</p> + +<p>Then his eye caught a great white pine trunk, standing like a +flagpole almost at the apex of the peak.</p> + +<p>"Hurrah, boys!" he cried. "I guess that's the place. Welcome to +Rattlesnake Island!"</p> + +<p>Tom was steering, "spelling" Jack at the wheel.</p> + +<p>"You can see the island?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>"Yes, or if it isn't it, it's like enough to be its twin brother."</p> + +<p>Everybody began to get excited. Zeb took the glasses and after a +careful scrutiny and a reference to the map, declared that the island +below them tallied in every way with its description.</p> + +<p>"Then down we go," said Jack.</p> + +<p>"All right," nodded Tom, who was almost as good an air pilot as his +cousin.</p> + +<p>The Wondership dropped rapidly. Soon they were immediately above the +island, which was now seen to be rocky and precipitous, except at one +end where there was a great open place, bare and desolate looking.</p> + +<p>On the edges of this cleared spot, which looked swampy and +unwholesome, were serried rows of trees, every one of which was dead +as if from a blight, and offering with their gaunt, leafless branches +a sharp contrast to the green leafiness of the rest of the island.</p> + +<p>Jack scanned the place sharply as they dropped down and Tom prepared +to land on the edge of the swamp. As they got closer to the ground, he +suddenly became aware of something that caused him a sharp shock of +surprise.</p> + +<p>"Why there's somebody on the island!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Somebody on the island?" echoed Zeb incredulously.</p> + +<p>"Yes, or at least there's a dwelling place."</p> + +<p>The boy pointed to a rude sort of shack built of logs and roofed with +boughs, which stood on the edge of the cleared space.</p> + +<p>"Great Methuselah!" ejaculated Zeb. "Can someone have stolen a march +on us?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know, but it looks queer, and see, there's a shovel. Somebody +has been digging here."</p> + +<p>"But who could it be?" demanded Tom, mystified.</p> + +<p>"Gosh! Looks as if we've bin euchered after all," grumbled Zeb.</p> + +<p>The Wondership came to earth at the edge of the lifeless-looking, bare +space. They clambered out of the machine and stood on what was, +undoubtedly, Rattlesnake Island, for every landmark on the map had +been verified as they dropped.</p> + +<p>They looked about them for a minute and then Zeb drew his revolver out +of the holster and began idly twiddling the cylinder.</p> + +<p>"I want ter make sure she's in workin' order," he said with a grim +comprehension of the lips, "before we do any investigating."</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXXI"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXXI.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE ISLAND OF MYSTERY.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>There was an air of oppression, hard to explain, about the island. But +they all felt it. The boys were inclined to talk in whispers and even +Dick Donovan's usual lively spirits seemed daunted. There was +something about the blistered, barren look of the cleared space on the +edge of which they had landed that gave them all an odd feeling of +melancholy.</p> + +<p>Zeb was the first to shake this off.</p> + +<p>"Our first job," he said, "is to find out who is on the island and +what they've been doing."</p> + +<p>Here and there in the black, swampy-looking bare space, they could see +where holes had been dug, but when they examined the spade, which Jack +had seen from the Wondership as they descended, they found that it was +rusty and had evidently not been used for a long time.</p> + +<p>It was the same in the rude hut which they examined. Some rusty +utensils and a few ragged old garments were all that was inside. The +dust lay thick on the floor and a large squirrel leaped out of the +roof as they entered.</p> + +<p>"Well, whoever was on the island has moved on again," declared Zeb.</p> + +<p>"Or died," said Jack in a low tone.</p> + +<p>"Wa'al, what I say is," observed Zeb, "ther sooner we git at that +what-yer-may-call-um stuff and get away agin, the better it'll be for +all of us. There's suthin' about this island I don't like."</p> + +<p>The others agreed, all except the professor, who, on hands and knees, +was examining some rocks with his magnifying glass.</p> + +<p>"Where shall we make camp?" asked Dick.</p> + +<p>"I don't much fancy this side of the island, somehow," said Jack, "but +we could pitch the tents on that little plateau up there and be +comfortable and have a good view up and down the river at the same +time."</p> + +<p>And so it was arranged. Leaving the Wondership on the edge of the +clearing, they made camp on the flat ledge of sandy soil interspersed +with rocks that Jack had selected. From it they had a good view in +both directions. Above them was a small island, and below them the +river leaped and roared in a series of big rapids.</p> + +<p>Their preparations for camping occupied all the afternoon. It was +supper time when they had finished and everything was shipshape and +comfortable. In the meantime Dick had wandered off with the rifle and +returned with four good-sized rabbits and three squirrels which Zeb +cooked into a savory stew.</p> + +<p>They turned in early as they had all worked hard and were tired. Just +what time it was that he awakened, Jack did not know. But he thought +it was after midnight. Taking his watch he went to the door of the +tent to look at it in the moonlight, as he did not wish to arouse the +others by striking a light.</p> + +<p>The moon flooded the island. Jack looked about him, enjoying the +beauty of the scene. The cliffs were great masses of black and white +and the rushing river gleamed like silver. He glanced toward the black +waste, on the edge of which they left the Wondership. The next instant +he uttered a startled exclamation. Above the bare patch of +dark-colored earth tall white figures were dancing, gleaming in the +moonlight.</p> + +<p>Jack's heart gave a bound and he caught his breath for an instant. +Then he felt inclined to laugh at his own fears. What he had taken for +ghostly figures were columns of vapor writhing and twisting as they +steamed upward from the bare end of the island. What caused them, Jack +did not know. He noticed, too, that the whole patch of barren land +glowed with a strange phosphorescence like rotted wood.</p> + +<p>Fascinated by the spectacle, he stood gazing at it. There was +something eerie about the dancing, pirouetting columns of vapor. They +looked like a party of ghosts dancing a quadrille. They twisted and +contorted and bowed and soared upward and sank again in a kind of +rhythm.</p> + +<p>"Gracious, this is a spooky sort of place," thought Jack. "I wonder +what causes those wavering columns? Maybe some sort of hidden hot +springs like the one the professor fell into. I know one thing, I +don't like this island overmuch. As Zeb said, there is something queer +about it—something in the air. I don't know what, but I for one won't +be sorry when we leave it."</p> + +<p>He fell to musing about his father waiting so many miles away for news +of the discovery that was to rehabilitate his fortunes and place the +radio telephone in the list of practical inventions that have created +an epoch in the world's history.</p> + +<p>"Poor old dad," he thought "After all, he's really having the most +trying part of this thing. Waiting back there for he doesn't know +what, and with nothing to do but wait. I wonder if we are going to +succeed? We will, we must! But, supposing that the map was wrong and +that——"</p> + +<p>His musing broke off suddenly and he crouched forward watching +intently. His eyes were staring wide-open and startled at the +Wondership. Its bulk lay blackly against the faint, phosphorescent +glow of the black barren.</p> + +<p>Then he felt his scalp tighten and his mouth go dry while his heart +seemed to stop for an instant and then pound furiously, shaking his +frame.</p> + +<p>For a second he had seen something that had almost startled him into a +cry. A dark figure was creeping round the Wondership, crouched like an +ape as it examined the craft.</p> + +<p>The boy had hardly caught a glimpse of it before it vanished, gliding +swiftly like an animal into the brush. Jack rubbed his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Am I seeing things?" he asked himself, "but no, I'm positive, as sure +as I stand here, that that was a human figure sneaking about down +there. Who could it have been?"</p> + +<p>Jack did not sleep much more that night. The thought that they were +not alone on the island was a disquieting one.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXXII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXXII.</h2> + +<p><strong>THROUGH THE WOODS.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>The next morning Jack watched his opportunity, and under the pretext +of hunting, left camp after breakfast and made his way to the side of +the Wondership. He wanted to examine the vicinity for footmarks. But +he found none, which was not surprising, for the ground on which the +craft had been brought to rest was hard and firm, and not likely to +take on any impressions.</p> + +<p>In the bright, sunny glow it was hard for the boy to believe that he +had actually seen the mysterious figure in the moonlight. But although +he tried to assure himself that he had been the victim of an illusion, +and that he had mistaken the shadow of a waving tree branch for a man, +Jack knew that he was not laboring under a mistake. He was certain he +had seen rightly; but he decided, for the present, to say nothing to +his companions about the events of the night.</p> + +<p>Having failed to find any tracks round the Wondership, he started off +through the trees on his hunt. He was traversing a small glade when, +in a clump of flowering bushes, he heard a sudden scuffling noise.</p> + +<p>Startled, he stopped. The sound came again and this time it was +accompanied by a shrill scream as of some creature in pain. Jack +parted the bushes and made his way through them. On the other side he +came across a rabbit. The little creature was struggling violently and +squealing with the peculiarly human screech that rabbits have when in +pain.</p> + +<p>The boy saw that it had been caught in some way and could not get +away. Greatly mystified, he dropped to his knees beside it and the +next instant solved the puzzle.</p> + +<p>The rabbit was caught in a trap ingeniously made from pliable willow +twigs and set in a "rabbit run." For a minute the full significance of +his discovery did not dawn upon Jack. Then it came like a bolt from +the blue.</p> + +<p>Somebody on the island, other than themselves, had set that trap! +Perhaps it was the strange, half-ape-like man he had seen by the +Wondership the night before. The boy looked round him in the silent +wood as if he half expected to see somebody watching him.</p> + +<p>He was not afraid, but he felt that creepy feeling that accompanies +the mysterious. Suddenly he recollected that he had left his rifle +behind when he plunged into the bushes.</p> + +<p>He remembered this when the desire came to him to put the rabbit out +of its misery. It had been caught by the hind leg and had wrenched it +out of joint in its frantic struggles to get free. Jack made his way +back to where he had left his rifle. But when he got back to the trap +ready to end the poor creature's life, the rabbit was not there!</p> + +<p>The trap was empty!</p> + +<p>Then he looked about him. The ground was covered with blood and fur +as if the rabbit had been torn to pieces.</p> + +<p>"Some animal," was his first thought. Then, on examining the trap, he +found that the thong which had ensnared the rabbit had not been broken +or torn loose as would have been the case had some wild creature +pounced on the rabbit and dragged it off.</p> + +<p>It had been untied!</p> + +<p>Jack had just made this discovery when he noticed something fluttering +from a thornbush. He was sure it had not been there before, for he had +noted the surroundings of the trap carefully. He examined the object +that had caught his attention. It was a bit of canvas, seemingly torn +from a garment made of that material.</p> + +<p>"There <i>is</i> somebody else on the island!" gasped Jack, looking round +with white cheeks.</p> + +<p>He clutched his rifle firmly. Looking about him he half expected to +see some wild face peering at him out of parted bushes. But nothing of +the sort happened. Feeling very uncomfortable, Jack came away from +the place and made his way back to camp.</p> + +<p>This time he made up his mind to confide in Zeb. The prospector was as +mystified as Jack over the events of the night and the incident of the +rabbit trap. But he was unable to throw any light on the affair.</p> + +<p>"It might be an Indian," he said, "or——"</p> + +<p>"It might be the man that built that hut and left the shovel sticking +in that barren place down yonder," said Jack.</p> + +<p>"In that case, wouldn't he be livin' in ther hut instead of snoopin' +round the island?" asked Zeb.</p> + +<p>This view seemed to be incontrovertible. At noon the professor, who +had been scouting over the island looking for specimens which might +give him some clue as to the mineral deposits they had come in search +of, arrived in camp breathless and indignant.</p> + +<p>"A joke's a joke," he said to the boys, "but this is going too far."</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, professor?" asked Dick.</p> + +<p>"Yes, what's happened?" asked Tom, who saw that the man of science +was really angry, and for some reason blamed them for whatever had +irritated him.</p> + +<p>"As if you didn't know," declared the professor. "I set my bag of +specimens down on a rock while I went to investigate a +peculiar-looking formation."</p> + +<p>"Well?" said Jack.</p> + +<p>"Well, I heard a soft footstep and the crackling of some twigs. I +looked round and my bag of specimens had gone. Now which of you boys +played that foolish joke on me?"</p> + +<p>"I'll give you my word we know nothing about it, professor," declared +Tom. "Dick and I have been working all the morning unpacking stuff +from the Wondership."</p> + +<p>The professor looked at them incredulously.</p> + +<p>"That's right," struck in Zeb, "they haven't been out of my sight."</p> + +<p>"But—but," stammered the professor, "my dear sir, that bag of +specimens didn't walk off, you know. Besides," he added, "I heard a +human footfall distinctly."</p> + +<p>"It may not have been the boys, though," spoke up Jack seriously.</p> + +<p>"Indeed, who else then?" inquired the professor stiffly.</p> + +<p>"An unwelcome neighbor," replied Jack. "We are not alone on this +island."</p> + +<p>"Not alone? What do you mean?" demanded the professor in thunderstruck +tones.</p> + +<p>"Just this, that there is someone else on it. Who or what it is I +don't know."</p> + +<p>And Jack went on to explain all that he had seen.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXXIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXXIII.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE SECRET AT LAST.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>Mysteries are always uncomfortable. As Jack proceeded with his +narrative, Dick and Tom looked nervously about them. Even the boys' +two elders looked grave. The presence of a man on the island was +almost inexplicable. But Jack's story was so circumstantial that there +was no room to suppose that he might be mistaken. Besides, he had the +bit of canvas to show, the scrap that he had taken from the thornbush.</p> + +<p>After dinner Tom and Dick resumed their work of unloading necessaries +from the Wondership. Jack and the two elder members of the party +discussed plans.</p> + +<p>"You haven't found any trace of mineral-bearing rock yet, have you, +professor?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>The professor shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Not a speck of anything that even remotely corresponds with the +black sand that Zeb brought East with him," said the man of science, +dejectedly.</p> + +<p>"It isn't possible that we have been fooled," said Zeb.</p> + +<p>"Or landed on the wrong island," struck in Jack.</p> + +<p>"It must be the right island," declared Zeb.</p> + +<p>"How do you make that out?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"Well, it's got every mark on it that the map gives, for one thing," +said Zeb.</p> + +<p>"That's so," agreed the professor, and then he added hopefully: +"However, I haven't covered half the ground yet."</p> + +<p>Tom and Dick came tramping back at that juncture. They carried some +canned goods and Dick bore the rusty shovel that they had seen the day +before sticking up in the black barren.</p> + +<p>"It was sticky and moist out there," he said, "but I figured we could +always use this shovel, so I went out and brought it along."</p> + +<p>He flung himself down full length in the shade for it was hot and +there was not a breath of wind to fan the canyon. The professor, who +sat facing Dick, concentrated his attention for an instant on the +soles of the youngster's boots. Then he leaped up with a yell that +startled them.</p> + +<p>"What is it? The wild man?" gasped Dick, looking round him in alarm.</p> + +<p>"No, your boots, your boots; look at them!" cried the professor.</p> + +<p>"Is there a snake on them?" cried Dick, preparing to jump up.</p> + +<p>"Don't move! Don't move for your life!" fairly screamed the dumpy +little geologist, springing forward. He fell on his knees at Dick's +boots as if they had been sacred, and with trembling fingers flaked +off, into his left palm, some black mud which stuck to them.</p> + +<p>Then he stood erect, his face aglow with triumph and enthusiasm such +as the man of science rarely permitted himself.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," he said, with a flourish, "there is no reason to look +further for the mineral-bearing ground."</p> + +<p>"You have found it?" choked out Jack.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Where?"</p> + +<p>"On Dick Donovan's boots."</p> + +<p>They looked at him as if they thought he had suddenly gone demented. +Dick examined his boots carefully as if he expected to see money +plastered all over them.</p> + +<p>The professor extended his palm. In it lay the black earth he had +scraped from Dick's boots. In it tiny particles glittered and gleamed +like myriads of infinitesimal eyes.</p> + +<p>"Z. 2. X.," said the professor in solemn tones, and he waved his hand +down toward the black barren where the moist, unhealthy-looking bare +patch lay quivering and sweltering in the sun. A kind of haze hung +above it, like a very thin fog.</p> + +<p>"There it is," he went on, "down there. Waiting to be extracted from +that black earth. Look."</p> + +<p>He shook the black earth from his palm. Where it had lain there was a +red, irritated-looking patch. The professor showed it. It looked like +a slight burn.</p> + +<p>"Did that stuff do it?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"Yes; and that's almost as definite a proof as an analysis, of its +intense radio activity. You noticed that the sample that Zeb had was +enclosed in a leaden tube. That was the reason. Such powerful stuff +would inflict bad burns if not handled properly."</p> + +<p>"So that was why you made us include asbestos gloves and foot +coverings and black goggles in the outfit?" cried Tom, who had been +much puzzled over the reason for that part of the equipment.</p> + +<p>"That was why," said the professor, "and that also is the reason we +brought along those lead containers. Z. 2. X. or its ally, radium, or +in fact vanadium or any of the allied radio-active metals, would +destroy any other sort of container."</p> + +<p>"Let's go down now and start digging," suggested impulsive Dick.</p> + +<p>"Don't venture out there till you are fully equipped for the job," +said the professor. "Serious results might ensue. In the meantime, I +am going to analyze this sample in order to be doubly sure."</p> + +<p>Jack gave a deep sigh of relief. After all, it was not a dream. They +had found the valuable earth. It was now only a question of +transportation. His father's fortunes were saved. The radio-'phone +would be rushed to perfection and placed on the market within a short +time of their return home.</p> + +<p>While Jack lay back and indulged in daydreams, the others watched the +professor as he tested the black sand over a portable assaying furnace +and made all sorts of experiments to determine its value and the +proportion of the different precious metals contained in it.</p> + +<p>There was a slight rustling in the bushes behind him. Jack, whose +nerves had been rather on edge since the occurrences of the preceding +night and that morning, faced round quickly.</p> + +<p>The next instant he uttered a loud shout.</p> + +<p>Peering out of the bushes was a hideous, hairy face, more like an +ape's than a human being's. From it glowed two wild, piercing eyes, +like those of a beast of prey.</p> + +<p>As Jack shouted and the others started toward him, the face vanished +like a flash.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXXIV"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXXIV.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE INTERLOPERS.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"Well, we'll git ter ther bottom uv this afore we leave ther island," +declared Zeb vehemently, "but right now, pussonally, I'm more +interested in gitting those lead carboys filled up with Z. 2. X. and +gitting away from here."</p> + +<p>"So are we," said Jack, thinking of his father.</p> + +<p>They all donned their asbestos gloves and foot coverings under the +professor's directions and put on the huge black goggles that had been +brought along at the scientist's directions.</p> + +<p>"I guess we'd scare that wild man into conniption fits if he could see +us now," chuckled Tom, surveying his mates as they started out for the +black barren.</p> + +<p>"Yes, we look like a lot of men from Mars," agreed Dick.</p> + +<p>Armed with shovels they attacked the dark, soft earth at a place the +professor indicated. For an hour or more they worked and filled three +of the lead carboys. Then Jack spoke.</p> + +<p>"It's queer," he said, "but I begin to feel terribly tired, and I +haven't worked long, either."</p> + +<p>"So do I," said Tom. "I don't feel as if I could lift another +shovelful."</p> + +<p>"I'm all in," added Dick, throwing down his spade.</p> + +<p>"Same here. Jes' 'bout tuckered out," chimed in Zeb.</p> + +<p>"It's the effect of the stuff we are working in," said the professor. +"Anyhow, we've done enough for to-day. We'll load the lead carboys on +the Wondership and then knock off. I don't want you boys to get sick."</p> + +<p>They took the loaded carboys to the grounded craft and the professor +sealed and soldered a cover on each of them. Then they went back to +the camp. Curiously, as soon as they reached it, the lassitude they +had felt while working on the black barren left them. Jack proposed a +hunting trip to Tom. Dick said he wanted to write up his notes from +which, on their return, he was going to construct a big "story" for +his paper.</p> + +<p>The two chums struck out across the island. They met with fairly good +luck. Jack brought down some rabbits and a partridge. Tom got three +partridges and some squirrels. Game appeared to be plentiful on the +island and Jack had a theory that at one time it must have been +connected with the mainland.</p> + +<p>At last their walking brought them out on the upper end of the island +facing the smaller spot of land above. As they emerged from the trees, +both boys got a big surprise.</p> + +<p>Two boats had just been beached there!</p> + +<p>"What in the world!" stammered out Jack.</p> + +<p>"Who can——" began Tom, when the question was answered. The boys saw +three figures coming down to the beach. They, seemingly, had been +looking for a camp site.</p> + +<p>"It's that fellow, Bill Masterson," explained Jack.</p> + +<p>"So it is, and those other two are his cronies. The sneaks, they've +followed us here!" cried Tom indignantly.</p> + +<p>"Let's watch from behind these bushes and see what they do," said +Jack.</p> + +<p>They watched from a place of concealment while the three youths on the +island above unloaded the second boat which they had towed down the +river, carrying their camping equipment and provisions in it. They set +up their tents quite boldly in full view of the other island and then +proceeded to build a fire.</p> + +<p>"How on earth did they get down the river without having a spill?" +cried Jack.</p> + +<p>"How did they know where Rattlesnake Island was?" wondered Tom, +neither of the boys, of course, knowing of the opened letters.</p> + +<p>"They seem prepared to make a long stay," commented Tom, after a +minute, "but it's a wonder they weren't wrecked."</p> + +<p>"I don't know," said Jack. "Zeb says the river is much higher now +than he has ever seen it. That means that the rapids are not so +dangerous as at low water. But they were taking quite a chance, at +that."</p> + +<p>The boys watched for a while longer and then returned to camp with +their game and their news.</p> + +<p>"If they try to land on this island, we'll soon chase 'em off," +declared Dick vehemently.</p> + +<p>"Then they'd have a case at law agin us," said Zeb.</p> + +<p>"How do you mean?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"Wa'al, we ain't filed no claim yet and in the eyes of the law them +deposits down there in the black barren is as much theirs as ours."</p> + +<p>That evening Zeb occupied himself with making several signs of +intention to file claim which he intended to post all round the black +barren, thus marking it off as if it had been a mine. Before they went +to bed, Jack and Tom made another excursion to the upper end of the +island where they watched the campfires of the interlopers for some +time.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, while they watched, they saw one of the boats with three +figures in it shoved off. The craft began to drop down the river. +Masterson, who was at the oars, steered straight for Rattlesnake +Island.</p> + +<p>"They're going to land here," declared Jack.</p> + +<p>"What do you think of that for nerve," gasped Tom.</p> + +<p>"The worst of it is, we can't stop them."</p> + +<p>"No, that's so. Let's hide behind this rock and see what they do."</p> + +<p>The boys slipped behind a big boulder and a moment later the boat was +beached.</p> + +<p>"Well, here we are," came in Eph's voice, "and if the stuff is worth +all you say it is, we ought to get enough out in a couple of nights to +make us rich."</p> + +<p>"Gee! I can hardly wait till it's time to start digging," said Sam +Higgins. "Here we are, on Tom Tiddler's ground, picking up gold and +silver."</p> + +<p>"Wait till we get it before you start hollering," said Masterson +gruffly.</p> + +<p>"What time will we start over?" asked Sam.</p> + +<p>"About midnight. It will be plenty of time."</p> + +<p>"But how are we going to locate it?" objected Eph.</p> + +<p>"We can see where they've been digging, can't we?" said Bill +Masterson, "or if they haven't started yet, we can hang around and +watch till they do."</p> + +<p>The three worthies sat under a rock not far from where the boys were +and talked. It appeared that Bill Masterson had read up on mining and +claim law and knew that the boys could not order them off the island. +They had a right to take all of the mineral-bearing earth that they +could.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, however, their talk stopped.</p> + +<p>"What are you doing, Eph?" demanded Sam indignantly.</p> + +<p>"Nothing. What do you mean?" asked Eph in an astonished voice.</p> + +<p>"You threw a rock at me."</p> + +<p>"I didn't."</p> + +<p>"You did. Ouch! There's another."</p> + +<p>"One hit me, too," cried Eph, springing up, and at the same moment a +yell came from Masterson.</p> + +<p>Jack and Tom, as much surprised as the three marauders, heard the +rocks pelting around them. Suddenly they looked up. Standing on a high +rock above the place where Masterson and his cronies were talking, was +a strange-looking figure in tattered clothes outlined in the +moonlight.</p> + +<p>He was busily hurling rocks down at the intruders. Suddenly a +demoniacal laugh split the air and the creature vanished, running +swiftly, crouched, with long arms hanging.</p> + +<p>"It's the wild man!" gasped Tom, while the three worthies on the beach +uttered a startled cry.</p> + +<p>"It's ghosts, that's what it is," declared Sam Higgins shuddering.</p> + +<p>"Nonsense. It's those kids. That's who it is," said Bill, but his +voice was rather shaky.</p> + +<p>"I never heard anything human laugh like that," declared Eph. "Ugh! it +makes my blood run cold."</p> + +<p>"Maybe we'd better go back," said Sam. "If we've got a right here I'd +just as soon land in the daylight."</p> + +<p>"You're a fine pair of babies," growled Bill. "I'm sorry I brought you +along. Ghosts indeed—Wow! what was that?"</p> + +<p>Another long ringing peal of laughter sounded through the night. It +reverberated against the steep walls of the canyon and was flung +mockingly from crag to crag. The boys felt their blood chill as they +heard it. There was something diabolical in the merriment of the wild +man who, they knew, was making the hideous sounds.</p> + +<p>"I'm going back to the other island," declared Sam.</p> + +<p>"If you move I'll knock your head off," said Masterson. "It's just a +trick of those kids to scare us, that's all it is."</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXXV"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXXV.</h2> + +<p><strong>TRIUMPH.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>It was midnight. The moon rode high in a cloudless sky, and the camp +of the Boy Inventors, to all appearances, was wrapped in slumber. +Through the woods came three creeping, cautious figures. Each carried +a spade and a sack. They paused by the camp and looked about them.</p> + +<p>Then, by the bright moonlight, they saw the bare plateau below. The +black barren where the adventurers had been working that afternoon. +Masterson was the first to see traces of digging. He seized Eph's arm +and pointed.</p> + +<p>"That's the place," he said in a hoarse whisper. "See, they've been at +work there already."</p> + +<p>"Tom Tiddler's ground," whispered Eph.</p> + +<p>"I guess we'll get some of it, too," chuckled Sam, who had gotten over +his fright in a sudden greed at the thought of riches.</p> + +<p>Silently, for they had sacks tied round their feet, the three +interlopers crept down the rocky slope toward the black barren. The +dark ground, thickly sown with mineral wealth, glittered in the +moonlight as if a frost had fallen on it and made it gleam +iridescently with millions of sparkling points of light.</p> + +<p>As the trio stole down the slope, dark figures from the Boy Inventors' +camp followed them. Led by Zeb, they found hiding places and watched +operations as Masterson and his cronies began to dig. They wielded +their shovels frantically.</p> + +<p>"And we can't stop them," groaned Dick.</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute," said the professor.</p> + +<p>They continued to watch, and before many minutes had passed they saw +Sam Higgins lay down his shovel with a grunt.</p> + +<p>"Go on and dig," ordered Masterson.</p> + +<p>"Yes, hurry up, we haven't got all night," urged Eph.</p> + +<p>Sam made a few more feeble movements and then quit.</p> + +<p>'"I can't do any more," he said languidly.</p> + +<p>"Ouch! my hands are burning," cried Eph suddenly, "and I feel as if +all my bones had turned to water. What's the matter with the place?"</p> + +<p>After a few minutes more both Eph and Sam gave up, but Masterson stuck +doggedly to his task, although his hands were burning terribly, and +the radio-active stuff was eating through the sacking on his feet. At +last he, too, had to give in. They were too weak to carry the sacks +they had partially filled across the island, owing to the effects of +the black barren, and staggeringly they hid them to call for them at a +later time.</p> + +<p>"I thought so," said the professor, as the hidden watchers saw +Masterson and the other two wearily clamber up the slope. "They'll +have bad sores to-morrow and may be crippled for some time."</p> + +<p>"But they'll recover?" said Jack, whose conscience began to smite him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, but they will have quite a lesson first," rejoined the +professor.</p> + +<p>"Let's see what they do next," suggested Jack, and he and Tom +carefully made their way to where the trio had left the boat. +Masterson ordered Sam to get on board; but just as the timorous youth +was about to obey another hideous laugh from near at hand startled him +so that he almost jumped out of his skin.</p> + +<p>He leaped forward, but in his alarm missed the boat and gave it a +shove that sent it into the stream. Sam fell flat on his face, while +Masterson, with an exclamation of dismay, leaped for the boat. But the +swift current had it in its grasp and bore it rapidly away. Masterson +sprang on Sam and began beating him violently as the cause of all the +trouble. It was serious enough for them. The loss of the boat had +marooned them on the island.</p> + +<p>The boat drifted past a rocky point further down the island shore. Had +they been there, they would have been able to seize it. They watched +it with alarmed eyes as it sailed down the current. All at once a dark +figure dashed from the trees and made a spring from a high rock, +hoping, seemingly, to land in the boat. Instead, there was the sound +of a heavy fall and then a piteous groan.</p> + +<p>Whoever it was had jumped for the boat, had missed it and fallen on +the rocks. Not caring whether Masterson and his cronies saw them or +not, the boys raced along the beach. From the groans of the injured +person they knew that he was badly, possibly mortally, hurt.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes they reached his side.</p> + +<p>"It's the wild man!" cried Jack, as they gazed at a hairy, +wild-looking man who lay stretched out, breathing heavily, on the +rocks where he had fallen. His only clothing was a pair of tattered +canvas trousers and a ragged shirt.</p> + +<p>"Poor old Foxy. He's done for at last, is Foxy, for his sins," groaned +the man in an insane voice. "He suffered terrible for his crimes, has +Foxy, but it's all over now."</p> + +<p>"Foxy!" exclaimed Jack. "That's the man that came down the river with +Blue Nose Sanchez. The man who stayed in the boat."</p> + +<p>"He must have landed here and then gone crazy from privation," said +Jack. "I can't find that any bones are broken," he said after a brief +examination. "Suppose we carry him back to camp?"</p> + +<p>"I wonder where that Masterson outfit has got to?" said Tom, as they +picked up the wasted form of Foxy, who was raving and moaning by +turns.</p> + +<p>"I don't know. They are in a fine predicament now. They've got no food +and no boat They're marooned on this island."</p> + +<p>"I suppose we'll have to help them out," said Tom.</p> + +<p>"I guess so, though they don't deserve it."</p> + +<p>"I lost that boat," moaned Foxy. "I could have got away in it. Poor +old Foxy. It's tough on Foxy," and he began to weep.</p> + +<p>The professor found that the man had not suffered any broken bones +but the fall had bruised and sprained him and he was helpless. From +scattered bits of his ravings they learned what he had endured on the +island and how, when the black sand began to burn him, he had had to +give up working on it. Then his boat had drifted away and since then +he had lived the life of a wild man, setting snares for rabbits and +partridges, and eating them raw, tearing them with his clawlike +fingers.</p> + +<p>Early the next day the expected happened. Chastened, and with burned +and swollen hands and feet, Masterson and his cronies came into the +boys' camp at breakfast time. They looked crestfallen and sheepish, +but the boys did not want to make them feel any worse than they did, +so they spared them questions at first.</p> + +<p>But when Masterson begged them to get them out of their predicament +and take them back to Yuma, Jack felt that it was time to put them +through a cross examination.</p> + +<p>"You followed us here to try to cut out some ground from under our +feet, Masterson," he said, "and you know you told me in Nestorville +you wanted to get even with me."</p> + +<p>"Don't rub it in, Chadwick," said the humbled Masterson. "I'll do +anything you say if you'll only get us out of this terrible place. I +can hardly walk, and my hands feel as if they'd been burned in a +fire."</p> + +<p>"How did you know our destination?" asked Tom. Masterson made a full +confession and at the end begged forgiveness.</p> + +<p>"This ought to be a good lesson to you to mind your own affairs," said +Jack as he concluded.</p> + +<p>"I know a man who made a big fortune just minding his business," said +Dick. "For my part," he went on, "I'll forgive you, but I want you to +sign a paper promising not to publish anything about this expedition."</p> + +<p>"I will—oh, I will," said Masterson. And then he wrote as Dick +dictated. The boys witnessed and signed the paper.</p> + +<p>"And now you'd better eat breakfast," said Jack.</p> +<br> + +<p>Three days later, the Wondership made two trips to Yuma. On the first +she took the original party with the addition of the insane Foxy, who +was placed in an asylum. He never recovered his reason but died in the +institution. Also, there was carried a part of the leaden carboys +which they had filled.</p> + +<p>Masterson and his cronies had been left behind on the island to pack +up the camping equipment and thus make themselves useful. Zeb went to +the U.S. Assay Office and formally filed their claim to the island and +its riches. In the meantime, the professor took charge of Foxy and +turned him over to the authorities.</p> + +<p>As for the boys, they sailed back to Rattlesnake Island, after sending +a telegram to Mr. Chadwick. It was brief.</p> + +<p>"We win," was all it said.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXXVI"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXXVI.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE HOMECOMING.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>The next day Masterson and his companions, very much subdued, boarded +the Wondership as passengers. All of them were still suffering +painfully from the effects of the burns, their only reward from their +ill-advised raid on the black barren.</p> + +<p>"Boys," asked Masterson, "can't you take our camping equipment along? +It's a shame to have it rot here."</p> + +<p>"All right," said Jack. "I think we may be able to sell it for you. +Come on, we'll get to work now!"</p> + +<p>"You're not such a bad chap," said Eph when he heard Jack agree to +Masterson's suggestion.</p> + +<p>"He's the finest chap on earth!" exclaimed Tom.</p> + +<p>"That he is," added Dick Donovan.</p> + +<p>"He is a model young man," declared Professor Jenks, overhearing +Tom's last remark.</p> + +<p>Jack flushed with pleasure and embarrassment. It was very gratifying +to know that his friends thought highly of him, but at the same time +he wished they would not give him that uneasy feeling with their +sincere compliments. So he hurried away, asking the others to follow +him toward getting together Masterson's outfit.</p> + +<p>While the dumpy little geologist went once more to search for strange +specimens, the boys readily set to work and in a very short time the +camping equipment was placed on board the Wondership.</p> + +<p>When the boys arrived at Yuma, Masterson found no difficulty in +selling the camping outfit to old man McGee, who decided to make one +more try to find the Three Buttes.</p> + +<p>"Don't you think you're too old, and that the gold, after all, may not +be there?" Tom asked the eccentric miner.</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" exclaimed McGee indignantly. "As I tole you afore, it +stands ter reason thar's gold out thar, and 'at it war'ent up to +Peg-leg Smith nor'n to Guv'nor Downey, nor'n to McGuire, nor'n to Dr. +De Courcy, nor'n to any of 'em to find the Buttes, but as I says +afore, I says ag'in—'at ther good Lord never made nuthin' thet wasn't +of some use. Very well, then, the desert is good fer nuthin' else but +mineral wealth, and Providence made it so plagued hard ter git at so +'at all of us couldn't git rich at once. I've been arter the Buttes +all me life, and <i>this</i> wack I'm goin' to land it rich!"</p> + +<p>The fanatical old prospector, chuckling gleefully and sucking his +pipe, ambled away while Tom looked after him, shaking his head +sympathetically.</p> + +<p>"Look out! Look out!" someone shouted in Tom's ear. "There's a beauty, +a wonder!"</p> + +<p>Tom, startled, whirled about to see the professor, gazing intently at +a small rock upon which one of Tom's heels was resting. The professor +violently pushed him aside, out came his little hammer, and in a +moment the new specimen was in his bag. Then, the man of science, +without looking up to see whom he had spoken to, pounced on another +stone.</p> + +<p>Tom could not help laughing outright at the professor's queer ways and +deep concentration on his pet hobby.</p> + +<p>"What a funny world this is!" remarked Tom, still amused. "Here is a +man forever after rocks, rocks, and there goes a miner set upon +becoming rich and discovering some imaginary mine."</p> + +<p>He saw Jack waving to him from the veranda of the hotel.</p> + +<p>"Listen, Tom," said his chum when they stood side by side, "I was +thinking that it would be a splendid idea to send the Wondership to +New York, and that from there we travel to Nestorville, <i>via</i> the air +route."</p> + +<p>"Great!" cried Tom, delighted. "But say, are we to take Masterson +along?"</p> + +<p>"Of course not," replied Jack. "He can go back to Boston on the +train."</p> + +<p>"Good for you!" declared Tom, slapping his chum on the back.</p> + +<p>"But I haven't told you my main idea yet," said Jack, smiling,</p> + +<p>"What is that?" asked the other wonderingly.</p> + +<p>"Can't you guess?"</p> + +<p>"No," Tom began to say, and then the roguish twinkle in Jack's eyes +gave him a sudden inspiration. "You don't mean to use the Z.2.X. to +send messages with while we fly nearer and nearer to our old home +town?"</p> + +<p>"That is exactly what I wish to do," said Jack quietly.</p> + +<p>"Whoop! It's great!" cried Tom, throwing his hat in the air; and as he +saw Dick coming toward them, he fairly pounced on the astonished +reporter with the news.</p> + +<p>"Flamjam flapcakes of Florida!" gasped Dick.</p> + +<p>And so it was arranged. A few days later our party boarded a train for +the East. Jack, Tom, Dick and Professor Jenks arrived at New York.</p> + +<p>(They had left Zeb behind to attend to the work in the barren +fields.)</p> + +<p>The Wondership, as on the previous occasion, was quietly but quickly +assembled, and made ready to take its homeward flight. They had chosen +a spot on Manhattan island still very meagerly developed, and so were +not at all troubled by curious onlookers. Jack, to whom his father had +explained in detail the use of Z.2.X.—or Coloradite, as they had +decided to call it—busied himself almost exclusively with the radio +telephone apparatus. When all was ready, he sent his father the +following telegram:</p> + +<p>"Expect message, using Coloradite from New York."</p> + +<p>The next morning they ascended. Round and round the Wondership +circled, a golden speck against the blue sky. In a quarter of an hour +the great metropolis seemed nothing but a giant beehive, with millions +of busy workers ever hurrying in hundreds of different directions. The +cars and automobiles were only like giant bees, moving somewhat +swifter than those on what looked like fine threads of cotton or wool.</p> + +<p>"What a small place New York is after all," observed the professor.</p> + +<p>"It is larger than Boston," said Tom slyly,</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," admitted the man of science haughtily, "but not as learned +or stately—no city can take its culture away from Boston."</p> + +<p>Jack smiled, and in order to change the conversation, asked Tom, "How +high now?"</p> + +<p>"About fifteen hundred feet," guessed Tom.</p> + +<p>"Wrong," said Jack, glancing at the barograph on the dashboard in +front of him. "We have reached two thousand eight hundred feet."</p> + +<p>"I must be asleep," said Tom, frowning. "Shall I connect the +alternator?"</p> + +<p>Jack nodded and prepared to send greetings to his father, hundreds of +miles away. They were out in the country now. As the Wondership glided +through the air, the professor, in viewing the villages, farms, green +pastures, and stretches of woodland, regretfully shook his head as the +thought occurred to him that he was missing many a precious stone. He +looked over to Jack with the idea of suggesting a descent, but he saw +the boy inventor patiently adjusting the tuning knob, and waited, +realizing how anxious Jack was to test the Coloradite.</p> + +<p>The little professor, extremely interested, saw Jack place his lips to +the receiver, and for the second time in his life, send out the +distinct call:</p> + +<p>"Hullo, High Towers!"</p> + +<p>Many minutes passed without an answer. Jack's face became grave. Was +part of the machinery not properly adjusted? He went over the +instrument very carefully. In so far as he could see, everything was +just as it should be. Then a thought came that made him dizzy—was it +possible that the Coloradite was not suited for the work, that Mr. +Chadwick had been misinformed?</p> + +<p>"What's up?" inquired Tom, glancing up from his engines.</p> + +<p>"By the ghost of Guzzlewits!" gasped Dick. "Don't say it won't work, +Jack!"</p> + +<p>The professor, ordinarily cool and very calculating, was strangely +stirred. He watched the young inventor's face. Did it mean failure?</p> + +<p>"I don't know," said Jack at last with forced calmness. "I will try +again."</p> + +<p>Once more Jack, oppressed by a vague fear, sent out the words:</p> + +<p>"Hullo, High Towers!"</p> + +<p>The reply came with startling swiftness, relieving the party from the +mental strain. In one voice—the professor included—they yelled,</p> + +<p>"Hurrah!"</p> + +<p>"Congratulations!" came Mr. Chadwick's voice in return.</p> + +<p>"Why the delay?" asked Jack, smiling with</p> + +<p>"A small lever snapped. It required a few minutes to repair it. How +far from New York are you now?"</p> + +<p>"About forty miles."</p> + +<p>"Good! Try to land here before sunset."</p> + +<p>"Why?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"Nestorville has a little surprise for you!" replied Mr. Chadwick, and +Jack heard him chuckle.</p> + +<p>"Good for Mr. Chadwick!" cried Dick in glee, for Jack had so arranged +the instrument that all of them in the Wondership could hear Mr. +Chadwick's voice.</p> + +<p>Then followed a long conversation between father and son. Mr. Chadwick +had almost completely recovered his health, and was again working over +new experiments. Dick insisted that he be permitted to tell the story +of their adventures on the island of the Coloradite Treasure.</p> + +<p>"You won't tell it right," he declared to Jack, and insisted so +strenuously that the boy inventor had to let him speak to Mr. +Chadwick.</p> + +<p>Dick set his choicest language agoing, and his vivid description of +Jack's part in every incident was embellished by the most flowery +adjectives in his vocabulary. Jack had to listen, and grin.</p> + +<p>By the time his long story was done, Nestorville was sighted. As soon +as the people saw the Wondership, pandemonium broke loose. Not only +Nestorville, but officials and crowds from the neighboring towns had +poured in, and the reception the boys and the professor received +lingered with them for many, many years.</p> + +<p>Later, as time went on, Mr. Chadwick's fortune was completely +rehabilitated. Professor Jenks no longer was so eager to search for +rocks, and while doing so get into all sorts of difficulties. He lived +more at home, becoming at last, as his spinster sister declared, "a +man with the proper spirit to make an ideal husband." Of course, the +professor had received a very substantial sum of money from the boys.</p> + +<p>Jack and Tom soon found themselves wealthy, and often in fancy trace +the days back to that afternoon when they found the sturdy miner lying +on the roadside, having been knocked unconscious by Masterson's +careless driving of his automobile.</p> + +<p>Zeb, continued to take charge of the work on Rattlesnake Island, to +which the boys never returned. For a long time the supply from the +black barren appeared to be inexhaustible. Suddenly, however, it +ceased, and no more was dug. But what had been mined had been more +than sufficient to make all prosperous.</p> + +<p>Dick, with his share of the proceeds, which the boys insisted that he +accept, bought the <i>Nestorville Bugle</i>. From the very start, he made +it a live, progressive paper. Sometimes, when the now busy editor had +a spare hour, he invariably visited his two friends, and the +three—sometimes, too, the little professor joined them +unexpectedly—recounted old-time stories.</p> + +<p>But the boys were not made lazy by wealth and fame. To this very day, +Jack and Tom, with Mr. Chadwick's aid, are devising many inventions +calculated to benefit mankind. Possibly, at some future time, we shall +hear something more about these, but for the present let us take our +leave and say good-by.</p> + +<p>THE END</p> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13783 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/13783-h/images/cover.gif b/13783-h/images/cover.gif Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6477aa0 --- /dev/null +++ b/13783-h/images/cover.gif diff --git a/13783-h/images/illus01.gif b/13783-h/images/illus01.gif Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..88e1cf4 --- /dev/null +++ b/13783-h/images/illus01.gif diff --git a/13783-h/images/illus024.gif b/13783-h/images/illus024.gif Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0f8704d --- /dev/null +++ b/13783-h/images/illus024.gif diff --git a/13783-h/images/illus212.gif b/13783-h/images/illus212.gif Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8feca63 --- /dev/null +++ b/13783-h/images/illus212.gif diff --git a/13783-h/images/illus246.gif b/13783-h/images/illus246.gif Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1f7d790 --- /dev/null +++ b/13783-h/images/illus246.gif diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6e461a3 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #13783 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13783) diff --git a/old/13783-8.txt b/old/13783-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..125a6b3 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13783-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6693 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Boy Inventors' Radio Telephone, by Richard Bonner + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Boy Inventors' Radio Telephone + +Author: Richard Bonner + +Release Date: October 18, 2004 [EBook #13783] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY INVENTORS' RADIO TELEPHONE *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis Weyant, Ronald Holder and the PG Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +[Illustration: (Frontispiece) Jack experienced an odd thrill as he +prepared to send the first spoken word ever exchanged between an +airship and land--_Page_ 71.] + +THE +BOY INVENTORS' RADIO- +TELEPHONE + +BY + +RICHARD BONNER + +AUTHOR OF "THE BOY INVENTORS' WIRELESS TRIUMPH," "THE BOY +INVENTORS AND THE VANISHING GUN," "THE BOY INVENTORS' +DIVING TORPEDO BOAT," "THE BOY INVENTORS' FLYING +SHIP," "THE BOY INVENTORS' ELECTRIC +HYDROAEROPLANE," ETC., ETC. + +_WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY_ +_CHARLES L. WRENN_ + +NEW YORK +HURST & COMPANY +PUBLISHERS + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + +I. THE POWER OF THE AIR + +II. AN ENCOUNTER WITH A CHARACTER + +III. THE PROFESSOR'S DILEMMA + +IV. "WHERE IS HE?" + +V. CHESTER CHADWICK--INVENTOR + +VI. THE RADIO TELEPHONE + +VII. THE GREAT TEST + +VIII. TALKING THROUGH SPACE + +IX. THE BOYS FACE TROUBLE + +X. AN INVOLUNTARY AËRONAUT + +XI. BY THE ROADSIDE + +XII. MAKING ENEMIES + +XIII. THE LEADEN TUBE + +XIV. IN THE HOSPITAL + +XV. A TALE OF THE COLORADO + +XVI. ZEB CUMMINGS + +XVII. IN THE LABORATORY + +XVIII. INTO THE STORM + +XIX. THE "LIGHTNING CAGE" + +XX. THROUGH THE AIR + +XXI. VAULTING TO THE RESCUE + +XXII. "Z. 2. X." + +XXIII. ON THE BORDER LINE + +XXIV. "THE THREE BUTTES" + +XXV. INTO THE BEYOND + +XXVI. THE START FOR THE UNKNOWN + +XXVII. THE PROFESSOR'S SECOND DILEMMA + +XXVIII. THE UPPER REGIONS + +XXIX. A MUD BATH + +XXX. NIGHT ON THE COLORADO + +XXXI. THE ISLAND OF MYSTERY + +XXXII. THROUGH THE WOODS + +XXXIII. THE SECRET AT LAST + +XXXIV. THE INTERLOPERS + +XXXV. TRIUMPH + +XXXVI. THE HOMECOMING + + + + +The Boy Inventor's Radio-Telephone. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE POWER OF THE AIR. + + +"That's it, Jack. Let her out!" + +"Suffering speed laws of Squantum, but she can travel!" exclaimed Dick +Donovan, redheaded and voluble. + +"I tell you, electricity is the thing. Beats gasoline a million ways," +chimed in Tom Jesson. Tom sat beside his cousin, Jack Chadwick, on the +driver's seat of a curious-looking automobile which was whizzing down +the smooth, broad, green-bordered road that led to Nestorville, the +small town outside Boston where the Boy Inventors made their home. + +The car that Jack Chadwick was driving differed in a dozen respects +from an ordinary automobile. There was no engine hood in front. +Instead of a bonnet the car, which was low slung, long and painted +black, had a sharp prow of triangular shape. Its body, in fact, might +be roughly compared to the form of a double-ended whaleboat. + +As it sped along outside the city limits, and immune from hampering +speed laws, the car emitted no sound. + +It moved silently, without the usual sharp staccato rattle of the +exhaust. Behind it there was no evil-smelling trail of gasoline and +oil smoke. The car glided as silently as a summer breeze on its +wire-wheels, like those of a bicycle enlarged. + +"I'll get a great story out of this," declared Dick Donovan, who, as +readers of other volumes of this series know, was a reporter on a +Boston paper. "That is, if you'll let me write it," he added, leaning +forward over the front seat from the tonneau as he spoke. + +"How about it, Jack?" asked Tom with an amused smile. "Shall we let +Dick here get famous at our expense again?" + +"I don't see why not," said Jack. "Everything about the Electric +Monarch is patented. The new reciprocating device, and the +self-feeding storage batteries are fully covered. If Dick wants to +write a romance about it he can, provided he leaves our pictures out." + +"Oh, I'll do that," Dick readily promised. "Are you making top speed +now, Jack?" + +"Nowhere near; I wouldn't dare to. I believe that the Monarch is +capable of ninety miles an hour. I wish we had a place like Ormond +Beach to try her out on." + +"You can count me out on that," chuckled Dick. "This is fast enough +for me." + +The boys were trying out their latest invention, an electric car +capable of making the speed of a gasoline-driven vehicle, and one +which could be operated at a minimum of cost, almost a nominal +expense, as compared with the high price of a vehicle run by an +explosive engine. + +It was the trial trip of the Electric Monarch, as they had decided to +call it, and so far the performances of the machine had exceeded, +instead of fallen below, their expectations. Dick, who had been +invited to the "tryout," was full of questions as they sped silently, +and with an absolute lack of vibration, along the road. + +"How do you generate your electricity?" he asked eagerly. + +"By a device geared to the rear axle," answered Tom. "It runs a sort +of dynamo, though it would be difficult for you to understand it if I +went into details. It's something like the ordinary generator and +turns a constant stream of 'juice' into the storage batteries that, in +turn, feed the engines." + +"Yes, that's all plain enough," said the inquisitive Dick, "but how do +you get your power for starting?" + +"If there is not enough juice in the storage batteries for the purpose +we resort to compressed air," was the reply from Tom, for Jack, with +keen eyes on the unrolling ribbon of road, was too busy to have his +attention distracted. + +"And that?" Dick paused interrogatively. + +"Is pumped into a pressure tank as we go along. See that gauge?" he +pointed to one on the dashboard of the car in front of the driver's +seat. + +Dick nodded. + +"Well, that's a pressure gauge. You see, we have sixty pounds of air +in the tank now. That can generate enough electricity to start the car +going. After that the process is automatic." + +"Yes, you explained that. Suppose the tank should, through an +accident, be empty, and you wanted to start?" + +"We've provided for that" + +"I expected so. Wabbling wheels of Wisconsin, you fellows are +certainly wonders." + +"Nothing very wonderful about it," disclaimed Tom. "Well, if we find +the tank is empty we have a powerful, double-acting hand pump by +which, without much effort, we can get up any pressure we need." + +"And then you turn a valve?" + +"Exactly, and the air-motor turns over the dynamo which starts +generating electricity right away." + +"Then, except for the first cost of the car, the expense of operating +it is comparatively nothing?" asked Dick. + +"Yes, you might say we get our power out of the air, and that's +free--so far." + +"And there's no limit, then, to what you can do or where you can go +with the Electric Monarch?" + +"None; that is, so long as the machinery holds out. We are independent +of fuel and the lubricating system is so devised that the oiling is +automatic and requires attending to only once a month. We could easily +carry a year's supply of lubricant." + +"Tall timbers of Taunton!" burst out Dick enthusiastically. "You've +solved the problem of the poor man's car. All the owner of an +Electric Monarch has to do is to pump a little pump-handle or press a +little button and he's off without it costing him a cent. My story +will sure make a big sensation!" + +"Well, you want to tone down that part about its not costing a cent," +chimed in Jack as they coasted down a hill. "The expense of the motor +and the self-lubricating bearings and so on is pretty steep. But we +hope in time to be able to cheapen the whole car." + +They were shooting swiftly down the hill as he spoke. The next moment +he looked ahead again as they shot round a curve. As they did so his +hand sought a button and an ear-splitting screech arose from a +powerful siren. + +In the center of the road, quite oblivious to the oncoming automobile, +was an odd figure, that of a small man in a rusty, baggy suit of +black. + +He had a hammer in his hand and was hitting some object in the roadway +over which he was bending with a concentrated interest that made him +quite unconscious of the onrushing car. + +"Hi! Get out of the way!" yelled the boys. + +But the man did not look up. Instead, he kept tapping away with his +hammer at whatever it was that absorbed his attention so intently. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +AN ENCOUNTER WITH A "CHARACTER." + + +Jack jammed down the emergency brakes, which were pneumatic and +operated from the pressure tank, with a suddenness that sent Dick +Donovan almost catapulting out of the tonneau. + +"Jumping jiggers of Joppa!" he shouted, for he had not yet seen the +obstacle in the road, "what's happened? Are we bust up?" + +"No, but if I hadn't stopped when I did we'd have bust someone else +up," declared Jack. "Look there!" + +"Can you beat it?" exclaimed Tom. + +As the brakes brought the car to a stop within a foot of his stout, +rotund figure, the little man in the center of the road looked up with +a sort of mild surprise through a pair of astonishingly thick-lensed +eyeglasses secured to his ears by a thick, black ribbon. He wore a +broad-brimmed black hat and wrinkled, baggy clothes of bar-cloth, and +a huge pair of square-toed boots that looked as if their tips had been +chopped off with an ax. + +Over his shoulder was slung a canvas bag which appeared to be heavy +and bulged as if several irregularly shaped, solid substances were +inside of it. The spot where this odd encounter took place was some +distance from any town, but a bicycle leaning against a tree at the +roadside showed how the little man had got there. + +"Say, would you mind letting us get by?" asked Jack. + +The little man raised a hand protestingly. + +"I'll be delighted to in just a moment," he said, "but just now it's +impossible. You see, I've just discovered a vein of what I believe to +be Laurentian granite running across the road. I am trying to trace it +and--what's that? Good gracious! Back up your machine, please. I +believe it runs under your wheel. I must make sure." + +Jack obligingly threw in the reverse to humor the little man, who +darted forward and began scraping up the dust in the road with his +hands as if he had been a dog scratching out a rabbit hole. He began +chipping away eagerly with his hammer at some rock that cropped up out +of the road. + +He broke off a piece with his hammer, which was an oddly shaped tool, +and drawing out a big magnifying glass scanned the chip intently. He +appeared to have forgotten all about the waiting boys. But now he +seemed to remember them. He looked up, beaming. + +"A magnificent specimen. One of the finest I have ever seen. Most +remarkable!" + +And with that he popped the bit of stone into his bag, which the boys +now saw was filled with similar objects. + +"Maybe he'll let us get by now," remarked Tom, but a sudden +exclamation from Dick Donovan cut him short. + +"Why, hullo, professor," he said, "out collecting specimens?" + +The little man peered at him sharply. And then broke into a smile of +recognition. + +"Why, it's Dick Donovan!" he beamed, hastening up to the car, "the +young journalist who wrote an article about my specimens once and +woefully mixed them up. However, to an unscientific mind----" + +"They are all just rocks," finished Dick with a grin. + +"I have had unusual success to-day," said the professor, who appeared +not to have heard the remark. "I must have at least fifty pounds of +specimens on my back at this minute." + +He broke off suddenly. The next moment he darted off to the side of +the road and chipped off a fragment of rock from a bank that overhung +it. + +"This is lucky, indeed," he exclaimed, holding it up to the light so +that some specks in the gray stone sparkled. "An extremely rare +specimen of mica that I had no idea existed in this part of New +England." + +The odd little man opened his bag and introduced his latest +acquisition into it While he was doing this Dick had been explaining +to the boys: + +"He's a queer character. Professor Jerushah Jenks. They say he's a +great authority on mineralogy and so on. I interviewed him once. He's +always out collecting." + +"Does he always carry a quarry like that around on his back?" asked +Tom. + +"Always when he's getting specimens," Dick whispered back. + +By this time the professor, his eyes agleam over his latest discovery, +was back at the side of the car. + +"Ah, my beauty, I have you safe now," he said, patting the side of the +bagful of specimens. "Boys, this is my lucky day." + +The boys could hardly keep from smiling at the little man's delight. +It appeared hard to believe that anyone could find pleasure in packing +about a sackful of heavy rocks on a hot day. But the professor's eyes +were sparkling. It was clear he considered himself one of the most +fortunate of men. + +Dick introduced the boys and, to their surprise, the professor +declared that he had read of their various adventures and inventions. + +"We are actually fellow adventurers in the field of science," he +cried, rattling his bag of specimens enthusiastically. "Some time I +should like to call on you and see your workshops." + +"You will be welcome at any time," said Jack cordially, and then the +professor declared that he must be getting home. + +"If we are going your way we can give you a ride," said Tom. + +"Thank you, I'll accept that invitation. But what an odd-looking +automobile you have there." + +The boys explained to him that it was a new type of car that they were +trying out for the first time and then Dick helped the scientist lift +his bicycle into the tonneau. He would have helped him with his +weighty load of specimens, but the professor refused to be parted from +them. As they started off again he sat with the bag firmly gripped +between his knees, as if afraid someone would separate him from it. + +The professor lived with a spinster sister to whom his specimens were +the bane of her life. As the car rolled swiftly along, he occupied his +time by peeping into the bag at frequent intervals to see that none of +the specimens, by some freak of nature, flew out. + +All at once he reached forward and clutched Jack by the shoulder. + +"Stop! My dear young friend, please stop at once!" + +"What's the matter?" asked Jack, slowing down at the urgent summons. + +"Look! Look there at that rock!" + +To Jack the rock in question was just an ordinary bit of stone in a +wall fencing in a pasture in which some cattle were grazing. But +evidently the professor thought otherwise. + +"It's a fine specimen of green granite," he exclaimed. "I must have +it. How did such a fine piece ever come to be placed in a common +wall?" + +The car having now been brought to a stop, he leaped nimbly out, +clutching his geological hammer in one hand and his precious sack of +specimens in the other. He rushed up to the wall and stood for a +minute with his head on one side, like an inquisitive bird. + +"Too bad. That stone's a large flat one and goes right through the +center of the wall," he mused. "The wall must come down." + +And then, to the boys' consternation, he began demolishing the wall, +pulling down the stones and throwing them right and left. + +"Professor, you'll get in trouble," warned Dick in alarm. "Those +cattle will get out. The farmer will be after us." + +But the professor paid not the slightest attention. Taking off his +coat, he resumed his operations with even greater vigor than before. +The cattle in the field eyed him curiously. Then they began to move +toward him. In front of the rest of the herd was a big +black-and-white animal with sharp horns and big, thick neck. + +It gave a sudden bellow and then rushed straight at the considerable +gap the man of science had made in the stone fence. + +"It's a bull!" yelled Dick suddenly. "Run, professor! Run or he'll +toss you!" + +With lowered horns the bull rushed down upon the unconscious scientist +at locomotive speed. But the professor was oblivious to everything +else but uncovering the odd-looking green stone embedded in the heart +of the wall. + +The boys shouted to him but he didn't hear them. On rushed the bull, +bellowing, charging, ready to annihilate the scientist. + +"Run!" yelled the boys at the top of their lungs. "Run!" + +But the professor, with his precious bag in one hand and his hammer in +the other, stood staring at the advancing bull through his thick +glasses as if the maddened creature had been some sort of new and +interesting specimen. + +"Gracious! He's a goner!" groaned Dick. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE PROFESSOR'S DILEMMA. + + +But the professor was seen to suddenly dart, with an activity they +would hardly have expected in him, across the road. He was only in the +nick of time. + +Almost opposite to the gap in the fence he had made was a tree with +low-hanging boughs. As the bull charged through the gap, right on his +heels, the professor, still with his bag, slung by its leather strap +across his shoulders, swung himself up into the lower limbs. + +The boys set up a cheer. + +"Good for you, professor!" cried Dick, as the bull, with lowered head +and horns, charged into the tree and made it shake as if a storm had +struck. + +[Illustration: He was only in the nick of time.--_Page 22._] + +"Wow! That's the time he got a headache!" cried Tom excitedly, as the +professor, clinging desperately to his refuge, was almost flung +from it by the shock. + +"Gracious, boys, what shall I do?" he asked, looking about him from +his leafy perch with a glance of despair that would have been comical +had the situation not been serious, for the bull, instead of accepting +his defeat, stood under the tree pawing and ramping ferociously. + +"Well, here's a fine kettle of fish!" exclaimed Jack. "What are we +going to do now?" + +"Blessed if I know," said Dick helplessly. "By the bucking bulls of +Bedlam, this is a nice mess." + +"Maybe we could throw rocks at him and chase him away," suggested Tom. + +"No chance; he's got his eye on the professor," returned Jack, "and if +we did get out he would chase us and that wouldn't do the professor +any good." + +"Can't you help me, boys," inquired the professor in an agonized tone. +"This tree limb is not exactly--er--comfortable." + +"You're in no danger of falling, are you?" called Jack, in an alarmed +voice. + +"No--er--that is, I don't think so. But this is an extraordinary +position. Most--er--undignified. I'm glad my sister can't see me." + +"Try throwing some of the rocks out of your satchel at him," suggested +Dick. + +But the professor waxed indignant at this proposal. + +"And cast my pearls before swine! or rather my specimens before a +bull!" exclaimed the professor, in helpless indignation. "No, young +gentlemen, not a pebble from this bag is wasted on that creature." + +"I'd drop the whole bag on him," said Dick, "if I was in that +position. It's heavy enough to knock out an elephant, let alone a +bull." + +"Can't you suggest anything?" wailed the professor. + +"I'm trying to think of something right now," declared Jack, racking +his brains for some way out of the predicament. + +"I wish the farmer that owned him would come along and get his old +bull out of there," said Dick. + +"Yes, and then there would be fresh complications," declared Jack. + +"How do you make that out?" came from Dick. + +"He'll probably know how to handle him," supplemented Tom. + +"Yes, he would if he's a bull-fighter," scoffed Dick, "and I never +heard of there being any matadors in the vicinity of Nestorville." + +"Lots of doormats, though," grinned Tom. + +"Say, if you do that again I'll throw you out of the car," cried Jack +at this atrocious pun. + +"Sorry, couldn't help it. Just slipped out," said Tom contritely. + +"Well, you'll slip out if the offense is repeated," retorted Dick. +"But," he went on, "seriously, fellows, we've got to do something." + +"Try blowing the horn," suggested Tom. "It has scared everything else +we met. Horses shy at it, so do other autos. Maybe it will get the +bull's goat." + +"I'll try it, at all events," said Jack. + +He pressed the button and the unearthly screech of the electric auto's +siren split the air. But the bull merely cast an inquiring glance in +their direction and then resumed his vigil over the professor. + +"Boys," wailed the unhappy geologist, "can't you do something, +anything? I can't roost in this tree all night, like a bird." + +The boys couldn't help grinning at this. With his sharp nose, big +spectacles and flapping black garments, the professor did look like a +mammoth black crow. + +"Reminds me of the fox and the crow," said Dick, in a low voice, to +his companions. + +"Only, in this case, the fox is a bull, and the piece of cheese is the +bag of specimens," added Tom. + +They looked about helplessly. There was no farmhouse in sight and the +road did not appear to be much traveled. + +"We'll have to go for help," declared Jack. + +"The only thing to do," agreed Tom. + +The professor was hailed. He had climbed to another limb with infinite +difficulty, because of the encumbering bag of rocks on his back. He +declared that he could manage to get along till the boys came back. + +"By a merciful provision of providence," he said whimsically, "bulls +can't climb trees. The situation might be worse if it was a bear." + +"It would be unbearable," declared Dick to Tom. + +"But just the same there's trouble a brewin'," retorted Tom. "I wish +that farmer would show up." + +"As I said before--I don't," responded Jack, as he prepared to start +off. + +"Why?" + +For answer Jack waved an eloquent hand toward the gap in the stone +fence. + +"I guess he wouldn't be best pleased to find that his fence had been +torn down," explained Jack, as the car drove off, leaving the +professor marooned in his tree with the sentinel bull waiting +patiently below. + +Some distance down the road the boys came to a farmhouse. Several men +were working in the field under the direction of a stout, red-faced +man. Jack shouted to them, and when the red-faced man came up he +explained the situation to him. The man was good-natured, or perhaps +he rather liked the idea of a ride in such a novel-looking car. +Anyhow, he called three of his hands and told them to get pitchforks. + +"Never see a bull I couldn't handle," he said as the men, having +returned, scrambled into the car. + +"Do you know who it belongs to?" asked Jack, as he turned round and +headed back to where they left the luckless professor. + +"I reckon it's that big Holstein of Josh Crabtree's. He's pretty near +as mean as his owner, and that's considerable." + +Jack thought of the hole in the wall and hoped they would reach there +before farmer Crabtree, and so avoid serious complications. + +He drove at top speed, while the friendly farmer and his workmen clung +to the sides of the car and looked rather scared at the rate they were +going. + +"There's the tree," exclaimed Jack, as they came in sight of it, "and +there's the gap in the fence." + +"And where's the bull?" asked Tom. + +"And where's the professor?" added Dick. + +Not a trace of the man of science or of the ferocious animal was to be +seen. + +"Are you sure you boys didn't dream all this?" asked the red-faced +farmer suspiciously. + +"There ain't even a cow in sight in the pasture lot," said one of the +men. + +"I reckon this is some sort of a fool joke," added another. + +"It isn't. Indeed, it isn't," protested Jack. + +"The professor is some place around," said Tom. + +But a lengthy search of the vicinity failed to show anything except +that the professor had vanished as if the earth had swallowed him. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +"WHERE IS HE?" + + +"Professor!" hailed Dick, at the top of his lungs. + +"Professor!" bawled the farm hands. + +The red-faced farmer himself regarded the boys quizzically. + +"What sort of a chap is this professor of yours?" he asked with an odd +intonation. + +"He's a geologist," replied Dick. "Why?" + +"Oh, I thought he might be a conjurer," was the rejoinder. "He seems +to be pretty good at hiding himself." + +"Hark!" exclaimed Jack suddenly, standing at pause and listening +intently. + +"What's up?" demanded Dick, instantly on the alert, too. + +"I heard something. It sounded like----" + +"There it is again," cried Tom. + +A faint, far-off cry, impossible to locate, was borne to their ears. + +"It's a call for help," declared Dick. + +"That's what it is," agreed the red-faced farmer. "Must be that +perfusser of yours, but where in the name of Sam Hill is he?" + +It was a puzzling question. The faint cries appeared to be muffled in +some way. They looked about them, endeavoring to locate their source. +Suddenly one of the farm hands spoke. + +"I used to work fer old Crabtree," he said. "There's an old well +hereabouts somewheres and maybe he's fell down that." + +"Where is it?" demanded Jack. + +"Back in the meadow yonder," said the man, pointing in the direction +of the pasture lot. + +"Let's go over there and see at once," said Dick. "Frantic frogs of +France, if the professor's tumbled into a well he may be in serious +trouble." + +They set off on the run to where a pile of stones showed a well-curb +had once been. The hoards at the top, which had covered it over, had +rotted, and there was a jagged hole in them. Jack cautiously bent over +and placed his mouth at the edge of the hole. + +"Professor, are you down there?" he hailed. + +"Y-y-y-y-yes," came up in feeble, stuttering tones. "I'm almost +frozen. I'm hanging above the water but I can't hold on much longer. +The bag of specimens is too heavy." + +"Throw it away," urged Jack. + +"N-n-n-not for worlds," was the reply. "I was looking for another rare +bit of quartz when I fell in here." + +"I'll run to the car," said Jack, who had made out that the well was +not very deep. "Fortunately, we've got a rope and tackle in there. +Hold on, professor, we'll soon have you out." + +He hurriedly explained the situation to the others and ran at top +speed to the car, in which the boys--like most careful motorists, who +never know when such a piece of apparatus may come in useful for +hauling a car out of mud or sand, for instance, or for towing an +unlucky autoist home--had a block and tackle stowed. + +He was soon back, and the rope was lowered to the professor, who made +it fast under his arms. Then, aided by the husky muscles of the farm +hands, they soon drew him to the surface. But his weight was +materially added to by the stones, and it was no light task to rescue +him, dripping and shivering, from the dark, cold shaft. + +He explained that soon after they had gone some men came up and drove +the bull away. But they had seen the gap in the stone wall first. + +"They were positively violent," declared the professor, "and said that +they'd have the man who did it arrested if they could find him. Under +the circumstances, I deemed it prudent to stay up in the tree, where +they could not see me. They drove the bull off into another pasture. +As soon as the coast was clear I climbed down, but I happened to see a +rare bit of quartz sparkling in the sun on the edge of the well-curb. +Imprudently I stood on the planking and fell in." + +"Gracious, it's a lucky thing you weren't drowned, with all that +weight round your neck," declared Jack. + +"It was fortunate," said the scientist mildly, as if such a thing as +drowning was an everyday occurrence. "As a matter of fact, if I hadn't +succeeded in grasping a projecting stone and held on, I might have +gone down. It was an--er--a most discomforting experience." + +"Well, of all things," exclaimed the red-faced man, "to go trapesing +round the country collecting rocks!" + +"Not rocks, sir--geological specimens," rejoined the professor with +immense dignity, "and--great Huxley! Under your foot, sir! Under your +foot!" + +"What is it, a snake?" yelled the farmer, jumping backward as the +scientist dashed at him with a wild expression. + +"No, sir, but a remarkably fine specimen of what appears to be a +granolithic substance," exclaimed the professor, and he began +energetically chipping at a rock upon which the farmer had been +standing. + +"Crazy as a loon," declared the farmer, winking at his men. "Gets +nearly drowned in a well and then begins chopping at a rock as soon as +he gets out." + +"Oh, this has been a lucky day for me," said the professor with huge +satisfaction, as he placed his latest acquisition in the satchel. "As +fine a specimen, boys, as ever I encountered," he declared, turning to +the boys. + +"Gracious," exclaimed Tom and Dick in low tones, "does he call getting +chased by a bull and then tumbling down a well a satisfactory day?" + +"I should call it a rocky time," grinned Dick. + +But at this moment further conversation was cut short by the sudden +arrival of a gray-haired, short little old man with a tuft of gray +whiskers on his chin. + +"Josh Crabtree!" exclaimed the red-faced farmer. + +"Wow! now the music starts," declared Dick. + +Josh Crabtree, his face ablaze, and his small, malignant eyes +sparkling angrily, emitted a roar like that of his Holstein that had +caused the professor so much tribulation. + +"Say, be you the pesky varmints that tore down my fence and scared my +bull out'n two years' growth?" he bellowed. + +"I removed some stones from your fence, sir," said the professor, "but +it was in the interests of science. You may not have been aware of it, +but embedded in your enclosing structure was a fine specimen of green +granite." + +"Great hopping water-melyuns!" roared Old Crabtree, "and you tore down +my fence to git at a pesky bit of rock?" + +"Rock to you, sir," responded the scientist calmly, "like the man in +the poem a 'primrose by the river's brim, a yellow primrose is to you, +and it is nothing more.'" + +"Dad rot yer yaller primroses," yelled Old Crabtree, dancing about in +his rage. "You make good for tearing down my fence, d'ye hear me?" + +"I shall take great pleasure in forwarding you a check for any damage +I may have done," said the professor. + +"I want ther money now," said the farmer truculently. + +"I regret that I have left my wallet at home," said the professor. +Then he brightened suddenly. "I can leave my bag of specimens with you +as security," he said, "if you will promise to be careful with them." + +He unslung his bag and tendered it to the angry farmer who received it +with a look of amazement that the next moment turned to wrath when he +saw its contents. + +"By hickory, what kind of a game is this?" he demanded. "Nothing but a +lot of old rocks. By heck, thar's enough here to build a new fence!" + +He flung the bag down indignantly just as the professor darted forward +with one of his odd, swift movements. He shoved Old Crabtree back +without ceremony and bending swiftly to the spot where the angry +farmer had been standing he picked up and pocketed a small rock. + +"Wa'al land o' Goshen," gasped out the farmer, bewildered. "What in +ther name of time is this?" + +"A splendid specimen of gneiss," explained the professor triumphantly, +"and now, Mr.--er--you were saying?" + +"That I wants ter be paid fer ther damage ter my fence." + +"How much do you want?" asked Jack, coming to the rescue. + +"Reckon a dollar'll be about right." + +"If you will let me lend it to you till we reach your home, I'll be +very glad to pay him," said Jack aside to the professor. + +"But, my dear young friend, there is no necessity. He has ample +security till I can send him a check. Why, that bag of specimens is +worth fifty dollars at least." + +"Them old rocks," sniffed the farmer, who had overheard this last +remark, "I wouldn't give yer ten cents fer a cartload uv 'em. They're +too small fer fences an' too big to throw at cows." + +"You'd better let me pay him," said Jack, and the professor finally +consented to this arrangement. + +This done, they started back on the run to the professor's home, which +was about three miles off. On the way they dropped the red-faced +farmer and his hands, who clearly regarded the professor as some sort +of an amiable lunatic. But that worthy man, supremely happy despite +his wet clothes, was quite contented, and from time to time dipped +into his satchel, like a bookworm into a favorite volume, and drew out +a particularly valued specimen and admired it. + +They soon reached his home, a pretty cottage on the outskirts of +Creston, a small town with elm-shaded streets. The professor invited +the boys to accompany him into the house. They were met in the passage +by a shrill-voiced woman who looked like the professor in petticoats. + +"My sister, Miss Melissa," said the professor. "My dear, these +are----" + +But he got no further in his introduction. Miss Melissa's hands went +up in the air and her voice rose in a shrill shriek as she saw her +brother's condition. + +"Lan's sakes, Jerushah, where have you been?" she exclaimed. + +"My dear, I must apologize for my condition," said the professor +mildly. "You see I----" + +"You're dripping a puddle on my carpets. You're wringing wet through!" +shrilled Miss Melissa. + +"Yes, you see, my dear, I've been down a well," explained the man of +science calmly. + +"Do tell! Down a well, Jerushah? At your time of life!" + +"You see I was after specimens, my dear," went on the professor. + +"Specimens!" exclaimed Miss Melissa. "The whole house is full of old +rocks now, Jerushah, an' you have ter go down a well to get more." + +"These are very valuable, my dear," said the professor, floundering +helplessly. + +"Oh, don't tell me. A passel of old rocks. I'm going to get you a hot +mustard footbath and some herb tea right away," and without another +word, except something about "death of cold, passel of boys," the good +lady flounced off. + +"She's like that sometimes, but she means well, Melissa does," +explained the professor, with a rather sheepish look as he stood in +the midst of a puddle that was rapidly converting him into an isolated +island in the midst of Miss Melissa's immaculate hall carpet. +Suddenly, with one of his impulsive movements, he darted off into a +room opening off the hall and came back with a dollar bill he had +unearthed from a desk. He handed it to Jack, and then, raising his +finger to his lips, he said: + +"Don't let Melissa see it. She's the best of women, is Melissa, but +peculiar about some things--er--very peculiar." + +"Je-ru-shah!" came Miss Melissa's voice. + +"Yes, my dear, coming," said the professor, and shouldering his bag +of specimens he shook hands with the boys and hastened off to answer +his sister's dictatorial call. + +"I guess we'd better be going," said Jack, with a smile that he could +not repress. + +The others agreed, and they were soon speeding back to High Towers, as +the estate of Jack's father, also a noted inventor, was called, with +plenty to talk about as a result of the events of the day. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +CHESTER CHADWICK--INVENTOR. + + +As readers of the preceding volumes of this series, know, Jack +Chadwick and Tom Jesson, his cousin, had won the titles of Boy +Inventors through their ingenuity and mechanical genius. Jack's +father, Chester Chadwick, was an inventor of note, and unlike the +majority of inventors, he had turned his devices to such good account +that he had accumulated a substantial fortune and was able to maintain +a fine estate, already referred to as High Towers where, with +splendidly equipped workshops and a miniature lake, he could +experiment and work out his ideas. + +In the first book of this series it was related how Tom Jesson, Jack's +cousin, came to make his home at High Towers. Tom's father, an +explorer of international fame, had departed on an expedition to +Yucatan and had not been heard from since that time. This volume, +which was called the Boy Inventors' Wireless Triumph, told of the +boys' exploits in the radio-telegraphic field and the uses to which +they were able to turn them. In a flying machine, the invention of Mr. +Chadwick, they discovered Tom's father, under remarkable +circumstances, a prisoner of a tribe of savages, and also found a +fortune in precious stones. + +In the succeeding story of their adventures, the boys helped an +inventor in trouble. The Boy Inventors' Vanishing Gun, as this volume +was entitled, set forth in a graphic way the triumph of the boys over +the machinations of a gang of rascals intent on stealing the plans of +the wonderful implement of warfare which they had helped bring to +successful completion. + +We next encountered the lads in the Boy Inventors' Diving Torpedo +Boat. Here they were placed in a new environment on the surface and in +the depths of the ocean. The way in which the wonderful diving craft +aided Uncle Sam in a crisis with enemies of the United States was +told, and their ingenuity and bravery played no small part in the +affair. + +The Boy Inventors' Flying Ship was devoted to a detailed narrative of +the boys' long and unexpected cruise to the unexplored regions of the +Upper Amazon. The boys were shipwrecked and cast away without an +apparent hope of rescue on a yacht belonging to a German scientist, +the crew of which had mutinied. The boys' capture by a strange tribe +and subsequent escape in their Flying Ship formed thrilling portions +of this story, while Dick Donovan's researches in natural history +provided the boys with a lot of fun. + +The volume immediately preceding this showed the boys coming to the +rescue of a poor lad, a waif and orphan, who yet had a fortune in the +plans and specifications of a new type of craft invented by his dead +father who had lacked the capital to develop it. Enemies strove +desperately to secure the papers, and even went to the length of +forging a will for the purpose, but partly through the agency of an +odd German lad, Heiney Pumpernickel Dill, their schemes were +frustrated and the invention was developed and set upon a working +basis. This book was called the Boy Inventors' Hydroaëroplane, and +dealt with some astonishing adventures and perils all of which the +boys encountered with plucky spirits and resourceful minds. + +For some weeks preceding the opening of the present book relating of +the Boy Inventors, Mr. Chadwick had been closeted in his own private +laboratory. The boys had seen him only at rare intervals, and then he +had appeared abstracted and preoccupied. This, the boys knew, was a +sure sign that he was at work on a new idea. + +Sometimes the lights burned in his laboratory far into the night and +in the morning he would appear at breakfast pale and silent. The boys +had indulged in much speculation as to what the new invention could +be, but had arrived at no satisfactory conclusion when, two days after +their experience with the eccentric professor, Mr. Chadwick summoned +them to his private workshop. The boys, who had been at work on the +Wondership, the flying automobile with which they had met such +surprising adventures in Brazil, obeyed the summons with alacrity. It +was delivered to them by Jupe, the negro factotum of the place. + +"Massa Chadwick send me on de bustelbolorium," explained Jupe, who had +a vocabulary that was all his own, "for yo' alls to come right away by +his laburnumtory." + +"All right, Jupe, we'll be right over," said Jack, "just as soon as +we've got some of this grease off our hands." + +The boys' workshop was equipped with a washbasin and they soon made +themselves presentable. Then they hurried to Mr. Chadwick's workshop. +They found him standing before a roughly-built table on which were +ranged some odd-looking bits of apparatus. + +There was a gasoline motor in one corner, geared to a generator--or +what appeared to be one--from which feed wires led to a square metal +box on the table. Attached to this metal box was a sort of horn-shaped +mouthpiece something like the transmitter of a telephone. Hanging from +its side was what looked like an enlarged telephone receiver. Jack +regarded his father questioningly. + +"You sent for us, dad?" + +"Yes, Jack," was the reply. "I'm in a quandary. Have you any idea what +this apparatus is?" + +Both boys shook their heads. + +"Looks like some kind of a telephone," ventured Tom. + +"It is a telephone," replied Mr. Chadwick. + +"But--but--where are the wires?" asked Jack, glancing about him, "or +haven't you connected it up yet?" + +"It's connected up as much as it will ever be," said Mr. Chadwick with +a smile. "Can't you guess what it is?" + +"I've got it," cried Jack suddenly. "It's a wireless telephone." + +"That's right," admitted his father, and, in response to a flood of +questions from the boys, he told them how he had been working day and +night to bring the device to perfection. + +"Now," he said, as he concluded, "I want you boys to go down to that +shed that was put up last week at the northwest corner of the +orchard." + +"The one that was put up to store gasoline?" asked Tom. + +"I said it was for that purpose in order to avoid questions till I had +my work completed," said Mr. Chadwick with a smile. "Here is the key +to it. Inside you will find an apparatus similar to this one. Start +the dynamo and then stand in front of the transmitter and place the +receiver to your ear. If you don't hear anything at once use the +inductor to tune your aërial earth circuit to the transmitted current +from my end just exactly as you would tune up a wireless telegraph +instrument to catch certain wave lengths from another instrument" + +"Then the principle of the radio telephone is the same as that of the +wireless telephone?" asked Tom. + +"I'll explain that to you later in as plain language as I can," said +the inventor, "but now I am anxious to see how this instrument will +transmit sound." + +The boys were excited. Anything novel in the way of science attracted +their bright, active minds as an electromagnet attracts steel. The +idea of a wireless telephone, of the possibility of transmitting +actual speech through space, just as the dots and dashes of the +wireless telegraph are sped through the ether, quickened their +inventive faculties to the highest pitch. Both felt a glow of pride +that they had been selected, even before their father's scientific +friends, to make the first test of this wonderful new invention. + +They hurried across the broad lawn that intervened between the +workshops and the orchard where the newly erected shed stood, and +which, it had been given out, was to serve for the storage of +gasoline. Unlocking the door, they found inside an apparatus +resembling in almost every detail the one in Mr. Chadwick's workshop. + +Jack's hands fairly trembled as he started up the motor and the +generator began to buzz. With shining eyes and throbbing pulses he +placed the receiver to his ear as his father had directed. But the +next moment a flood of disappointment swept through him. + +"Well?" demanded Tom, himself a tiptoe with expectation. + +"Nothing doing," replied Jack, shaking his head. "I guess the thing +isn't at a practical stage yet." + +"Wait a minute, give it a chance," urged Tom. "By the way, how about +that tuning device, have you tried that yet?" + +"No, good gracious, my head must be turning into solid ivory from the +neck up. I guess that's just what the trouble is." + +Jack began carefully sliding a small block connected to the +instruments up and down the coiled wire which formed the tuning +apparatus, and brought the sending and receiving ends into harmony +just as if they had been two musical instruments. When the right +electric "chord" was struck he should be able to hear, just as in +wireless he would be able to catch the message of an instrument whose +wave lengths were attuned to his. + +Suddenly Tom saw his chum and cousin give a start and then a shout. +Over the space between the workshop and the small shed a human voice +had been borne on electric waves. Sharp and clear as though he had +been listening to a "wire" 'phone, Jack caught and recognized his +father's voice: + +"Hul-lo!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE RADIO TELEPHONE. + + +Back and forth through space they talked for quite a time. The boys +were jubilant. The despair of many inventors, the wireless or radio +telephone appeared to be an accomplished fact. But they didn't dream +how much yet remained to be done. At length Mr. Chadwick told them to +"hang-up" and come back to the workshop. + +The boys were glad to do this for they were extremely anxious to learn +something of the forces controlling this aërial method of +conversation. So far, they had not the least understanding, beyond a +general idea, of how the thing was done. Of the details by which Mr. +Chadwick had worked out this radical departure in telephony, they knew +nothing. + +"Well, what did you think of it, boys?" asked Mr. Chadwick when they +returned to the workshop. + +"Wonderful, beyond anything I could have imagined," declared Jack. + +"How far will it work?" asked Tom. + +"That's just the point," said Mr. Chadwick. "That's where I'm at sea. +I need a metal of greater conductivity than any attainable to get real +results. The carbon that I am using does not throw off enough radio +activity to produce a sufficient number of electric impulses to the +atmosphere." + +Jack and Tom looked puzzled. + +"You don't understand me I see," said Mr. Chadwick. + +"No, I must say I don't," said Jack; "you see----" + +"It's pretty technical," broke in Tom. + +"Well, then I'll try to explain to you, in simple language, the +general principles of radio telephony," said Mr. Chadwick. "In the +first place you know, of course, from your wireless studies, that an +electric wave sent into the air will travel till it strikes something, +such as an aërial." + +"To use the old illustration, an electric impulse sent into the air +spreads out in all directions just like the ripples from a stone +chucked into a mill-pond," said Jack. + +"That's it," said Mr. Chadwick. "Now then, as you also know the wire +telephone works by a metal disc in the receiver, vibrating in exactly +the same way as does the microphone in the transmitter. According to +the vibrations of the voice of the person sending the spoken message, +the electric current along the wire, acted upon by the microphone in +the transmitter, increases or decreases. This increasing and +decreasing current acts on a thin metal disc or diaphragm in the +receiver which is held to the ear of the person listening to the +message." + +"That's plain sailing so far," said Jack. "For instance, when you say +'Hullo' over a phone, the microphone or transmitter gets busy and +records it in electrical impulses and shoots it all along the wire +where the receiver picks it up and wiggles the metal disc inside it to +just the same tune." + +"That's it exactly," said Mr. Chadwick. "Now we are ready to go a step +further. Now, as this metal disc is attracted or released by the +current coming over the wire, it compresses or rarefies the air +between it and the ear-drum of the person to whose oral cavity it is +held. In this way the sensation of the same sound as was spoken at the +transmitter end is reproduced at the receiver end. In other words, the +transmitter jerks and jumps just as the needle of a phonograph does in +traveling over a record, and transmits these jerks and jumps over the +wire to the metal disc which by aërial pressure on the ear drums of +the receiver of the message, causes the aural membrane to translate +the words, or vibrations along the nerves, to the brain. + +"Following up this line," said Mr. Chadwick, "we find that the problem +in radio telephony is the same as that met with in ordinary wire +telephony. That is to say, we are required to cause a distant metal +disc to repeat every inflection of the transmitter. But in the case of +radio telephony the result is to be obtained by Hertzian waves, +instead of by a current passing through an insulated wire." + +"The same sort of waves that are employed in wireless telegraphy?" +asked Tom. + +"Just the same, only in radio telephony we are confronted by a problem +not met with in wireless telegraphy. We have not only to transmit +sound, such as isolated dots and dashes, but to send through the air +every rise and fall and inflection of the human voice just as it is +recorded in the minute lines of a phonographic record. + +"Experiments have shown that articulation, that is, understand, a +speech, depends upon overtones and upper harmonies of a frequency of +5,000 or 8,000 or more." + +"What do you mean by frequency?" asked Tom. + +"Speaking in reference to radio telephony it means the number of +electrical vibrations per second required to produce a certain sound. +In electric currents 100 per second is a low frequency current, +100,000 per second is spoken of as high frequency. In early +experiments with radio telephony it was found that the chief +difficulty lay in obtaining a current of sufficiently high frequency +to transmit the human voice, the currents used in wireless telephony +being much too weak for this purpose. + +"I had, therefore, to invent my own alternator, which is attached to +that gasoline motor. There is a similar one in the shed from which you +just talked with me." + +"But why does radio telephony require a stronger current than wireless +telegraphy?" Tom wanted to know. + +"Because, up to the present, no way has been found of utilizing in +radio telephony the entire energy of the electric waves sent out," +replied Professor Chadwick. "Only the variations in the waves can be +detected, or transformed into sound at the receiving end of a radio +telephone system. Therefore an immense amount of electrical energy has +to be manufactured in order that the voice vibrations may register +their variations as powerfully as possible." + +"What percentage of the electrical energy manufactured by a high +frequency alternator can be transformed into variations of sound?" +asked Jack. + +"Not more than five to eight per cent. of the total energy. So +therefore the waste is enormous. In wireless telegraphy, on the other +hand, the entire energy radiated from a sending station can be picked +up to the limit of the receiver's capacity to detect it." + +"Isn't there any way in which this difficulty could be overcome?" +inquired Tom. + +"Yes, there is," said Mr. Chadwick, after a moment's thought, "and I +believe that I am the only man in the world employed with radio +telephonic problems who knows of it." + +"Why can't you use it, then?" asked Jack. + +"Because there are almost insurmountable difficulties in the way. +There is a substance chemically known Z. 2. X. which, if it could be +applied to purposes of transmission and detection, has such immense +powers of electrical absorption that messages could be sent almost any +distance, and with far greater economy of power than at present." + +"How far can you send them now?" asked Jack. + +"About five miles. At least I think so. I'm not even sure of that," +was Mr. Chadwick's reply. + +But Jack was impatient to get back to Z. 2. X. + +"Why can't you use this Z. 2. X.," he questioned, "if it would +practically wipe out your troubles in sending and receiving?" + +"Because there is even less of it in the world than there is of +radium," was the startling reply. "At present Z. 2. X. costs far more +than radium. It is the most intensely radio-active stuff in the world. +It is capable of being wrought into metal if anybody had ever found +enough of it, but except for a small deposit in South Africa, which +has been devoted to experimental purposes, nobody has any. + +"But enough of that now. That is only a dream. I am anxious, though, +to test out my present apparatus thoroughly, and to do it I shall need +the help of you boys." + +"In what way?" asked Jack. + +"In giving it a thorough trial to ascertain over how great a space I +can transmit wireless speech." + +"Are you going to put up another station outside the grounds?" asked +Tom. + +"No; I don't want to attract attention to my experiments. You boys +have a wireless telegraph outfit on your Wondership?" + +Jack nodded. He was curious, as was Tom, to know the Professor's plan. +They did not have long to wait. + +"I wish you would get the machine ready to install a radio-telephone +outfit in its place. In that way I can gauge the limits of my +invention without attracting undue attention, as everybody in this +vicinity has seen you in flight and would imagine that you were merely +taking a trip through the air." + +"But can you get out an apparatus light enough for us to take up?" +asked Jack. + +"I am working on that now," said Mr. Chadwick. "I'll have it ready in +a week." + +"We'll be ready for you," promised Jack. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE GREAT TEST. + + +A week later to the day on a sunshiny, windless morning, the +Wondership was run out of its shed, glistening with new paint and with +every bit of bright work burnished till it shone and sparkled like +newly-minted silver. Amidships on the craft, the general construction +of which is familiar to readers of foregoing volumes of this series, +was a square metal box with small wires leading to long copper wires +stretched from end to end of the Wondership's body. + +These long copper wires were to form the aërials by which the messages +from Mr. Chadwick's workshop were to be caught. The smaller wires +underneath were connected with the metal work of the engine. These +wires formed a "ground" similar to the kind employed in aërial +wireless telegraphy. + +The details of the Wondership having been fully described in the Boy +Inventors' Flying Ship, we shall not enter here into any but a brief +and general description of the craft. The Wondership, then, was a +combination of dirigible balloon, automobile and boat. Her motive +power was furnished by engines driven by an explosive volatile gas +which was also used when occasion arose to inflate the bag of the +balloon feature of her design. The gas was generated in the lower part +of the craft's semi-cylindrical metal body. + +On land two big aërial propellers, geared to the engine, drove the +Wondership swiftly along on four solid-tired wheels. When it was +desired to take to the air the balloon bag, which was neatly folded on +a framework supported by upright stanchions above the body of the car, +was inflated by turning on a valve connecting with the gas tanks in +the base of the body. + +When the Wondership was intended to navigate the water she was driven +by the same aërial propellers that afforded her motive power on land +or in the air. She then became what may be called a hydromobile. If it +chanced to be rough weather, special hermetically sealed panels could +be drawn together, completely enclosing the body and making the craft +a water-tight "bottle." Ventilation was provided in such a case by a +hollow telescopic tube which reached twenty-five feet into the air. It +was divided in two. Fresh air was drawn by a fan down one section, +while the stale air in the "cabin" was forced out by a similar device +up the other part of the tube. Stability was afforded by hollow +pontoons, which worked on toggle joints, and could be raised or +lowered as desired. + +With the aid of Jupe, the gas bag was inflated to a point where only a +slight additional quantity of gas would cause the craft to shoot +upward to the sky. When all was ready a test of the instruments was +made and they were found to be working perfectly. The powerful +alternator on the Wondership was, of course, worked by the same motor +that drove the big propellers. + +"Well, I guess there's nothing to keep you back now," said Mr. +Chadwick, who looked pale and ill after his long days and nights of +work on his invention. + +"No, we're as ready as we ever will be," said Jack, making ready to +climb into the machine above which the big yellow balloon bag was +billowing and sending impatient quiverings through the Wondership. + +"I want you to promise me one thing, dad," said Jack, when he had +climbed into the driver's seat, in front of Tom, whose duty it was to +look after the engine. + +"What is that, my boy?" asked the inventor. + +"That after this test, whatever the result may be, you will take a +long rest." + +"Yes, I will, I must," agreed his father. "I've been working too hard, +I guess, but in the excitement of perfecting the radio telephone I +hardly noticed it. But recently I've had dizzy spells." + +"Two weeks' rest will make you well," declared Jack, as he adjusted +the controls. + +"Good-by and good luck," said his father. + +Both boys waved their hands. + +"All ready, Tom?" hailed Jack. + +The other boy nodded and then turned on a valve so that with a hissing +sound additional gas rushed into the bag. Jack pulled a lever. The big +motors roared and a queer, sickly smell of burned gas filled the air. +The propellers began to revolve slowly and then increased their speed +till they became a mere blur. + +"Dere she go! Gollyumption, dere she go!" cried Jupe, capering about. + +As the old black spoke, the Wondership shot up like a rocket, tilting +her nose slightly into the air. But the next moment Jack had her on an +even keel. In an incredibly short space of time those watching below +saw her only as a glinting, golden speck against the blue sky, +circling like some strange bird far above their heads. + +"Now for the tests," said Mr. Chadwick, as he hastened to his +workshop. + +He set the big alternator at work at top speed. It droned like a gaunt +bee. The inventor's face, worn by his anxious vigils at his +experiments, was as keen as a hawk's, while he adjusted the +instruments and placed his long, lean fingers on the tuning device. + +Far above the earth Jack and Tom could look down upon a patchwork of +villages, farms, green pastures, yellow grain fields and stretches of +woodland. They were too far up to distinguish figures, but they could +see the white steam of rushing trains along the railroad tracks, and +even catch the sound of the engines' whistles. + +Beyond glinted the blue of the sea flecked with sails and with here +and there a steamer's smoke smudging the horizon. Both lads were in +high spirits. It seemed good to be navigating the air again. Every now +and then inquisitive, high-flying crows would swoop toward the machine +and then dash off again with alarmed squawks. + +Although they were making a high rate of speed, they hardly seemed to +be moving as they soared in long circles. To get a sense of rapid +motion, stationary objects must be in sight. In the lonely air it was +hard to tell that they were moving at all except by looking down at +the earth which, as they rose, appeared to be rushing from them, as if +it were sinking through space. + +But novel as all these sensations would be to an aërial novice, they +were an old story to the boys. Jack devoted his attention to testing a +new steering appliance he had equipped the craft with, and Tom watched +his engines with an eagle eye to detect a skip or a "knock." + +"How high now?" asked the young engineer after an interval. + +Jack glanced at the barograph on the dashboard in front of him. + +"Three thousand feet," he said. + +"Might as well connect the alternator?" said Tom interrogatively. + +Jack nodded, and Tom threw a lever which brought the generator of +high frequency currents in contact with the motor by means of a +friction fly-wheel. The alternator began to buzz and spark, crackling +viciously. + +A sort of metal helmet with two receivers attached to it, one on each +side, lay handy at Jack's hand. In front of him was the transmitter +joined to the metal box which contained the microphone, transformers +and inductance tuning coil. Tuning in the aërial apparatus was +effected by means of a small knob projecting through a slit in the +metal box enclosing the delicate instruments including the detector. +By working this knob the tuning block was moved up and down the coil +till a proper "pitch" was obtained. + +Jack experienced an odd thrill as he prepared to send the first spoken +word ever exchanged between an airship in motion and a station on +land. He and Tom had sent plenty of wireless messages while soaring +through the ether, but somehow, the dot and dash system had not half +the fascination and mystery of the possibility of exchanging coherent +speech between land and air. + +He placed his lips close to the receiver, and with his hand on the +tuning knob sent forth a loud, clear hail: + +"Hullo, High Towers!" + +There was no answer for a few seconds while he patiently adjusted the +tuning knob. But then came a faint buzz like the humming of a drowsy +bee. Suddenly, sharp and distinct, as if his father was at his elbow, +came Mr. Chadwick's voice in reply: + +"Hullo!" + +"This is the Wondership. Three thousand feet in the air," cried Jack. + +"Congratulations, my boy. It's a success so far." + +"What shall we do now?" asked Jack. + +"I want you to fly in the direction of Rayburn, and try to keep in +communication all the way." + +"All right, dad," responded Jack, and altered the course of the +Wondership. + +Rayburn was a small village some twenty-five miles to the north of +Nestorville. Jack kept the receivers on his ears as he flew along. +From time to time he exchanged conversation with his father. So far +everything appeared to be working as if there were no limit to the +distance over which the voices from the air and land could converse. + +But suddenly there came a startling interruption to the experiments. + +Jack felt a sharp "Bang" at his ears as if a small cannon had been +fired close at hand. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +TALKING THROUGH SPACE. + + +As the distance increased between air and land stations, the currents +became stronger, and frequent tuning was necessary. But Jack was able +to keep up a constant conversation with his father, telling him all +the details of the country as they flew along. The sudden explosion, +however, for it sounded like nothing else, startled him into a sharp +exclamation. + +"What in the world was that?" + +As if he had spoken the question to someone close at hand, came back +the explanation. + +"Wireless telegraph wave crossing ours," said his father. "Some +powerful land station is sending out a message, possibly to some +ship." + +"It almost broke my ear drum," said Jack, and inwardly resolved to +devote some time to trying to solve the problem of avoiding such +"collisions" in the future. It occurred to him that some sort of a +circuit breaker might be devised to cut off, temporarily, the +telephone talk by automatic means when a cross-wave of high energy +struck its current. + +The shock was not repeated, and the conversation went on, still as +sharp and as clear as when they had started out. A few minutes later +Jack was able to report they were passing over Rayburn. + +"You'd better keep on," said his father, his voice aglow with +enthusiasm. "It's working beyond my wildest expectations." + +"It's dandy," agreed Jack. + +They talked without raising their voices to any great extent, but it +was necessary to articulate very clearly so that each variation of +sound might be sent out into space as clearly as the notes of a singer +come from the record of a phonograph. But it was amazing, almost +uncanny to Jack that such results could be obtained at all. + +"Goodness, if only we could get that mineral substance that dad was +talking about I believe you could rig up a radio telephone that would +talk across the ocean," he said to Tom, "and think what that would +mean. For instance, instead of bothering with the cable you could step +into a radio-telephone office and say: 'Give me the London Exchange.' +In a few minutes the central would answer and you could tell her what +number you wanted on some regular wire line. Before long you'd get it, +and be talking to whoever you had called just as if they were +twenty-five miles off instead of three thousand!" + +"It seems like a dream," said Tom. + +"Not much of a dream about it. All it needs is development. We've +proved to-day it can be done," declared Jack, bubbling over with +enthusiasm. + +They flew over meadow land and pasture, farmhouses where tiny figures +emerged from buildings and looked up at them, over rivers and +railroads, and still the alternator spat and sparked and the messages +between Jack and his father were interchanged in a steady stream. +Rayburn had been left behind. They were now over a small town Jack +believed to be Hempstead. + +He looked at his map to make sure. It was one that he had specially +plotted out himself from observations he had made when flying in the +vicinity. Having verified their whereabouts he found that they had +flown about fifty miles, possibly a fraction more. + +But at this juncture he noticed that the voice of his father pulsing +through space began to grow thin and weak. Obviously the limit of the +radio 'phone's capacity had been reached. + +"Better turn back," said Mr. Chadwick. + +Jack turned to Tom and gave him the necessary instructions. Then he +set over his guiding wheel, turning the big rudder at the stern of the +Wondership and she acted as obediently as a sea-going craft answering +her helm. Never had she behaved better. + +They flew swiftly back toward High Towers and were soon in sight of +Rayburn. In order to test what effect the magnetism of the earth had +upon the radio messages, Jack brought the great flying craft close to +the ground. They almost grazed the treetops as they flew along. + +Skimming a patch of trees they roared above a farmhouse with a great +red barn adjoining it. The barn attracted Jack's attention because of +the fact that it had a flat roof, an almost unique feature in that +part of the country. He supposed it was used to dry some sort of +produce on and noted that there were several hop-fields near at hand. +Undoubtedly the roof was used for exposing them to the sun and thus +drying the moisture from them without the expense of wood for the +drying fires usually used for the purpose. + +He had hardly noted all this when there came a sudden tug at the +Wondership as if a titanic hand had reached up from below and grasped +her. She pitched wildly and, but for Jack's skill as an airman, there +might have been a serious accident. But he brought the big craft +under control by skillful manipulation. + +The next instant he discovered what had occurred. The grapple of the +aircraft had, in some way, dropped from its fastenings and, trailing +behind the Wondership, had caught in the roof of the farmer's barn. + +A great section of it was torn away and as Jack brought the Wondership +to rest on the roof, the only available place, for the rope was in +danger of fouling the propellers if he descended to the ground, the +farmer and a number of his men came running from the farmhouse. + +In the hands of the farmer was a formidable looking shotgun. As the +Wondership settled on the roof of the barn the man began shouting +angrily. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE BOYS FACE TROUBLE. + + +"Phew! looks as if we are in for trouble," exclaimed Tom, as he saw +the warlike expression on the farmer's face. + +"It does that," agreed Jack. "Hop out, will you, Tom, and get that +grapple clear? Confound it, I don't see how it came loose." + +"Wore through the lashing," said Tom, who had been examining the place +where the big hooked steel anchor was usually tied. + +"We ought to have seen to it before we started out," said Jack. "We +haven't had it loose since that time we anchored above the Brazilian +forest." + +The farmer's angry voice hailed them from below. + +"Hey there! Don't yew move a foot till we've had a reck'nin'." + +"I am awfully sorry," said Jack. "It was an accident you see. We----" + +"Don't care what it was. Thet thar was a new roof. Don't you move a +step till Si here gits ther constabule." + +"We'll pay you for the roof," said Jack apologetically. "After all it +isn't much damaged." + +Indeed it appeared as if the damage was not so great as they had at +first imagined. After tearing off some shingles the grapple had caught +in a beam and was prevented from doing further harm. + +"Yes, yew'll pay, and yew'll go ter jail tew," declared the farmer. +"Consarn it all, what's the country comin' tew? Las' week tew pesky +dod-ratted balloonists hit Hi Holler on ther head with a bag of sand, +and now yew come along in thet thar contraption and try to bust up my +dryin' roof. I'll have ther law on yer." + +Matters began to look serious. Jack had no doubt but what the farmer +would accept a money payment for the damaged roof. But it appeared +that the old fellow was bent on more stringent vengeance. + +In the meantime Tom had been busy in the stern of the craft and had +succeeded in getting the grapnel loose from the beam into which its +sharp points had dug. It was not till that moment that the farmer +observed him. + +He leveled his shotgun at the balloon of the Wondership. + +"Don't yew dare ter move er I'll bust a hole right plumb through that +ther airbag of yourn," he said. + +"Can't you be reasonable?" asked Jack. "Here's my name." He wrote his +name and address on a slip of paper and threw it down. + +But the irate farmer paid no attention to the missive. He kept his gun +steadily trained on the Wondership. + +"Move an' I'll bust yer!" he said grimly. + +A buggy drove out of the yard. It raced through the gate and then +struck the highroad leading to Rayburn. + +"Thar' goes Si arter ther constabule," said the farmer, licking his +thin lips as if with relish. "Hi Ketchum is a rare one arter +automobubblists. I reckon he'll be right smart tickled to death when +he hears I got a whole airship fer him ter 'rest." + +"Bother the old grouch," muttered Tom, as he climbed back into the +Wondership, the bag of which was deflated just enough to keep her at +rest on the roof. + +"He's evidently mighty serious in his intentions," said Jack, with a +troubled face. "What are we going to do?" + +There was a sudden puff of wind and the big yellow balloon bag swayed +slightly. + +Instantly the farmer's finger crooked on his trigger. He thought the +boys were going to give him the slip. + +"No you don't," he shouted, "you don't fool Ezry Perkins that 'er +way!" + +"We're not trying to fool you," said Jack disgustedly. "Why can't you +be sensible. You've our names and addresses on that paper I threw +down to you. If you like I'll make a cash settlement right here for +any damage we've done." + +"I'm goin' ter git yer in ther court," insisted the farmer sullenly. +"Las' week some autermobubblists killed three uv my chickens, week +afore thet I had a hog knocked off ther road. I'm er goin' ter git +even on yer fer ther lot uv them." + +It was plain that the man was not to be moved by promises or +persuasion. He had conceived in his mind a hatred against automobiles, +with which, in a vague way, he classed airships and all such modern +inventions. Jack thought, too, that Ezra Perkins was the kind of man +who liked to shine out among his neighbors, and what better +opportunity could he have to satisfy this ambition than by blossoming +forth as a man who, single handed, had captured a great aircraft? + +The boys looked down. The farmer was pacing grimly up and down like a +sentry, his eyes never leaving the Wondership. + +"I'd like to drop a bag of ballast on his head, the same as those +balloonists did on Si's," muttered Tom. + +"Wouldn't do any good," said Jack. "It would only bounce off again." + +"I guess it would at that," agreed Tom with a grin. + +"I've half a mind to take a chance," said Jack suddenly. + +"And get a hole blown in the balloon bag," protested Tom. "We wouldn't +be better off than before in that case." + +"I wonder if he'd really shoot or if he's only bluffing," mused Jack. + +"Take a look at him," advised Tom. + +Jack did. One glance was enough. There was no bluffing about the grim, +overalled farmer. The very way in which he held his gun expressed +positive determination not to let the boys escape. + +But as it so happened, by no action of the boys', matters were +suddenly brought to a sharp crisis. Over the patch of woods beyond the +farm there came a vagrant puff of wind. It was followed by a sharper +gust. + +The Wondership swayed and then, before Jack could check the motion, +drifted off the roof like a piece of thistledown blown by the wind. +Instinctively, to check the downward motion, Jack's hand sought the +gas valve. With a hiss the volatile vapor rushed into the bag. + +The big aircraft shot up like an arrow. For a second the farmer stood +paralyzed at the suddenness of it all. His farm hands lounged about, +gaping and looking upward like country folks at a fireworks display. + +Then, without any warning: + +"Bang!" + +The farmer let loose with both barrels at once. But the Wondership +still rose. + +All at once, from below, came a yell of surprise and terror. The boys +looked over the side. As they did so they uttered simultaneous gasps +of consternation. + +The trailing grapnel, for Tom had forgotten to tie it back in place +in the excitement, had caught the farmer by the waistband of his +overalls and he was being carried skyward by the Wondership, dangling +at the end of the anchor rope like some sprawling spider. + +His wife, screaming at the top of her voice, rushed from the kitchen +door. + +"Hey, you come back with my husband!" she shouted. + +"Lemme go! Lemme go!" bawled the farmer as loudly as he could, for, +held securely by his stout overalls, he was carried high above his own +buildings. He kicked and struggled furiously. + +"Keep still," shouted Jack, in serious alarm, from the side of the +Wondership. "Keep still or you'll kick yourself off." + +The farmer had sense enough to obey. He hung upside down like a limp +scarecrow, while his farm hands gaped up at him and the hired girl was +busy pouring buckets of water over his wife who was in hysterics. + +"Gracious, now we've done it!" gasped Tom in dismay. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +AN INVOLUNTARY AËRONAUT. + + +"Steady, Tom, steady," warned Jack, as he set the pumps to work +drawing gas from the bag into the reservoir. + +The Wondership, her buoyancy thus diminished, began to descend. + +"What are you going to do?" asked Tom. + +"Drop our passenger," said Jack, with a grin he could not suppress, +for the struggling farmer was within a few feet of the ground now and +even if he did kick himself loose, for his struggles had begun again, +he could not have hurt himself much. + +"Back up till we get over that haystack," said Jack, "and then play +out rope till we lower him. It'll make a nice soft jumping-off place." + +Tom obeyed, pulling a reverse lever. The Wondership, steered with +skill by Jack's practiced hand, backed slowly up. At length they hung +directly over the haystack. Jack turned and nodded. Tom sprang to the +rope and lowered the indignant farmer into the soft hay. The man lost +no time in disentangling himself. Then he sprang to his feet and began +hurling vituperation at them at the top of his lungs. + +"I'll have ther law on yer fer this," he yelled. "Tryin' ter kidnap me +and bustin' down my barn. I'll see whether such goin's on is allowed +in ther sufferin' state uv Massachusetts, yew see if I don't, consarn +yer. I'll----" + +But the Wondership, bearing the two boys who could not help laughing +heartily, although they feared serious consequences might come of the +accident, was winging its way onward out of earshot of the not +unnaturally indignant Ezra Perkins. + +They passed Rayburn before Jack noticed a peculiar smell in the +atmosphere. + +It was leaking gas. Then, for the first time, he recollected that the +farmer might have hit the gas bag above them with his double shots, +although, till then, there had been no indication that such was the +case. + +He called Tom to the wheel, explaining his suspicions and clambered +out on the rigging to see if he could find any holes in the balloon. +It would have made a less steady boy dizzy and sick to stand on the +edge of the Wondership, clinging to one of the supports that held the +body of the craft to the gas-bag, while the whole affair plunged and +swayed five hundred feet above the earth. But Jack, used as he was to +navigating the air, felt none of these qualms. + +His suspicions were speedily confirmed. There was a jagged hole in the +underbody of the balloon, from which gas was rushing. Jack's face grew +grave. The situation was dangerous. + +He knew, as does every balloonist, that out-rushing gas can make an +electric spark in the atmosphere which, in turn, ignites the gas +itself, sometimes with fatal results. Experts in aëronautics attribute +the disasters befalling the long series of Zeppelins, the giant +German dirigibles, to this cause. + +"Tom, we must go down. Drop at once," he said. "That old fellow +succeeded in blowing a hole in us all right." + +The pumps were set to work and the Wondership fell rapidly. They +dropped in a field by the roadside, landing on the running wheels as +lightly as a feather, thanks to the shock absorbers, similar to those +of an automobile, with which the Wondership was equipped. + +"Now for the repair kit," said Jack, rummaging a locker. + +He soon had balloon silk, big shears, a quick-drying gum solution and +a pot of gasproof varnish, ready for the job of patching up the hole. +But first they had to empty the big bag of gas. This was speedily +done, for already enough had escaped to wrinkle the bag like a walnut, +with hollows and creases. + +Jack cut out a patch of balloon silk large enough to fit the hole and +spread it with the adhesive gum solution. This he placed inside the +hole, spreading it out so that when pressure was applied it would be +pressed firmly against the aperture. Then he coated the patch with the +gasproof varnish, and both boys sat down to give the job time to +"set." + +Their eyes turned idly to the high-road. It was about noon and there +was a heavy sort of silence in the air. Far on the horizon they could +make out great billowy masses of white cloud. Piled and castellated +against the sky they assumed all kinds of odd shapes. + +"Thunder heads," said Jack. "We shall have a storm before to-night." + +"It's sultry enough for anything," said Tom, taking off his cap and +mopping his forehead. "I'd hate to be walking in this weather like +that fellow yonder." + +A man had come into sight, plodding along with bent head and eyes on +the ground as if he was very tired. The gray dust of the road coated +him from head to foot. He walked with a kind of dragging gait. + +Over his shoulder he carried some sort of a bundle on a stick. His hat +was a broad sombrero, like a cowboy's. It was a kind of headgear +seldom seen in the east and attracted the boys' attention. Round the +man's neck was a red handkerchief, the only spot of color on his +dust-covered person. He had a great yellow beard and rather long, +unkempt hair. + +"Tramp," hazarded Tom. + +Jack shook his head. + +"Doesn't look like that to me somehow," he said. "I rather think----" + +Round the corner whizzed a big red automobile. It was coming fast. The +driver, a young man, had his head turned and was talking to three +companions who sat in the tonneau. He did not see the dusty traveler +in the road ahead. + +The boys set up a shout. + +"Look out! you'll run him down. Look out----" + +But their caution came too late. At top speed the auto struck the +wayfarer, and before the boys' horrified eyes he was thrown high in +the air, to fall, a confused sprawl of legs and arms, at the wayside. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +BY THE ROADSIDE. + + +The boys ran forward across the few yards of meadow that intervened +between the Wondership and the roadway. The autoists did not, +apparently, notice them. They had stopped the car and were looking +back. + +"Come on and let's get out of this quick," one of them, a hawk-faced +youth, with a long motoring duster on, was shouting to the driver. + +"Yes, let's beat it while the going's good, Bill," came from his +companion as he addressed the driver of the car. + +"I guess we'd better," said the man addressed as Bill. + +Before the boys could intervene the car was on its way again, at top +speed, leaving the unconscious form of its victim at the roadside. + +"Of all the cold-blooded scoundrels!" gasped Jack, horrified at such +callousness. + +"Never mind them now," advised Tom. "Let's see if this poor fellow is +badly hurt. He may even be----" + +He did not finish the sentence, but Jack knew what he meant. Hastily +the boys scrambled down the low bank that separated the field from the +road. They ran quickly to the man's side. To their great relief, for +they had feared that he might have been killed, the man was breathing. +But his breath came pantingly from his parted lips and there was a bad +cut on his forehead. + +"Get some water from the creek yonder," said Jack, and Tom hastened up +the road to where, beneath the small wooden bridge, there flowed a +rivulet of water. + +He was soon back, with his handkerchief well soaked, and with an old +can, that he had been lucky enough to find, filled with water. They +bathed the man's wound and then bound it up as best they could. But he +still lay senseless. + +"Now what's to be done?" asked Tom. + +"We ought to get him over to the Wondership and rush him to the +hospital at Nestorville," said Jack. + +"Yes, that would be the thing to do. But he's too heavy for us to +carry," objected Tom. + +"Why not fly over here alongside him. I guess we could lift him in; +that patch ought to hold by this time," suggested Jack. + +"That's a good idea. What a pack of cowardly sneaks those chaps in +that car were." + +"I wish we could have stopped them. It would give me real pleasure to +see a gang like that get its just deserts. They might have killed this +poor fellow." + +The unconscious man was powerfully built, with face tanned brown above +a yellow beard, from exposure to sun and wind. As Jack had said, he +did not look like a tramp. Suddenly the boy noticed lying near him an +object which had evidently fallen from the man's pocket when he was +struck and flung through the air by the auto. + +It was a small cylinder, apparently made of lead, and about three +inches long. Jack picked it up, and for the time being did not attempt +to examine it but thrust it into his pocket for safe keeping. Little +did either of the boys think how much that little cylinder was to mean +to them, and how it was to influence some of the most important +adventures of their lives. + +Making the man as comfortable as they could, by rolling up their coats +and placing them under his head, the boys hurried back to the +Wondership. When they arrived there they saw that a feature of the +radio 'phone, which has not yet been mentioned, was working in urgent +appeal. This was a tiny red electric light attached to the top of the +case containing the sensitive parts of the apparatus. + +By an ingenious device, worked as a call signal from the transmitting +station, the electric waves converted a lighting circuit for this +purpose. + +It was winking and twinkling, and Jack knew that his father was +trying to call them. + +He sent out some flashes by starting the dynamo going and pressing a +key devised for the purpose. This, he knew, would cause a similar +light attached to his father's apparatus to flash a reply. This done +he waited a second and then adjusted the receivers to his ears. + +"What's the matter?" came his father's voice. + +Jack gave him a rapid account of the accident, not stopping just then +to say anything about the incident of the farmer and his barn. + +"What are you going to do about it?" asked his father. + +"He appears to be seriously hurt," said Jack. "I was thinking of +rushing him to the hospital at Nestorville." + +"That seems to be the best plan," said his father. "By the way, did +those autoists get clear away?" + +"I'm afraid so. They never even waited a second to see if the man was +badly injured. They----" + +Jack suddenly stopped short. An inspiration had come to him. The +accident had happened on a road that, as he knew, led straight through +Nestorville. He had thought of a plan to bring the autoists to book +for their callousness and negligence. + +"Dad--oh, dad!" he called. + +"Yes, what is it?" came back Mr. Chadwick's voice. + +"Those fellows will pass through Nestorville. I had a flash of the +number of the car. It was 4206 Mass. It's a red car and a powerful +one, with three men in it." + +"What do you want to do?" asked Mr. Chadwick. + +"Can't you 'phone to the Nestorville police, telling them what has +happened and have those fellows stopped. I'm not vindictive, but they +ought to be brought to book for running down a man and then speeding +off and leaving him like that." + +"I agree with you," replied Mr. Chadwick. "I'll do so at once. +Good-by." + +"Good-by," said Jack and "rang off." + +"That was a great idea of yours, Jack, old boy," approved Tom. "I hope +they land those fellows." + +"Of course it was an accident," said Jack, "but that fellow who was +driving was too busy talking to watch the road, and then going off +like that--they deserve all they get." + +Examination of the patch showed that it would hold fast and the bag +was refilled. As soon as it was sufficiently inflated, the Wondership +sailed over to the road and was brought down alongside the still +unconscious man. + +"Looks as if he's badly hurt," said Tom with some anxiety. + +"It does. His skull may be fractured," agreed Jack. "If he is +seriously injured those fellows may get into trouble." + +It required all the boys' strength to raise the man and get him into +the Wondership. Here they laid him out on the floor of the rear +section. They had just done this when the red light signaled Jack +again. It was Mr. Chadwick. He had notified the Nestorville police +force, consisting of a chief and two men, and they were on the lookout +for the offending auto. + +"Good," said Jack. "Say, dad, the radio telephone has shown its +usefulness on the first day out, hasn't it?" + +They were soon in the air once more. The run to Nestorville was made +quickly. On the outskirts of the town they came to earth and deflated +the balloon bag, since the hospital stood in a group of trees and it +would have been impossible to make a landing there. The Wondership was +converted into an auto and sent speeding toward the main street of the +village. + +Suddenly they heard a whir of wheels behind them and an impatient +tooting of a horn. They looked back and uttered a simultaneous cry of +astonishment. + +The red auto that had run down the yellow-bearded man was behind them. +Its occupants were shouting and sounding their horn impatiently for +the right of way. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +MAKING ENEMIES. + + +The road was narrow where they were, and unless the boys' machine was +run to one side of the road there was no chance for the red machine to +pass. Jack made it clear that he didn't intend to let them. + +He paid no attention to the shouts that came from behind. + +"Hey, you kids, with that queer-looking car, get off the road and give +a real machine a chance to get by," shouted the driver, he who had +been addressed as Bill. + +Jack did not turn his head. + +"I'll knock your head off if you don't turn out--and turn out quick!" +came another shout. + +Still the boys did not pay any attention. In this order they came into +Nestorville. Lined up, with a look of stern determination on his +face, and with his nickel star of office newly polished, was Chief +Biff Bivins. Behind him were Lena Hardy and Joe Curley, his "force." + +"Say, boys," hailed Chief Biff, as the boys rolled up abreast of him +and his men, "hain't seen hair nor hide of that car your dad was arter +'phonin' me about." + +"Well, you soon will, chief," said Jack. + +"Haow do yew know that?" asked the chief, his little eyes blinking +curiously. + +"Because it's right behind us now," declared Jack. "It's that red +one." + +"Ther dickens you say. How'd you come ter git erhead of 'em?" + +"They must have stopped to fix a tire or something," said Jack. + +But Biff was paying no attention to him. The majesty of the law was +strong upon him. Calling his minions to his side he stepped into the +middle of the road in front of the red car. + +"Get out of the way!" shouted the man who was driving. + +"Not much I won't," declared Biff valorously. "Halt that gasoline +gadabout o' yourn instanter." + +"What for, you old Rube?" + +"Old Rube am I?" sputtered Biff, feeling that the law had been +insulted in his person, "jes' fer thet yer under 'rest." + +"What for?" demanded the driver of the red car angrily. + +"Fer running daown and grievously wounding a man and then speedin' off +without stoppin' ter see if you'd killed him dead or what all. That's +what fer." + +The driver of the red machine lost his blustering tone. + +"Why, there's some mistake," he stammered, his face very pale, +"I--er--we--er--that is, we didn't run anybody down." + +"Oh, yes, you did," said Jack. "We saw you, and what's more we've got +the man you struck right here in our car. You're a fine pack of +cowards to run off like that. If we hadn't happened along he might +have lain there for hours before help came." + +"You saw us!" gasped the driver of the car, losing his bravado +completely. "Well, I might as well admit we did run a man down. But we +didn't think he was badly hurt and so we put on all speed to rush into +town here and get a doctor for him. We'd have been here sooner only +one of our tires punctured." + +"Thet's a dern good story," said the chief, "but you'll hev ter +'splain that ter ther squire. Come on with me ter ther court-house. +Too bad fer you thet them Chadwick boys had some sort of a do-funny +dingus on their sky buggy that talks through the air, otherwise you'd +hev got clar' away." + +The man had, by this time, got out of the car which they halted at the +side of the street. A crowd of curious villagers gathered and were +staring at the scene and the actors in it. + +At Chief Biff's words the driver of the red car flashed an angry look +at the boys. His companions looked equally vindictive. + +"So, it's to you we owe our arrest, is it?" he said in a low voice, +coming quite close to Jack. "All right. You'll hear from me later. I'm +not going to forget you or that other kid, either. Do you understand?" + +Jack made no reply, and as he was anxious to get the injured man to +the hospital as quickly as possible he drove off. At the institution +the man was carried to a cot by two orderlies, and the doctor in +charge told the boys that, so far as he could see, his injuries were +not mortal, although he added that a fracture of the skull was +possible. + +"In which case," he said, "his recovery is problematical. How did you +happen to pick him up?" asked the doctor, who knew the boys quite +well. + +Jack told him as briefly as he could, and received the physician's +warm congratulations. + +"It was fortunate that you happened along," he said. "Otherwise a +long exposure to the sun, unattended, might have resulted in the man's +death. Have you any idea who he is?" + +"Not the least," replied Jack. "All that we know is that, just after +he had plodded round the corner as if he was tired after walking a +long way, that auto came whizzing round and struck him. Somehow he +doesn't look like a tramp." + +"No, he doesn't," agreed the doctor. "However, he should be conscious +to-morrow if there are no complications, and we can find out. One +thing is certain, he ought to be grateful to you." + +"Oh, that's all right," laughed Jack, much relieved to hear that the +man wasn't going to die. "It was all we could do." + +They drove back through the village. Outside the court-house was quite +a crowd. Events were few and far between in sleepy Nestorville, and +the arrest of the autoists had caused quite a sensation. From a friend +in the crowd the boys learned that the three men were being arraigned +before Squire Stevens. + +"Let's go in," suggested Tom. + +"All right," nodded Jack, and they climbed out of the Wondership and +ascended the long steps leading into the court-house. As they entered +Squire Stevens' court-room, Chief Bivins spied them. + +"Here they be now, Squire," he said. "Glad you came, boys. It saved me +the trouble of serving subpoenas on you. These are the boys who saw +the whole thing, judge." + +"Was it an accident?" asked Squire Stevens, a dignified-looking old +man with an imposing white beard. + +"Yes, entirely so," said Jack, who did not bear any malice. + +"But after they had struck the man, these young men ran away?" + +"Yes," Jack was forced to admit. The men shot him a glance of hatred. + +"I understand you have been to the hospital," went on Squire Stevens. +"Did you learn how badly the man they hit is hurt?" + +"The doctor told us that his injuries don't appear to be serious," +said Jack, "but that it was possible there might be complications." + +"In that case I shall have to hold you young men under bond," said the +squire. "Will you be able to furnish it?" + +"In any amount," said the man who had driven the car, in a loud, +boastful voice. "My father, Evans Masterson, owns the _Boston Moon,_ +the evening paper. If I can telephone to him he will soon get us out +of this scrape." + +"Very well, then," said the Squire, frowning slightly at young +Masterson's tone. "I shall fix your bond at $500, as you were driving +the car and directly responsible for the accident, and that of your +companions at $100 each." + +Young Masterson gave an ironical bow. Chief Biff Bivins escorted him +to the telephone. The elder Masterson, who had had a good deal of +experience with his son's escapades, at first administered a lecture +over the 'phone which ended by his saying that he would come +post-haste to Nestorville and extricate his son and his chums from +their unpleasant fix. + +But the boys did not wait for this. As soon as the case was over they +hastened back to the Wondership. The run home was made without +incident and it was not till the Wondership was safely in its shed +that Jack suddenly thought of the odd cylinder of lead that he had +picked up by the man's side as he lay on the road. + +"I ought to have left it at the hospital," he thought, "but I entirely +forgot it." + +He drew it out and looked at it. He now saw that the lead cylinder +enclosed a glass vial carefully corked and sealed. The bottle was +wrapped in flannel. Jack could not withstand the temptation of pulling +it out and looking at it. He hardly knew what he had expected to see, +but he was distinctly disappointed, as was Tom, to find that the +carefully protected vial contained nothing more than some dark, almost +black, stuff that looked like sand. In it were particles that +glittered like mica. + +"Pshaw!" he exclaimed in a disappointed tone, "nothing but a bottle +full of sand. Wonder why in the world that fellow carried trash like +that so carefully wrapped up for?" + +The solution of the question, which was near at hand, was to have an +important bearing on the lives of the Boy Inventors, and that in the +immediate future. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE LEADEN TUBE. + + +The following day, while they were experimenting and practicing with +the radio telephone, the boys received word that the man in the +hospital was conscious and wished to see them, if possible. + +"Perhaps now we shall get some explanation of that queer tubeful of +sand," said Jack, as he hung up the telephone receiver, having +informed the physician that they would be at the hospital shortly. + +"It's certainly a queer sort of thing for a man to carry about--a +glass vial full of black grit so carefully protected, unless he is +crazy or something," commented Tom. + +"I think that there is some explanation back of all this," said Jack, +"and for my part the sooner we get to the hospital, the better I shall +be pleased. The man told the doctor he was a miner and his name is +Zeb Cummings. Perhaps that sand is gold-bearing or something like +that." + +"That might be the case," agreed Tom. + +The boys decided to take out the electric car. It was in perfect +running order and the indicator showed that there was plenty of +electricity in storage for the start. They told Mr. Chadwick where +they were going and then rolled out of the High Towers gates onto the +broad, smooth road bordered with pleasant green elms. + +They bowled along smoothly and silently with the car working as +perfectly as delicate clockwork. They had gone about a mile from the +house and were on a steep grade which the car took as easily as if it +had been going down hill, when their attention was attracted by a +sudden shout from the vicinity. + +Jack brought the car to a halt. The voice came again. + +"Hi! Help me! Ouch! Help!" + +"What in the world is the matter now?" wondered Tom. + +"Somebody in trouble in that field yonder. We'd better get out and see +what's up," proposed Jack. + +The shouts seemed to issue from beyond a high bank at one side of the +road. On its summit was a hedge which prevented the boys seeing what +was going on in the field that lay beyond. + +As they got out of the car, however, Jack spied a bicycle at one side +of the road. A satchel that he remembered very well was slung from its +frame. + +"It's the professor in trouble again!" declared Jack. + +"I do believe you are right," replied Tom as they scrambled up the +bank. "That's sure enough his wheel." + +They found a gate in the hedge and on the other side an odd sight met +their eyes. Kneeling on the ground was the professor. His right arm +was thrust almost up to the shoulder into a hole in the ground. He +was shouting lustily for help and appeared to be imprisoned in his +queer posture. + +"Some animal has got hold of his hand," cried Jack. "Come on, Tom." + +"Oh, boys, thank goodness you've come," gasped the scientist. + +"What's the matter?" demanded Jack. + +"I can't get my arm out of this hole," declared the professor. + +"How did you get it in?" asked Tom. + +"A fine specimen that I dropped accidentally rolled into it," was the +reply. "I reached in to get it and now I can't get my hand out." + +"But you got it in easily enough," said Jack in a puzzled tone. + +"Ah, yes," replied the professor, "but then I didn't have my hand +clenched. Now my fist is closed and I have the specimen in it. Oh, +boys, it's a beauty. One of the finest I have ever seen. It shows +distinct monolithic traces." + +"But if you don't drop it you can't get your hand out," argued Tom. + +"I know that. That's why I shouted for help," said the professor +simply. + +"You'll have to let go of it," decided Jack, almost choking with +laughter at the plight of the eccentric little man. + +"Let go of it? My dear sir," murmured the professor in a shocked tone, +"this specimen is worth at least twenty dollars, not to speak of its +scientific value." + +"But you can't stay here," said Jack decisively. + +"And I won't let go of the specimen," declared the professor with +equal firmness. + +"What on earth are we to do?" said Jack, looking helplessly at Tom. + +Not far off Tom had noticed a man digging potatoes. It gave him an +idea. + +"We can borrow that man's shovel and dig his arm out," he suggested. + +"It's about the only thing to do, I guess," said Jack. "You go and +see if you can get it. I'll keep the professor company." + +Tom soon came back. The potato-digger accompanied him. The man was +much interested in the eccentric man's plight. + +"If that ain't the beatingest I ever heard on," he remarked, gazing at +the professor, and then he tapped his head significantly and looked at +the boys in a knowing way. + +"Nobody home, eh?" he said with a grin. Fortunately the professor did +not hear him; but the boys could hardly keep from laughing outright as +they set to work with the spade. A few minutes of brisk digging set +the professor at liberty and he was able to stand upright and +triumphantly exhibit a small black rock which looked in no way +remarkable, but which, it was evident, he esteemed highly. + +"Ah, my little gem," he said, gazing at it fondly. "You thought you'd +escape me; but you didn't. A wonderfully fine specimen, boys." + +"Tell yer what," said the yokel, from whom they had borrowed the +spade, "I'll pay you fifty cents a day to clean up my back pasture +yonder. It's chock full of them black rocks." + +"It is?" exclaimed the professor eagerly. "I must visit it some day. +It would be worth writing a paper about. Most remarkable. A whole +field of these stones. Well, well, this is a great day for science. +But how did you boys happen to come along so opportunely?" + +Jack explained, and then, suddenly, he thought of the tube of +queer-looking black sand. Possibly the professor would know what it +was. He drew it out and briefly narrated how he came in possession of +it. The professor took the little glass vial out of its protecting +lead and flannel. He adjusted his glasses and held it up to the light. +Then he uncorked it and sprinkled a few grains on the palm of his +hand. + +He regarded it carefully for a few minutes and then drew out a huge +magnifying glass. The next instant he dropped his scientific calm and +uttered a sharp exclamation of astonishment. + +"Where is the man who owns this?" he exclaimed. "We must see him at +once." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +IN THE HOSPITAL + + +"We are on our way to see him now," said Jack. "He is in the +Nestorville hospital." + +"May I go with you?" asked the professor, with astonishing eagerness +for him. + +"Why, of course. But that black sand," said Jack. "What is +it--gold-bearing material of some kind?" + +"Gold!" exclaimed the professor with fine scorn, "gold would be dross +beside it. Of course I haven't analyzed it yet, but if it is what I +think it is, it is the most valuable stuff in the world." + +The boys exchanged bewildered glances. Clearly their discovery of the +injured man, Zeb Cummings, had an aspect they had not hitherto +suspected. But the professor refused to tell them what the sand was, +or what he thought it was, till he had seen Zeb Cummings himself. + +Leaving the potato-digger under the firm impression that they were +all crazy, they hurried back to the road, the professor's bicycle was +placed in the tonneau, and Jack drove just within the speed law to the +hospital. + +They found the injured man sitting up in bed, his great yellow beard +gleaming like gold. His head was bandaged but even the pallor induced +by the accident had not materially altered the ruddy glow of his thick +coat of tan. + +"So these are the boys who saved me," he said, extending a big, +gnarled hand. "Shake, pardners. The doc here tells me if I'd laid much +longer out there in the sun, there might hev been a first-class +funeral fer Zeb Cummings." + +"Oh, that's all right," said Jack easily. "I'm only glad that we came +along when we did." + +"Well, you sure acted different from them other varmints," said Zeb +with deep conviction. "The doc tole me all about it." + +His face suddenly grew grave as he changed the subject. + +"Did you find anything on the ground thereabouts after I got knocked +out?" he asked. + +"What sort of a thing?" asked Jack. + +"Oh, nothing that looked very valuable. Jes' a little lead roll with a +bottle full of what looked like black sand in it." + +"Got it right here," said Jack, producing the bottle which the +professor had given back to him. + +"Glory be!" exclaimed Zeb Cummings, as he took the lead-wrapped vial +as though it was something precious. "I was afeard that if anyone +found it they might hev thrown it away, bein' as it don't look as if +it amounted ter anything much." + +"Is it valuable?" asked Jack, who could not restrain his curiosity. + +"That's jes' what I don't rightly know," rejoined Zeb. "I reckon I'd +better tell yer how I come ter git it an' then you kin judge fer +yourselves." + +"We'd like to hear," said Jack, who had felt all along that there was +some mystery about the yellow-bearded giant. + +"All right! Sit down and I'll tell yer ther yarn. But say, who is yer +friend? No offense meant, ye understand." + +"This is Professor Jerushah Jenks," said Jack. + +"What, the guy that knows all about rocks and such like?" burst out +the miner. + +"I believe I have achieved some small fame in that line," said the +professor. + +"Wa'al if this don't beat pay dirt I'm a Piute," exclaimed the miner. +"Give us your hand, Professor. I was on my way ter see you when that +thar buzz wagon busted me higher nor a turkey buzzard." + +"On your way to see me?" echoed the professor in amazed tones. + +"Yes, siree bob, that very identical thing," was the bronzed miner's +reply. + +"But I don't quite understand. You see I----" + +"That's all right, Professor. We'll git down ter pay dirt direc'ly," +said the miner. "You know of the Scientific Society in Bosting, of +course?" + +"I am a member of that body, sir," was the dignified reply of the +little man. + +"Well, they giv' me your name. Said you was the biggest bug on rocks, +minerals and sich in the country and so I sets out to pay a call on +you." + +"But you were many miles from where I live," said the professor. "The +railroad, or the trolley----" + +"Don't carry folks for nothing," interrupted Zeb, "and nothing's my +capital right now." + +"You mean that you were walking from Boston?" asked the professor. + +"That's right," was the reply. "Landed there on ship from round the +Horn last week. Got paid off but some sneak thief in the boarding +house I was stopping at got my roll. So I had to hoof it." + +"But what did you want with me?" asked the professor. + +"I wanted you ter tell me ef that thar stuff in the glass tube is +worth anything or nothing," was the reply. + +"Why, do you know where there is more of it?" asked the professor, and +the boys could see that he was oddly excited, although preserving an +appearance of outward calm. + +"Yes, siree," was the emphatic reply. "I know whar thar's enough of it +to load a freight train." + +"Shades of Huxley!" gasped the professor, actually turning pale. "Do +you mean that?" + +"I sure do, Professor. It's all down on a map what Blue Nose Sanchez +give me afore he passed in his checks." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +A TALE OF THE COLORADO. + + +"Do you fully realize what you are telling me?" asked the professor. +The doctor and the nurse had left the room, and the miner, the +scientist and the boys were alone. + +"Course I do," was the rejoinder of the yellow-bearded giant with the +bandaged head. "There ought ter be a fortune in it 'cording to what +Blue Nose Sanchez said. Was he lyin', Professor?" + +"I don't think so. But tell us your story," urged the man of science. + +"Well, it begins some months ago. I was prospecting down along the +Colorado River. It was in a mighty bad place. Don't rightly know just +how I ever got thar, but thar I was. Wonder was I wasn't killed ten +times over 'fore I got to whar I was. But I guess I'm pretty tough. + +"That Colorado River is a pretty tough place down where I was. +Nothing but desert all around, and just a swift dashing current at the +bottom of a canyon that looks like it went into the middle of the +earth with steep, dark walls that seem to go straight plum up to the +sky. + +"But I was lured on by the thought of making a big strike. At last I +got down to a place where the banks was so high and steep that it was +like twilight even at noon. Grub was gittin' to be a question with me, +and I'd about made up my mind to turn back, but I thought I'd make one +more last try. + +"I set to work on a rocky bank with my pick but nary a color--that's +what we call a trace of gold--could I uncover. + +"Wa'al, says I to myself, it's up stakes fer you, Zeb, unless you want +to starve afore you git back to civilization. But as it was evenin' +then I decided to stay whar I was that night and strike back early the +next day. + +"Here's whar Blue Nose Sanchez comes inter ther story. They called +him 'blue nose,' I guess, because of a premature blast that had blown +powder into his nose and turned it that color. Anyway, he was a mighty +homely specimen. + +"It was just gittin' light in the canyon, although it must have been +broad day up above, when I hears an almighty hollering up the gulch. +The next thing I knows, round a bend comes a small boat. There's two +men in it. They must have been crazy to try to make the passage, for +the river is just a mass of rapids and whirlpools, and I never heard +of anyone trying to shoot 'em. + +"But thar was these two fellows in this boat, and they was scared, +too, I kin tell you. Wa'al, I stood thar like a stuffed pig on the +bank watching 'em as they came toward me at the speed of an express +train. Suddenly one of 'em, the chap that was trying to steer, twisted +the oar he was guiding the boat with and it cracked under his weight. +He went overboard in a flash. + +"The next moment, with a yell of fright that I kin hear yit, the boat +was hurried past me on that water that boiled like yeast in a kittle, +and in a flash it had disappeared round another bend. What became of +it I never knew, but it must have been upset and the man in it +drowned. No boat could have lasted long in that water, even with an +oar to steer it, and that was gone. + +"I waded out inter ther water as far as I dared and by some freak of +the current the man who had toppled out of the boat came within my +reach. I grabbed him and dragged him ashore, more dead than alive. I +done what I could for him and he came to after a while. That was how I +met Blue Nose Sanchez. + +"Well, sir, Blue Nose was a mighty sick man, even then. He had fever +and was a ravin' lunatic at times, but at intervals he made out to +tell me suthin' of his story. Him and his partner, a fellow he called +Foxy Joe, was on their way to find a little island down ther river +where no white man but only one had been. This man was a friend of +Foxy Joe's and the two met up in Yuma. Foxy's friend had a lot to tell +him about a wonderful island some Injuns had told him about whar +there was some sort of mysterious mineral. By what Joe could make out +this mineral was nuthin' more nor less than radium." + +"Radium!" exclaimed the boys. + +"That's right," went on the miner. "Foxy's friend allowed that there +was cartloads of it lyin' loose thar 'cording to the description the +Injuns give him, and he showed Foxy a sample of the stuff. That sample +is in this little lead-wrapped bottle. It's wrapped in lead 'cos +otherwise it 'ud make sores on you when you carry it about. It's +workin', workin' all the time, frum what I kin make out. + +"Well, 'cordin' ter ther way Blue Nose Sanchez tells it, Foxy and the +man who knew about the island and had a rough plan of it the Injuns +drew fer him, had a fight, and Foxy kills him, or thinks he has. Blue +Nose sees it and sees Foxy take the map and the little lead-wrapped +bottle off the body. He suspects somethin' and tells Foxy that he'll +give him up to the law if he don't let him in on it. So Foxy tells +him all about it and him and Sanchez, who was then a mule rustler, +agrees ter go partners and go git ther radium, or whatever it is. + +"They builds this boat, the one that disappeared, and in order that +Foxy shouldn't play no tricks, that bein' his disposition, Sanchez +'lows he'll take both the sample and the map. Foxy sees no way out of +it but to give in and that's the way it's fixed. + +"The boat is taken out of Yuma in sections and then put together in a +place whar nobody ain't likely to come nosin' around. Then they starts +out on what I guess was the most darn-fool enterprise any two locoed +fortune-hunters ever undertook. How it ended you know. They both got +fever, but Sanchez was the worst. He died that same evening, his +tumble in the water havin' made him worse. I buried him there as best +I could and then, as he had wished, I takes the sample and the map. + +"'Some day,' he told me, just afore he closed his eyes for good, +'you'll be glad you saved me, even though it was too late.' + +"Well, I beat it back and get out of the canyon more dead than alive +and finally make a small strike. I go to San Francisco with it and try +to git ther stuff analyzed, but everyone I tole about it laughed at me +and said I was crazy. So, thinks I, I'll come East. My money was about +all gone, so I shipped afore ther mast on a Cape Horn ship, and got +here. + +"Now, you have me tale, old top," grinned the good-natured miner, and +added: "Well, has my toe-and-heeling been worth its salt?" + +The professor nodded solemnly. + +"What is it?" cried Jack, his heart beating with a strange, wild hope. + +Tom and Zeb echoed Jack's eager question. + +"My friends," declared the little man of science pompously, "we have +reason to believe that a wonderful discovery has been made, namely, +Z.2.X." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +ZEB CUMMINGS. + + +"Z.2.X., the most radio-active stuff in the world!" exclaimed Jack. + +"I suppose that approximately describes it," said the professor, "but +what do you know about it?" + +Jack explained how ardently his father had wished for the missing +element to make his system of radio telephony the most efficient in +use. + +"Well, if what Sanchez said was true, and the map is right, there is +plenty of it right on that island," said the miner. + +"Yes, that may all be," objected the professor, "but how are you going +to get at it?" + +"Wa'al that's a poser. You can't reach it in a boat and you can't +reach it over the desert," said Zeb. "The country all round there is +dry as an oven and, anyhow, if you got to ther banks of ther Colorado +right by ther island ther's no way of gitting _down_ to ther island. +Sanchez says that the Injuns told Foxy's friend that a long time ago, +when first they found the stuff on the island, there was a way of +getting down to it. But an earthquake sunk the river bed and nobody +had been thar since the Injuns that found it. He said that they first +come to take notice of it by reason of the way it shined at night. But +only a few of the tribe would go near on account of their thinking the +place was haunted." + +"Have you got that map?" asked the professor. + +"Yes, if you'll reach my coat I'll show it you," said the miner. + +Jack gave him the ragged garment off a hook at the back of the door. +Zeb fumbled in the pockets for a minute and then brought out a knife. + +"A rip more or less won't make no difference," he said, and cut a +slash down the lining. There, carefully stowed inside, where it could +not be suspected, was a folded, time-yellowed paper. + +The miner opened it slowly and spread it out on the counterpane. The +boys, not without a sense of shock, noted a dark, rusty-looking stain +upon it. It struck them that the marks might be the life blood of the +treacherous Foxy's friend who had met a tragic end in Yuma. + +Zeb, with a broad and blackened forefinger, traced the course of the +Colorado. At length his finger paused at an island marked in red. +There was some fantastic Indian lettering, or sign-drawing, about it, +and underneath, in a white man's handwriting, were the words: +"Rattlesnake Island." + +"I reckon Foxy Joe's friend must hev written that in," commented Zeb. + +"It looks that way," said the professor, who had poured the sample of +mineral-bearing sand back into the vial and restored it to Zeb +Cummings. + +"Rattlesnake Island," repeated Jack. "Are there any rattlers down that +way?" + +"Yes, and gila monsters and tarantulas and centipedes," replied Zeb +cheerfully. "But you soon get used to 'em." + +Some other islands were marked on the map, but Rattlesnake Island was +the only one designated by name. + +"That must be the place whar all that stuff is, then," decided Zeb. "I +wish thar was some way of gittin' thar." + +"If there is even only a small fraction of the mineral-bearing sand +there," said the professor, "there's a fortune in it." + +"Wa'al if you can't git it out what good is it?" said Zeb +philosophically. "Anyhow, I'm glad that Sanchez spoke the truth with +his dying words. Maybe thar is some way, except by water, in spite of +what he said." + +"Maybe there is," said Jack. "It seems a shame to think of all that +rich stuff lying there neglected and unobtainable." + +"It does indeed," agreed the professor. "In that sample I find traces +of metals from which filaments for electric lights could be made and +substances invaluable in medicine for X-ray purposes as well as the +Z.2.X. which your father is convinced would make the radio telephone +as practical as the wireless telegraph." + +They would like to have stayed there all the morning poring over the +map and asking further questions of the rugged miner, but at that +moment the nurse came in and declared that the injured man must have +quiet. + +And so there, for the present, the matter rested. The professor +departed for his home greatly excited over the events of the morning, +but his excitement was a little allayed by the fear that he would be +late for his mid-day meal with dire results from Miss Melissa. + +As for the boys, they could talk of nothing else. The idea of that +lonely island, lying at the bottom of an unscalable canyon in the +midst of a burning, desolate desert, appealed powerfully to their +imaginations. Their minds were in a whirl over the strange coincidence +that had brought them in contact with a man who knew where possibly +inexhaustible supplies of the mysterious Z.2.X. lay ready for the +taking, provided it could be reached. + +"I'd give a whole lot to be able to fix up an expedition to go out +there and get that stuff," said Jack with a sigh. + +"So would I," agreed Tom. "But I guess, as Zeb Cummings said, it will +be a long time before anyone sets foot on Rattlesnake Island." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +IN THE LABORATORY. + + +That afternoon Jack broached to his father the events of the morning. +Mr. Chadwick's enthusiasm may be imagined as his son told him of the +professor's hasty analysis of the contents of Zeb Cumming's glass +vial. + +But there remained the insuperable obstacle of the remoteness of the +island where the deposits lay, and the difficulties--in fact, almost +the impossibilities--that barred the way. For the time being, however, +the matter was set aside while further experiments with the radio +telephone were conducted. As a means of increased transmitting power, +Mr. Chadwick had in mind a series of sending devices attached to one +mouthpiece. In this way he believed he could at least partially +overcome the resistance of the atmosphere, and get a higher percentage +of current. + +He had been working on the idea all the morning and was anxious for a +test. The Wondership was, therefore, wheeled out, and before long the +boys were in the air once more. As before, they sailed in the +direction of Rayburn. As they passed above the farm where they had met +with their adventure the day before, they turned to each other with a +laugh. + +Below them they could see men working on the damaged roof of the barn +and Tom burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter as he recalled +the queer sight the farmer presented dangling from the grapnel high +above his broad acres. + +"That reminds me," said Jack. "We must send him some money for that +roof." + +"How about his personal feelings?" grinned Tom. + +"I guess he wiped that score out when he blazed away at the balloon +bag." + +"Just the same, I think we'd better go pretty high up," advised Tom. +"He might fancy trying another shot at us." + +"That's so," agreed Jack, studying the men moving about far below. + +He pulled a lever and the Wondership began to rise. It was as well he +did so perhaps, for as they shot upward they could see that their +presence had been noted. They watched the men scurrying about and +pointing upward. But whether the Wondership was too high, or his +animosity had cooled after his involuntary ascension, the farmer made +no hostile demonstration, and they were soon out of Perkins' sight. + +Apparently the new device worked fine, for all through the afternoon, +at various heights and distances, they kept in perfect touch with Mr. +Chadwick. Every intonation of his voice was borne plainly to their +ears, Tom at times taking the wheel and the receivers while Jack +relieved him at the engines. + +The storm which had threatened the night before, still was hovering +about, as was evidenced by the white thunderheads piled on the +horizon. But the electricity in the air did not, as is sometimes the +case, interfere with the powerful impulses sent out from workshop and +airship. Although the air felt heavy, the instruments worked +perfectly. + +The boys flew over hill and dale for more than seventy miles prior to +any perceptible weakening in the current. But once it began to fail it +reduced rapidly until the messages were scarcely audible. But the +experiments were kept up till almost dusk, when Mr. Chadwick told the +boys to come back. + +As they returned the radio 'phones were kept working and as the +distance decreased the impulses grew stronger. + +"If only I had some of that Z.2.X.," said Mr. Chadwick, "I believe it +would be possible to send a message across the ocean or the +continent." + +Not long after this Jack heard again from his father. It was a +commonplace message enough. Sent merely to keep the air-line in +operation. + +"Here is Jupe with the afternoon mail," he said. + +"Anything for us?" asked Jack, enjoying the novel sensation of +talking through the air concerning such everyday matters. + +"Yes, there's one from Ned Nevins," was the rejoinder, "and here is +one for me from my New York brokers. Let me see--ah-h-h-h!" + +The last was a sharp exclamation, as if Mr. Chadwick had received a +sudden shock. It was followed by silence. Again and again Jack flashed +the red signaling lamp but there was no reply. + +He was seriously worried. The sudden sharp intake of breath, almost +like an outcry, that he had heard, oppressed him with a sense of +apprehension. What could have happened? Turning to Tom he called for +full speed ahead for the trip back. + +Tom was not slow in responding. He speeded the motors up to their top +capacity. In the air there were no speed laws to look out for, or +other motorists or pedestrians to avoid. It was a clear road. The +steel stays and stanchions of the stanch Wonder ship fairly hummed as +she shot forward, while an indefinable fear clutched at Jack's heart. + +He knew that his father was subject to fainting spells and he had been +overworking recently. Fast as the Wondership was cutting through the +air it felt like an eternity to Jack before the gray walls and the +well-laid-out grounds of High Towers came into view. + +The boys lost no time in landing, and not waiting to place the +Wondership in her shed, set out to look for Mr. Chadwick. Jupe came +shuffling by on his way from the cornpatch. + +"Where's dad, Jupe?" asked Jack. + +"In his labveroratory, ah reckons," answered the old colored man. +"Leastways ah ain't obfustucated any obserwations ob him round der +contagiois atmosferics." + +"Come on, Tom," said Jack. "Let's get to dad's workshop as quick as we +can." + +"Why, Jack, you--you don't think that anything has happened to him, do +you?" asked Tom. + +"I don't know. He was talking quite cheerfully to me and then, +without any warning, he gave a sort of gasp and then everything was +silent." + +The next minute the boys entered the workshop of the inventor. + +Jack's worst fears were realized as they gazed at the scene before +them. On the floor, stretched out inanimate before the radio telephone +apparatus, lay Mr. Chadwick. His right hand grasped a letter. + +His head lay in a pool of blood, oozing from a cut at the back of his +head. + +"Dad! dad! What has happened?" cried Jack, in an agony of alarm, as he +fell to his knees at his father's side. + +But Mr. Chadwick did not answer. The next moment Tom's shout for help +brought everybody about the place running toward the workshop where +the alarming discovery had been made. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +INTO THE STORM. + + +"Carry him into the house and get him to bed," cried Mrs. Bagley, the +housekeeper, wringing her hands distractedly. "Oh dear! poor +gentleman, he's bin a-workin' too hard, that's what's the matter." + +Jupe and Hank Hawkins, the handy man, picked the unconscious man up +and carried him to bed, where he was made comfortable. + +Jack and Tom made an investigation of the workshop. At first the cut +on Mr. Chadwick's head had given Jack the impression that he might +have been the victim of foul play. + +But a brief survey of the place soon dispelled these conclusions. When +he fell, the inventor struck his head against the sharp corner of a +table right behind him, Jack concluded, and in this way inflicted the +wound. + +The letter that his father had been reading when he was stricken +still lay on the floor. Jack picked it up. It was from the brokers in +New York, the same missive Mr. Chadwick had referred to over the radio +'phone just before the silence that so alarmed Jack. + +Glancing over it Jack's eyes widened. He perceived at once that the +cause of his father's sudden attack no doubt lay in the shock he had +received when he opened the envelope. The letter was curt and to the +point. + +"Your securities wiped out in panic," it said. "Wire us and advise +what to do." + +That was all, but it was enough. Jack knew that most of his father's +money was invested with the firm that had written the letter, and now +they had been wiped out in a money panic. Jack had no idea how much of +his father's fortune was affected, but it was evident from Mr. +Chadwick's collapse that he had been dealt a heavy blow. + +He was in the midst of talking to Tom about the letter when the +housekeeper came running from the house. + +"Oh, here you boys are!" she exclaimed. "You must get Dr. Mays at +once. Those red drops he gave your father are finished and I can't +find any more." + +"I'll telephone," said Jack promptly, stuffing the letter into his +pocket. + +"I've already tried that," said Mrs. Bagley, "but the line is out of +order." + +"Can't we get some other doctor?" asked Tom. + +Mrs. Bagley shook her head. + +"Dr. Mays is the only one who understands your father's case," she +said. "You must get him as soon as possible." + +"Is dad conscious yet?" asked Jack anxiously. + +"Yes, he has been trying to tell me something but I won't let him +talk." + +"We'll get Dr. Mays right away," said Jack, but then he suddenly +recollected that the electric car was slightly out of order. There +would be no time to stop and repair it then. + +Luckily the Wondership still stood outside the shed. Five minutes +later the boys were soaring aloft, bound for the doctor's house, which +was some distance away. It was not till they had fairly started that +they noticed the change in the weather. + +The thunderheads they had seen earlier in the day now spread and +covered the whole sky with a dark pall. The air was very still, as if +nature was holding her breath. Far off, though in plain view, the sea +was lying like a smooth sheet of steel-gray velvet. A sailing ship, +with sails flapping, was becalmed some distance from shore. + +"Going to rain," said Tom. + +"Worse than that, I think," said Jack. "We're in for the storm that's +been making up for two days now." + +"Well, we can get there and back before it breaks." + +"Easily. Let those motors out, Tom, we want to make good time." + +It was oppressively hot, and had it not been for Jack's anxiety he +would have enjoyed the swift cooling passage through the thundery air. +But he was strangely troubled. Did that letter mean that his father +was on the verge of ruin? + +Suddenly he bethought himself of Ned Nevins' letter. He opened it, +having pushed it into his pocket when they entered the workshop, where +Mr. Chadwick had placed it before opening the ominous epistle from his +brokers. It was a friendly, chatty note from the boy, and enclosed the +checks covering the joint dividends of Jack and Tom in the +Hydroaëroplane Company. + +"Well, at any rate, that's something," declared Jack to Tom, as he +handed him the letter and his check. + +"Yes, but if Uncle Chester is ruined, it's only a drop in the bucket," +said Tom. + +"Well, it's no use crossing your bridges till you come to them," said +Jack, "and anyhow, that letter may be only a false alarm. I've heard +they get these financial panics in Wall Street just like kids get the +measles, and they get over them as quickly." + +"I trust it will be so in this case," said Tom. + +"So do I," said Jack hopefully, but a cold fear that his father was +ruined possessed him, and made his heart feel heavy as lead. + +Suddenly, from the purple firmament, came the sound of distant +thunder. Following it a puff of wind, hot as the exhalation of an +opened oven, blew in their faces. In the distance they saw a ragged +streak of lightning tear the cloud curtains. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE "LIGHTNING CAGE." + + +"Look at that, will you!" exclaimed Tom. + +"What, you are not scared, are you?" asked Jack. + +"N-no, but I must say I'm not fond of thunderstorms Particularly when +we are carrying all that gas over our heads." + +"That new invention of mine will take care of that all right," said +Jack confidently. + +He referred to a new device of his with which the Wondership was +equipped for protecting balloon bags from lightning. In a thunderstorm +a balloon, or gas-filled dirigible, is subject to sudden variations of +electric charge which, under certain conditions, might produce sparks +leading to its annihilation. + +More especially was this the case with such a craft as this +Wondership, carrying as she did so much metal and steel wiring. The +netting of the bag, with the idea of making it as conductive as +possible, was of metal, connecting with the other metal parts of the +craft so that when a steel drag rope was lowered to the ground a +discharge of lightning striking the balloon would be passed off +harmlessly into the earth, as is the case with a lightning conductor. + +It might be supposed that making the outside of a balloon a good +conductor would invite danger from lightning. But the Boy Inventors +knew that this was not the case. While the ordinary balloon envelope +is a fairly good insulator against low voltage, it is unable to resist +the high tension of atmospheric electricity. + +Jack ascertained these facts by touching an electroscope with a bit of +balloon cloth of the kind used on the Wondership, and charged with +2,000 volts of electricity. The electroscope instantly responded. + +This showed that the balloon bag increased the electrical tension +immediately above and below it as much as it would do if it was a +perfect conductor, but the destructive action of a lightning bolt +would be greater in proportion to the resistance opposed to it. So +that, in reality, Jack's device was one of the safest that could be +imagined for protecting balloonists in a heavy storm. + +In effect, the occupants of the Wondership were enclosed in a cage. +Lightning might zip through the wires and stays, but it could not +touch them. As to the danger of letting out gas through the valve in a +strong electric field, which is almost certain to produce sparks, the +boys did not have to worry about that for to deflate the bag they +simply pumped some of its contents back into the reservoir with the +powerful gas pumps. + +But after all, Jack's device had never been tested. It looked as if it +was due to be. The wind came in sharp puffs, now hot and now cold. + +Ragged, white clouds, like wind-driven fragments of filmy lace, began +to whip across the dark heavens. The sea turned a peculiar light +green and was flecked with whitecaps. + +"We're in for it," said Jack. "Better get up the storm curtains, Tom." + +While Jack steered, Tom drew up the waterproof curtains and top which, +in rainy weather, made the Wondership quite dry and weather-tight. +Mica portholes gave light inside this extemporized cabin, and enabled +the steersman to see. + +This had hardly been done when a wild gust of wind struck the +Wondership and sent it staggering off its course. But in a jiffy Jack +regained control of the craft and headed her straight for the white +house occupied by Dr. Mays, which could now be seen, its lofty cupola +poking up above the trees surrounding it. + +"Glad we're nearly there," said Tom. "I don't much like this." + +"We're O.K.," Jack assured him. "We went through a lot worse than this +in that circular storm in Yucatan." + +"Can't we drop and run along the road?" + +"It's much longer by the road than by the air line, and remember we +are in a big hurry." + +"That's so. But we've got the return trip ahead of us." + +"Well, if it gets too bad, we'll have to come back by road," said +Jack, "but I haven't got a doubt that she'll stand anything that will +come out of this storm." + +Crash! + +The sky was rent from end to end by jagged lightning. With a deafening +roar the thunder broke, rumbling and crashing in the sultry air. + +S-w-i-s-h! + +The rain came in torrents, tearing at the storm curtains. It beat +frantically at them with a noise like that of surf on a beach. But +inside the boys were snug and dry, and the Wondership forged steadily +forward. It was a weird experience for the boys. About them the +artillery of heaven thundered and flashed. They could see each other's +faces and the black outlines of their craft in the livid flare of +flash after flash of lightning. + +Jack, with his hands firmly gripping the steering wheel, anticipating +every move of the storm-tossed Wondership like a skillful pilot, felt +his pulses throb. There was something fine in battling with the +elements like this in a stanch craft they had perfected. He felt that +no other airship then in existence would have been able to keep up the +fight. + +All at once there came a crash that drove his eardrums in. The +Wondership staggered and then seemed to leap into lambent flame. +Blinded, Jack threw his hands before his eyes, utterly forgetting for +the minute the steering wheel. + +Tom gave a shout of alarm, as he felt the craft stagger as if dealt a +mortal blow, and then begin to drop earthward. + +"We've been struck!" he yelled in panic. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THROUGH THE AIR. + + +For the fraction of a second the faculties of both boys were +paralyzed. A tingling sensation was in their limbs. Jack was the first +to recover his wits. He snatched his hands from his eyes and seized +the wheel. In a jiffy the Wondership's earthward plunge was checked. +Once more she regained an even keel. + +"Wh-what happened?" stuttered Tom anxiously. + +"We were hit by lightning," replied Jack. + +"Goodness! I thought we were goners, for a minute." + +"I confess that I did, too. But I guess the 'electric cage' worked. +Everything seems to be shipshape." + +Jack was right. Thanks to his ingenious invention, the lightning, +which had struck the aircraft, had been diffused through the safety +"cage" and safely convoyed to the earth by the ground chain made of +light manganese bronze, which had been lowered when the storm broke. + +"Just the same I don't want to get hit again," said Tom. "I thought +for a minute the world had come to an end." + +"My fingers are tingling yet," said Jack, "and I can see stars, but I +think if it hadn't been for the cage we would have likely been blown +to smithereens." + +By this time they were almost over the doctor's house and extensive +grounds. Jack manipulated the Wondership against the storm, flying in +a circle, and snapped on the powerful searchlight. With the help of +its rays he picked out a good landing place, and having set the pumps +at work abstracting gas from the bag, they soon made a good landing. + +Doctor Mays stood on his porch as they left the ship and ran through +the downpour for the house. + +"Gracious, boys!" he exclaimed, "but you certainly gave me a fright. +I thought when that bolt hit you that you were going to be +annihilated." + +"How did it look from below?" asked Jack. + +"As if you were enveloped in blue flame. Then suddenly a ball of red +fire slid from the ship to the ground----" + +"Down the conducting rope," put in Jack. + +"And exploded with a loud bang when it struck the ground," continued +the doctor. "But all's well that ends well, and now tell me what +brings you here, for I know it must be urgent business or you'd never +have ventured through such a storm." + +Jack hastily told the doctor of his father's stroke. The medical man +looked grave. + +"I'll go with you just as soon as I can pack my bag," he said. "Your +father had been overworking. I warned him of what would happen if he +did not rest up, some time ago, but he has, seemingly, disregarded my +advice." + +In a few minutes the doctor, muffled up in a raincoat, was ready to +start. But he stipulated that the run to High Towers should be made by +the road. + +"I like excitement as well as anybody," he said, "and I've been up in +your Wondership before----" + +"When it was the Roadracer," interpolated Jack. + +"Exactly; but I must confess that when I saw you a short time ago +looking like a floating ball of fire, I lost my taste for aërial +travel." + +"We'll go back by road, then," said Jack, as through the rain, which +was falling in torrents, they ran to the Wondership. + +"My, but you have it snug in here," said the doctor, as he entered the +tight, waterproof cabin. + +"Hang up your coat, doctor," said Tom, and he took the physician's +dripping mackintosh and slung it on a hook attached to one of the +stanchions. Then the start was made, with the bag partially deflated +and lying in limp, wet folds on its framework. + +Through the night, under skies fretted with lightning, the Wondership +shot forward. Out on the open road Jack ordered full speed, the great +searchlights illuming the roadway as if it were day. He felt little +apprehension of meeting other vehicles. The night was too bad to +permit of any save emergency traveling. + +The roads were deep in mud, and water spurted up from the wheels of +the flying car as it raced through the storm. But seated snug and dry +in the cabin none of them bothered about this. Little was said. Jack +had to concentrate his mind on handling the Wondership, for driving +under the conditions, and at such speed, required all the +wheel-handler's attention. + +On and on they flew, down hills and over bridges, under which, +ordinarily, quiet streams flowed, but now swollen by the rains, they +boiled and raced like angry torrents. They flashed through villages +and past farmhouses without encountering a soul, while overhead the +tempest roared and raged and flared. + +They were shooting down a hill at top speed when Jack suddenly gave a +gasp. Right in front of them, vividly outlined in the searchlight's +glare, was an obstacle. A big wagonload of hay, covered with a +tarpaulin, and deserted by its driver who, despairing of mounting the +hill in the storm, had unhitched his horses and driven off till the +weather cleared. + +The wagon was in such a position that it blocked the road, which was +sunken between high banks at that point. Jack ground down his brakes +in chagrin. + +"Blocked!" he exclaimed disgustedly. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +VAULTING TO THE RESCUE. + + +"What awful luck," muttered Tom. + +"Isn't there any way we can get by?" inquired the doctor anxiously. +"It's important that I should reach Mr. Chadwick as soon as possible." + +Jack made no reply, but bent over the gas-valve. In an instant the gas +was hissing into the balloon bag. Its wet folds swelled out, and +presently Jack started the propellers. Like a racehorse leaping a +barrier, the Wondership rose skyward. + +"Hold fast!" cried the boy in a triumphant voice. + +"Wow!" yelled Tom, "there are more ways of killing a cat than by +choking it with cream." + +The next moment the Wondership was in the road on the other side of +the hay wagon, having hurdled it like a high jumper, and was once more +on her way. + +"Jove, you boys are marvels!" exclaimed the doctor. "Is there +anything you can't do with this craft, or auto, or whatever it is, of +yours?" + +"Lots of things, I guess," said Tom, "but we haven't found many of +them yet." + +At uninterrupted speed the journey was resumed. At times so swift was +the pace that the Wondership seemed to be half flying. Thanks to her +shock absorbers, but little motion was felt, although in places the +roadway had been washed out by the torrential downpour and was very +rough. + +"Whereabouts are we?" shouted Tom, as they rushed along. + +"Near the Coon Creek Bridge," flung back Jack over his shoulder. "We +ought to sight it at any moment now." + +He peered through the blackness ahead. The searchlights failed to show +any bridge. But the young driver saw an abandoned cottage by the +roadside which had formerly been used as a toolhouse. Just beyond it +he knew the bridge should loom up with its white railings. + +But there was not a sign of it. + +Not till it was too late to stop did Jack realize what had happened. +The bridge had been washed away by the rising waters of the creek and +he was tearing at top speed for the steep banks. + +It was a moment for lightning thinking. Right ahead loomed a black pit +which he knew marked the water course. + +Suddenly it flashed into Jack's mind that in former times, before the +bridge had been built, there had been a ford at the point. + +The banks, steep elsewhere, almost wall-like in fact, were still +graded at the place where the old crossing spot had been. + +He jerked over the steering wheel with a suddenness that threatened to +overturn the Wondership. The auto-craft plunged wildly to one side and +then rushed downward. + +Before he realized it, Jack had steered her into the rushing waters of +the swollen creek. + +"All the power you've got," he cried to Tom, as the Wondership +careened and tipped madly and then recovered an even keel. Jack headed +her up stream while Tom, who hardly knew what had happened, blindly +obeyed orders. + +Jack's chief fear was that the rush of the torrential water would +carry him too far down to make a landing on the opposite side of the +old ford. In that case they would be in a bad fix, for the creek ran +for some distance between steep walls of limestone rock. + +It was a hard struggle. The twin propellers beat the air furiously, +clawing the Wondership up stream, while the water hissed and roared +all about her, and the engine labored with a noise like that of a +giant locust. + +And then, almost before he knew it, and before either Tom or the +doctor realized in the least what had happened, they found themselves +safe on the other side. They had gained the opposite slope of the ford +with hardly an inch to spare, but that was enough. + +The Wondership sped up the bank as if glad to be free of the battle +with the swollen creek, and not half an hour afterward they rolled up +to High Towers. + +Dr. Mays was met almost tearfully by Mrs. Bagley. + +"How is he?" was his first question. + +"He seems to be better, doctor, but something is worrying him," said +the worthy woman. + +"I'll go up to him at once. You boys had better stay here," said the +doctor. + +The physician was upstairs a long time. When he came down he looked +grave. + +"Is dad any better?" asked Jack anxiously. + +"He is suffering from a nervous breakdown due to overwork," said the +doctor. "The cut on his head is a mere flesh wound. But he appears to +have something on his mind. Do you know what it is?" + +Then, and not till then, for in the rush of events he had completely +forgotten it, Jack remembered the letter from the brokers. + +"Dr. Mays," he said, "you are an old friend?" + +"I hope so, my boy. You may confide in me freely if you know any +reason for your father's disquiet." + +"If you will read this, doctor, you will understand," and Jack handed +him the letter. + +Dr. Mays read it with knitted brows. + +"So this explains it," he said as he returned it to Jack. "Your father +kept muttering about foolish speculations and ruin, but would not tell +me what he meant. Now it is all clear. Poor Chadwick, I'm afraid from +what he said that his fortune, all but a small amount, is wiped out." + +"But will he get better, doctor?" asked Jack anxiously, disregarding +the monetary aspect of the affair. + +"That all depends," said the doctor seriously, "on his freedom from +anxiety." + +"You mean that he must not worry over money matters?" + +"Precisely; but, as that letter states he is ruined, it will be hard +to set his mind at rest. If there were only some way of meeting the +situation!" + +In the crucible of that moment an idea was borne to Jack that was +destined to lead him into strange paths. + +"I think I know of a way," he said quietly, "that is, if the brokers' +message is not exaggerated." + +But it was not. The next day confirmatory reports arrived of the wreck +of Mr. Chadwick's fortunes. In his room, attended constantly by Dr. +Mays, his friend as well as physician, the inventor raved of his +losses. + +"We have got to think of some way of easing his mind," said Dr. Mays, +who had placed his regular practice in the hands of another doctor so +that he might be with Mr. Chadwick. "If only his fortune could be won +back." + +"I think I know of a way," said Jack quietly. + +The doctor stared at him as if he thought the boy had taken leave of +his senses. + +"You know of a way?" he questioned incredulously. + +"Yes, sir. At least if the information Tom and I have on the subject +is correct." + +"I don't follow you," said the puzzled doctor. "Your father has lost +thousands." + +Jack nodded. + +"I know all that," he said. + +"And yet you are prepared to get it back?" + +"I said I thought there was a possibility," was Jack's quiet reply. + +"And what may that be?" + +"Did you ever hear of Z.2.X., doctor?" was the entirely unexpected +question. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +"Z.2.X." + + +"Z.2.X.? Well, such things are rather out of my line, but I have heard +of it--yes," replied the doctor, looking more puzzled than ever. "But +what do you know about it?" + +"Till two days ago--nothing," replied Jack, "but now I believe that I +know where there is a trainload of it." + +"Good heavens, boy, you don't know what you're talking about. Why, the +stuff is as valuable--as valuable as radium. Possibly it is worth +more." + +"Then even a small quantity would restore my father's fortune and his +health?" asked Jack, persisting in his line of inquiry. + +"Undoubtedly it would restore his fortune, and in my belief his +health, which he is unlikely to gain otherwise." + +"Then I'll do it," said Jack, speaking for himself and Tom, for the +two lads had discussed the idea the night before. "Those dividends +from our share of the hydroaëroplane plant will fit out an expedition, +and if we fail--well, we can still sell out our interest and help dad +get on his feet again." + +The telephone bell jangled. Jack answered it. The voice that came over +the wire was that of Professor Jenks. His tones trembled with +excitement as he spoke to the boy. + +"I have analyzed that sample from the Colorado River," he said. + +"Well, what is your verdict?" asked Jack, with a painfully beating +heart. + +"That when all the expenses of reduction and refining and +transportation and digging are deducted that it will be worth at least +$100 an ounce," was the reply. "It would bring an even higher price, +for the placing of a large amount on the market will probably have the +effect of lowering it." + +"Great Scott!" breathed Jack, "and there's a whole island of it there +for the taking." + +"Yes; but how are yow going to get it? The cliffs are unscalable, the +river unnavigable. It might as well be in Mars for all the good it +does anyone," objected the professor. + +Jack's next words were direct, to say the least. + +"I've figured out all that," he said. "We can get it, if it's there to +be got. I've a reason now for going out there if it's possible to come +to some arrangement with Zeb Cummings. Can you meet me at the hospital +this afternoon to talk over the matter?" + +"Are you serious?" gasped the professor. + +"Perfectly," Jack assured him. "If we can't get at it by earth or +water we can reach it from the air, can't we?" + +"Heaven bless my soul, I never thought of that," choked out the +professor. "I--Melissa's calling me. I'll meet you at the hospital +this afternoon." + +"Tom and I will be there," said Jack, but the professor, at the +imperious bidding of Melissa, had hung up the receiver. + +The result of the conference held that afternoon at the bedside of Zeb +Cummings was the formation of the Z.2.X. Exploration Company, the +members being Jack, Tom, Zeb Cummings and the professor. The capital +was to be furnished in equal amounts by the professor and the boys, +and Zeb Cummings was to be an equal partner in the enterprise, he +having furnished the information on which Jack hoped to rehabilitate +his father's fortunes. + +As for the professor, he did not so much regard the pecuniary side of +the expedition as the opportunity he would have to write an +epoch-making book and confound his scientific rivals. In their +enthusiasm, the adventurers did not take into consideration the fact +that the map might be wrong, or that the strange metals be just +visionary deposits. The boys' enthusiasm drowned all doubts in their +minds; Zeb and the professor never were as optimistic. + +Dr. Mays, when he had been placed in full possession of the facts and +considered them, decided that under the circumstances the boys could +go and undertook to quiet any apprehensions Mr. Chadwick might have +concerning the trip. It was found that enough had been saved from the +wreck of the inventor's fortunes to enable him to live comfortably +while the boys were away, besides which he had royalties from several +inventions coming in. Still, the bulk of his fortunes had vanished and +the radio telephone was not yet a practicable instrument to put upon +the market. + +But with Z.2.X. the boys hoped to make it a perfect transmitter of +speech over great distances. + +Of course, Jack's plan was to utilize the Wondership on the enterprise +of finding Rattlesnake Island and its treasures. After long +consultations with Zeb, who was now convalescent, it was decided to +ship the craft, in sections, to Yuma on the Colorado River and make +the start secretly from some point below there. + +It was in the midst of these plans, and while the boys' workshed was +littered with lists of provisions and equipment that Dick Donovan +injected himself into the situation. The red-headed young reporter +descended upon them one day when they were busily packing the +Wondership away in big crates, which were labeled in various ways so +as to give no inkling of the contents. + +Of course Dick, being in a way a member of the firm, had to be told +what was going on, and the result was that after a lot of hard +pleading the boys consented to allow him to come along. + +"He's got red hair," said Zeb, "and that ought to make him good on the +trail, same as a buckskin cayuse." + +The boys didn't quite see the logic of this, but they knew from former +experiences that the young reporter was a good campmate, and they +were, on the whole, glad that they had included him. But when young +Donovan came to High Towers, he was not aware that he was followed by +Bill Masterson, who, as we know, was the son of the proprietor of the +_Boston Moon_, on which paper young Masterson also worked as a +reporter. + +Ever since Dick Donovan had written for his paper, the _Boston Evening +Eagle_, the wonderful story of the boys' adventures on the trail of +the giant sloth of Brazil, other Boston reporters had regarded him as +worth watching. In some way, young Masterson learned of Dick's +frequent visits to High Towers while the preparations for the Colorado +trip were going forward. + +"It's my idea," he told his father, "that those Boy Inventors are +planning another big stunt and that Dick Donovan is to go along and +write the story. Do we want to get beaten again?" + +"We do not," said his father, a heavily-set, dictatorial man, +perpetually at war with the _Evening Eagle_. "That last beat of +Donovan's on the Brazil story jumped the _Eagle's_ circulation sky +high." + +"Well, why not let me trail along after them and find out what I can?" +said young Masterson. "No use letting the _Moon_ get soaked again, and +besides, I want to get even on those young fellows, anyhow, for the +mean trick they played in having me arrested, even if it didn't come +to anything, and the case was dropped. + +"Jove!" he cried suddenly, as a new train of thought was suggested to +him. "I'll bet I've got it. This trip, or whatever it is, they are +planning has something to do with that miner, Zeb Cummings, the chap I +ran down." + +"Well, it's worth keeping a weather eye on, anyway," decided his +father. "I guess you'll get the assignment." + +"And I'll run it down, too," declared young Masterson boastfully. "I +owe that red-headed, chesty Donovan a grudge anyhow." + +That evening young Masterson met by appointment the two youths who had +been with him in the automobile the day that Zeb was run down. They +were both sons of wealthy men, and had more money than was good for +them. Masterson found that both Sam Higgins and Eph Compton were +willing to do all they could to harm the boys who had been responsible +for their arrests, and so it came about that Jupe, on his way to the +village to post some letters, was enticed into talk one night, and +while he was chatting and accepting the good cigars three amiable +young men pressed upon him, the mail was abstracted from his pocket. + +There were two letters, one from Dick to his city editor telling him +of the progress made and informing him of the day for the start, and +the other from Jack to his father, who was a guest of Dr. Mays. Jack +gave full details of their plans and other information concerning the +trip, so that the three plotters, a few days before the expedition set +out, knew as much about it as the boys themselves. + +Armed with this information, Masterson, Higgins and Compton had no +difficulty in getting money from their parents, all of whom would have +described themselves as "keen business men." As for Jupe, he was too +badly scared to say anything about the loss of the letters, and as +Masterson, after steaming them open and abstracting what he wanted of +their contents, posted them to their proper destinations, the boys +started out on their long journey west without the slightest idea that +anyone but themselves and one or two others knew of their plans. + +The professor's going was not unaccompanied by difficulties. Miss +Melissa had insisted that if he was to accompany the expedition, she +was going along, too. This being manifestly impossible, the man of +science was driven to the subterfuge of placing a bag of fossils in +his bed to represent him. On the night of the start, Miss Melissa +looked into his room every few minutes to make sure he had not +escaped. + +It was not till morning that she discovered that the man of science +had effected his escape through his bedroom window, climbing down a +latticework to the ground. At first she was half inclined to pursue +him, but thought the better of it when she read the note the professor +had left behind. + +"Well," said Miss Melissa to her little maid, "there's one good +thing--he won't be cluttering up the house with old stones and rocks +for some time to come." + +"What shall I do with them fossils what he put in his bed to make +believe it was him, miss?" asked the maid. + +"You may throw them into the creek at the back of the house, Mary," +said Miss Melissa, and went placidly about her dusting and sweeping +and "setting to rights." + +But of all this, the professor, on the train speeding westward, was +blissfully unconscious. Perhaps even if he had known it, he would not +have cared much, for even his scientific mind was warmed and thrilled +by the prospect of the aërial search for the mineral treasures of +Rattlesnake Island. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +ON THE BORDER LINE. + + +The long train of gray-coated coaches, filmed with the arid dust of +the desert, rolled into Yuma, the little town at the junction of the +Gila and Colorado River, popularly supposed to be the hottest place in +America. The boys, glad that their long journey had come to an end, +felt that it was living up to its reputation as they alighted and +stood in the blistering heat while their personal baggage was thrown +off. + +The professor, however, was quite oblivious to the scorching rays of +the afternoon sun. He darted about seeking specimens, and he had soon +gathered up quite a collection of small rocks. In the meantime Zeb +Cummings, who was quite in his element, had helped the boys get their +things together and see them loaded on a mule wagon which rattled them +off to a small hotel, for they did not want to make themselves any +more conspicuous than was necessary. + +The boys wore gray flannel shirts, khaki trousers, stout high boots +and broad-brimmed hats, and had fastened red handkerchiefs round their +throats to keep off the sun from the back of their necks. Zeb had a +similar outfit. + +The professor, however, still wore his baggy black garments, his only +concession to the heat being a big green umbrella, which looked like a +gigantic verdant mushroom. As they drove off in a rickety sort of bus, +having with difficulty persuaded the professor to leave off specimen +hunting for a while, the boys did not notice that from the opposite +side of the train three young men had alighted who, from a point of +vantage behind a water tower, watched their movements. + +The trio were Bill Masterson and his two cronies, Sam Higgins and Eph +Compton. + +"Well, here we are, Eph," said Bill, as they watched the boys drive +off. + +"Yes, and here they are, too," grunted Eph. + +"I'm glad we've got here at last, though. Keeping out of sight on +that train was beginning to get on my nerves." + +"Same here," said Sam Higgins, stretching himself. "But I guess we +succeeded in keeping ourselves hidden all right." + +"Sure," rejoined Masterson. "They haven't a notion we are here." + +In the meantime the lads found accommodations till the next day at the +small hotel on a back street where Zeb had insisted on their coming so +as to escape observation. Yuma is full of prospectors and miners, and +every stranger in town is suspected of having some sort of a scheme, +he explained, and as a consequence is closely watched. + +Zeb's first care, therefore, was to circulate a story that the +professor, a noted savant and geologist, was going into the desert +with his party to collect specimens. This appeared to satisfy the +landlord, who was at first inclined to be curious. + +The professor had hardly been shown his room before he was out again +with his hammer and satchel and his attention was almost at once +attracted by a big stone that held up one corner of the barn at the +back of the hotel. The boys knew nothing of what he was doing till +they heard a loud, angry voice crying: + +"Hey, you in ther preacher's suit! Quit tryin' ter pull thet thar barn +down, will yer?" + +"But, my dear sir," came the professor's voice, in mild expostulation, +"are you aware that you have built your barn on the top of a splendid +specimen of primordial rock?" + +"Don't know nuthin' about a prime order of rock," came back the other +voice. + +The boys looked out of the window. They saw the landlord of the hotel, +a surly-looking fellow, with a big black mustache and tanned cheeks, +striding across the yard to the professor, who had blissfully resumed +his chipping. + +The landlord reached out one brawny hand to grab his guest, when +something happened that made him temporarily cease hostilities. A big +chunk of rock suddenly flaked off under the professor's assault. It +flew in the air and the next instant a yell of pain apprised them that +the landlord had got it right in the eye. + +The professor looked round as the man emitted a bellow of rage. + +"Bless me, where did that bit of rock go? Ah, there it is! Right at +your feet, sir," and he darted forward with a smile of satisfaction +and, picking up the chunk of rock that had struck the indignant +landlord, placed it in his satchel. + +"Thank you very much for stopping it, sir," he said, with a bow, and +then, before the thunderstruck landlord could say anything, the +scientist strolled off under his umbrella in search of more specimens. +The boys fairly choked with laughter. + +But the landlord was too dumfounded even to speak for a minute. His +face grew as purple as a plum. He appeared to be about to burst. + +"He's locoed," he burst forth at last, "locoed as a horn toad, by the +'tarnal hills." + +Then, holding a hand to his eye, he reëntered the hotel and could be +heard shouting for hot water to bathe his injury. + +Zeb, who had been out looking for a trustworthy man to take their +effects out to a spot along the river where they could put the +Wondership together without exciting undue curiosity, returned shortly +before supper with news that he had been successful in his search, an +old, wrinkled prospector named Pete McGee, who had learned the secret +of silence during the long years he had spent on the desert. + +After the evening meal old McGee put in an appearance and a bargain +was struck. But if he was, as Zeb put it, "close-mouthed" on some +subjects, he was not on others. + +"So yer are a'goin' out inter the desert, hey?" he asked the boys. + +"That's our intention," said Dick. + +The old man shook his head. + +"The desert's a tough place," he said. "A mighty tough place. Reckon +it's likely yer are er goin' prospectin', maybe?" + +The boys returned an evasive answer. But old McGee rambled on with the +crisscross wrinkles forming and fading round his washed-out blue eyes. + +"Wa'al, I had my share on it, ain't I, Zeb?" said the old man to Zeb, +who had just strolled up, smoking a short, black pipe. The professor, +after adjusting his difficulties with the landlord, was sorting and +labeling specimens in his room. + +"Reckon you have, Pete," responded the yellow-bearded miner. "You +didn't never find that thar lost Peg-leg Smith mine, did yer?" + +"No; but I will some day," declared the old man, a fanatic gleam +shining in his faded optics. "I'll find it some day, Zeb. I never got +to it, but I come mighty close--yes, sir, ole Pete he come mighty +close." + +"Tell the boys about Peg-leg Smith's lost mine," suggested Zeb. + +"Give me the fillin's, then, an' I will," said old Pete, holding out +a blackened and empty corncob, "though I'm surprised they ain't never +heard on it. Thought everybody had heard of Peg-leg's mine." + +"Wa'al, you see they come frum ther East," explained Zeb +apologetically. + +"Ah, that accounts fer it," said old Pete indulgently. "You couldn't +'spec Easterners ter know nuthin' 'bout it. 'Wa'al, young sirs, +somewheres out on the desert ter the east uv here thar is three buttes +a stickin' up, and right thar is Peg-leg Smith's lost mine whar they +say the very sands is uv gold. + +"Who was Peg-leg? Wa'al, that's in a way not very well known. Anyhow, +his name was Smith, and he was shy an off leg, and so he gets his +name. Back in 1836 Peg-leg he blows inter Yuma with a party of +trappers that hed worked down ther Colorado. + +"They decides to quit trapping and go ter gold huntin', and makes +their way up the Gila River and then cuts off inter ther desert. Frum +Yuma they goes southeast and kep' on fer four days across the desert. +At ther end of the fourth day they 'lows that ther water ain' a-goin' +ter hold out a turrible lot longer, and they decides to look fer a +water-hole in a canyon at ther end uv which stands three lone buttes +sticking up, like sentinels against ther sky. + +"Wa'al, they hunts ther canyon through but nary a drop of water. In +time they reaches ther buttes. They climbs to ther top ter see what +might lay beyond, but they see nuthin' but ther same God-forgotten +country. + +"But Peg-leg, who fer all he was minus a limb, could travel with any +of 'em, he finds at the top of the southernmost butte a lot of chunks +of black rock lying round promiscous, an' some of them has specks an' +chunks of yaller as bright as Zeb's beard on 'em. Peg-leg he opines +ther yaller is nuthin' but copper, or maybe fool's gold. + +"That night they camps, feelin' considerable blue, fer ther's mighty +little water left an' they've come too far ter go back. But in ther +distance thar's a big mountain and they make up their minds they'll +find water thar or bust and wither on the desert. + +"Ther next evening, more dead than alive, they reaches the mountain +and finds a little spring. It was ther finest thing they'd seen fer a +long time, and in honor of Peg-leg, who suggested going to ther +mountain, they calls it Smith Mountain, and that's its name to this +day. In time they worked round to San Bernardino and then Smith he +hunts up a mineral sharp who tells him that what he had found was +gold. + +"Wa'al, Smith was a curious feller, frum all accounts, and it was not +till '49 when ther big gold rush came that he thought much more about +those three buttes with the gold lying round loose as dirt on 'em. +Then he got ther gold fever. He went to 'Frisco and gets up an +expedition to find them three buttes. + +"They got down inter ther desert country all right and locates Smith +Mountain. But the dern Indians they had with 'em as guides cleaned +out the camp one fine night, and they had a hard time getting back to +civilization alive. Well, that's where Peg-leg Smith goes out of the +story." + +"Wasn't he ever heard of again?" asked Jack. + +"No, siree, not hide nor hair on him. Nobody never knows what became +of him arter they got back to San Bernardino. Some says that he went +back alone lookin' fer the three buttes and was lost in the desert and +that his bones is out thar some'eres to-day, an' others says that he +got so plum disgusted he went back home to St. Louis. But nobody +rightly knows. + +"The next heard of ther three buttes was many years later when an +Indian, who worked on Governor Downey's ranch, not far from Smith +Mountain, developed a habit of goin' away fer a few days and then +comin' back with bits of black rock chock full of gold which he traded +fer firewater and such. He didn't seem ter care if he got full value +or not. + +"'Plenty more where those came from,' he'd say. + +"Wa'al, they set a watch on him and found that he always headed off +inter ther desert by way of Smith Mountain, which would be the nat'ul +way of gettin' ter ther three buttes that Peg-leg had described. + +"Guv'ner Downey he come to hear about this in course of time, and he +come down frum Sacramento to question ther Injun. But in ther meantime +ther pesky coyote had gone and got himself killed in a quarrel over +cards and so there they was up agains' a blank wall ag'in." + +The old prospector paused to fill his pipe. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +"THE THREE BUTTES." + + +"The Injun bein' dead, the guv'ner did the nex' best thing. He +questioned his squaw. But she couldn't tell 'em much 'cept that the +Injun told her he got his last water at t'other side of Smith Mountain +and then traveled toward ther sun till erbout mid-afternoon when he +found mucho, mucho oro. + +"The guv'ner made two or three tries to locate them buttes, but he +failed. Then come along a man named McGuire, who said he knew where +the buttes was and showed black rocks with gold in 'em to prove it, +jes' like the ones Peg-leg and ther Injun had found, they was. Well, +McGuire he gets five other dern fools and off they starts and that's +the end of them. They ain't never heard of ag'in. + +"Then comes a prospector who gets lost, and in hunting for water +finds these same three buttes and the black, gold-specked rocks that +are scattered about. But he wasn't bothering about gold just then, so +he keeps on and in time finds the water hole at the foot of Smith +Mountain. + +"He comes back to Los Angeles and tries to organize a company to go to +ther three buttes. But he falls ill and when he learns he's goin' ter +die he tells Dr. De Courcy, that's his physician, that he knows whar +Peg-leg's lost mine is an' gives him a map an' directions. Arter ther +man dies, Dr. De Courcy spends all his money trying ter find ther +buttes, but he fails. Then comes a young chap named Tom Cover of +Riverside. He's wealthy and fits out a dozen or more outfits to hunt +fer ther three buttes. But after setting out on his twelfth trip he +never comes back, so they know that Peg-leg Smith's mine has claimed +another victim." + +"Is there anything to prove that Peg-leg really ever found the Three +Buttes?" asked Tom, whom this romance of the desert, like his +companions, had strangely interested. + +"You tell 'em, Zeb," said the old man. "Likely they wouldn't believe +me." + +"Proofs?" said Zeb, "plenty of 'em. The records of the old Bank of San +Francisco show that McGuire deposited thousands of dollars' worth of +gold nuggets there, and my old dad knew Peg-leg Smith and saw the +black rocks with the gold fillings that he brought out uv ther desert. +Them three golden buttes is out thar somewhar's, and some day +somebody's goin' to locate 'em and then there'll be another +millionaire in the country." + +Old McGee chuckled over his pipe. It was clear that, ancient and +feeble as he was, he still believed with all the fanaticism and +optimism of a prospector that he would be the one to find the three +buttes of gold. + +"It stands ter reason thar's gold out thar," declared old man McGee, +waving his pipe about argumentatively. "Ther good Lord never made +nuthin' thet wasn't of some use, even ther fleas on a houn' dawg, for +they keep him frum thinkin' uv his troubles. Very well, then, the +desert is good fer nuthin' else but mineral wealth, and Providence +made it so plagued hard ter git at so that everyone couldn't git rich +at oncet." + +The boys had to laugh at this bit of philosophy, but as they went to +bed they could not help thinking of the toll of lives the great barren +stretches of the Colorado desert has exacted from gold-seekers. In +Jack's dreams he seemed to be traversing vast solitudes of sand and +desolation dotted with bleaching bones, and he woke with a start to +find that it was daybreak and that Tom was shaking him out of his +sleep. + +Below, old man McGee was ready with his team and had already got on +his wagon some of the crates from the freight shed. They made a hasty +breakfast and then started out. There was hardly anybody about and +they congratulated Zeb on his strategy in conducting affairs with such +secrecy. + +But as they passed into the outskirts of the town, where the Mexicans +and Indians lived, Dick Donovan uttered a sudden exclamation. + +"Hopping horn-toads!" he gasped. + +"What's up?" asked Jack, who sat beside him. + +"Oh, nothing," said Dick, "the wagon gave an extra hard jolt, that was +all, and I thought my head was coming off." + +But the cause of Dick's exclamation had been this: From behind a +squalid hut he caught sight of three shadowy figures, dimly seen in +the half light, apparently watching the wagon and its occupants. + +They quickly withdrew as they saw Dick looking at them, but not before +the young reporter had received a startling impression that one of +them at least was familiar to him. The wagon drove out over the desert +and rumbled along till it came to a deep arroyo, or gulch, in which +stood a deserted, bleaching hut. + +"This is the place," said Zeb. + +"Sure, you can stay thar fer a year an' a day an' nuthin' but +tarant'las an' rattlers ull ever bother ye," said old McGee +cheerfully. + +The cases they had brought were quickly unloaded and lowered into the +arroyo which led down to where they could see the turgid flood of the +Colorado flowing between low banks. For at this spot the river is a +very different stream from what it is above and below, where it makes +its way to the Gulf of California between unscalable walls of cliffs +and is a succession of cruel rapids and unpassable falls. + +When old McGee drove back for the second and last load, for the +Wondership was constructed so as to "take-down" very compactly, Dick +elected to go with him. When they arrived at the freight depot the +young reporter took the first opportunity to wire his paper in Boston. + +"Find out if Bill Masterson is in town," was the substance of his +message. + +They were not to return to the camp till after the mid-day meal, so he +had plenty of time to receive an answer. This is it: + +"Masterson and two others left for the West five days ago." + + * * * * * + +"The same day that we did," mused Dick. "I wonder--but no, I'm sure. +One of those three figures lurking behind that hut was Masterson, and +he's planning some mischief, sure as a gun." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +INTO THE BEYOND. + + +"Well, this is something like camping," said Tom that evening, +stretching himself out luxuriously under a mesquite bush. + +"See here, young feller," said Zeb, who by unanimous consent had been +put in charge of the adventurers. "Are you on a pleasure trip, jes' +dropped in as a visitor like, or air you a part of this expedition?" + +"I guess I'm a part of it all right," said Tom, with rather a sheepish +grin. "At least I was under that impression." + +"Same here," said Zeb dryly. "Thar's lots to be done yet afore we're +all shipshape fer ther night. Ther's lamps ter be filled and tent +ropes set right an' then I want a trench dug around ther tents." + +"What's the trench for?" asked Jack, who had been busy with the three +tents, for they had decided on Zeb's advice not to use the old +roofless shack to sleep in. + +"No tellin' what kind of varmints, from skunks to rattlers, ain't +makin' a hotel out of it," he said, "not to mention tarant'las, which +has a most unpleasant bite, and scorpions and centipedes that ain't +much nicer bedfellows." + +This was quite enough to make the boys willing, nay anxious, to set up +the waterproof silk tents. + +"What's the trench for?" asked Zeb. "Well, if it should come on ter +rain in ther night it'll keep us dry to have a trench round each +tent." + +"Rain!" exclaimed Tom incredulously. "Why, it doesn't look as if it +ever rained here." + +"It doesn't, not more'n about two inches a year," rejoined Zeb, "but +when it does you'd think ther flood gates uv heaven had been ripped +wide open." + +"Do you think it will rain to-night?" asked Jack. + +"It looks uncommon like it," answered Zeb. "See them clouds off there +yonder?" + +He pointed to some heavy-looking masses of vapor hanging above a dim +range of saw-backed mountains off to the east. + +"In my opinion they're plum full of rain," he said. + +"In that case we'd better get ready with the trenches," declared Jack. +He picked up one shovel and gave another to Tom. The latter made a wry +face but said nothing. Tom liked hard work no better than most boys, +but he realized that the work had to be done, and so tackled it with +the best grace he could. + +Secretly he wished himself to be with Dick Donovan, who had been +assigned to go fishing to see if he couldn't get "something" fresh for +supper. The professor, as usual, was off somewhere collecting +specimens. + +But the task of digging the trenches was not as arduous as it had +appeared. The sand was soft and yielding, and the shovels made rapid +work with it. Soon a fairly deep trench was dug round each of the +temporary shelters. + +By the time the lanterns had been filled, and Zeb had cut a goodly +stack of mesquite wood, everything was ready to begin preparations for +supper. + +"We'll have a blow-out to-night," said Zeb. "Canned salmon, beans, +crackers, cheese and canned fruit, but don't expect to get that right +along. I've lived on beans and bacon for six months in this very neck +of the woods, and thought myself lucky to get that." + +"Hullo!" came a cry from the direction of the river. + +"There's Dick!" exclaimed both boys, and then as the young reporter +came into sight, "What luck, Dick?" + +"What do you know about this?" and Dick held up a fine string of +glittering fish. There were catfish, perch and two eels. + +"Good; we won't go hungry," said Zeb. "Nothing better than fried eels +and catfish." + +He greased the frying pan with a strip of bacon rind and then skinned +the scaleless catfish and eels as if he had been doing nothing else +all his life. Soon the savory odors of the frying with crisp slices of +bacon, and the aroma of coffee, filled the camp. + +The boys were so busy setting out the tin cups and plates that it was +not till Zeb beat on a tin basin with a spoon to announce that the +evening meal was ready that anyone noticed that the professor was +missing. Night was closing in and the sky was overcast. + +The boys began to worry. They set up a loud shout. + +"Pro-fess-or! Oh, pro-fess-or!" + +The little gulch rang with it. But no answer came. + +"Now what in the world has happened to him?" frowned Jack. "We must go +and find him at once. He must have----" + +[Illustration: Soon the savory odors of the frying with crisp slices +of bacon, ...filled the air--_Page_ 208.] + +The sentence was never completed. At that instant Zeb set up a shout, +and a ton of earth and rocks, more or less, came hurtling down the +steep bank into the camp. The stones and dirt were mingled with +mesquite bushes and in the midst of the landslide was a figure that +they made out to be the professor. + +Luckily, the avalanche had missed the camp-fire and the supper table, +and when they had extricated the professor, and brushed him off, the +boys learned that he had almost missed his way, and being +shortsighted, in the dark had walked right over the edge of the +steepest part of the arroyo instead of by a sloping path up above. + +However, nothing was injured about him but his feelings, and since his +bag of specimens was intact, the man of science, after a few minutes, +was able to sit down and eat with as good an appetite as any of them. + +Zeb proved himself a good weather profit. About midnight it started +raining, and such rain as the boys had never seen. It was not rain. It +was sheets of water. Even the waterproof tents began to leak, and the +fact that the trenches had been dug did not serve to keep the floors +dry, for the hard, sun-baked earth did not absorb the moisture, and +the downpour speedily spread half an inch or more of water over the +ground. + +"Turn out! turn out!" shouted Dick, who shared one of the three tents +with the boys. + +"What's the matter?" began Tom sleepily, and then splash! went his +hand into the water. + +"Gracious, has the river overflowed?" demanded Jack. + +"No, but it's raining handsaws and marlin spikes," cried Dick. "Wow! +my bed's wet through." + +"Same here," cried Jack ruefully. "I guess we'd better get out of +this." + +Outside they found the professor hopping about barefooted in the +water. He had on his pajamas with a blanket thrown round his shoulders +for protection against the rain. The boys, despite their discomfort, +could not help laughing at the odd figure. Zeb joined them, grumbling: +"We made a big mistake in camping in this arroyo. + +I ought to have had better sense. It's nothing more nor less than a +river. All the desert up above is draining into it." + +It was true. The water was almost ankle deep. Luckily, the old shanty +in which their supplies were stored was raised above the ground, and +the goods were all covered with a big waterproof canvas. + +"Let's camp out in the shanty till daylight," suggested Jack. + +"That would be a good idea if it had a roof," commented Zeb dryly. + +"Why can't we spread some of the canvas over us?" asked Tom. + +This was finally done, and thus passed most of their first night on +the desert. Yet none of them complained, but made the best of it. The +boys knew that it is the wisest plan to meet all camping mishaps with +a smiling face. + +By morning the rain had ceased. The sky was clear and the sun shone +brightly. Their wet bedding and garments were soon dried and then the +work of unpacking the sections of the Wondership was begun, for they +were anxious to have the job completed and be on their way as soon as +possible. + +Old McGee had told the truth when he said they would not be molested. + +An old Indian jogging by on a spavined horse and wrapped in a dirty +blanket was the only person they saw all day. He was looking along the +arroyo for a strayed burro. He stared at them in stolid silence for a +while and then rode off, shaking his head. No doubt he was at a loss +to account for such strange goings on. + +That evening when Dick took his line down to the river, he met with +unusually good luck. He had just added a fine carp to his pile of fish +when, chancing to look up, he saw a boat coming round the bend. + +In the craft were three figures, one of whom he recognized instantly +as Masterson. The recognition was mutual and Masterson, who had the +oars, started hastily to pull away from the place. But Dick shouted to +him. + +"Don't let me drive you away," he cried. + +Masterson shouted back something about "fresh kid" but kept pulling up +the stream, and soon he was round the bend and out of sight. + +"Now, I wonder what he is doing out here?" mused Dick, "and those two +cronies of his. They look sort of shady to me." + +He cudgeled his brains to find a reason for the presence of Masterson +so far from home, but was unable to arrive at any solution till an +idea suddenly struck him. + +"They're out here trailing us," he muttered. "Yes, I'm sure of it. But +how in the world did they ever learn our plans? I guess I'll get back +to camp and put the rest on their guard, for we don't want any spies +hanging about, and those fellows were out on a spying expedition or I +miss my guess." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +THE START FOR THE UNKNOWN. + + +But the days went by, and the Wondership stood once more assembled and +ready to take the greatest flight of her career, and no further sign +of the three worthies, whom Dick suspected of designs against them, +appeared. Zeb went to town once or twice, using a small burro for a +saddle animal. Jack heard from his father, who said that he was +progressing well, but was very much worried over money matters. + +"If only you can find the Z.2.X.," he wrote, "we can all be happy +again." + +"I will find it," Jack murmured to himself, as he concluded reading +the letter, and passed it over to Tom for his perusal. + +Dick helped with the Wondership and spent the rest of the time fishing +and hunting. He managed to get a few rabbits, but there was no other +game in the vicinity. It was too barren for deer, although it was said +there were plenty of them further down the river. The young reporter, +who had quite a mechanical genius of his own, constructed a rough sort +of boat out of boards from the walls of the old shack, and used it on +his fishing expeditions, "punting" it along with a long pole made from +a willow sapling from a grove on the river bank some distance below +where they were camped. + +One afternoon the fancy took him to pole up the current and round the +bend below which Masterson's boat had appeared the evening Dick saw +and recognized the son of the _Moon_ proprietor. + +He had not gone that way before and was surprised to find that, +instead of the low banks that edged the river where the boys were +camped, round the bend were steep, almost clifflike acclivities on +both sides of the stream. In places these were honeycombed with caves, +running back, apparently, some distance into the bank. Although Dick +did not know it, these caves had once been the dwelling places of an +extinct tribe of Indians. + +The boy was surprised to see smoke coming from one of them, for he had +supposed that they were uninhabited. + +"Maybe there are Indians up there," thought the boy. "I guess I'll +give them a look, and maybe get a good picture," for Dick invariably +carried his camera with him on the chance of getting a good snapshot +at something or other. + +A rough path led up to the cave and it was well worn by feet which +had, apparently, traversed it recently. Dick reached the entrance of +the cave and peered in. + +It was deserted; but to his astonishment he saw, from the way it was +fitted up, that whoever lived in it were not Indians. Blankets lay on +the floor, and the smoke was coming from a fire which had been used +for cooking and was dying out. The utensils were not such as Indians +use, being made of agate ware. Then, too, he noticed some old coats +and other garments hanging on nails that had been driven into the +wall. + +As his eyes grew more accustomed to the light, he saw a suitcase in +one corner. There were initials on it. Dick made them out to be W. M. + +'"W. M.'? Who can that be?" he mused. "Whoever lives here is a white +man, that is plain. But why is he a hermit? Anyhow, I'd better be +getting out of this before he comes back. I've really got no business +in here at all." + +At this juncture he heard voices coming from the river. They were +punctuated by the dip of oars. As he heard the speakers outside, +Dick's mind suddenly realized who "W. M." was. + +"What a chump I was not to think of it before!" he exclaimed. "It's +William Masterson, of course, and that's his voice outside. Gee +whillakers, they must have camped here on purpose to spy on us." + +Just then it occurred to Dick that he was, as a matter of fact, spying +on Masterson. He went to the cave door. Below was a boat containing +Masterson and his two friends. They had apparently been to town for +supplies, for the boat was full of canned goods and provisions. + +Just as Dick got to the door Masterson spied the home-made boat lying +on the bank at the foot of the cliff. + +"Say, fellows," he exclaimed, "somebody's been paying us a call." + +"Some thieving Indian, judging from the looks of that boat," said Sam +Higgins. + +"Well, we're not receiving callers of any kind right now," sputtered +Eph angrily. + +Dick crouched back into the doorway of the cave. He was trying to +think what to do. It was an awkward situation. He didn't want to be +caught in what looked, on the face of it, like an act of spying, and +yet he didn't wish Masterson and his cronies to think him a coward. + +"Say, fellows," spoke up Higgins suddenly, "you don't think it could +be one of those kids from the camp below, do you? They may have seen +us snooping around there at night and got wise to where we are +hiding." + +"It had better not be one of them," said Masterson in a loud, +threatening voice. "If I catch him, I'll break every bone in his +body." + +"I guess I'll have a fight on my hands," muttered Dick. "Well, serves +me right for butting in," he added philosophically. + +"Let's go up and see who it is?" said Eph. "He must be in the cave." + +"You go first," said Sam Higgins, who was not over-brave, "it might be +a bad man or an Indian." + +"Pshaw, I'm not afraid!" said Masterson. "Give me your pistol, Sam, if +you're scared." + +"I'm not scared, but there's no use running into trouble," said Sam. +"Besides I'm kind of lame. I think I--er--wrenched my ankle getting +out of the boat." + +"I guess you wrenched your nerve," sneered Eph. + +Then, headed by Masterson, with the pistol in his grasp, they began +to ascend the pathway. Dick was in a quandary. But he decided that the +only way to tackle the problem was to take the bull by the horns. As +Masterson reached the mouth of the cave the boy dashed out like a +redheaded thunderbolt. + +Taken utterly by surprise, Masterson stepped back. + +Bang! + +The pistol went off in the air and the next instant Masterson, despite +his efforts to save himself, toppled off the narrow path and went +rolling down the bank into the river. Luckily for him, he was a good +swimmer, and struck out lustily as he came to the surface. + +"Wow!" yelled Dick, and charged like a young buffalo at Eph. + +Young Compton tried to strike him but Dick, with lowered head, charged +him in the stomach. With a grunt Eph fell back, and in his fall +knocked over Sam Higgins, just behind him. + +"Whoop-ee!" shouted Dick, rejoicing in his triumph. He leaped over +the recumbent forms of Eph and Sam and dashed down the path to the +place where he had beached his boat. + +He jumped on board and poled off just as young Masterson reached the +shore and pulled himself out of the water. + +"You infernal young spy!" shrieked Masterson, beside himself with +rage, "I'll get even with you for this, see if I don't!" + +Sam and Eph, who had picked themselves up, shouted other threats at +Dick. But he turned round and, with a pleasant smile, waved a hand as +the current carried his boat round the bend. He felt in high good +humor at the way he had gotten out of a difficult situation. It was +fortunate for him, though, that he had taken Masterson and his cronies +so utterly by surprise, otherwise the adventure might have had a +different conclusion. + +He had established one fact, however, and that was that Masterson and +the others were spying on them every night and watching every step in +their preparations for the departure for Rattlesnake Island. + +That night a strict watch was kept in the camp, all the adventurers +taking turns at sentry duty. But nobody came near the place. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +THE PROFESSOR'S SECOND DILEMMA. + + +Early the next day old man McGee paid them a call. He came to take +back the burro they had hired from him for convenience in getting back +and forth from Yuma. He also wanted to get a ladder which had been +left at the deserted shanty. The old man rode into camp on a +razor-backed horse and professed great astonishment when he saw how +nearly completed the work on the Wondership was. + +"But you kain't fool me," he said knowingly. "I may be old but I'm +wise. That thing fly? Why, you might as well tell me the Nat'nul Hotel +in Yuma could go kerflopping about in the air. By the way," he went +on, "frum ther talk in ther town you ain't ther only ones as is goin' +down ther river. There's three young chaps has bought two boats and +allows that they're fixin' to take a trip." + +"Is that so?" exclaimed Jack with a significant look at his chums. "I +think we can guess who they are." + +But old man McGee was busy fussing with the donkey and didn't hear +him. He was going to carry the ladder back to town on the little +creature's back. He lashed the ladder across the saddle so that it +stuck out on both sides of the burro, who viewed the proceedings with +a kind of mild surprise. It brayed loudly and flapped its long ears in +a way that made the boys laugh heartily. + +"There," said old man McGee at last, "that's done. Now I reckon I'll +bid you so-long and good-luck, and be on my way. When are you goin' +ter start?" + +"To-morrow morning," replied Jack, "if everything is all right." + +"Hold on a minute," said Tom suddenly, as old man McGee was riding +off. "I've got a notion for some rabbit pie. Give me the rifle, Dick, +and I'll go a little way with Mr. McGee, as far as that little willow +wood where you got the cotton-tails." + +"All right," said Dick, "and tell you what I'll do. I'll come, too. I +can borrow Jack's rifle." + +"It's in the tent," said Jack. "Take good care of it." + +"I'll do that," promised Dick. + +Jack and Zeb went back to their task of putting the finishing touches +on the Wondership, stocking her lockers with provisions for the +Rattlesnake Island trip, while old man McGee, accompanied by the two +boys, rode out of the camp. + +The professor was away collecting specimens somewhere and had not been +seen since breakfast time. + +The donkey, carrying its odd burden, walked behind old McGee's horse +and the boys kept pace alongside, listening to the old prospector's +everlasting stories of how some day he would strike it rich. His faith +never wavered. He believed implicitly that eventually he would make +the "big strike" and live in affluence for the remainder of his life. + +The willow grove, where Dick went rabbit-hunting, was up the river and +on its banks far away from the water nothing grew but cactus, +greasewood and mesquite. As they neared it the monotony of the walk +began to pall on Dick. He wanted to have some fun. + +He fell behind and took a magnifying glass from his pocket. It was one +he used in his photographic work. Holding it up he focused the sun's +rays through it so that they fell in a tiny burning spot on the +donkey's back. After a few seconds the heat burned through. The donkey +gave a loud bray and kicked up its heels wildly. + +Before old man McGee knew what was happening, the creature had jerked +the rope by which he was leading it out of the old man's hand and +dashed off toward the willow wood. + +"Hey, come back, consarn ye!" shouted old McGee. "What's the matter +with ther critter, anyhow? He's gone plum daffy." + +Dick, doubled up with laughter, watched the circus. There was the +donkey with the ladder across its back racing at full speed toward the +wood, and after it came old McGee on his bony old horse, shouting at +the top of his voice. + +Straight for the wood the donkey raced, kicking up its heels and +braying loudly. It dashed in among the trees of the willow wood and at +the same instant there came an appalling yell from among the trees. + +"Gracious, what's happened now!" gasped Tom, and then catching Dick's +laughing eye, he exclaimed: + +"Dick, this is some of your work!" + +"Maybe," said Dick, still choking with laughter, "but what on earth is +happening in the wood?" + +"Help! Lions! Help! They're after me! Help!" + +The cries came thick and fast. + +"It's the professor," choked out Dick. + +"He says there are lions in there," cried Tom, looking rather +alarmed, but at this juncture something happened to the donkey that +momentarily distracted their attention. In trying to pass between two +saplings the animal had bumped the ladder against them and brought +itself up with a round turn. But it still struggled forward and kept +up its braying: + +"Cotched, by ginger!" shouted old man McGee. He galloped toward the +runaway donkey, but the next moment a curious thing happened. + +In pressing forward, the donkey had bent the saplings over with the +ladder until it became entangled in their branches. Suddenly the +animal ceased struggling and the saplings sprang up, no longer having +any pressure on them, and the donkey was fairly lifted from its feet +and carried up into the air. And there he hung, threshing about with +his hoofs and suspended from the ladder. At the same instant the +figure of the professor emerged from the wood. He looked rather +sheepish. + +The boys ran up to him. + +"What's the matter, professor?" asked Dick. + +"Yes, you called for help," added Tom. + +"Um--er--ah did I call?" inquired the man of science. + +"You certainly did. You scared us almost to death," said Dick. + +"Something about lions," added Tom. + +"Lions--er--did I say _lions_, boys?" + +"You did," Dick assured him. + +The professor gave a rather shamefaced smile. He looked at the donkey +suspended from the ladder between the two straightened saplings. + +"Um--er--perhaps it would be better to say no more about it," he said. +"I do not suppose that I am the first man to have been scared by a +sheep in wolf's clothing." + +"Or a donkey in a lion's skin," chuckled Dick. + +In the meantime old man McGee had arrived at the donkey's side and was +scratching his head to think of some way to relieve it from its +predicament. The boys solved the problem for him by cutting the +branches that held the ladder and Mr. Donkey came down to earth. The +professor, with rather a red face, had gone back to his work of +collecting specimens, which the arrival of the long-eared beast had +interrupted in such a startling manner. + +"Thar, I hope that's taught you some sense," said old man McGee, as +the donkey was once more on terra firma. As he rode off, Dick burst +into shouts of laughter. His little joke had certainly turned out to +be better than he expected and for many days after that he had only to +slyly introduce some talk about a lion to cause the professor to look +at him in a very quizzical way. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +THE UPPER REGIONS. + + +The boys were up with the sun the next day. It was the morning which +was to witness the start of the flight for Rattlesnake Island. +Everything about the Wondership was in readiness for the enterprise, +and there only remained the tin breakfast utensils and the tents to be +packed when they had concluded the morning meal. + +Naturally excitement ran high. The hunt for the island, too, might be +a long one. But they felt that ultimately they would find it, that it +would not be like the three buttes of Peg-leg Smith. + +When everything was declared ready, Jack opened the charging-tube of +the gas reservoir and poured in some of the volatile powder that made +the lifting vapor. In fifteen minutes the gauge showed a good +pressure in the tank and the valve was turned. + +In the hot sun the balloon bag expanded quickly. At length the bag was +almost full. + +"Everything ready?" cried Jack, at length, when all were on board. + +"Ready," said Tom at the engines. + +"Then off we go!" + +Tom pulled the clutch lever and the propellers whirled. Jack gave the +steering and controlling wheel an impulse and like a huge bird the +Wondership shot up. But she rose slowly, for besides the unusual +number of passengers, she was also carrying a great weight in +supplies. + +As the craft rose three figures watched it from under the concealment +of a clump of mesquite. + +"There they go, boys," said Masterson, for it was he and his two +cronies. + +"Yes, they're off for Rattlesnake Island," sneered Eph. "I hope they +get bitten." + +"I'll bet they don't dream that we know everything about their +plans," chuckled Sam. "I'd like to get even with that red-headed kid." + +"Well, you'll get a chance before long," declared Bill Masterson. "I +don't see that there's any use in hanging around here any longer," he +went on. "The thing to do now is to get our boats and go down the +river." + +"Won't they be astonished when they see us," said Eph. + +"Maybe they'll try to chase us away. They outnumber us," said the +timid Sam. + +"They'd better not," vaunted Bill Masterson. "I guess we've got as +good a right to that old island as they have." + +"That's right," echoed Eph, following his leader's sentiments. "I +guess they haven't got any mortgage on it." + +Viewed from the Wondership, the desert spread out below was a +wonderful panorama. Through it, like a deep wound, the Colorado cut +its way and far beyond were the pale, misty outlines of mountains. As +they flew onward, the character of the scenery began to change. + +The river appeared to sink, while mighty walls, of most gorgeous +colors, cliffed it in. The rocks glowed with red and yellow and blue +like a painter's palate. But this was only in the deep canyon. On +either side the desert, vast and unlimited, stretched away grayly to +the horizon. + +"It must have taken centuries for the river to have cut such a deep +valley," said Tom, looking down as they flew far above it. + +"Some say that the river didn't cut it," said Zeb. "They claim that +there was a big earthquake or some sort of a shake-up, and that made +that big hole in the ground." + +Below them they could see birds circling above the swiftly racing +waters flecked with white foam. So far no sign of land answering the +description of Rattlesnake Island had come in view. But several small, +isolated spots of land were encountered, and on one, which looked +something like Rattlesnake Island described on the map, they +descended. + +The boys were delighted at the way the great Wondership settled down +into the canyon and then came to rest on the back of the island round +which the water rushed and roared. They scattered and ran about on it, +enjoying the opportunity to stretch their legs. + +Jack, Tom and Dick took a rifle along with them and they were glad +they had done so, for as they made their way through a patch of brush +a beautiful deer sprang out and dashed off. Jack had the rifle at his +shoulder in a minute and the creature bounded into the air, as the +crack of the report sounded, and then fell dead. + +The boy felt some remorse at having killed it, but he knew they would +be in need of fresh meat and some venison would be a welcome addition +to the ordinary camp fare. The boys carried the deer back and Zeb +skillfully skinned and quartered it. While he was doing this, the boys +speculated as to how the animal could have come to the island. + +Zeb set their discussion at rest by explaining that it had probably +swum the rapids to escape a mountain lion or a lynx. He said that he +had often shot deer under similar conditions. As it was almost noon, +they decided to wait on the island till they had eaten lunch. Zeb +sliced off some venison cutlets and cooked them to a turn over hot +wood coals. The boys thought they had never tasted anything better +than the fresh meat. + +While the plates and knives and forks were being washed and put away, +the professor wandered off on his perennial quest of rocks and +specimens. He said that he would be back in a short time but was +anxious not to miss the opportunity of finding some possibly rare +stones. + +But everything was ready and the boys were waiting impatiently half an +hour later, and there was no sign of the professor. + +Suddenly they heard his voice shouting to them from the distance. + +"What's he saying?" asked Jack. + +"Hark!" admonished Tom. + +The professor's shouts came plainly to their ears the next minute, +borne on a puff of wind that swept through the canyon. + +"Help! Help!" was the burden of his cries. "Get me out!" + +"Now, what's happened to him?" demanded Zeb, with a trace of +impatience. + +"I don't know, but he must be in trouble of some sort," cried Jack. + +"Maybe it's another donkey," mischievously suggested Dick. + +The cries were redoubled. They waited no longer but started off across +the island on the run. Zeb carried his big forty-four revolver. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +A MUD BATH. + + +The ground was rough and rocky but they made good time. Bursting +through a screen of trees from beyond which came the professor's +piteous cries, they received a shock. + +The man of science was in the center of a large, round hole full of +black mud that bubbled and boiled and steamed as if it were alive. All +that was visible of the professor was the upper part of his body. + +Seriously alarmed, the boys shouted to him to keep up his courage, and +that they would get him out. + +"How did you get in?" asked Zeb, cupping his hands. + +"I fell in," rejoined the poor professor. "The ground gave way under +my feet. Hurry and get me out, it's terribly hot." + +They looked about them desperately for some means of extricating him +from his predicament. But just at the moment none was offered, and +with every struggle the professor was sinking deeper in the black, +evil-smelling pool of mud. + +"Gracious, what are we to do?" cried Jack in despair. + +"He's too far out to reach him," said Zeb, equally at a loss. + +"But we must do something," chimed in Tom. + +Suddenly Zeb had an inspiration. A tree grew on the banks of the mud +volcano, the sudden caving in of which, under the professor's weight, +had precipitated him into it. + +"If I could get out on that branch," said Zeb, "I might be able to +bend it enough to bring my feet over him and then work back toward the +edge of the mudhole." + +"It's worth trying--anything is worthy trying," agreed Jack. + +Zeb took off his coat and then shinned up the tree. Then, hanging by +his hands he began working out along the branch. As he went it bent +till it hung right over the mudhole. Before long his feet dangled +above the professor's head. + +"Now then, professor," panted Zeb, "take hold on my feet and work +along toward the edge of the hole with me." + +The professor seized Zeb's boots with the grasp of a drowning man. The +branch cracked ominously. + +"Easy thar, professor," warned Zeb earnestly. "Don't pull more'n you +can help or we'll both be in the soup." + +The professor lightened his grip and slowly, hand over hand, Zeb began +the slow journey back along the branch. It was a feat only possible to +a man whose muscles were of iron. And before it was over even Zeb was +almost overcome. Perspiration streamed from his forehead and soaked +his shirt as he dropped from the branch, having accomplished the +journey and pulled the professor to the bank. + +[Illustration: The professor seized Zeb's boots with the grasp of a +drowning man.--_Page_ 240.] + +"That's what I call toeing a man out of trouble," punned Dick, in +the general relief that followed. + +"Good thing it warn't no further," puffed Zeb, mopping his forehead. +"My arms feels as if they'd been stretched on one of them racks you +read about in the history books." + +"How did it happen, professor?" asked Jack, as they scraped the mud +off the scientist. + +"It's hard to say," was the response. "I was walking along, intent on +my collecting, when I came to a barren patch of ground that was +crusted over with stuff that looked like salt. I stepped out on it to +investigate and suddenly in I went. Faugh! how it smells." + +"Yes, it isn't exactly perfumed," said Jack. "But how did such a place +come there?" + +"It's one of those mud-springs of hot water that are found in several +places throughout the West," said the scientist. "It must have been +quiescent for some time and then the thin skin of alkaline earth +formed over it. In Europe, or if we had that spring near a large +city, it would be possible to make a fortune with it." + +"In what way?" asked Dick. + +"As a curative bath," replied the professor. "Every year people spend +fortunes to go to Europe and take just such baths." + +"Reckon I'd go without washin' then," commented Zeb. + +"I'd just as soon bathe in rotten eggs," said Dick. + +"Well," said Jack, "I guess we've got off about all the mud we can for +the present. We'd better be getting back. It's mighty fortunate that +we came in time." + +"Yes, I was slipping into the stuff all the time," said the professor. +"If I'd been alone on the island I might have never been seen again," +he added in quite a matter-of-fact tone. "It's too bad I lost that bag +of fossils, though. I had some fine specimens." + +"Goodness, no wonder you sank down!" exclaimed Jack. "Why didn't you +let go of them?" + +The scientist was mildly surprised. + +"Why, how could I," he asked, "until it became a question of life or +death? It's too bad I had to lose them," and he shook his head +mournfully at the thought. + +The journey was soon resumed, the Wondership rising buoyantly out of +the dismal canyon. They were not sorry to get back to the upper air +for the gloom of the deep gulch had affected their spirits. But so +much time had been consumed in getting the professor out of his +predicament that it was not long before twilight set in and they still +had caught no glimpse of anything resembling the island they were in +search of. + +They decided to come to earth and make camp for the night and resume +the search in the morning. They made a hearty supper off the venison +which remained, and turned in, without setting any watch, as there was +no necessity for it out there with not a soul about for scores of +miles. + +It was about midnight when Jack was awakened by a wild yell from Tom. + +"Ow! Ouch! Leggo my toe!" the younger of the Boy Inventors was +shouting. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +NIGHT ON THE COLORADO. + + +"What's the matter? What has happened?" cried Jack. + +"Is it Indians?" cried Dick, who had a lively imagination. + +"Something grabbed my foot," declared Tom. + +"Grabbed your foot?" repeated Jack. + +"Well, maybe, nibbled at it, would be better," replied Tom. "It isn't +hurt, but I was awakened by it. I guess the thing, whatever it was, +must have been scared away." + +"What could it have been?" came from Dick. + +"Perhaps it was a bear," suggested Tom. + +"A bear, nonsense. I guess it was all imagination," scoffed Jack. "You +ate too much at supper, Tom." + +"It was not imagination, I tell you," retorted Tom indignantly. "I +felt it just as plainly as anything." + +"Well, I don't see what----" began Jack and then he broke off. + +From outside the tent had come an appalling crash of tin dishes, +followed by unearthly grunts and squeals. The uproar was terrific. It +sounded as if every piece of tinware in the camp was being hurled and +battered around. + +"What under the sun----?" gasped Jack. + +"It's Indians; they've attacked the camp," cried Dick. + +A weird screech split the night. Jack seized up a rifle. + +"Come on, boys," he cried, but it might have been noticed that Dick +was not particularly alert in following. + +Zeb and the professor rushed out of their tents and their shouts added +to the confusion. There was a bright moon and by its light Jack saw a +small, peculiarly-shaped animal charging about blindly here and there. +The next minute he saw, too, that the creature's head was caught fast +in an enameled cooking pot. + +It rushed about and uttered the muffled squeals that had attracted +their attention. Jack raised his rifle and fired. The creature fell +dead at the first shot. Zeb and Jack rushed up to it. + +"A badger!" exclaimed Zeb, "and he's got his greedy head stuck fast in +that mush cooker." + +"And in charging about trying to get it off he'd made a wreck of our +pantry!" exclaimed Jack, looking at the tin utensils scattered in +every direction about the wooden box in which they were kept. + +"It must have been that badger that came sniffing at my toes," said +Tom. + +"Or maybe it was Indians," laughed Jack, looking slyly at Dick, who +was glad that they couldn't see how red he turned. + +"Indians?" exclaimed the professor guilelessly. "Were there any +Indians about?" + +"Dick thought he saw some," explained Jack with a chuckle. + +The dead badger was pulled out of the pot into which it stuck its +head to lick out the remains of some oatmeal that had adhered to its +side, and the boys went back to bed. But they did not sleep much after +the uproar into which the camp had been thrown, and were glad when it +began to grow light. + +Zeb cooked a fine breakfast to which he urged everybody to do justice, +as they had a long and possibly a trying day ahead of them. The badger +was given decent burial by Dick. + +"Let its fate be a lesson to you," said Jack, at which they all +laughed, for Dick was always on the spot at meal times. + +When the morning meal was finished and the things all packed away, the +Wondership was inflated and soared into the clear air. Nights and +early mornings on the desert are cool, and it was crisp and +invigorating in the hours before the sun had risen high. But by noon +the heat grew blistering, and they were still soaring above the river +without a trace of Rattlesnake Island being visible. + +However, that afternoon they sighted a group of islands of which the +largest at once attracted their attention. A prominent feature of +Rattlesnake Island, as outlined on the map, was a big dead pine, +situated like a beacon, at the summit of the peak into which the +island rose. + +The river at this point broadened out. Great cliffs overhung it. They +were made up of strata of brilliant colors. It looked from above as if +they had been painted by some titanic sign painter--nature, the +artist. + +Jack was the first to call attention to the island which had caught +his eye while he scanned the river below them with the binoculars. He +at once noticed its formation, long and narrow, with a high, rocky +peak rising out from amongst trees and bushes which clothed it almost +to the summit. + +Then his eye caught a great white pine trunk, standing like a +flagpole almost at the apex of the peak. + +"Hurrah, boys!" he cried. "I guess that's the place. Welcome to +Rattlesnake Island!" + +Tom was steering, "spelling" Jack at the wheel. + +"You can see the island?" he demanded. + +"Yes, or if it isn't it, it's like enough to be its twin brother." + +Everybody began to get excited. Zeb took the glasses and after a +careful scrutiny and a reference to the map, declared that the island +below them tallied in every way with its description. + +"Then down we go," said Jack. + +"All right," nodded Tom, who was almost as good an air pilot as his +cousin. + +The Wondership dropped rapidly. Soon they were immediately above the +island, which was now seen to be rocky and precipitous, except at one +end where there was a great open place, bare and desolate looking. + +On the edges of this cleared spot, which looked swampy and +unwholesome, were serried rows of trees, every one of which was dead +as if from a blight, and offering with their gaunt, leafless branches +a sharp contrast to the green leafiness of the rest of the island. + +Jack scanned the place sharply as they dropped down and Tom prepared +to land on the edge of the swamp. As they got closer to the ground, he +suddenly became aware of something that caused him a sharp shock of +surprise. + +"Why there's somebody on the island!" he exclaimed. + +"Somebody on the island?" echoed Zeb incredulously. + +"Yes, or at least there's a dwelling place." + +The boy pointed to a rude sort of shack built of logs and roofed with +boughs, which stood on the edge of the cleared space. + +"Great Methuselah!" ejaculated Zeb. "Can someone have stolen a march +on us?" + +"I don't know, but it looks queer, and see, there's a shovel. Somebody +has been digging here." + +"But who could it be?" demanded Tom, mystified. + +"Gosh! Looks as if we've bin euchered after all," grumbled Zeb. + +The Wondership came to earth at the edge of the lifeless-looking, bare +space. They clambered out of the machine and stood on what was, +undoubtedly, Rattlesnake Island, for every landmark on the map had +been verified as they dropped. + +They looked about them for a minute and then Zeb drew his revolver out +of the holster and began idly twiddling the cylinder. + +"I want ter make sure she's in workin' order," he said with a grim +comprehension of the lips, "before we do any investigating." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +THE ISLAND OF MYSTERY. + + +There was an air of oppression, hard to explain, about the island. But +they all felt it. The boys were inclined to talk in whispers and even +Dick Donovan's usual lively spirits seemed daunted. There was +something about the blistered, barren look of the cleared space on the +edge of which they had landed that gave them all an odd feeling of +melancholy. + +Zeb was the first to shake this off. + +"Our first job," he said, "is to find out who is on the island and +what they've been doing." + +Here and there in the black, swampy-looking bare space, they could see +where holes had been dug, but when they examined the spade, which Jack +had seen from the Wondership as they descended, they found that it was +rusty and had evidently not been used for a long time. + +It was the same in the rude hut which they examined. Some rusty +utensils and a few ragged old garments were all that was inside. The +dust lay thick on the floor and a large squirrel leaped out of the +roof as they entered. + +"Well, whoever was on the island has moved on again," declared Zeb. + +"Or died," said Jack in a low tone. + +"Wa'al, what I say is," observed Zeb, "ther sooner we git at that +what-yer-may-call-um stuff and get away agin, the better it'll be for +all of us. There's suthin' about this island I don't like." + +The others agreed, all except the professor, who, on hands and knees, +was examining some rocks with his magnifying glass. + +"Where shall we make camp?" asked Dick. + +"I don't much fancy this side of the island, somehow," said Jack, "but +we could pitch the tents on that little plateau up there and be +comfortable and have a good view up and down the river at the same +time." + +And so it was arranged. Leaving the Wondership on the edge of the +clearing, they made camp on the flat ledge of sandy soil interspersed +with rocks that Jack had selected. From it they had a good view in +both directions. Above them was a small island, and below them the +river leaped and roared in a series of big rapids. + +Their preparations for camping occupied all the afternoon. It was +supper time when they had finished and everything was shipshape and +comfortable. In the meantime Dick had wandered off with the rifle and +returned with four good-sized rabbits and three squirrels which Zeb +cooked into a savory stew. + +They turned in early as they had all worked hard and were tired. Just +what time it was that he awakened, Jack did not know. But he thought +it was after midnight. Taking his watch he went to the door of the +tent to look at it in the moonlight, as he did not wish to arouse the +others by striking a light. + +The moon flooded the island. Jack looked about him, enjoying the +beauty of the scene. The cliffs were great masses of black and white +and the rushing river gleamed like silver. He glanced toward the black +waste, on the edge of which they left the Wondership. The next instant +he uttered a startled exclamation. Above the bare patch of +dark-colored earth tall white figures were dancing, gleaming in the +moonlight. + +Jack's heart gave a bound and he caught his breath for an instant. +Then he felt inclined to laugh at his own fears. What he had taken for +ghostly figures were columns of vapor writhing and twisting as they +steamed upward from the bare end of the island. What caused them, Jack +did not know. He noticed, too, that the whole patch of barren land +glowed with a strange phosphorescence like rotted wood. + +Fascinated by the spectacle, he stood gazing at it. There was +something eerie about the dancing, pirouetting columns of vapor. They +looked like a party of ghosts dancing a quadrille. They twisted and +contorted and bowed and soared upward and sank again in a kind of +rhythm. + +"Gracious, this is a spooky sort of place," thought Jack. "I wonder +what causes those wavering columns? Maybe some sort of hidden hot +springs like the one the professor fell into. I know one thing, I +don't like this island overmuch. As Zeb said, there is something queer +about it--something in the air. I don't know what, but I for one won't +be sorry when we leave it." + +He fell to musing about his father waiting so many miles away for news +of the discovery that was to rehabilitate his fortunes and place the +radio telephone in the list of practical inventions that have created +an epoch in the world's history. + +"Poor old dad," he thought "After all, he's really having the most +trying part of this thing. Waiting back there for he doesn't know +what, and with nothing to do but wait. I wonder if we are going to +succeed? We will, we must! But, supposing that the map was wrong and +that----" + +His musing broke off suddenly and he crouched forward watching +intently. His eyes were staring wide-open and startled at the +Wondership. Its bulk lay blackly against the faint, phosphorescent +glow of the black barren. + +Then he felt his scalp tighten and his mouth go dry while his heart +seemed to stop for an instant and then pound furiously, shaking his +frame. + +For a second he had seen something that had almost startled him into a +cry. A dark figure was creeping round the Wondership, crouched like an +ape as it examined the craft. + +The boy had hardly caught a glimpse of it before it vanished, gliding +swiftly like an animal into the brush. Jack rubbed his eyes. + +"Am I seeing things?" he asked himself, "but no, I'm positive, as sure +as I stand here, that that was a human figure sneaking about down +there. Who could it have been?" + +Jack did not sleep much more that night. The thought that they were +not alone on the island was a disquieting one. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +THROUGH THE WOODS. + + +The next morning Jack watched his opportunity, and under the pretext +of hunting, left camp after breakfast and made his way to the side of +the Wondership. He wanted to examine the vicinity for footmarks. But +he found none, which was not surprising, for the ground on which the +craft had been brought to rest was hard and firm, and not likely to +take on any impressions. + +In the bright, sunny glow it was hard for the boy to believe that he +had actually seen the mysterious figure in the moonlight. But although +he tried to assure himself that he had been the victim of an illusion, +and that he had mistaken the shadow of a waving tree branch for a man, +Jack knew that he was not laboring under a mistake. He was certain he +had seen rightly; but he decided, for the present, to say nothing to +his companions about the events of the night. + +Having failed to find any tracks round the Wondership, he started off +through the trees on his hunt. He was traversing a small glade when, +in a clump of flowering bushes, he heard a sudden scuffling noise. + +Startled, he stopped. The sound came again and this time it was +accompanied by a shrill scream as of some creature in pain. Jack +parted the bushes and made his way through them. On the other side he +came across a rabbit. The little creature was struggling violently and +squealing with the peculiarly human screech that rabbits have when in +pain. + +The boy saw that it had been caught in some way and could not get +away. Greatly mystified, he dropped to his knees beside it and the +next instant solved the puzzle. + +The rabbit was caught in a trap ingeniously made from pliable willow +twigs and set in a "rabbit run." For a minute the full significance of +his discovery did not dawn upon Jack. Then it came like a bolt from +the blue. + +Somebody on the island, other than themselves, had set that trap! +Perhaps it was the strange, half-ape-like man he had seen by the +Wondership the night before. The boy looked round him in the silent +wood as if he half expected to see somebody watching him. + +He was not afraid, but he felt that creepy feeling that accompanies +the mysterious. Suddenly he recollected that he had left his rifle +behind when he plunged into the bushes. + +He remembered this when the desire came to him to put the rabbit out +of its misery. It had been caught by the hind leg and had wrenched it +out of joint in its frantic struggles to get free. Jack made his way +back to where he had left his rifle. But when he got back to the trap +ready to end the poor creature's life, the rabbit was not there! + +The trap was empty! + +Then he looked about him. The ground was covered with blood and fur +as if the rabbit had been torn to pieces. + +"Some animal," was his first thought. Then, on examining the trap, he +found that the thong which had ensnared the rabbit had not been broken +or torn loose as would have been the case had some wild creature +pounced on the rabbit and dragged it off. + +It had been untied! + +Jack had just made this discovery when he noticed something fluttering +from a thornbush. He was sure it had not been there before, for he had +noted the surroundings of the trap carefully. He examined the object +that had caught his attention. It was a bit of canvas, seemingly torn +from a garment made of that material. + +"There _is_ somebody else on the island!" gasped Jack, looking round +with white cheeks. + +He clutched his rifle firmly. Looking about him he half expected to +see some wild face peering at him out of parted bushes. But nothing of +the sort happened. Feeling very uncomfortable, Jack came away from +the place and made his way back to camp. + +This time he made up his mind to confide in Zeb. The prospector was as +mystified as Jack over the events of the night and the incident of the +rabbit trap. But he was unable to throw any light on the affair. + +"It might be an Indian," he said, "or----" + +"It might be the man that built that hut and left the shovel sticking +in that barren place down yonder," said Jack. + +"In that case, wouldn't he be livin' in ther hut instead of snoopin' +round the island?" asked Zeb. + +This view seemed to be incontrovertible. At noon the professor, who +had been scouting over the island looking for specimens which might +give him some clue as to the mineral deposits they had come in search +of, arrived in camp breathless and indignant. + +"A joke's a joke," he said to the boys, "but this is going too far." + +"What's the matter, professor?" asked Dick. + +"Yes, what's happened?" asked Tom, who saw that the man of science +was really angry, and for some reason blamed them for whatever had +irritated him. + +"As if you didn't know," declared the professor. "I set my bag of +specimens down on a rock while I went to investigate a +peculiar-looking formation." + +"Well?" said Jack. + +"Well, I heard a soft footstep and the crackling of some twigs. I +looked round and my bag of specimens had gone. Now which of you boys +played that foolish joke on me?" + +"I'll give you my word we know nothing about it, professor," declared +Tom. "Dick and I have been working all the morning unpacking stuff +from the Wondership." + +The professor looked at them incredulously. + +"That's right," struck in Zeb, "they haven't been out of my sight." + +"But--but," stammered the professor, "my dear sir, that bag of +specimens didn't walk off, you know. Besides," he added, "I heard a +human footfall distinctly." + +"It may not have been the boys, though," spoke up Jack seriously. + +"Indeed, who else then?" inquired the professor stiffly. + +"An unwelcome neighbor," replied Jack. "We are not alone on this +island." + +"Not alone? What do you mean?" demanded the professor in thunderstruck +tones. + +"Just this, that there is someone else on it. Who or what it is I +don't know." + +And Jack went on to explain all that he had seen. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +THE SECRET AT LAST. + + +Mysteries are always uncomfortable. As Jack proceeded with his +narrative, Dick and Tom looked nervously about them. Even the boys' +two elders looked grave. The presence of a man on the island was +almost inexplicable. But Jack's story was so circumstantial that there +was no room to suppose that he might be mistaken. Besides, he had the +bit of canvas to show, the scrap that he had taken from the thornbush. + +After dinner Tom and Dick resumed their work of unloading necessaries +from the Wondership. Jack and the two elder members of the party +discussed plans. + +"You haven't found any trace of mineral-bearing rock yet, have you, +professor?" asked Jack. + +The professor shook his head. + +"Not a speck of anything that even remotely corresponds with the +black sand that Zeb brought East with him," said the man of science, +dejectedly. + +"It isn't possible that we have been fooled," said Zeb. + +"Or landed on the wrong island," struck in Jack. + +"It must be the right island," declared Zeb. + +"How do you make that out?" asked Jack. + +"Well, it's got every mark on it that the map gives, for one thing," +said Zeb. + +"That's so," agreed the professor, and then he added hopefully: +"However, I haven't covered half the ground yet." + +Tom and Dick came tramping back at that juncture. They carried some +canned goods and Dick bore the rusty shovel that they had seen the day +before sticking up in the black barren. + +"It was sticky and moist out there," he said, "but I figured we could +always use this shovel, so I went out and brought it along." + +He flung himself down full length in the shade for it was hot and +there was not a breath of wind to fan the canyon. The professor, who +sat facing Dick, concentrated his attention for an instant on the +soles of the youngster's boots. Then he leaped up with a yell that +startled them. + +"What is it? The wild man?" gasped Dick, looking round him in alarm. + +"No, your boots, your boots; look at them!" cried the professor. + +"Is there a snake on them?" cried Dick, preparing to jump up. + +"Don't move! Don't move for your life!" fairly screamed the dumpy +little geologist, springing forward. He fell on his knees at Dick's +boots as if they had been sacred, and with trembling fingers flaked +off, into his left palm, some black mud which stuck to them. + +Then he stood erect, his face aglow with triumph and enthusiasm such +as the man of science rarely permitted himself. + +"Gentlemen," he said, with a flourish, "there is no reason to look +further for the mineral-bearing ground." + +"You have found it?" choked out Jack. + +"Yes." + +"Where?" + +"On Dick Donovan's boots." + +They looked at him as if they thought he had suddenly gone demented. +Dick examined his boots carefully as if he expected to see money +plastered all over them. + +The professor extended his palm. In it lay the black earth he had +scraped from Dick's boots. In it tiny particles glittered and gleamed +like myriads of infinitesimal eyes. + +"Z. 2. X.," said the professor in solemn tones, and he waved his hand +down toward the black barren where the moist, unhealthy-looking bare +patch lay quivering and sweltering in the sun. A kind of haze hung +above it, like a very thin fog. + +"There it is," he went on, "down there. Waiting to be extracted from +that black earth. Look." + +He shook the black earth from his palm. Where it had lain there was a +red, irritated-looking patch. The professor showed it. It looked like +a slight burn. + +"Did that stuff do it?" asked Jack. + +"Yes; and that's almost as definite a proof as an analysis, of its +intense radio activity. You noticed that the sample that Zeb had was +enclosed in a leaden tube. That was the reason. Such powerful stuff +would inflict bad burns if not handled properly." + +"So that was why you made us include asbestos gloves and foot +coverings and black goggles in the outfit?" cried Tom, who had been +much puzzled over the reason for that part of the equipment. + +"That was why," said the professor, "and that also is the reason we +brought along those lead containers. Z. 2. X. or its ally, radium, or +in fact vanadium or any of the allied radio-active metals, would +destroy any other sort of container." + +"Let's go down now and start digging," suggested impulsive Dick. + +"Don't venture out there till you are fully equipped for the job," +said the professor. "Serious results might ensue. In the meantime, I +am going to analyze this sample in order to be doubly sure." + +Jack gave a deep sigh of relief. After all, it was not a dream. They +had found the valuable earth. It was now only a question of +transportation. His father's fortunes were saved. The radio-'phone +would be rushed to perfection and placed on the market within a short +time of their return home. + +While Jack lay back and indulged in daydreams, the others watched the +professor as he tested the black sand over a portable assaying furnace +and made all sorts of experiments to determine its value and the +proportion of the different precious metals contained in it. + +There was a slight rustling in the bushes behind him. Jack, whose +nerves had been rather on edge since the occurrences of the preceding +night and that morning, faced round quickly. + +The next instant he uttered a loud shout. + +Peering out of the bushes was a hideous, hairy face, more like an +ape's than a human being's. From it glowed two wild, piercing eyes, +like those of a beast of prey. + +As Jack shouted and the others started toward him, the face vanished +like a flash. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +THE INTERLOPERS. + + +"Well, we'll git ter ther bottom uv this afore we leave ther island," +declared Zeb vehemently, "but right now, pussonally, I'm more +interested in gitting those lead carboys filled up with Z. 2. X. and +gitting away from here." + +"So are we," said Jack, thinking of his father. + +They all donned their asbestos gloves and foot coverings under the +professor's directions and put on the huge black goggles that had been +brought along at the scientist's directions. + +"I guess we'd scare that wild man into conniption fits if he could see +us now," chuckled Tom, surveying his mates as they started out for the +black barren. + +"Yes, we look like a lot of men from Mars," agreed Dick. + +Armed with shovels they attacked the dark, soft earth at a place the +professor indicated. For an hour or more they worked and filled three +of the lead carboys. Then Jack spoke. + +"It's queer," he said, "but I begin to feel terribly tired, and I +haven't worked long, either." + +"So do I," said Tom. "I don't feel as if I could lift another +shovelful." + +"I'm all in," added Dick, throwing down his spade. + +"Same here. Jes' 'bout tuckered out," chimed in Zeb. + +"It's the effect of the stuff we are working in," said the professor. +"Anyhow, we've done enough for to-day. We'll load the lead carboys on +the Wondership and then knock off. I don't want you boys to get sick." + +They took the loaded carboys to the grounded craft and the professor +sealed and soldered a cover on each of them. Then they went back to +the camp. Curiously, as soon as they reached it, the lassitude they +had felt while working on the black barren left them. Jack proposed a +hunting trip to Tom. Dick said he wanted to write up his notes from +which, on their return, he was going to construct a big "story" for +his paper. + +The two chums struck out across the island. They met with fairly good +luck. Jack brought down some rabbits and a partridge. Tom got three +partridges and some squirrels. Game appeared to be plentiful on the +island and Jack had a theory that at one time it must have been +connected with the mainland. + +At last their walking brought them out on the upper end of the island +facing the smaller spot of land above. As they emerged from the trees, +both boys got a big surprise. + +Two boats had just been beached there! + +"What in the world!" stammered out Jack. + +"Who can----" began Tom, when the question was answered. The boys saw +three figures coming down to the beach. They, seemingly, had been +looking for a camp site. + +"It's that fellow, Bill Masterson," explained Jack. + +"So it is, and those other two are his cronies. The sneaks, they've +followed us here!" cried Tom indignantly. + +"Let's watch from behind these bushes and see what they do," said +Jack. + +They watched from a place of concealment while the three youths on the +island above unloaded the second boat which they had towed down the +river, carrying their camping equipment and provisions in it. They set +up their tents quite boldly in full view of the other island and then +proceeded to build a fire. + +"How on earth did they get down the river without having a spill?" +cried Jack. + +"How did they know where Rattlesnake Island was?" wondered Tom, +neither of the boys, of course, knowing of the opened letters. + +"They seem prepared to make a long stay," commented Tom, after a +minute, "but it's a wonder they weren't wrecked." + +"I don't know," said Jack. "Zeb says the river is much higher now +than he has ever seen it. That means that the rapids are not so +dangerous as at low water. But they were taking quite a chance, at +that." + +The boys watched for a while longer and then returned to camp with +their game and their news. + +"If they try to land on this island, we'll soon chase 'em off," +declared Dick vehemently. + +"Then they'd have a case at law agin us," said Zeb. + +"How do you mean?" asked Jack. + +"Wa'al, we ain't filed no claim yet and in the eyes of the law them +deposits down there in the black barren is as much theirs as ours." + +That evening Zeb occupied himself with making several signs of +intention to file claim which he intended to post all round the black +barren, thus marking it off as if it had been a mine. Before they went +to bed, Jack and Tom made another excursion to the upper end of the +island where they watched the campfires of the interlopers for some +time. + +Suddenly, while they watched, they saw one of the boats with three +figures in it shoved off. The craft began to drop down the river. +Masterson, who was at the oars, steered straight for Rattlesnake +Island. + +"They're going to land here," declared Jack. + +"What do you think of that for nerve," gasped Tom. + +"The worst of it is, we can't stop them." + +"No, that's so. Let's hide behind this rock and see what they do." + +The boys slipped behind a big boulder and a moment later the boat was +beached. + +"Well, here we are," came in Eph's voice, "and if the stuff is worth +all you say it is, we ought to get enough out in a couple of nights to +make us rich." + +"Gee! I can hardly wait till it's time to start digging," said Sam +Higgins. "Here we are, on Tom Tiddler's ground, picking up gold and +silver." + +"Wait till we get it before you start hollering," said Masterson +gruffly. + +"What time will we start over?" asked Sam. + +"About midnight. It will be plenty of time." + +"But how are we going to locate it?" objected Eph. + +"We can see where they've been digging, can't we?" said Bill +Masterson, "or if they haven't started yet, we can hang around and +watch till they do." + +The three worthies sat under a rock not far from where the boys were +and talked. It appeared that Bill Masterson had read up on mining and +claim law and knew that the boys could not order them off the island. +They had a right to take all of the mineral-bearing earth that they +could. + +Suddenly, however, their talk stopped. + +"What are you doing, Eph?" demanded Sam indignantly. + +"Nothing. What do you mean?" asked Eph in an astonished voice. + +"You threw a rock at me." + +"I didn't." + +"You did. Ouch! There's another." + +"One hit me, too," cried Eph, springing up, and at the same moment a +yell came from Masterson. + +Jack and Tom, as much surprised as the three marauders, heard the +rocks pelting around them. Suddenly they looked up. Standing on a high +rock above the place where Masterson and his cronies were talking, was +a strange-looking figure in tattered clothes outlined in the +moonlight. + +He was busily hurling rocks down at the intruders. Suddenly a +demoniacal laugh split the air and the creature vanished, running +swiftly, crouched, with long arms hanging. + +"It's the wild man!" gasped Tom, while the three worthies on the beach +uttered a startled cry. + +"It's ghosts, that's what it is," declared Sam Higgins shuddering. + +"Nonsense. It's those kids. That's who it is," said Bill, but his +voice was rather shaky. + +"I never heard anything human laugh like that," declared Eph. "Ugh! it +makes my blood run cold." + +"Maybe we'd better go back," said Sam. "If we've got a right here I'd +just as soon land in the daylight." + +"You're a fine pair of babies," growled Bill. "I'm sorry I brought you +along. Ghosts indeed--Wow! what was that?" + +Another long ringing peal of laughter sounded through the night. It +reverberated against the steep walls of the canyon and was flung +mockingly from crag to crag. The boys felt their blood chill as they +heard it. There was something diabolical in the merriment of the wild +man who, they knew, was making the hideous sounds. + +"I'm going back to the other island," declared Sam. + +"If you move I'll knock your head off," said Masterson. "It's just a +trick of those kids to scare us, that's all it is." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +TRIUMPH. + + +It was midnight. The moon rode high in a cloudless sky, and the camp +of the Boy Inventors, to all appearances, was wrapped in slumber. +Through the woods came three creeping, cautious figures. Each carried +a spade and a sack. They paused by the camp and looked about them. + +Then, by the bright moonlight, they saw the bare plateau below. The +black barren where the adventurers had been working that afternoon. +Masterson was the first to see traces of digging. He seized Eph's arm +and pointed. + +"That's the place," he said in a hoarse whisper. "See, they've been at +work there already." + +"Tom Tiddler's ground," whispered Eph. + +"I guess we'll get some of it, too," chuckled Sam, who had gotten over +his fright in a sudden greed at the thought of riches. + +Silently, for they had sacks tied round their feet, the three +interlopers crept down the rocky slope toward the black barren. The +dark ground, thickly sown with mineral wealth, glittered in the +moonlight as if a frost had fallen on it and made it gleam +iridescently with millions of sparkling points of light. + +As the trio stole down the slope, dark figures from the Boy Inventors' +camp followed them. Led by Zeb, they found hiding places and watched +operations as Masterson and his cronies began to dig. They wielded +their shovels frantically. + +"And we can't stop them," groaned Dick. + +"Wait a minute," said the professor. + +They continued to watch, and before many minutes had passed they saw +Sam Higgins lay down his shovel with a grunt. + +"Go on and dig," ordered Masterson. + +"Yes, hurry up, we haven't got all night," urged Eph. + +Sam made a few more feeble movements and then quit. + +'"I can't do any more," he said languidly. + +"Ouch! my hands are burning," cried Eph suddenly, "and I feel as if +all my bones had turned to water. What's the matter with the place?" + +After a few minutes more both Eph and Sam gave up, but Masterson stuck +doggedly to his task, although his hands were burning terribly, and +the radio-active stuff was eating through the sacking on his feet. At +last he, too, had to give in. They were too weak to carry the sacks +they had partially filled across the island, owing to the effects of +the black barren, and staggeringly they hid them to call for them at a +later time. + +"I thought so," said the professor, as the hidden watchers saw +Masterson and the other two wearily clamber up the slope. "They'll +have bad sores to-morrow and may be crippled for some time." + +"But they'll recover?" said Jack, whose conscience began to smite him. + +"Oh, yes, but they will have quite a lesson first," rejoined the +professor. + +"Let's see what they do next," suggested Jack, and he and Tom +carefully made their way to where the trio had left the boat. +Masterson ordered Sam to get on board; but just as the timorous youth +was about to obey another hideous laugh from near at hand startled him +so that he almost jumped out of his skin. + +He leaped forward, but in his alarm missed the boat and gave it a +shove that sent it into the stream. Sam fell flat on his face, while +Masterson, with an exclamation of dismay, leaped for the boat. But the +swift current had it in its grasp and bore it rapidly away. Masterson +sprang on Sam and began beating him violently as the cause of all the +trouble. It was serious enough for them. The loss of the boat had +marooned them on the island. + +The boat drifted past a rocky point further down the island shore. Had +they been there, they would have been able to seize it. They watched +it with alarmed eyes as it sailed down the current. All at once a dark +figure dashed from the trees and made a spring from a high rock, +hoping, seemingly, to land in the boat. Instead, there was the sound +of a heavy fall and then a piteous groan. + +Whoever it was had jumped for the boat, had missed it and fallen on +the rocks. Not caring whether Masterson and his cronies saw them or +not, the boys raced along the beach. From the groans of the injured +person they knew that he was badly, possibly mortally, hurt. + +In a few minutes they reached his side. + +"It's the wild man!" cried Jack, as they gazed at a hairy, +wild-looking man who lay stretched out, breathing heavily, on the +rocks where he had fallen. His only clothing was a pair of tattered +canvas trousers and a ragged shirt. + +"Poor old Foxy. He's done for at last, is Foxy, for his sins," groaned +the man in an insane voice. "He suffered terrible for his crimes, has +Foxy, but it's all over now." + +"Foxy!" exclaimed Jack. "That's the man that came down the river with +Blue Nose Sanchez. The man who stayed in the boat." + +"He must have landed here and then gone crazy from privation," said +Jack. "I can't find that any bones are broken," he said after a brief +examination. "Suppose we carry him back to camp?" + +"I wonder where that Masterson outfit has got to?" said Tom, as they +picked up the wasted form of Foxy, who was raving and moaning by +turns. + +"I don't know. They are in a fine predicament now. They've got no food +and no boat They're marooned on this island." + +"I suppose we'll have to help them out," said Tom. + +"I guess so, though they don't deserve it." + +"I lost that boat," moaned Foxy. "I could have got away in it. Poor +old Foxy. It's tough on Foxy," and he began to weep. + +The professor found that the man had not suffered any broken bones +but the fall had bruised and sprained him and he was helpless. From +scattered bits of his ravings they learned what he had endured on the +island and how, when the black sand began to burn him, he had had to +give up working on it. Then his boat had drifted away and since then +he had lived the life of a wild man, setting snares for rabbits and +partridges, and eating them raw, tearing them with his clawlike +fingers. + +Early the next day the expected happened. Chastened, and with burned +and swollen hands and feet, Masterson and his cronies came into the +boys' camp at breakfast time. They looked crestfallen and sheepish, +but the boys did not want to make them feel any worse than they did, +so they spared them questions at first. + +But when Masterson begged them to get them out of their predicament +and take them back to Yuma, Jack felt that it was time to put them +through a cross examination. + +"You followed us here to try to cut out some ground from under our +feet, Masterson," he said, "and you know you told me in Nestorville +you wanted to get even with me." + +"Don't rub it in, Chadwick," said the humbled Masterson. "I'll do +anything you say if you'll only get us out of this terrible place. I +can hardly walk, and my hands feel as if they'd been burned in a +fire." + +"How did you know our destination?" asked Tom. Masterson made a full +confession and at the end begged forgiveness. + +"This ought to be a good lesson to you to mind your own affairs," said +Jack as he concluded. + +"I know a man who made a big fortune just minding his business," said +Dick. "For my part," he went on, "I'll forgive you, but I want you to +sign a paper promising not to publish anything about this expedition." + +"I will--oh, I will," said Masterson. And then he wrote as Dick +dictated. The boys witnessed and signed the paper. + +"And now you'd better eat breakfast," said Jack. + + +Three days later, the Wondership made two trips to Yuma. On the first +she took the original party with the addition of the insane Foxy, who +was placed in an asylum. He never recovered his reason but died in the +institution. Also, there was carried a part of the leaden carboys +which they had filled. + +Masterson and his cronies had been left behind on the island to pack +up the camping equipment and thus make themselves useful. Zeb went to +the U.S. Assay Office and formally filed their claim to the island and +its riches. In the meantime, the professor took charge of Foxy and +turned him over to the authorities. + +As for the boys, they sailed back to Rattlesnake Island, after sending +a telegram to Mr. Chadwick. It was brief. + +"We win," was all it said. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +THE HOMECOMING. + + +The next day Masterson and his companions, very much subdued, boarded +the Wondership as passengers. All of them were still suffering +painfully from the effects of the burns, their only reward from their +ill-advised raid on the black barren. + +"Boys," asked Masterson, "can't you take our camping equipment along? +It's a shame to have it rot here." + +"All right," said Jack. "I think we may be able to sell it for you. +Come on, we'll get to work now!" + +"You're not such a bad chap," said Eph when he heard Jack agree to +Masterson's suggestion. + +"He's the finest chap on earth!" exclaimed Tom. + +"That he is," added Dick Donovan. + +"He is a model young man," declared Professor Jenks, overhearing +Tom's last remark. + +Jack flushed with pleasure and embarrassment. It was very gratifying +to know that his friends thought highly of him, but at the same time +he wished they would not give him that uneasy feeling with their +sincere compliments. So he hurried away, asking the others to follow +him toward getting together Masterson's outfit. + +While the dumpy little geologist went once more to search for strange +specimens, the boys readily set to work and in a very short time the +camping equipment was placed on board the Wondership. + +When the boys arrived at Yuma, Masterson found no difficulty in +selling the camping outfit to old man McGee, who decided to make one +more try to find the Three Buttes. + +"Don't you think you're too old, and that the gold, after all, may not +be there?" Tom asked the eccentric miner. + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed McGee indignantly. "As I tole you afore, it +stands ter reason thar's gold out thar, and 'at it war'ent up to +Peg-leg Smith nor'n to Guv'nor Downey, nor'n to McGuire, nor'n to Dr. +De Courcy, nor'n to any of 'em to find the Buttes, but as I says +afore, I says ag'in--'at ther good Lord never made nuthin' thet wasn't +of some use. Very well, then, the desert is good fer nuthin' else but +mineral wealth, and Providence made it so plagued hard ter git at so +'at all of us couldn't git rich at once. I've been arter the Buttes +all me life, and _this_ wack I'm goin' to land it rich!" + +The fanatical old prospector, chuckling gleefully and sucking his +pipe, ambled away while Tom looked after him, shaking his head +sympathetically. + +"Look out! Look out!" someone shouted in Tom's ear. "There's a beauty, +a wonder!" + +Tom, startled, whirled about to see the professor, gazing intently at +a small rock upon which one of Tom's heels was resting. The professor +violently pushed him aside, out came his little hammer, and in a +moment the new specimen was in his bag. Then, the man of science, +without looking up to see whom he had spoken to, pounced on another +stone. + +Tom could not help laughing outright at the professor's queer ways and +deep concentration on his pet hobby. + +"What a funny world this is!" remarked Tom, still amused. "Here is a +man forever after rocks, rocks, and there goes a miner set upon +becoming rich and discovering some imaginary mine." + +He saw Jack waving to him from the veranda of the hotel. + +"Listen, Tom," said his chum when they stood side by side, "I was +thinking that it would be a splendid idea to send the Wondership to +New York, and that from there we travel to Nestorville, _via_ the air +route." + +"Great!" cried Tom, delighted. "But say, are we to take Masterson +along?" + +"Of course not," replied Jack. "He can go back to Boston on the +train." + +"Good for you!" declared Tom, slapping his chum on the back. + +"But I haven't told you my main idea yet," said Jack, smiling, + +"What is that?" asked the other wonderingly. + +"Can't you guess?" + +"No," Tom began to say, and then the roguish twinkle in Jack's eyes +gave him a sudden inspiration. "You don't mean to use the Z.2.X. to +send messages with while we fly nearer and nearer to our old home +town?" + +"That is exactly what I wish to do," said Jack quietly. + +"Whoop! It's great!" cried Tom, throwing his hat in the air; and as he +saw Dick coming toward them, he fairly pounced on the astonished +reporter with the news. + +"Flamjam flapcakes of Florida!" gasped Dick. + +And so it was arranged. A few days later our party boarded a train for +the East. Jack, Tom, Dick and Professor Jenks arrived at New York. + +(They had left Zeb behind to attend to the work in the barren +fields.) + +The Wondership, as on the previous occasion, was quietly but quickly +assembled, and made ready to take its homeward flight. They had chosen +a spot on Manhattan island still very meagerly developed, and so were +not at all troubled by curious onlookers. Jack, to whom his father had +explained in detail the use of Z.2.X.--or Coloradite, as they had +decided to call it--busied himself almost exclusively with the radio +telephone apparatus. When all was ready, he sent his father the +following telegram: + +"Expect message, using Coloradite from New York." + +The next morning they ascended. Round and round the Wondership +circled, a golden speck against the blue sky. In a quarter of an hour +the great metropolis seemed nothing but a giant beehive, with millions +of busy workers ever hurrying in hundreds of different directions. The +cars and automobiles were only like giant bees, moving somewhat +swifter than those on what looked like fine threads of cotton or wool. + +"What a small place New York is after all," observed the professor. + +"It is larger than Boston," said Tom slyly, + +"Perhaps," admitted the man of science haughtily, "but not as learned +or stately--no city can take its culture away from Boston." + +Jack smiled, and in order to change the conversation, asked Tom, "How +high now?" + +"About fifteen hundred feet," guessed Tom. + +"Wrong," said Jack, glancing at the barograph on the dashboard in +front of him. "We have reached two thousand eight hundred feet." + +"I must be asleep," said Tom, frowning. "Shall I connect the +alternator?" + +Jack nodded and prepared to send greetings to his father, hundreds of +miles away. They were out in the country now. As the Wondership glided +through the air, the professor, in viewing the villages, farms, green +pastures, and stretches of woodland, regretfully shook his head as the +thought occurred to him that he was missing many a precious stone. He +looked over to Jack with the idea of suggesting a descent, but he saw +the boy inventor patiently adjusting the tuning knob, and waited, +realizing how anxious Jack was to test the Coloradite. + +The little professor, extremely interested, saw Jack place his lips to +the receiver, and for the second time in his life, send out the +distinct call: + +"Hullo, High Towers!" + +Many minutes passed without an answer. Jack's face became grave. Was +part of the machinery not properly adjusted? He went over the +instrument very carefully. In so far as he could see, everything was +just as it should be. Then a thought came that made him dizzy--was it +possible that the Coloradite was not suited for the work, that Mr. +Chadwick had been misinformed? + +"What's up?" inquired Tom, glancing up from his engines. + +"By the ghost of Guzzlewits!" gasped Dick. "Don't say it won't work, +Jack!" + +The professor, ordinarily cool and very calculating, was strangely +stirred. He watched the young inventor's face. Did it mean failure? + +"I don't know," said Jack at last with forced calmness. "I will try +again." + +Once more Jack, oppressed by a vague fear, sent out the words: + +"Hullo, High Towers!" + +The reply came with startling swiftness, relieving the party from the +mental strain. In one voice--the professor included--they yelled, + +"Hurrah!" + +"Congratulations!" came Mr. Chadwick's voice in return. + +"Why the delay?" asked Jack, smiling with + +"A small lever snapped. It required a few minutes to repair it. How +far from New York are you now?" + +"About forty miles." + +"Good! Try to land here before sunset." + +"Why?" asked Jack. + +"Nestorville has a little surprise for you!" replied Mr. Chadwick, and +Jack heard him chuckle. + +"Good for Mr. Chadwick!" cried Dick in glee, for Jack had so arranged +the instrument that all of them in the Wondership could hear Mr. +Chadwick's voice. + +Then followed a long conversation between father and son. Mr. Chadwick +had almost completely recovered his health, and was again working over +new experiments. Dick insisted that he be permitted to tell the story +of their adventures on the island of the Coloradite Treasure. + +"You won't tell it right," he declared to Jack, and insisted so +strenuously that the boy inventor had to let him speak to Mr. +Chadwick. + +Dick set his choicest language agoing, and his vivid description of +Jack's part in every incident was embellished by the most flowery +adjectives in his vocabulary. Jack had to listen, and grin. + +By the time his long story was done, Nestorville was sighted. As soon +as the people saw the Wondership, pandemonium broke loose. Not only +Nestorville, but officials and crowds from the neighboring towns had +poured in, and the reception the boys and the professor received +lingered with them for many, many years. + +Later, as time went on, Mr. Chadwick's fortune was completely +rehabilitated. Professor Jenks no longer was so eager to search for +rocks, and while doing so get into all sorts of difficulties. He lived +more at home, becoming at last, as his spinster sister declared, "a +man with the proper spirit to make an ideal husband." Of course, the +professor had received a very substantial sum of money from the boys. + +Jack and Tom soon found themselves wealthy, and often in fancy trace +the days back to that afternoon when they found the sturdy miner lying +on the roadside, having been knocked unconscious by Masterson's +careless driving of his automobile. + +Zeb, continued to take charge of the work on Rattlesnake Island, to +which the boys never returned. For a long time the supply from the +black barren appeared to be inexhaustible. Suddenly, however, it +ceased, and no more was dug. But what had been mined had been more +than sufficient to make all prosperous. + +Dick, with his share of the proceeds, which the boys insisted that he +accept, bought the _Nestorville Bugle_. From the very start, he made +it a live, progressive paper. Sometimes, when the now busy editor had +a spare hour, he invariably visited his two friends, and the +three--sometimes, too, the little professor joined them +unexpectedly--recounted old-time stories. + +But the boys were not made lazy by wealth and fame. To this very day, +Jack and Tom, with Mr. Chadwick's aid, are devising many inventions +calculated to benefit mankind. Possibly, at some future time, we shall +hear something more about these, but for the present let us take our +leave and say good-by. + +THE END + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Boy Inventors' Radio Telephone +by Richard Bonner + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY INVENTORS' RADIO TELEPHONE *** + +***** This file should be named 13783-8.txt or 13783-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/7/8/13783/ + +Produced by Curtis Weyant, Ronald Holder and the PG Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Boy Inventors' Radio Telephone + +Author: Richard Bonner + +Release Date: October 18, 2004 [EBook #13783] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY INVENTORS' RADIO TELEPHONE *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis Weyant, Ronald Holder and the PG Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<br> +<div align="center"> +<img src="images/cover.gif" alt="Illustration: Cover" width="382" height="560" border="0"> + +<h1>THE</h1> +<h1>BOY INVENTORS' RADIO-</h1> +<h1>TELEPHONE</h1> + + +<div align="center"></div> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>RICHARD BONNER</h2> +<div style="height: 2em;"></div> +<h5>AUTHOR OF "THE BOY INVENTORS' WIRELESS TRIUMPH," "THE BOY</h5> +<h5>INVENTORS AND THE VANISHING GUN," "THE BOY INVENTORS'</h5> +<h5>DIVING TORPEDO BOAT," "THE BOY INVENTORS' FLYING</h5> +<h5>SHIP," "THE BOY INVENTORS' ELECTRIC</h5> +<h5>HYDROAEROPLANE," ETC., ETC.</h5> +<div style="height: 2em;"></div> +<h4><i>WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY</i></h4> +<h4><i>CHARLES L. WRENN</i></h4> +<div style="height: 2em;"></div> +<h5>NEW YORK</h5> +<h5>HURST & COMPANY</h5> +<h5>PUBLISHERS</h5> +</div> + +<div style="height: 4em;"></div> + +<h3>CONTENTS</h3> + +<p class="blkquot"><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>CHAPTER I.</b></a> THE POWER OF THE AIR</p> +<p class="blkquot"><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>CHAPTER II.</b></a> AN ENCOUNTER WITH A CHARACTER</p> +<p class="blkquot"><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>CHAPTER III.</b></a> THE PROFESSOR'S DILEMMA</p> +<p class="blkquot"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>CHAPTER IV.</b></a> "WHERE IS HE?"</p> +<p class="blkquot"><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>CHAPTER V.</b></a> CHESTER CHADWICK—INVENTOR</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>CHAPTER VI.</b></a> THE RADIO TELEPHONE</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>CHAPTER VII.</b></a>THE GREAT TEST</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b>CHAPTER VIII.</b></a> TALKING THROUGH SPACE</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b>CHAPTER IX.</b></a> THE BOYS FACE TROUBLE</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_X"><b>CHAPTER X.</b></a> AN INVOLUNTARY AËRONAUT</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><b>CHAPTER XI.</b></a> BY THE ROADSIDE</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><b>CHAPTER XII.</b></a> MAKING ENEMIES</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><b>CHAPTER XIII.</b></a> THE LEADEN TUBE</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><b>CHAPTER XIV.</b></a> IN THE HOSPITAL</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XV"><b>CHAPTER XV.</b></a> A TALE OF THE COLORADO</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XVI"><b>CHAPTER XVI.</b></a> ZEB CUMMINGS</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XVII"><b>CHAPTER XVII.</b></a> IN THE LABORATORY</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII"><b>CHAPTER XVIII.</b></a> INTO THE STORM</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XIX"><b>CHAPTER XIX.</b></a> THE "LIGHTNING CAGE"</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XX"><b>CHAPTER XX.</b></a> THROUGH THE AIR</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXI"><b>CHAPTER XXI.</b></a> VAULTING TO THE RESCUE</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXII"><b>CHAPTER XXII.</b></a> "Z. 2. X."</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII"><b>CHAPTER XXIII.</b></a> ON THE BORDER LINE</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV"><b>CHAPTER XXIV.</b></a> "THE THREE BUTTES"</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXV"><b>CHAPTER XXV.</b></a> INTO THE BEYOND</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI"><b>CHAPTER XXVI.</b></a> THE START FOR THE UNKNOWN</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII"><b>CHAPTER XXVII.</b></a> THE PROFESSOR'S SECOND DILEMMA</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII"><b>CHAPTER XXVIII.</b></a> THE UPPER REGIONS</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX"><b>CHAPTER XXIX.</b></a> A MUD BATH</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXX"><b>CHAPTER XXX.</b></a> NIGHT ON THE COLORADO</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI"><b>CHAPTER XXXI.</b></a> THE ISLAND OF MYSTERY</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII"><b>CHAPTER XXXII.</b></a> THROUGH THE WOODS</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII"><b>CHAPTER XXXIII.</b></a> THE SECRET AT LAST</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV"><b>CHAPTER XXXIV.</b></a> THE INTERLOPERS</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXXV"><b>CHAPTER XXXV.</b></a> TRIUMPH</p> +<p class="blkquot"> <a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVI"><b>CHAPTER XXXVI.</b></a> THE HOMECOMING</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 6em;"></div> + +<h2>The Boy Inventor's Radio-</h2> +<h2>Telephone.</h2> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> +<a name="CHAPTER_I"></a><h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE POWER OF THE AIR.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"That's it, Jack. Let her out!"</p> + +<p>"Suffering speed laws of Squantum, but she can travel!" exclaimed Dick +Donovan, redheaded and voluble.</p> + +<p>"I tell you, electricity is the thing. Beats gasoline a million ways," +chimed in Tom Jesson. Tom sat beside his cousin, Jack Chadwick, on the +driver's seat of a curious-looking automobile which was whizzing down +the smooth, broad, green-bordered road that led to Nestorville, the +small town outside Boston where the Boy Inventors made their home.</p> + +<p>The car that Jack Chadwick was driving differed in a dozen respects +from an ordinary automobile. There was no engine hood in front. +Instead of a bonnet the car, which was low slung, long and painted +black, had a sharp prow of triangular shape. Its body, in fact, might +be roughly compared to the form of a double-ended whaleboat.</p> + +<p>As it sped along outside the city limits, and immune from hampering +speed laws, the car emitted no sound.</p> + +<p>It moved silently, without the usual sharp staccato rattle of the +exhaust. Behind it there was no evil-smelling trail of gasoline and +oil smoke. The car glided as silently as a summer breeze on its +wire-wheels, like those of a bicycle enlarged.</p> + +<p>"I'll get a great story out of this," declared Dick Donovan, who, as +readers of other volumes of this series know, was a reporter on a +Boston paper. "That is, if you'll let me write it," he added, leaning +forward over the front seat from the tonneau as he spoke.</p> + +<p>"How about it, Jack?" asked Tom with an amused smile. "Shall we let +Dick here get famous at our expense again?"</p> + +<p>"I don't see why not," said Jack. "Everything about the Electric +Monarch is patented. The new reciprocating device, and the +self-feeding storage batteries are fully covered. If Dick wants to +write a romance about it he can, provided he leaves our pictures out."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'll do that," Dick readily promised. "Are you making top speed +now, Jack?"</p> + +<p>"Nowhere near; I wouldn't dare to. I believe that the Monarch is +capable of ninety miles an hour. I wish we had a place like Ormond +Beach to try her out on."</p> + +<p>"You can count me out on that," chuckled Dick. "This is fast enough +for me."</p> + +<p>The boys were trying out their latest invention, an electric car +capable of making the speed of a gasoline-driven vehicle, and one +which could be operated at a minimum of cost, almost a nominal +expense, as compared with the high price of a vehicle run by an +explosive engine.</p> + +<p>It was the trial trip of the Electric Monarch, as they had decided to +call it, and so far the performances of the machine had exceeded, +instead of fallen below, their expectations. Dick, who had been +invited to the "tryout," was full of questions as they sped silently, +and with an absolute lack of vibration, along the road.</p> + +<p>"How do you generate your electricity?" he asked eagerly.</p> + +<p>"By a device geared to the rear axle," answered Tom. "It runs a sort +of dynamo, though it would be difficult for you to understand it if I +went into details. It's something like the ordinary generator and +turns a constant stream of 'juice' into the storage batteries that, in +turn, feed the engines."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's all plain enough," said the inquisitive Dick, "but how do +you get your power for starting?"</p> + +<p>"If there is not enough juice in the storage batteries for the purpose +we resort to compressed air," was the reply from Tom, for Jack, with +keen eyes on the unrolling ribbon of road, was too busy to have his +attention distracted.</p> + +<p>"And that?" Dick paused interrogatively.</p> + +<p>"Is pumped into a pressure tank as we go along. See that gauge?" he +pointed to one on the dashboard of the car in front of the driver's +seat.</p> + +<p>Dick nodded.</p> + +<p>"Well, that's a pressure gauge. You see, we have sixty pounds of air +in the tank now. That can generate enough electricity to start the car +going. After that the process is automatic."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you explained that. Suppose the tank should, through an +accident, be empty, and you wanted to start?"</p> + +<p>"We've provided for that"</p> + +<p>"I expected so. Wabbling wheels of Wisconsin, you fellows are +certainly wonders."</p> + +<p>"Nothing very wonderful about it," disclaimed Tom. "Well, if we find +the tank is empty we have a powerful, double-acting hand pump by +which, without much effort, we can get up any pressure we need."</p> + +<p>"And then you turn a valve?"</p> + +<p>"Exactly, and the air-motor turns over the dynamo which starts +generating electricity right away."</p> + +<p>"Then, except for the first cost of the car, the expense of operating +it is comparatively nothing?" asked Dick.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you might say we get our power out of the air, and that's +free—so far."</p> + +<p>"And there's no limit, then, to what you can do or where you can go +with the Electric Monarch?"</p> + +<p>"None; that is, so long as the machinery holds out. We are independent +of fuel and the lubricating system is so devised that the oiling is +automatic and requires attending to only once a month. We could easily +carry a year's supply of lubricant."</p> + +<p>"Tall timbers of Taunton!" burst out Dick enthusiastically. "You've +solved the problem of the poor man's car. All the owner of an +Electric Monarch has to do is to pump a little pump-handle or press a +little button and he's off without it costing him a cent. My story +will sure make a big sensation!"</p> + +<p>"Well, you want to tone down that part about its not costing a cent," +chimed in Jack as they coasted down a hill. "The expense of the motor +and the self-lubricating bearings and so on is pretty steep. But we +hope in time to be able to cheapen the whole car."</p> + +<p>They were shooting swiftly down the hill as he spoke. The next moment +he looked ahead again as they shot round a curve. As they did so his +hand sought a button and an ear-splitting screech arose from a +powerful siren.</p> + +<p>In the center of the road, quite oblivious to the oncoming automobile, +was an odd figure, that of a small man in a rusty, baggy suit of +black.</p> + +<p>He had a hammer in his hand and was hitting some object in the roadway +over which he was bending with a concentrated interest that made him +quite unconscious of the onrushing car.</p> + +<p>"Hi! Get out of the way!" yelled the boys.</p> + +<p>But the man did not look up. Instead, he kept tapping away with his +hammer at whatever it was that absorbed his attention so intently.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_II"></a><h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<p><strong>AN ENCOUNTER WITH A "CHARACTER."</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>Jack jammed down the emergency brakes, which were pneumatic and +operated from the pressure tank, with a suddenness that sent Dick +Donovan almost catapulting out of the tonneau.</p> + +<p>"Jumping jiggers of Joppa!" he shouted, for he had not yet seen the +obstacle in the road, "what's happened? Are we bust up?"</p> + +<p>"No, but if I hadn't stopped when I did we'd have bust someone else +up," declared Jack. "Look there!"</p> + +<p>"Can you beat it?" exclaimed Tom.</p> + +<p>As the brakes brought the car to a stop within a foot of his stout, +rotund figure, the little man in the center of the road looked up with +a sort of mild surprise through a pair of astonishingly thick-lensed +eyeglasses secured to his ears by a thick, black ribbon. He wore a +broad-brimmed black hat and wrinkled, baggy clothes of bar-cloth, and +a huge pair of square-toed boots that looked as if their tips had been +chopped off with an ax.</p> + +<p>Over his shoulder was slung a canvas bag which appeared to be heavy +and bulged as if several irregularly shaped, solid substances were +inside of it. The spot where this odd encounter took place was some +distance from any town, but a bicycle leaning against a tree at the +roadside showed how the little man had got there.</p> + +<p>"Say, would you mind letting us get by?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>The little man raised a hand protestingly.</p> + +<p>"I'll be delighted to in just a moment," he said, "but just now it's +impossible. You see, I've just discovered a vein of what I believe to +be Laurentian granite running across the road. I am trying to trace it +and—what's that? Good gracious! Back up your machine, please. I +believe it runs under your wheel. I must make sure."</p> + +<p>Jack obligingly threw in the reverse to humor the little man, who +darted forward and began scraping up the dust in the road with his +hands as if he had been a dog scratching out a rabbit hole. He began +chipping away eagerly with his hammer at some rock that cropped up out +of the road.</p> + +<p>He broke off a piece with his hammer, which was an oddly shaped tool, +and drawing out a big magnifying glass scanned the chip intently. He +appeared to have forgotten all about the waiting boys. But now he +seemed to remember them. He looked up, beaming.</p> + +<p>"A magnificent specimen. One of the finest I have ever seen. Most +remarkable!"</p> + +<p>And with that he popped the bit of stone into his bag, which the boys +now saw was filled with similar objects.</p> + +<p>"Maybe he'll let us get by now," remarked Tom, but a sudden +exclamation from Dick Donovan cut him short.</p> + +<p>"Why, hullo, professor," he said, "out collecting specimens?"</p> + +<p>The little man peered at him sharply. And then broke into a smile of +recognition.</p> + +<p>"Why, it's Dick Donovan!" he beamed, hastening up to the car, "the +young journalist who wrote an article about my specimens once and +woefully mixed them up. However, to an unscientific mind——"</p> + +<p>"They are all just rocks," finished Dick with a grin.</p> + +<p>"I have had unusual success to-day," said the professor, who appeared +not to have heard the remark. "I must have at least fifty pounds of +specimens on my back at this minute."</p> + +<p>He broke off suddenly. The next moment he darted off to the side of +the road and chipped off a fragment of rock from a bank that overhung +it.</p> + +<p>"This is lucky, indeed," he exclaimed, holding it up to the light so +that some specks in the gray stone sparkled. "An extremely rare +specimen of mica that I had no idea existed in this part of New +England."</p> + +<p>The odd little man opened his bag and introduced his latest +acquisition into it While he was doing this Dick had been explaining +to the boys:</p> + +<p>"He's a queer character. Professor Jerushah Jenks. They say he's a +great authority on mineralogy and so on. I interviewed him once. He's +always out collecting."</p> + +<p>"Does he always carry a quarry like that around on his back?" asked +Tom.</p> + +<p>"Always when he's getting specimens," Dick whispered back.</p> + +<p>By this time the professor, his eyes agleam over his latest discovery, +was back at the side of the car.</p> + +<p>"Ah, my beauty, I have you safe now," he said, patting the side of the +bagful of specimens. "Boys, this is my lucky day."</p> + +<p>The boys could hardly keep from smiling at the little man's delight. +It appeared hard to believe that anyone could find pleasure in packing +about a sackful of heavy rocks on a hot day. But the professor's eyes +were sparkling. It was clear he considered himself one of the most +fortunate of men.</p> + +<p>Dick introduced the boys and, to their surprise, the professor +declared that he had read of their various adventures and inventions.</p> + +<p>"We are actually fellow adventurers in the field of science," he +cried, rattling his bag of specimens enthusiastically. "Some time I +should like to call on you and see your workshops."</p> + +<p>"You will be welcome at any time," said Jack cordially, and then the +professor declared that he must be getting home.</p> + +<p>"If we are going your way we can give you a ride," said Tom.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, I'll accept that invitation. But what an odd-looking +automobile you have there."</p> + +<p>The boys explained to him that it was a new type of car that they were +trying out for the first time and then Dick helped the scientist lift +his bicycle into the tonneau. He would have helped him with his +weighty load of specimens, but the professor refused to be parted from +them. As they started off again he sat with the bag firmly gripped +between his knees, as if afraid someone would separate him from it.</p> + +<p>The professor lived with a spinster sister to whom his specimens were +the bane of her life. As the car rolled swiftly along, he occupied his +time by peeping into the bag at frequent intervals to see that none of +the specimens, by some freak of nature, flew out.</p> + +<p>All at once he reached forward and clutched Jack by the shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Stop! My dear young friend, please stop at once!"</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked Jack, slowing down at the urgent summons.</p> + +<p>"Look! Look there at that rock!"</p> + +<p>To Jack the rock in question was just an ordinary bit of stone in a +wall fencing in a pasture in which some cattle were grazing. But +evidently the professor thought otherwise.</p> + +<p>"It's a fine specimen of green granite," he exclaimed. "I must have +it. How did such a fine piece ever come to be placed in a common +wall?"</p> + +<p>The car having now been brought to a stop, he leaped nimbly out, +clutching his geological hammer in one hand and his precious sack of +specimens in the other. He rushed up to the wall and stood for a +minute with his head on one side, like an inquisitive bird.</p> + +<p>"Too bad. That stone's a large flat one and goes right through the +center of the wall," he mused. "The wall must come down."</p> + +<p>And then, to the boys' consternation, he began demolishing the wall, +pulling down the stones and throwing them right and left.</p> + +<p>"Professor, you'll get in trouble," warned Dick in alarm. "Those +cattle will get out. The farmer will be after us."</p> + +<p>But the professor paid not the slightest attention. Taking off his +coat, he resumed his operations with even greater vigor than before. +The cattle in the field eyed him curiously. Then they began to move +toward him. In front of the rest of the herd was a big +black-and-white animal with sharp horns and big, thick neck.</p> + +<p>It gave a sudden bellow and then rushed straight at the considerable +gap the man of science had made in the stone fence.</p> + +<p>"It's a bull!" yelled Dick suddenly. "Run, professor! Run or he'll +toss you!"</p> + +<p>With lowered horns the bull rushed down upon the unconscious scientist +at locomotive speed. But the professor was oblivious to everything +else but uncovering the odd-looking green stone embedded in the heart +of the wall.</p> + +<p>The boys shouted to him but he didn't hear them. On rushed the bull, +bellowing, charging, ready to annihilate the scientist.</p> + +<p>"Run!" yelled the boys at the top of their lungs. "Run!"</p> + +<p>But the professor, with his precious bag in one hand and his hammer in +the other, stood staring at the advancing bull through his thick +glasses as if the maddened creature had been some sort of new and +interesting specimen.</p> + +<p>"Gracious! He's a goner!" groaned Dick.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_III"></a><h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE PROFESSOR'S DILEMMA.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>But the professor was seen to suddenly dart, with an activity they +would hardly have expected in him, across the road. He was only in the +nick of time.</p> + +<p>Almost opposite to the gap in the fence he had made was a tree with +low-hanging boughs. As the bull charged through the gap, right on his +heels, the professor, still with his bag, slung by its leather strap +across his shoulders, swung himself up into the lower limbs.</p> + +<p>The boys set up a cheer.</p> + +<p>"Good for you, professor!" cried Dick, as the bull, with lowered head +and horns, charged into the tree and made it shake as if a storm had +struck.</p> + +<div align="center"><img src="images/illus024.gif" width="439" height="700" border="0" +alt="Illustration: He was only in the nick of time."></div> + +<p>"Wow! That's the time he got a headache!" cried Tom excitedly, as the +professor, clinging desperately to his refuge, was almost flung +from it by the shock.</p> + +<p>"Gracious, boys, what shall I do?" he asked, looking about him from +his leafy perch with a glance of despair that would have been comical +had the situation not been serious, for the bull, instead of accepting +his defeat, stood under the tree pawing and ramping ferociously.</p> + +<p>"Well, here's a fine kettle of fish!" exclaimed Jack. "What are we +going to do now?"</p> + +<p>"Blessed if I know," said Dick helplessly. "By the bucking bulls of +Bedlam, this is a nice mess."</p> + +<p>"Maybe we could throw rocks at him and chase him away," suggested Tom.</p> + +<p>"No chance; he's got his eye on the professor," returned Jack, "and if +we did get out he would chase us and that wouldn't do the professor +any good."</p> + +<p>"Can't you help me, boys," inquired the professor in an agonized tone. +"This tree limb is not exactly—er—comfortable."</p> + +<p>"You're in no danger of falling, are you?" called Jack, in an alarmed +voice.</p> + +<p>"No—er—that is, I don't think so. But this is an extraordinary +position. Most—er—undignified. I'm glad my sister can't see me."</p> + +<p>"Try throwing some of the rocks out of your satchel at him," suggested +Dick.</p> + +<p>But the professor waxed indignant at this proposal.</p> + +<p>"And cast my pearls before swine! or rather my specimens before a +bull!" exclaimed the professor, in helpless indignation. "No, young +gentlemen, not a pebble from this bag is wasted on that creature."</p> + +<p>"I'd drop the whole bag on him," said Dick, "if I was in that +position. It's heavy enough to knock out an elephant, let alone a +bull."</p> + +<p>"Can't you suggest anything?" wailed the professor.</p> + +<p>"I'm trying to think of something right now," declared Jack, racking +his brains for some way out of the predicament.</p> + +<p>"I wish the farmer that owned him would come along and get his old +bull out of there," said Dick.</p> + +<p>"Yes, and then there would be fresh complications," declared Jack.</p> + +<p>"How do you make that out?" came from Dick.</p> + +<p>"He'll probably know how to handle him," supplemented Tom.</p> + +<p>"Yes, he would if he's a bull-fighter," scoffed Dick, "and I never +heard of there being any matadors in the vicinity of Nestorville."</p> + +<p>"Lots of doormats, though," grinned Tom.</p> + +<p>"Say, if you do that again I'll throw you out of the car," cried Jack +at this atrocious pun.</p> + +<p>"Sorry, couldn't help it. Just slipped out," said Tom contritely.</p> + +<p>"Well, you'll slip out if the offense is repeated," retorted Dick. +"But," he went on, "seriously, fellows, we've got to do something."</p> + +<p>"Try blowing the horn," suggested Tom. "It has scared everything else +we met. Horses shy at it, so do other autos. Maybe it will get the +bull's goat."</p> + +<p>"I'll try it, at all events," said Jack.</p> + +<p>He pressed the button and the unearthly screech of the electric auto's +siren split the air. But the bull merely cast an inquiring glance in +their direction and then resumed his vigil over the professor.</p> + +<p>"Boys," wailed the unhappy geologist, "can't you do something, +anything? I can't roost in this tree all night, like a bird."</p> + +<p>The boys couldn't help grinning at this. With his sharp nose, big +spectacles and flapping black garments, the professor did look like a +mammoth black crow.</p> + +<p>"Reminds me of the fox and the crow," said Dick, in a low voice, to +his companions.</p> + +<p>"Only, in this case, the fox is a bull, and the piece of cheese is the +bag of specimens," added Tom.</p> + +<p>They looked about helplessly. There was no farmhouse in sight and the +road did not appear to be much traveled.</p> + +<p>"We'll have to go for help," declared Jack.</p> + +<p>"The only thing to do," agreed Tom.</p> + +<p>The professor was hailed. He had climbed to another limb with infinite +difficulty, because of the encumbering bag of rocks on his back. He +declared that he could manage to get along till the boys came back.</p> + +<p>"By a merciful provision of providence," he said whimsically, "bulls +can't climb trees. The situation might be worse if it was a bear."</p> + +<p>"It would be unbearable," declared Dick to Tom.</p> + +<p>"But just the same there's trouble a brewin'," retorted Tom. "I wish +that farmer would show up."</p> + +<p>"As I said before—I don't," responded Jack, as he prepared to start +off.</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>For answer Jack waved an eloquent hand toward the gap in the stone +fence.</p> + +<p>"I guess he wouldn't be best pleased to find that his fence had been +torn down," explained Jack, as the car drove off, leaving the +professor marooned in his tree with the sentinel bull waiting +patiently below.</p> + +<p>Some distance down the road the boys came to a farmhouse. Several men +were working in the field under the direction of a stout, red-faced +man. Jack shouted to them, and when the red-faced man came up he +explained the situation to him. The man was good-natured, or perhaps +he rather liked the idea of a ride in such a novel-looking car. +Anyhow, he called three of his hands and told them to get pitchforks.</p> + +<p>"Never see a bull I couldn't handle," he said as the men, having +returned, scrambled into the car.</p> + +<p>"Do you know who it belongs to?" asked Jack, as he turned round and +headed back to where they left the luckless professor.</p> + +<p>"I reckon it's that big Holstein of Josh Crabtree's. He's pretty near +as mean as his owner, and that's considerable."</p> + +<p>Jack thought of the hole in the wall and hoped they would reach there +before farmer Crabtree, and so avoid serious complications.</p> + +<p>He drove at top speed, while the friendly farmer and his workmen clung +to the sides of the car and looked rather scared at the rate they were +going.</p> + +<p>"There's the tree," exclaimed Jack, as they came in sight of it, "and +there's the gap in the fence."</p> + +<p>"And where's the bull?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>"And where's the professor?" added Dick.</p> + +<p>Not a trace of the man of science or of the ferocious animal was to be +seen.</p> + +<p>"Are you sure you boys didn't dream all this?" asked the red-faced +farmer suspiciously.</p> + +<p>"There ain't even a cow in sight in the pasture lot," said one of the +men.</p> + +<p>"I reckon this is some sort of a fool joke," added another.</p> + +<p>"It isn't. Indeed, it isn't," protested Jack.</p> + +<p>"The professor is some place around," said Tom.</p> + +<p>But a lengthy search of the vicinity failed to show anything except +that the professor had vanished as if the earth had swallowed him.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_IV"></a><h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<p><strong>"WHERE IS HE?"</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"Professor!" hailed Dick, at the top of his lungs.</p> + +<p>"Professor!" bawled the farm hands.</p> + +<p>The red-faced farmer himself regarded the boys quizzically.</p> + +<p>"What sort of a chap is this professor of yours?" he asked with an odd +intonation.</p> + +<p>"He's a geologist," replied Dick. "Why?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I thought he might be a conjurer," was the rejoinder. "He seems +to be pretty good at hiding himself."</p> + +<p>"Hark!" exclaimed Jack suddenly, standing at pause and listening +intently.</p> + +<p>"What's up?" demanded Dick, instantly on the alert, too.</p> + +<p>"I heard something. It sounded like——"</p> + +<p>"There it is again," cried Tom.</p> + +<p>A faint, far-off cry, impossible to locate, was borne to their ears.</p> + +<p>"It's a call for help," declared Dick.</p> + +<p>"That's what it is," agreed the red-faced farmer. "Must be that +perfusser of yours, but where in the name of Sam Hill is he?"</p> + +<p>It was a puzzling question. The faint cries appeared to be muffled in +some way. They looked about them, endeavoring to locate their source. +Suddenly one of the farm hands spoke.</p> + +<p>"I used to work fer old Crabtree," he said. "There's an old well +hereabouts somewheres and maybe he's fell down that."</p> + +<p>"Where is it?" demanded Jack.</p> + +<p>"Back in the meadow yonder," said the man, pointing in the direction +of the pasture lot.</p> + +<p>"Let's go over there and see at once," said Dick. "Frantic frogs of +France, if the professor's tumbled into a well he may be in serious +trouble."</p> + +<p>They set off on the run to where a pile of stones showed a well-curb +had once been. The hoards at the top, which had covered it over, had +rotted, and there was a jagged hole in them. Jack cautiously bent over +and placed his mouth at the edge of the hole.</p> + +<p>"Professor, are you down there?" he hailed.</p> + +<p>"Y-y-y-y-yes," came up in feeble, stuttering tones. "I'm almost +frozen. I'm hanging above the water but I can't hold on much longer. +The bag of specimens is too heavy."</p> + +<p>"Throw it away," urged Jack.</p> + +<p>"N-n-n-not for worlds," was the reply. "I was looking for another rare +bit of quartz when I fell in here."</p> + +<p>"I'll run to the car," said Jack, who had made out that the well was +not very deep. "Fortunately, we've got a rope and tackle in there. +Hold on, professor, we'll soon have you out."</p> + +<p>He hurriedly explained the situation to the others and ran at top +speed to the car, in which the boys—like most careful motorists, who +never know when such a piece of apparatus may come in useful for +hauling a car out of mud or sand, for instance, or for towing an +unlucky autoist home—had a block and tackle stowed.</p> + +<p>He was soon back, and the rope was lowered to the professor, who made +it fast under his arms. Then, aided by the husky muscles of the farm +hands, they soon drew him to the surface. But his weight was +materially added to by the stones, and it was no light task to rescue +him, dripping and shivering, from the dark, cold shaft.</p> + +<p>He explained that soon after they had gone some men came up and drove +the bull away. But they had seen the gap in the stone wall first.</p> + +<p>"They were positively violent," declared the professor, "and said that +they'd have the man who did it arrested if they could find him. Under +the circumstances, I deemed it prudent to stay up in the tree, where +they could not see me. They drove the bull off into another pasture. +As soon as the coast was clear I climbed down, but I happened to see a +rare bit of quartz sparkling in the sun on the edge of the well-curb. +Imprudently I stood on the planking and fell in."</p> + +<p>"Gracious, it's a lucky thing you weren't drowned, with all that +weight round your neck," declared Jack.</p> + +<p>"It was fortunate," said the scientist mildly, as if such a thing as +drowning was an everyday occurrence. "As a matter of fact, if I hadn't +succeeded in grasping a projecting stone and held on, I might have +gone down. It was an—er—a most discomforting experience."</p> + +<p>"Well, of all things," exclaimed the red-faced man, "to go trapesing +round the country collecting rocks!"</p> + +<p>"Not rocks, sir—geological specimens," rejoined the professor with +immense dignity, "and—great Huxley! Under your foot, sir! Under your +foot!"</p> + +<p>"What is it, a snake?" yelled the farmer, jumping backward as the +scientist dashed at him with a wild expression.</p> + +<p>"No, sir, but a remarkably fine specimen of what appears to be a +granolithic substance," exclaimed the professor, and he began +energetically chipping at a rock upon which the farmer had been +standing.</p> + +<p>"Crazy as a loon," declared the farmer, winking at his men. "Gets +nearly drowned in a well and then begins chopping at a rock as soon as +he gets out."</p> + +<p>"Oh, this has been a lucky day for me," said the professor with huge +satisfaction, as he placed his latest acquisition in the satchel. "As +fine a specimen, boys, as ever I encountered," he declared, turning to +the boys.</p> + +<p>"Gracious," exclaimed Tom and Dick in low tones, "does he call getting +chased by a bull and then tumbling down a well a satisfactory day?"</p> + +<p>"I should call it a rocky time," grinned Dick.</p> + +<p>But at this moment further conversation was cut short by the sudden +arrival of a gray-haired, short little old man with a tuft of gray +whiskers on his chin.</p> + +<p>"Josh Crabtree!" exclaimed the red-faced farmer.</p> + +<p>"Wow! now the music starts," declared Dick.</p> + +<p>Josh Crabtree, his face ablaze, and his small, malignant eyes +sparkling angrily, emitted a roar like that of his Holstein that had +caused the professor so much tribulation.</p> + +<p>"Say, be you the pesky varmints that tore down my fence and scared my +bull out'n two years' growth?" he bellowed.</p> + +<p>"I removed some stones from your fence, sir," said the professor, "but +it was in the interests of science. You may not have been aware of it, +but embedded in your enclosing structure was a fine specimen of green +granite."</p> + +<p>"Great hopping water-melyuns!" roared Old Crabtree, "and you tore down +my fence to git at a pesky bit of rock?"</p> + +<p>"Rock to you, sir," responded the scientist calmly, "like the man in +the poem a 'primrose by the river's brim, a yellow primrose is to you, +and it is nothing more.'"</p> + +<p>"Dad rot yer yaller primroses," yelled Old Crabtree, dancing about in +his rage. "You make good for tearing down my fence, d'ye hear me?"</p> + +<p>"I shall take great pleasure in forwarding you a check for any damage +I may have done," said the professor.</p> + +<p>"I want ther money now," said the farmer truculently.</p> + +<p>"I regret that I have left my wallet at home," said the professor. +Then he brightened suddenly. "I can leave my bag of specimens with you +as security," he said, "if you will promise to be careful with them."</p> + +<p>He unslung his bag and tendered it to the angry farmer who received it +with a look of amazement that the next moment turned to wrath when he +saw its contents.</p> + +<p>"By hickory, what kind of a game is this?" he demanded. "Nothing but a +lot of old rocks. By heck, thar's enough here to build a new fence!"</p> + +<p>He flung the bag down indignantly just as the professor darted forward +with one of his odd, swift movements. He shoved Old Crabtree back +without ceremony and bending swiftly to the spot where the angry +farmer had been standing he picked up and pocketed a small rock.</p> + +<p>"Wa'al land o' Goshen," gasped out the farmer, bewildered. "What in +ther name of time is this?"</p> + +<p>"A splendid specimen of gneiss," explained the professor triumphantly, +"and now, Mr.—er—you were saying?"</p> + +<p>"That I wants ter be paid fer ther damage ter my fence."</p> + +<p>"How much do you want?" asked Jack, coming to the rescue.</p> + +<p>"Reckon a dollar'll be about right."</p> + +<p>"If you will let me lend it to you till we reach your home, I'll be +very glad to pay him," said Jack aside to the professor.</p> + +<p>"But, my dear young friend, there is no necessity. He has ample +security till I can send him a check. Why, that bag of specimens is +worth fifty dollars at least."</p> + +<p>"Them old rocks," sniffed the farmer, who had overheard this last +remark, "I wouldn't give yer ten cents fer a cartload uv 'em. They're +too small fer fences an' too big to throw at cows."</p> + +<p>"You'd better let me pay him," said Jack, and the professor finally +consented to this arrangement.</p> + +<p>This done, they started back on the run to the professor's home, which +was about three miles off. On the way they dropped the red-faced +farmer and his hands, who clearly regarded the professor as some sort +of an amiable lunatic. But that worthy man, supremely happy despite +his wet clothes, was quite contented, and from time to time dipped +into his satchel, like a bookworm into a favorite volume, and drew out +a particularly valued specimen and admired it.</p> + +<p>They soon reached his home, a pretty cottage on the outskirts of +Creston, a small town with elm-shaded streets. The professor invited +the boys to accompany him into the house. They were met in the passage +by a shrill-voiced woman who looked like the professor in petticoats.</p> + +<p>"My sister, Miss Melissa," said the professor. "My dear, these +are——"</p> + +<p>But he got no further in his introduction. Miss Melissa's hands went +up in the air and her voice rose in a shrill shriek as she saw her +brother's condition.</p> + +<p>"Lan's sakes, Jerushah, where have you been?" she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"My dear, I must apologize for my condition," said the professor +mildly. "You see I——"</p> + +<p>"You're dripping a puddle on my carpets. You're wringing wet through!" +shrilled Miss Melissa.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you see, my dear, I've been down a well," explained the man of +science calmly.</p> + +<p>"Do tell! Down a well, Jerushah? At your time of life!"</p> + +<p>"You see I was after specimens, my dear," went on the professor.</p> + +<p>"Specimens!" exclaimed Miss Melissa. "The whole house is full of old +rocks now, Jerushah, an' you have ter go down a well to get more."</p> + +<p>"These are very valuable, my dear," said the professor, floundering +helplessly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't tell me. A passel of old rocks. I'm going to get you a hot +mustard footbath and some herb tea right away," and without another +word, except something about "death of cold, passel of boys," the good +lady flounced off.</p> + +<p>"She's like that sometimes, but she means well, Melissa does," +explained the professor, with a rather sheepish look as he stood in +the midst of a puddle that was rapidly converting him into an isolated +island in the midst of Miss Melissa's immaculate hall carpet. +Suddenly, with one of his impulsive movements, he darted off into a +room opening off the hall and came back with a dollar bill he had +unearthed from a desk. He handed it to Jack, and then, raising his +finger to his lips, he said:</p> + +<p>"Don't let Melissa see it. She's the best of women, is Melissa, but +peculiar about some things—er—very peculiar."</p> + +<p>"Je-ru-shah!" came Miss Melissa's voice.</p> + +<p>"Yes, my dear, coming," said the professor, and shouldering his bag +of specimens he shook hands with the boys and hastened off to answer +his sister's dictatorial call.</p> + +<p>"I guess we'd better be going," said Jack, with a smile that he could +not repress.</p> + +<p>The others agreed, and they were soon speeding back to High Towers, as +the estate of Jack's father, also a noted inventor, was called, with +plenty to talk about as a result of the events of the day.</p> + + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_V"></a><h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<p><strong>CHESTER CHADWICK—INVENTOR.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>As readers of the preceding volumes of this series, know, Jack +Chadwick and Tom Jesson, his cousin, had won the titles of Boy +Inventors through their ingenuity and mechanical genius. Jack's +father, Chester Chadwick, was an inventor of note, and unlike the +majority of inventors, he had turned his devices to such good account +that he had accumulated a substantial fortune and was able to maintain +a fine estate, already referred to as High Towers where, with +splendidly equipped workshops and a miniature lake, he could +experiment and work out his ideas.</p> + +<p>In the first book of this series it was related how Tom Jesson, Jack's +cousin, came to make his home at High Towers. Tom's father, an +explorer of international fame, had departed on an expedition to +Yucatan and had not been heard from since that time. This volume, +which was called the Boy Inventors' Wireless Triumph, told of the +boys' exploits in the radio-telegraphic field and the uses to which +they were able to turn them. In a flying machine, the invention of Mr. +Chadwick, they discovered Tom's father, under remarkable +circumstances, a prisoner of a tribe of savages, and also found a +fortune in precious stones.</p> + +<p>In the succeeding story of their adventures, the boys helped an +inventor in trouble. The Boy Inventors' Vanishing Gun, as this volume +was entitled, set forth in a graphic way the triumph of the boys over +the machinations of a gang of rascals intent on stealing the plans of +the wonderful implement of warfare which they had helped bring to +successful completion.</p> + +<p>We next encountered the lads in the Boy Inventors' Diving Torpedo +Boat. Here they were placed in a new environment on the surface and in +the depths of the ocean. The way in which the wonderful diving craft +aided Uncle Sam in a crisis with enemies of the United States was +told, and their ingenuity and bravery played no small part in the +affair.</p> + +<p>The Boy Inventors' Flying Ship was devoted to a detailed narrative of +the boys' long and unexpected cruise to the unexplored regions of the +Upper Amazon. The boys were shipwrecked and cast away without an +apparent hope of rescue on a yacht belonging to a German scientist, +the crew of which had mutinied. The boys' capture by a strange tribe +and subsequent escape in their Flying Ship formed thrilling portions +of this story, while Dick Donovan's researches in natural history +provided the boys with a lot of fun.</p> + +<p>The volume immediately preceding this showed the boys coming to the +rescue of a poor lad, a waif and orphan, who yet had a fortune in the +plans and specifications of a new type of craft invented by his dead +father who had lacked the capital to develop it. Enemies strove +desperately to secure the papers, and even went to the length of +forging a will for the purpose, but partly through the agency of an +odd German lad, Heiney Pumpernickel Dill, their schemes were +frustrated and the invention was developed and set upon a working +basis. This book was called the Boy Inventors' Hydroaëroplane, and +dealt with some astonishing adventures and perils all of which the +boys encountered with plucky spirits and resourceful minds.</p> + +<p>For some weeks preceding the opening of the present book relating of +the Boy Inventors, Mr. Chadwick had been closeted in his own private +laboratory. The boys had seen him only at rare intervals, and then he +had appeared abstracted and preoccupied. This, the boys knew, was a +sure sign that he was at work on a new idea.</p> + +<p>Sometimes the lights burned in his laboratory far into the night and +in the morning he would appear at breakfast pale and silent. The boys +had indulged in much speculation as to what the new invention could +be, but had arrived at no satisfactory conclusion when, two days after +their experience with the eccentric professor, Mr. Chadwick summoned +them to his private workshop. The boys, who had been at work on the +Wondership, the flying automobile with which they had met such +surprising adventures in Brazil, obeyed the summons with alacrity. It +was delivered to them by Jupe, the negro factotum of the place.</p> + +<p>"Massa Chadwick send me on de bustelbolorium," explained Jupe, who had +a vocabulary that was all his own, "for yo' alls to come right away by +his laburnumtory."</p> + +<p>"All right, Jupe, we'll be right over," said Jack, "just as soon as +we've got some of this grease off our hands."</p> + +<p>The boys' workshop was equipped with a washbasin and they soon made +themselves presentable. Then they hurried to Mr. Chadwick's workshop. +They found him standing before a roughly-built table on which were +ranged some odd-looking bits of apparatus.</p> + +<p>There was a gasoline motor in one corner, geared to a generator—or +what appeared to be one—from which feed wires led to a square metal +box on the table. Attached to this metal box was a sort of horn-shaped +mouthpiece something like the transmitter of a telephone. Hanging from +its side was what looked like an enlarged telephone receiver. Jack +regarded his father questioningly.</p> + +<p>"You sent for us, dad?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Jack," was the reply. "I'm in a quandary. Have you any idea what +this apparatus is?"</p> + +<p>Both boys shook their heads.</p> + +<p>"Looks like some kind of a telephone," ventured Tom.</p> + +<p>"It is a telephone," replied Mr. Chadwick.</p> + +<p>"But—but—where are the wires?" asked Jack, glancing about him, "or +haven't you connected it up yet?"</p> + +<p>"It's connected up as much as it will ever be," said Mr. Chadwick with +a smile. "Can't you guess what it is?"</p> + +<p>"I've got it," cried Jack suddenly. "It's a wireless telephone."</p> + +<p>"That's right," admitted his father, and, in response to a flood of +questions from the boys, he told them how he had been working day and +night to bring the device to perfection.</p> + +<p>"Now," he said, as he concluded, "I want you boys to go down to that +shed that was put up last week at the northwest corner of the +orchard."</p> + +<p>"The one that was put up to store gasoline?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>"I said it was for that purpose in order to avoid questions till I had +my work completed," said Mr. Chadwick with a smile. "Here is the key +to it. Inside you will find an apparatus similar to this one. Start +the dynamo and then stand in front of the transmitter and place the +receiver to your ear. If you don't hear anything at once use the +inductor to tune your aërial earth circuit to the transmitted current +from my end just exactly as you would tune up a wireless telegraph +instrument to catch certain wave lengths from another instrument"</p> + +<p>"Then the principle of the radio telephone is the same as that of the +wireless telephone?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>"I'll explain that to you later in as plain language as I can," said +the inventor, "but now I am anxious to see how this instrument will +transmit sound."</p> + +<p>The boys were excited. Anything novel in the way of science attracted +their bright, active minds as an electromagnet attracts steel. The +idea of a wireless telephone, of the possibility of transmitting +actual speech through space, just as the dots and dashes of the +wireless telegraph are sped through the ether, quickened their +inventive faculties to the highest pitch. Both felt a glow of pride +that they had been selected, even before their father's scientific +friends, to make the first test of this wonderful new invention.</p> + +<p>They hurried across the broad lawn that intervened between the +workshops and the orchard where the newly erected shed stood, and +which, it had been given out, was to serve for the storage of +gasoline. Unlocking the door, they found inside an apparatus +resembling in almost every detail the one in Mr. Chadwick's workshop.</p> + +<p>Jack's hands fairly trembled as he started up the motor and the +generator began to buzz. With shining eyes and throbbing pulses he +placed the receiver to his ear as his father had directed. But the +next moment a flood of disappointment swept through him.</p> + +<p>"Well?" demanded Tom, himself a tiptoe with expectation.</p> + +<p>"Nothing doing," replied Jack, shaking his head. "I guess the thing +isn't at a practical stage yet."</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute, give it a chance," urged Tom. "By the way, how about +that tuning device, have you tried that yet?"</p> + +<p>"No, good gracious, my head must be turning into solid ivory from the +neck up. I guess that's just what the trouble is."</p> + +<p>Jack began carefully sliding a small block connected to the +instruments up and down the coiled wire which formed the tuning +apparatus, and brought the sending and receiving ends into harmony +just as if they had been two musical instruments. When the right +electric "chord" was struck he should be able to hear, just as in +wireless he would be able to catch the message of an instrument whose +wave lengths were attuned to his.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Tom saw his chum and cousin give a start and then a shout. +Over the space between the workshop and the small shed a human voice +had been borne on electric waves. Sharp and clear as though he had +been listening to a "wire" 'phone, Jack caught and recognized his +father's voice:</p> + +<p>"Hul-lo!"</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_VI"></a><h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE RADIO TELEPHONE.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>Back and forth through space they talked for quite a time. The boys +were jubilant. The despair of many inventors, the wireless or radio +telephone appeared to be an accomplished fact. But they didn't dream +how much yet remained to be done. At length Mr. Chadwick told them to +"hang-up" and come back to the workshop.</p> + +<p>The boys were glad to do this for they were extremely anxious to learn +something of the forces controlling this aërial method of +conversation. So far, they had not the least understanding, beyond a +general idea, of how the thing was done. Of the details by which Mr. +Chadwick had worked out this radical departure in telephony, they knew +nothing.</p> + +<p>"Well, what did you think of it, boys?" asked Mr. Chadwick when they +returned to the workshop.</p> + +<p>"Wonderful, beyond anything I could have imagined," declared Jack.</p> + +<p>"How far will it work?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>"That's just the point," said Mr. Chadwick. "That's where I'm at sea. +I need a metal of greater conductivity than any attainable to get real +results. The carbon that I am using does not throw off enough radio +activity to produce a sufficient number of electric impulses to the +atmosphere."</p> + +<p>Jack and Tom looked puzzled.</p> + +<p>"You don't understand me I see," said Mr. Chadwick.</p> + +<p>"No, I must say I don't," said Jack; "you see——"</p> + +<p>"It's pretty technical," broke in Tom.</p> + +<p>"Well, then I'll try to explain to you, in simple language, the +general principles of radio telephony," said Mr. Chadwick. "In the +first place you know, of course, from your wireless studies, that an +electric wave sent into the air will travel till it strikes something, +such as an aërial."</p> + +<p>"To use the old illustration, an electric impulse sent into the air +spreads out in all directions just like the ripples from a stone +chucked into a mill-pond," said Jack.</p> + +<p>"That's it," said Mr. Chadwick. "Now then, as you also know the wire +telephone works by a metal disc in the receiver, vibrating in exactly +the same way as does the microphone in the transmitter. According to +the vibrations of the voice of the person sending the spoken message, +the electric current along the wire, acted upon by the microphone in +the transmitter, increases or decreases. This increasing and +decreasing current acts on a thin metal disc or diaphragm in the +receiver which is held to the ear of the person listening to the +message."</p> + +<p>"That's plain sailing so far," said Jack. "For instance, when you say +'Hullo' over a phone, the microphone or transmitter gets busy and +records it in electrical impulses and shoots it all along the wire +where the receiver picks it up and wiggles the metal disc inside it to +just the same tune."</p> + +<p>"That's it exactly," said Mr. Chadwick. "Now we are ready to go a step +further. Now, as this metal disc is attracted or released by the +current coming over the wire, it compresses or rarefies the air +between it and the ear-drum of the person to whose oral cavity it is +held. In this way the sensation of the same sound as was spoken at the +transmitter end is reproduced at the receiver end. In other words, the +transmitter jerks and jumps just as the needle of a phonograph does in +traveling over a record, and transmits these jerks and jumps over the +wire to the metal disc which by aërial pressure on the ear drums of +the receiver of the message, causes the aural membrane to translate +the words, or vibrations along the nerves, to the brain.</p> + +<p>"Following up this line," said Mr. Chadwick, "we find that the problem +in radio telephony is the same as that met with in ordinary wire +telephony. That is to say, we are required to cause a distant metal +disc to repeat every inflection of the transmitter. But in the case of +radio telephony the result is to be obtained by Hertzian waves, +instead of by a current passing through an insulated wire."</p> + +<p>"The same sort of waves that are employed in wireless telegraphy?" +asked Tom.</p> + +<p>"Just the same, only in radio telephony we are confronted by a problem +not met with in wireless telegraphy. We have not only to transmit +sound, such as isolated dots and dashes, but to send through the air +every rise and fall and inflection of the human voice just as it is +recorded in the minute lines of a phonographic record.</p> + +<p>"Experiments have shown that articulation, that is, understand, a +speech, depends upon overtones and upper harmonies of a frequency of +5,000 or 8,000 or more."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean by frequency?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>"Speaking in reference to radio telephony it means the number of +electrical vibrations per second required to produce a certain sound. +In electric currents 100 per second is a low frequency current, +100,000 per second is spoken of as high frequency. In early +experiments with radio telephony it was found that the chief +difficulty lay in obtaining a current of sufficiently high frequency +to transmit the human voice, the currents used in wireless telephony +being much too weak for this purpose.</p> + +<p>"I had, therefore, to invent my own alternator, which is attached to +that gasoline motor. There is a similar one in the shed from which you +just talked with me."</p> + +<p>"But why does radio telephony require a stronger current than wireless +telegraphy?" Tom wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"Because, up to the present, no way has been found of utilizing in +radio telephony the entire energy of the electric waves sent out," +replied Professor Chadwick. "Only the variations in the waves can be +detected, or transformed into sound at the receiving end of a radio +telephone system. Therefore an immense amount of electrical energy has +to be manufactured in order that the voice vibrations may register +their variations as powerfully as possible."</p> + +<p>"What percentage of the electrical energy manufactured by a high +frequency alternator can be transformed into variations of sound?" +asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"Not more than five to eight per cent. of the total energy. So +therefore the waste is enormous. In wireless telegraphy, on the other +hand, the entire energy radiated from a sending station can be picked +up to the limit of the receiver's capacity to detect it."</p> + +<p>"Isn't there any way in which this difficulty could be overcome?" +inquired Tom.</p> + +<p>"Yes, there is," said Mr. Chadwick, after a moment's thought, "and I +believe that I am the only man in the world employed with radio +telephonic problems who knows of it."</p> + +<p>"Why can't you use it, then?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"Because there are almost insurmountable difficulties in the way. +There is a substance chemically known Z. 2. X. which, if it could be +applied to purposes of transmission and detection, has such immense +powers of electrical absorption that messages could be sent almost any +distance, and with far greater economy of power than at present."</p> + +<p>"How far can you send them now?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"About five miles. At least I think so. I'm not even sure of that," +was Mr. Chadwick's reply.</p> + +<p>But Jack was impatient to get back to Z. 2. X.</p> + +<p>"Why can't you use this Z. 2. X.," he questioned, "if it would +practically wipe out your troubles in sending and receiving?"</p> + +<p>"Because there is even less of it in the world than there is of +radium," was the startling reply. "At present Z. 2. X. costs far more +than radium. It is the most intensely radio-active stuff in the world. +It is capable of being wrought into metal if anybody had ever found +enough of it, but except for a small deposit in South Africa, which +has been devoted to experimental purposes, nobody has any.</p> + +<p>"But enough of that now. That is only a dream. I am anxious, though, +to test out my present apparatus thoroughly, and to do it I shall need +the help of you boys."</p> + +<p>"In what way?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"In giving it a thorough trial to ascertain over how great a space I +can transmit wireless speech."</p> + +<p>"Are you going to put up another station outside the grounds?" asked +Tom.</p> + +<p>"No; I don't want to attract attention to my experiments. You boys +have a wireless telegraph outfit on your Wondership?"</p> + +<p>Jack nodded. He was curious, as was Tom, to know the Professor's plan. +They did not have long to wait.</p> + +<p>"I wish you would get the machine ready to install a radio-telephone +outfit in its place. In that way I can gauge the limits of my +invention without attracting undue attention, as everybody in this +vicinity has seen you in flight and would imagine that you were merely +taking a trip through the air."</p> + +<p>"But can you get out an apparatus light enough for us to take up?" +asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"I am working on that now," said Mr. Chadwick. "I'll have it ready in +a week."</p> + +<p>"We'll be ready for you," promised Jack.</p> + + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_VII"></a><h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE GREAT TEST.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>A week later to the day on a sunshiny, windless morning, the +Wondership was run out of its shed, glistening with new paint and with +every bit of bright work burnished till it shone and sparkled like +newly-minted silver. Amidships on the craft, the general construction +of which is familiar to readers of foregoing volumes of this series, +was a square metal box with small wires leading to long copper wires +stretched from end to end of the Wondership's body.</p> + +<p>These long copper wires were to form the aërials by which the messages +from Mr. Chadwick's workshop were to be caught. The smaller wires +underneath were connected with the metal work of the engine. These +wires formed a "ground" similar to the kind employed in aërial +wireless telegraphy.</p> + +<p>The details of the Wondership having been fully described in the Boy +Inventors' Flying Ship, we shall not enter here into any but a brief +and general description of the craft. The Wondership, then, was a +combination of dirigible balloon, automobile and boat. Her motive +power was furnished by engines driven by an explosive volatile gas +which was also used when occasion arose to inflate the bag of the +balloon feature of her design. The gas was generated in the lower part +of the craft's semi-cylindrical metal body.</p> + +<p>On land two big aërial propellers, geared to the engine, drove the +Wondership swiftly along on four solid-tired wheels. When it was +desired to take to the air the balloon bag, which was neatly folded on +a framework supported by upright stanchions above the body of the car, +was inflated by turning on a valve connecting with the gas tanks in +the base of the body.</p> + +<p>When the Wondership was intended to navigate the water she was driven +by the same aërial propellers that afforded her motive power on land +or in the air. She then became what may be called a hydromobile. If it +chanced to be rough weather, special hermetically sealed panels could +be drawn together, completely enclosing the body and making the craft +a water-tight "bottle." Ventilation was provided in such a case by a +hollow telescopic tube which reached twenty-five feet into the air. It +was divided in two. Fresh air was drawn by a fan down one section, +while the stale air in the "cabin" was forced out by a similar device +up the other part of the tube. Stability was afforded by hollow +pontoons, which worked on toggle joints, and could be raised or +lowered as desired.</p> + +<p>With the aid of Jupe, the gas bag was inflated to a point where only a +slight additional quantity of gas would cause the craft to shoot +upward to the sky. When all was ready a test of the instruments was +made and they were found to be working perfectly. The powerful +alternator on the Wondership was, of course, worked by the same motor +that drove the big propellers.</p> + +<p>"Well, I guess there's nothing to keep you back now," said Mr. +Chadwick, who looked pale and ill after his long days and nights of +work on his invention.</p> + +<p>"No, we're as ready as we ever will be," said Jack, making ready to +climb into the machine above which the big yellow balloon bag was +billowing and sending impatient quiverings through the Wondership.</p> + +<p>"I want you to promise me one thing, dad," said Jack, when he had +climbed into the driver's seat, in front of Tom, whose duty it was to +look after the engine.</p> + +<p>"What is that, my boy?" asked the inventor.</p> + +<p>"That after this test, whatever the result may be, you will take a +long rest."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I will, I must," agreed his father. "I've been working too hard, +I guess, but in the excitement of perfecting the radio telephone I +hardly noticed it. But recently I've had dizzy spells."</p> + +<p>"Two weeks' rest will make you well," declared Jack, as he adjusted +the controls.</p> + +<p>"Good-by and good luck," said his father.</p> + +<p>Both boys waved their hands.</p> + +<p>"All ready, Tom?" hailed Jack.</p> + +<p>The other boy nodded and then turned on a valve so that with a hissing +sound additional gas rushed into the bag. Jack pulled a lever. The big +motors roared and a queer, sickly smell of burned gas filled the air. +The propellers began to revolve slowly and then increased their speed +till they became a mere blur.</p> + +<p>"Dere she go! Gollyumption, dere she go!" cried Jupe, capering about.</p> + +<p>As the old black spoke, the Wondership shot up like a rocket, tilting +her nose slightly into the air. But the next moment Jack had her on an +even keel. In an incredibly short space of time those watching below +saw her only as a glinting, golden speck against the blue sky, +circling like some strange bird far above their heads.</p> + +<p>"Now for the tests," said Mr. Chadwick, as he hastened to his +workshop.</p> + +<p>He set the big alternator at work at top speed. It droned like a gaunt +bee. The inventor's face, worn by his anxious vigils at his +experiments, was as keen as a hawk's, while he adjusted the +instruments and placed his long, lean fingers on the tuning device.</p> + +<p>Far above the earth Jack and Tom could look down upon a patchwork of +villages, farms, green pastures, yellow grain fields and stretches of +woodland. They were too far up to distinguish figures, but they could +see the white steam of rushing trains along the railroad tracks, and +even catch the sound of the engines' whistles.</p> + +<p>Beyond glinted the blue of the sea flecked with sails and with here +and there a steamer's smoke smudging the horizon. Both lads were in +high spirits. It seemed good to be navigating the air again. Every now +and then inquisitive, high-flying crows would swoop toward the machine +and then dash off again with alarmed squawks.</p> + +<p>Although they were making a high rate of speed, they hardly seemed to +be moving as they soared in long circles. To get a sense of rapid +motion, stationary objects must be in sight. In the lonely air it was +hard to tell that they were moving at all except by looking down at +the earth which, as they rose, appeared to be rushing from them, as if +it were sinking through space.</p> + +<p>But novel as all these sensations would be to an aërial novice, they +were an old story to the boys. Jack devoted his attention to testing a +new steering appliance he had equipped the craft with, and Tom watched +his engines with an eagle eye to detect a skip or a "knock."</p> + +<p>"How high now?" asked the young engineer after an interval.</p> + +<p>Jack glanced at the barograph on the dashboard in front of him.</p> + +<p>"Three thousand feet," he said.</p> + +<p>"Might as well connect the alternator?" said Tom interrogatively.</p> + +<p>Jack nodded, and Tom threw a lever which brought the generator of +high frequency currents in contact with the motor by means of a +friction fly-wheel. The alternator began to buzz and spark, crackling +viciously.</p> + +<p>A sort of metal helmet with two receivers attached to it, one on each +side, lay handy at Jack's hand. In front of him was the transmitter +joined to the metal box which contained the microphone, transformers +and inductance tuning coil. Tuning in the aërial apparatus was +effected by means of a small knob projecting through a slit in the +metal box enclosing the delicate instruments including the detector. +By working this knob the tuning block was moved up and down the coil +till a proper "pitch" was obtained.</p> + +<div align="center"><img src="images/illus01.gif" width="369" height="550" border="0" +alt="Illustration: (Frontispiece) Jack experienced an odd thrill..."></div> + +<p>Jack experienced an odd thrill as he prepared to send the first spoken +word ever exchanged between an airship in motion and a station on +land. He and Tom had sent plenty of wireless messages while soaring +through the ether, but somehow, the dot and dash system had not half +the fascination and mystery of the possibility of exchanging coherent +speech between land and air.</p> + +<p>He placed his lips close to the receiver, and with his hand on the +tuning knob sent forth a loud, clear hail:</p> + +<p>"Hullo, High Towers!"</p> + +<p>There was no answer for a few seconds while he patiently adjusted the +tuning knob. But then came a faint buzz like the humming of a drowsy +bee. Suddenly, sharp and distinct, as if his father was at his elbow, +came Mr. Chadwick's voice in reply:</p> + +<p>"Hullo!"</p> + +<p>"This is the Wondership. Three thousand feet in the air," cried Jack.</p> + +<p>"Congratulations, my boy. It's a success so far."</p> + +<p>"What shall we do now?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"I want you to fly in the direction of Rayburn, and try to keep in +communication all the way."</p> + +<p>"All right, dad," responded Jack, and altered the course of the +Wondership.</p> + +<p>Rayburn was a small village some twenty-five miles to the north of +Nestorville. Jack kept the receivers on his ears as he flew along. +From time to time he exchanged conversation with his father. So far +everything appeared to be working as if there were no limit to the +distance over which the voices from the air and land could converse.</p> + +<p>But suddenly there came a startling interruption to the experiments.</p> + +<p>Jack felt a sharp "Bang" at his ears as if a small cannon had been +fired close at hand.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_VIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<p><strong>TALKING THROUGH SPACE.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>As the distance increased between air and land stations, the currents +became stronger, and frequent tuning was necessary. But Jack was able +to keep up a constant conversation with his father, telling him all +the details of the country as they flew along. The sudden explosion, +however, for it sounded like nothing else, startled him into a sharp +exclamation.</p> + +<p>"What in the world was that?"</p> + +<p>As if he had spoken the question to someone close at hand, came back +the explanation.</p> + +<p>"Wireless telegraph wave crossing ours," said his father. "Some +powerful land station is sending out a message, possibly to some +ship."</p> + +<p>"It almost broke my ear drum," said Jack, and inwardly resolved to +devote some time to trying to solve the problem of avoiding such +"collisions" in the future. It occurred to him that some sort of a +circuit breaker might be devised to cut off, temporarily, the +telephone talk by automatic means when a cross-wave of high energy +struck its current.</p> + +<p>The shock was not repeated, and the conversation went on, still as +sharp and as clear as when they had started out. A few minutes later +Jack was able to report they were passing over Rayburn.</p> + +<p>"You'd better keep on," said his father, his voice aglow with +enthusiasm. "It's working beyond my wildest expectations."</p> + +<p>"It's dandy," agreed Jack.</p> + +<p>They talked without raising their voices to any great extent, but it +was necessary to articulate very clearly so that each variation of +sound might be sent out into space as clearly as the notes of a singer +come from the record of a phonograph. But it was amazing, almost +uncanny to Jack that such results could be obtained at all.</p> + +<p>"Goodness, if only we could get that mineral substance that dad was +talking about I believe you could rig up a radio telephone that would +talk across the ocean," he said to Tom, "and think what that would +mean. For instance, instead of bothering with the cable you could step +into a radio-telephone office and say: 'Give me the London Exchange.' +In a few minutes the central would answer and you could tell her what +number you wanted on some regular wire line. Before long you'd get it, +and be talking to whoever you had called just as if they were +twenty-five miles off instead of three thousand!"</p> + +<p>"It seems like a dream," said Tom.</p> + +<p>"Not much of a dream about it. All it needs is development. We've +proved to-day it can be done," declared Jack, bubbling over with +enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>They flew over meadow land and pasture, farmhouses where tiny figures +emerged from buildings and looked up at them, over rivers and +railroads, and still the alternator spat and sparked and the messages +between Jack and his father were interchanged in a steady stream. +Rayburn had been left behind. They were now over a small town Jack +believed to be Hempstead.</p> + +<p>He looked at his map to make sure. It was one that he had specially +plotted out himself from observations he had made when flying in the +vicinity. Having verified their whereabouts he found that they had +flown about fifty miles, possibly a fraction more.</p> + +<p>But at this juncture he noticed that the voice of his father pulsing +through space began to grow thin and weak. Obviously the limit of the +radio 'phone's capacity had been reached.</p> + +<p>"Better turn back," said Mr. Chadwick.</p> + +<p>Jack turned to Tom and gave him the necessary instructions. Then he +set over his guiding wheel, turning the big rudder at the stern of the +Wondership and she acted as obediently as a sea-going craft answering +her helm. Never had she behaved better.</p> + +<p>They flew swiftly back toward High Towers and were soon in sight of +Rayburn. In order to test what effect the magnetism of the earth had +upon the radio messages, Jack brought the great flying craft close to +the ground. They almost grazed the treetops as they flew along.</p> + +<p>Skimming a patch of trees they roared above a farmhouse with a great +red barn adjoining it. The barn attracted Jack's attention because of +the fact that it had a flat roof, an almost unique feature in that +part of the country. He supposed it was used to dry some sort of +produce on and noted that there were several hop-fields near at hand. +Undoubtedly the roof was used for exposing them to the sun and thus +drying the moisture from them without the expense of wood for the +drying fires usually used for the purpose.</p> + +<p>He had hardly noted all this when there came a sudden tug at the +Wondership as if a titanic hand had reached up from below and grasped +her. She pitched wildly and, but for Jack's skill as an airman, there +might have been a serious accident. But he brought the big craft +under control by skillful manipulation.</p> + +<p>The next instant he discovered what had occurred. The grapple of the +aircraft had, in some way, dropped from its fastenings and, trailing +behind the Wondership, had caught in the roof of the farmer's barn.</p> + +<p>A great section of it was torn away and as Jack brought the Wondership +to rest on the roof, the only available place, for the rope was in +danger of fouling the propellers if he descended to the ground, the +farmer and a number of his men came running from the farmhouse.</p> + +<p>In the hands of the farmer was a formidable looking shotgun. As the +Wondership settled on the roof of the barn the man began shouting +angrily.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_IX"></a><h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE BOYS FACE TROUBLE.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"Phew! looks as if we are in for trouble," exclaimed Tom, as he saw +the warlike expression on the farmer's face.</p> + +<p>"It does that," agreed Jack. "Hop out, will you, Tom, and get that +grapple clear? Confound it, I don't see how it came loose."</p> + +<p>"Wore through the lashing," said Tom, who had been examining the place +where the big hooked steel anchor was usually tied.</p> + +<p>"We ought to have seen to it before we started out," said Jack. "We +haven't had it loose since that time we anchored above the Brazilian +forest."</p> + +<p>The farmer's angry voice hailed them from below.</p> + +<p>"Hey there! Don't yew move a foot till we've had a reck'nin'."</p> + +<p>"I am awfully sorry," said Jack. "It was an accident you see. We——"</p> + +<p>"Don't care what it was. Thet thar was a new roof. Don't you move a +step till Si here gits ther constabule."</p> + +<p>"We'll pay you for the roof," said Jack apologetically. "After all it +isn't much damaged."</p> + +<p>Indeed it appeared as if the damage was not so great as they had at +first imagined. After tearing off some shingles the grapple had caught +in a beam and was prevented from doing further harm.</p> + +<p>"Yes, yew'll pay, and yew'll go ter jail tew," declared the farmer. +"Consarn it all, what's the country comin' tew? Las' week tew pesky +dod-ratted balloonists hit Hi Holler on ther head with a bag of sand, +and now yew come along in thet thar contraption and try to bust up my +dryin' roof. I'll have ther law on yer."</p> + +<p>Matters began to look serious. Jack had no doubt but what the farmer +would accept a money payment for the damaged roof. But it appeared +that the old fellow was bent on more stringent vengeance.</p> + +<p>In the meantime Tom had been busy in the stern of the craft and had +succeeded in getting the grapnel loose from the beam into which its +sharp points had dug. It was not till that moment that the farmer +observed him.</p> + +<p>He leveled his shotgun at the balloon of the Wondership.</p> + +<p>"Don't yew dare ter move er I'll bust a hole right plumb through that +ther airbag of yourn," he said.</p> + +<p>"Can't you be reasonable?" asked Jack. "Here's my name." He wrote his +name and address on a slip of paper and threw it down.</p> + +<p>But the irate farmer paid no attention to the missive. He kept his gun +steadily trained on the Wondership.</p> + +<p>"Move an' I'll bust yer!" he said grimly.</p> + +<p>A buggy drove out of the yard. It raced through the gate and then +struck the highroad leading to Rayburn.</p> + +<p>"Thar' goes Si arter ther constabule," said the farmer, licking his +thin lips as if with relish. "Hi Ketchum is a rare one arter +automobubblists. I reckon he'll be right smart tickled to death when +he hears I got a whole airship fer him ter 'rest."</p> + +<p>"Bother the old grouch," muttered Tom, as he climbed back into the +Wondership, the bag of which was deflated just enough to keep her at +rest on the roof.</p> + +<p>"He's evidently mighty serious in his intentions," said Jack, with a +troubled face. "What are we going to do?"</p> + +<p>There was a sudden puff of wind and the big yellow balloon bag swayed +slightly.</p> + +<p>Instantly the farmer's finger crooked on his trigger. He thought the +boys were going to give him the slip.</p> + +<p>"No you don't," he shouted, "you don't fool Ezry Perkins that 'er +way!"</p> + +<p>"We're not trying to fool you," said Jack disgustedly. "Why can't you +be sensible. You've our names and addresses on that paper I threw +down to you. If you like I'll make a cash settlement right here for +any damage we've done."</p> + +<p>"I'm goin' ter git yer in ther court," insisted the farmer sullenly. +"Las' week some autermobubblists killed three uv my chickens, week +afore thet I had a hog knocked off ther road. I'm er goin' ter git +even on yer fer ther lot uv them."</p> + +<p>It was plain that the man was not to be moved by promises or +persuasion. He had conceived in his mind a hatred against automobiles, +with which, in a vague way, he classed airships and all such modern +inventions. Jack thought, too, that Ezra Perkins was the kind of man +who liked to shine out among his neighbors, and what better +opportunity could he have to satisfy this ambition than by blossoming +forth as a man who, single handed, had captured a great aircraft?</p> + +<p>The boys looked down. The farmer was pacing grimly up and down like a +sentry, his eyes never leaving the Wondership.</p> + +<p>"I'd like to drop a bag of ballast on his head, the same as those +balloonists did on Si's," muttered Tom.</p> + +<p>"Wouldn't do any good," said Jack. "It would only bounce off again."</p> + +<p>"I guess it would at that," agreed Tom with a grin.</p> + +<p>"I've half a mind to take a chance," said Jack suddenly.</p> + +<p>"And get a hole blown in the balloon bag," protested Tom. "We wouldn't +be better off than before in that case."</p> + +<p>"I wonder if he'd really shoot or if he's only bluffing," mused Jack.</p> + +<p>"Take a look at him," advised Tom.</p> + +<p>Jack did. One glance was enough. There was no bluffing about the grim, +overalled farmer. The very way in which he held his gun expressed +positive determination not to let the boys escape.</p> + +<p>But as it so happened, by no action of the boys', matters were +suddenly brought to a sharp crisis. Over the patch of woods beyond the +farm there came a vagrant puff of wind. It was followed by a sharper +gust.</p> + +<p>The Wondership swayed and then, before Jack could check the motion, +drifted off the roof like a piece of thistledown blown by the wind. +Instinctively, to check the downward motion, Jack's hand sought the +gas valve. With a hiss the volatile vapor rushed into the bag.</p> + +<p>The big aircraft shot up like an arrow. For a second the farmer stood +paralyzed at the suddenness of it all. His farm hands lounged about, +gaping and looking upward like country folks at a fireworks display.</p> + +<p>Then, without any warning:</p> + +<p>"Bang!"</p> + +<p>The farmer let loose with both barrels at once. But the Wondership +still rose.</p> + +<p>All at once, from below, came a yell of surprise and terror. The boys +looked over the side. As they did so they uttered simultaneous gasps +of consternation.</p> + +<p>The trailing grapnel, for Tom had forgotten to tie it back in place +in the excitement, had caught the farmer by the waistband of his +overalls and he was being carried skyward by the Wondership, dangling +at the end of the anchor rope like some sprawling spider.</p> + +<p>His wife, screaming at the top of her voice, rushed from the kitchen +door.</p> + +<p>"Hey, you come back with my husband!" she shouted.</p> + +<p>"Lemme go! Lemme go!" bawled the farmer as loudly as he could, for, +held securely by his stout overalls, he was carried high above his own +buildings. He kicked and struggled furiously.</p> + +<p>"Keep still," shouted Jack, in serious alarm, from the side of the +Wondership. "Keep still or you'll kick yourself off."</p> + +<p>The farmer had sense enough to obey. He hung upside down like a limp +scarecrow, while his farm hands gaped up at him and the hired girl was +busy pouring buckets of water over his wife who was in hysterics.</p> + +<p>"Gracious, now we've done it!" gasped Tom in dismay.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_X"></a><h2>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<p><strong>AN INVOLUNTARY AËRONAUT.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"Steady, Tom, steady," warned Jack, as he set the pumps to work +drawing gas from the bag into the reservoir.</p> + +<p>The Wondership, her buoyancy thus diminished, began to descend.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>"Drop our passenger," said Jack, with a grin he could not suppress, +for the struggling farmer was within a few feet of the ground now and +even if he did kick himself loose, for his struggles had begun again, +he could not have hurt himself much.</p> + +<p>"Back up till we get over that haystack," said Jack, "and then play +out rope till we lower him. It'll make a nice soft jumping-off place."</p> + +<p>Tom obeyed, pulling a reverse lever. The Wondership, steered with +skill by Jack's practiced hand, backed slowly up. At length they hung +directly over the haystack. Jack turned and nodded. Tom sprang to the +rope and lowered the indignant farmer into the soft hay. The man lost +no time in disentangling himself. Then he sprang to his feet and began +hurling vituperation at them at the top of his lungs.</p> + +<p>"I'll have ther law on yer fer this," he yelled. "Tryin' ter kidnap me +and bustin' down my barn. I'll see whether such goin's on is allowed +in ther sufferin' state uv Massachusetts, yew see if I don't, consarn +yer. I'll——"</p> + +<p>But the Wondership, bearing the two boys who could not help laughing +heartily, although they feared serious consequences might come of the +accident, was winging its way onward out of earshot of the not +unnaturally indignant Ezra Perkins.</p> + +<p>They passed Rayburn before Jack noticed a peculiar smell in the +atmosphere.</p> + +<p>It was leaking gas. Then, for the first time, he recollected that the +farmer might have hit the gas bag above them with his double shots, +although, till then, there had been no indication that such was the +case.</p> + +<p>He called Tom to the wheel, explaining his suspicions and clambered +out on the rigging to see if he could find any holes in the balloon. +It would have made a less steady boy dizzy and sick to stand on the +edge of the Wondership, clinging to one of the supports that held the +body of the craft to the gas-bag, while the whole affair plunged and +swayed five hundred feet above the earth. But Jack, used as he was to +navigating the air, felt none of these qualms.</p> + +<p>His suspicions were speedily confirmed. There was a jagged hole in the +underbody of the balloon, from which gas was rushing. Jack's face grew +grave. The situation was dangerous.</p> + +<p>He knew, as does every balloonist, that out-rushing gas can make an +electric spark in the atmosphere which, in turn, ignites the gas +itself, sometimes with fatal results. Experts in aëronautics attribute +the disasters befalling the long series of Zeppelins, the giant +German dirigibles, to this cause.</p> + +<p>"Tom, we must go down. Drop at once," he said. "That old fellow +succeeded in blowing a hole in us all right."</p> + +<p>The pumps were set to work and the Wondership fell rapidly. They +dropped in a field by the roadside, landing on the running wheels as +lightly as a feather, thanks to the shock absorbers, similar to those +of an automobile, with which the Wondership was equipped.</p> + +<p>"Now for the repair kit," said Jack, rummaging a locker.</p> + +<p>He soon had balloon silk, big shears, a quick-drying gum solution and +a pot of gasproof varnish, ready for the job of patching up the hole. +But first they had to empty the big bag of gas. This was speedily +done, for already enough had escaped to wrinkle the bag like a walnut, +with hollows and creases.</p> + +<p>Jack cut out a patch of balloon silk large enough to fit the hole and +spread it with the adhesive gum solution. This he placed inside the +hole, spreading it out so that when pressure was applied it would be +pressed firmly against the aperture. Then he coated the patch with the +gasproof varnish, and both boys sat down to give the job time to +"set."</p> + +<p>Their eyes turned idly to the high-road. It was about noon and there +was a heavy sort of silence in the air. Far on the horizon they could +make out great billowy masses of white cloud. Piled and castellated +against the sky they assumed all kinds of odd shapes.</p> + +<p>"Thunder heads," said Jack. "We shall have a storm before to-night."</p> + +<p>"It's sultry enough for anything," said Tom, taking off his cap and +mopping his forehead. "I'd hate to be walking in this weather like +that fellow yonder."</p> + +<p>A man had come into sight, plodding along with bent head and eyes on +the ground as if he was very tired. The gray dust of the road coated +him from head to foot. He walked with a kind of dragging gait.</p> + +<p>Over his shoulder he carried some sort of a bundle on a stick. His hat +was a broad sombrero, like a cowboy's. It was a kind of headgear +seldom seen in the east and attracted the boys' attention. Round the +man's neck was a red handkerchief, the only spot of color on his +dust-covered person. He had a great yellow beard and rather long, +unkempt hair.</p> + +<p>"Tramp," hazarded Tom.</p> + +<p>Jack shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Doesn't look like that to me somehow," he said. "I rather think——"</p> + +<p>Round the corner whizzed a big red automobile. It was coming fast. The +driver, a young man, had his head turned and was talking to three +companions who sat in the tonneau. He did not see the dusty traveler +in the road ahead.</p> + +<p>The boys set up a shout.</p> + +<p>"Look out! you'll run him down. Look out——"</p> + +<p>But their caution came too late. At top speed the auto struck the +wayfarer, and before the boys' horrified eyes he was thrown high in +the air, to fall, a confused sprawl of legs and arms, at the wayside.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XI"></a><h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<p><strong>BY THE ROADSIDE.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>The boys ran forward across the few yards of meadow that intervened +between the Wondership and the roadway. The autoists did not, +apparently, notice them. They had stopped the car and were looking +back.</p> + +<p>"Come on and let's get out of this quick," one of them, a hawk-faced +youth, with a long motoring duster on, was shouting to the driver.</p> + +<p>"Yes, let's beat it while the going's good, Bill," came from his +companion as he addressed the driver of the car.</p> + +<p>"I guess we'd better," said the man addressed as Bill.</p> + +<p>Before the boys could intervene the car was on its way again, at top +speed, leaving the unconscious form of its victim at the roadside.</p> + +<p>"Of all the cold-blooded scoundrels!" gasped Jack, horrified at such +callousness.</p> + +<p>"Never mind them now," advised Tom. "Let's see if this poor fellow is +badly hurt. He may even be——"</p> + +<p>He did not finish the sentence, but Jack knew what he meant. Hastily +the boys scrambled down the low bank that separated the field from the +road. They ran quickly to the man's side. To their great relief, for +they had feared that he might have been killed, the man was breathing. +But his breath came pantingly from his parted lips and there was a bad +cut on his forehead.</p> + +<p>"Get some water from the creek yonder," said Jack, and Tom hastened up +the road to where, beneath the small wooden bridge, there flowed a +rivulet of water.</p> + +<p>He was soon back, with his handkerchief well soaked, and with an old +can, that he had been lucky enough to find, filled with water. They +bathed the man's wound and then bound it up as best they could. But he +still lay senseless.</p> + +<p>"Now what's to be done?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>"We ought to get him over to the Wondership and rush him to the +hospital at Nestorville," said Jack.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that would be the thing to do. But he's too heavy for us to +carry," objected Tom.</p> + +<p>"Why not fly over here alongside him. I guess we could lift him in; +that patch ought to hold by this time," suggested Jack.</p> + +<p>"That's a good idea. What a pack of cowardly sneaks those chaps in +that car were."</p> + +<p>"I wish we could have stopped them. It would give me real pleasure to +see a gang like that get its just deserts. They might have killed this +poor fellow."</p> + +<p>The unconscious man was powerfully built, with face tanned brown above +a yellow beard, from exposure to sun and wind. As Jack had said, he +did not look like a tramp. Suddenly the boy noticed lying near him an +object which had evidently fallen from the man's pocket when he was +struck and flung through the air by the auto.</p> + +<p>It was a small cylinder, apparently made of lead, and about three +inches long. Jack picked it up, and for the time being did not attempt +to examine it but thrust it into his pocket for safe keeping. Little +did either of the boys think how much that little cylinder was to mean +to them, and how it was to influence some of the most important +adventures of their lives.</p> + +<p>Making the man as comfortable as they could, by rolling up their coats +and placing them under his head, the boys hurried back to the +Wondership. When they arrived there they saw that a feature of the +radio 'phone, which has not yet been mentioned, was working in urgent +appeal. This was a tiny red electric light attached to the top of the +case containing the sensitive parts of the apparatus.</p> + +<p>By an ingenious device, worked as a call signal from the transmitting +station, the electric waves converted a lighting circuit for this +purpose.</p> + +<p>It was winking and twinkling, and Jack knew that his father was +trying to call them.</p> + +<p>He sent out some flashes by starting the dynamo going and pressing a +key devised for the purpose. This, he knew, would cause a similar +light attached to his father's apparatus to flash a reply. This done +he waited a second and then adjusted the receivers to his ears.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" came his father's voice.</p> + +<p>Jack gave him a rapid account of the accident, not stopping just then +to say anything about the incident of the farmer and his barn.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do about it?" asked his father.</p> + +<p>"He appears to be seriously hurt," said Jack. "I was thinking of +rushing him to the hospital at Nestorville."</p> + +<p>"That seems to be the best plan," said his father. "By the way, did +those autoists get clear away?"</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid so. They never even waited a second to see if the man was +badly injured. They——"</p> + +<p>Jack suddenly stopped short. An inspiration had come to him. The +accident had happened on a road that, as he knew, led straight through +Nestorville. He had thought of a plan to bring the autoists to book +for their callousness and negligence.</p> + +<p>"Dad—oh, dad!" he called.</p> + +<p>"Yes, what is it?" came back Mr. Chadwick's voice.</p> + +<p>"Those fellows will pass through Nestorville. I had a flash of the +number of the car. It was 4206 Mass. It's a red car and a powerful +one, with three men in it."</p> + +<p>"What do you want to do?" asked Mr. Chadwick.</p> + +<p>"Can't you 'phone to the Nestorville police, telling them what has +happened and have those fellows stopped. I'm not vindictive, but they +ought to be brought to book for running down a man and then speeding +off and leaving him like that."</p> + +<p>"I agree with you," replied Mr. Chadwick. "I'll do so at once. +Good-by."</p> + +<p>"Good-by," said Jack and "rang off."</p> + +<p>"That was a great idea of yours, Jack, old boy," approved Tom. "I hope +they land those fellows."</p> + +<p>"Of course it was an accident," said Jack, "but that fellow who was +driving was too busy talking to watch the road, and then going off +like that—they deserve all they get."</p> + +<p>Examination of the patch showed that it would hold fast and the bag +was refilled. As soon as it was sufficiently inflated, the Wondership +sailed over to the road and was brought down alongside the still +unconscious man.</p> + +<p>"Looks as if he's badly hurt," said Tom with some anxiety.</p> + +<p>"It does. His skull may be fractured," agreed Jack. "If he is +seriously injured those fellows may get into trouble."</p> + +<p>It required all the boys' strength to raise the man and get him into +the Wondership. Here they laid him out on the floor of the rear +section. They had just done this when the red light signaled Jack +again. It was Mr. Chadwick. He had notified the Nestorville police +force, consisting of a chief and two men, and they were on the lookout +for the offending auto.</p> + +<p>"Good," said Jack. "Say, dad, the radio telephone has shown its +usefulness on the first day out, hasn't it?"</p> + +<p>They were soon in the air once more. The run to Nestorville was made +quickly. On the outskirts of the town they came to earth and deflated +the balloon bag, since the hospital stood in a group of trees and it +would have been impossible to make a landing there. The Wondership was +converted into an auto and sent speeding toward the main street of the +village.</p> + +<p>Suddenly they heard a whir of wheels behind them and an impatient +tooting of a horn. They looked back and uttered a simultaneous cry of +astonishment.</p> + +<p>The red auto that had run down the yellow-bearded man was behind them. +Its occupants were shouting and sounding their horn impatiently for +the right of way.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<p><strong>MAKING ENEMIES.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>The road was narrow where they were, and unless the boys' machine was +run to one side of the road there was no chance for the red machine to +pass. Jack made it clear that he didn't intend to let them.</p> + +<p>He paid no attention to the shouts that came from behind.</p> + +<p>"Hey, you kids, with that queer-looking car, get off the road and give +a real machine a chance to get by," shouted the driver, he who had +been addressed as Bill.</p> + +<p>Jack did not turn his head.</p> + +<p>"I'll knock your head off if you don't turn out—and turn out quick!" +came another shout.</p> + +<p>Still the boys did not pay any attention. In this order they came into +Nestorville. Lined up, with a look of stern determination on his +face, and with his nickel star of office newly polished, was Chief +Biff Bivins. Behind him were Lena Hardy and Joe Curley, his "force."</p> + +<p>"Say, boys," hailed Chief Biff, as the boys rolled up abreast of him +and his men, "hain't seen hair nor hide of that car your dad was arter +'phonin' me about."</p> + +<p>"Well, you soon will, chief," said Jack.</p> + +<p>"Haow do yew know that?" asked the chief, his little eyes blinking +curiously.</p> + +<p>"Because it's right behind us now," declared Jack. "It's that red +one."</p> + +<p>"Ther dickens you say. How'd you come ter git erhead of 'em?"</p> + +<p>"They must have stopped to fix a tire or something," said Jack.</p> + +<p>But Biff was paying no attention to him. The majesty of the law was +strong upon him. Calling his minions to his side he stepped into the +middle of the road in front of the red car.</p> + +<p>"Get out of the way!" shouted the man who was driving.</p> + +<p>"Not much I won't," declared Biff valorously. "Halt that gasoline +gadabout o' yourn instanter."</p> + +<p>"What for, you old Rube?"</p> + +<p>"Old Rube am I?" sputtered Biff, feeling that the law had been +insulted in his person, "jes' fer thet yer under 'rest."</p> + +<p>"What for?" demanded the driver of the red car angrily.</p> + +<p>"Fer running daown and grievously wounding a man and then speedin' off +without stoppin' ter see if you'd killed him dead or what all. That's +what fer."</p> + +<p>The driver of the red machine lost his blustering tone.</p> + +<p>"Why, there's some mistake," he stammered, his face very pale, +"I—er—we—er—that is, we didn't run anybody down."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, you did," said Jack. "We saw you, and what's more we've got +the man you struck right here in our car. You're a fine pack of +cowards to run off like that. If we hadn't happened along he might +have lain there for hours before help came."</p> + +<p>"You saw us!" gasped the driver of the car, losing his bravado +completely. "Well, I might as well admit we did run a man down. But we +didn't think he was badly hurt and so we put on all speed to rush into +town here and get a doctor for him. We'd have been here sooner only +one of our tires punctured."</p> + +<p>"Thet's a dern good story," said the chief, "but you'll hev ter +'splain that ter ther squire. Come on with me ter ther court-house. +Too bad fer you thet them Chadwick boys had some sort of a do-funny +dingus on their sky buggy that talks through the air, otherwise you'd +hev got clar' away."</p> + +<p>The man had, by this time, got out of the car which they halted at the +side of the street. A crowd of curious villagers gathered and were +staring at the scene and the actors in it.</p> + +<p>At Chief Biff's words the driver of the red car flashed an angry look +at the boys. His companions looked equally vindictive.</p> + +<p>"So, it's to you we owe our arrest, is it?" he said in a low voice, +coming quite close to Jack. "All right. You'll hear from me later. I'm +not going to forget you or that other kid, either. Do you understand?"</p> + +<p>Jack made no reply, and as he was anxious to get the injured man to +the hospital as quickly as possible he drove off. At the institution +the man was carried to a cot by two orderlies, and the doctor in +charge told the boys that, so far as he could see, his injuries were +not mortal, although he added that a fracture of the skull was +possible.</p> + +<p>"In which case," he said, "his recovery is problematical. How did you +happen to pick him up?" asked the doctor, who knew the boys quite +well.</p> + +<p>Jack told him as briefly as he could, and received the physician's +warm congratulations.</p> + +<p>"It was fortunate that you happened along," he said. "Otherwise a +long exposure to the sun, unattended, might have resulted in the man's +death. Have you any idea who he is?"</p> + +<p>"Not the least," replied Jack. "All that we know is that, just after +he had plodded round the corner as if he was tired after walking a +long way, that auto came whizzing round and struck him. Somehow he +doesn't look like a tramp."</p> + +<p>"No, he doesn't," agreed the doctor. "However, he should be conscious +to-morrow if there are no complications, and we can find out. One +thing is certain, he ought to be grateful to you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's all right," laughed Jack, much relieved to hear that the +man wasn't going to die. "It was all we could do."</p> + +<p>They drove back through the village. Outside the court-house was quite +a crowd. Events were few and far between in sleepy Nestorville, and +the arrest of the autoists had caused quite a sensation. From a friend +in the crowd the boys learned that the three men were being arraigned +before Squire Stevens.</p> + +<p>"Let's go in," suggested Tom.</p> + +<p>"All right," nodded Jack, and they climbed out of the Wondership and +ascended the long steps leading into the court-house. As they entered +Squire Stevens' court-room, Chief Bivins spied them.</p> + +<p>"Here they be now, Squire," he said. "Glad you came, boys. It saved me +the trouble of serving subpoenas on you. These are the boys who saw +the whole thing, judge."</p> + +<p>"Was it an accident?" asked Squire Stevens, a dignified-looking old +man with an imposing white beard.</p> + +<p>"Yes, entirely so," said Jack, who did not bear any malice.</p> + +<p>"But after they had struck the man, these young men ran away?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," Jack was forced to admit. The men shot him a glance of hatred.</p> + +<p>"I understand you have been to the hospital," went on Squire Stevens. +"Did you learn how badly the man they hit is hurt?"</p> + +<p>"The doctor told us that his injuries don't appear to be serious," +said Jack, "but that it was possible there might be complications."</p> + +<p>"In that case I shall have to hold you young men under bond," said the +squire. "Will you be able to furnish it?"</p> + +<p>"In any amount," said the man who had driven the car, in a loud, +boastful voice. "My father, Evans Masterson, owns the <i>Boston Moon,</i> +the evening paper. If I can telephone to him he will soon get us out +of this scrape."</p> + +<p>"Very well, then," said the Squire, frowning slightly at young +Masterson's tone. "I shall fix your bond at $500, as you were driving +the car and directly responsible for the accident, and that of your +companions at $100 each."</p> + +<p>Young Masterson gave an ironical bow. Chief Biff Bivins escorted him +to the telephone. The elder Masterson, who had had a good deal of +experience with his son's escapades, at first administered a lecture +over the 'phone which ended by his saying that he would come +post-haste to Nestorville and extricate his son and his chums from +their unpleasant fix.</p> + +<p>But the boys did not wait for this. As soon as the case was over they +hastened back to the Wondership. The run home was made without +incident and it was not till the Wondership was safely in its shed +that Jack suddenly thought of the odd cylinder of lead that he had +picked up by the man's side as he lay on the road.</p> + +<p>"I ought to have left it at the hospital," he thought, "but I entirely +forgot it."</p> + +<p>He drew it out and looked at it. He now saw that the lead cylinder +enclosed a glass vial carefully corked and sealed. The bottle was +wrapped in flannel. Jack could not withstand the temptation of pulling +it out and looking at it. He hardly knew what he had expected to see, +but he was distinctly disappointed, as was Tom, to find that the +carefully protected vial contained nothing more than some dark, almost +black, stuff that looked like sand. In it were particles that +glittered like mica.</p> + +<p>"Pshaw!" he exclaimed in a disappointed tone, "nothing but a bottle +full of sand. Wonder why in the world that fellow carried trash like +that so carefully wrapped up for?"</p> + +<p>The solution of the question, which was near at hand, was to have an +important bearing on the lives of the Boy Inventors, and that in the +immediate future.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE LEADEN TUBE.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>The following day, while they were experimenting and practicing with +the radio telephone, the boys received word that the man in the +hospital was conscious and wished to see them, if possible.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps now we shall get some explanation of that queer tubeful of +sand," said Jack, as he hung up the telephone receiver, having +informed the physician that they would be at the hospital shortly.</p> + +<p>"It's certainly a queer sort of thing for a man to carry about—a +glass vial full of black grit so carefully protected, unless he is +crazy or something," commented Tom.</p> + +<p>"I think that there is some explanation back of all this," said Jack, +"and for my part the sooner we get to the hospital, the better I shall +be pleased. The man told the doctor he was a miner and his name is +Zeb Cummings. Perhaps that sand is gold-bearing or something like +that."</p> + +<p>"That might be the case," agreed Tom.</p> + +<p>The boys decided to take out the electric car. It was in perfect +running order and the indicator showed that there was plenty of +electricity in storage for the start. They told Mr. Chadwick where +they were going and then rolled out of the High Towers gates onto the +broad, smooth road bordered with pleasant green elms.</p> + +<p>They bowled along smoothly and silently with the car working as +perfectly as delicate clockwork. They had gone about a mile from the +house and were on a steep grade which the car took as easily as if it +had been going down hill, when their attention was attracted by a +sudden shout from the vicinity.</p> + +<p>Jack brought the car to a halt. The voice came again.</p> + +<p>"Hi! Help me! Ouch! Help!"</p> + +<p>"What in the world is the matter now?" wondered Tom.</p> + +<p>"Somebody in trouble in that field yonder. We'd better get out and see +what's up," proposed Jack.</p> + +<p>The shouts seemed to issue from beyond a high bank at one side of the +road. On its summit was a hedge which prevented the boys seeing what +was going on in the field that lay beyond.</p> + +<p>As they got out of the car, however, Jack spied a bicycle at one side +of the road. A satchel that he remembered very well was slung from its +frame.</p> + +<p>"It's the professor in trouble again!" declared Jack.</p> + +<p>"I do believe you are right," replied Tom as they scrambled up the +bank. "That's sure enough his wheel."</p> + +<p>They found a gate in the hedge and on the other side an odd sight met +their eyes. Kneeling on the ground was the professor. His right arm +was thrust almost up to the shoulder into a hole in the ground. He +was shouting lustily for help and appeared to be imprisoned in his +queer posture.</p> + +<p>"Some animal has got hold of his hand," cried Jack. "Come on, Tom."</p> + +<p>"Oh, boys, thank goodness you've come," gasped the scientist.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" demanded Jack.</p> + +<p>"I can't get my arm out of this hole," declared the professor.</p> + +<p>"How did you get it in?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>"A fine specimen that I dropped accidentally rolled into it," was the +reply. "I reached in to get it and now I can't get my hand out."</p> + +<p>"But you got it in easily enough," said Jack in a puzzled tone.</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes," replied the professor, "but then I didn't have my hand +clenched. Now my fist is closed and I have the specimen in it. Oh, +boys, it's a beauty. One of the finest I have ever seen. It shows +distinct monolithic traces."</p> + +<p>"But if you don't drop it you can't get your hand out," argued Tom.</p> + +<p>"I know that. That's why I shouted for help," said the professor +simply.</p> + +<p>"You'll have to let go of it," decided Jack, almost choking with +laughter at the plight of the eccentric little man.</p> + +<p>"Let go of it? My dear sir," murmured the professor in a shocked tone, +"this specimen is worth at least twenty dollars, not to speak of its +scientific value."</p> + +<p>"But you can't stay here," said Jack decisively.</p> + +<p>"And I won't let go of the specimen," declared the professor with +equal firmness.</p> + +<p>"What on earth are we to do?" said Jack, looking helplessly at Tom.</p> + +<p>Not far off Tom had noticed a man digging potatoes. It gave him an +idea.</p> + +<p>"We can borrow that man's shovel and dig his arm out," he suggested.</p> + +<p>"It's about the only thing to do, I guess," said Jack. "You go and +see if you can get it. I'll keep the professor company."</p> + +<p>Tom soon came back. The potato-digger accompanied him. The man was +much interested in the eccentric man's plight.</p> + +<p>"If that ain't the beatingest I ever heard on," he remarked, gazing at +the professor, and then he tapped his head significantly and looked at +the boys in a knowing way.</p> + +<p>"Nobody home, eh?" he said with a grin. Fortunately the professor did +not hear him; but the boys could hardly keep from laughing outright as +they set to work with the spade. A few minutes of brisk digging set +the professor at liberty and he was able to stand upright and +triumphantly exhibit a small black rock which looked in no way +remarkable, but which, it was evident, he esteemed highly.</p> + +<p>"Ah, my little gem," he said, gazing at it fondly. "You thought you'd +escape me; but you didn't. A wonderfully fine specimen, boys."</p> + +<p>"Tell yer what," said the yokel, from whom they had borrowed the +spade, "I'll pay you fifty cents a day to clean up my back pasture +yonder. It's chock full of them black rocks."</p> + +<p>"It is?" exclaimed the professor eagerly. "I must visit it some day. +It would be worth writing a paper about. Most remarkable. A whole +field of these stones. Well, well, this is a great day for science. +But how did you boys happen to come along so opportunely?"</p> + +<p>Jack explained, and then, suddenly, he thought of the tube of +queer-looking black sand. Possibly the professor would know what it +was. He drew it out and briefly narrated how he came in possession of +it. The professor took the little glass vial out of its protecting +lead and flannel. He adjusted his glasses and held it up to the light. +Then he uncorked it and sprinkled a few grains on the palm of his +hand.</p> + +<p>He regarded it carefully for a few minutes and then drew out a huge +magnifying glass. The next instant he dropped his scientific calm and +uttered a sharp exclamation of astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Where is the man who owns this?" he exclaimed. "We must see him at +once."</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XIV"></a><h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<p><strong>IN THE HOSPITAL.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"We are on our way to see him now," said Jack. "He is in the +Nestorville hospital."</p> + +<p>"May I go with you?" asked the professor, with astonishing eagerness +for him.</p> + +<p>"Why, of course. But that black sand," said Jack. "What is +it—gold-bearing material of some kind?"</p> + +<p>"Gold!" exclaimed the professor with fine scorn, "gold would be dross +beside it. Of course I haven't analyzed it yet, but if it is what I +think it is, it is the most valuable stuff in the world."</p> + +<p>The boys exchanged bewildered glances. Clearly their discovery of the +injured man, Zeb Cummings, had an aspect they had not hitherto +suspected. But the professor refused to tell them what the sand was, +or what he thought it was, till he had seen Zeb Cummings himself.</p> + +<p>Leaving the potato-digger under the firm impression that they were +all crazy, they hurried back to the road, the professor's bicycle was +placed in the tonneau, and Jack drove just within the speed law to the +hospital.</p> + +<p>They found the injured man sitting up in bed, his great yellow beard +gleaming like gold. His head was bandaged but even the pallor induced +by the accident had not materially altered the ruddy glow of his thick +coat of tan.</p> + +<p>"So these are the boys who saved me," he said, extending a big, +gnarled hand. "Shake, pardners. The doc here tells me if I'd laid much +longer out there in the sun, there might hev been a first-class +funeral fer Zeb Cummings."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's all right," said Jack easily. "I'm only glad that we came +along when we did."</p> + +<p>"Well, you sure acted different from them other varmints," said Zeb +with deep conviction. "The doc tole me all about it."</p> + +<p>His face suddenly grew grave as he changed the subject.</p> + +<p>"Did you find anything on the ground thereabouts after I got knocked +out?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"What sort of a thing?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"Oh, nothing that looked very valuable. Jes' a little lead roll with a +bottle full of what looked like black sand in it."</p> + +<p>"Got it right here," said Jack, producing the bottle which the +professor had given back to him.</p> + +<p>"Glory be!" exclaimed Zeb Cummings, as he took the lead-wrapped vial +as though it was something precious. "I was afeard that if anyone +found it they might hev thrown it away, bein' as it don't look as if +it amounted ter anything much."</p> + +<p>"Is it valuable?" asked Jack, who could not restrain his curiosity.</p> + +<p>"That's jes' what I don't rightly know," rejoined Zeb. "I reckon I'd +better tell yer how I come ter git it an' then you kin judge fer +yourselves."</p> + +<p>"We'd like to hear," said Jack, who had felt all along that there was +some mystery about the yellow-bearded giant.</p> + +<p>"All right! Sit down and I'll tell yer ther yarn. But say, who is yer +friend? No offense meant, ye understand."</p> + +<p>"This is Professor Jerushah Jenks," said Jack.</p> + +<p>"What, the guy that knows all about rocks and such like?" burst out +the miner.</p> + +<p>"I believe I have achieved some small fame in that line," said the +professor.</p> + +<p>"Wa'al if this don't beat pay dirt I'm a Piute," exclaimed the miner. +"Give us your hand, Professor. I was on my way ter see you when that +thar buzz wagon busted me higher nor a turkey buzzard."</p> + +<p>"On your way to see me?" echoed the professor in amazed tones.</p> + +<p>"Yes, siree bob, that very identical thing," was the bronzed miner's +reply.</p> + +<p>"But I don't quite understand. You see I——"</p> + +<p>"That's all right, Professor. We'll git down ter pay dirt direc'ly," +said the miner. "You know of the Scientific Society in Bosting, of +course?"</p> + +<p>"I am a member of that body, sir," was the dignified reply of the +little man.</p> + +<p>"Well, they giv' me your name. Said you was the biggest bug on rocks, +minerals and sich in the country and so I sets out to pay a call on +you."</p> + +<p>"But you were many miles from where I live," said the professor. "The +railroad, or the trolley——"</p> + +<p>"Don't carry folks for nothing," interrupted Zeb, "and nothing's my +capital right now."</p> + +<p>"You mean that you were walking from Boston?" asked the professor.</p> + +<p>"That's right," was the reply. "Landed there on ship from round the +Horn last week. Got paid off but some sneak thief in the boarding +house I was stopping at got my roll. So I had to hoof it."</p> + +<p>"But what did you want with me?" asked the professor.</p> + +<p>"I wanted you ter tell me ef that thar stuff in the glass tube is +worth anything or nothing," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"Why, do you know where there is more of it?" asked the professor, and +the boys could see that he was oddly excited, although preserving an +appearance of outward calm.</p> + +<p>"Yes, siree," was the emphatic reply. "I know whar thar's enough of it +to load a freight train."</p> + +<p>"Shades of Huxley!" gasped the professor, actually turning pale. "Do +you mean that?"</p> + +<p>"I sure do, Professor. It's all down on a map what Blue Nose Sanchez +give me afore he passed in his checks."</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XV"></a><h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<p><strong>A TALE OF THE COLORADO.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"Do you fully realize what you are telling me?" asked the professor. +The doctor and the nurse had left the room, and the miner, the +scientist and the boys were alone.</p> + +<p>"Course I do," was the rejoinder of the yellow-bearded giant with the +bandaged head. "There ought ter be a fortune in it 'cording to what +Blue Nose Sanchez said. Was he lyin', Professor?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think so. But tell us your story," urged the man of science.</p> + +<p>"Well, it begins some months ago. I was prospecting down along the +Colorado River. It was in a mighty bad place. Don't rightly know just +how I ever got thar, but thar I was. Wonder was I wasn't killed ten +times over 'fore I got to whar I was. But I guess I'm pretty tough.</p> + +<p>"That Colorado River is a pretty tough place down where I was. +Nothing but desert all around, and just a swift dashing current at the +bottom of a canyon that looks like it went into the middle of the +earth with steep, dark walls that seem to go straight plum up to the +sky.</p> + +<p>"But I was lured on by the thought of making a big strike. At last I +got down to a place where the banks was so high and steep that it was +like twilight even at noon. Grub was gittin' to be a question with me, +and I'd about made up my mind to turn back, but I thought I'd make one +more last try.</p> + +<p>"I set to work on a rocky bank with my pick but nary a color—that's +what we call a trace of gold—could I uncover.</p> + +<p>"Wa'al, says I to myself, it's up stakes fer you, Zeb, unless you want +to starve afore you git back to civilization. But as it was evenin' +then I decided to stay whar I was that night and strike back early the +next day.</p> + +<p>"Here's whar Blue Nose Sanchez comes inter ther story. They called +him 'blue nose,' I guess, because of a premature blast that had blown +powder into his nose and turned it that color. Anyway, he was a mighty +homely specimen.</p> + +<p>"It was just gittin' light in the canyon, although it must have been +broad day up above, when I hears an almighty hollering up the gulch. +The next thing I knows, round a bend comes a small boat. There's two +men in it. They must have been crazy to try to make the passage, for +the river is just a mass of rapids and whirlpools, and I never heard +of anyone trying to shoot 'em.</p> + +<p>"But thar was these two fellows in this boat, and they was scared, +too, I kin tell you. Wa'al, I stood thar like a stuffed pig on the +bank watching 'em as they came toward me at the speed of an express +train. Suddenly one of 'em, the chap that was trying to steer, twisted +the oar he was guiding the boat with and it cracked under his weight. +He went overboard in a flash.</p> + +<p>"The next moment, with a yell of fright that I kin hear yit, the boat +was hurried past me on that water that boiled like yeast in a kittle, +and in a flash it had disappeared round another bend. What became of +it I never knew, but it must have been upset and the man in it +drowned. No boat could have lasted long in that water, even with an +oar to steer it, and that was gone.</p> + +<p>"I waded out inter ther water as far as I dared and by some freak of +the current the man who had toppled out of the boat came within my +reach. I grabbed him and dragged him ashore, more dead than alive. I +done what I could for him and he came to after a while. That was how I +met Blue Nose Sanchez.</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, Blue Nose was a mighty sick man, even then. He had fever +and was a ravin' lunatic at times, but at intervals he made out to +tell me suthin' of his story. Him and his partner, a fellow he called +Foxy Joe, was on their way to find a little island down ther river +where no white man but only one had been. This man was a friend of +Foxy Joe's and the two met up in Yuma. Foxy's friend had a lot to tell +him about a wonderful island some Injuns had told him about whar +there was some sort of mysterious mineral. By what Joe could make out +this mineral was nuthin' more nor less than radium."</p> + +<p>"Radium!" exclaimed the boys.</p> + +<p>"That's right," went on the miner. "Foxy's friend allowed that there +was cartloads of it lyin' loose thar 'cording to the description the +Injuns give him, and he showed Foxy a sample of the stuff. That sample +is in this little lead-wrapped bottle. It's wrapped in lead 'cos +otherwise it 'ud make sores on you when you carry it about. It's +workin', workin' all the time, frum what I kin make out.</p> + +<p>"Well, 'cordin' ter ther way Blue Nose Sanchez tells it, Foxy and the +man who knew about the island and had a rough plan of it the Injuns +drew fer him, had a fight, and Foxy kills him, or thinks he has. Blue +Nose sees it and sees Foxy take the map and the little lead-wrapped +bottle off the body. He suspects somethin' and tells Foxy that he'll +give him up to the law if he don't let him in on it. So Foxy tells +him all about it and him and Sanchez, who was then a mule rustler, +agrees ter go partners and go git ther radium, or whatever it is.</p> + +<p>"They builds this boat, the one that disappeared, and in order that +Foxy shouldn't play no tricks, that bein' his disposition, Sanchez +'lows he'll take both the sample and the map. Foxy sees no way out of +it but to give in and that's the way it's fixed.</p> + +<p>"The boat is taken out of Yuma in sections and then put together in a +place whar nobody ain't likely to come nosin' around. Then they starts +out on what I guess was the most darn-fool enterprise any two locoed +fortune-hunters ever undertook. How it ended you know. They both got +fever, but Sanchez was the worst. He died that same evening, his +tumble in the water havin' made him worse. I buried him there as best +I could and then, as he had wished, I takes the sample and the map.</p> + +<p>"'Some day,' he told me, just afore he closed his eyes for good, +'you'll be glad you saved me, even though it was too late.'</p> + +<p>"Well, I beat it back and get out of the canyon more dead than alive +and finally make a small strike. I go to San Francisco with it and try +to git ther stuff analyzed, but everyone I tole about it laughed at me +and said I was crazy. So, thinks I, I'll come East. My money was about +all gone, so I shipped afore ther mast on a Cape Horn ship, and got +here.</p> + +<p>"Now, you have me tale, old top," grinned the good-natured miner, and +added: "Well, has my toe-and-heeling been worth its salt?"</p> + +<p>The professor nodded solemnly.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" cried Jack, his heart beating with a strange, wild hope.</p> + +<p>Tom and Zeb echoed Jack's eager question.</p> + +<p>"My friends," declared the little man of science pompously, "we have +reason to believe that a wonderful discovery has been made, namely, +Z.2.X."</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XVI"></a><h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<p><strong>ZEB CUMMINGS.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"Z.2.X., the most radio-active stuff in the world!" exclaimed Jack.</p> + +<p>"I suppose that approximately describes it," said the professor, "but +what do you know about it?"</p> + +<p>Jack explained how ardently his father had wished for the missing +element to make his system of radio telephony the most efficient in +use.</p> + +<p>"Well, if what Sanchez said was true, and the map is right, there is +plenty of it right on that island," said the miner.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that may all be," objected the professor, "but how are you going +to get at it?"</p> + +<p>"Wa'al that's a poser. You can't reach it in a boat and you can't +reach it over the desert," said Zeb. "The country all round there is +dry as an oven and, anyhow, if you got to ther banks of ther Colorado +right by ther island ther's no way of gitting <i>down</i> to ther island. +Sanchez says that the Injuns told Foxy's friend that a long time ago, +when first they found the stuff on the island, there was a way of +getting down to it. But an earthquake sunk the river bed and nobody +had been thar since the Injuns that found it. He said that they first +come to take notice of it by reason of the way it shined at night. But +only a few of the tribe would go near on account of their thinking the +place was haunted."</p> + +<p>"Have you got that map?" asked the professor.</p> + +<p>"Yes, if you'll reach my coat I'll show it you," said the miner.</p> + +<p>Jack gave him the ragged garment off a hook at the back of the door. +Zeb fumbled in the pockets for a minute and then brought out a knife.</p> + +<p>"A rip more or less won't make no difference," he said, and cut a +slash down the lining. There, carefully stowed inside, where it could +not be suspected, was a folded, time-yellowed paper.</p> + +<p>The miner opened it slowly and spread it out on the counterpane. The +boys, not without a sense of shock, noted a dark, rusty-looking stain +upon it. It struck them that the marks might be the life blood of the +treacherous Foxy's friend who had met a tragic end in Yuma.</p> + +<p>Zeb, with a broad and blackened forefinger, traced the course of the +Colorado. At length his finger paused at an island marked in red. +There was some fantastic Indian lettering, or sign-drawing, about it, +and underneath, in a white man's handwriting, were the words: +"Rattlesnake Island."</p> + +<p>"I reckon Foxy Joe's friend must hev written that in," commented Zeb.</p> + +<p>"It looks that way," said the professor, who had poured the sample of +mineral-bearing sand back into the vial and restored it to Zeb +Cummings.</p> + +<p>"Rattlesnake Island," repeated Jack. "Are there any rattlers down that +way?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, and gila monsters and tarantulas and centipedes," replied Zeb +cheerfully. "But you soon get used to 'em."</p> + +<p>Some other islands were marked on the map, but Rattlesnake Island was +the only one designated by name.</p> + +<p>"That must be the place whar all that stuff is, then," decided Zeb. "I +wish thar was some way of gittin' thar."</p> + +<p>"If there is even only a small fraction of the mineral-bearing sand +there," said the professor, "there's a fortune in it."</p> + +<p>"Wa'al if you can't git it out what good is it?" said Zeb +philosophically. "Anyhow, I'm glad that Sanchez spoke the truth with +his dying words. Maybe thar is some way, except by water, in spite of +what he said."</p> + +<p>"Maybe there is," said Jack. "It seems a shame to think of all that +rich stuff lying there neglected and unobtainable."</p> + +<p>"It does indeed," agreed the professor. "In that sample I find traces +of metals from which filaments for electric lights could be made and +substances invaluable in medicine for X-ray purposes as well as the +Z.2.X. which your father is convinced would make the radio telephone +as practical as the wireless telegraph."</p> + +<p>They would like to have stayed there all the morning poring over the +map and asking further questions of the rugged miner, but at that +moment the nurse came in and declared that the injured man must have +quiet.</p> + +<p>And so there, for the present, the matter rested. The professor +departed for his home greatly excited over the events of the morning, +but his excitement was a little allayed by the fear that he would be +late for his mid-day meal with dire results from Miss Melissa.</p> + +<p>As for the boys, they could talk of nothing else. The idea of that +lonely island, lying at the bottom of an unscalable canyon in the +midst of a burning, desolate desert, appealed powerfully to their +imaginations. Their minds were in a whirl over the strange coincidence +that had brought them in contact with a man who knew where possibly +inexhaustible supplies of the mysterious Z.2.X. lay ready for the +taking, provided it could be reached.</p> + +<p>"I'd give a whole lot to be able to fix up an expedition to go out +there and get that stuff," said Jack with a sigh.</p> + +<p>"So would I," agreed Tom. "But I guess, as Zeb Cummings said, it will +be a long time before anyone sets foot on Rattlesnake Island."</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XVII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<p><strong>IN THE LABORATORY.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>That afternoon Jack broached to his father the events of the morning. +Mr. Chadwick's enthusiasm may be imagined as his son told him of the +professor's hasty analysis of the contents of Zeb Cumming's glass +vial.</p> + +<p>But there remained the insuperable obstacle of the remoteness of the +island where the deposits lay, and the difficulties—in fact, almost +the impossibilities—that barred the way. For the time being, however, +the matter was set aside while further experiments with the radio +telephone were conducted. As a means of increased transmitting power, +Mr. Chadwick had in mind a series of sending devices attached to one +mouthpiece. In this way he believed he could at least partially +overcome the resistance of the atmosphere, and get a higher percentage +of current.</p> + +<p>He had been working on the idea all the morning and was anxious for a +test. The Wondership was, therefore, wheeled out, and before long the +boys were in the air once more. As before, they sailed in the +direction of Rayburn. As they passed above the farm where they had met +with their adventure the day before, they turned to each other with a +laugh.</p> + +<p>Below them they could see men working on the damaged roof of the barn +and Tom burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter as he recalled +the queer sight the farmer presented dangling from the grapnel high +above his broad acres.</p> + +<p>"That reminds me," said Jack. "We must send him some money for that +roof."</p> + +<p>"How about his personal feelings?" grinned Tom.</p> + +<p>"I guess he wiped that score out when he blazed away at the balloon +bag."</p> + +<p>"Just the same, I think we'd better go pretty high up," advised Tom. +"He might fancy trying another shot at us."</p> + +<p>"That's so," agreed Jack, studying the men moving about far below.</p> + +<p>He pulled a lever and the Wondership began to rise. It was as well he +did so perhaps, for as they shot upward they could see that their +presence had been noted. They watched the men scurrying about and +pointing upward. But whether the Wondership was too high, or his +animosity had cooled after his involuntary ascension, the farmer made +no hostile demonstration, and they were soon out of Perkins' sight.</p> + +<p>Apparently the new device worked fine, for all through the afternoon, +at various heights and distances, they kept in perfect touch with Mr. +Chadwick. Every intonation of his voice was borne plainly to their +ears, Tom at times taking the wheel and the receivers while Jack +relieved him at the engines.</p> + +<p>The storm which had threatened the night before, still was hovering +about, as was evidenced by the white thunderheads piled on the +horizon. But the electricity in the air did not, as is sometimes the +case, interfere with the powerful impulses sent out from workshop and +airship. Although the air felt heavy, the instruments worked +perfectly.</p> + +<p>The boys flew over hill and dale for more than seventy miles prior to +any perceptible weakening in the current. But once it began to fail it +reduced rapidly until the messages were scarcely audible. But the +experiments were kept up till almost dusk, when Mr. Chadwick told the +boys to come back.</p> + +<p>As they returned the radio 'phones were kept working and as the +distance decreased the impulses grew stronger.</p> + +<p>"If only I had some of that Z.2.X.," said Mr. Chadwick, "I believe it +would be possible to send a message across the ocean or the +continent."</p> + +<p>Not long after this Jack heard again from his father. It was a +commonplace message enough. Sent merely to keep the air-line in +operation.</p> + +<p>"Here is Jupe with the afternoon mail," he said.</p> + +<p>"Anything for us?" asked Jack, enjoying the novel sensation of +talking through the air concerning such everyday matters.</p> + +<p>"Yes, there's one from Ned Nevins," was the rejoinder, "and here is +one for me from my New York brokers. Let me see—ah-h-h-h!"</p> + +<p>The last was a sharp exclamation, as if Mr. Chadwick had received a +sudden shock. It was followed by silence. Again and again Jack flashed +the red signaling lamp but there was no reply.</p> + +<p>He was seriously worried. The sudden sharp intake of breath, almost +like an outcry, that he had heard, oppressed him with a sense of +apprehension. What could have happened? Turning to Tom he called for +full speed ahead for the trip back.</p> + +<p>Tom was not slow in responding. He speeded the motors up to their top +capacity. In the air there were no speed laws to look out for, or +other motorists or pedestrians to avoid. It was a clear road. The +steel stays and stanchions of the stanch Wonder ship fairly hummed as +she shot forward, while an indefinable fear clutched at Jack's heart.</p> + +<p>He knew that his father was subject to fainting spells and he had been +overworking recently. Fast as the Wondership was cutting through the +air it felt like an eternity to Jack before the gray walls and the +well-laid-out grounds of High Towers came into view.</p> + +<p>The boys lost no time in landing, and not waiting to place the +Wondership in her shed, set out to look for Mr. Chadwick. Jupe came +shuffling by on his way from the cornpatch.</p> + +<p>"Where's dad, Jupe?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"In his labveroratory, ah reckons," answered the old colored man. +"Leastways ah ain't obfustucated any obserwations ob him round der +contagiois atmosferics."</p> + +<p>"Come on, Tom," said Jack. "Let's get to dad's workshop as quick as we +can."</p> + +<p>"Why, Jack, you—you don't think that anything has happened to him, do +you?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>"I don't know. He was talking quite cheerfully to me and then, +without any warning, he gave a sort of gasp and then everything was +silent."</p> + +<p>The next minute the boys entered the workshop of the inventor.</p> + +<p>Jack's worst fears were realized as they gazed at the scene before +them. On the floor, stretched out inanimate before the radio telephone +apparatus, lay Mr. Chadwick. His right hand grasped a letter.</p> + +<p>His head lay in a pool of blood, oozing from a cut at the back of his +head.</p> + +<p>"Dad! dad! What has happened?" cried Jack, in an agony of alarm, as he +fell to his knees at his father's side.</p> + +<p>But Mr. Chadwick did not answer. The next moment Tom's shout for help +brought everybody about the place running toward the workshop where +the alarming discovery had been made.</p> + + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<p><strong>INTO THE STORM.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"Carry him into the house and get him to bed," cried Mrs. Bagley, the +housekeeper, wringing her hands distractedly. "Oh dear! poor +gentleman, he's bin a-workin' too hard, that's what's the matter."</p> + +<p>Jupe and Hank Hawkins, the handy man, picked the unconscious man up +and carried him to bed, where he was made comfortable.</p> + +<p>Jack and Tom made an investigation of the workshop. At first the cut +on Mr. Chadwick's head had given Jack the impression that he might +have been the victim of foul play.</p> + +<p>But a brief survey of the place soon dispelled these conclusions. When +he fell, the inventor struck his head against the sharp corner of a +table right behind him, Jack concluded, and in this way inflicted the +wound.</p> + +<p>The letter that his father had been reading when he was stricken +still lay on the floor. Jack picked it up. It was from the brokers in +New York, the same missive Mr. Chadwick had referred to over the radio +'phone just before the silence that so alarmed Jack.</p> + +<p>Glancing over it Jack's eyes widened. He perceived at once that the +cause of his father's sudden attack no doubt lay in the shock he had +received when he opened the envelope. The letter was curt and to the +point.</p> + +<p>"Your securities wiped out in panic," it said. "Wire us and advise +what to do."</p> + +<p>That was all, but it was enough. Jack knew that most of his father's +money was invested with the firm that had written the letter, and now +they had been wiped out in a money panic. Jack had no idea how much of +his father's fortune was affected, but it was evident from Mr. +Chadwick's collapse that he had been dealt a heavy blow.</p> + +<p>He was in the midst of talking to Tom about the letter when the +housekeeper came running from the house.</p> + +<p>"Oh, here you boys are!" she exclaimed. "You must get Dr. Mays at +once. Those red drops he gave your father are finished and I can't +find any more."</p> + +<p>"I'll telephone," said Jack promptly, stuffing the letter into his +pocket.</p> + +<p>"I've already tried that," said Mrs. Bagley, "but the line is out of +order."</p> + +<p>"Can't we get some other doctor?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bagley shook her head.</p> + +<p>"Dr. Mays is the only one who understands your father's case," she +said. "You must get him as soon as possible."</p> + +<p>"Is dad conscious yet?" asked Jack anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Yes, he has been trying to tell me something but I won't let him +talk."</p> + +<p>"We'll get Dr. Mays right away," said Jack, but then he suddenly +recollected that the electric car was slightly out of order. There +would be no time to stop and repair it then.</p> + +<p>Luckily the Wondership still stood outside the shed. Five minutes +later the boys were soaring aloft, bound for the doctor's house, which +was some distance away. It was not till they had fairly started that +they noticed the change in the weather.</p> + +<p>The thunderheads they had seen earlier in the day now spread and +covered the whole sky with a dark pall. The air was very still, as if +nature was holding her breath. Far off, though in plain view, the sea +was lying like a smooth sheet of steel-gray velvet. A sailing ship, +with sails flapping, was becalmed some distance from shore.</p> + +<p>"Going to rain," said Tom.</p> + +<p>"Worse than that, I think," said Jack. "We're in for the storm that's +been making up for two days now."</p> + +<p>"Well, we can get there and back before it breaks."</p> + +<p>"Easily. Let those motors out, Tom, we want to make good time."</p> + +<p>It was oppressively hot, and had it not been for Jack's anxiety he +would have enjoyed the swift cooling passage through the thundery air. +But he was strangely troubled. Did that letter mean that his father +was on the verge of ruin?</p> + +<p>Suddenly he bethought himself of Ned Nevins' letter. He opened it, +having pushed it into his pocket when they entered the workshop, where +Mr. Chadwick had placed it before opening the ominous epistle from his +brokers. It was a friendly, chatty note from the boy, and enclosed the +checks covering the joint dividends of Jack and Tom in the +Hydroaëroplane Company.</p> + +<p>"Well, at any rate, that's something," declared Jack to Tom, as he +handed him the letter and his check.</p> + +<p>"Yes, but if Uncle Chester is ruined, it's only a drop in the bucket," +said Tom.</p> + +<p>"Well, it's no use crossing your bridges till you come to them," said +Jack, "and anyhow, that letter may be only a false alarm. I've heard +they get these financial panics in Wall Street just like kids get the +measles, and they get over them as quickly."</p> + +<p>"I trust it will be so in this case," said Tom.</p> + +<p>"So do I," said Jack hopefully, but a cold fear that his father was +ruined possessed him, and made his heart feel heavy as lead.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, from the purple firmament, came the sound of distant +thunder. Following it a puff of wind, hot as the exhalation of an +opened oven, blew in their faces. In the distance they saw a ragged +streak of lightning tear the cloud curtains.</p> + + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XIX"></a><h2>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE "LIGHTNING CAGE."</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"Look at that, will you!" exclaimed Tom.</p> + +<p>"What, you are not scared, are you?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"N-no, but I must say I'm not fond of thunderstorms Particularly when +we are carrying all that gas over our heads."</p> + +<p>"That new invention of mine will take care of that all right," said +Jack confidently.</p> + +<p>He referred to a new device of his with which the Wondership was +equipped for protecting balloon bags from lightning. In a thunderstorm +a balloon, or gas-filled dirigible, is subject to sudden variations of +electric charge which, under certain conditions, might produce sparks +leading to its annihilation.</p> + +<p>More especially was this the case with such a craft as this +Wondership, carrying as she did so much metal and steel wiring. The +netting of the bag, with the idea of making it as conductive as +possible, was of metal, connecting with the other metal parts of the +craft so that when a steel drag rope was lowered to the ground a +discharge of lightning striking the balloon would be passed off +harmlessly into the earth, as is the case with a lightning conductor.</p> + +<p>It might be supposed that making the outside of a balloon a good +conductor would invite danger from lightning. But the Boy Inventors +knew that this was not the case. While the ordinary balloon envelope +is a fairly good insulator against low voltage, it is unable to resist +the high tension of atmospheric electricity.</p> + +<p>Jack ascertained these facts by touching an electroscope with a bit of +balloon cloth of the kind used on the Wondership, and charged with +2,000 volts of electricity. The electroscope instantly responded.</p> + +<p>This showed that the balloon bag increased the electrical tension +immediately above and below it as much as it would do if it was a +perfect conductor, but the destructive action of a lightning bolt +would be greater in proportion to the resistance opposed to it. So +that, in reality, Jack's device was one of the safest that could be +imagined for protecting balloonists in a heavy storm.</p> + +<p>In effect, the occupants of the Wondership were enclosed in a cage. +Lightning might zip through the wires and stays, but it could not +touch them. As to the danger of letting out gas through the valve in a +strong electric field, which is almost certain to produce sparks, the +boys did not have to worry about that for to deflate the bag they +simply pumped some of its contents back into the reservoir with the +powerful gas pumps.</p> + +<p>But after all, Jack's device had never been tested. It looked as if it +was due to be. The wind came in sharp puffs, now hot and now cold.</p> + +<p>Ragged, white clouds, like wind-driven fragments of filmy lace, began +to whip across the dark heavens. The sea turned a peculiar light +green and was flecked with whitecaps.</p> + +<p>"We're in for it," said Jack. "Better get up the storm curtains, Tom."</p> + +<p>While Jack steered, Tom drew up the waterproof curtains and top which, +in rainy weather, made the Wondership quite dry and weather-tight. +Mica portholes gave light inside this extemporized cabin, and enabled +the steersman to see.</p> + +<p>This had hardly been done when a wild gust of wind struck the +Wondership and sent it staggering off its course. But in a jiffy Jack +regained control of the craft and headed her straight for the white +house occupied by Dr. Mays, which could now be seen, its lofty cupola +poking up above the trees surrounding it.</p> + +<p>"Glad we're nearly there," said Tom. "I don't much like this."</p> + +<p>"We're O.K.," Jack assured him. "We went through a lot worse than this +in that circular storm in Yucatan."</p> + +<p>"Can't we drop and run along the road?"</p> + +<p>"It's much longer by the road than by the air line, and remember we +are in a big hurry."</p> + +<p>"That's so. But we've got the return trip ahead of us."</p> + +<p>"Well, if it gets too bad, we'll have to come back by road," said +Jack, "but I haven't got a doubt that she'll stand anything that will +come out of this storm."</p> + +<p>Crash!</p> + +<p>The sky was rent from end to end by jagged lightning. With a deafening +roar the thunder broke, rumbling and crashing in the sultry air.</p> + +<p>S-w-i-s-h!</p> + +<p>The rain came in torrents, tearing at the storm curtains. It beat +frantically at them with a noise like that of surf on a beach. But +inside the boys were snug and dry, and the Wondership forged steadily +forward. It was a weird experience for the boys. About them the +artillery of heaven thundered and flashed. They could see each other's +faces and the black outlines of their craft in the livid flare of +flash after flash of lightning.</p> + +<p>Jack, with his hands firmly gripping the steering wheel, anticipating +every move of the storm-tossed Wondership like a skillful pilot, felt +his pulses throb. There was something fine in battling with the +elements like this in a stanch craft they had perfected. He felt that +no other airship then in existence would have been able to keep up the +fight.</p> + +<p>All at once there came a crash that drove his eardrums in. The +Wondership staggered and then seemed to leap into lambent flame. +Blinded, Jack threw his hands before his eyes, utterly forgetting for +the minute the steering wheel.</p> + +<p>Tom gave a shout of alarm, as he felt the craft stagger as if dealt a +mortal blow, and then begin to drop earthward.</p> + +<p>"We've been struck!" he yelled in panic.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XX"></a><h2>CHAPTER XX.</h2> + +<p><strong>THROUGH THE AIR.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>For the fraction of a second the faculties of both boys were +paralyzed. A tingling sensation was in their limbs. Jack was the first +to recover his wits. He snatched his hands from his eyes and seized +the wheel. In a jiffy the Wondership's earthward plunge was checked. +Once more she regained an even keel.</p> + +<p>"Wh-what happened?" stuttered Tom anxiously.</p> + +<p>"We were hit by lightning," replied Jack.</p> + +<p>"Goodness! I thought we were goners, for a minute."</p> + +<p>"I confess that I did, too. But I guess the 'electric cage' worked. +Everything seems to be shipshape."</p> + +<p>Jack was right. Thanks to his ingenious invention, the lightning, +which had struck the aircraft, had been diffused through the safety +"cage" and safely convoyed to the earth by the ground chain made of +light manganese bronze, which had been lowered when the storm broke.</p> + +<p>"Just the same I don't want to get hit again," said Tom. "I thought +for a minute the world had come to an end."</p> + +<p>"My fingers are tingling yet," said Jack, "and I can see stars, but I +think if it hadn't been for the cage we would have likely been blown +to smithereens."</p> + +<p>By this time they were almost over the doctor's house and extensive +grounds. Jack manipulated the Wondership against the storm, flying in +a circle, and snapped on the powerful searchlight. With the help of +its rays he picked out a good landing place, and having set the pumps +at work abstracting gas from the bag, they soon made a good landing.</p> + +<p>Doctor Mays stood on his porch as they left the ship and ran through +the downpour for the house.</p> + +<p>"Gracious, boys!" he exclaimed, "but you certainly gave me a fright. +I thought when that bolt hit you that you were going to be +annihilated."</p> + +<p>"How did it look from below?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"As if you were enveloped in blue flame. Then suddenly a ball of red +fire slid from the ship to the ground——"</p> + +<p>"Down the conducting rope," put in Jack.</p> + +<p>"And exploded with a loud bang when it struck the ground," continued +the doctor. "But all's well that ends well, and now tell me what +brings you here, for I know it must be urgent business or you'd never +have ventured through such a storm."</p> + +<p>Jack hastily told the doctor of his father's stroke. The medical man +looked grave.</p> + +<p>"I'll go with you just as soon as I can pack my bag," he said. "Your +father had been overworking. I warned him of what would happen if he +did not rest up, some time ago, but he has, seemingly, disregarded my +advice."</p> + +<p>In a few minutes the doctor, muffled up in a raincoat, was ready to +start. But he stipulated that the run to High Towers should be made by +the road.</p> + +<p>"I like excitement as well as anybody," he said, "and I've been up in +your Wondership before——"</p> + +<p>"When it was the Roadracer," interpolated Jack.</p> + +<p>"Exactly; but I must confess that when I saw you a short time ago +looking like a floating ball of fire, I lost my taste for aërial +travel."</p> + +<p>"We'll go back by road, then," said Jack, as through the rain, which +was falling in torrents, they ran to the Wondership.</p> + +<p>"My, but you have it snug in here," said the doctor, as he entered the +tight, waterproof cabin.</p> + +<p>"Hang up your coat, doctor," said Tom, and he took the physician's +dripping mackintosh and slung it on a hook attached to one of the +stanchions. Then the start was made, with the bag partially deflated +and lying in limp, wet folds on its framework.</p> + +<p>Through the night, under skies fretted with lightning, the Wondership +shot forward. Out on the open road Jack ordered full speed, the great +searchlights illuming the roadway as if it were day. He felt little +apprehension of meeting other vehicles. The night was too bad to +permit of any save emergency traveling.</p> + +<p>The roads were deep in mud, and water spurted up from the wheels of +the flying car as it raced through the storm. But seated snug and dry +in the cabin none of them bothered about this. Little was said. Jack +had to concentrate his mind on handling the Wondership, for driving +under the conditions, and at such speed, required all the +wheel-handler's attention.</p> + +<p>On and on they flew, down hills and over bridges, under which, +ordinarily, quiet streams flowed, but now swollen by the rains, they +boiled and raced like angry torrents. They flashed through villages +and past farmhouses without encountering a soul, while overhead the +tempest roared and raged and flared.</p> + +<p>They were shooting down a hill at top speed when Jack suddenly gave a +gasp. Right in front of them, vividly outlined in the searchlight's +glare, was an obstacle. A big wagonload of hay, covered with a +tarpaulin, and deserted by its driver who, despairing of mounting the +hill in the storm, had unhitched his horses and driven off till the +weather cleared.</p> + +<p>The wagon was in such a position that it blocked the road, which was +sunken between high banks at that point. Jack ground down his brakes +in chagrin.</p> + +<p>"Blocked!" he exclaimed disgustedly.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXI"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> + +<p><strong>VAULTING TO THE RESCUE.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"What awful luck," muttered Tom.</p> + +<p>"Isn't there any way we can get by?" inquired the doctor anxiously. +"It's important that I should reach Mr. Chadwick as soon as possible."</p> + +<p>Jack made no reply, but bent over the gas-valve. In an instant the gas +was hissing into the balloon bag. Its wet folds swelled out, and +presently Jack started the propellers. Like a racehorse leaping a +barrier, the Wondership rose skyward.</p> + +<p>"Hold fast!" cried the boy in a triumphant voice.</p> + +<p>"Wow!" yelled Tom, "there are more ways of killing a cat than by +choking it with cream."</p> + +<p>The next moment the Wondership was in the road on the other side of +the hay wagon, having hurdled it like a high jumper, and was once more +on her way.</p> + +<p>"Jove, you boys are marvels!" exclaimed the doctor. "Is there +anything you can't do with this craft, or auto, or whatever it is, of +yours?"</p> + +<p>"Lots of things, I guess," said Tom, "but we haven't found many of +them yet."</p> + +<p>At uninterrupted speed the journey was resumed. At times so swift was +the pace that the Wondership seemed to be half flying. Thanks to her +shock absorbers, but little motion was felt, although in places the +roadway had been washed out by the torrential downpour and was very +rough.</p> + +<p>"Whereabouts are we?" shouted Tom, as they rushed along.</p> + +<p>"Near the Coon Creek Bridge," flung back Jack over his shoulder. "We +ought to sight it at any moment now."</p> + +<p>He peered through the blackness ahead. The searchlights failed to show +any bridge. But the young driver saw an abandoned cottage by the +roadside which had formerly been used as a toolhouse. Just beyond it +he knew the bridge should loom up with its white railings.</p> + +<p>But there was not a sign of it.</p> + +<p>Not till it was too late to stop did Jack realize what had happened. +The bridge had been washed away by the rising waters of the creek and +he was tearing at top speed for the steep banks.</p> + +<p>It was a moment for lightning thinking. Right ahead loomed a black pit +which he knew marked the water course.</p> + +<p>Suddenly it flashed into Jack's mind that in former times, before the +bridge had been built, there had been a ford at the point.</p> + +<p>The banks, steep elsewhere, almost wall-like in fact, were still +graded at the place where the old crossing spot had been.</p> + +<p>He jerked over the steering wheel with a suddenness that threatened to +overturn the Wondership. The auto-craft plunged wildly to one side and +then rushed downward.</p> + +<p>Before he realized it, Jack had steered her into the rushing waters of +the swollen creek.</p> + +<p>"All the power you've got," he cried to Tom, as the Wondership +careened and tipped madly and then recovered an even keel. Jack headed +her up stream while Tom, who hardly knew what had happened, blindly +obeyed orders.</p> + +<p>Jack's chief fear was that the rush of the torrential water would +carry him too far down to make a landing on the opposite side of the +old ford. In that case they would be in a bad fix, for the creek ran +for some distance between steep walls of limestone rock.</p> + +<p>It was a hard struggle. The twin propellers beat the air furiously, +clawing the Wondership up stream, while the water hissed and roared +all about her, and the engine labored with a noise like that of a +giant locust.</p> + +<p>And then, almost before he knew it, and before either Tom or the +doctor realized in the least what had happened, they found themselves +safe on the other side. They had gained the opposite slope of the ford +with hardly an inch to spare, but that was enough.</p> + +<p>The Wondership sped up the bank as if glad to be free of the battle +with the swollen creek, and not half an hour afterward they rolled up +to High Towers.</p> + +<p>Dr. Mays was met almost tearfully by Mrs. Bagley.</p> + +<p>"How is he?" was his first question.</p> + +<p>"He seems to be better, doctor, but something is worrying him," said +the worthy woman.</p> + +<p>"I'll go up to him at once. You boys had better stay here," said the +doctor.</p> + +<p>The physician was upstairs a long time. When he came down he looked +grave.</p> + +<p>"Is dad any better?" asked Jack anxiously.</p> + +<p>"He is suffering from a nervous breakdown due to overwork," said the +doctor. "The cut on his head is a mere flesh wound. But he appears to +have something on his mind. Do you know what it is?"</p> + +<p>Then, and not till then, for in the rush of events he had completely +forgotten it, Jack remembered the letter from the brokers.</p> + +<p>"Dr. Mays," he said, "you are an old friend?"</p> + +<p>"I hope so, my boy. You may confide in me freely if you know any +reason for your father's disquiet."</p> + +<p>"If you will read this, doctor, you will understand," and Jack handed +him the letter.</p> + +<p>Dr. Mays read it with knitted brows.</p> + +<p>"So this explains it," he said as he returned it to Jack. "Your father +kept muttering about foolish speculations and ruin, but would not tell +me what he meant. Now it is all clear. Poor Chadwick, I'm afraid from +what he said that his fortune, all but a small amount, is wiped out."</p> + +<p>"But will he get better, doctor?" asked Jack anxiously, disregarding +the monetary aspect of the affair.</p> + +<p>"That all depends," said the doctor seriously, "on his freedom from +anxiety."</p> + +<p>"You mean that he must not worry over money matters?"</p> + +<p>"Precisely; but, as that letter states he is ruined, it will be hard +to set his mind at rest. If there were only some way of meeting the +situation!"</p> + +<p>In the crucible of that moment an idea was borne to Jack that was +destined to lead him into strange paths.</p> + +<p>"I think I know of a way," he said quietly, "that is, if the brokers' +message is not exaggerated."</p> + +<p>But it was not. The next day confirmatory reports arrived of the wreck +of Mr. Chadwick's fortunes. In his room, attended constantly by Dr. +Mays, his friend as well as physician, the inventor raved of his +losses.</p> + +<p>"We have got to think of some way of easing his mind," said Dr. Mays, +who had placed his regular practice in the hands of another doctor so +that he might be with Mr. Chadwick. "If only his fortune could be won +back."</p> + +<p>"I think I know of a way," said Jack quietly.</p> + +<p>The doctor stared at him as if he thought the boy had taken leave of +his senses.</p> + +<p>"You know of a way?" he questioned incredulously.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. At least if the information Tom and I have on the subject +is correct."</p> + +<p>"I don't follow you," said the puzzled doctor. "Your father has lost +thousands."</p> + +<p>Jack nodded.</p> + +<p>"I know all that," he said.</p> + +<p>"And yet you are prepared to get it back?"</p> + +<p>"I said I thought there was a possibility," was Jack's quiet reply.</p> + +<p>"And what may that be?"</p> + +<p>"Did you ever hear of Z.2.X., doctor?" was the entirely unexpected +question.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXII.</h2> + +<p><strong>"Z.2.X."</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"Z.2.X.? Well, such things are rather out of my line, but I have heard +of it—yes," replied the doctor, looking more puzzled than ever. "But +what do you know about it?"</p> + +<p>"Till two days ago—nothing," replied Jack, "but now I believe that I +know where there is a trainload of it."</p> + +<p>"Good heavens, boy, you don't know what you're talking about. Why, the +stuff is as valuable—as valuable as radium. Possibly it is worth +more."</p> + +<p>"Then even a small quantity would restore my father's fortune and his +health?" asked Jack, persisting in his line of inquiry.</p> + +<p>"Undoubtedly it would restore his fortune, and in my belief his +health, which he is unlikely to gain otherwise."</p> + +<p>"Then I'll do it," said Jack, speaking for himself and Tom, for the +two lads had discussed the idea the night before. "Those dividends +from our share of the hydroaëroplane plant will fit out an expedition, +and if we fail—well, we can still sell out our interest and help dad +get on his feet again."</p> + +<p>The telephone bell jangled. Jack answered it. The voice that came over +the wire was that of Professor Jenks. His tones trembled with +excitement as he spoke to the boy.</p> + +<p>"I have analyzed that sample from the Colorado River," he said.</p> + +<p>"Well, what is your verdict?" asked Jack, with a painfully beating +heart.</p> + +<p>"That when all the expenses of reduction and refining and +transportation and digging are deducted that it will be worth at least +$100 an ounce," was the reply. "It would bring an even higher price, +for the placing of a large amount on the market will probably have the +effect of lowering it."</p> + +<p>"Great Scott!" breathed Jack, "and there's a whole island of it there +for the taking."</p> + +<p>"Yes; but how are yow going to get it? The cliffs are unscalable, the +river unnavigable. It might as well be in Mars for all the good it +does anyone," objected the professor.</p> + +<p>Jack's next words were direct, to say the least.</p> + +<p>"I've figured out all that," he said. "We can get it, if it's there to +be got. I've a reason now for going out there if it's possible to come +to some arrangement with Zeb Cummings. Can you meet me at the hospital +this afternoon to talk over the matter?"</p> + +<p>"Are you serious?" gasped the professor.</p> + +<p>"Perfectly," Jack assured him. "If we can't get at it by earth or +water we can reach it from the air, can't we?"</p> + +<p>"Heaven bless my soul, I never thought of that," choked out the +professor. "I—Melissa's calling me. I'll meet you at the hospital +this afternoon."</p> + +<p>"Tom and I will be there," said Jack, but the professor, at the +imperious bidding of Melissa, had hung up the receiver.</p> + +<p>The result of the conference held that afternoon at the bedside of Zeb +Cummings was the formation of the Z.2.X. Exploration Company, the +members being Jack, Tom, Zeb Cummings and the professor. The capital +was to be furnished in equal amounts by the professor and the boys, +and Zeb Cummings was to be an equal partner in the enterprise, he +having furnished the information on which Jack hoped to rehabilitate +his father's fortunes.</p> + +<p>As for the professor, he did not so much regard the pecuniary side of +the expedition as the opportunity he would have to write an +epoch-making book and confound his scientific rivals. In their +enthusiasm, the adventurers did not take into consideration the fact +that the map might be wrong, or that the strange metals be just +visionary deposits. The boys' enthusiasm drowned all doubts in their +minds; Zeb and the professor never were as optimistic.</p> + +<p>Dr. Mays, when he had been placed in full possession of the facts and +considered them, decided that under the circumstances the boys could +go and undertook to quiet any apprehensions Mr. Chadwick might have +concerning the trip. It was found that enough had been saved from the +wreck of the inventor's fortunes to enable him to live comfortably +while the boys were away, besides which he had royalties from several +inventions coming in. Still, the bulk of his fortunes had vanished and +the radio telephone was not yet a practicable instrument to put upon +the market.</p> + +<p>But with Z.2.X. the boys hoped to make it a perfect transmitter of +speech over great distances.</p> + +<p>Of course, Jack's plan was to utilize the Wondership on the enterprise +of finding Rattlesnake Island and its treasures. After long +consultations with Zeb, who was now convalescent, it was decided to +ship the craft, in sections, to Yuma on the Colorado River and make +the start secretly from some point below there.</p> + +<p>It was in the midst of these plans, and while the boys' workshed was +littered with lists of provisions and equipment that Dick Donovan +injected himself into the situation. The red-headed young reporter +descended upon them one day when they were busily packing the +Wondership away in big crates, which were labeled in various ways so +as to give no inkling of the contents.</p> + +<p>Of course Dick, being in a way a member of the firm, had to be told +what was going on, and the result was that after a lot of hard +pleading the boys consented to allow him to come along.</p> + +<p>"He's got red hair," said Zeb, "and that ought to make him good on the +trail, same as a buckskin cayuse."</p> + +<p>The boys didn't quite see the logic of this, but they knew from former +experiences that the young reporter was a good campmate, and they +were, on the whole, glad that they had included him. But when young +Donovan came to High Towers, he was not aware that he was followed by +Bill Masterson, who, as we know, was the son of the proprietor of the +<i>Boston Moon</i>, on which paper young Masterson also worked as a +reporter.</p> + +<p>Ever since Dick Donovan had written for his paper, the <i>Boston Evening +Eagle</i>, the wonderful story of the boys' adventures on the trail of +the giant sloth of Brazil, other Boston reporters had regarded him as +worth watching. In some way, young Masterson learned of Dick's +frequent visits to High Towers while the preparations for the Colorado +trip were going forward.</p> + +<p>"It's my idea," he told his father, "that those Boy Inventors are +planning another big stunt and that Dick Donovan is to go along and +write the story. Do we want to get beaten again?"</p> + +<p>"We do not," said his father, a heavily-set, dictatorial man, +perpetually at war with the <i>Evening Eagle</i>. "That last beat of +Donovan's on the Brazil story jumped the <i>Eagle's</i> circulation sky +high."</p> + +<p>"Well, why not let me trail along after them and find out what I can?" +said young Masterson. "No use letting the <i>Moon</i> get soaked again, and +besides, I want to get even on those young fellows, anyhow, for the +mean trick they played in having me arrested, even if it didn't come +to anything, and the case was dropped.</p> + +<p>"Jove!" he cried suddenly, as a new train of thought was suggested to +him. "I'll bet I've got it. This trip, or whatever it is, they are +planning has something to do with that miner, Zeb Cummings, the chap I +ran down."</p> + +<p>"Well, it's worth keeping a weather eye on, anyway," decided his +father. "I guess you'll get the assignment."</p> + +<p>"And I'll run it down, too," declared young Masterson boastfully. "I +owe that red-headed, chesty Donovan a grudge anyhow."</p> + +<p>That evening young Masterson met by appointment the two youths who had +been with him in the automobile the day that Zeb was run down. They +were both sons of wealthy men, and had more money than was good for +them. Masterson found that both Sam Higgins and Eph Compton were +willing to do all they could to harm the boys who had been responsible +for their arrests, and so it came about that Jupe, on his way to the +village to post some letters, was enticed into talk one night, and +while he was chatting and accepting the good cigars three amiable +young men pressed upon him, the mail was abstracted from his pocket.</p> + +<p>There were two letters, one from Dick to his city editor telling him +of the progress made and informing him of the day for the start, and +the other from Jack to his father, who was a guest of Dr. Mays. Jack +gave full details of their plans and other information concerning the +trip, so that the three plotters, a few days before the expedition set +out, knew as much about it as the boys themselves.</p> + +<p>Armed with this information, Masterson, Higgins and Compton had no +difficulty in getting money from their parents, all of whom would have +described themselves as "keen business men." As for Jupe, he was too +badly scared to say anything about the loss of the letters, and as +Masterson, after steaming them open and abstracting what he wanted of +their contents, posted them to their proper destinations, the boys +started out on their long journey west without the slightest idea that +anyone but themselves and one or two others knew of their plans.</p> + +<p>The professor's going was not unaccompanied by difficulties. Miss +Melissa had insisted that if he was to accompany the expedition, she +was going along, too. This being manifestly impossible, the man of +science was driven to the subterfuge of placing a bag of fossils in +his bed to represent him. On the night of the start, Miss Melissa +looked into his room every few minutes to make sure he had not +escaped.</p> + +<p>It was not till morning that she discovered that the man of science +had effected his escape through his bedroom window, climbing down a +latticework to the ground. At first she was half inclined to pursue +him, but thought the better of it when she read the note the professor +had left behind.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Miss Melissa to her little maid, "there's one good +thing—he won't be cluttering up the house with old stones and rocks +for some time to come."</p> + +<p>"What shall I do with them fossils what he put in his bed to make +believe it was him, miss?" asked the maid.</p> + +<p>"You may throw them into the creek at the back of the house, Mary," +said Miss Melissa, and went placidly about her dusting and sweeping +and "setting to rights."</p> + +<p>But of all this, the professor, on the train speeding westward, was +blissfully unconscious. Perhaps even if he had known it, he would not +have cared much, for even his scientific mind was warmed and thrilled +by the prospect of the aërial search for the mineral treasures of +Rattlesnake Island.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2> + +<p><strong>ON THE BORDER LINE.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>The long train of gray-coated coaches, filmed with the arid dust of +the desert, rolled into Yuma, the little town at the junction of the +Gila and Colorado River, popularly supposed to be the hottest place in +America. The boys, glad that their long journey had come to an end, +felt that it was living up to its reputation as they alighted and +stood in the blistering heat while their personal baggage was thrown +off.</p> + +<p>The professor, however, was quite oblivious to the scorching rays of +the afternoon sun. He darted about seeking specimens, and he had soon +gathered up quite a collection of small rocks. In the meantime Zeb +Cummings, who was quite in his element, had helped the boys get their +things together and see them loaded on a mule wagon which rattled them +off to a small hotel, for they did not want to make themselves any +more conspicuous than was necessary.</p> + +<p>The boys wore gray flannel shirts, khaki trousers, stout high boots +and broad-brimmed hats, and had fastened red handkerchiefs round their +throats to keep off the sun from the back of their necks. Zeb had a +similar outfit.</p> + +<p>The professor, however, still wore his baggy black garments, his only +concession to the heat being a big green umbrella, which looked like a +gigantic verdant mushroom. As they drove off in a rickety sort of bus, +having with difficulty persuaded the professor to leave off specimen +hunting for a while, the boys did not notice that from the opposite +side of the train three young men had alighted who, from a point of +vantage behind a water tower, watched their movements.</p> + +<p>The trio were Bill Masterson and his two cronies, Sam Higgins and Eph +Compton.</p> + +<p>"Well, here we are, Eph," said Bill, as they watched the boys drive +off.</p> + +<p>"Yes, and here they are, too," grunted Eph.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad we've got here at last, though. Keeping out of sight on +that train was beginning to get on my nerves."</p> + +<p>"Same here," said Sam Higgins, stretching himself. "But I guess we +succeeded in keeping ourselves hidden all right."</p> + +<p>"Sure," rejoined Masterson. "They haven't a notion we are here."</p> + +<p>In the meantime the lads found accommodations till the next day at the +small hotel on a back street where Zeb had insisted on their coming so +as to escape observation. Yuma is full of prospectors and miners, and +every stranger in town is suspected of having some sort of a scheme, +he explained, and as a consequence is closely watched.</p> + +<p>Zeb's first care, therefore, was to circulate a story that the +professor, a noted savant and geologist, was going into the desert +with his party to collect specimens. This appeared to satisfy the +landlord, who was at first inclined to be curious.</p> + +<p>The professor had hardly been shown his room before he was out again +with his hammer and satchel and his attention was almost at once +attracted by a big stone that held up one corner of the barn at the +back of the hotel. The boys knew nothing of what he was doing till +they heard a loud, angry voice crying:</p> + +<p>"Hey, you in ther preacher's suit! Quit tryin' ter pull thet thar barn +down, will yer?"</p> + +<p>"But, my dear sir," came the professor's voice, in mild expostulation, +"are you aware that you have built your barn on the top of a splendid +specimen of primordial rock?"</p> + +<p>"Don't know nuthin' about a prime order of rock," came back the other +voice.</p> + +<p>The boys looked out of the window. They saw the landlord of the hotel, +a surly-looking fellow, with a big black mustache and tanned cheeks, +striding across the yard to the professor, who had blissfully resumed +his chipping.</p> + +<p>The landlord reached out one brawny hand to grab his guest, when +something happened that made him temporarily cease hostilities. A big +chunk of rock suddenly flaked off under the professor's assault. It +flew in the air and the next instant a yell of pain apprised them that +the landlord had got it right in the eye.</p> + +<p>The professor looked round as the man emitted a bellow of rage.</p> + +<p>"Bless me, where did that bit of rock go? Ah, there it is! Right at +your feet, sir," and he darted forward with a smile of satisfaction +and, picking up the chunk of rock that had struck the indignant +landlord, placed it in his satchel.</p> + +<p>"Thank you very much for stopping it, sir," he said, with a bow, and +then, before the thunderstruck landlord could say anything, the +scientist strolled off under his umbrella in search of more specimens. +The boys fairly choked with laughter.</p> + +<p>But the landlord was too dumfounded even to speak for a minute. His +face grew as purple as a plum. He appeared to be about to burst.</p> + +<p>"He's locoed," he burst forth at last, "locoed as a horn toad, by the +'tarnal hills."</p> + +<p>Then, holding a hand to his eye, he reëntered the hotel and could be +heard shouting for hot water to bathe his injury.</p> + +<p>Zeb, who had been out looking for a trustworthy man to take their +effects out to a spot along the river where they could put the +Wondership together without exciting undue curiosity, returned shortly +before supper with news that he had been successful in his search, an +old, wrinkled prospector named Pete McGee, who had learned the secret +of silence during the long years he had spent on the desert.</p> + +<p>After the evening meal old McGee put in an appearance and a bargain +was struck. But if he was, as Zeb put it, "close-mouthed" on some +subjects, he was not on others.</p> + +<p>"So yer are a'goin' out inter the desert, hey?" he asked the boys.</p> + +<p>"That's our intention," said Dick.</p> + +<p>The old man shook his head.</p> + +<p>"The desert's a tough place," he said. "A mighty tough place. Reckon +it's likely yer are er goin' prospectin', maybe?"</p> + +<p>The boys returned an evasive answer. But old McGee rambled on with the +crisscross wrinkles forming and fading round his washed-out blue eyes.</p> + +<p>"Wa'al, I had my share on it, ain't I, Zeb?" said the old man to Zeb, +who had just strolled up, smoking a short, black pipe. The professor, +after adjusting his difficulties with the landlord, was sorting and +labeling specimens in his room.</p> + +<p>"Reckon you have, Pete," responded the yellow-bearded miner. "You +didn't never find that thar lost Peg-leg Smith mine, did yer?"</p> + +<p>"No; but I will some day," declared the old man, a fanatic gleam +shining in his faded optics. "I'll find it some day, Zeb. I never got +to it, but I come mighty close—yes, sir, ole Pete he come mighty +close."</p> + +<p>"Tell the boys about Peg-leg Smith's lost mine," suggested Zeb.</p> + +<p>"Give me the fillin's, then, an' I will," said old Pete, holding out +a blackened and empty corncob, "though I'm surprised they ain't never +heard on it. Thought everybody had heard of Peg-leg's mine."</p> + +<p>"Wa'al, you see they come frum ther East," explained Zeb +apologetically.</p> + +<p>"Ah, that accounts fer it," said old Pete indulgently. "You couldn't +'spec Easterners ter know nuthin' 'bout it. 'Wa'al, young sirs, +somewheres out on the desert ter the east uv here thar is three buttes +a stickin' up, and right thar is Peg-leg Smith's lost mine whar they +say the very sands is uv gold.</p> + +<p>"Who was Peg-leg? Wa'al, that's in a way not very well known. Anyhow, +his name was Smith, and he was shy an off leg, and so he gets his +name. Back in 1836 Peg-leg he blows inter Yuma with a party of +trappers that hed worked down ther Colorado.</p> + +<p>"They decides to quit trapping and go ter gold huntin', and makes +their way up the Gila River and then cuts off inter ther desert. Frum +Yuma they goes southeast and kep' on fer four days across the desert. +At ther end of the fourth day they 'lows that ther water ain' a-goin' +ter hold out a turrible lot longer, and they decides to look fer a +water-hole in a canyon at ther end uv which stands three lone buttes +sticking up, like sentinels against ther sky.</p> + +<p>"Wa'al, they hunts ther canyon through but nary a drop of water. In +time they reaches ther buttes. They climbs to ther top ter see what +might lay beyond, but they see nuthin' but ther same God-forgotten +country.</p> + +<p>"But Peg-leg, who fer all he was minus a limb, could travel with any +of 'em, he finds at the top of the southernmost butte a lot of chunks +of black rock lying round promiscous, an' some of them has specks an' +chunks of yaller as bright as Zeb's beard on 'em. Peg-leg he opines +ther yaller is nuthin' but copper, or maybe fool's gold.</p> + +<p>"That night they camps, feelin' considerable blue, fer ther's mighty +little water left an' they've come too far ter go back. But in ther +distance thar's a big mountain and they make up their minds they'll +find water thar or bust and wither on the desert.</p> + +<p>"Ther next evening, more dead than alive, they reaches the mountain +and finds a little spring. It was ther finest thing they'd seen fer a +long time, and in honor of Peg-leg, who suggested going to ther +mountain, they calls it Smith Mountain, and that's its name to this +day. In time they worked round to San Bernardino and then Smith he +hunts up a mineral sharp who tells him that what he had found was +gold.</p> + +<p>"Wa'al, Smith was a curious feller, frum all accounts, and it was not +till '49 when ther big gold rush came that he thought much more about +those three buttes with the gold lying round loose as dirt on 'em. +Then he got ther gold fever. He went to 'Frisco and gets up an +expedition to find them three buttes.</p> + +<p>"They got down inter ther desert country all right and locates Smith +Mountain. But the dern Indians they had with 'em as guides cleaned +out the camp one fine night, and they had a hard time getting back to +civilization alive. Well, that's where Peg-leg Smith goes out of the +story."</p> + +<p>"Wasn't he ever heard of again?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"No, siree, not hide nor hair on him. Nobody never knows what became +of him arter they got back to San Bernardino. Some says that he went +back alone lookin' fer the three buttes and was lost in the desert and +that his bones is out thar some'eres to-day, an' others says that he +got so plum disgusted he went back home to St. Louis. But nobody +rightly knows.</p> + +<p>"The next heard of ther three buttes was many years later when an +Indian, who worked on Governor Downey's ranch, not far from Smith +Mountain, developed a habit of goin' away fer a few days and then +comin' back with bits of black rock chock full of gold which he traded +fer firewater and such. He didn't seem ter care if he got full value +or not.</p> + +<p>"'Plenty more where those came from,' he'd say.</p> + +<p>"Wa'al, they set a watch on him and found that he always headed off +inter ther desert by way of Smith Mountain, which would be the nat'ul +way of gettin' ter ther three buttes that Peg-leg had described.</p> + +<p>"Guv'ner Downey he come to hear about this in course of time, and he +come down frum Sacramento to question ther Injun. But in ther meantime +ther pesky coyote had gone and got himself killed in a quarrel over +cards and so there they was up agains' a blank wall ag'in."</p> + +<p>The old prospector paused to fill his pipe.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2> + +<p><strong>"THE THREE BUTTES."</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"The Injun bein' dead, the guv'ner did the nex' best thing. He +questioned his squaw. But she couldn't tell 'em much 'cept that the +Injun told her he got his last water at t'other side of Smith Mountain +and then traveled toward ther sun till erbout mid-afternoon when he +found mucho, mucho oro.</p> + +<p>"The guv'ner made two or three tries to locate them buttes, but he +failed. Then come along a man named McGuire, who said he knew where +the buttes was and showed black rocks with gold in 'em to prove it, +jes' like the ones Peg-leg and ther Injun had found, they was. Well, +McGuire he gets five other dern fools and off they starts and that's +the end of them. They ain't never heard of ag'in.</p> + +<p>"Then comes a prospector who gets lost, and in hunting for water +finds these same three buttes and the black, gold-specked rocks that +are scattered about. But he wasn't bothering about gold just then, so +he keeps on and in time finds the water hole at the foot of Smith +Mountain.</p> + +<p>"He comes back to Los Angeles and tries to organize a company to go to +ther three buttes. But he falls ill and when he learns he's goin' ter +die he tells Dr. De Courcy, that's his physician, that he knows whar +Peg-leg's lost mine is an' gives him a map an' directions. Arter ther +man dies, Dr. De Courcy spends all his money trying ter find ther +buttes, but he fails. Then comes a young chap named Tom Cover of +Riverside. He's wealthy and fits out a dozen or more outfits to hunt +fer ther three buttes. But after setting out on his twelfth trip he +never comes back, so they know that Peg-leg Smith's mine has claimed +another victim."</p> + +<p>"Is there anything to prove that Peg-leg really ever found the Three +Buttes?" asked Tom, whom this romance of the desert, like his +companions, had strangely interested.</p> + +<p>"You tell 'em, Zeb," said the old man. "Likely they wouldn't believe +me."</p> + +<p>"Proofs?" said Zeb, "plenty of 'em. The records of the old Bank of San +Francisco show that McGuire deposited thousands of dollars' worth of +gold nuggets there, and my old dad knew Peg-leg Smith and saw the +black rocks with the gold fillings that he brought out uv ther desert. +Them three golden buttes is out thar somewhar's, and some day +somebody's goin' to locate 'em and then there'll be another +millionaire in the country."</p> + +<p>Old McGee chuckled over his pipe. It was clear that, ancient and +feeble as he was, he still believed with all the fanaticism and +optimism of a prospector that he would be the one to find the three +buttes of gold.</p> + +<p>"It stands ter reason thar's gold out thar," declared old man McGee, +waving his pipe about argumentatively. "Ther good Lord never made +nuthin' thet wasn't of some use, even ther fleas on a houn' dawg, for +they keep him frum thinkin' uv his troubles. Very well, then, the +desert is good fer nuthin' else but mineral wealth, and Providence +made it so plagued hard ter git at so that everyone couldn't git rich +at oncet."</p> + +<p>The boys had to laugh at this bit of philosophy, but as they went to +bed they could not help thinking of the toll of lives the great barren +stretches of the Colorado desert has exacted from gold-seekers. In +Jack's dreams he seemed to be traversing vast solitudes of sand and +desolation dotted with bleaching bones, and he woke with a start to +find that it was daybreak and that Tom was shaking him out of his +sleep.</p> + +<p>Below, old man McGee was ready with his team and had already got on +his wagon some of the crates from the freight shed. They made a hasty +breakfast and then started out. There was hardly anybody about and +they congratulated Zeb on his strategy in conducting affairs with such +secrecy.</p> + +<p>But as they passed into the outskirts of the town, where the Mexicans +and Indians lived, Dick Donovan uttered a sudden exclamation.</p> + +<p>"Hopping horn-toads!" he gasped.</p> + +<p>"What's up?" asked Jack, who sat beside him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, nothing," said Dick, "the wagon gave an extra hard jolt, that was +all, and I thought my head was coming off."</p> + +<p>But the cause of Dick's exclamation had been this: From behind a +squalid hut he caught sight of three shadowy figures, dimly seen in +the half light, apparently watching the wagon and its occupants.</p> + +<p>They quickly withdrew as they saw Dick looking at them, but not before +the young reporter had received a startling impression that one of +them at least was familiar to him. The wagon drove out over the desert +and rumbled along till it came to a deep arroyo, or gulch, in which +stood a deserted, bleaching hut.</p> + +<p>"This is the place," said Zeb.</p> + +<p>"Sure, you can stay thar fer a year an' a day an' nuthin' but +tarant'las an' rattlers ull ever bother ye," said old McGee +cheerfully.</p> + +<p>The cases they had brought were quickly unloaded and lowered into the +arroyo which led down to where they could see the turgid flood of the +Colorado flowing between low banks. For at this spot the river is a +very different stream from what it is above and below, where it makes +its way to the Gulf of California between unscalable walls of cliffs +and is a succession of cruel rapids and unpassable falls.</p> + +<p>When old McGee drove back for the second and last load, for the +Wondership was constructed so as to "take-down" very compactly, Dick +elected to go with him. When they arrived at the freight depot the +young reporter took the first opportunity to wire his paper in Boston.</p> + +<p>"Find out if Bill Masterson is in town," was the substance of his +message.</p> + +<p>They were not to return to the camp till after the mid-day meal, so he +had plenty of time to receive an answer. This is it:</p> + +<p>"Masterson and two others left for the West five days ago."</p> + +<hr> + +<p>"The same day that we did," mused Dick. "I wonder—but no, I'm sure. +One of those three figures lurking behind that hut was Masterson, and +he's planning some mischief, sure as a gun."</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXV"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXV.</h2> + +<p><strong>INTO THE BEYOND.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"Well, this is something like camping," said Tom that evening, +stretching himself out luxuriously under a mesquite bush.</p> + +<p>"See here, young feller," said Zeb, who by unanimous consent had been +put in charge of the adventurers. "Are you on a pleasure trip, jes' +dropped in as a visitor like, or air you a part of this expedition?"</p> + +<p>"I guess I'm a part of it all right," said Tom, with rather a sheepish +grin. "At least I was under that impression."</p> + +<p>"Same here," said Zeb dryly. "Thar's lots to be done yet afore we're +all shipshape fer ther night. Ther's lamps ter be filled and tent +ropes set right an' then I want a trench dug around ther tents."</p> + +<p>"What's the trench for?" asked Jack, who had been busy with the three +tents, for they had decided on Zeb's advice not to use the old +roofless shack to sleep in.</p> + +<p>"No tellin' what kind of varmints, from skunks to rattlers, ain't +makin' a hotel out of it," he said, "not to mention tarant'las, which +has a most unpleasant bite, and scorpions and centipedes that ain't +much nicer bedfellows."</p> + +<p>This was quite enough to make the boys willing, nay anxious, to set up +the waterproof silk tents.</p> + +<p>"What's the trench for?" asked Zeb. "Well, if it should come on ter +rain in ther night it'll keep us dry to have a trench round each +tent."</p> + +<p>"Rain!" exclaimed Tom incredulously. "Why, it doesn't look as if it +ever rained here."</p> + +<p>"It doesn't, not more'n about two inches a year," rejoined Zeb, "but +when it does you'd think ther flood gates uv heaven had been ripped +wide open."</p> + +<p>"Do you think it will rain to-night?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"It looks uncommon like it," answered Zeb. "See them clouds off there +yonder?"</p> + +<p>He pointed to some heavy-looking masses of vapor hanging above a dim +range of saw-backed mountains off to the east.</p> + +<p>"In my opinion they're plum full of rain," he said.</p> + +<p>"In that case we'd better get ready with the trenches," declared Jack. +He picked up one shovel and gave another to Tom. The latter made a wry +face but said nothing. Tom liked hard work no better than most boys, +but he realized that the work had to be done, and so tackled it with +the best grace he could.</p> + +<p>Secretly he wished himself to be with Dick Donovan, who had been +assigned to go fishing to see if he couldn't get "something" fresh for +supper. The professor, as usual, was off somewhere collecting +specimens.</p> + +<p>But the task of digging the trenches was not as arduous as it had +appeared. The sand was soft and yielding, and the shovels made rapid +work with it. Soon a fairly deep trench was dug round each of the +temporary shelters.</p> + +<p>By the time the lanterns had been filled, and Zeb had cut a goodly +stack of mesquite wood, everything was ready to begin preparations for +supper.</p> + +<p>"We'll have a blow-out to-night," said Zeb. "Canned salmon, beans, +crackers, cheese and canned fruit, but don't expect to get that right +along. I've lived on beans and bacon for six months in this very neck +of the woods, and thought myself lucky to get that."</p> + +<p>"Hullo!" came a cry from the direction of the river.</p> + +<p>"There's Dick!" exclaimed both boys, and then as the young reporter +came into sight, "What luck, Dick?"</p> + +<p>"What do you know about this?" and Dick held up a fine string of +glittering fish. There were catfish, perch and two eels.</p> + +<p>"Good; we won't go hungry," said Zeb. "Nothing better than fried eels +and catfish."</p> + +<p>He greased the frying pan with a strip of bacon rind and then skinned +the scaleless catfish and eels as if he had been doing nothing else +all his life. Soon the savory odors of the frying with crisp slices of +bacon, and the aroma of coffee, filled the camp.</p> + +<img src="images/illus212.gif" width="444" height="700" border="0" +alt="Illustration: Soon the savory odors of the frying ...filled the air"> + +<p>The boys were so busy setting out the tin cups and plates that it was +not till Zeb beat on a tin basin with a spoon to announce that the +evening meal was ready that anyone noticed that the professor was +missing. Night was closing in and the sky was overcast.</p> + +<p>The boys began to worry. They set up a loud shout.</p> + +<p>"Pro-fess-or! Oh, pro-fess-or!"</p> + +<p>The little gulch rang with it. But no answer came.</p> + +<p>"Now what in the world has happened to him?" frowned Jack. "We must go +and find him at once. He must have——"</p> + +<p>The sentence was never completed. At that instant Zeb set up a shout, +and a ton of earth and rocks, more or less, came hurtling down the +steep bank into the camp. The stones and dirt were mingled with +mesquite bushes and in the midst of the landslide was a figure that +they made out to be the professor.</p> + +<p>Luckily, the avalanche had missed the camp-fire and the supper table, +and when they had extricated the professor, and brushed him off, the +boys learned that he had almost missed his way, and being +shortsighted, in the dark had walked right over the edge of the +steepest part of the arroyo instead of by a sloping path up above.</p> + +<p>However, nothing was injured about him but his feelings, and since his +bag of specimens was intact, the man of science, after a few minutes, +was able to sit down and eat with as good an appetite as any of them.</p> + +<p>Zeb proved himself a good weather profit. About midnight it started +raining, and such rain as the boys had never seen. It was not rain. It +was sheets of water. Even the waterproof tents began to leak, and the +fact that the trenches had been dug did not serve to keep the floors +dry, for the hard, sun-baked earth did not absorb the moisture, and +the downpour speedily spread half an inch or more of water over the +ground.</p> + +<p>"Turn out! turn out!" shouted Dick, who shared one of the three tents +with the boys.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" began Tom sleepily, and then splash! went his +hand into the water.</p> + +<p>"Gracious, has the river overflowed?" demanded Jack.</p> + +<p>"No, but it's raining handsaws and marlin spikes," cried Dick. "Wow! +my bed's wet through."</p> + +<p>"Same here," cried Jack ruefully. "I guess we'd better get out of +this."</p> + +<p>Outside they found the professor hopping about barefooted in the +water. He had on his pajamas with a blanket thrown round his shoulders +for protection against the rain. The boys, despite their discomfort, +could not help laughing at the odd figure. Zeb joined them, grumbling: +"We made a big mistake in camping in this arroyo.</p> + +<p>I ought to have had better sense. It's nothing more nor less than a +river. All the desert up above is draining into it."</p> + +<p>It was true. The water was almost ankle deep. Luckily, the old shanty +in which their supplies were stored was raised above the ground, and +the goods were all covered with a big waterproof canvas.</p> + +<p>"Let's camp out in the shanty till daylight," suggested Jack.</p> + +<p>"That would be a good idea if it had a roof," commented Zeb dryly.</p> + +<p>"Why can't we spread some of the canvas over us?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>This was finally done, and thus passed most of their first night on +the desert. Yet none of them complained, but made the best of it. The +boys knew that it is the wisest plan to meet all camping mishaps with +a smiling face.</p> + +<p>By morning the rain had ceased. The sky was clear and the sun shone +brightly. Their wet bedding and garments were soon dried and then the +work of unpacking the sections of the Wondership was begun, for they +were anxious to have the job completed and be on their way as soon as +possible.</p> + +<p>Old McGee had told the truth when he said they would not be molested.</p> + +<p>An old Indian jogging by on a spavined horse and wrapped in a dirty +blanket was the only person they saw all day. He was looking along the +arroyo for a strayed burro. He stared at them in stolid silence for a +while and then rode off, shaking his head. No doubt he was at a loss +to account for such strange goings on.</p> + +<p>That evening when Dick took his line down to the river, he met with +unusually good luck. He had just added a fine carp to his pile of fish +when, chancing to look up, he saw a boat coming round the bend.</p> + +<p>In the craft were three figures, one of whom he recognized instantly +as Masterson. The recognition was mutual and Masterson, who had the +oars, started hastily to pull away from the place. But Dick shouted to +him.</p> + +<p>"Don't let me drive you away," he cried.</p> + +<p>Masterson shouted back something about "fresh kid" but kept pulling up +the stream, and soon he was round the bend and out of sight.</p> + +<p>"Now, I wonder what he is doing out here?" mused Dick, "and those two +cronies of his. They look sort of shady to me."</p> + +<p>He cudgeled his brains to find a reason for the presence of Masterson +so far from home, but was unable to arrive at any solution till an +idea suddenly struck him.</p> + +<p>"They're out here trailing us," he muttered. "Yes, I'm sure of it. But +how in the world did they ever learn our plans? I guess I'll get back +to camp and put the rest on their guard, for we don't want any spies +hanging about, and those fellows were out on a spying expedition or I +miss my guess."</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXVI.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE START FOR THE UNKNOWN.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>But the days went by, and the Wondership stood once more assembled and +ready to take the greatest flight of her career, and no further sign +of the three worthies, whom Dick suspected of designs against them, +appeared. Zeb went to town once or twice, using a small burro for a +saddle animal. Jack heard from his father, who said that he was +progressing well, but was very much worried over money matters.</p> + +<p>"If only you can find the Z.2.X.," he wrote, "we can all be happy +again."</p> + +<p>"I will find it," Jack murmured to himself, as he concluded reading +the letter, and passed it over to Tom for his perusal.</p> + +<p>Dick helped with the Wondership and spent the rest of the time fishing +and hunting. He managed to get a few rabbits, but there was no other +game in the vicinity. It was too barren for deer, although it was said +there were plenty of them further down the river. The young reporter, +who had quite a mechanical genius of his own, constructed a rough sort +of boat out of boards from the walls of the old shack, and used it on +his fishing expeditions, "punting" it along with a long pole made from +a willow sapling from a grove on the river bank some distance below +where they were camped.</p> + +<p>One afternoon the fancy took him to pole up the current and round the +bend below which Masterson's boat had appeared the evening Dick saw +and recognized the son of the <i>Moon</i> proprietor.</p> + +<p>He had not gone that way before and was surprised to find that, +instead of the low banks that edged the river where the boys were +camped, round the bend were steep, almost clifflike acclivities on +both sides of the stream. In places these were honeycombed with caves, +running back, apparently, some distance into the bank. Although Dick +did not know it, these caves had once been the dwelling places of an +extinct tribe of Indians.</p> + +<p>The boy was surprised to see smoke coming from one of them, for he had +supposed that they were uninhabited.</p> + +<p>"Maybe there are Indians up there," thought the boy. "I guess I'll +give them a look, and maybe get a good picture," for Dick invariably +carried his camera with him on the chance of getting a good snapshot +at something or other.</p> + +<p>A rough path led up to the cave and it was well worn by feet which +had, apparently, traversed it recently. Dick reached the entrance of +the cave and peered in.</p> + +<p>It was deserted; but to his astonishment he saw, from the way it was +fitted up, that whoever lived in it were not Indians. Blankets lay on +the floor, and the smoke was coming from a fire which had been used +for cooking and was dying out. The utensils were not such as Indians +use, being made of agate ware. Then, too, he noticed some old coats +and other garments hanging on nails that had been driven into the +wall.</p> + +<p>As his eyes grew more accustomed to the light, he saw a suitcase in +one corner. There were initials on it. Dick made them out to be W. M.</p> + +<p>'"W. M.'? Who can that be?" he mused. "Whoever lives here is a white +man, that is plain. But why is he a hermit? Anyhow, I'd better be +getting out of this before he comes back. I've really got no business +in here at all."</p> + +<p>At this juncture he heard voices coming from the river. They were +punctuated by the dip of oars. As he heard the speakers outside, +Dick's mind suddenly realized who "W. M." was.</p> + +<p>"What a chump I was not to think of it before!" he exclaimed." It's +William Masterson, of course, and that's his voice outside. Gee +whillakers, they must have camped here on purpose to spy on us."</p> + +<p>Just then it occurred to Dick that he was, as a matter of fact, spying +on Masterson. He went to the cave door. Below was a boat containing +Masterson and his two friends. They had apparently been to town for +supplies, for the boat was full of canned goods and provisions.</p> + +<p>Just as Dick got to the door Masterson spied the home-made boat lying +on the bank at the foot of the cliff.</p> + +<p>"Say, fellows," he exclaimed, "somebody's been paying us a call."</p> + +<p>"Some thieving Indian, judging from the looks of that boat," said Sam +Higgins.</p> + +<p>"Well, we're not receiving callers of any kind right now," sputtered +Eph angrily.</p> + +<p>Dick crouched back into the doorway of the cave. He was trying to +think what to do. It was an awkward situation. He didn't want to be +caught in what looked, on the face of it, like an act of spying, and +yet he didn't wish Masterson and his cronies to think him a coward.</p> + +<p>"Say, fellows," spoke up Higgins suddenly, "you don't think it could +be one of those kids from the camp below, do you? They may have seen +us snooping around there at night and got wise to where we are +hiding."</p> + +<p>"It had better not be one of them," said Masterson in a loud, +threatening voice. "If I catch him, I'll break every bone in his +body."</p> + +<p>"I guess I'll have a fight on my hands," muttered Dick. "Well, serves +me right for butting in," he added philosophically.</p> + +<p>"Let's go up and see who it is?" said Eph. "He must be in the cave."</p> + +<p>"You go first," said Sam Higgins, who was not over-brave, "it might be +a bad man or an Indian."</p> + +<p>"Pshaw, I'm not afraid!" said Masterson. "Give me your pistol, Sam, if +you're scared."</p> + +<p>"I'm not scared, but there's no use running into trouble," said Sam. +"Besides I'm kind of lame. I think I—er—wrenched my ankle getting +out of the boat."</p> + +<p>"I guess you wrenched your nerve," sneered Eph.</p> + +<p>Then, headed by Masterson, with the pistol in his grasp, they began +to ascend the pathway. Dick was in a quandary. But he decided that the +only way to tackle the problem was to take the bull by the horns. As +Masterson reached the mouth of the cave the boy dashed out like a +redheaded thunderbolt.</p> + +<p>Taken utterly by surprise, Masterson stepped back.</p> + +<p>Bang!</p> + +<p>The pistol went off in the air and the next instant Masterson, despite +his efforts to save himself, toppled off the narrow path and went +rolling down the bank into the river. Luckily for him, he was a good +swimmer, and struck out lustily as he came to the surface.</p> + +<p>"Wow!" yelled Dick, and charged like a young buffalo at Eph.</p> + +<p>Young Compton tried to strike him but Dick, with lowered head, charged +him in the stomach. With a grunt Eph fell back, and in his fall +knocked over Sam Higgins, just behind him.</p> + +<p>"Whoop-ee!" shouted Dick, rejoicing in his triumph. He leaped over +the recumbent forms of Eph and Sam and dashed down the path to the +place where he had beached his boat.</p> + +<p>He jumped on board and poled off just as young Masterson reached the +shore and pulled himself out of the water.</p> + +<p>"You infernal young spy!" shrieked Masterson, beside himself with +rage, "I'll get even with you for this, see if I don't!"</p> + +<p>Sam and Eph, who had picked themselves up, shouted other threats at +Dick. But he turned round and, with a pleasant smile, waved a hand as +the current carried his boat round the bend. He felt in high good +humor at the way he had gotten out of a difficult situation. It was +fortunate for him, though, that he had taken Masterson and his cronies +so utterly by surprise, otherwise the adventure might have had a +different conclusion.</p> + +<p>He had established one fact, however, and that was that Masterson and +the others were spying on them every night and watching every step in +their preparations for the departure for Rattlesnake Island.</p> + +<p>That night a strict watch was kept in the camp, all the adventurers +taking turns at sentry duty. But nobody came near the place.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXVII.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE PROFESSOR'S SECOND DILEMMA.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>Early the next day old man McGee paid them a call. He came to take +back the burro they had hired from him for convenience in getting back +and forth from Yuma. He also wanted to get a ladder which had been +left at the deserted shanty. The old man rode into camp on a +razor-backed horse and professed great astonishment when he saw how +nearly completed the work on the Wondership was.</p> + +<p>"But you kain't fool me," he said knowingly. "I may be old but I'm +wise. That thing fly? Why, you might as well tell me the Nat'nul Hotel +in Yuma could go kerflopping about in the air. By the way," he went +on, "frum ther talk in ther town you ain't ther only ones as is goin' +down ther river. There's three young chaps has bought two boats and +allows that they're fixin' to take a trip."</p> + +<p>"Is that so?" exclaimed Jack with a significant look at his chums. "I +think we can guess who they are."</p> + +<p>But old man McGee was busy fussing with the donkey and didn't hear +him. He was going to carry the ladder back to town on the little +creature's back. He lashed the ladder across the saddle so that it +stuck out on both sides of the burro, who viewed the proceedings with +a kind of mild surprise. It brayed loudly and flapped its long ears in +a way that made the boys laugh heartily.</p> + +<p>"There," said old man McGee at last, "that's done. Now I reckon I'll +bid you so-long and good-luck, and be on my way. When are you goin' +ter start?"</p> + +<p>"To-morrow morning," replied Jack, "if everything is all right."</p> + +<p>"Hold on a minute," said Tom suddenly, as old man McGee was riding +off. "I've got a notion for some rabbit pie. Give me the rifle, Dick, +and I'll go a little way with Mr. McGee, as far as that little willow +wood where you got the cotton-tails."</p> + +<p>"All right," said Dick, "and tell you what I'll do. I'll come, too. I +can borrow Jack's rifle."</p> + +<p>"It's in the tent," said Jack. "Take good care of it."</p> + +<p>"I'll do that," promised Dick.</p> + +<p>Jack and Zeb went back to their task of putting the finishing touches +on the Wondership, stocking her lockers with provisions for the +Rattlesnake Island trip, while old man McGee, accompanied by the two +boys, rode out of the camp.</p> + +<p>The professor was away collecting specimens somewhere and had not been +seen since breakfast time.</p> + +<p>The donkey, carrying its odd burden, walked behind old McGee's horse +and the boys kept pace alongside, listening to the old prospector's +everlasting stories of how some day he would strike it rich. His faith +never wavered. He believed implicitly that eventually he would make +the "big strike" and live in affluence for the remainder of his life.</p> + +<p>The willow grove, where Dick went rabbit-hunting, was up the river and +on its banks far away from the water nothing grew but cactus, +greasewood and mesquite. As they neared it the monotony of the walk +began to pall on Dick. He wanted to have some fun.</p> + +<p>He fell behind and took a magnifying glass from his pocket. It was one +he used in his photographic work. Holding it up he focused the sun's +rays through it so that they fell in a tiny burning spot on the +donkey's back. After a few seconds the heat burned through. The donkey +gave a loud bray and kicked up its heels wildly.</p> + +<p>Before old man McGee knew what was happening, the creature had jerked +the rope by which he was leading it out of the old man's hand and +dashed off toward the willow wood.</p> + +<p>"Hey, come back, consarn ye!" shouted old McGee. "What's the matter +with ther critter, anyhow? He's gone plum daffy."</p> + +<p>Dick, doubled up with laughter, watched the circus. There was the +donkey with the ladder across its back racing at full speed toward the +wood, and after it came old McGee on his bony old horse, shouting at +the top of his voice.</p> + +<p>Straight for the wood the donkey raced, kicking up its heels and +braying loudly. It dashed in among the trees of the willow wood and at +the same instant there came an appalling yell from among the trees.</p> + +<p>"Gracious, what's happened now!" gasped Tom, and then catching Dick's +laughing eye, he exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Dick, this is some of your work!"</p> + +<p>"Maybe," said Dick, still choking with laughter, "but what on earth is +happening in the wood?"</p> + +<p>"Help! Lions! Help! They're after me! Help!"</p> + +<p>The cries came thick and fast.</p> + +<p>"It's the professor," choked out Dick.</p> + +<p>"He says there are lions in there," cried Tom, looking rather +alarmed, but at this juncture something happened to the donkey that +momentarily distracted their attention. In trying to pass between two +saplings the animal had bumped the ladder against them and brought +itself up with a round turn. But it still struggled forward and kept +up its braying:</p> + +<p>"Cotched, by ginger!" shouted old man McGee. He galloped toward the +runaway donkey, but the next moment a curious thing happened.</p> + +<p>In pressing forward, the donkey had bent the saplings over with the +ladder until it became entangled in their branches. Suddenly the +animal ceased struggling and the saplings sprang up, no longer having +any pressure on them, and the donkey was fairly lifted from its feet +and carried up into the air. And there he hung, threshing about with +his hoofs and suspended from the ladder. At the same instant the +figure of the professor emerged from the wood. He looked rather +sheepish.</p> + +<p>The boys ran up to him.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, professor?" asked Dick.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you called for help," added Tom.</p> + +<p>"Um—er—ah did I call?" inquired the man of science.</p> + +<p>"You certainly did. You scared us almost to death," said Dick.</p> + +<p>"Something about lions," added Tom.</p> + +<p>"Lions—er—did I say <i>lions</i>, boys?"</p> + +<p>"You did," Dick assured him.</p> + +<p>The professor gave a rather shamefaced smile. He looked at the donkey +suspended from the ladder between the two straightened saplings.</p> + +<p>"Um—er—perhaps it would be better to say no more about it," he said. +"I do not suppose that I am the first man to have been scared by a +sheep in wolf's clothing."</p> + +<p>"Or a donkey in a lion's skin," chuckled Dick.</p> + +<p>In the meantime old man McGee had arrived at the donkey's side and was +scratching his head to think of some way to relieve it from its +predicament. The boys solved the problem for him by cutting the +branches that held the ladder and Mr. Donkey came down to earth. The +professor, with rather a red face, had gone back to his work of +collecting specimens, which the arrival of the long-eared beast had +interrupted in such a startling manner.</p> + +<p>"Thar, I hope that's taught you some sense," said old man McGee, as +the donkey was once more on terra firma. As he rode off, Dick burst +into shouts of laughter. His little joke had certainly turned out to +be better than he expected and for many days after that he had only to +slyly introduce some talk about a lion to cause the professor to look +at him in a very quizzical way.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE UPPER REGIONS.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>The boys were up with the sun the next day. It was the morning which +was to witness the start of the flight for Rattlesnake Island. +Everything about the Wondership was in readiness for the enterprise, +and there only remained the tin breakfast utensils and the tents to be +packed when they had concluded the morning meal.</p> + +<p>Naturally excitement ran high. The hunt for the island, too, might be +a long one. But they felt that ultimately they would find it, that it +would not be like the three buttes of Peg-leg Smith.</p> + +<p>When everything was declared ready, Jack opened the charging-tube of +the gas reservoir and poured in some of the volatile powder that made +the lifting vapor. In fifteen minutes the gauge showed a good +pressure in the tank and the valve was turned.</p> + +<p>In the hot sun the balloon bag expanded quickly. At length the bag was +almost full.</p> + +<p>"Everything ready?" cried Jack, at length, when all were on board.</p> + +<p>"Ready," said Tom at the engines.</p> + +<p>"Then off we go!"</p> + +<p>Tom pulled the clutch lever and the propellers whirled. Jack gave the +steering and controlling wheel an impulse and like a huge bird the +Wondership shot up. But she rose slowly, for besides the unusual +number of passengers, she was also carrying a great weight in +supplies.</p> + +<p>As the craft rose three figures watched it from under the concealment +of a clump of mesquite.</p> + +<p>"There they go, boys," said Masterson, for it was he and his two +cronies.</p> + +<p>"Yes, they're off for Rattlesnake Island," sneered Eph. "I hope they +get bitten."</p> + +<p>"I'll bet they don't dream that we know everything about their +plans," chuckled Sam. "I'd like to get even with that red-headed kid."</p> + +<p>"Well, you'll get a chance before long," declared Bill Masterson. "I +don't see that there's any use in hanging around here any longer," he +went on. "The thing to do now is to get our boats and go down the +river."</p> + +<p>"Won't they be astonished when they see us," said Eph.</p> + +<p>"Maybe they'll try to chase us away. They outnumber us," said the +timid Sam.</p> + +<p>"They'd better not," vaunted Bill Masterson. "I guess we've got as +good a right to that old island as they have."</p> + +<p>"That's right," echoed Eph, following his leader's sentiments. "I +guess they haven't got any mortgage on it."</p> + +<p>Viewed from the Wondership, the desert spread out below was a +wonderful panorama. Through it, like a deep wound, the Colorado cut +its way and far beyond were the pale, misty outlines of mountains. As +they flew onward, the character of the scenery began to change.</p> + +<p>The river appeared to sink, while mighty walls, of most gorgeous +colors, cliffed it in. The rocks glowed with red and yellow and blue +like a painter's palate. But this was only in the deep canyon. On +either side the desert, vast and unlimited, stretched away grayly to +the horizon.</p> + +<p>"It must have taken centuries for the river to have cut such a deep +valley," said Tom, looking down as they flew far above it.</p> + +<p>"Some say that the river didn't cut it," said Zeb. "They claim that +there was a big earthquake or some sort of a shake-up, and that made +that big hole in the ground."</p> + +<p>Below them they could see birds circling above the swiftly racing +waters flecked with white foam. So far no sign of land answering the +description of Rattlesnake Island had come in view. But several small, +isolated spots of land were encountered, and on one, which looked +something like Rattlesnake Island described on the map, they +descended.</p> + +<p>The boys were delighted at the way the great Wondership settled down +into the canyon and then came to rest on the back of the island round +which the water rushed and roared. They scattered and ran about on it, +enjoying the opportunity to stretch their legs.</p> + +<p>Jack, Tom and Dick took a rifle along with them and they were glad +they had done so, for as they made their way through a patch of brush +a beautiful deer sprang out and dashed off. Jack had the rifle at his +shoulder in a minute and the creature bounded into the air, as the +crack of the report sounded, and then fell dead.</p> + +<p>The boy felt some remorse at having killed it, but he knew they would +be in need of fresh meat and some venison would be a welcome addition +to the ordinary camp fare. The boys carried the deer back and Zeb +skillfully skinned and quartered it. While he was doing this, the boys +speculated as to how the animal could have come to the island.</p> + +<p>Zeb set their discussion at rest by explaining that it had probably +swum the rapids to escape a mountain lion or a lynx. He said that he +had often shot deer under similar conditions. As it was almost noon, +they decided to wait on the island till they had eaten lunch. Zeb +sliced off some venison cutlets and cooked them to a turn over hot +wood coals. The boys thought they had never tasted anything better +than the fresh meat.</p> + +<p>While the plates and knives and forks were being washed and put away, +the professor wandered off on his perennial quest of rocks and +specimens. He said that he would be back in a short time but was +anxious not to miss the opportunity of finding some possibly rare +stones.</p> + +<p>But everything was ready and the boys were waiting impatiently half an +hour later, and there was no sign of the professor.</p> + +<p>Suddenly they heard his voice shouting to them from the distance.</p> + +<p>"What's he saying?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"Hark!" admonished Tom.</p> + +<p>The professor's shouts came plainly to their ears the next minute, +borne on a puff of wind that swept through the canyon.</p> + +<p>"Help! Help!" was the burden of his cries. "Get me out!"</p> + +<p>"Now, what's happened to him?" demanded Zeb, with a trace of +impatience.</p> + +<p>"I don't know, but he must be in trouble of some sort," cried Jack.</p> + +<p>"Maybe it's another donkey," mischievously suggested Dick.</p> + +<p>The cries were redoubled. They waited no longer but started off across +the island on the run. Zeb carried his big forty-four revolver.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXIX.</h2> + +<p><strong>A MUD BATH.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>The ground was rough and rocky but they made good time. Bursting +through a screen of trees from beyond which came the professor's +piteous cries, they received a shock.</p> + +<p>The man of science was in the center of a large, round hole full of +black mud that bubbled and boiled and steamed as if it were alive. All +that was visible of the professor was the upper part of his body.</p> + +<p>Seriously alarmed, the boys shouted to him to keep up his courage, and +that they would get him out.</p> + +<p>"How did you get in?" asked Zeb, cupping his hands.</p> + +<p>"I fell in," rejoined the poor professor. "The ground gave way under +my feet. Hurry and get me out, it's terribly hot."</p> + +<p>They looked about them desperately for some means of extricating him +from his predicament. But just at the moment none was offered, and +with every struggle the professor was sinking deeper in the black, +evil-smelling pool of mud.</p> + +<p>"Gracious, what are we to do?" cried Jack in despair.</p> + +<p>"He's too far out to reach him," said Zeb, equally at a loss.</p> + +<p>"But we must do something," chimed in Tom.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Zeb had an inspiration. A tree grew on the banks of the mud +volcano, the sudden caving in of which, under the professor's weight, +had precipitated him into it.</p> + +<p>"If I could get out on that branch," said Zeb, "I might be able to +bend it enough to bring my feet over him and then work back toward the +edge of the mudhole."</p> + +<p>"It's worth trying—anything is worthy trying," agreed Jack.</p> + +<p>Zeb took off his coat and then shinned up the tree. Then, hanging by +his hands he began working out along the branch. As he went it bent +till it hung right over the mudhole. Before long his feet dangled +above the professor's head.</p> + +<p>"Now then, professor," panted Zeb, "take hold on my feet and work +along toward the edge of the hole with me."</p> + +<img src="images/illus246.gif" width="466" height="700" border="0" +alt="Illustration: The professor seized Zeb's boots with the grasp of a drowning man."> + +<p>The professor seized Zeb's boots with the grasp of a drowning man. The +branch cracked ominously.</p> + +<p>"Easy thar, professor," warned Zeb earnestly. "Don't pull more'n you +can help or we'll both be in the soup."</p> + +<p>The professor lightened his grip and slowly, hand over hand, Zeb began +the slow journey back along the branch. It was a feat only possible to +a man whose muscles were of iron. And before it was over even Zeb was +almost overcome. Perspiration streamed from his forehead and soaked +his shirt as he dropped from the branch, having accomplished the +journey and pulled the professor to the bank.</p> + +<p>"That's what I call toeing a man out of trouble," punned Dick, in +the general relief that followed.</p> + +<p>"Good thing it warn't no further," puffed Zeb, mopping his forehead. +"My arms feels as if they'd been stretched on one of them racks you +read about in the history books."</p> + +<p>"How did it happen, professor?" asked Jack, as they scraped the mud +off the scientist.</p> + +<p>"It's hard to say," was the response. "I was walking along, intent on +my collecting, when I came to a barren patch of ground that was +crusted over with stuff that looked like salt. I stepped out on it to +investigate and suddenly in I went. Faugh! how it smells."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it isn't exactly perfumed," said Jack. "But how did such a place +come there?"</p> + +<p>"It's one of those mud-springs of hot water that are found in several +places throughout the West," said the scientist. "It must have been +quiescent for some time and then the thin skin of alkaline earth +formed over it. In Europe, or if we had that spring near a large +city, it would be possible to make a fortune with it."</p> + +<p>"In what way?" asked Dick.</p> + +<p>"As a curative bath," replied the professor. "Every year people spend +fortunes to go to Europe and take just such baths."</p> + +<p>"Reckon I'd go without washin' then," commented Zeb.</p> + +<p>"I'd just as soon bathe in rotten eggs," said Dick.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Jack, "I guess we've got off about all the mud we can for +the present. We'd better be getting back. It's mighty fortunate that +we came in time."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I was slipping into the stuff all the time," said the professor. +"If I'd been alone on the island I might have never been seen again," +he added in quite a matter-of-fact tone. "It's too bad I lost that bag +of fossils, though. I had some fine specimens."</p> + +<p>"Goodness, no wonder you sank down!" exclaimed Jack. "Why didn't you +let go of them?"</p> + +<p>The scientist was mildly surprised.</p> + +<p>"Why, how could I," he asked, "until it became a question of life or +death? It's too bad I had to lose them," and he shook his head +mournfully at the thought.</p> + +<p>The journey was soon resumed, the Wondership rising buoyantly out of +the dismal canyon. They were not sorry to get back to the upper air +for the gloom of the deep gulch had affected their spirits. But so +much time had been consumed in getting the professor out of his +predicament that it was not long before twilight set in and they still +had caught no glimpse of anything resembling the island they were in +search of.</p> + +<p>They decided to come to earth and make camp for the night and resume +the search in the morning. They made a hearty supper off the venison +which remained, and turned in, without setting any watch, as there was +no necessity for it out there with not a soul about for scores of +miles.</p> + +<p>It was about midnight when Jack was awakened by a wild yell from Tom.</p> + +<p>"Ow! Ouch! Leggo my toe!" the younger of the Boy Inventors was +shouting.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXX"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXX.</h2> + +<p><strong>NIGHT ON THE COLORADO.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"What's the matter? What has happened?" cried Jack.</p> + +<p>"Is it Indians?" cried Dick, who had a lively imagination.</p> + +<p>"Something grabbed my foot," declared Tom.</p> + +<p>"Grabbed your foot?" repeated Jack.</p> + +<p>"Well, maybe, nibbled at it, would be better," replied Tom. "It isn't +hurt, but I was awakened by it. I guess the thing, whatever it was, +must have been scared away."</p> + +<p>"What could it have been?" came from Dick.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it was a bear," suggested Tom.</p> + +<p>"A bear, nonsense. I guess it was all imagination," scoffed Jack. "You +ate too much at supper, Tom."</p> + +<p>"It was not imagination, I tell you," retorted Tom indignantly. "I +felt it just as plainly as anything."</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't see what——" began Jack and then he broke off.</p> + +<p>From outside the tent had come an appalling crash of tin dishes, +followed by unearthly grunts and squeals. The uproar was terrific. It +sounded as if every piece of tinware in the camp was being hurled and +battered around.</p> + +<p>"What under the sun——?" gasped Jack.</p> + +<p>"It's Indians; they've attacked the camp," cried Dick.</p> + +<p>A weird screech split the night. Jack seized up a rifle.</p> + +<p>"Come on, boys," he cried, but it might have been noticed that Dick +was not particularly alert in following.</p> + +<p>Zeb and the professor rushed out of their tents and their shouts added +to the confusion. There was a bright moon and by its light Jack saw a +small, peculiarly-shaped animal charging about blindly here and there. +The next minute he saw, too, that the creature's head was caught fast +in an enameled cooking pot.</p> + +<p>It rushed about and uttered the muffled squeals that had attracted +their attention. Jack raised his rifle and fired. The creature fell +dead at the first shot. Zeb and Jack rushed up to it.</p> + +<p>"A badger!" exclaimed Zeb, "and he's got his greedy head stuck fast in +that mush cooker."</p> + +<p>"And in charging about trying to get it off he'd made a wreck of our +pantry!" exclaimed Jack, looking at the tin utensils scattered in +every direction about the wooden box in which they were kept.</p> + +<p>"It must have been that badger that came sniffing at my toes," said +Tom.</p> + +<p>"Or maybe it was Indians," laughed Jack, looking slyly at Dick, who +was glad that they couldn't see how red he turned.</p> + +<p>"Indians?" exclaimed the professor guilelessly. "Were there any +Indians about?"</p> + +<p>"Dick thought he saw some," explained Jack with a chuckle.</p> + +<p>The dead badger was pulled out of the pot into which it stuck its +head to lick out the remains of some oatmeal that had adhered to its +side, and the boys went back to bed. But they did not sleep much after +the uproar into which the camp had been thrown, and were glad when it +began to grow light.</p> + +<p>Zeb cooked a fine breakfast to which he urged everybody to do justice, +as they had a long and possibly a trying day ahead of them. The badger +was given decent burial by Dick.</p> + +<p>"Let its fate be a lesson to you," said Jack, at which they all +laughed, for Dick was always on the spot at meal times.</p> + +<p>When the morning meal was finished and the things all packed away, the +Wondership was inflated and soared into the clear air. Nights and +early mornings on the desert are cool, and it was crisp and +invigorating in the hours before the sun had risen high. But by noon +the heat grew blistering, and they were still soaring above the river +without a trace of Rattlesnake Island being visible.</p> + +<p>However, that afternoon they sighted a group of islands of which the +largest at once attracted their attention. A prominent feature of +Rattlesnake Island, as outlined on the map, was a big dead pine, +situated like a beacon, at the summit of the peak into which the +island rose.</p> + +<p>The river at this point broadened out. Great cliffs overhung it. They +were made up of strata of brilliant colors. It looked from above as if +they had been painted by some titanic sign painter—nature, the +artist.</p> + +<p>Jack was the first to call attention to the island which had caught +his eye while he scanned the river below them with the binoculars. He +at once noticed its formation, long and narrow, with a high, rocky +peak rising out from amongst trees and bushes which clothed it almost +to the summit.</p> + +<p>Then his eye caught a great white pine trunk, standing like a +flagpole almost at the apex of the peak.</p> + +<p>"Hurrah, boys!" he cried. "I guess that's the place. Welcome to +Rattlesnake Island!"</p> + +<p>Tom was steering, "spelling" Jack at the wheel.</p> + +<p>"You can see the island?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>"Yes, or if it isn't it, it's like enough to be its twin brother."</p> + +<p>Everybody began to get excited. Zeb took the glasses and after a +careful scrutiny and a reference to the map, declared that the island +below them tallied in every way with its description.</p> + +<p>"Then down we go," said Jack.</p> + +<p>"All right," nodded Tom, who was almost as good an air pilot as his +cousin.</p> + +<p>The Wondership dropped rapidly. Soon they were immediately above the +island, which was now seen to be rocky and precipitous, except at one +end where there was a great open place, bare and desolate looking.</p> + +<p>On the edges of this cleared spot, which looked swampy and +unwholesome, were serried rows of trees, every one of which was dead +as if from a blight, and offering with their gaunt, leafless branches +a sharp contrast to the green leafiness of the rest of the island.</p> + +<p>Jack scanned the place sharply as they dropped down and Tom prepared +to land on the edge of the swamp. As they got closer to the ground, he +suddenly became aware of something that caused him a sharp shock of +surprise.</p> + +<p>"Why there's somebody on the island!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Somebody on the island?" echoed Zeb incredulously.</p> + +<p>"Yes, or at least there's a dwelling place."</p> + +<p>The boy pointed to a rude sort of shack built of logs and roofed with +boughs, which stood on the edge of the cleared space.</p> + +<p>"Great Methuselah!" ejaculated Zeb. "Can someone have stolen a march +on us?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know, but it looks queer, and see, there's a shovel. Somebody +has been digging here."</p> + +<p>"But who could it be?" demanded Tom, mystified.</p> + +<p>"Gosh! Looks as if we've bin euchered after all," grumbled Zeb.</p> + +<p>The Wondership came to earth at the edge of the lifeless-looking, bare +space. They clambered out of the machine and stood on what was, +undoubtedly, Rattlesnake Island, for every landmark on the map had +been verified as they dropped.</p> + +<p>They looked about them for a minute and then Zeb drew his revolver out +of the holster and began idly twiddling the cylinder.</p> + +<p>"I want ter make sure she's in workin' order," he said with a grim +comprehension of the lips, "before we do any investigating."</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXXI"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXXI.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE ISLAND OF MYSTERY.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>There was an air of oppression, hard to explain, about the island. But +they all felt it. The boys were inclined to talk in whispers and even +Dick Donovan's usual lively spirits seemed daunted. There was +something about the blistered, barren look of the cleared space on the +edge of which they had landed that gave them all an odd feeling of +melancholy.</p> + +<p>Zeb was the first to shake this off.</p> + +<p>"Our first job," he said, "is to find out who is on the island and +what they've been doing."</p> + +<p>Here and there in the black, swampy-looking bare space, they could see +where holes had been dug, but when they examined the spade, which Jack +had seen from the Wondership as they descended, they found that it was +rusty and had evidently not been used for a long time.</p> + +<p>It was the same in the rude hut which they examined. Some rusty +utensils and a few ragged old garments were all that was inside. The +dust lay thick on the floor and a large squirrel leaped out of the +roof as they entered.</p> + +<p>"Well, whoever was on the island has moved on again," declared Zeb.</p> + +<p>"Or died," said Jack in a low tone.</p> + +<p>"Wa'al, what I say is," observed Zeb, "ther sooner we git at that +what-yer-may-call-um stuff and get away agin, the better it'll be for +all of us. There's suthin' about this island I don't like."</p> + +<p>The others agreed, all except the professor, who, on hands and knees, +was examining some rocks with his magnifying glass.</p> + +<p>"Where shall we make camp?" asked Dick.</p> + +<p>"I don't much fancy this side of the island, somehow," said Jack, "but +we could pitch the tents on that little plateau up there and be +comfortable and have a good view up and down the river at the same +time."</p> + +<p>And so it was arranged. Leaving the Wondership on the edge of the +clearing, they made camp on the flat ledge of sandy soil interspersed +with rocks that Jack had selected. From it they had a good view in +both directions. Above them was a small island, and below them the +river leaped and roared in a series of big rapids.</p> + +<p>Their preparations for camping occupied all the afternoon. It was +supper time when they had finished and everything was shipshape and +comfortable. In the meantime Dick had wandered off with the rifle and +returned with four good-sized rabbits and three squirrels which Zeb +cooked into a savory stew.</p> + +<p>They turned in early as they had all worked hard and were tired. Just +what time it was that he awakened, Jack did not know. But he thought +it was after midnight. Taking his watch he went to the door of the +tent to look at it in the moonlight, as he did not wish to arouse the +others by striking a light.</p> + +<p>The moon flooded the island. Jack looked about him, enjoying the +beauty of the scene. The cliffs were great masses of black and white +and the rushing river gleamed like silver. He glanced toward the black +waste, on the edge of which they left the Wondership. The next instant +he uttered a startled exclamation. Above the bare patch of +dark-colored earth tall white figures were dancing, gleaming in the +moonlight.</p> + +<p>Jack's heart gave a bound and he caught his breath for an instant. +Then he felt inclined to laugh at his own fears. What he had taken for +ghostly figures were columns of vapor writhing and twisting as they +steamed upward from the bare end of the island. What caused them, Jack +did not know. He noticed, too, that the whole patch of barren land +glowed with a strange phosphorescence like rotted wood.</p> + +<p>Fascinated by the spectacle, he stood gazing at it. There was +something eerie about the dancing, pirouetting columns of vapor. They +looked like a party of ghosts dancing a quadrille. They twisted and +contorted and bowed and soared upward and sank again in a kind of +rhythm.</p> + +<p>"Gracious, this is a spooky sort of place," thought Jack. "I wonder +what causes those wavering columns? Maybe some sort of hidden hot +springs like the one the professor fell into. I know one thing, I +don't like this island overmuch. As Zeb said, there is something queer +about it—something in the air. I don't know what, but I for one won't +be sorry when we leave it."</p> + +<p>He fell to musing about his father waiting so many miles away for news +of the discovery that was to rehabilitate his fortunes and place the +radio telephone in the list of practical inventions that have created +an epoch in the world's history.</p> + +<p>"Poor old dad," he thought "After all, he's really having the most +trying part of this thing. Waiting back there for he doesn't know +what, and with nothing to do but wait. I wonder if we are going to +succeed? We will, we must! But, supposing that the map was wrong and +that——"</p> + +<p>His musing broke off suddenly and he crouched forward watching +intently. His eyes were staring wide-open and startled at the +Wondership. Its bulk lay blackly against the faint, phosphorescent +glow of the black barren.</p> + +<p>Then he felt his scalp tighten and his mouth go dry while his heart +seemed to stop for an instant and then pound furiously, shaking his +frame.</p> + +<p>For a second he had seen something that had almost startled him into a +cry. A dark figure was creeping round the Wondership, crouched like an +ape as it examined the craft.</p> + +<p>The boy had hardly caught a glimpse of it before it vanished, gliding +swiftly like an animal into the brush. Jack rubbed his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Am I seeing things?" he asked himself, "but no, I'm positive, as sure +as I stand here, that that was a human figure sneaking about down +there. Who could it have been?"</p> + +<p>Jack did not sleep much more that night. The thought that they were +not alone on the island was a disquieting one.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXXII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXXII.</h2> + +<p><strong>THROUGH THE WOODS.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>The next morning Jack watched his opportunity, and under the pretext +of hunting, left camp after breakfast and made his way to the side of +the Wondership. He wanted to examine the vicinity for footmarks. But +he found none, which was not surprising, for the ground on which the +craft had been brought to rest was hard and firm, and not likely to +take on any impressions.</p> + +<p>In the bright, sunny glow it was hard for the boy to believe that he +had actually seen the mysterious figure in the moonlight. But although +he tried to assure himself that he had been the victim of an illusion, +and that he had mistaken the shadow of a waving tree branch for a man, +Jack knew that he was not laboring under a mistake. He was certain he +had seen rightly; but he decided, for the present, to say nothing to +his companions about the events of the night.</p> + +<p>Having failed to find any tracks round the Wondership, he started off +through the trees on his hunt. He was traversing a small glade when, +in a clump of flowering bushes, he heard a sudden scuffling noise.</p> + +<p>Startled, he stopped. The sound came again and this time it was +accompanied by a shrill scream as of some creature in pain. Jack +parted the bushes and made his way through them. On the other side he +came across a rabbit. The little creature was struggling violently and +squealing with the peculiarly human screech that rabbits have when in +pain.</p> + +<p>The boy saw that it had been caught in some way and could not get +away. Greatly mystified, he dropped to his knees beside it and the +next instant solved the puzzle.</p> + +<p>The rabbit was caught in a trap ingeniously made from pliable willow +twigs and set in a "rabbit run." For a minute the full significance of +his discovery did not dawn upon Jack. Then it came like a bolt from +the blue.</p> + +<p>Somebody on the island, other than themselves, had set that trap! +Perhaps it was the strange, half-ape-like man he had seen by the +Wondership the night before. The boy looked round him in the silent +wood as if he half expected to see somebody watching him.</p> + +<p>He was not afraid, but he felt that creepy feeling that accompanies +the mysterious. Suddenly he recollected that he had left his rifle +behind when he plunged into the bushes.</p> + +<p>He remembered this when the desire came to him to put the rabbit out +of its misery. It had been caught by the hind leg and had wrenched it +out of joint in its frantic struggles to get free. Jack made his way +back to where he had left his rifle. But when he got back to the trap +ready to end the poor creature's life, the rabbit was not there!</p> + +<p>The trap was empty!</p> + +<p>Then he looked about him. The ground was covered with blood and fur +as if the rabbit had been torn to pieces.</p> + +<p>"Some animal," was his first thought. Then, on examining the trap, he +found that the thong which had ensnared the rabbit had not been broken +or torn loose as would have been the case had some wild creature +pounced on the rabbit and dragged it off.</p> + +<p>It had been untied!</p> + +<p>Jack had just made this discovery when he noticed something fluttering +from a thornbush. He was sure it had not been there before, for he had +noted the surroundings of the trap carefully. He examined the object +that had caught his attention. It was a bit of canvas, seemingly torn +from a garment made of that material.</p> + +<p>"There <i>is</i> somebody else on the island!" gasped Jack, looking round +with white cheeks.</p> + +<p>He clutched his rifle firmly. Looking about him he half expected to +see some wild face peering at him out of parted bushes. But nothing of +the sort happened. Feeling very uncomfortable, Jack came away from +the place and made his way back to camp.</p> + +<p>This time he made up his mind to confide in Zeb. The prospector was as +mystified as Jack over the events of the night and the incident of the +rabbit trap. But he was unable to throw any light on the affair.</p> + +<p>"It might be an Indian," he said, "or——"</p> + +<p>"It might be the man that built that hut and left the shovel sticking +in that barren place down yonder," said Jack.</p> + +<p>"In that case, wouldn't he be livin' in ther hut instead of snoopin' +round the island?" asked Zeb.</p> + +<p>This view seemed to be incontrovertible. At noon the professor, who +had been scouting over the island looking for specimens which might +give him some clue as to the mineral deposits they had come in search +of, arrived in camp breathless and indignant.</p> + +<p>"A joke's a joke," he said to the boys, "but this is going too far."</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, professor?" asked Dick.</p> + +<p>"Yes, what's happened?" asked Tom, who saw that the man of science +was really angry, and for some reason blamed them for whatever had +irritated him.</p> + +<p>"As if you didn't know," declared the professor. "I set my bag of +specimens down on a rock while I went to investigate a +peculiar-looking formation."</p> + +<p>"Well?" said Jack.</p> + +<p>"Well, I heard a soft footstep and the crackling of some twigs. I +looked round and my bag of specimens had gone. Now which of you boys +played that foolish joke on me?"</p> + +<p>"I'll give you my word we know nothing about it, professor," declared +Tom. "Dick and I have been working all the morning unpacking stuff +from the Wondership."</p> + +<p>The professor looked at them incredulously.</p> + +<p>"That's right," struck in Zeb, "they haven't been out of my sight."</p> + +<p>"But—but," stammered the professor, "my dear sir, that bag of +specimens didn't walk off, you know. Besides," he added, "I heard a +human footfall distinctly."</p> + +<p>"It may not have been the boys, though," spoke up Jack seriously.</p> + +<p>"Indeed, who else then?" inquired the professor stiffly.</p> + +<p>"An unwelcome neighbor," replied Jack. "We are not alone on this +island."</p> + +<p>"Not alone? What do you mean?" demanded the professor in thunderstruck +tones.</p> + +<p>"Just this, that there is someone else on it. Who or what it is I +don't know."</p> + +<p>And Jack went on to explain all that he had seen.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXXIII"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXXIII.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE SECRET AT LAST.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>Mysteries are always uncomfortable. As Jack proceeded with his +narrative, Dick and Tom looked nervously about them. Even the boys' +two elders looked grave. The presence of a man on the island was +almost inexplicable. But Jack's story was so circumstantial that there +was no room to suppose that he might be mistaken. Besides, he had the +bit of canvas to show, the scrap that he had taken from the thornbush.</p> + +<p>After dinner Tom and Dick resumed their work of unloading necessaries +from the Wondership. Jack and the two elder members of the party +discussed plans.</p> + +<p>"You haven't found any trace of mineral-bearing rock yet, have you, +professor?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>The professor shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Not a speck of anything that even remotely corresponds with the +black sand that Zeb brought East with him," said the man of science, +dejectedly.</p> + +<p>"It isn't possible that we have been fooled," said Zeb.</p> + +<p>"Or landed on the wrong island," struck in Jack.</p> + +<p>"It must be the right island," declared Zeb.</p> + +<p>"How do you make that out?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"Well, it's got every mark on it that the map gives, for one thing," +said Zeb.</p> + +<p>"That's so," agreed the professor, and then he added hopefully: +"However, I haven't covered half the ground yet."</p> + +<p>Tom and Dick came tramping back at that juncture. They carried some +canned goods and Dick bore the rusty shovel that they had seen the day +before sticking up in the black barren.</p> + +<p>"It was sticky and moist out there," he said, "but I figured we could +always use this shovel, so I went out and brought it along."</p> + +<p>He flung himself down full length in the shade for it was hot and +there was not a breath of wind to fan the canyon. The professor, who +sat facing Dick, concentrated his attention for an instant on the +soles of the youngster's boots. Then he leaped up with a yell that +startled them.</p> + +<p>"What is it? The wild man?" gasped Dick, looking round him in alarm.</p> + +<p>"No, your boots, your boots; look at them!" cried the professor.</p> + +<p>"Is there a snake on them?" cried Dick, preparing to jump up.</p> + +<p>"Don't move! Don't move for your life!" fairly screamed the dumpy +little geologist, springing forward. He fell on his knees at Dick's +boots as if they had been sacred, and with trembling fingers flaked +off, into his left palm, some black mud which stuck to them.</p> + +<p>Then he stood erect, his face aglow with triumph and enthusiasm such +as the man of science rarely permitted himself.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," he said, with a flourish, "there is no reason to look +further for the mineral-bearing ground."</p> + +<p>"You have found it?" choked out Jack.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Where?"</p> + +<p>"On Dick Donovan's boots."</p> + +<p>They looked at him as if they thought he had suddenly gone demented. +Dick examined his boots carefully as if he expected to see money +plastered all over them.</p> + +<p>The professor extended his palm. In it lay the black earth he had +scraped from Dick's boots. In it tiny particles glittered and gleamed +like myriads of infinitesimal eyes.</p> + +<p>"Z. 2. X.," said the professor in solemn tones, and he waved his hand +down toward the black barren where the moist, unhealthy-looking bare +patch lay quivering and sweltering in the sun. A kind of haze hung +above it, like a very thin fog.</p> + +<p>"There it is," he went on, "down there. Waiting to be extracted from +that black earth. Look."</p> + +<p>He shook the black earth from his palm. Where it had lain there was a +red, irritated-looking patch. The professor showed it. It looked like +a slight burn.</p> + +<p>"Did that stuff do it?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"Yes; and that's almost as definite a proof as an analysis, of its +intense radio activity. You noticed that the sample that Zeb had was +enclosed in a leaden tube. That was the reason. Such powerful stuff +would inflict bad burns if not handled properly."</p> + +<p>"So that was why you made us include asbestos gloves and foot +coverings and black goggles in the outfit?" cried Tom, who had been +much puzzled over the reason for that part of the equipment.</p> + +<p>"That was why," said the professor, "and that also is the reason we +brought along those lead containers. Z. 2. X. or its ally, radium, or +in fact vanadium or any of the allied radio-active metals, would +destroy any other sort of container."</p> + +<p>"Let's go down now and start digging," suggested impulsive Dick.</p> + +<p>"Don't venture out there till you are fully equipped for the job," +said the professor. "Serious results might ensue. In the meantime, I +am going to analyze this sample in order to be doubly sure."</p> + +<p>Jack gave a deep sigh of relief. After all, it was not a dream. They +had found the valuable earth. It was now only a question of +transportation. His father's fortunes were saved. The radio-'phone +would be rushed to perfection and placed on the market within a short +time of their return home.</p> + +<p>While Jack lay back and indulged in daydreams, the others watched the +professor as he tested the black sand over a portable assaying furnace +and made all sorts of experiments to determine its value and the +proportion of the different precious metals contained in it.</p> + +<p>There was a slight rustling in the bushes behind him. Jack, whose +nerves had been rather on edge since the occurrences of the preceding +night and that morning, faced round quickly.</p> + +<p>The next instant he uttered a loud shout.</p> + +<p>Peering out of the bushes was a hideous, hairy face, more like an +ape's than a human being's. From it glowed two wild, piercing eyes, +like those of a beast of prey.</p> + +<p>As Jack shouted and the others started toward him, the face vanished +like a flash.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXXIV"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXXIV.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE INTERLOPERS.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>"Well, we'll git ter ther bottom uv this afore we leave ther island," +declared Zeb vehemently, "but right now, pussonally, I'm more +interested in gitting those lead carboys filled up with Z. 2. X. and +gitting away from here."</p> + +<p>"So are we," said Jack, thinking of his father.</p> + +<p>They all donned their asbestos gloves and foot coverings under the +professor's directions and put on the huge black goggles that had been +brought along at the scientist's directions.</p> + +<p>"I guess we'd scare that wild man into conniption fits if he could see +us now," chuckled Tom, surveying his mates as they started out for the +black barren.</p> + +<p>"Yes, we look like a lot of men from Mars," agreed Dick.</p> + +<p>Armed with shovels they attacked the dark, soft earth at a place the +professor indicated. For an hour or more they worked and filled three +of the lead carboys. Then Jack spoke.</p> + +<p>"It's queer," he said, "but I begin to feel terribly tired, and I +haven't worked long, either."</p> + +<p>"So do I," said Tom. "I don't feel as if I could lift another +shovelful."</p> + +<p>"I'm all in," added Dick, throwing down his spade.</p> + +<p>"Same here. Jes' 'bout tuckered out," chimed in Zeb.</p> + +<p>"It's the effect of the stuff we are working in," said the professor. +"Anyhow, we've done enough for to-day. We'll load the lead carboys on +the Wondership and then knock off. I don't want you boys to get sick."</p> + +<p>They took the loaded carboys to the grounded craft and the professor +sealed and soldered a cover on each of them. Then they went back to +the camp. Curiously, as soon as they reached it, the lassitude they +had felt while working on the black barren left them. Jack proposed a +hunting trip to Tom. Dick said he wanted to write up his notes from +which, on their return, he was going to construct a big "story" for +his paper.</p> + +<p>The two chums struck out across the island. They met with fairly good +luck. Jack brought down some rabbits and a partridge. Tom got three +partridges and some squirrels. Game appeared to be plentiful on the +island and Jack had a theory that at one time it must have been +connected with the mainland.</p> + +<p>At last their walking brought them out on the upper end of the island +facing the smaller spot of land above. As they emerged from the trees, +both boys got a big surprise.</p> + +<p>Two boats had just been beached there!</p> + +<p>"What in the world!" stammered out Jack.</p> + +<p>"Who can——" began Tom, when the question was answered. The boys saw +three figures coming down to the beach. They, seemingly, had been +looking for a camp site.</p> + +<p>"It's that fellow, Bill Masterson," explained Jack.</p> + +<p>"So it is, and those other two are his cronies. The sneaks, they've +followed us here!" cried Tom indignantly.</p> + +<p>"Let's watch from behind these bushes and see what they do," said +Jack.</p> + +<p>They watched from a place of concealment while the three youths on the +island above unloaded the second boat which they had towed down the +river, carrying their camping equipment and provisions in it. They set +up their tents quite boldly in full view of the other island and then +proceeded to build a fire.</p> + +<p>"How on earth did they get down the river without having a spill?" +cried Jack.</p> + +<p>"How did they know where Rattlesnake Island was?" wondered Tom, +neither of the boys, of course, knowing of the opened letters.</p> + +<p>"They seem prepared to make a long stay," commented Tom, after a +minute, "but it's a wonder they weren't wrecked."</p> + +<p>"I don't know," said Jack. "Zeb says the river is much higher now +than he has ever seen it. That means that the rapids are not so +dangerous as at low water. But they were taking quite a chance, at +that."</p> + +<p>The boys watched for a while longer and then returned to camp with +their game and their news.</p> + +<p>"If they try to land on this island, we'll soon chase 'em off," +declared Dick vehemently.</p> + +<p>"Then they'd have a case at law agin us," said Zeb.</p> + +<p>"How do you mean?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"Wa'al, we ain't filed no claim yet and in the eyes of the law them +deposits down there in the black barren is as much theirs as ours."</p> + +<p>That evening Zeb occupied himself with making several signs of +intention to file claim which he intended to post all round the black +barren, thus marking it off as if it had been a mine. Before they went +to bed, Jack and Tom made another excursion to the upper end of the +island where they watched the campfires of the interlopers for some +time.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, while they watched, they saw one of the boats with three +figures in it shoved off. The craft began to drop down the river. +Masterson, who was at the oars, steered straight for Rattlesnake +Island.</p> + +<p>"They're going to land here," declared Jack.</p> + +<p>"What do you think of that for nerve," gasped Tom.</p> + +<p>"The worst of it is, we can't stop them."</p> + +<p>"No, that's so. Let's hide behind this rock and see what they do."</p> + +<p>The boys slipped behind a big boulder and a moment later the boat was +beached.</p> + +<p>"Well, here we are," came in Eph's voice, "and if the stuff is worth +all you say it is, we ought to get enough out in a couple of nights to +make us rich."</p> + +<p>"Gee! I can hardly wait till it's time to start digging," said Sam +Higgins. "Here we are, on Tom Tiddler's ground, picking up gold and +silver."</p> + +<p>"Wait till we get it before you start hollering," said Masterson +gruffly.</p> + +<p>"What time will we start over?" asked Sam.</p> + +<p>"About midnight. It will be plenty of time."</p> + +<p>"But how are we going to locate it?" objected Eph.</p> + +<p>"We can see where they've been digging, can't we?" said Bill +Masterson, "or if they haven't started yet, we can hang around and +watch till they do."</p> + +<p>The three worthies sat under a rock not far from where the boys were +and talked. It appeared that Bill Masterson had read up on mining and +claim law and knew that the boys could not order them off the island. +They had a right to take all of the mineral-bearing earth that they +could.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, however, their talk stopped.</p> + +<p>"What are you doing, Eph?" demanded Sam indignantly.</p> + +<p>"Nothing. What do you mean?" asked Eph in an astonished voice.</p> + +<p>"You threw a rock at me."</p> + +<p>"I didn't."</p> + +<p>"You did. Ouch! There's another."</p> + +<p>"One hit me, too," cried Eph, springing up, and at the same moment a +yell came from Masterson.</p> + +<p>Jack and Tom, as much surprised as the three marauders, heard the +rocks pelting around them. Suddenly they looked up. Standing on a high +rock above the place where Masterson and his cronies were talking, was +a strange-looking figure in tattered clothes outlined in the +moonlight.</p> + +<p>He was busily hurling rocks down at the intruders. Suddenly a +demoniacal laugh split the air and the creature vanished, running +swiftly, crouched, with long arms hanging.</p> + +<p>"It's the wild man!" gasped Tom, while the three worthies on the beach +uttered a startled cry.</p> + +<p>"It's ghosts, that's what it is," declared Sam Higgins shuddering.</p> + +<p>"Nonsense. It's those kids. That's who it is," said Bill, but his +voice was rather shaky.</p> + +<p>"I never heard anything human laugh like that," declared Eph. "Ugh! it +makes my blood run cold."</p> + +<p>"Maybe we'd better go back," said Sam. "If we've got a right here I'd +just as soon land in the daylight."</p> + +<p>"You're a fine pair of babies," growled Bill. "I'm sorry I brought you +along. Ghosts indeed—Wow! what was that?"</p> + +<p>Another long ringing peal of laughter sounded through the night. It +reverberated against the steep walls of the canyon and was flung +mockingly from crag to crag. The boys felt their blood chill as they +heard it. There was something diabolical in the merriment of the wild +man who, they knew, was making the hideous sounds.</p> + +<p>"I'm going back to the other island," declared Sam.</p> + +<p>"If you move I'll knock your head off," said Masterson. "It's just a +trick of those kids to scare us, that's all it is."</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXXV"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXXV.</h2> + +<p><strong>TRIUMPH.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>It was midnight. The moon rode high in a cloudless sky, and the camp +of the Boy Inventors, to all appearances, was wrapped in slumber. +Through the woods came three creeping, cautious figures. Each carried +a spade and a sack. They paused by the camp and looked about them.</p> + +<p>Then, by the bright moonlight, they saw the bare plateau below. The +black barren where the adventurers had been working that afternoon. +Masterson was the first to see traces of digging. He seized Eph's arm +and pointed.</p> + +<p>"That's the place," he said in a hoarse whisper. "See, they've been at +work there already."</p> + +<p>"Tom Tiddler's ground," whispered Eph.</p> + +<p>"I guess we'll get some of it, too," chuckled Sam, who had gotten over +his fright in a sudden greed at the thought of riches.</p> + +<p>Silently, for they had sacks tied round their feet, the three +interlopers crept down the rocky slope toward the black barren. The +dark ground, thickly sown with mineral wealth, glittered in the +moonlight as if a frost had fallen on it and made it gleam +iridescently with millions of sparkling points of light.</p> + +<p>As the trio stole down the slope, dark figures from the Boy Inventors' +camp followed them. Led by Zeb, they found hiding places and watched +operations as Masterson and his cronies began to dig. They wielded +their shovels frantically.</p> + +<p>"And we can't stop them," groaned Dick.</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute," said the professor.</p> + +<p>They continued to watch, and before many minutes had passed they saw +Sam Higgins lay down his shovel with a grunt.</p> + +<p>"Go on and dig," ordered Masterson.</p> + +<p>"Yes, hurry up, we haven't got all night," urged Eph.</p> + +<p>Sam made a few more feeble movements and then quit.</p> + +<p>'"I can't do any more," he said languidly.</p> + +<p>"Ouch! my hands are burning," cried Eph suddenly, "and I feel as if +all my bones had turned to water. What's the matter with the place?"</p> + +<p>After a few minutes more both Eph and Sam gave up, but Masterson stuck +doggedly to his task, although his hands were burning terribly, and +the radio-active stuff was eating through the sacking on his feet. At +last he, too, had to give in. They were too weak to carry the sacks +they had partially filled across the island, owing to the effects of +the black barren, and staggeringly they hid them to call for them at a +later time.</p> + +<p>"I thought so," said the professor, as the hidden watchers saw +Masterson and the other two wearily clamber up the slope. "They'll +have bad sores to-morrow and may be crippled for some time."</p> + +<p>"But they'll recover?" said Jack, whose conscience began to smite him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, but they will have quite a lesson first," rejoined the +professor.</p> + +<p>"Let's see what they do next," suggested Jack, and he and Tom +carefully made their way to where the trio had left the boat. +Masterson ordered Sam to get on board; but just as the timorous youth +was about to obey another hideous laugh from near at hand startled him +so that he almost jumped out of his skin.</p> + +<p>He leaped forward, but in his alarm missed the boat and gave it a +shove that sent it into the stream. Sam fell flat on his face, while +Masterson, with an exclamation of dismay, leaped for the boat. But the +swift current had it in its grasp and bore it rapidly away. Masterson +sprang on Sam and began beating him violently as the cause of all the +trouble. It was serious enough for them. The loss of the boat had +marooned them on the island.</p> + +<p>The boat drifted past a rocky point further down the island shore. Had +they been there, they would have been able to seize it. They watched +it with alarmed eyes as it sailed down the current. All at once a dark +figure dashed from the trees and made a spring from a high rock, +hoping, seemingly, to land in the boat. Instead, there was the sound +of a heavy fall and then a piteous groan.</p> + +<p>Whoever it was had jumped for the boat, had missed it and fallen on +the rocks. Not caring whether Masterson and his cronies saw them or +not, the boys raced along the beach. From the groans of the injured +person they knew that he was badly, possibly mortally, hurt.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes they reached his side.</p> + +<p>"It's the wild man!" cried Jack, as they gazed at a hairy, +wild-looking man who lay stretched out, breathing heavily, on the +rocks where he had fallen. His only clothing was a pair of tattered +canvas trousers and a ragged shirt.</p> + +<p>"Poor old Foxy. He's done for at last, is Foxy, for his sins," groaned +the man in an insane voice. "He suffered terrible for his crimes, has +Foxy, but it's all over now."</p> + +<p>"Foxy!" exclaimed Jack. "That's the man that came down the river with +Blue Nose Sanchez. The man who stayed in the boat."</p> + +<p>"He must have landed here and then gone crazy from privation," said +Jack. "I can't find that any bones are broken," he said after a brief +examination. "Suppose we carry him back to camp?"</p> + +<p>"I wonder where that Masterson outfit has got to?" said Tom, as they +picked up the wasted form of Foxy, who was raving and moaning by +turns.</p> + +<p>"I don't know. They are in a fine predicament now. They've got no food +and no boat They're marooned on this island."</p> + +<p>"I suppose we'll have to help them out," said Tom.</p> + +<p>"I guess so, though they don't deserve it."</p> + +<p>"I lost that boat," moaned Foxy. "I could have got away in it. Poor +old Foxy. It's tough on Foxy," and he began to weep.</p> + +<p>The professor found that the man had not suffered any broken bones +but the fall had bruised and sprained him and he was helpless. From +scattered bits of his ravings they learned what he had endured on the +island and how, when the black sand began to burn him, he had had to +give up working on it. Then his boat had drifted away and since then +he had lived the life of a wild man, setting snares for rabbits and +partridges, and eating them raw, tearing them with his clawlike +fingers.</p> + +<p>Early the next day the expected happened. Chastened, and with burned +and swollen hands and feet, Masterson and his cronies came into the +boys' camp at breakfast time. They looked crestfallen and sheepish, +but the boys did not want to make them feel any worse than they did, +so they spared them questions at first.</p> + +<p>But when Masterson begged them to get them out of their predicament +and take them back to Yuma, Jack felt that it was time to put them +through a cross examination.</p> + +<p>"You followed us here to try to cut out some ground from under our +feet, Masterson," he said, "and you know you told me in Nestorville +you wanted to get even with me."</p> + +<p>"Don't rub it in, Chadwick," said the humbled Masterson. "I'll do +anything you say if you'll only get us out of this terrible place. I +can hardly walk, and my hands feel as if they'd been burned in a +fire."</p> + +<p>"How did you know our destination?" asked Tom. Masterson made a full +confession and at the end begged forgiveness.</p> + +<p>"This ought to be a good lesson to you to mind your own affairs," said +Jack as he concluded.</p> + +<p>"I know a man who made a big fortune just minding his business," said +Dick. "For my part," he went on, "I'll forgive you, but I want you to +sign a paper promising not to publish anything about this expedition."</p> + +<p>"I will—oh, I will," said Masterson. And then he wrote as Dick +dictated. The boys witnessed and signed the paper.</p> + +<p>"And now you'd better eat breakfast," said Jack.</p> +<br> + +<p>Three days later, the Wondership made two trips to Yuma. On the first +she took the original party with the addition of the insane Foxy, who +was placed in an asylum. He never recovered his reason but died in the +institution. Also, there was carried a part of the leaden carboys +which they had filled.</p> + +<p>Masterson and his cronies had been left behind on the island to pack +up the camping equipment and thus make themselves useful. Zeb went to +the U.S. Assay Office and formally filed their claim to the island and +its riches. In the meantime, the professor took charge of Foxy and +turned him over to the authorities.</p> + +<p>As for the boys, they sailed back to Rattlesnake Island, after sending +a telegram to Mr. Chadwick. It was brief.</p> + +<p>"We win," was all it said.</p> + +<hr> + +<div style="height: 3em;"></div> + +<a name="CHAPTER_XXXVI"></a><h2>CHAPTER XXXVI.</h2> + +<p><strong>THE HOMECOMING.</strong></p> +<br> + +<p>The next day Masterson and his companions, very much subdued, boarded +the Wondership as passengers. All of them were still suffering +painfully from the effects of the burns, their only reward from their +ill-advised raid on the black barren.</p> + +<p>"Boys," asked Masterson, "can't you take our camping equipment along? +It's a shame to have it rot here."</p> + +<p>"All right," said Jack. "I think we may be able to sell it for you. +Come on, we'll get to work now!"</p> + +<p>"You're not such a bad chap," said Eph when he heard Jack agree to +Masterson's suggestion.</p> + +<p>"He's the finest chap on earth!" exclaimed Tom.</p> + +<p>"That he is," added Dick Donovan.</p> + +<p>"He is a model young man," declared Professor Jenks, overhearing +Tom's last remark.</p> + +<p>Jack flushed with pleasure and embarrassment. It was very gratifying +to know that his friends thought highly of him, but at the same time +he wished they would not give him that uneasy feeling with their +sincere compliments. So he hurried away, asking the others to follow +him toward getting together Masterson's outfit.</p> + +<p>While the dumpy little geologist went once more to search for strange +specimens, the boys readily set to work and in a very short time the +camping equipment was placed on board the Wondership.</p> + +<p>When the boys arrived at Yuma, Masterson found no difficulty in +selling the camping outfit to old man McGee, who decided to make one +more try to find the Three Buttes.</p> + +<p>"Don't you think you're too old, and that the gold, after all, may not +be there?" Tom asked the eccentric miner.</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" exclaimed McGee indignantly. "As I tole you afore, it +stands ter reason thar's gold out thar, and 'at it war'ent up to +Peg-leg Smith nor'n to Guv'nor Downey, nor'n to McGuire, nor'n to Dr. +De Courcy, nor'n to any of 'em to find the Buttes, but as I says +afore, I says ag'in—'at ther good Lord never made nuthin' thet wasn't +of some use. Very well, then, the desert is good fer nuthin' else but +mineral wealth, and Providence made it so plagued hard ter git at so +'at all of us couldn't git rich at once. I've been arter the Buttes +all me life, and <i>this</i> wack I'm goin' to land it rich!"</p> + +<p>The fanatical old prospector, chuckling gleefully and sucking his +pipe, ambled away while Tom looked after him, shaking his head +sympathetically.</p> + +<p>"Look out! Look out!" someone shouted in Tom's ear. "There's a beauty, +a wonder!"</p> + +<p>Tom, startled, whirled about to see the professor, gazing intently at +a small rock upon which one of Tom's heels was resting. The professor +violently pushed him aside, out came his little hammer, and in a +moment the new specimen was in his bag. Then, the man of science, +without looking up to see whom he had spoken to, pounced on another +stone.</p> + +<p>Tom could not help laughing outright at the professor's queer ways and +deep concentration on his pet hobby.</p> + +<p>"What a funny world this is!" remarked Tom, still amused. "Here is a +man forever after rocks, rocks, and there goes a miner set upon +becoming rich and discovering some imaginary mine."</p> + +<p>He saw Jack waving to him from the veranda of the hotel.</p> + +<p>"Listen, Tom," said his chum when they stood side by side, "I was +thinking that it would be a splendid idea to send the Wondership to +New York, and that from there we travel to Nestorville, <i>via</i> the air +route."</p> + +<p>"Great!" cried Tom, delighted. "But say, are we to take Masterson +along?"</p> + +<p>"Of course not," replied Jack. "He can go back to Boston on the +train."</p> + +<p>"Good for you!" declared Tom, slapping his chum on the back.</p> + +<p>"But I haven't told you my main idea yet," said Jack, smiling,</p> + +<p>"What is that?" asked the other wonderingly.</p> + +<p>"Can't you guess?"</p> + +<p>"No," Tom began to say, and then the roguish twinkle in Jack's eyes +gave him a sudden inspiration. "You don't mean to use the Z.2.X. to +send messages with while we fly nearer and nearer to our old home +town?"</p> + +<p>"That is exactly what I wish to do," said Jack quietly.</p> + +<p>"Whoop! It's great!" cried Tom, throwing his hat in the air; and as he +saw Dick coming toward them, he fairly pounced on the astonished +reporter with the news.</p> + +<p>"Flamjam flapcakes of Florida!" gasped Dick.</p> + +<p>And so it was arranged. A few days later our party boarded a train for +the East. Jack, Tom, Dick and Professor Jenks arrived at New York.</p> + +<p>(They had left Zeb behind to attend to the work in the barren +fields.)</p> + +<p>The Wondership, as on the previous occasion, was quietly but quickly +assembled, and made ready to take its homeward flight. They had chosen +a spot on Manhattan island still very meagerly developed, and so were +not at all troubled by curious onlookers. Jack, to whom his father had +explained in detail the use of Z.2.X.—or Coloradite, as they had +decided to call it—busied himself almost exclusively with the radio +telephone apparatus. When all was ready, he sent his father the +following telegram:</p> + +<p>"Expect message, using Coloradite from New York."</p> + +<p>The next morning they ascended. Round and round the Wondership +circled, a golden speck against the blue sky. In a quarter of an hour +the great metropolis seemed nothing but a giant beehive, with millions +of busy workers ever hurrying in hundreds of different directions. The +cars and automobiles were only like giant bees, moving somewhat +swifter than those on what looked like fine threads of cotton or wool.</p> + +<p>"What a small place New York is after all," observed the professor.</p> + +<p>"It is larger than Boston," said Tom slyly,</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," admitted the man of science haughtily, "but not as learned +or stately—no city can take its culture away from Boston."</p> + +<p>Jack smiled, and in order to change the conversation, asked Tom, "How +high now?"</p> + +<p>"About fifteen hundred feet," guessed Tom.</p> + +<p>"Wrong," said Jack, glancing at the barograph on the dashboard in +front of him. "We have reached two thousand eight hundred feet."</p> + +<p>"I must be asleep," said Tom, frowning. "Shall I connect the +alternator?"</p> + +<p>Jack nodded and prepared to send greetings to his father, hundreds of +miles away. They were out in the country now. As the Wondership glided +through the air, the professor, in viewing the villages, farms, green +pastures, and stretches of woodland, regretfully shook his head as the +thought occurred to him that he was missing many a precious stone. He +looked over to Jack with the idea of suggesting a descent, but he saw +the boy inventor patiently adjusting the tuning knob, and waited, +realizing how anxious Jack was to test the Coloradite.</p> + +<p>The little professor, extremely interested, saw Jack place his lips to +the receiver, and for the second time in his life, send out the +distinct call:</p> + +<p>"Hullo, High Towers!"</p> + +<p>Many minutes passed without an answer. Jack's face became grave. Was +part of the machinery not properly adjusted? He went over the +instrument very carefully. In so far as he could see, everything was +just as it should be. Then a thought came that made him dizzy—was it +possible that the Coloradite was not suited for the work, that Mr. +Chadwick had been misinformed?</p> + +<p>"What's up?" inquired Tom, glancing up from his engines.</p> + +<p>"By the ghost of Guzzlewits!" gasped Dick. "Don't say it won't work, +Jack!"</p> + +<p>The professor, ordinarily cool and very calculating, was strangely +stirred. He watched the young inventor's face. Did it mean failure?</p> + +<p>"I don't know," said Jack at last with forced calmness. "I will try +again."</p> + +<p>Once more Jack, oppressed by a vague fear, sent out the words:</p> + +<p>"Hullo, High Towers!"</p> + +<p>The reply came with startling swiftness, relieving the party from the +mental strain. In one voice—the professor included—they yelled,</p> + +<p>"Hurrah!"</p> + +<p>"Congratulations!" came Mr. Chadwick's voice in return.</p> + +<p>"Why the delay?" asked Jack, smiling with</p> + +<p>"A small lever snapped. It required a few minutes to repair it. How +far from New York are you now?"</p> + +<p>"About forty miles."</p> + +<p>"Good! Try to land here before sunset."</p> + +<p>"Why?" asked Jack.</p> + +<p>"Nestorville has a little surprise for you!" replied Mr. Chadwick, and +Jack heard him chuckle.</p> + +<p>"Good for Mr. Chadwick!" cried Dick in glee, for Jack had so arranged +the instrument that all of them in the Wondership could hear Mr. +Chadwick's voice.</p> + +<p>Then followed a long conversation between father and son. Mr. Chadwick +had almost completely recovered his health, and was again working over +new experiments. Dick insisted that he be permitted to tell the story +of their adventures on the island of the Coloradite Treasure.</p> + +<p>"You won't tell it right," he declared to Jack, and insisted so +strenuously that the boy inventor had to let him speak to Mr. +Chadwick.</p> + +<p>Dick set his choicest language agoing, and his vivid description of +Jack's part in every incident was embellished by the most flowery +adjectives in his vocabulary. Jack had to listen, and grin.</p> + +<p>By the time his long story was done, Nestorville was sighted. As soon +as the people saw the Wondership, pandemonium broke loose. Not only +Nestorville, but officials and crowds from the neighboring towns had +poured in, and the reception the boys and the professor received +lingered with them for many, many years.</p> + +<p>Later, as time went on, Mr. Chadwick's fortune was completely +rehabilitated. Professor Jenks no longer was so eager to search for +rocks, and while doing so get into all sorts of difficulties. He lived +more at home, becoming at last, as his spinster sister declared, "a +man with the proper spirit to make an ideal husband." Of course, the +professor had received a very substantial sum of money from the boys.</p> + +<p>Jack and Tom soon found themselves wealthy, and often in fancy trace +the days back to that afternoon when they found the sturdy miner lying +on the roadside, having been knocked unconscious by Masterson's +careless driving of his automobile.</p> + +<p>Zeb, continued to take charge of the work on Rattlesnake Island, to +which the boys never returned. For a long time the supply from the +black barren appeared to be inexhaustible. Suddenly, however, it +ceased, and no more was dug. But what had been mined had been more +than sufficient to make all prosperous.</p> + +<p>Dick, with his share of the proceeds, which the boys insisted that he +accept, bought the <i>Nestorville Bugle</i>. From the very start, he made +it a live, progressive paper. Sometimes, when the now busy editor had +a spare hour, he invariably visited his two friends, and the +three—sometimes, too, the little professor joined them +unexpectedly—recounted old-time stories.</p> + +<p>But the boys were not made lazy by wealth and fame. To this very day, +Jack and Tom, with Mr. Chadwick's aid, are devising many inventions +calculated to benefit mankind. Possibly, at some future time, we shall +hear something more about these, but for the present let us take our +leave and say good-by.</p> + +<p>THE END</p> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Boy Inventors' Radio Telephone +by Richard Bonner + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY INVENTORS' RADIO TELEPHONE *** + +***** This file should be named 13783-h.htm or 13783-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/7/8/13783/ + +Produced by Curtis Weyant, Ronald Holder and the PG Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Boy Inventors' Radio Telephone + +Author: Richard Bonner + +Release Date: October 18, 2004 [EBook #13783] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY INVENTORS' RADIO TELEPHONE *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis Weyant, Ronald Holder and the PG Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +[Illustration: (Frontispiece) Jack experienced an odd thrill as he +prepared to send the first spoken word ever exchanged between an +airship and land--_Page_ 71.] + +THE +BOY INVENTORS' RADIO- +TELEPHONE + +BY + +RICHARD BONNER + +AUTHOR OF "THE BOY INVENTORS' WIRELESS TRIUMPH," "THE BOY +INVENTORS AND THE VANISHING GUN," "THE BOY INVENTORS' +DIVING TORPEDO BOAT," "THE BOY INVENTORS' FLYING +SHIP," "THE BOY INVENTORS' ELECTRIC +HYDROAEROPLANE," ETC., ETC. + +_WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY_ +_CHARLES L. WRENN_ + +NEW YORK +HURST & COMPANY +PUBLISHERS + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + +I. THE POWER OF THE AIR + +II. AN ENCOUNTER WITH A CHARACTER + +III. THE PROFESSOR'S DILEMMA + +IV. "WHERE IS HE?" + +V. CHESTER CHADWICK--INVENTOR + +VI. THE RADIO TELEPHONE + +VII. THE GREAT TEST + +VIII. TALKING THROUGH SPACE + +IX. THE BOYS FACE TROUBLE + +X. AN INVOLUNTARY AERONAUT + +XI. BY THE ROADSIDE + +XII. MAKING ENEMIES + +XIII. THE LEADEN TUBE + +XIV. IN THE HOSPITAL + +XV. A TALE OF THE COLORADO + +XVI. ZEB CUMMINGS + +XVII. IN THE LABORATORY + +XVIII. INTO THE STORM + +XIX. THE "LIGHTNING CAGE" + +XX. THROUGH THE AIR + +XXI. VAULTING TO THE RESCUE + +XXII. "Z. 2. X." + +XXIII. ON THE BORDER LINE + +XXIV. "THE THREE BUTTES" + +XXV. INTO THE BEYOND + +XXVI. THE START FOR THE UNKNOWN + +XXVII. THE PROFESSOR'S SECOND DILEMMA + +XXVIII. THE UPPER REGIONS + +XXIX. A MUD BATH + +XXX. NIGHT ON THE COLORADO + +XXXI. THE ISLAND OF MYSTERY + +XXXII. THROUGH THE WOODS + +XXXIII. THE SECRET AT LAST + +XXXIV. THE INTERLOPERS + +XXXV. TRIUMPH + +XXXVI. THE HOMECOMING + + + + +The Boy Inventor's Radio-Telephone. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE POWER OF THE AIR. + + +"That's it, Jack. Let her out!" + +"Suffering speed laws of Squantum, but she can travel!" exclaimed Dick +Donovan, redheaded and voluble. + +"I tell you, electricity is the thing. Beats gasoline a million ways," +chimed in Tom Jesson. Tom sat beside his cousin, Jack Chadwick, on the +driver's seat of a curious-looking automobile which was whizzing down +the smooth, broad, green-bordered road that led to Nestorville, the +small town outside Boston where the Boy Inventors made their home. + +The car that Jack Chadwick was driving differed in a dozen respects +from an ordinary automobile. There was no engine hood in front. +Instead of a bonnet the car, which was low slung, long and painted +black, had a sharp prow of triangular shape. Its body, in fact, might +be roughly compared to the form of a double-ended whaleboat. + +As it sped along outside the city limits, and immune from hampering +speed laws, the car emitted no sound. + +It moved silently, without the usual sharp staccato rattle of the +exhaust. Behind it there was no evil-smelling trail of gasoline and +oil smoke. The car glided as silently as a summer breeze on its +wire-wheels, like those of a bicycle enlarged. + +"I'll get a great story out of this," declared Dick Donovan, who, as +readers of other volumes of this series know, was a reporter on a +Boston paper. "That is, if you'll let me write it," he added, leaning +forward over the front seat from the tonneau as he spoke. + +"How about it, Jack?" asked Tom with an amused smile. "Shall we let +Dick here get famous at our expense again?" + +"I don't see why not," said Jack. "Everything about the Electric +Monarch is patented. The new reciprocating device, and the +self-feeding storage batteries are fully covered. If Dick wants to +write a romance about it he can, provided he leaves our pictures out." + +"Oh, I'll do that," Dick readily promised. "Are you making top speed +now, Jack?" + +"Nowhere near; I wouldn't dare to. I believe that the Monarch is +capable of ninety miles an hour. I wish we had a place like Ormond +Beach to try her out on." + +"You can count me out on that," chuckled Dick. "This is fast enough +for me." + +The boys were trying out their latest invention, an electric car +capable of making the speed of a gasoline-driven vehicle, and one +which could be operated at a minimum of cost, almost a nominal +expense, as compared with the high price of a vehicle run by an +explosive engine. + +It was the trial trip of the Electric Monarch, as they had decided to +call it, and so far the performances of the machine had exceeded, +instead of fallen below, their expectations. Dick, who had been +invited to the "tryout," was full of questions as they sped silently, +and with an absolute lack of vibration, along the road. + +"How do you generate your electricity?" he asked eagerly. + +"By a device geared to the rear axle," answered Tom. "It runs a sort +of dynamo, though it would be difficult for you to understand it if I +went into details. It's something like the ordinary generator and +turns a constant stream of 'juice' into the storage batteries that, in +turn, feed the engines." + +"Yes, that's all plain enough," said the inquisitive Dick, "but how do +you get your power for starting?" + +"If there is not enough juice in the storage batteries for the purpose +we resort to compressed air," was the reply from Tom, for Jack, with +keen eyes on the unrolling ribbon of road, was too busy to have his +attention distracted. + +"And that?" Dick paused interrogatively. + +"Is pumped into a pressure tank as we go along. See that gauge?" he +pointed to one on the dashboard of the car in front of the driver's +seat. + +Dick nodded. + +"Well, that's a pressure gauge. You see, we have sixty pounds of air +in the tank now. That can generate enough electricity to start the car +going. After that the process is automatic." + +"Yes, you explained that. Suppose the tank should, through an +accident, be empty, and you wanted to start?" + +"We've provided for that" + +"I expected so. Wabbling wheels of Wisconsin, you fellows are +certainly wonders." + +"Nothing very wonderful about it," disclaimed Tom. "Well, if we find +the tank is empty we have a powerful, double-acting hand pump by +which, without much effort, we can get up any pressure we need." + +"And then you turn a valve?" + +"Exactly, and the air-motor turns over the dynamo which starts +generating electricity right away." + +"Then, except for the first cost of the car, the expense of operating +it is comparatively nothing?" asked Dick. + +"Yes, you might say we get our power out of the air, and that's +free--so far." + +"And there's no limit, then, to what you can do or where you can go +with the Electric Monarch?" + +"None; that is, so long as the machinery holds out. We are independent +of fuel and the lubricating system is so devised that the oiling is +automatic and requires attending to only once a month. We could easily +carry a year's supply of lubricant." + +"Tall timbers of Taunton!" burst out Dick enthusiastically. "You've +solved the problem of the poor man's car. All the owner of an +Electric Monarch has to do is to pump a little pump-handle or press a +little button and he's off without it costing him a cent. My story +will sure make a big sensation!" + +"Well, you want to tone down that part about its not costing a cent," +chimed in Jack as they coasted down a hill. "The expense of the motor +and the self-lubricating bearings and so on is pretty steep. But we +hope in time to be able to cheapen the whole car." + +They were shooting swiftly down the hill as he spoke. The next moment +he looked ahead again as they shot round a curve. As they did so his +hand sought a button and an ear-splitting screech arose from a +powerful siren. + +In the center of the road, quite oblivious to the oncoming automobile, +was an odd figure, that of a small man in a rusty, baggy suit of +black. + +He had a hammer in his hand and was hitting some object in the roadway +over which he was bending with a concentrated interest that made him +quite unconscious of the onrushing car. + +"Hi! Get out of the way!" yelled the boys. + +But the man did not look up. Instead, he kept tapping away with his +hammer at whatever it was that absorbed his attention so intently. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +AN ENCOUNTER WITH A "CHARACTER." + + +Jack jammed down the emergency brakes, which were pneumatic and +operated from the pressure tank, with a suddenness that sent Dick +Donovan almost catapulting out of the tonneau. + +"Jumping jiggers of Joppa!" he shouted, for he had not yet seen the +obstacle in the road, "what's happened? Are we bust up?" + +"No, but if I hadn't stopped when I did we'd have bust someone else +up," declared Jack. "Look there!" + +"Can you beat it?" exclaimed Tom. + +As the brakes brought the car to a stop within a foot of his stout, +rotund figure, the little man in the center of the road looked up with +a sort of mild surprise through a pair of astonishingly thick-lensed +eyeglasses secured to his ears by a thick, black ribbon. He wore a +broad-brimmed black hat and wrinkled, baggy clothes of bar-cloth, and +a huge pair of square-toed boots that looked as if their tips had been +chopped off with an ax. + +Over his shoulder was slung a canvas bag which appeared to be heavy +and bulged as if several irregularly shaped, solid substances were +inside of it. The spot where this odd encounter took place was some +distance from any town, but a bicycle leaning against a tree at the +roadside showed how the little man had got there. + +"Say, would you mind letting us get by?" asked Jack. + +The little man raised a hand protestingly. + +"I'll be delighted to in just a moment," he said, "but just now it's +impossible. You see, I've just discovered a vein of what I believe to +be Laurentian granite running across the road. I am trying to trace it +and--what's that? Good gracious! Back up your machine, please. I +believe it runs under your wheel. I must make sure." + +Jack obligingly threw in the reverse to humor the little man, who +darted forward and began scraping up the dust in the road with his +hands as if he had been a dog scratching out a rabbit hole. He began +chipping away eagerly with his hammer at some rock that cropped up out +of the road. + +He broke off a piece with his hammer, which was an oddly shaped tool, +and drawing out a big magnifying glass scanned the chip intently. He +appeared to have forgotten all about the waiting boys. But now he +seemed to remember them. He looked up, beaming. + +"A magnificent specimen. One of the finest I have ever seen. Most +remarkable!" + +And with that he popped the bit of stone into his bag, which the boys +now saw was filled with similar objects. + +"Maybe he'll let us get by now," remarked Tom, but a sudden +exclamation from Dick Donovan cut him short. + +"Why, hullo, professor," he said, "out collecting specimens?" + +The little man peered at him sharply. And then broke into a smile of +recognition. + +"Why, it's Dick Donovan!" he beamed, hastening up to the car, "the +young journalist who wrote an article about my specimens once and +woefully mixed them up. However, to an unscientific mind----" + +"They are all just rocks," finished Dick with a grin. + +"I have had unusual success to-day," said the professor, who appeared +not to have heard the remark. "I must have at least fifty pounds of +specimens on my back at this minute." + +He broke off suddenly. The next moment he darted off to the side of +the road and chipped off a fragment of rock from a bank that overhung +it. + +"This is lucky, indeed," he exclaimed, holding it up to the light so +that some specks in the gray stone sparkled. "An extremely rare +specimen of mica that I had no idea existed in this part of New +England." + +The odd little man opened his bag and introduced his latest +acquisition into it While he was doing this Dick had been explaining +to the boys: + +"He's a queer character. Professor Jerushah Jenks. They say he's a +great authority on mineralogy and so on. I interviewed him once. He's +always out collecting." + +"Does he always carry a quarry like that around on his back?" asked +Tom. + +"Always when he's getting specimens," Dick whispered back. + +By this time the professor, his eyes agleam over his latest discovery, +was back at the side of the car. + +"Ah, my beauty, I have you safe now," he said, patting the side of the +bagful of specimens. "Boys, this is my lucky day." + +The boys could hardly keep from smiling at the little man's delight. +It appeared hard to believe that anyone could find pleasure in packing +about a sackful of heavy rocks on a hot day. But the professor's eyes +were sparkling. It was clear he considered himself one of the most +fortunate of men. + +Dick introduced the boys and, to their surprise, the professor +declared that he had read of their various adventures and inventions. + +"We are actually fellow adventurers in the field of science," he +cried, rattling his bag of specimens enthusiastically. "Some time I +should like to call on you and see your workshops." + +"You will be welcome at any time," said Jack cordially, and then the +professor declared that he must be getting home. + +"If we are going your way we can give you a ride," said Tom. + +"Thank you, I'll accept that invitation. But what an odd-looking +automobile you have there." + +The boys explained to him that it was a new type of car that they were +trying out for the first time and then Dick helped the scientist lift +his bicycle into the tonneau. He would have helped him with his +weighty load of specimens, but the professor refused to be parted from +them. As they started off again he sat with the bag firmly gripped +between his knees, as if afraid someone would separate him from it. + +The professor lived with a spinster sister to whom his specimens were +the bane of her life. As the car rolled swiftly along, he occupied his +time by peeping into the bag at frequent intervals to see that none of +the specimens, by some freak of nature, flew out. + +All at once he reached forward and clutched Jack by the shoulder. + +"Stop! My dear young friend, please stop at once!" + +"What's the matter?" asked Jack, slowing down at the urgent summons. + +"Look! Look there at that rock!" + +To Jack the rock in question was just an ordinary bit of stone in a +wall fencing in a pasture in which some cattle were grazing. But +evidently the professor thought otherwise. + +"It's a fine specimen of green granite," he exclaimed. "I must have +it. How did such a fine piece ever come to be placed in a common +wall?" + +The car having now been brought to a stop, he leaped nimbly out, +clutching his geological hammer in one hand and his precious sack of +specimens in the other. He rushed up to the wall and stood for a +minute with his head on one side, like an inquisitive bird. + +"Too bad. That stone's a large flat one and goes right through the +center of the wall," he mused. "The wall must come down." + +And then, to the boys' consternation, he began demolishing the wall, +pulling down the stones and throwing them right and left. + +"Professor, you'll get in trouble," warned Dick in alarm. "Those +cattle will get out. The farmer will be after us." + +But the professor paid not the slightest attention. Taking off his +coat, he resumed his operations with even greater vigor than before. +The cattle in the field eyed him curiously. Then they began to move +toward him. In front of the rest of the herd was a big +black-and-white animal with sharp horns and big, thick neck. + +It gave a sudden bellow and then rushed straight at the considerable +gap the man of science had made in the stone fence. + +"It's a bull!" yelled Dick suddenly. "Run, professor! Run or he'll +toss you!" + +With lowered horns the bull rushed down upon the unconscious scientist +at locomotive speed. But the professor was oblivious to everything +else but uncovering the odd-looking green stone embedded in the heart +of the wall. + +The boys shouted to him but he didn't hear them. On rushed the bull, +bellowing, charging, ready to annihilate the scientist. + +"Run!" yelled the boys at the top of their lungs. "Run!" + +But the professor, with his precious bag in one hand and his hammer in +the other, stood staring at the advancing bull through his thick +glasses as if the maddened creature had been some sort of new and +interesting specimen. + +"Gracious! He's a goner!" groaned Dick. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE PROFESSOR'S DILEMMA. + + +But the professor was seen to suddenly dart, with an activity they +would hardly have expected in him, across the road. He was only in the +nick of time. + +Almost opposite to the gap in the fence he had made was a tree with +low-hanging boughs. As the bull charged through the gap, right on his +heels, the professor, still with his bag, slung by its leather strap +across his shoulders, swung himself up into the lower limbs. + +The boys set up a cheer. + +"Good for you, professor!" cried Dick, as the bull, with lowered head +and horns, charged into the tree and made it shake as if a storm had +struck. + +[Illustration: He was only in the nick of time.--_Page 22._] + +"Wow! That's the time he got a headache!" cried Tom excitedly, as the +professor, clinging desperately to his refuge, was almost flung +from it by the shock. + +"Gracious, boys, what shall I do?" he asked, looking about him from +his leafy perch with a glance of despair that would have been comical +had the situation not been serious, for the bull, instead of accepting +his defeat, stood under the tree pawing and ramping ferociously. + +"Well, here's a fine kettle of fish!" exclaimed Jack. "What are we +going to do now?" + +"Blessed if I know," said Dick helplessly. "By the bucking bulls of +Bedlam, this is a nice mess." + +"Maybe we could throw rocks at him and chase him away," suggested Tom. + +"No chance; he's got his eye on the professor," returned Jack, "and if +we did get out he would chase us and that wouldn't do the professor +any good." + +"Can't you help me, boys," inquired the professor in an agonized tone. +"This tree limb is not exactly--er--comfortable." + +"You're in no danger of falling, are you?" called Jack, in an alarmed +voice. + +"No--er--that is, I don't think so. But this is an extraordinary +position. Most--er--undignified. I'm glad my sister can't see me." + +"Try throwing some of the rocks out of your satchel at him," suggested +Dick. + +But the professor waxed indignant at this proposal. + +"And cast my pearls before swine! or rather my specimens before a +bull!" exclaimed the professor, in helpless indignation. "No, young +gentlemen, not a pebble from this bag is wasted on that creature." + +"I'd drop the whole bag on him," said Dick, "if I was in that +position. It's heavy enough to knock out an elephant, let alone a +bull." + +"Can't you suggest anything?" wailed the professor. + +"I'm trying to think of something right now," declared Jack, racking +his brains for some way out of the predicament. + +"I wish the farmer that owned him would come along and get his old +bull out of there," said Dick. + +"Yes, and then there would be fresh complications," declared Jack. + +"How do you make that out?" came from Dick. + +"He'll probably know how to handle him," supplemented Tom. + +"Yes, he would if he's a bull-fighter," scoffed Dick, "and I never +heard of there being any matadors in the vicinity of Nestorville." + +"Lots of doormats, though," grinned Tom. + +"Say, if you do that again I'll throw you out of the car," cried Jack +at this atrocious pun. + +"Sorry, couldn't help it. Just slipped out," said Tom contritely. + +"Well, you'll slip out if the offense is repeated," retorted Dick. +"But," he went on, "seriously, fellows, we've got to do something." + +"Try blowing the horn," suggested Tom. "It has scared everything else +we met. Horses shy at it, so do other autos. Maybe it will get the +bull's goat." + +"I'll try it, at all events," said Jack. + +He pressed the button and the unearthly screech of the electric auto's +siren split the air. But the bull merely cast an inquiring glance in +their direction and then resumed his vigil over the professor. + +"Boys," wailed the unhappy geologist, "can't you do something, +anything? I can't roost in this tree all night, like a bird." + +The boys couldn't help grinning at this. With his sharp nose, big +spectacles and flapping black garments, the professor did look like a +mammoth black crow. + +"Reminds me of the fox and the crow," said Dick, in a low voice, to +his companions. + +"Only, in this case, the fox is a bull, and the piece of cheese is the +bag of specimens," added Tom. + +They looked about helplessly. There was no farmhouse in sight and the +road did not appear to be much traveled. + +"We'll have to go for help," declared Jack. + +"The only thing to do," agreed Tom. + +The professor was hailed. He had climbed to another limb with infinite +difficulty, because of the encumbering bag of rocks on his back. He +declared that he could manage to get along till the boys came back. + +"By a merciful provision of providence," he said whimsically, "bulls +can't climb trees. The situation might be worse if it was a bear." + +"It would be unbearable," declared Dick to Tom. + +"But just the same there's trouble a brewin'," retorted Tom. "I wish +that farmer would show up." + +"As I said before--I don't," responded Jack, as he prepared to start +off. + +"Why?" + +For answer Jack waved an eloquent hand toward the gap in the stone +fence. + +"I guess he wouldn't be best pleased to find that his fence had been +torn down," explained Jack, as the car drove off, leaving the +professor marooned in his tree with the sentinel bull waiting +patiently below. + +Some distance down the road the boys came to a farmhouse. Several men +were working in the field under the direction of a stout, red-faced +man. Jack shouted to them, and when the red-faced man came up he +explained the situation to him. The man was good-natured, or perhaps +he rather liked the idea of a ride in such a novel-looking car. +Anyhow, he called three of his hands and told them to get pitchforks. + +"Never see a bull I couldn't handle," he said as the men, having +returned, scrambled into the car. + +"Do you know who it belongs to?" asked Jack, as he turned round and +headed back to where they left the luckless professor. + +"I reckon it's that big Holstein of Josh Crabtree's. He's pretty near +as mean as his owner, and that's considerable." + +Jack thought of the hole in the wall and hoped they would reach there +before farmer Crabtree, and so avoid serious complications. + +He drove at top speed, while the friendly farmer and his workmen clung +to the sides of the car and looked rather scared at the rate they were +going. + +"There's the tree," exclaimed Jack, as they came in sight of it, "and +there's the gap in the fence." + +"And where's the bull?" asked Tom. + +"And where's the professor?" added Dick. + +Not a trace of the man of science or of the ferocious animal was to be +seen. + +"Are you sure you boys didn't dream all this?" asked the red-faced +farmer suspiciously. + +"There ain't even a cow in sight in the pasture lot," said one of the +men. + +"I reckon this is some sort of a fool joke," added another. + +"It isn't. Indeed, it isn't," protested Jack. + +"The professor is some place around," said Tom. + +But a lengthy search of the vicinity failed to show anything except +that the professor had vanished as if the earth had swallowed him. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +"WHERE IS HE?" + + +"Professor!" hailed Dick, at the top of his lungs. + +"Professor!" bawled the farm hands. + +The red-faced farmer himself regarded the boys quizzically. + +"What sort of a chap is this professor of yours?" he asked with an odd +intonation. + +"He's a geologist," replied Dick. "Why?" + +"Oh, I thought he might be a conjurer," was the rejoinder. "He seems +to be pretty good at hiding himself." + +"Hark!" exclaimed Jack suddenly, standing at pause and listening +intently. + +"What's up?" demanded Dick, instantly on the alert, too. + +"I heard something. It sounded like----" + +"There it is again," cried Tom. + +A faint, far-off cry, impossible to locate, was borne to their ears. + +"It's a call for help," declared Dick. + +"That's what it is," agreed the red-faced farmer. "Must be that +perfusser of yours, but where in the name of Sam Hill is he?" + +It was a puzzling question. The faint cries appeared to be muffled in +some way. They looked about them, endeavoring to locate their source. +Suddenly one of the farm hands spoke. + +"I used to work fer old Crabtree," he said. "There's an old well +hereabouts somewheres and maybe he's fell down that." + +"Where is it?" demanded Jack. + +"Back in the meadow yonder," said the man, pointing in the direction +of the pasture lot. + +"Let's go over there and see at once," said Dick. "Frantic frogs of +France, if the professor's tumbled into a well he may be in serious +trouble." + +They set off on the run to where a pile of stones showed a well-curb +had once been. The hoards at the top, which had covered it over, had +rotted, and there was a jagged hole in them. Jack cautiously bent over +and placed his mouth at the edge of the hole. + +"Professor, are you down there?" he hailed. + +"Y-y-y-y-yes," came up in feeble, stuttering tones. "I'm almost +frozen. I'm hanging above the water but I can't hold on much longer. +The bag of specimens is too heavy." + +"Throw it away," urged Jack. + +"N-n-n-not for worlds," was the reply. "I was looking for another rare +bit of quartz when I fell in here." + +"I'll run to the car," said Jack, who had made out that the well was +not very deep. "Fortunately, we've got a rope and tackle in there. +Hold on, professor, we'll soon have you out." + +He hurriedly explained the situation to the others and ran at top +speed to the car, in which the boys--like most careful motorists, who +never know when such a piece of apparatus may come in useful for +hauling a car out of mud or sand, for instance, or for towing an +unlucky autoist home--had a block and tackle stowed. + +He was soon back, and the rope was lowered to the professor, who made +it fast under his arms. Then, aided by the husky muscles of the farm +hands, they soon drew him to the surface. But his weight was +materially added to by the stones, and it was no light task to rescue +him, dripping and shivering, from the dark, cold shaft. + +He explained that soon after they had gone some men came up and drove +the bull away. But they had seen the gap in the stone wall first. + +"They were positively violent," declared the professor, "and said that +they'd have the man who did it arrested if they could find him. Under +the circumstances, I deemed it prudent to stay up in the tree, where +they could not see me. They drove the bull off into another pasture. +As soon as the coast was clear I climbed down, but I happened to see a +rare bit of quartz sparkling in the sun on the edge of the well-curb. +Imprudently I stood on the planking and fell in." + +"Gracious, it's a lucky thing you weren't drowned, with all that +weight round your neck," declared Jack. + +"It was fortunate," said the scientist mildly, as if such a thing as +drowning was an everyday occurrence. "As a matter of fact, if I hadn't +succeeded in grasping a projecting stone and held on, I might have +gone down. It was an--er--a most discomforting experience." + +"Well, of all things," exclaimed the red-faced man, "to go trapesing +round the country collecting rocks!" + +"Not rocks, sir--geological specimens," rejoined the professor with +immense dignity, "and--great Huxley! Under your foot, sir! Under your +foot!" + +"What is it, a snake?" yelled the farmer, jumping backward as the +scientist dashed at him with a wild expression. + +"No, sir, but a remarkably fine specimen of what appears to be a +granolithic substance," exclaimed the professor, and he began +energetically chipping at a rock upon which the farmer had been +standing. + +"Crazy as a loon," declared the farmer, winking at his men. "Gets +nearly drowned in a well and then begins chopping at a rock as soon as +he gets out." + +"Oh, this has been a lucky day for me," said the professor with huge +satisfaction, as he placed his latest acquisition in the satchel. "As +fine a specimen, boys, as ever I encountered," he declared, turning to +the boys. + +"Gracious," exclaimed Tom and Dick in low tones, "does he call getting +chased by a bull and then tumbling down a well a satisfactory day?" + +"I should call it a rocky time," grinned Dick. + +But at this moment further conversation was cut short by the sudden +arrival of a gray-haired, short little old man with a tuft of gray +whiskers on his chin. + +"Josh Crabtree!" exclaimed the red-faced farmer. + +"Wow! now the music starts," declared Dick. + +Josh Crabtree, his face ablaze, and his small, malignant eyes +sparkling angrily, emitted a roar like that of his Holstein that had +caused the professor so much tribulation. + +"Say, be you the pesky varmints that tore down my fence and scared my +bull out'n two years' growth?" he bellowed. + +"I removed some stones from your fence, sir," said the professor, "but +it was in the interests of science. You may not have been aware of it, +but embedded in your enclosing structure was a fine specimen of green +granite." + +"Great hopping water-melyuns!" roared Old Crabtree, "and you tore down +my fence to git at a pesky bit of rock?" + +"Rock to you, sir," responded the scientist calmly, "like the man in +the poem a 'primrose by the river's brim, a yellow primrose is to you, +and it is nothing more.'" + +"Dad rot yer yaller primroses," yelled Old Crabtree, dancing about in +his rage. "You make good for tearing down my fence, d'ye hear me?" + +"I shall take great pleasure in forwarding you a check for any damage +I may have done," said the professor. + +"I want ther money now," said the farmer truculently. + +"I regret that I have left my wallet at home," said the professor. +Then he brightened suddenly. "I can leave my bag of specimens with you +as security," he said, "if you will promise to be careful with them." + +He unslung his bag and tendered it to the angry farmer who received it +with a look of amazement that the next moment turned to wrath when he +saw its contents. + +"By hickory, what kind of a game is this?" he demanded. "Nothing but a +lot of old rocks. By heck, thar's enough here to build a new fence!" + +He flung the bag down indignantly just as the professor darted forward +with one of his odd, swift movements. He shoved Old Crabtree back +without ceremony and bending swiftly to the spot where the angry +farmer had been standing he picked up and pocketed a small rock. + +"Wa'al land o' Goshen," gasped out the farmer, bewildered. "What in +ther name of time is this?" + +"A splendid specimen of gneiss," explained the professor triumphantly, +"and now, Mr.--er--you were saying?" + +"That I wants ter be paid fer ther damage ter my fence." + +"How much do you want?" asked Jack, coming to the rescue. + +"Reckon a dollar'll be about right." + +"If you will let me lend it to you till we reach your home, I'll be +very glad to pay him," said Jack aside to the professor. + +"But, my dear young friend, there is no necessity. He has ample +security till I can send him a check. Why, that bag of specimens is +worth fifty dollars at least." + +"Them old rocks," sniffed the farmer, who had overheard this last +remark, "I wouldn't give yer ten cents fer a cartload uv 'em. They're +too small fer fences an' too big to throw at cows." + +"You'd better let me pay him," said Jack, and the professor finally +consented to this arrangement. + +This done, they started back on the run to the professor's home, which +was about three miles off. On the way they dropped the red-faced +farmer and his hands, who clearly regarded the professor as some sort +of an amiable lunatic. But that worthy man, supremely happy despite +his wet clothes, was quite contented, and from time to time dipped +into his satchel, like a bookworm into a favorite volume, and drew out +a particularly valued specimen and admired it. + +They soon reached his home, a pretty cottage on the outskirts of +Creston, a small town with elm-shaded streets. The professor invited +the boys to accompany him into the house. They were met in the passage +by a shrill-voiced woman who looked like the professor in petticoats. + +"My sister, Miss Melissa," said the professor. "My dear, these +are----" + +But he got no further in his introduction. Miss Melissa's hands went +up in the air and her voice rose in a shrill shriek as she saw her +brother's condition. + +"Lan's sakes, Jerushah, where have you been?" she exclaimed. + +"My dear, I must apologize for my condition," said the professor +mildly. "You see I----" + +"You're dripping a puddle on my carpets. You're wringing wet through!" +shrilled Miss Melissa. + +"Yes, you see, my dear, I've been down a well," explained the man of +science calmly. + +"Do tell! Down a well, Jerushah? At your time of life!" + +"You see I was after specimens, my dear," went on the professor. + +"Specimens!" exclaimed Miss Melissa. "The whole house is full of old +rocks now, Jerushah, an' you have ter go down a well to get more." + +"These are very valuable, my dear," said the professor, floundering +helplessly. + +"Oh, don't tell me. A passel of old rocks. I'm going to get you a hot +mustard footbath and some herb tea right away," and without another +word, except something about "death of cold, passel of boys," the good +lady flounced off. + +"She's like that sometimes, but she means well, Melissa does," +explained the professor, with a rather sheepish look as he stood in +the midst of a puddle that was rapidly converting him into an isolated +island in the midst of Miss Melissa's immaculate hall carpet. +Suddenly, with one of his impulsive movements, he darted off into a +room opening off the hall and came back with a dollar bill he had +unearthed from a desk. He handed it to Jack, and then, raising his +finger to his lips, he said: + +"Don't let Melissa see it. She's the best of women, is Melissa, but +peculiar about some things--er--very peculiar." + +"Je-ru-shah!" came Miss Melissa's voice. + +"Yes, my dear, coming," said the professor, and shouldering his bag +of specimens he shook hands with the boys and hastened off to answer +his sister's dictatorial call. + +"I guess we'd better be going," said Jack, with a smile that he could +not repress. + +The others agreed, and they were soon speeding back to High Towers, as +the estate of Jack's father, also a noted inventor, was called, with +plenty to talk about as a result of the events of the day. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +CHESTER CHADWICK--INVENTOR. + + +As readers of the preceding volumes of this series, know, Jack +Chadwick and Tom Jesson, his cousin, had won the titles of Boy +Inventors through their ingenuity and mechanical genius. Jack's +father, Chester Chadwick, was an inventor of note, and unlike the +majority of inventors, he had turned his devices to such good account +that he had accumulated a substantial fortune and was able to maintain +a fine estate, already referred to as High Towers where, with +splendidly equipped workshops and a miniature lake, he could +experiment and work out his ideas. + +In the first book of this series it was related how Tom Jesson, Jack's +cousin, came to make his home at High Towers. Tom's father, an +explorer of international fame, had departed on an expedition to +Yucatan and had not been heard from since that time. This volume, +which was called the Boy Inventors' Wireless Triumph, told of the +boys' exploits in the radio-telegraphic field and the uses to which +they were able to turn them. In a flying machine, the invention of Mr. +Chadwick, they discovered Tom's father, under remarkable +circumstances, a prisoner of a tribe of savages, and also found a +fortune in precious stones. + +In the succeeding story of their adventures, the boys helped an +inventor in trouble. The Boy Inventors' Vanishing Gun, as this volume +was entitled, set forth in a graphic way the triumph of the boys over +the machinations of a gang of rascals intent on stealing the plans of +the wonderful implement of warfare which they had helped bring to +successful completion. + +We next encountered the lads in the Boy Inventors' Diving Torpedo +Boat. Here they were placed in a new environment on the surface and in +the depths of the ocean. The way in which the wonderful diving craft +aided Uncle Sam in a crisis with enemies of the United States was +told, and their ingenuity and bravery played no small part in the +affair. + +The Boy Inventors' Flying Ship was devoted to a detailed narrative of +the boys' long and unexpected cruise to the unexplored regions of the +Upper Amazon. The boys were shipwrecked and cast away without an +apparent hope of rescue on a yacht belonging to a German scientist, +the crew of which had mutinied. The boys' capture by a strange tribe +and subsequent escape in their Flying Ship formed thrilling portions +of this story, while Dick Donovan's researches in natural history +provided the boys with a lot of fun. + +The volume immediately preceding this showed the boys coming to the +rescue of a poor lad, a waif and orphan, who yet had a fortune in the +plans and specifications of a new type of craft invented by his dead +father who had lacked the capital to develop it. Enemies strove +desperately to secure the papers, and even went to the length of +forging a will for the purpose, but partly through the agency of an +odd German lad, Heiney Pumpernickel Dill, their schemes were +frustrated and the invention was developed and set upon a working +basis. This book was called the Boy Inventors' Hydroaeroplane, and +dealt with some astonishing adventures and perils all of which the +boys encountered with plucky spirits and resourceful minds. + +For some weeks preceding the opening of the present book relating of +the Boy Inventors, Mr. Chadwick had been closeted in his own private +laboratory. The boys had seen him only at rare intervals, and then he +had appeared abstracted and preoccupied. This, the boys knew, was a +sure sign that he was at work on a new idea. + +Sometimes the lights burned in his laboratory far into the night and +in the morning he would appear at breakfast pale and silent. The boys +had indulged in much speculation as to what the new invention could +be, but had arrived at no satisfactory conclusion when, two days after +their experience with the eccentric professor, Mr. Chadwick summoned +them to his private workshop. The boys, who had been at work on the +Wondership, the flying automobile with which they had met such +surprising adventures in Brazil, obeyed the summons with alacrity. It +was delivered to them by Jupe, the negro factotum of the place. + +"Massa Chadwick send me on de bustelbolorium," explained Jupe, who had +a vocabulary that was all his own, "for yo' alls to come right away by +his laburnumtory." + +"All right, Jupe, we'll be right over," said Jack, "just as soon as +we've got some of this grease off our hands." + +The boys' workshop was equipped with a washbasin and they soon made +themselves presentable. Then they hurried to Mr. Chadwick's workshop. +They found him standing before a roughly-built table on which were +ranged some odd-looking bits of apparatus. + +There was a gasoline motor in one corner, geared to a generator--or +what appeared to be one--from which feed wires led to a square metal +box on the table. Attached to this metal box was a sort of horn-shaped +mouthpiece something like the transmitter of a telephone. Hanging from +its side was what looked like an enlarged telephone receiver. Jack +regarded his father questioningly. + +"You sent for us, dad?" + +"Yes, Jack," was the reply. "I'm in a quandary. Have you any idea what +this apparatus is?" + +Both boys shook their heads. + +"Looks like some kind of a telephone," ventured Tom. + +"It is a telephone," replied Mr. Chadwick. + +"But--but--where are the wires?" asked Jack, glancing about him, "or +haven't you connected it up yet?" + +"It's connected up as much as it will ever be," said Mr. Chadwick with +a smile. "Can't you guess what it is?" + +"I've got it," cried Jack suddenly. "It's a wireless telephone." + +"That's right," admitted his father, and, in response to a flood of +questions from the boys, he told them how he had been working day and +night to bring the device to perfection. + +"Now," he said, as he concluded, "I want you boys to go down to that +shed that was put up last week at the northwest corner of the +orchard." + +"The one that was put up to store gasoline?" asked Tom. + +"I said it was for that purpose in order to avoid questions till I had +my work completed," said Mr. Chadwick with a smile. "Here is the key +to it. Inside you will find an apparatus similar to this one. Start +the dynamo and then stand in front of the transmitter and place the +receiver to your ear. If you don't hear anything at once use the +inductor to tune your aerial earth circuit to the transmitted current +from my end just exactly as you would tune up a wireless telegraph +instrument to catch certain wave lengths from another instrument" + +"Then the principle of the radio telephone is the same as that of the +wireless telephone?" asked Tom. + +"I'll explain that to you later in as plain language as I can," said +the inventor, "but now I am anxious to see how this instrument will +transmit sound." + +The boys were excited. Anything novel in the way of science attracted +their bright, active minds as an electromagnet attracts steel. The +idea of a wireless telephone, of the possibility of transmitting +actual speech through space, just as the dots and dashes of the +wireless telegraph are sped through the ether, quickened their +inventive faculties to the highest pitch. Both felt a glow of pride +that they had been selected, even before their father's scientific +friends, to make the first test of this wonderful new invention. + +They hurried across the broad lawn that intervened between the +workshops and the orchard where the newly erected shed stood, and +which, it had been given out, was to serve for the storage of +gasoline. Unlocking the door, they found inside an apparatus +resembling in almost every detail the one in Mr. Chadwick's workshop. + +Jack's hands fairly trembled as he started up the motor and the +generator began to buzz. With shining eyes and throbbing pulses he +placed the receiver to his ear as his father had directed. But the +next moment a flood of disappointment swept through him. + +"Well?" demanded Tom, himself a tiptoe with expectation. + +"Nothing doing," replied Jack, shaking his head. "I guess the thing +isn't at a practical stage yet." + +"Wait a minute, give it a chance," urged Tom. "By the way, how about +that tuning device, have you tried that yet?" + +"No, good gracious, my head must be turning into solid ivory from the +neck up. I guess that's just what the trouble is." + +Jack began carefully sliding a small block connected to the +instruments up and down the coiled wire which formed the tuning +apparatus, and brought the sending and receiving ends into harmony +just as if they had been two musical instruments. When the right +electric "chord" was struck he should be able to hear, just as in +wireless he would be able to catch the message of an instrument whose +wave lengths were attuned to his. + +Suddenly Tom saw his chum and cousin give a start and then a shout. +Over the space between the workshop and the small shed a human voice +had been borne on electric waves. Sharp and clear as though he had +been listening to a "wire" 'phone, Jack caught and recognized his +father's voice: + +"Hul-lo!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE RADIO TELEPHONE. + + +Back and forth through space they talked for quite a time. The boys +were jubilant. The despair of many inventors, the wireless or radio +telephone appeared to be an accomplished fact. But they didn't dream +how much yet remained to be done. At length Mr. Chadwick told them to +"hang-up" and come back to the workshop. + +The boys were glad to do this for they were extremely anxious to learn +something of the forces controlling this aerial method of +conversation. So far, they had not the least understanding, beyond a +general idea, of how the thing was done. Of the details by which Mr. +Chadwick had worked out this radical departure in telephony, they knew +nothing. + +"Well, what did you think of it, boys?" asked Mr. Chadwick when they +returned to the workshop. + +"Wonderful, beyond anything I could have imagined," declared Jack. + +"How far will it work?" asked Tom. + +"That's just the point," said Mr. Chadwick. "That's where I'm at sea. +I need a metal of greater conductivity than any attainable to get real +results. The carbon that I am using does not throw off enough radio +activity to produce a sufficient number of electric impulses to the +atmosphere." + +Jack and Tom looked puzzled. + +"You don't understand me I see," said Mr. Chadwick. + +"No, I must say I don't," said Jack; "you see----" + +"It's pretty technical," broke in Tom. + +"Well, then I'll try to explain to you, in simple language, the +general principles of radio telephony," said Mr. Chadwick. "In the +first place you know, of course, from your wireless studies, that an +electric wave sent into the air will travel till it strikes something, +such as an aerial." + +"To use the old illustration, an electric impulse sent into the air +spreads out in all directions just like the ripples from a stone +chucked into a mill-pond," said Jack. + +"That's it," said Mr. Chadwick. "Now then, as you also know the wire +telephone works by a metal disc in the receiver, vibrating in exactly +the same way as does the microphone in the transmitter. According to +the vibrations of the voice of the person sending the spoken message, +the electric current along the wire, acted upon by the microphone in +the transmitter, increases or decreases. This increasing and +decreasing current acts on a thin metal disc or diaphragm in the +receiver which is held to the ear of the person listening to the +message." + +"That's plain sailing so far," said Jack. "For instance, when you say +'Hullo' over a phone, the microphone or transmitter gets busy and +records it in electrical impulses and shoots it all along the wire +where the receiver picks it up and wiggles the metal disc inside it to +just the same tune." + +"That's it exactly," said Mr. Chadwick. "Now we are ready to go a step +further. Now, as this metal disc is attracted or released by the +current coming over the wire, it compresses or rarefies the air +between it and the ear-drum of the person to whose oral cavity it is +held. In this way the sensation of the same sound as was spoken at the +transmitter end is reproduced at the receiver end. In other words, the +transmitter jerks and jumps just as the needle of a phonograph does in +traveling over a record, and transmits these jerks and jumps over the +wire to the metal disc which by aerial pressure on the ear drums of +the receiver of the message, causes the aural membrane to translate +the words, or vibrations along the nerves, to the brain. + +"Following up this line," said Mr. Chadwick, "we find that the problem +in radio telephony is the same as that met with in ordinary wire +telephony. That is to say, we are required to cause a distant metal +disc to repeat every inflection of the transmitter. But in the case of +radio telephony the result is to be obtained by Hertzian waves, +instead of by a current passing through an insulated wire." + +"The same sort of waves that are employed in wireless telegraphy?" +asked Tom. + +"Just the same, only in radio telephony we are confronted by a problem +not met with in wireless telegraphy. We have not only to transmit +sound, such as isolated dots and dashes, but to send through the air +every rise and fall and inflection of the human voice just as it is +recorded in the minute lines of a phonographic record. + +"Experiments have shown that articulation, that is, understand, a +speech, depends upon overtones and upper harmonies of a frequency of +5,000 or 8,000 or more." + +"What do you mean by frequency?" asked Tom. + +"Speaking in reference to radio telephony it means the number of +electrical vibrations per second required to produce a certain sound. +In electric currents 100 per second is a low frequency current, +100,000 per second is spoken of as high frequency. In early +experiments with radio telephony it was found that the chief +difficulty lay in obtaining a current of sufficiently high frequency +to transmit the human voice, the currents used in wireless telephony +being much too weak for this purpose. + +"I had, therefore, to invent my own alternator, which is attached to +that gasoline motor. There is a similar one in the shed from which you +just talked with me." + +"But why does radio telephony require a stronger current than wireless +telegraphy?" Tom wanted to know. + +"Because, up to the present, no way has been found of utilizing in +radio telephony the entire energy of the electric waves sent out," +replied Professor Chadwick. "Only the variations in the waves can be +detected, or transformed into sound at the receiving end of a radio +telephone system. Therefore an immense amount of electrical energy has +to be manufactured in order that the voice vibrations may register +their variations as powerfully as possible." + +"What percentage of the electrical energy manufactured by a high +frequency alternator can be transformed into variations of sound?" +asked Jack. + +"Not more than five to eight per cent. of the total energy. So +therefore the waste is enormous. In wireless telegraphy, on the other +hand, the entire energy radiated from a sending station can be picked +up to the limit of the receiver's capacity to detect it." + +"Isn't there any way in which this difficulty could be overcome?" +inquired Tom. + +"Yes, there is," said Mr. Chadwick, after a moment's thought, "and I +believe that I am the only man in the world employed with radio +telephonic problems who knows of it." + +"Why can't you use it, then?" asked Jack. + +"Because there are almost insurmountable difficulties in the way. +There is a substance chemically known Z. 2. X. which, if it could be +applied to purposes of transmission and detection, has such immense +powers of electrical absorption that messages could be sent almost any +distance, and with far greater economy of power than at present." + +"How far can you send them now?" asked Jack. + +"About five miles. At least I think so. I'm not even sure of that," +was Mr. Chadwick's reply. + +But Jack was impatient to get back to Z. 2. X. + +"Why can't you use this Z. 2. X.," he questioned, "if it would +practically wipe out your troubles in sending and receiving?" + +"Because there is even less of it in the world than there is of +radium," was the startling reply. "At present Z. 2. X. costs far more +than radium. It is the most intensely radio-active stuff in the world. +It is capable of being wrought into metal if anybody had ever found +enough of it, but except for a small deposit in South Africa, which +has been devoted to experimental purposes, nobody has any. + +"But enough of that now. That is only a dream. I am anxious, though, +to test out my present apparatus thoroughly, and to do it I shall need +the help of you boys." + +"In what way?" asked Jack. + +"In giving it a thorough trial to ascertain over how great a space I +can transmit wireless speech." + +"Are you going to put up another station outside the grounds?" asked +Tom. + +"No; I don't want to attract attention to my experiments. You boys +have a wireless telegraph outfit on your Wondership?" + +Jack nodded. He was curious, as was Tom, to know the Professor's plan. +They did not have long to wait. + +"I wish you would get the machine ready to install a radio-telephone +outfit in its place. In that way I can gauge the limits of my +invention without attracting undue attention, as everybody in this +vicinity has seen you in flight and would imagine that you were merely +taking a trip through the air." + +"But can you get out an apparatus light enough for us to take up?" +asked Jack. + +"I am working on that now," said Mr. Chadwick. "I'll have it ready in +a week." + +"We'll be ready for you," promised Jack. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE GREAT TEST. + + +A week later to the day on a sunshiny, windless morning, the +Wondership was run out of its shed, glistening with new paint and with +every bit of bright work burnished till it shone and sparkled like +newly-minted silver. Amidships on the craft, the general construction +of which is familiar to readers of foregoing volumes of this series, +was a square metal box with small wires leading to long copper wires +stretched from end to end of the Wondership's body. + +These long copper wires were to form the aerials by which the messages +from Mr. Chadwick's workshop were to be caught. The smaller wires +underneath were connected with the metal work of the engine. These +wires formed a "ground" similar to the kind employed in aerial +wireless telegraphy. + +The details of the Wondership having been fully described in the Boy +Inventors' Flying Ship, we shall not enter here into any but a brief +and general description of the craft. The Wondership, then, was a +combination of dirigible balloon, automobile and boat. Her motive +power was furnished by engines driven by an explosive volatile gas +which was also used when occasion arose to inflate the bag of the +balloon feature of her design. The gas was generated in the lower part +of the craft's semi-cylindrical metal body. + +On land two big aerial propellers, geared to the engine, drove the +Wondership swiftly along on four solid-tired wheels. When it was +desired to take to the air the balloon bag, which was neatly folded on +a framework supported by upright stanchions above the body of the car, +was inflated by turning on a valve connecting with the gas tanks in +the base of the body. + +When the Wondership was intended to navigate the water she was driven +by the same aerial propellers that afforded her motive power on land +or in the air. She then became what may be called a hydromobile. If it +chanced to be rough weather, special hermetically sealed panels could +be drawn together, completely enclosing the body and making the craft +a water-tight "bottle." Ventilation was provided in such a case by a +hollow telescopic tube which reached twenty-five feet into the air. It +was divided in two. Fresh air was drawn by a fan down one section, +while the stale air in the "cabin" was forced out by a similar device +up the other part of the tube. Stability was afforded by hollow +pontoons, which worked on toggle joints, and could be raised or +lowered as desired. + +With the aid of Jupe, the gas bag was inflated to a point where only a +slight additional quantity of gas would cause the craft to shoot +upward to the sky. When all was ready a test of the instruments was +made and they were found to be working perfectly. The powerful +alternator on the Wondership was, of course, worked by the same motor +that drove the big propellers. + +"Well, I guess there's nothing to keep you back now," said Mr. +Chadwick, who looked pale and ill after his long days and nights of +work on his invention. + +"No, we're as ready as we ever will be," said Jack, making ready to +climb into the machine above which the big yellow balloon bag was +billowing and sending impatient quiverings through the Wondership. + +"I want you to promise me one thing, dad," said Jack, when he had +climbed into the driver's seat, in front of Tom, whose duty it was to +look after the engine. + +"What is that, my boy?" asked the inventor. + +"That after this test, whatever the result may be, you will take a +long rest." + +"Yes, I will, I must," agreed his father. "I've been working too hard, +I guess, but in the excitement of perfecting the radio telephone I +hardly noticed it. But recently I've had dizzy spells." + +"Two weeks' rest will make you well," declared Jack, as he adjusted +the controls. + +"Good-by and good luck," said his father. + +Both boys waved their hands. + +"All ready, Tom?" hailed Jack. + +The other boy nodded and then turned on a valve so that with a hissing +sound additional gas rushed into the bag. Jack pulled a lever. The big +motors roared and a queer, sickly smell of burned gas filled the air. +The propellers began to revolve slowly and then increased their speed +till they became a mere blur. + +"Dere she go! Gollyumption, dere she go!" cried Jupe, capering about. + +As the old black spoke, the Wondership shot up like a rocket, tilting +her nose slightly into the air. But the next moment Jack had her on an +even keel. In an incredibly short space of time those watching below +saw her only as a glinting, golden speck against the blue sky, +circling like some strange bird far above their heads. + +"Now for the tests," said Mr. Chadwick, as he hastened to his +workshop. + +He set the big alternator at work at top speed. It droned like a gaunt +bee. The inventor's face, worn by his anxious vigils at his +experiments, was as keen as a hawk's, while he adjusted the +instruments and placed his long, lean fingers on the tuning device. + +Far above the earth Jack and Tom could look down upon a patchwork of +villages, farms, green pastures, yellow grain fields and stretches of +woodland. They were too far up to distinguish figures, but they could +see the white steam of rushing trains along the railroad tracks, and +even catch the sound of the engines' whistles. + +Beyond glinted the blue of the sea flecked with sails and with here +and there a steamer's smoke smudging the horizon. Both lads were in +high spirits. It seemed good to be navigating the air again. Every now +and then inquisitive, high-flying crows would swoop toward the machine +and then dash off again with alarmed squawks. + +Although they were making a high rate of speed, they hardly seemed to +be moving as they soared in long circles. To get a sense of rapid +motion, stationary objects must be in sight. In the lonely air it was +hard to tell that they were moving at all except by looking down at +the earth which, as they rose, appeared to be rushing from them, as if +it were sinking through space. + +But novel as all these sensations would be to an aerial novice, they +were an old story to the boys. Jack devoted his attention to testing a +new steering appliance he had equipped the craft with, and Tom watched +his engines with an eagle eye to detect a skip or a "knock." + +"How high now?" asked the young engineer after an interval. + +Jack glanced at the barograph on the dashboard in front of him. + +"Three thousand feet," he said. + +"Might as well connect the alternator?" said Tom interrogatively. + +Jack nodded, and Tom threw a lever which brought the generator of +high frequency currents in contact with the motor by means of a +friction fly-wheel. The alternator began to buzz and spark, crackling +viciously. + +A sort of metal helmet with two receivers attached to it, one on each +side, lay handy at Jack's hand. In front of him was the transmitter +joined to the metal box which contained the microphone, transformers +and inductance tuning coil. Tuning in the aerial apparatus was +effected by means of a small knob projecting through a slit in the +metal box enclosing the delicate instruments including the detector. +By working this knob the tuning block was moved up and down the coil +till a proper "pitch" was obtained. + +Jack experienced an odd thrill as he prepared to send the first spoken +word ever exchanged between an airship in motion and a station on +land. He and Tom had sent plenty of wireless messages while soaring +through the ether, but somehow, the dot and dash system had not half +the fascination and mystery of the possibility of exchanging coherent +speech between land and air. + +He placed his lips close to the receiver, and with his hand on the +tuning knob sent forth a loud, clear hail: + +"Hullo, High Towers!" + +There was no answer for a few seconds while he patiently adjusted the +tuning knob. But then came a faint buzz like the humming of a drowsy +bee. Suddenly, sharp and distinct, as if his father was at his elbow, +came Mr. Chadwick's voice in reply: + +"Hullo!" + +"This is the Wondership. Three thousand feet in the air," cried Jack. + +"Congratulations, my boy. It's a success so far." + +"What shall we do now?" asked Jack. + +"I want you to fly in the direction of Rayburn, and try to keep in +communication all the way." + +"All right, dad," responded Jack, and altered the course of the +Wondership. + +Rayburn was a small village some twenty-five miles to the north of +Nestorville. Jack kept the receivers on his ears as he flew along. +From time to time he exchanged conversation with his father. So far +everything appeared to be working as if there were no limit to the +distance over which the voices from the air and land could converse. + +But suddenly there came a startling interruption to the experiments. + +Jack felt a sharp "Bang" at his ears as if a small cannon had been +fired close at hand. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +TALKING THROUGH SPACE. + + +As the distance increased between air and land stations, the currents +became stronger, and frequent tuning was necessary. But Jack was able +to keep up a constant conversation with his father, telling him all +the details of the country as they flew along. The sudden explosion, +however, for it sounded like nothing else, startled him into a sharp +exclamation. + +"What in the world was that?" + +As if he had spoken the question to someone close at hand, came back +the explanation. + +"Wireless telegraph wave crossing ours," said his father. "Some +powerful land station is sending out a message, possibly to some +ship." + +"It almost broke my ear drum," said Jack, and inwardly resolved to +devote some time to trying to solve the problem of avoiding such +"collisions" in the future. It occurred to him that some sort of a +circuit breaker might be devised to cut off, temporarily, the +telephone talk by automatic means when a cross-wave of high energy +struck its current. + +The shock was not repeated, and the conversation went on, still as +sharp and as clear as when they had started out. A few minutes later +Jack was able to report they were passing over Rayburn. + +"You'd better keep on," said his father, his voice aglow with +enthusiasm. "It's working beyond my wildest expectations." + +"It's dandy," agreed Jack. + +They talked without raising their voices to any great extent, but it +was necessary to articulate very clearly so that each variation of +sound might be sent out into space as clearly as the notes of a singer +come from the record of a phonograph. But it was amazing, almost +uncanny to Jack that such results could be obtained at all. + +"Goodness, if only we could get that mineral substance that dad was +talking about I believe you could rig up a radio telephone that would +talk across the ocean," he said to Tom, "and think what that would +mean. For instance, instead of bothering with the cable you could step +into a radio-telephone office and say: 'Give me the London Exchange.' +In a few minutes the central would answer and you could tell her what +number you wanted on some regular wire line. Before long you'd get it, +and be talking to whoever you had called just as if they were +twenty-five miles off instead of three thousand!" + +"It seems like a dream," said Tom. + +"Not much of a dream about it. All it needs is development. We've +proved to-day it can be done," declared Jack, bubbling over with +enthusiasm. + +They flew over meadow land and pasture, farmhouses where tiny figures +emerged from buildings and looked up at them, over rivers and +railroads, and still the alternator spat and sparked and the messages +between Jack and his father were interchanged in a steady stream. +Rayburn had been left behind. They were now over a small town Jack +believed to be Hempstead. + +He looked at his map to make sure. It was one that he had specially +plotted out himself from observations he had made when flying in the +vicinity. Having verified their whereabouts he found that they had +flown about fifty miles, possibly a fraction more. + +But at this juncture he noticed that the voice of his father pulsing +through space began to grow thin and weak. Obviously the limit of the +radio 'phone's capacity had been reached. + +"Better turn back," said Mr. Chadwick. + +Jack turned to Tom and gave him the necessary instructions. Then he +set over his guiding wheel, turning the big rudder at the stern of the +Wondership and she acted as obediently as a sea-going craft answering +her helm. Never had she behaved better. + +They flew swiftly back toward High Towers and were soon in sight of +Rayburn. In order to test what effect the magnetism of the earth had +upon the radio messages, Jack brought the great flying craft close to +the ground. They almost grazed the treetops as they flew along. + +Skimming a patch of trees they roared above a farmhouse with a great +red barn adjoining it. The barn attracted Jack's attention because of +the fact that it had a flat roof, an almost unique feature in that +part of the country. He supposed it was used to dry some sort of +produce on and noted that there were several hop-fields near at hand. +Undoubtedly the roof was used for exposing them to the sun and thus +drying the moisture from them without the expense of wood for the +drying fires usually used for the purpose. + +He had hardly noted all this when there came a sudden tug at the +Wondership as if a titanic hand had reached up from below and grasped +her. She pitched wildly and, but for Jack's skill as an airman, there +might have been a serious accident. But he brought the big craft +under control by skillful manipulation. + +The next instant he discovered what had occurred. The grapple of the +aircraft had, in some way, dropped from its fastenings and, trailing +behind the Wondership, had caught in the roof of the farmer's barn. + +A great section of it was torn away and as Jack brought the Wondership +to rest on the roof, the only available place, for the rope was in +danger of fouling the propellers if he descended to the ground, the +farmer and a number of his men came running from the farmhouse. + +In the hands of the farmer was a formidable looking shotgun. As the +Wondership settled on the roof of the barn the man began shouting +angrily. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE BOYS FACE TROUBLE. + + +"Phew! looks as if we are in for trouble," exclaimed Tom, as he saw +the warlike expression on the farmer's face. + +"It does that," agreed Jack. "Hop out, will you, Tom, and get that +grapple clear? Confound it, I don't see how it came loose." + +"Wore through the lashing," said Tom, who had been examining the place +where the big hooked steel anchor was usually tied. + +"We ought to have seen to it before we started out," said Jack. "We +haven't had it loose since that time we anchored above the Brazilian +forest." + +The farmer's angry voice hailed them from below. + +"Hey there! Don't yew move a foot till we've had a reck'nin'." + +"I am awfully sorry," said Jack. "It was an accident you see. We----" + +"Don't care what it was. Thet thar was a new roof. Don't you move a +step till Si here gits ther constabule." + +"We'll pay you for the roof," said Jack apologetically. "After all it +isn't much damaged." + +Indeed it appeared as if the damage was not so great as they had at +first imagined. After tearing off some shingles the grapple had caught +in a beam and was prevented from doing further harm. + +"Yes, yew'll pay, and yew'll go ter jail tew," declared the farmer. +"Consarn it all, what's the country comin' tew? Las' week tew pesky +dod-ratted balloonists hit Hi Holler on ther head with a bag of sand, +and now yew come along in thet thar contraption and try to bust up my +dryin' roof. I'll have ther law on yer." + +Matters began to look serious. Jack had no doubt but what the farmer +would accept a money payment for the damaged roof. But it appeared +that the old fellow was bent on more stringent vengeance. + +In the meantime Tom had been busy in the stern of the craft and had +succeeded in getting the grapnel loose from the beam into which its +sharp points had dug. It was not till that moment that the farmer +observed him. + +He leveled his shotgun at the balloon of the Wondership. + +"Don't yew dare ter move er I'll bust a hole right plumb through that +ther airbag of yourn," he said. + +"Can't you be reasonable?" asked Jack. "Here's my name." He wrote his +name and address on a slip of paper and threw it down. + +But the irate farmer paid no attention to the missive. He kept his gun +steadily trained on the Wondership. + +"Move an' I'll bust yer!" he said grimly. + +A buggy drove out of the yard. It raced through the gate and then +struck the highroad leading to Rayburn. + +"Thar' goes Si arter ther constabule," said the farmer, licking his +thin lips as if with relish. "Hi Ketchum is a rare one arter +automobubblists. I reckon he'll be right smart tickled to death when +he hears I got a whole airship fer him ter 'rest." + +"Bother the old grouch," muttered Tom, as he climbed back into the +Wondership, the bag of which was deflated just enough to keep her at +rest on the roof. + +"He's evidently mighty serious in his intentions," said Jack, with a +troubled face. "What are we going to do?" + +There was a sudden puff of wind and the big yellow balloon bag swayed +slightly. + +Instantly the farmer's finger crooked on his trigger. He thought the +boys were going to give him the slip. + +"No you don't," he shouted, "you don't fool Ezry Perkins that 'er +way!" + +"We're not trying to fool you," said Jack disgustedly. "Why can't you +be sensible. You've our names and addresses on that paper I threw +down to you. If you like I'll make a cash settlement right here for +any damage we've done." + +"I'm goin' ter git yer in ther court," insisted the farmer sullenly. +"Las' week some autermobubblists killed three uv my chickens, week +afore thet I had a hog knocked off ther road. I'm er goin' ter git +even on yer fer ther lot uv them." + +It was plain that the man was not to be moved by promises or +persuasion. He had conceived in his mind a hatred against automobiles, +with which, in a vague way, he classed airships and all such modern +inventions. Jack thought, too, that Ezra Perkins was the kind of man +who liked to shine out among his neighbors, and what better +opportunity could he have to satisfy this ambition than by blossoming +forth as a man who, single handed, had captured a great aircraft? + +The boys looked down. The farmer was pacing grimly up and down like a +sentry, his eyes never leaving the Wondership. + +"I'd like to drop a bag of ballast on his head, the same as those +balloonists did on Si's," muttered Tom. + +"Wouldn't do any good," said Jack. "It would only bounce off again." + +"I guess it would at that," agreed Tom with a grin. + +"I've half a mind to take a chance," said Jack suddenly. + +"And get a hole blown in the balloon bag," protested Tom. "We wouldn't +be better off than before in that case." + +"I wonder if he'd really shoot or if he's only bluffing," mused Jack. + +"Take a look at him," advised Tom. + +Jack did. One glance was enough. There was no bluffing about the grim, +overalled farmer. The very way in which he held his gun expressed +positive determination not to let the boys escape. + +But as it so happened, by no action of the boys', matters were +suddenly brought to a sharp crisis. Over the patch of woods beyond the +farm there came a vagrant puff of wind. It was followed by a sharper +gust. + +The Wondership swayed and then, before Jack could check the motion, +drifted off the roof like a piece of thistledown blown by the wind. +Instinctively, to check the downward motion, Jack's hand sought the +gas valve. With a hiss the volatile vapor rushed into the bag. + +The big aircraft shot up like an arrow. For a second the farmer stood +paralyzed at the suddenness of it all. His farm hands lounged about, +gaping and looking upward like country folks at a fireworks display. + +Then, without any warning: + +"Bang!" + +The farmer let loose with both barrels at once. But the Wondership +still rose. + +All at once, from below, came a yell of surprise and terror. The boys +looked over the side. As they did so they uttered simultaneous gasps +of consternation. + +The trailing grapnel, for Tom had forgotten to tie it back in place +in the excitement, had caught the farmer by the waistband of his +overalls and he was being carried skyward by the Wondership, dangling +at the end of the anchor rope like some sprawling spider. + +His wife, screaming at the top of her voice, rushed from the kitchen +door. + +"Hey, you come back with my husband!" she shouted. + +"Lemme go! Lemme go!" bawled the farmer as loudly as he could, for, +held securely by his stout overalls, he was carried high above his own +buildings. He kicked and struggled furiously. + +"Keep still," shouted Jack, in serious alarm, from the side of the +Wondership. "Keep still or you'll kick yourself off." + +The farmer had sense enough to obey. He hung upside down like a limp +scarecrow, while his farm hands gaped up at him and the hired girl was +busy pouring buckets of water over his wife who was in hysterics. + +"Gracious, now we've done it!" gasped Tom in dismay. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +AN INVOLUNTARY AERONAUT. + + +"Steady, Tom, steady," warned Jack, as he set the pumps to work +drawing gas from the bag into the reservoir. + +The Wondership, her buoyancy thus diminished, began to descend. + +"What are you going to do?" asked Tom. + +"Drop our passenger," said Jack, with a grin he could not suppress, +for the struggling farmer was within a few feet of the ground now and +even if he did kick himself loose, for his struggles had begun again, +he could not have hurt himself much. + +"Back up till we get over that haystack," said Jack, "and then play +out rope till we lower him. It'll make a nice soft jumping-off place." + +Tom obeyed, pulling a reverse lever. The Wondership, steered with +skill by Jack's practiced hand, backed slowly up. At length they hung +directly over the haystack. Jack turned and nodded. Tom sprang to the +rope and lowered the indignant farmer into the soft hay. The man lost +no time in disentangling himself. Then he sprang to his feet and began +hurling vituperation at them at the top of his lungs. + +"I'll have ther law on yer fer this," he yelled. "Tryin' ter kidnap me +and bustin' down my barn. I'll see whether such goin's on is allowed +in ther sufferin' state uv Massachusetts, yew see if I don't, consarn +yer. I'll----" + +But the Wondership, bearing the two boys who could not help laughing +heartily, although they feared serious consequences might come of the +accident, was winging its way onward out of earshot of the not +unnaturally indignant Ezra Perkins. + +They passed Rayburn before Jack noticed a peculiar smell in the +atmosphere. + +It was leaking gas. Then, for the first time, he recollected that the +farmer might have hit the gas bag above them with his double shots, +although, till then, there had been no indication that such was the +case. + +He called Tom to the wheel, explaining his suspicions and clambered +out on the rigging to see if he could find any holes in the balloon. +It would have made a less steady boy dizzy and sick to stand on the +edge of the Wondership, clinging to one of the supports that held the +body of the craft to the gas-bag, while the whole affair plunged and +swayed five hundred feet above the earth. But Jack, used as he was to +navigating the air, felt none of these qualms. + +His suspicions were speedily confirmed. There was a jagged hole in the +underbody of the balloon, from which gas was rushing. Jack's face grew +grave. The situation was dangerous. + +He knew, as does every balloonist, that out-rushing gas can make an +electric spark in the atmosphere which, in turn, ignites the gas +itself, sometimes with fatal results. Experts in aeronautics attribute +the disasters befalling the long series of Zeppelins, the giant +German dirigibles, to this cause. + +"Tom, we must go down. Drop at once," he said. "That old fellow +succeeded in blowing a hole in us all right." + +The pumps were set to work and the Wondership fell rapidly. They +dropped in a field by the roadside, landing on the running wheels as +lightly as a feather, thanks to the shock absorbers, similar to those +of an automobile, with which the Wondership was equipped. + +"Now for the repair kit," said Jack, rummaging a locker. + +He soon had balloon silk, big shears, a quick-drying gum solution and +a pot of gasproof varnish, ready for the job of patching up the hole. +But first they had to empty the big bag of gas. This was speedily +done, for already enough had escaped to wrinkle the bag like a walnut, +with hollows and creases. + +Jack cut out a patch of balloon silk large enough to fit the hole and +spread it with the adhesive gum solution. This he placed inside the +hole, spreading it out so that when pressure was applied it would be +pressed firmly against the aperture. Then he coated the patch with the +gasproof varnish, and both boys sat down to give the job time to +"set." + +Their eyes turned idly to the high-road. It was about noon and there +was a heavy sort of silence in the air. Far on the horizon they could +make out great billowy masses of white cloud. Piled and castellated +against the sky they assumed all kinds of odd shapes. + +"Thunder heads," said Jack. "We shall have a storm before to-night." + +"It's sultry enough for anything," said Tom, taking off his cap and +mopping his forehead. "I'd hate to be walking in this weather like +that fellow yonder." + +A man had come into sight, plodding along with bent head and eyes on +the ground as if he was very tired. The gray dust of the road coated +him from head to foot. He walked with a kind of dragging gait. + +Over his shoulder he carried some sort of a bundle on a stick. His hat +was a broad sombrero, like a cowboy's. It was a kind of headgear +seldom seen in the east and attracted the boys' attention. Round the +man's neck was a red handkerchief, the only spot of color on his +dust-covered person. He had a great yellow beard and rather long, +unkempt hair. + +"Tramp," hazarded Tom. + +Jack shook his head. + +"Doesn't look like that to me somehow," he said. "I rather think----" + +Round the corner whizzed a big red automobile. It was coming fast. The +driver, a young man, had his head turned and was talking to three +companions who sat in the tonneau. He did not see the dusty traveler +in the road ahead. + +The boys set up a shout. + +"Look out! you'll run him down. Look out----" + +But their caution came too late. At top speed the auto struck the +wayfarer, and before the boys' horrified eyes he was thrown high in +the air, to fall, a confused sprawl of legs and arms, at the wayside. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +BY THE ROADSIDE. + + +The boys ran forward across the few yards of meadow that intervened +between the Wondership and the roadway. The autoists did not, +apparently, notice them. They had stopped the car and were looking +back. + +"Come on and let's get out of this quick," one of them, a hawk-faced +youth, with a long motoring duster on, was shouting to the driver. + +"Yes, let's beat it while the going's good, Bill," came from his +companion as he addressed the driver of the car. + +"I guess we'd better," said the man addressed as Bill. + +Before the boys could intervene the car was on its way again, at top +speed, leaving the unconscious form of its victim at the roadside. + +"Of all the cold-blooded scoundrels!" gasped Jack, horrified at such +callousness. + +"Never mind them now," advised Tom. "Let's see if this poor fellow is +badly hurt. He may even be----" + +He did not finish the sentence, but Jack knew what he meant. Hastily +the boys scrambled down the low bank that separated the field from the +road. They ran quickly to the man's side. To their great relief, for +they had feared that he might have been killed, the man was breathing. +But his breath came pantingly from his parted lips and there was a bad +cut on his forehead. + +"Get some water from the creek yonder," said Jack, and Tom hastened up +the road to where, beneath the small wooden bridge, there flowed a +rivulet of water. + +He was soon back, with his handkerchief well soaked, and with an old +can, that he had been lucky enough to find, filled with water. They +bathed the man's wound and then bound it up as best they could. But he +still lay senseless. + +"Now what's to be done?" asked Tom. + +"We ought to get him over to the Wondership and rush him to the +hospital at Nestorville," said Jack. + +"Yes, that would be the thing to do. But he's too heavy for us to +carry," objected Tom. + +"Why not fly over here alongside him. I guess we could lift him in; +that patch ought to hold by this time," suggested Jack. + +"That's a good idea. What a pack of cowardly sneaks those chaps in +that car were." + +"I wish we could have stopped them. It would give me real pleasure to +see a gang like that get its just deserts. They might have killed this +poor fellow." + +The unconscious man was powerfully built, with face tanned brown above +a yellow beard, from exposure to sun and wind. As Jack had said, he +did not look like a tramp. Suddenly the boy noticed lying near him an +object which had evidently fallen from the man's pocket when he was +struck and flung through the air by the auto. + +It was a small cylinder, apparently made of lead, and about three +inches long. Jack picked it up, and for the time being did not attempt +to examine it but thrust it into his pocket for safe keeping. Little +did either of the boys think how much that little cylinder was to mean +to them, and how it was to influence some of the most important +adventures of their lives. + +Making the man as comfortable as they could, by rolling up their coats +and placing them under his head, the boys hurried back to the +Wondership. When they arrived there they saw that a feature of the +radio 'phone, which has not yet been mentioned, was working in urgent +appeal. This was a tiny red electric light attached to the top of the +case containing the sensitive parts of the apparatus. + +By an ingenious device, worked as a call signal from the transmitting +station, the electric waves converted a lighting circuit for this +purpose. + +It was winking and twinkling, and Jack knew that his father was +trying to call them. + +He sent out some flashes by starting the dynamo going and pressing a +key devised for the purpose. This, he knew, would cause a similar +light attached to his father's apparatus to flash a reply. This done +he waited a second and then adjusted the receivers to his ears. + +"What's the matter?" came his father's voice. + +Jack gave him a rapid account of the accident, not stopping just then +to say anything about the incident of the farmer and his barn. + +"What are you going to do about it?" asked his father. + +"He appears to be seriously hurt," said Jack. "I was thinking of +rushing him to the hospital at Nestorville." + +"That seems to be the best plan," said his father. "By the way, did +those autoists get clear away?" + +"I'm afraid so. They never even waited a second to see if the man was +badly injured. They----" + +Jack suddenly stopped short. An inspiration had come to him. The +accident had happened on a road that, as he knew, led straight through +Nestorville. He had thought of a plan to bring the autoists to book +for their callousness and negligence. + +"Dad--oh, dad!" he called. + +"Yes, what is it?" came back Mr. Chadwick's voice. + +"Those fellows will pass through Nestorville. I had a flash of the +number of the car. It was 4206 Mass. It's a red car and a powerful +one, with three men in it." + +"What do you want to do?" asked Mr. Chadwick. + +"Can't you 'phone to the Nestorville police, telling them what has +happened and have those fellows stopped. I'm not vindictive, but they +ought to be brought to book for running down a man and then speeding +off and leaving him like that." + +"I agree with you," replied Mr. Chadwick. "I'll do so at once. +Good-by." + +"Good-by," said Jack and "rang off." + +"That was a great idea of yours, Jack, old boy," approved Tom. "I hope +they land those fellows." + +"Of course it was an accident," said Jack, "but that fellow who was +driving was too busy talking to watch the road, and then going off +like that--they deserve all they get." + +Examination of the patch showed that it would hold fast and the bag +was refilled. As soon as it was sufficiently inflated, the Wondership +sailed over to the road and was brought down alongside the still +unconscious man. + +"Looks as if he's badly hurt," said Tom with some anxiety. + +"It does. His skull may be fractured," agreed Jack. "If he is +seriously injured those fellows may get into trouble." + +It required all the boys' strength to raise the man and get him into +the Wondership. Here they laid him out on the floor of the rear +section. They had just done this when the red light signaled Jack +again. It was Mr. Chadwick. He had notified the Nestorville police +force, consisting of a chief and two men, and they were on the lookout +for the offending auto. + +"Good," said Jack. "Say, dad, the radio telephone has shown its +usefulness on the first day out, hasn't it?" + +They were soon in the air once more. The run to Nestorville was made +quickly. On the outskirts of the town they came to earth and deflated +the balloon bag, since the hospital stood in a group of trees and it +would have been impossible to make a landing there. The Wondership was +converted into an auto and sent speeding toward the main street of the +village. + +Suddenly they heard a whir of wheels behind them and an impatient +tooting of a horn. They looked back and uttered a simultaneous cry of +astonishment. + +The red auto that had run down the yellow-bearded man was behind them. +Its occupants were shouting and sounding their horn impatiently for +the right of way. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +MAKING ENEMIES. + + +The road was narrow where they were, and unless the boys' machine was +run to one side of the road there was no chance for the red machine to +pass. Jack made it clear that he didn't intend to let them. + +He paid no attention to the shouts that came from behind. + +"Hey, you kids, with that queer-looking car, get off the road and give +a real machine a chance to get by," shouted the driver, he who had +been addressed as Bill. + +Jack did not turn his head. + +"I'll knock your head off if you don't turn out--and turn out quick!" +came another shout. + +Still the boys did not pay any attention. In this order they came into +Nestorville. Lined up, with a look of stern determination on his +face, and with his nickel star of office newly polished, was Chief +Biff Bivins. Behind him were Lena Hardy and Joe Curley, his "force." + +"Say, boys," hailed Chief Biff, as the boys rolled up abreast of him +and his men, "hain't seen hair nor hide of that car your dad was arter +'phonin' me about." + +"Well, you soon will, chief," said Jack. + +"Haow do yew know that?" asked the chief, his little eyes blinking +curiously. + +"Because it's right behind us now," declared Jack. "It's that red +one." + +"Ther dickens you say. How'd you come ter git erhead of 'em?" + +"They must have stopped to fix a tire or something," said Jack. + +But Biff was paying no attention to him. The majesty of the law was +strong upon him. Calling his minions to his side he stepped into the +middle of the road in front of the red car. + +"Get out of the way!" shouted the man who was driving. + +"Not much I won't," declared Biff valorously. "Halt that gasoline +gadabout o' yourn instanter." + +"What for, you old Rube?" + +"Old Rube am I?" sputtered Biff, feeling that the law had been +insulted in his person, "jes' fer thet yer under 'rest." + +"What for?" demanded the driver of the red car angrily. + +"Fer running daown and grievously wounding a man and then speedin' off +without stoppin' ter see if you'd killed him dead or what all. That's +what fer." + +The driver of the red machine lost his blustering tone. + +"Why, there's some mistake," he stammered, his face very pale, +"I--er--we--er--that is, we didn't run anybody down." + +"Oh, yes, you did," said Jack. "We saw you, and what's more we've got +the man you struck right here in our car. You're a fine pack of +cowards to run off like that. If we hadn't happened along he might +have lain there for hours before help came." + +"You saw us!" gasped the driver of the car, losing his bravado +completely. "Well, I might as well admit we did run a man down. But we +didn't think he was badly hurt and so we put on all speed to rush into +town here and get a doctor for him. We'd have been here sooner only +one of our tires punctured." + +"Thet's a dern good story," said the chief, "but you'll hev ter +'splain that ter ther squire. Come on with me ter ther court-house. +Too bad fer you thet them Chadwick boys had some sort of a do-funny +dingus on their sky buggy that talks through the air, otherwise you'd +hev got clar' away." + +The man had, by this time, got out of the car which they halted at the +side of the street. A crowd of curious villagers gathered and were +staring at the scene and the actors in it. + +At Chief Biff's words the driver of the red car flashed an angry look +at the boys. His companions looked equally vindictive. + +"So, it's to you we owe our arrest, is it?" he said in a low voice, +coming quite close to Jack. "All right. You'll hear from me later. I'm +not going to forget you or that other kid, either. Do you understand?" + +Jack made no reply, and as he was anxious to get the injured man to +the hospital as quickly as possible he drove off. At the institution +the man was carried to a cot by two orderlies, and the doctor in +charge told the boys that, so far as he could see, his injuries were +not mortal, although he added that a fracture of the skull was +possible. + +"In which case," he said, "his recovery is problematical. How did you +happen to pick him up?" asked the doctor, who knew the boys quite +well. + +Jack told him as briefly as he could, and received the physician's +warm congratulations. + +"It was fortunate that you happened along," he said. "Otherwise a +long exposure to the sun, unattended, might have resulted in the man's +death. Have you any idea who he is?" + +"Not the least," replied Jack. "All that we know is that, just after +he had plodded round the corner as if he was tired after walking a +long way, that auto came whizzing round and struck him. Somehow he +doesn't look like a tramp." + +"No, he doesn't," agreed the doctor. "However, he should be conscious +to-morrow if there are no complications, and we can find out. One +thing is certain, he ought to be grateful to you." + +"Oh, that's all right," laughed Jack, much relieved to hear that the +man wasn't going to die. "It was all we could do." + +They drove back through the village. Outside the court-house was quite +a crowd. Events were few and far between in sleepy Nestorville, and +the arrest of the autoists had caused quite a sensation. From a friend +in the crowd the boys learned that the three men were being arraigned +before Squire Stevens. + +"Let's go in," suggested Tom. + +"All right," nodded Jack, and they climbed out of the Wondership and +ascended the long steps leading into the court-house. As they entered +Squire Stevens' court-room, Chief Bivins spied them. + +"Here they be now, Squire," he said. "Glad you came, boys. It saved me +the trouble of serving subpoenas on you. These are the boys who saw +the whole thing, judge." + +"Was it an accident?" asked Squire Stevens, a dignified-looking old +man with an imposing white beard. + +"Yes, entirely so," said Jack, who did not bear any malice. + +"But after they had struck the man, these young men ran away?" + +"Yes," Jack was forced to admit. The men shot him a glance of hatred. + +"I understand you have been to the hospital," went on Squire Stevens. +"Did you learn how badly the man they hit is hurt?" + +"The doctor told us that his injuries don't appear to be serious," +said Jack, "but that it was possible there might be complications." + +"In that case I shall have to hold you young men under bond," said the +squire. "Will you be able to furnish it?" + +"In any amount," said the man who had driven the car, in a loud, +boastful voice. "My father, Evans Masterson, owns the _Boston Moon,_ +the evening paper. If I can telephone to him he will soon get us out +of this scrape." + +"Very well, then," said the Squire, frowning slightly at young +Masterson's tone. "I shall fix your bond at $500, as you were driving +the car and directly responsible for the accident, and that of your +companions at $100 each." + +Young Masterson gave an ironical bow. Chief Biff Bivins escorted him +to the telephone. The elder Masterson, who had had a good deal of +experience with his son's escapades, at first administered a lecture +over the 'phone which ended by his saying that he would come +post-haste to Nestorville and extricate his son and his chums from +their unpleasant fix. + +But the boys did not wait for this. As soon as the case was over they +hastened back to the Wondership. The run home was made without +incident and it was not till the Wondership was safely in its shed +that Jack suddenly thought of the odd cylinder of lead that he had +picked up by the man's side as he lay on the road. + +"I ought to have left it at the hospital," he thought, "but I entirely +forgot it." + +He drew it out and looked at it. He now saw that the lead cylinder +enclosed a glass vial carefully corked and sealed. The bottle was +wrapped in flannel. Jack could not withstand the temptation of pulling +it out and looking at it. He hardly knew what he had expected to see, +but he was distinctly disappointed, as was Tom, to find that the +carefully protected vial contained nothing more than some dark, almost +black, stuff that looked like sand. In it were particles that +glittered like mica. + +"Pshaw!" he exclaimed in a disappointed tone, "nothing but a bottle +full of sand. Wonder why in the world that fellow carried trash like +that so carefully wrapped up for?" + +The solution of the question, which was near at hand, was to have an +important bearing on the lives of the Boy Inventors, and that in the +immediate future. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE LEADEN TUBE. + + +The following day, while they were experimenting and practicing with +the radio telephone, the boys received word that the man in the +hospital was conscious and wished to see them, if possible. + +"Perhaps now we shall get some explanation of that queer tubeful of +sand," said Jack, as he hung up the telephone receiver, having +informed the physician that they would be at the hospital shortly. + +"It's certainly a queer sort of thing for a man to carry about--a +glass vial full of black grit so carefully protected, unless he is +crazy or something," commented Tom. + +"I think that there is some explanation back of all this," said Jack, +"and for my part the sooner we get to the hospital, the better I shall +be pleased. The man told the doctor he was a miner and his name is +Zeb Cummings. Perhaps that sand is gold-bearing or something like +that." + +"That might be the case," agreed Tom. + +The boys decided to take out the electric car. It was in perfect +running order and the indicator showed that there was plenty of +electricity in storage for the start. They told Mr. Chadwick where +they were going and then rolled out of the High Towers gates onto the +broad, smooth road bordered with pleasant green elms. + +They bowled along smoothly and silently with the car working as +perfectly as delicate clockwork. They had gone about a mile from the +house and were on a steep grade which the car took as easily as if it +had been going down hill, when their attention was attracted by a +sudden shout from the vicinity. + +Jack brought the car to a halt. The voice came again. + +"Hi! Help me! Ouch! Help!" + +"What in the world is the matter now?" wondered Tom. + +"Somebody in trouble in that field yonder. We'd better get out and see +what's up," proposed Jack. + +The shouts seemed to issue from beyond a high bank at one side of the +road. On its summit was a hedge which prevented the boys seeing what +was going on in the field that lay beyond. + +As they got out of the car, however, Jack spied a bicycle at one side +of the road. A satchel that he remembered very well was slung from its +frame. + +"It's the professor in trouble again!" declared Jack. + +"I do believe you are right," replied Tom as they scrambled up the +bank. "That's sure enough his wheel." + +They found a gate in the hedge and on the other side an odd sight met +their eyes. Kneeling on the ground was the professor. His right arm +was thrust almost up to the shoulder into a hole in the ground. He +was shouting lustily for help and appeared to be imprisoned in his +queer posture. + +"Some animal has got hold of his hand," cried Jack. "Come on, Tom." + +"Oh, boys, thank goodness you've come," gasped the scientist. + +"What's the matter?" demanded Jack. + +"I can't get my arm out of this hole," declared the professor. + +"How did you get it in?" asked Tom. + +"A fine specimen that I dropped accidentally rolled into it," was the +reply. "I reached in to get it and now I can't get my hand out." + +"But you got it in easily enough," said Jack in a puzzled tone. + +"Ah, yes," replied the professor, "but then I didn't have my hand +clenched. Now my fist is closed and I have the specimen in it. Oh, +boys, it's a beauty. One of the finest I have ever seen. It shows +distinct monolithic traces." + +"But if you don't drop it you can't get your hand out," argued Tom. + +"I know that. That's why I shouted for help," said the professor +simply. + +"You'll have to let go of it," decided Jack, almost choking with +laughter at the plight of the eccentric little man. + +"Let go of it? My dear sir," murmured the professor in a shocked tone, +"this specimen is worth at least twenty dollars, not to speak of its +scientific value." + +"But you can't stay here," said Jack decisively. + +"And I won't let go of the specimen," declared the professor with +equal firmness. + +"What on earth are we to do?" said Jack, looking helplessly at Tom. + +Not far off Tom had noticed a man digging potatoes. It gave him an +idea. + +"We can borrow that man's shovel and dig his arm out," he suggested. + +"It's about the only thing to do, I guess," said Jack. "You go and +see if you can get it. I'll keep the professor company." + +Tom soon came back. The potato-digger accompanied him. The man was +much interested in the eccentric man's plight. + +"If that ain't the beatingest I ever heard on," he remarked, gazing at +the professor, and then he tapped his head significantly and looked at +the boys in a knowing way. + +"Nobody home, eh?" he said with a grin. Fortunately the professor did +not hear him; but the boys could hardly keep from laughing outright as +they set to work with the spade. A few minutes of brisk digging set +the professor at liberty and he was able to stand upright and +triumphantly exhibit a small black rock which looked in no way +remarkable, but which, it was evident, he esteemed highly. + +"Ah, my little gem," he said, gazing at it fondly. "You thought you'd +escape me; but you didn't. A wonderfully fine specimen, boys." + +"Tell yer what," said the yokel, from whom they had borrowed the +spade, "I'll pay you fifty cents a day to clean up my back pasture +yonder. It's chock full of them black rocks." + +"It is?" exclaimed the professor eagerly. "I must visit it some day. +It would be worth writing a paper about. Most remarkable. A whole +field of these stones. Well, well, this is a great day for science. +But how did you boys happen to come along so opportunely?" + +Jack explained, and then, suddenly, he thought of the tube of +queer-looking black sand. Possibly the professor would know what it +was. He drew it out and briefly narrated how he came in possession of +it. The professor took the little glass vial out of its protecting +lead and flannel. He adjusted his glasses and held it up to the light. +Then he uncorked it and sprinkled a few grains on the palm of his +hand. + +He regarded it carefully for a few minutes and then drew out a huge +magnifying glass. The next instant he dropped his scientific calm and +uttered a sharp exclamation of astonishment. + +"Where is the man who owns this?" he exclaimed. "We must see him at +once." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +IN THE HOSPITAL + + +"We are on our way to see him now," said Jack. "He is in the +Nestorville hospital." + +"May I go with you?" asked the professor, with astonishing eagerness +for him. + +"Why, of course. But that black sand," said Jack. "What is +it--gold-bearing material of some kind?" + +"Gold!" exclaimed the professor with fine scorn, "gold would be dross +beside it. Of course I haven't analyzed it yet, but if it is what I +think it is, it is the most valuable stuff in the world." + +The boys exchanged bewildered glances. Clearly their discovery of the +injured man, Zeb Cummings, had an aspect they had not hitherto +suspected. But the professor refused to tell them what the sand was, +or what he thought it was, till he had seen Zeb Cummings himself. + +Leaving the potato-digger under the firm impression that they were +all crazy, they hurried back to the road, the professor's bicycle was +placed in the tonneau, and Jack drove just within the speed law to the +hospital. + +They found the injured man sitting up in bed, his great yellow beard +gleaming like gold. His head was bandaged but even the pallor induced +by the accident had not materially altered the ruddy glow of his thick +coat of tan. + +"So these are the boys who saved me," he said, extending a big, +gnarled hand. "Shake, pardners. The doc here tells me if I'd laid much +longer out there in the sun, there might hev been a first-class +funeral fer Zeb Cummings." + +"Oh, that's all right," said Jack easily. "I'm only glad that we came +along when we did." + +"Well, you sure acted different from them other varmints," said Zeb +with deep conviction. "The doc tole me all about it." + +His face suddenly grew grave as he changed the subject. + +"Did you find anything on the ground thereabouts after I got knocked +out?" he asked. + +"What sort of a thing?" asked Jack. + +"Oh, nothing that looked very valuable. Jes' a little lead roll with a +bottle full of what looked like black sand in it." + +"Got it right here," said Jack, producing the bottle which the +professor had given back to him. + +"Glory be!" exclaimed Zeb Cummings, as he took the lead-wrapped vial +as though it was something precious. "I was afeard that if anyone +found it they might hev thrown it away, bein' as it don't look as if +it amounted ter anything much." + +"Is it valuable?" asked Jack, who could not restrain his curiosity. + +"That's jes' what I don't rightly know," rejoined Zeb. "I reckon I'd +better tell yer how I come ter git it an' then you kin judge fer +yourselves." + +"We'd like to hear," said Jack, who had felt all along that there was +some mystery about the yellow-bearded giant. + +"All right! Sit down and I'll tell yer ther yarn. But say, who is yer +friend? No offense meant, ye understand." + +"This is Professor Jerushah Jenks," said Jack. + +"What, the guy that knows all about rocks and such like?" burst out +the miner. + +"I believe I have achieved some small fame in that line," said the +professor. + +"Wa'al if this don't beat pay dirt I'm a Piute," exclaimed the miner. +"Give us your hand, Professor. I was on my way ter see you when that +thar buzz wagon busted me higher nor a turkey buzzard." + +"On your way to see me?" echoed the professor in amazed tones. + +"Yes, siree bob, that very identical thing," was the bronzed miner's +reply. + +"But I don't quite understand. You see I----" + +"That's all right, Professor. We'll git down ter pay dirt direc'ly," +said the miner. "You know of the Scientific Society in Bosting, of +course?" + +"I am a member of that body, sir," was the dignified reply of the +little man. + +"Well, they giv' me your name. Said you was the biggest bug on rocks, +minerals and sich in the country and so I sets out to pay a call on +you." + +"But you were many miles from where I live," said the professor. "The +railroad, or the trolley----" + +"Don't carry folks for nothing," interrupted Zeb, "and nothing's my +capital right now." + +"You mean that you were walking from Boston?" asked the professor. + +"That's right," was the reply. "Landed there on ship from round the +Horn last week. Got paid off but some sneak thief in the boarding +house I was stopping at got my roll. So I had to hoof it." + +"But what did you want with me?" asked the professor. + +"I wanted you ter tell me ef that thar stuff in the glass tube is +worth anything or nothing," was the reply. + +"Why, do you know where there is more of it?" asked the professor, and +the boys could see that he was oddly excited, although preserving an +appearance of outward calm. + +"Yes, siree," was the emphatic reply. "I know whar thar's enough of it +to load a freight train." + +"Shades of Huxley!" gasped the professor, actually turning pale. "Do +you mean that?" + +"I sure do, Professor. It's all down on a map what Blue Nose Sanchez +give me afore he passed in his checks." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +A TALE OF THE COLORADO. + + +"Do you fully realize what you are telling me?" asked the professor. +The doctor and the nurse had left the room, and the miner, the +scientist and the boys were alone. + +"Course I do," was the rejoinder of the yellow-bearded giant with the +bandaged head. "There ought ter be a fortune in it 'cording to what +Blue Nose Sanchez said. Was he lyin', Professor?" + +"I don't think so. But tell us your story," urged the man of science. + +"Well, it begins some months ago. I was prospecting down along the +Colorado River. It was in a mighty bad place. Don't rightly know just +how I ever got thar, but thar I was. Wonder was I wasn't killed ten +times over 'fore I got to whar I was. But I guess I'm pretty tough. + +"That Colorado River is a pretty tough place down where I was. +Nothing but desert all around, and just a swift dashing current at the +bottom of a canyon that looks like it went into the middle of the +earth with steep, dark walls that seem to go straight plum up to the +sky. + +"But I was lured on by the thought of making a big strike. At last I +got down to a place where the banks was so high and steep that it was +like twilight even at noon. Grub was gittin' to be a question with me, +and I'd about made up my mind to turn back, but I thought I'd make one +more last try. + +"I set to work on a rocky bank with my pick but nary a color--that's +what we call a trace of gold--could I uncover. + +"Wa'al, says I to myself, it's up stakes fer you, Zeb, unless you want +to starve afore you git back to civilization. But as it was evenin' +then I decided to stay whar I was that night and strike back early the +next day. + +"Here's whar Blue Nose Sanchez comes inter ther story. They called +him 'blue nose,' I guess, because of a premature blast that had blown +powder into his nose and turned it that color. Anyway, he was a mighty +homely specimen. + +"It was just gittin' light in the canyon, although it must have been +broad day up above, when I hears an almighty hollering up the gulch. +The next thing I knows, round a bend comes a small boat. There's two +men in it. They must have been crazy to try to make the passage, for +the river is just a mass of rapids and whirlpools, and I never heard +of anyone trying to shoot 'em. + +"But thar was these two fellows in this boat, and they was scared, +too, I kin tell you. Wa'al, I stood thar like a stuffed pig on the +bank watching 'em as they came toward me at the speed of an express +train. Suddenly one of 'em, the chap that was trying to steer, twisted +the oar he was guiding the boat with and it cracked under his weight. +He went overboard in a flash. + +"The next moment, with a yell of fright that I kin hear yit, the boat +was hurried past me on that water that boiled like yeast in a kittle, +and in a flash it had disappeared round another bend. What became of +it I never knew, but it must have been upset and the man in it +drowned. No boat could have lasted long in that water, even with an +oar to steer it, and that was gone. + +"I waded out inter ther water as far as I dared and by some freak of +the current the man who had toppled out of the boat came within my +reach. I grabbed him and dragged him ashore, more dead than alive. I +done what I could for him and he came to after a while. That was how I +met Blue Nose Sanchez. + +"Well, sir, Blue Nose was a mighty sick man, even then. He had fever +and was a ravin' lunatic at times, but at intervals he made out to +tell me suthin' of his story. Him and his partner, a fellow he called +Foxy Joe, was on their way to find a little island down ther river +where no white man but only one had been. This man was a friend of +Foxy Joe's and the two met up in Yuma. Foxy's friend had a lot to tell +him about a wonderful island some Injuns had told him about whar +there was some sort of mysterious mineral. By what Joe could make out +this mineral was nuthin' more nor less than radium." + +"Radium!" exclaimed the boys. + +"That's right," went on the miner. "Foxy's friend allowed that there +was cartloads of it lyin' loose thar 'cording to the description the +Injuns give him, and he showed Foxy a sample of the stuff. That sample +is in this little lead-wrapped bottle. It's wrapped in lead 'cos +otherwise it 'ud make sores on you when you carry it about. It's +workin', workin' all the time, frum what I kin make out. + +"Well, 'cordin' ter ther way Blue Nose Sanchez tells it, Foxy and the +man who knew about the island and had a rough plan of it the Injuns +drew fer him, had a fight, and Foxy kills him, or thinks he has. Blue +Nose sees it and sees Foxy take the map and the little lead-wrapped +bottle off the body. He suspects somethin' and tells Foxy that he'll +give him up to the law if he don't let him in on it. So Foxy tells +him all about it and him and Sanchez, who was then a mule rustler, +agrees ter go partners and go git ther radium, or whatever it is. + +"They builds this boat, the one that disappeared, and in order that +Foxy shouldn't play no tricks, that bein' his disposition, Sanchez +'lows he'll take both the sample and the map. Foxy sees no way out of +it but to give in and that's the way it's fixed. + +"The boat is taken out of Yuma in sections and then put together in a +place whar nobody ain't likely to come nosin' around. Then they starts +out on what I guess was the most darn-fool enterprise any two locoed +fortune-hunters ever undertook. How it ended you know. They both got +fever, but Sanchez was the worst. He died that same evening, his +tumble in the water havin' made him worse. I buried him there as best +I could and then, as he had wished, I takes the sample and the map. + +"'Some day,' he told me, just afore he closed his eyes for good, +'you'll be glad you saved me, even though it was too late.' + +"Well, I beat it back and get out of the canyon more dead than alive +and finally make a small strike. I go to San Francisco with it and try +to git ther stuff analyzed, but everyone I tole about it laughed at me +and said I was crazy. So, thinks I, I'll come East. My money was about +all gone, so I shipped afore ther mast on a Cape Horn ship, and got +here. + +"Now, you have me tale, old top," grinned the good-natured miner, and +added: "Well, has my toe-and-heeling been worth its salt?" + +The professor nodded solemnly. + +"What is it?" cried Jack, his heart beating with a strange, wild hope. + +Tom and Zeb echoed Jack's eager question. + +"My friends," declared the little man of science pompously, "we have +reason to believe that a wonderful discovery has been made, namely, +Z.2.X." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +ZEB CUMMINGS. + + +"Z.2.X., the most radio-active stuff in the world!" exclaimed Jack. + +"I suppose that approximately describes it," said the professor, "but +what do you know about it?" + +Jack explained how ardently his father had wished for the missing +element to make his system of radio telephony the most efficient in +use. + +"Well, if what Sanchez said was true, and the map is right, there is +plenty of it right on that island," said the miner. + +"Yes, that may all be," objected the professor, "but how are you going +to get at it?" + +"Wa'al that's a poser. You can't reach it in a boat and you can't +reach it over the desert," said Zeb. "The country all round there is +dry as an oven and, anyhow, if you got to ther banks of ther Colorado +right by ther island ther's no way of gitting _down_ to ther island. +Sanchez says that the Injuns told Foxy's friend that a long time ago, +when first they found the stuff on the island, there was a way of +getting down to it. But an earthquake sunk the river bed and nobody +had been thar since the Injuns that found it. He said that they first +come to take notice of it by reason of the way it shined at night. But +only a few of the tribe would go near on account of their thinking the +place was haunted." + +"Have you got that map?" asked the professor. + +"Yes, if you'll reach my coat I'll show it you," said the miner. + +Jack gave him the ragged garment off a hook at the back of the door. +Zeb fumbled in the pockets for a minute and then brought out a knife. + +"A rip more or less won't make no difference," he said, and cut a +slash down the lining. There, carefully stowed inside, where it could +not be suspected, was a folded, time-yellowed paper. + +The miner opened it slowly and spread it out on the counterpane. The +boys, not without a sense of shock, noted a dark, rusty-looking stain +upon it. It struck them that the marks might be the life blood of the +treacherous Foxy's friend who had met a tragic end in Yuma. + +Zeb, with a broad and blackened forefinger, traced the course of the +Colorado. At length his finger paused at an island marked in red. +There was some fantastic Indian lettering, or sign-drawing, about it, +and underneath, in a white man's handwriting, were the words: +"Rattlesnake Island." + +"I reckon Foxy Joe's friend must hev written that in," commented Zeb. + +"It looks that way," said the professor, who had poured the sample of +mineral-bearing sand back into the vial and restored it to Zeb +Cummings. + +"Rattlesnake Island," repeated Jack. "Are there any rattlers down that +way?" + +"Yes, and gila monsters and tarantulas and centipedes," replied Zeb +cheerfully. "But you soon get used to 'em." + +Some other islands were marked on the map, but Rattlesnake Island was +the only one designated by name. + +"That must be the place whar all that stuff is, then," decided Zeb. "I +wish thar was some way of gittin' thar." + +"If there is even only a small fraction of the mineral-bearing sand +there," said the professor, "there's a fortune in it." + +"Wa'al if you can't git it out what good is it?" said Zeb +philosophically. "Anyhow, I'm glad that Sanchez spoke the truth with +his dying words. Maybe thar is some way, except by water, in spite of +what he said." + +"Maybe there is," said Jack. "It seems a shame to think of all that +rich stuff lying there neglected and unobtainable." + +"It does indeed," agreed the professor. "In that sample I find traces +of metals from which filaments for electric lights could be made and +substances invaluable in medicine for X-ray purposes as well as the +Z.2.X. which your father is convinced would make the radio telephone +as practical as the wireless telegraph." + +They would like to have stayed there all the morning poring over the +map and asking further questions of the rugged miner, but at that +moment the nurse came in and declared that the injured man must have +quiet. + +And so there, for the present, the matter rested. The professor +departed for his home greatly excited over the events of the morning, +but his excitement was a little allayed by the fear that he would be +late for his mid-day meal with dire results from Miss Melissa. + +As for the boys, they could talk of nothing else. The idea of that +lonely island, lying at the bottom of an unscalable canyon in the +midst of a burning, desolate desert, appealed powerfully to their +imaginations. Their minds were in a whirl over the strange coincidence +that had brought them in contact with a man who knew where possibly +inexhaustible supplies of the mysterious Z.2.X. lay ready for the +taking, provided it could be reached. + +"I'd give a whole lot to be able to fix up an expedition to go out +there and get that stuff," said Jack with a sigh. + +"So would I," agreed Tom. "But I guess, as Zeb Cummings said, it will +be a long time before anyone sets foot on Rattlesnake Island." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +IN THE LABORATORY. + + +That afternoon Jack broached to his father the events of the morning. +Mr. Chadwick's enthusiasm may be imagined as his son told him of the +professor's hasty analysis of the contents of Zeb Cumming's glass +vial. + +But there remained the insuperable obstacle of the remoteness of the +island where the deposits lay, and the difficulties--in fact, almost +the impossibilities--that barred the way. For the time being, however, +the matter was set aside while further experiments with the radio +telephone were conducted. As a means of increased transmitting power, +Mr. Chadwick had in mind a series of sending devices attached to one +mouthpiece. In this way he believed he could at least partially +overcome the resistance of the atmosphere, and get a higher percentage +of current. + +He had been working on the idea all the morning and was anxious for a +test. The Wondership was, therefore, wheeled out, and before long the +boys were in the air once more. As before, they sailed in the +direction of Rayburn. As they passed above the farm where they had met +with their adventure the day before, they turned to each other with a +laugh. + +Below them they could see men working on the damaged roof of the barn +and Tom burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter as he recalled +the queer sight the farmer presented dangling from the grapnel high +above his broad acres. + +"That reminds me," said Jack. "We must send him some money for that +roof." + +"How about his personal feelings?" grinned Tom. + +"I guess he wiped that score out when he blazed away at the balloon +bag." + +"Just the same, I think we'd better go pretty high up," advised Tom. +"He might fancy trying another shot at us." + +"That's so," agreed Jack, studying the men moving about far below. + +He pulled a lever and the Wondership began to rise. It was as well he +did so perhaps, for as they shot upward they could see that their +presence had been noted. They watched the men scurrying about and +pointing upward. But whether the Wondership was too high, or his +animosity had cooled after his involuntary ascension, the farmer made +no hostile demonstration, and they were soon out of Perkins' sight. + +Apparently the new device worked fine, for all through the afternoon, +at various heights and distances, they kept in perfect touch with Mr. +Chadwick. Every intonation of his voice was borne plainly to their +ears, Tom at times taking the wheel and the receivers while Jack +relieved him at the engines. + +The storm which had threatened the night before, still was hovering +about, as was evidenced by the white thunderheads piled on the +horizon. But the electricity in the air did not, as is sometimes the +case, interfere with the powerful impulses sent out from workshop and +airship. Although the air felt heavy, the instruments worked +perfectly. + +The boys flew over hill and dale for more than seventy miles prior to +any perceptible weakening in the current. But once it began to fail it +reduced rapidly until the messages were scarcely audible. But the +experiments were kept up till almost dusk, when Mr. Chadwick told the +boys to come back. + +As they returned the radio 'phones were kept working and as the +distance decreased the impulses grew stronger. + +"If only I had some of that Z.2.X.," said Mr. Chadwick, "I believe it +would be possible to send a message across the ocean or the +continent." + +Not long after this Jack heard again from his father. It was a +commonplace message enough. Sent merely to keep the air-line in +operation. + +"Here is Jupe with the afternoon mail," he said. + +"Anything for us?" asked Jack, enjoying the novel sensation of +talking through the air concerning such everyday matters. + +"Yes, there's one from Ned Nevins," was the rejoinder, "and here is +one for me from my New York brokers. Let me see--ah-h-h-h!" + +The last was a sharp exclamation, as if Mr. Chadwick had received a +sudden shock. It was followed by silence. Again and again Jack flashed +the red signaling lamp but there was no reply. + +He was seriously worried. The sudden sharp intake of breath, almost +like an outcry, that he had heard, oppressed him with a sense of +apprehension. What could have happened? Turning to Tom he called for +full speed ahead for the trip back. + +Tom was not slow in responding. He speeded the motors up to their top +capacity. In the air there were no speed laws to look out for, or +other motorists or pedestrians to avoid. It was a clear road. The +steel stays and stanchions of the stanch Wonder ship fairly hummed as +she shot forward, while an indefinable fear clutched at Jack's heart. + +He knew that his father was subject to fainting spells and he had been +overworking recently. Fast as the Wondership was cutting through the +air it felt like an eternity to Jack before the gray walls and the +well-laid-out grounds of High Towers came into view. + +The boys lost no time in landing, and not waiting to place the +Wondership in her shed, set out to look for Mr. Chadwick. Jupe came +shuffling by on his way from the cornpatch. + +"Where's dad, Jupe?" asked Jack. + +"In his labveroratory, ah reckons," answered the old colored man. +"Leastways ah ain't obfustucated any obserwations ob him round der +contagiois atmosferics." + +"Come on, Tom," said Jack. "Let's get to dad's workshop as quick as we +can." + +"Why, Jack, you--you don't think that anything has happened to him, do +you?" asked Tom. + +"I don't know. He was talking quite cheerfully to me and then, +without any warning, he gave a sort of gasp and then everything was +silent." + +The next minute the boys entered the workshop of the inventor. + +Jack's worst fears were realized as they gazed at the scene before +them. On the floor, stretched out inanimate before the radio telephone +apparatus, lay Mr. Chadwick. His right hand grasped a letter. + +His head lay in a pool of blood, oozing from a cut at the back of his +head. + +"Dad! dad! What has happened?" cried Jack, in an agony of alarm, as he +fell to his knees at his father's side. + +But Mr. Chadwick did not answer. The next moment Tom's shout for help +brought everybody about the place running toward the workshop where +the alarming discovery had been made. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +INTO THE STORM. + + +"Carry him into the house and get him to bed," cried Mrs. Bagley, the +housekeeper, wringing her hands distractedly. "Oh dear! poor +gentleman, he's bin a-workin' too hard, that's what's the matter." + +Jupe and Hank Hawkins, the handy man, picked the unconscious man up +and carried him to bed, where he was made comfortable. + +Jack and Tom made an investigation of the workshop. At first the cut +on Mr. Chadwick's head had given Jack the impression that he might +have been the victim of foul play. + +But a brief survey of the place soon dispelled these conclusions. When +he fell, the inventor struck his head against the sharp corner of a +table right behind him, Jack concluded, and in this way inflicted the +wound. + +The letter that his father had been reading when he was stricken +still lay on the floor. Jack picked it up. It was from the brokers in +New York, the same missive Mr. Chadwick had referred to over the radio +'phone just before the silence that so alarmed Jack. + +Glancing over it Jack's eyes widened. He perceived at once that the +cause of his father's sudden attack no doubt lay in the shock he had +received when he opened the envelope. The letter was curt and to the +point. + +"Your securities wiped out in panic," it said. "Wire us and advise +what to do." + +That was all, but it was enough. Jack knew that most of his father's +money was invested with the firm that had written the letter, and now +they had been wiped out in a money panic. Jack had no idea how much of +his father's fortune was affected, but it was evident from Mr. +Chadwick's collapse that he had been dealt a heavy blow. + +He was in the midst of talking to Tom about the letter when the +housekeeper came running from the house. + +"Oh, here you boys are!" she exclaimed. "You must get Dr. Mays at +once. Those red drops he gave your father are finished and I can't +find any more." + +"I'll telephone," said Jack promptly, stuffing the letter into his +pocket. + +"I've already tried that," said Mrs. Bagley, "but the line is out of +order." + +"Can't we get some other doctor?" asked Tom. + +Mrs. Bagley shook her head. + +"Dr. Mays is the only one who understands your father's case," she +said. "You must get him as soon as possible." + +"Is dad conscious yet?" asked Jack anxiously. + +"Yes, he has been trying to tell me something but I won't let him +talk." + +"We'll get Dr. Mays right away," said Jack, but then he suddenly +recollected that the electric car was slightly out of order. There +would be no time to stop and repair it then. + +Luckily the Wondership still stood outside the shed. Five minutes +later the boys were soaring aloft, bound for the doctor's house, which +was some distance away. It was not till they had fairly started that +they noticed the change in the weather. + +The thunderheads they had seen earlier in the day now spread and +covered the whole sky with a dark pall. The air was very still, as if +nature was holding her breath. Far off, though in plain view, the sea +was lying like a smooth sheet of steel-gray velvet. A sailing ship, +with sails flapping, was becalmed some distance from shore. + +"Going to rain," said Tom. + +"Worse than that, I think," said Jack. "We're in for the storm that's +been making up for two days now." + +"Well, we can get there and back before it breaks." + +"Easily. Let those motors out, Tom, we want to make good time." + +It was oppressively hot, and had it not been for Jack's anxiety he +would have enjoyed the swift cooling passage through the thundery air. +But he was strangely troubled. Did that letter mean that his father +was on the verge of ruin? + +Suddenly he bethought himself of Ned Nevins' letter. He opened it, +having pushed it into his pocket when they entered the workshop, where +Mr. Chadwick had placed it before opening the ominous epistle from his +brokers. It was a friendly, chatty note from the boy, and enclosed the +checks covering the joint dividends of Jack and Tom in the +Hydroaeroplane Company. + +"Well, at any rate, that's something," declared Jack to Tom, as he +handed him the letter and his check. + +"Yes, but if Uncle Chester is ruined, it's only a drop in the bucket," +said Tom. + +"Well, it's no use crossing your bridges till you come to them," said +Jack, "and anyhow, that letter may be only a false alarm. I've heard +they get these financial panics in Wall Street just like kids get the +measles, and they get over them as quickly." + +"I trust it will be so in this case," said Tom. + +"So do I," said Jack hopefully, but a cold fear that his father was +ruined possessed him, and made his heart feel heavy as lead. + +Suddenly, from the purple firmament, came the sound of distant +thunder. Following it a puff of wind, hot as the exhalation of an +opened oven, blew in their faces. In the distance they saw a ragged +streak of lightning tear the cloud curtains. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE "LIGHTNING CAGE." + + +"Look at that, will you!" exclaimed Tom. + +"What, you are not scared, are you?" asked Jack. + +"N-no, but I must say I'm not fond of thunderstorms Particularly when +we are carrying all that gas over our heads." + +"That new invention of mine will take care of that all right," said +Jack confidently. + +He referred to a new device of his with which the Wondership was +equipped for protecting balloon bags from lightning. In a thunderstorm +a balloon, or gas-filled dirigible, is subject to sudden variations of +electric charge which, under certain conditions, might produce sparks +leading to its annihilation. + +More especially was this the case with such a craft as this +Wondership, carrying as she did so much metal and steel wiring. The +netting of the bag, with the idea of making it as conductive as +possible, was of metal, connecting with the other metal parts of the +craft so that when a steel drag rope was lowered to the ground a +discharge of lightning striking the balloon would be passed off +harmlessly into the earth, as is the case with a lightning conductor. + +It might be supposed that making the outside of a balloon a good +conductor would invite danger from lightning. But the Boy Inventors +knew that this was not the case. While the ordinary balloon envelope +is a fairly good insulator against low voltage, it is unable to resist +the high tension of atmospheric electricity. + +Jack ascertained these facts by touching an electroscope with a bit of +balloon cloth of the kind used on the Wondership, and charged with +2,000 volts of electricity. The electroscope instantly responded. + +This showed that the balloon bag increased the electrical tension +immediately above and below it as much as it would do if it was a +perfect conductor, but the destructive action of a lightning bolt +would be greater in proportion to the resistance opposed to it. So +that, in reality, Jack's device was one of the safest that could be +imagined for protecting balloonists in a heavy storm. + +In effect, the occupants of the Wondership were enclosed in a cage. +Lightning might zip through the wires and stays, but it could not +touch them. As to the danger of letting out gas through the valve in a +strong electric field, which is almost certain to produce sparks, the +boys did not have to worry about that for to deflate the bag they +simply pumped some of its contents back into the reservoir with the +powerful gas pumps. + +But after all, Jack's device had never been tested. It looked as if it +was due to be. The wind came in sharp puffs, now hot and now cold. + +Ragged, white clouds, like wind-driven fragments of filmy lace, began +to whip across the dark heavens. The sea turned a peculiar light +green and was flecked with whitecaps. + +"We're in for it," said Jack. "Better get up the storm curtains, Tom." + +While Jack steered, Tom drew up the waterproof curtains and top which, +in rainy weather, made the Wondership quite dry and weather-tight. +Mica portholes gave light inside this extemporized cabin, and enabled +the steersman to see. + +This had hardly been done when a wild gust of wind struck the +Wondership and sent it staggering off its course. But in a jiffy Jack +regained control of the craft and headed her straight for the white +house occupied by Dr. Mays, which could now be seen, its lofty cupola +poking up above the trees surrounding it. + +"Glad we're nearly there," said Tom. "I don't much like this." + +"We're O.K.," Jack assured him. "We went through a lot worse than this +in that circular storm in Yucatan." + +"Can't we drop and run along the road?" + +"It's much longer by the road than by the air line, and remember we +are in a big hurry." + +"That's so. But we've got the return trip ahead of us." + +"Well, if it gets too bad, we'll have to come back by road," said +Jack, "but I haven't got a doubt that she'll stand anything that will +come out of this storm." + +Crash! + +The sky was rent from end to end by jagged lightning. With a deafening +roar the thunder broke, rumbling and crashing in the sultry air. + +S-w-i-s-h! + +The rain came in torrents, tearing at the storm curtains. It beat +frantically at them with a noise like that of surf on a beach. But +inside the boys were snug and dry, and the Wondership forged steadily +forward. It was a weird experience for the boys. About them the +artillery of heaven thundered and flashed. They could see each other's +faces and the black outlines of their craft in the livid flare of +flash after flash of lightning. + +Jack, with his hands firmly gripping the steering wheel, anticipating +every move of the storm-tossed Wondership like a skillful pilot, felt +his pulses throb. There was something fine in battling with the +elements like this in a stanch craft they had perfected. He felt that +no other airship then in existence would have been able to keep up the +fight. + +All at once there came a crash that drove his eardrums in. The +Wondership staggered and then seemed to leap into lambent flame. +Blinded, Jack threw his hands before his eyes, utterly forgetting for +the minute the steering wheel. + +Tom gave a shout of alarm, as he felt the craft stagger as if dealt a +mortal blow, and then begin to drop earthward. + +"We've been struck!" he yelled in panic. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THROUGH THE AIR. + + +For the fraction of a second the faculties of both boys were +paralyzed. A tingling sensation was in their limbs. Jack was the first +to recover his wits. He snatched his hands from his eyes and seized +the wheel. In a jiffy the Wondership's earthward plunge was checked. +Once more she regained an even keel. + +"Wh-what happened?" stuttered Tom anxiously. + +"We were hit by lightning," replied Jack. + +"Goodness! I thought we were goners, for a minute." + +"I confess that I did, too. But I guess the 'electric cage' worked. +Everything seems to be shipshape." + +Jack was right. Thanks to his ingenious invention, the lightning, +which had struck the aircraft, had been diffused through the safety +"cage" and safely convoyed to the earth by the ground chain made of +light manganese bronze, which had been lowered when the storm broke. + +"Just the same I don't want to get hit again," said Tom. "I thought +for a minute the world had come to an end." + +"My fingers are tingling yet," said Jack, "and I can see stars, but I +think if it hadn't been for the cage we would have likely been blown +to smithereens." + +By this time they were almost over the doctor's house and extensive +grounds. Jack manipulated the Wondership against the storm, flying in +a circle, and snapped on the powerful searchlight. With the help of +its rays he picked out a good landing place, and having set the pumps +at work abstracting gas from the bag, they soon made a good landing. + +Doctor Mays stood on his porch as they left the ship and ran through +the downpour for the house. + +"Gracious, boys!" he exclaimed, "but you certainly gave me a fright. +I thought when that bolt hit you that you were going to be +annihilated." + +"How did it look from below?" asked Jack. + +"As if you were enveloped in blue flame. Then suddenly a ball of red +fire slid from the ship to the ground----" + +"Down the conducting rope," put in Jack. + +"And exploded with a loud bang when it struck the ground," continued +the doctor. "But all's well that ends well, and now tell me what +brings you here, for I know it must be urgent business or you'd never +have ventured through such a storm." + +Jack hastily told the doctor of his father's stroke. The medical man +looked grave. + +"I'll go with you just as soon as I can pack my bag," he said. "Your +father had been overworking. I warned him of what would happen if he +did not rest up, some time ago, but he has, seemingly, disregarded my +advice." + +In a few minutes the doctor, muffled up in a raincoat, was ready to +start. But he stipulated that the run to High Towers should be made by +the road. + +"I like excitement as well as anybody," he said, "and I've been up in +your Wondership before----" + +"When it was the Roadracer," interpolated Jack. + +"Exactly; but I must confess that when I saw you a short time ago +looking like a floating ball of fire, I lost my taste for aerial +travel." + +"We'll go back by road, then," said Jack, as through the rain, which +was falling in torrents, they ran to the Wondership. + +"My, but you have it snug in here," said the doctor, as he entered the +tight, waterproof cabin. + +"Hang up your coat, doctor," said Tom, and he took the physician's +dripping mackintosh and slung it on a hook attached to one of the +stanchions. Then the start was made, with the bag partially deflated +and lying in limp, wet folds on its framework. + +Through the night, under skies fretted with lightning, the Wondership +shot forward. Out on the open road Jack ordered full speed, the great +searchlights illuming the roadway as if it were day. He felt little +apprehension of meeting other vehicles. The night was too bad to +permit of any save emergency traveling. + +The roads were deep in mud, and water spurted up from the wheels of +the flying car as it raced through the storm. But seated snug and dry +in the cabin none of them bothered about this. Little was said. Jack +had to concentrate his mind on handling the Wondership, for driving +under the conditions, and at such speed, required all the +wheel-handler's attention. + +On and on they flew, down hills and over bridges, under which, +ordinarily, quiet streams flowed, but now swollen by the rains, they +boiled and raced like angry torrents. They flashed through villages +and past farmhouses without encountering a soul, while overhead the +tempest roared and raged and flared. + +They were shooting down a hill at top speed when Jack suddenly gave a +gasp. Right in front of them, vividly outlined in the searchlight's +glare, was an obstacle. A big wagonload of hay, covered with a +tarpaulin, and deserted by its driver who, despairing of mounting the +hill in the storm, had unhitched his horses and driven off till the +weather cleared. + +The wagon was in such a position that it blocked the road, which was +sunken between high banks at that point. Jack ground down his brakes +in chagrin. + +"Blocked!" he exclaimed disgustedly. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +VAULTING TO THE RESCUE. + + +"What awful luck," muttered Tom. + +"Isn't there any way we can get by?" inquired the doctor anxiously. +"It's important that I should reach Mr. Chadwick as soon as possible." + +Jack made no reply, but bent over the gas-valve. In an instant the gas +was hissing into the balloon bag. Its wet folds swelled out, and +presently Jack started the propellers. Like a racehorse leaping a +barrier, the Wondership rose skyward. + +"Hold fast!" cried the boy in a triumphant voice. + +"Wow!" yelled Tom, "there are more ways of killing a cat than by +choking it with cream." + +The next moment the Wondership was in the road on the other side of +the hay wagon, having hurdled it like a high jumper, and was once more +on her way. + +"Jove, you boys are marvels!" exclaimed the doctor. "Is there +anything you can't do with this craft, or auto, or whatever it is, of +yours?" + +"Lots of things, I guess," said Tom, "but we haven't found many of +them yet." + +At uninterrupted speed the journey was resumed. At times so swift was +the pace that the Wondership seemed to be half flying. Thanks to her +shock absorbers, but little motion was felt, although in places the +roadway had been washed out by the torrential downpour and was very +rough. + +"Whereabouts are we?" shouted Tom, as they rushed along. + +"Near the Coon Creek Bridge," flung back Jack over his shoulder. "We +ought to sight it at any moment now." + +He peered through the blackness ahead. The searchlights failed to show +any bridge. But the young driver saw an abandoned cottage by the +roadside which had formerly been used as a toolhouse. Just beyond it +he knew the bridge should loom up with its white railings. + +But there was not a sign of it. + +Not till it was too late to stop did Jack realize what had happened. +The bridge had been washed away by the rising waters of the creek and +he was tearing at top speed for the steep banks. + +It was a moment for lightning thinking. Right ahead loomed a black pit +which he knew marked the water course. + +Suddenly it flashed into Jack's mind that in former times, before the +bridge had been built, there had been a ford at the point. + +The banks, steep elsewhere, almost wall-like in fact, were still +graded at the place where the old crossing spot had been. + +He jerked over the steering wheel with a suddenness that threatened to +overturn the Wondership. The auto-craft plunged wildly to one side and +then rushed downward. + +Before he realized it, Jack had steered her into the rushing waters of +the swollen creek. + +"All the power you've got," he cried to Tom, as the Wondership +careened and tipped madly and then recovered an even keel. Jack headed +her up stream while Tom, who hardly knew what had happened, blindly +obeyed orders. + +Jack's chief fear was that the rush of the torrential water would +carry him too far down to make a landing on the opposite side of the +old ford. In that case they would be in a bad fix, for the creek ran +for some distance between steep walls of limestone rock. + +It was a hard struggle. The twin propellers beat the air furiously, +clawing the Wondership up stream, while the water hissed and roared +all about her, and the engine labored with a noise like that of a +giant locust. + +And then, almost before he knew it, and before either Tom or the +doctor realized in the least what had happened, they found themselves +safe on the other side. They had gained the opposite slope of the ford +with hardly an inch to spare, but that was enough. + +The Wondership sped up the bank as if glad to be free of the battle +with the swollen creek, and not half an hour afterward they rolled up +to High Towers. + +Dr. Mays was met almost tearfully by Mrs. Bagley. + +"How is he?" was his first question. + +"He seems to be better, doctor, but something is worrying him," said +the worthy woman. + +"I'll go up to him at once. You boys had better stay here," said the +doctor. + +The physician was upstairs a long time. When he came down he looked +grave. + +"Is dad any better?" asked Jack anxiously. + +"He is suffering from a nervous breakdown due to overwork," said the +doctor. "The cut on his head is a mere flesh wound. But he appears to +have something on his mind. Do you know what it is?" + +Then, and not till then, for in the rush of events he had completely +forgotten it, Jack remembered the letter from the brokers. + +"Dr. Mays," he said, "you are an old friend?" + +"I hope so, my boy. You may confide in me freely if you know any +reason for your father's disquiet." + +"If you will read this, doctor, you will understand," and Jack handed +him the letter. + +Dr. Mays read it with knitted brows. + +"So this explains it," he said as he returned it to Jack. "Your father +kept muttering about foolish speculations and ruin, but would not tell +me what he meant. Now it is all clear. Poor Chadwick, I'm afraid from +what he said that his fortune, all but a small amount, is wiped out." + +"But will he get better, doctor?" asked Jack anxiously, disregarding +the monetary aspect of the affair. + +"That all depends," said the doctor seriously, "on his freedom from +anxiety." + +"You mean that he must not worry over money matters?" + +"Precisely; but, as that letter states he is ruined, it will be hard +to set his mind at rest. If there were only some way of meeting the +situation!" + +In the crucible of that moment an idea was borne to Jack that was +destined to lead him into strange paths. + +"I think I know of a way," he said quietly, "that is, if the brokers' +message is not exaggerated." + +But it was not. The next day confirmatory reports arrived of the wreck +of Mr. Chadwick's fortunes. In his room, attended constantly by Dr. +Mays, his friend as well as physician, the inventor raved of his +losses. + +"We have got to think of some way of easing his mind," said Dr. Mays, +who had placed his regular practice in the hands of another doctor so +that he might be with Mr. Chadwick. "If only his fortune could be won +back." + +"I think I know of a way," said Jack quietly. + +The doctor stared at him as if he thought the boy had taken leave of +his senses. + +"You know of a way?" he questioned incredulously. + +"Yes, sir. At least if the information Tom and I have on the subject +is correct." + +"I don't follow you," said the puzzled doctor. "Your father has lost +thousands." + +Jack nodded. + +"I know all that," he said. + +"And yet you are prepared to get it back?" + +"I said I thought there was a possibility," was Jack's quiet reply. + +"And what may that be?" + +"Did you ever hear of Z.2.X., doctor?" was the entirely unexpected +question. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +"Z.2.X." + + +"Z.2.X.? Well, such things are rather out of my line, but I have heard +of it--yes," replied the doctor, looking more puzzled than ever. "But +what do you know about it?" + +"Till two days ago--nothing," replied Jack, "but now I believe that I +know where there is a trainload of it." + +"Good heavens, boy, you don't know what you're talking about. Why, the +stuff is as valuable--as valuable as radium. Possibly it is worth +more." + +"Then even a small quantity would restore my father's fortune and his +health?" asked Jack, persisting in his line of inquiry. + +"Undoubtedly it would restore his fortune, and in my belief his +health, which he is unlikely to gain otherwise." + +"Then I'll do it," said Jack, speaking for himself and Tom, for the +two lads had discussed the idea the night before. "Those dividends +from our share of the hydroaeroplane plant will fit out an expedition, +and if we fail--well, we can still sell out our interest and help dad +get on his feet again." + +The telephone bell jangled. Jack answered it. The voice that came over +the wire was that of Professor Jenks. His tones trembled with +excitement as he spoke to the boy. + +"I have analyzed that sample from the Colorado River," he said. + +"Well, what is your verdict?" asked Jack, with a painfully beating +heart. + +"That when all the expenses of reduction and refining and +transportation and digging are deducted that it will be worth at least +$100 an ounce," was the reply. "It would bring an even higher price, +for the placing of a large amount on the market will probably have the +effect of lowering it." + +"Great Scott!" breathed Jack, "and there's a whole island of it there +for the taking." + +"Yes; but how are yow going to get it? The cliffs are unscalable, the +river unnavigable. It might as well be in Mars for all the good it +does anyone," objected the professor. + +Jack's next words were direct, to say the least. + +"I've figured out all that," he said. "We can get it, if it's there to +be got. I've a reason now for going out there if it's possible to come +to some arrangement with Zeb Cummings. Can you meet me at the hospital +this afternoon to talk over the matter?" + +"Are you serious?" gasped the professor. + +"Perfectly," Jack assured him. "If we can't get at it by earth or +water we can reach it from the air, can't we?" + +"Heaven bless my soul, I never thought of that," choked out the +professor. "I--Melissa's calling me. I'll meet you at the hospital +this afternoon." + +"Tom and I will be there," said Jack, but the professor, at the +imperious bidding of Melissa, had hung up the receiver. + +The result of the conference held that afternoon at the bedside of Zeb +Cummings was the formation of the Z.2.X. Exploration Company, the +members being Jack, Tom, Zeb Cummings and the professor. The capital +was to be furnished in equal amounts by the professor and the boys, +and Zeb Cummings was to be an equal partner in the enterprise, he +having furnished the information on which Jack hoped to rehabilitate +his father's fortunes. + +As for the professor, he did not so much regard the pecuniary side of +the expedition as the opportunity he would have to write an +epoch-making book and confound his scientific rivals. In their +enthusiasm, the adventurers did not take into consideration the fact +that the map might be wrong, or that the strange metals be just +visionary deposits. The boys' enthusiasm drowned all doubts in their +minds; Zeb and the professor never were as optimistic. + +Dr. Mays, when he had been placed in full possession of the facts and +considered them, decided that under the circumstances the boys could +go and undertook to quiet any apprehensions Mr. Chadwick might have +concerning the trip. It was found that enough had been saved from the +wreck of the inventor's fortunes to enable him to live comfortably +while the boys were away, besides which he had royalties from several +inventions coming in. Still, the bulk of his fortunes had vanished and +the radio telephone was not yet a practicable instrument to put upon +the market. + +But with Z.2.X. the boys hoped to make it a perfect transmitter of +speech over great distances. + +Of course, Jack's plan was to utilize the Wondership on the enterprise +of finding Rattlesnake Island and its treasures. After long +consultations with Zeb, who was now convalescent, it was decided to +ship the craft, in sections, to Yuma on the Colorado River and make +the start secretly from some point below there. + +It was in the midst of these plans, and while the boys' workshed was +littered with lists of provisions and equipment that Dick Donovan +injected himself into the situation. The red-headed young reporter +descended upon them one day when they were busily packing the +Wondership away in big crates, which were labeled in various ways so +as to give no inkling of the contents. + +Of course Dick, being in a way a member of the firm, had to be told +what was going on, and the result was that after a lot of hard +pleading the boys consented to allow him to come along. + +"He's got red hair," said Zeb, "and that ought to make him good on the +trail, same as a buckskin cayuse." + +The boys didn't quite see the logic of this, but they knew from former +experiences that the young reporter was a good campmate, and they +were, on the whole, glad that they had included him. But when young +Donovan came to High Towers, he was not aware that he was followed by +Bill Masterson, who, as we know, was the son of the proprietor of the +_Boston Moon_, on which paper young Masterson also worked as a +reporter. + +Ever since Dick Donovan had written for his paper, the _Boston Evening +Eagle_, the wonderful story of the boys' adventures on the trail of +the giant sloth of Brazil, other Boston reporters had regarded him as +worth watching. In some way, young Masterson learned of Dick's +frequent visits to High Towers while the preparations for the Colorado +trip were going forward. + +"It's my idea," he told his father, "that those Boy Inventors are +planning another big stunt and that Dick Donovan is to go along and +write the story. Do we want to get beaten again?" + +"We do not," said his father, a heavily-set, dictatorial man, +perpetually at war with the _Evening Eagle_. "That last beat of +Donovan's on the Brazil story jumped the _Eagle's_ circulation sky +high." + +"Well, why not let me trail along after them and find out what I can?" +said young Masterson. "No use letting the _Moon_ get soaked again, and +besides, I want to get even on those young fellows, anyhow, for the +mean trick they played in having me arrested, even if it didn't come +to anything, and the case was dropped. + +"Jove!" he cried suddenly, as a new train of thought was suggested to +him. "I'll bet I've got it. This trip, or whatever it is, they are +planning has something to do with that miner, Zeb Cummings, the chap I +ran down." + +"Well, it's worth keeping a weather eye on, anyway," decided his +father. "I guess you'll get the assignment." + +"And I'll run it down, too," declared young Masterson boastfully. "I +owe that red-headed, chesty Donovan a grudge anyhow." + +That evening young Masterson met by appointment the two youths who had +been with him in the automobile the day that Zeb was run down. They +were both sons of wealthy men, and had more money than was good for +them. Masterson found that both Sam Higgins and Eph Compton were +willing to do all they could to harm the boys who had been responsible +for their arrests, and so it came about that Jupe, on his way to the +village to post some letters, was enticed into talk one night, and +while he was chatting and accepting the good cigars three amiable +young men pressed upon him, the mail was abstracted from his pocket. + +There were two letters, one from Dick to his city editor telling him +of the progress made and informing him of the day for the start, and +the other from Jack to his father, who was a guest of Dr. Mays. Jack +gave full details of their plans and other information concerning the +trip, so that the three plotters, a few days before the expedition set +out, knew as much about it as the boys themselves. + +Armed with this information, Masterson, Higgins and Compton had no +difficulty in getting money from their parents, all of whom would have +described themselves as "keen business men." As for Jupe, he was too +badly scared to say anything about the loss of the letters, and as +Masterson, after steaming them open and abstracting what he wanted of +their contents, posted them to their proper destinations, the boys +started out on their long journey west without the slightest idea that +anyone but themselves and one or two others knew of their plans. + +The professor's going was not unaccompanied by difficulties. Miss +Melissa had insisted that if he was to accompany the expedition, she +was going along, too. This being manifestly impossible, the man of +science was driven to the subterfuge of placing a bag of fossils in +his bed to represent him. On the night of the start, Miss Melissa +looked into his room every few minutes to make sure he had not +escaped. + +It was not till morning that she discovered that the man of science +had effected his escape through his bedroom window, climbing down a +latticework to the ground. At first she was half inclined to pursue +him, but thought the better of it when she read the note the professor +had left behind. + +"Well," said Miss Melissa to her little maid, "there's one good +thing--he won't be cluttering up the house with old stones and rocks +for some time to come." + +"What shall I do with them fossils what he put in his bed to make +believe it was him, miss?" asked the maid. + +"You may throw them into the creek at the back of the house, Mary," +said Miss Melissa, and went placidly about her dusting and sweeping +and "setting to rights." + +But of all this, the professor, on the train speeding westward, was +blissfully unconscious. Perhaps even if he had known it, he would not +have cared much, for even his scientific mind was warmed and thrilled +by the prospect of the aerial search for the mineral treasures of +Rattlesnake Island. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +ON THE BORDER LINE. + + +The long train of gray-coated coaches, filmed with the arid dust of +the desert, rolled into Yuma, the little town at the junction of the +Gila and Colorado River, popularly supposed to be the hottest place in +America. The boys, glad that their long journey had come to an end, +felt that it was living up to its reputation as they alighted and +stood in the blistering heat while their personal baggage was thrown +off. + +The professor, however, was quite oblivious to the scorching rays of +the afternoon sun. He darted about seeking specimens, and he had soon +gathered up quite a collection of small rocks. In the meantime Zeb +Cummings, who was quite in his element, had helped the boys get their +things together and see them loaded on a mule wagon which rattled them +off to a small hotel, for they did not want to make themselves any +more conspicuous than was necessary. + +The boys wore gray flannel shirts, khaki trousers, stout high boots +and broad-brimmed hats, and had fastened red handkerchiefs round their +throats to keep off the sun from the back of their necks. Zeb had a +similar outfit. + +The professor, however, still wore his baggy black garments, his only +concession to the heat being a big green umbrella, which looked like a +gigantic verdant mushroom. As they drove off in a rickety sort of bus, +having with difficulty persuaded the professor to leave off specimen +hunting for a while, the boys did not notice that from the opposite +side of the train three young men had alighted who, from a point of +vantage behind a water tower, watched their movements. + +The trio were Bill Masterson and his two cronies, Sam Higgins and Eph +Compton. + +"Well, here we are, Eph," said Bill, as they watched the boys drive +off. + +"Yes, and here they are, too," grunted Eph. + +"I'm glad we've got here at last, though. Keeping out of sight on +that train was beginning to get on my nerves." + +"Same here," said Sam Higgins, stretching himself. "But I guess we +succeeded in keeping ourselves hidden all right." + +"Sure," rejoined Masterson. "They haven't a notion we are here." + +In the meantime the lads found accommodations till the next day at the +small hotel on a back street where Zeb had insisted on their coming so +as to escape observation. Yuma is full of prospectors and miners, and +every stranger in town is suspected of having some sort of a scheme, +he explained, and as a consequence is closely watched. + +Zeb's first care, therefore, was to circulate a story that the +professor, a noted savant and geologist, was going into the desert +with his party to collect specimens. This appeared to satisfy the +landlord, who was at first inclined to be curious. + +The professor had hardly been shown his room before he was out again +with his hammer and satchel and his attention was almost at once +attracted by a big stone that held up one corner of the barn at the +back of the hotel. The boys knew nothing of what he was doing till +they heard a loud, angry voice crying: + +"Hey, you in ther preacher's suit! Quit tryin' ter pull thet thar barn +down, will yer?" + +"But, my dear sir," came the professor's voice, in mild expostulation, +"are you aware that you have built your barn on the top of a splendid +specimen of primordial rock?" + +"Don't know nuthin' about a prime order of rock," came back the other +voice. + +The boys looked out of the window. They saw the landlord of the hotel, +a surly-looking fellow, with a big black mustache and tanned cheeks, +striding across the yard to the professor, who had blissfully resumed +his chipping. + +The landlord reached out one brawny hand to grab his guest, when +something happened that made him temporarily cease hostilities. A big +chunk of rock suddenly flaked off under the professor's assault. It +flew in the air and the next instant a yell of pain apprised them that +the landlord had got it right in the eye. + +The professor looked round as the man emitted a bellow of rage. + +"Bless me, where did that bit of rock go? Ah, there it is! Right at +your feet, sir," and he darted forward with a smile of satisfaction +and, picking up the chunk of rock that had struck the indignant +landlord, placed it in his satchel. + +"Thank you very much for stopping it, sir," he said, with a bow, and +then, before the thunderstruck landlord could say anything, the +scientist strolled off under his umbrella in search of more specimens. +The boys fairly choked with laughter. + +But the landlord was too dumfounded even to speak for a minute. His +face grew as purple as a plum. He appeared to be about to burst. + +"He's locoed," he burst forth at last, "locoed as a horn toad, by the +'tarnal hills." + +Then, holding a hand to his eye, he reentered the hotel and could be +heard shouting for hot water to bathe his injury. + +Zeb, who had been out looking for a trustworthy man to take their +effects out to a spot along the river where they could put the +Wondership together without exciting undue curiosity, returned shortly +before supper with news that he had been successful in his search, an +old, wrinkled prospector named Pete McGee, who had learned the secret +of silence during the long years he had spent on the desert. + +After the evening meal old McGee put in an appearance and a bargain +was struck. But if he was, as Zeb put it, "close-mouthed" on some +subjects, he was not on others. + +"So yer are a'goin' out inter the desert, hey?" he asked the boys. + +"That's our intention," said Dick. + +The old man shook his head. + +"The desert's a tough place," he said. "A mighty tough place. Reckon +it's likely yer are er goin' prospectin', maybe?" + +The boys returned an evasive answer. But old McGee rambled on with the +crisscross wrinkles forming and fading round his washed-out blue eyes. + +"Wa'al, I had my share on it, ain't I, Zeb?" said the old man to Zeb, +who had just strolled up, smoking a short, black pipe. The professor, +after adjusting his difficulties with the landlord, was sorting and +labeling specimens in his room. + +"Reckon you have, Pete," responded the yellow-bearded miner. "You +didn't never find that thar lost Peg-leg Smith mine, did yer?" + +"No; but I will some day," declared the old man, a fanatic gleam +shining in his faded optics. "I'll find it some day, Zeb. I never got +to it, but I come mighty close--yes, sir, ole Pete he come mighty +close." + +"Tell the boys about Peg-leg Smith's lost mine," suggested Zeb. + +"Give me the fillin's, then, an' I will," said old Pete, holding out +a blackened and empty corncob, "though I'm surprised they ain't never +heard on it. Thought everybody had heard of Peg-leg's mine." + +"Wa'al, you see they come frum ther East," explained Zeb +apologetically. + +"Ah, that accounts fer it," said old Pete indulgently. "You couldn't +'spec Easterners ter know nuthin' 'bout it. 'Wa'al, young sirs, +somewheres out on the desert ter the east uv here thar is three buttes +a stickin' up, and right thar is Peg-leg Smith's lost mine whar they +say the very sands is uv gold. + +"Who was Peg-leg? Wa'al, that's in a way not very well known. Anyhow, +his name was Smith, and he was shy an off leg, and so he gets his +name. Back in 1836 Peg-leg he blows inter Yuma with a party of +trappers that hed worked down ther Colorado. + +"They decides to quit trapping and go ter gold huntin', and makes +their way up the Gila River and then cuts off inter ther desert. Frum +Yuma they goes southeast and kep' on fer four days across the desert. +At ther end of the fourth day they 'lows that ther water ain' a-goin' +ter hold out a turrible lot longer, and they decides to look fer a +water-hole in a canyon at ther end uv which stands three lone buttes +sticking up, like sentinels against ther sky. + +"Wa'al, they hunts ther canyon through but nary a drop of water. In +time they reaches ther buttes. They climbs to ther top ter see what +might lay beyond, but they see nuthin' but ther same God-forgotten +country. + +"But Peg-leg, who fer all he was minus a limb, could travel with any +of 'em, he finds at the top of the southernmost butte a lot of chunks +of black rock lying round promiscous, an' some of them has specks an' +chunks of yaller as bright as Zeb's beard on 'em. Peg-leg he opines +ther yaller is nuthin' but copper, or maybe fool's gold. + +"That night they camps, feelin' considerable blue, fer ther's mighty +little water left an' they've come too far ter go back. But in ther +distance thar's a big mountain and they make up their minds they'll +find water thar or bust and wither on the desert. + +"Ther next evening, more dead than alive, they reaches the mountain +and finds a little spring. It was ther finest thing they'd seen fer a +long time, and in honor of Peg-leg, who suggested going to ther +mountain, they calls it Smith Mountain, and that's its name to this +day. In time they worked round to San Bernardino and then Smith he +hunts up a mineral sharp who tells him that what he had found was +gold. + +"Wa'al, Smith was a curious feller, frum all accounts, and it was not +till '49 when ther big gold rush came that he thought much more about +those three buttes with the gold lying round loose as dirt on 'em. +Then he got ther gold fever. He went to 'Frisco and gets up an +expedition to find them three buttes. + +"They got down inter ther desert country all right and locates Smith +Mountain. But the dern Indians they had with 'em as guides cleaned +out the camp one fine night, and they had a hard time getting back to +civilization alive. Well, that's where Peg-leg Smith goes out of the +story." + +"Wasn't he ever heard of again?" asked Jack. + +"No, siree, not hide nor hair on him. Nobody never knows what became +of him arter they got back to San Bernardino. Some says that he went +back alone lookin' fer the three buttes and was lost in the desert and +that his bones is out thar some'eres to-day, an' others says that he +got so plum disgusted he went back home to St. Louis. But nobody +rightly knows. + +"The next heard of ther three buttes was many years later when an +Indian, who worked on Governor Downey's ranch, not far from Smith +Mountain, developed a habit of goin' away fer a few days and then +comin' back with bits of black rock chock full of gold which he traded +fer firewater and such. He didn't seem ter care if he got full value +or not. + +"'Plenty more where those came from,' he'd say. + +"Wa'al, they set a watch on him and found that he always headed off +inter ther desert by way of Smith Mountain, which would be the nat'ul +way of gettin' ter ther three buttes that Peg-leg had described. + +"Guv'ner Downey he come to hear about this in course of time, and he +come down frum Sacramento to question ther Injun. But in ther meantime +ther pesky coyote had gone and got himself killed in a quarrel over +cards and so there they was up agains' a blank wall ag'in." + +The old prospector paused to fill his pipe. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +"THE THREE BUTTES." + + +"The Injun bein' dead, the guv'ner did the nex' best thing. He +questioned his squaw. But she couldn't tell 'em much 'cept that the +Injun told her he got his last water at t'other side of Smith Mountain +and then traveled toward ther sun till erbout mid-afternoon when he +found mucho, mucho oro. + +"The guv'ner made two or three tries to locate them buttes, but he +failed. Then come along a man named McGuire, who said he knew where +the buttes was and showed black rocks with gold in 'em to prove it, +jes' like the ones Peg-leg and ther Injun had found, they was. Well, +McGuire he gets five other dern fools and off they starts and that's +the end of them. They ain't never heard of ag'in. + +"Then comes a prospector who gets lost, and in hunting for water +finds these same three buttes and the black, gold-specked rocks that +are scattered about. But he wasn't bothering about gold just then, so +he keeps on and in time finds the water hole at the foot of Smith +Mountain. + +"He comes back to Los Angeles and tries to organize a company to go to +ther three buttes. But he falls ill and when he learns he's goin' ter +die he tells Dr. De Courcy, that's his physician, that he knows whar +Peg-leg's lost mine is an' gives him a map an' directions. Arter ther +man dies, Dr. De Courcy spends all his money trying ter find ther +buttes, but he fails. Then comes a young chap named Tom Cover of +Riverside. He's wealthy and fits out a dozen or more outfits to hunt +fer ther three buttes. But after setting out on his twelfth trip he +never comes back, so they know that Peg-leg Smith's mine has claimed +another victim." + +"Is there anything to prove that Peg-leg really ever found the Three +Buttes?" asked Tom, whom this romance of the desert, like his +companions, had strangely interested. + +"You tell 'em, Zeb," said the old man. "Likely they wouldn't believe +me." + +"Proofs?" said Zeb, "plenty of 'em. The records of the old Bank of San +Francisco show that McGuire deposited thousands of dollars' worth of +gold nuggets there, and my old dad knew Peg-leg Smith and saw the +black rocks with the gold fillings that he brought out uv ther desert. +Them three golden buttes is out thar somewhar's, and some day +somebody's goin' to locate 'em and then there'll be another +millionaire in the country." + +Old McGee chuckled over his pipe. It was clear that, ancient and +feeble as he was, he still believed with all the fanaticism and +optimism of a prospector that he would be the one to find the three +buttes of gold. + +"It stands ter reason thar's gold out thar," declared old man McGee, +waving his pipe about argumentatively. "Ther good Lord never made +nuthin' thet wasn't of some use, even ther fleas on a houn' dawg, for +they keep him frum thinkin' uv his troubles. Very well, then, the +desert is good fer nuthin' else but mineral wealth, and Providence +made it so plagued hard ter git at so that everyone couldn't git rich +at oncet." + +The boys had to laugh at this bit of philosophy, but as they went to +bed they could not help thinking of the toll of lives the great barren +stretches of the Colorado desert has exacted from gold-seekers. In +Jack's dreams he seemed to be traversing vast solitudes of sand and +desolation dotted with bleaching bones, and he woke with a start to +find that it was daybreak and that Tom was shaking him out of his +sleep. + +Below, old man McGee was ready with his team and had already got on +his wagon some of the crates from the freight shed. They made a hasty +breakfast and then started out. There was hardly anybody about and +they congratulated Zeb on his strategy in conducting affairs with such +secrecy. + +But as they passed into the outskirts of the town, where the Mexicans +and Indians lived, Dick Donovan uttered a sudden exclamation. + +"Hopping horn-toads!" he gasped. + +"What's up?" asked Jack, who sat beside him. + +"Oh, nothing," said Dick, "the wagon gave an extra hard jolt, that was +all, and I thought my head was coming off." + +But the cause of Dick's exclamation had been this: From behind a +squalid hut he caught sight of three shadowy figures, dimly seen in +the half light, apparently watching the wagon and its occupants. + +They quickly withdrew as they saw Dick looking at them, but not before +the young reporter had received a startling impression that one of +them at least was familiar to him. The wagon drove out over the desert +and rumbled along till it came to a deep arroyo, or gulch, in which +stood a deserted, bleaching hut. + +"This is the place," said Zeb. + +"Sure, you can stay thar fer a year an' a day an' nuthin' but +tarant'las an' rattlers ull ever bother ye," said old McGee +cheerfully. + +The cases they had brought were quickly unloaded and lowered into the +arroyo which led down to where they could see the turgid flood of the +Colorado flowing between low banks. For at this spot the river is a +very different stream from what it is above and below, where it makes +its way to the Gulf of California between unscalable walls of cliffs +and is a succession of cruel rapids and unpassable falls. + +When old McGee drove back for the second and last load, for the +Wondership was constructed so as to "take-down" very compactly, Dick +elected to go with him. When they arrived at the freight depot the +young reporter took the first opportunity to wire his paper in Boston. + +"Find out if Bill Masterson is in town," was the substance of his +message. + +They were not to return to the camp till after the mid-day meal, so he +had plenty of time to receive an answer. This is it: + +"Masterson and two others left for the West five days ago." + + * * * * * + +"The same day that we did," mused Dick. "I wonder--but no, I'm sure. +One of those three figures lurking behind that hut was Masterson, and +he's planning some mischief, sure as a gun." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +INTO THE BEYOND. + + +"Well, this is something like camping," said Tom that evening, +stretching himself out luxuriously under a mesquite bush. + +"See here, young feller," said Zeb, who by unanimous consent had been +put in charge of the adventurers. "Are you on a pleasure trip, jes' +dropped in as a visitor like, or air you a part of this expedition?" + +"I guess I'm a part of it all right," said Tom, with rather a sheepish +grin. "At least I was under that impression." + +"Same here," said Zeb dryly. "Thar's lots to be done yet afore we're +all shipshape fer ther night. Ther's lamps ter be filled and tent +ropes set right an' then I want a trench dug around ther tents." + +"What's the trench for?" asked Jack, who had been busy with the three +tents, for they had decided on Zeb's advice not to use the old +roofless shack to sleep in. + +"No tellin' what kind of varmints, from skunks to rattlers, ain't +makin' a hotel out of it," he said, "not to mention tarant'las, which +has a most unpleasant bite, and scorpions and centipedes that ain't +much nicer bedfellows." + +This was quite enough to make the boys willing, nay anxious, to set up +the waterproof silk tents. + +"What's the trench for?" asked Zeb. "Well, if it should come on ter +rain in ther night it'll keep us dry to have a trench round each +tent." + +"Rain!" exclaimed Tom incredulously. "Why, it doesn't look as if it +ever rained here." + +"It doesn't, not more'n about two inches a year," rejoined Zeb, "but +when it does you'd think ther flood gates uv heaven had been ripped +wide open." + +"Do you think it will rain to-night?" asked Jack. + +"It looks uncommon like it," answered Zeb. "See them clouds off there +yonder?" + +He pointed to some heavy-looking masses of vapor hanging above a dim +range of saw-backed mountains off to the east. + +"In my opinion they're plum full of rain," he said. + +"In that case we'd better get ready with the trenches," declared Jack. +He picked up one shovel and gave another to Tom. The latter made a wry +face but said nothing. Tom liked hard work no better than most boys, +but he realized that the work had to be done, and so tackled it with +the best grace he could. + +Secretly he wished himself to be with Dick Donovan, who had been +assigned to go fishing to see if he couldn't get "something" fresh for +supper. The professor, as usual, was off somewhere collecting +specimens. + +But the task of digging the trenches was not as arduous as it had +appeared. The sand was soft and yielding, and the shovels made rapid +work with it. Soon a fairly deep trench was dug round each of the +temporary shelters. + +By the time the lanterns had been filled, and Zeb had cut a goodly +stack of mesquite wood, everything was ready to begin preparations for +supper. + +"We'll have a blow-out to-night," said Zeb. "Canned salmon, beans, +crackers, cheese and canned fruit, but don't expect to get that right +along. I've lived on beans and bacon for six months in this very neck +of the woods, and thought myself lucky to get that." + +"Hullo!" came a cry from the direction of the river. + +"There's Dick!" exclaimed both boys, and then as the young reporter +came into sight, "What luck, Dick?" + +"What do you know about this?" and Dick held up a fine string of +glittering fish. There were catfish, perch and two eels. + +"Good; we won't go hungry," said Zeb. "Nothing better than fried eels +and catfish." + +He greased the frying pan with a strip of bacon rind and then skinned +the scaleless catfish and eels as if he had been doing nothing else +all his life. Soon the savory odors of the frying with crisp slices of +bacon, and the aroma of coffee, filled the camp. + +The boys were so busy setting out the tin cups and plates that it was +not till Zeb beat on a tin basin with a spoon to announce that the +evening meal was ready that anyone noticed that the professor was +missing. Night was closing in and the sky was overcast. + +The boys began to worry. They set up a loud shout. + +"Pro-fess-or! Oh, pro-fess-or!" + +The little gulch rang with it. But no answer came. + +"Now what in the world has happened to him?" frowned Jack. "We must go +and find him at once. He must have----" + +[Illustration: Soon the savory odors of the frying with crisp slices +of bacon, ...filled the air--_Page_ 208.] + +The sentence was never completed. At that instant Zeb set up a shout, +and a ton of earth and rocks, more or less, came hurtling down the +steep bank into the camp. The stones and dirt were mingled with +mesquite bushes and in the midst of the landslide was a figure that +they made out to be the professor. + +Luckily, the avalanche had missed the camp-fire and the supper table, +and when they had extricated the professor, and brushed him off, the +boys learned that he had almost missed his way, and being +shortsighted, in the dark had walked right over the edge of the +steepest part of the arroyo instead of by a sloping path up above. + +However, nothing was injured about him but his feelings, and since his +bag of specimens was intact, the man of science, after a few minutes, +was able to sit down and eat with as good an appetite as any of them. + +Zeb proved himself a good weather profit. About midnight it started +raining, and such rain as the boys had never seen. It was not rain. It +was sheets of water. Even the waterproof tents began to leak, and the +fact that the trenches had been dug did not serve to keep the floors +dry, for the hard, sun-baked earth did not absorb the moisture, and +the downpour speedily spread half an inch or more of water over the +ground. + +"Turn out! turn out!" shouted Dick, who shared one of the three tents +with the boys. + +"What's the matter?" began Tom sleepily, and then splash! went his +hand into the water. + +"Gracious, has the river overflowed?" demanded Jack. + +"No, but it's raining handsaws and marlin spikes," cried Dick. "Wow! +my bed's wet through." + +"Same here," cried Jack ruefully. "I guess we'd better get out of +this." + +Outside they found the professor hopping about barefooted in the +water. He had on his pajamas with a blanket thrown round his shoulders +for protection against the rain. The boys, despite their discomfort, +could not help laughing at the odd figure. Zeb joined them, grumbling: +"We made a big mistake in camping in this arroyo. + +I ought to have had better sense. It's nothing more nor less than a +river. All the desert up above is draining into it." + +It was true. The water was almost ankle deep. Luckily, the old shanty +in which their supplies were stored was raised above the ground, and +the goods were all covered with a big waterproof canvas. + +"Let's camp out in the shanty till daylight," suggested Jack. + +"That would be a good idea if it had a roof," commented Zeb dryly. + +"Why can't we spread some of the canvas over us?" asked Tom. + +This was finally done, and thus passed most of their first night on +the desert. Yet none of them complained, but made the best of it. The +boys knew that it is the wisest plan to meet all camping mishaps with +a smiling face. + +By morning the rain had ceased. The sky was clear and the sun shone +brightly. Their wet bedding and garments were soon dried and then the +work of unpacking the sections of the Wondership was begun, for they +were anxious to have the job completed and be on their way as soon as +possible. + +Old McGee had told the truth when he said they would not be molested. + +An old Indian jogging by on a spavined horse and wrapped in a dirty +blanket was the only person they saw all day. He was looking along the +arroyo for a strayed burro. He stared at them in stolid silence for a +while and then rode off, shaking his head. No doubt he was at a loss +to account for such strange goings on. + +That evening when Dick took his line down to the river, he met with +unusually good luck. He had just added a fine carp to his pile of fish +when, chancing to look up, he saw a boat coming round the bend. + +In the craft were three figures, one of whom he recognized instantly +as Masterson. The recognition was mutual and Masterson, who had the +oars, started hastily to pull away from the place. But Dick shouted to +him. + +"Don't let me drive you away," he cried. + +Masterson shouted back something about "fresh kid" but kept pulling up +the stream, and soon he was round the bend and out of sight. + +"Now, I wonder what he is doing out here?" mused Dick, "and those two +cronies of his. They look sort of shady to me." + +He cudgeled his brains to find a reason for the presence of Masterson +so far from home, but was unable to arrive at any solution till an +idea suddenly struck him. + +"They're out here trailing us," he muttered. "Yes, I'm sure of it. But +how in the world did they ever learn our plans? I guess I'll get back +to camp and put the rest on their guard, for we don't want any spies +hanging about, and those fellows were out on a spying expedition or I +miss my guess." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +THE START FOR THE UNKNOWN. + + +But the days went by, and the Wondership stood once more assembled and +ready to take the greatest flight of her career, and no further sign +of the three worthies, whom Dick suspected of designs against them, +appeared. Zeb went to town once or twice, using a small burro for a +saddle animal. Jack heard from his father, who said that he was +progressing well, but was very much worried over money matters. + +"If only you can find the Z.2.X.," he wrote, "we can all be happy +again." + +"I will find it," Jack murmured to himself, as he concluded reading +the letter, and passed it over to Tom for his perusal. + +Dick helped with the Wondership and spent the rest of the time fishing +and hunting. He managed to get a few rabbits, but there was no other +game in the vicinity. It was too barren for deer, although it was said +there were plenty of them further down the river. The young reporter, +who had quite a mechanical genius of his own, constructed a rough sort +of boat out of boards from the walls of the old shack, and used it on +his fishing expeditions, "punting" it along with a long pole made from +a willow sapling from a grove on the river bank some distance below +where they were camped. + +One afternoon the fancy took him to pole up the current and round the +bend below which Masterson's boat had appeared the evening Dick saw +and recognized the son of the _Moon_ proprietor. + +He had not gone that way before and was surprised to find that, +instead of the low banks that edged the river where the boys were +camped, round the bend were steep, almost clifflike acclivities on +both sides of the stream. In places these were honeycombed with caves, +running back, apparently, some distance into the bank. Although Dick +did not know it, these caves had once been the dwelling places of an +extinct tribe of Indians. + +The boy was surprised to see smoke coming from one of them, for he had +supposed that they were uninhabited. + +"Maybe there are Indians up there," thought the boy. "I guess I'll +give them a look, and maybe get a good picture," for Dick invariably +carried his camera with him on the chance of getting a good snapshot +at something or other. + +A rough path led up to the cave and it was well worn by feet which +had, apparently, traversed it recently. Dick reached the entrance of +the cave and peered in. + +It was deserted; but to his astonishment he saw, from the way it was +fitted up, that whoever lived in it were not Indians. Blankets lay on +the floor, and the smoke was coming from a fire which had been used +for cooking and was dying out. The utensils were not such as Indians +use, being made of agate ware. Then, too, he noticed some old coats +and other garments hanging on nails that had been driven into the +wall. + +As his eyes grew more accustomed to the light, he saw a suitcase in +one corner. There were initials on it. Dick made them out to be W. M. + +'"W. M.'? Who can that be?" he mused. "Whoever lives here is a white +man, that is plain. But why is he a hermit? Anyhow, I'd better be +getting out of this before he comes back. I've really got no business +in here at all." + +At this juncture he heard voices coming from the river. They were +punctuated by the dip of oars. As he heard the speakers outside, +Dick's mind suddenly realized who "W. M." was. + +"What a chump I was not to think of it before!" he exclaimed. "It's +William Masterson, of course, and that's his voice outside. Gee +whillakers, they must have camped here on purpose to spy on us." + +Just then it occurred to Dick that he was, as a matter of fact, spying +on Masterson. He went to the cave door. Below was a boat containing +Masterson and his two friends. They had apparently been to town for +supplies, for the boat was full of canned goods and provisions. + +Just as Dick got to the door Masterson spied the home-made boat lying +on the bank at the foot of the cliff. + +"Say, fellows," he exclaimed, "somebody's been paying us a call." + +"Some thieving Indian, judging from the looks of that boat," said Sam +Higgins. + +"Well, we're not receiving callers of any kind right now," sputtered +Eph angrily. + +Dick crouched back into the doorway of the cave. He was trying to +think what to do. It was an awkward situation. He didn't want to be +caught in what looked, on the face of it, like an act of spying, and +yet he didn't wish Masterson and his cronies to think him a coward. + +"Say, fellows," spoke up Higgins suddenly, "you don't think it could +be one of those kids from the camp below, do you? They may have seen +us snooping around there at night and got wise to where we are +hiding." + +"It had better not be one of them," said Masterson in a loud, +threatening voice. "If I catch him, I'll break every bone in his +body." + +"I guess I'll have a fight on my hands," muttered Dick. "Well, serves +me right for butting in," he added philosophically. + +"Let's go up and see who it is?" said Eph. "He must be in the cave." + +"You go first," said Sam Higgins, who was not over-brave, "it might be +a bad man or an Indian." + +"Pshaw, I'm not afraid!" said Masterson. "Give me your pistol, Sam, if +you're scared." + +"I'm not scared, but there's no use running into trouble," said Sam. +"Besides I'm kind of lame. I think I--er--wrenched my ankle getting +out of the boat." + +"I guess you wrenched your nerve," sneered Eph. + +Then, headed by Masterson, with the pistol in his grasp, they began +to ascend the pathway. Dick was in a quandary. But he decided that the +only way to tackle the problem was to take the bull by the horns. As +Masterson reached the mouth of the cave the boy dashed out like a +redheaded thunderbolt. + +Taken utterly by surprise, Masterson stepped back. + +Bang! + +The pistol went off in the air and the next instant Masterson, despite +his efforts to save himself, toppled off the narrow path and went +rolling down the bank into the river. Luckily for him, he was a good +swimmer, and struck out lustily as he came to the surface. + +"Wow!" yelled Dick, and charged like a young buffalo at Eph. + +Young Compton tried to strike him but Dick, with lowered head, charged +him in the stomach. With a grunt Eph fell back, and in his fall +knocked over Sam Higgins, just behind him. + +"Whoop-ee!" shouted Dick, rejoicing in his triumph. He leaped over +the recumbent forms of Eph and Sam and dashed down the path to the +place where he had beached his boat. + +He jumped on board and poled off just as young Masterson reached the +shore and pulled himself out of the water. + +"You infernal young spy!" shrieked Masterson, beside himself with +rage, "I'll get even with you for this, see if I don't!" + +Sam and Eph, who had picked themselves up, shouted other threats at +Dick. But he turned round and, with a pleasant smile, waved a hand as +the current carried his boat round the bend. He felt in high good +humor at the way he had gotten out of a difficult situation. It was +fortunate for him, though, that he had taken Masterson and his cronies +so utterly by surprise, otherwise the adventure might have had a +different conclusion. + +He had established one fact, however, and that was that Masterson and +the others were spying on them every night and watching every step in +their preparations for the departure for Rattlesnake Island. + +That night a strict watch was kept in the camp, all the adventurers +taking turns at sentry duty. But nobody came near the place. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +THE PROFESSOR'S SECOND DILEMMA. + + +Early the next day old man McGee paid them a call. He came to take +back the burro they had hired from him for convenience in getting back +and forth from Yuma. He also wanted to get a ladder which had been +left at the deserted shanty. The old man rode into camp on a +razor-backed horse and professed great astonishment when he saw how +nearly completed the work on the Wondership was. + +"But you kain't fool me," he said knowingly. "I may be old but I'm +wise. That thing fly? Why, you might as well tell me the Nat'nul Hotel +in Yuma could go kerflopping about in the air. By the way," he went +on, "frum ther talk in ther town you ain't ther only ones as is goin' +down ther river. There's three young chaps has bought two boats and +allows that they're fixin' to take a trip." + +"Is that so?" exclaimed Jack with a significant look at his chums. "I +think we can guess who they are." + +But old man McGee was busy fussing with the donkey and didn't hear +him. He was going to carry the ladder back to town on the little +creature's back. He lashed the ladder across the saddle so that it +stuck out on both sides of the burro, who viewed the proceedings with +a kind of mild surprise. It brayed loudly and flapped its long ears in +a way that made the boys laugh heartily. + +"There," said old man McGee at last, "that's done. Now I reckon I'll +bid you so-long and good-luck, and be on my way. When are you goin' +ter start?" + +"To-morrow morning," replied Jack, "if everything is all right." + +"Hold on a minute," said Tom suddenly, as old man McGee was riding +off. "I've got a notion for some rabbit pie. Give me the rifle, Dick, +and I'll go a little way with Mr. McGee, as far as that little willow +wood where you got the cotton-tails." + +"All right," said Dick, "and tell you what I'll do. I'll come, too. I +can borrow Jack's rifle." + +"It's in the tent," said Jack. "Take good care of it." + +"I'll do that," promised Dick. + +Jack and Zeb went back to their task of putting the finishing touches +on the Wondership, stocking her lockers with provisions for the +Rattlesnake Island trip, while old man McGee, accompanied by the two +boys, rode out of the camp. + +The professor was away collecting specimens somewhere and had not been +seen since breakfast time. + +The donkey, carrying its odd burden, walked behind old McGee's horse +and the boys kept pace alongside, listening to the old prospector's +everlasting stories of how some day he would strike it rich. His faith +never wavered. He believed implicitly that eventually he would make +the "big strike" and live in affluence for the remainder of his life. + +The willow grove, where Dick went rabbit-hunting, was up the river and +on its banks far away from the water nothing grew but cactus, +greasewood and mesquite. As they neared it the monotony of the walk +began to pall on Dick. He wanted to have some fun. + +He fell behind and took a magnifying glass from his pocket. It was one +he used in his photographic work. Holding it up he focused the sun's +rays through it so that they fell in a tiny burning spot on the +donkey's back. After a few seconds the heat burned through. The donkey +gave a loud bray and kicked up its heels wildly. + +Before old man McGee knew what was happening, the creature had jerked +the rope by which he was leading it out of the old man's hand and +dashed off toward the willow wood. + +"Hey, come back, consarn ye!" shouted old McGee. "What's the matter +with ther critter, anyhow? He's gone plum daffy." + +Dick, doubled up with laughter, watched the circus. There was the +donkey with the ladder across its back racing at full speed toward the +wood, and after it came old McGee on his bony old horse, shouting at +the top of his voice. + +Straight for the wood the donkey raced, kicking up its heels and +braying loudly. It dashed in among the trees of the willow wood and at +the same instant there came an appalling yell from among the trees. + +"Gracious, what's happened now!" gasped Tom, and then catching Dick's +laughing eye, he exclaimed: + +"Dick, this is some of your work!" + +"Maybe," said Dick, still choking with laughter, "but what on earth is +happening in the wood?" + +"Help! Lions! Help! They're after me! Help!" + +The cries came thick and fast. + +"It's the professor," choked out Dick. + +"He says there are lions in there," cried Tom, looking rather +alarmed, but at this juncture something happened to the donkey that +momentarily distracted their attention. In trying to pass between two +saplings the animal had bumped the ladder against them and brought +itself up with a round turn. But it still struggled forward and kept +up its braying: + +"Cotched, by ginger!" shouted old man McGee. He galloped toward the +runaway donkey, but the next moment a curious thing happened. + +In pressing forward, the donkey had bent the saplings over with the +ladder until it became entangled in their branches. Suddenly the +animal ceased struggling and the saplings sprang up, no longer having +any pressure on them, and the donkey was fairly lifted from its feet +and carried up into the air. And there he hung, threshing about with +his hoofs and suspended from the ladder. At the same instant the +figure of the professor emerged from the wood. He looked rather +sheepish. + +The boys ran up to him. + +"What's the matter, professor?" asked Dick. + +"Yes, you called for help," added Tom. + +"Um--er--ah did I call?" inquired the man of science. + +"You certainly did. You scared us almost to death," said Dick. + +"Something about lions," added Tom. + +"Lions--er--did I say _lions_, boys?" + +"You did," Dick assured him. + +The professor gave a rather shamefaced smile. He looked at the donkey +suspended from the ladder between the two straightened saplings. + +"Um--er--perhaps it would be better to say no more about it," he said. +"I do not suppose that I am the first man to have been scared by a +sheep in wolf's clothing." + +"Or a donkey in a lion's skin," chuckled Dick. + +In the meantime old man McGee had arrived at the donkey's side and was +scratching his head to think of some way to relieve it from its +predicament. The boys solved the problem for him by cutting the +branches that held the ladder and Mr. Donkey came down to earth. The +professor, with rather a red face, had gone back to his work of +collecting specimens, which the arrival of the long-eared beast had +interrupted in such a startling manner. + +"Thar, I hope that's taught you some sense," said old man McGee, as +the donkey was once more on terra firma. As he rode off, Dick burst +into shouts of laughter. His little joke had certainly turned out to +be better than he expected and for many days after that he had only to +slyly introduce some talk about a lion to cause the professor to look +at him in a very quizzical way. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +THE UPPER REGIONS. + + +The boys were up with the sun the next day. It was the morning which +was to witness the start of the flight for Rattlesnake Island. +Everything about the Wondership was in readiness for the enterprise, +and there only remained the tin breakfast utensils and the tents to be +packed when they had concluded the morning meal. + +Naturally excitement ran high. The hunt for the island, too, might be +a long one. But they felt that ultimately they would find it, that it +would not be like the three buttes of Peg-leg Smith. + +When everything was declared ready, Jack opened the charging-tube of +the gas reservoir and poured in some of the volatile powder that made +the lifting vapor. In fifteen minutes the gauge showed a good +pressure in the tank and the valve was turned. + +In the hot sun the balloon bag expanded quickly. At length the bag was +almost full. + +"Everything ready?" cried Jack, at length, when all were on board. + +"Ready," said Tom at the engines. + +"Then off we go!" + +Tom pulled the clutch lever and the propellers whirled. Jack gave the +steering and controlling wheel an impulse and like a huge bird the +Wondership shot up. But she rose slowly, for besides the unusual +number of passengers, she was also carrying a great weight in +supplies. + +As the craft rose three figures watched it from under the concealment +of a clump of mesquite. + +"There they go, boys," said Masterson, for it was he and his two +cronies. + +"Yes, they're off for Rattlesnake Island," sneered Eph. "I hope they +get bitten." + +"I'll bet they don't dream that we know everything about their +plans," chuckled Sam. "I'd like to get even with that red-headed kid." + +"Well, you'll get a chance before long," declared Bill Masterson. "I +don't see that there's any use in hanging around here any longer," he +went on. "The thing to do now is to get our boats and go down the +river." + +"Won't they be astonished when they see us," said Eph. + +"Maybe they'll try to chase us away. They outnumber us," said the +timid Sam. + +"They'd better not," vaunted Bill Masterson. "I guess we've got as +good a right to that old island as they have." + +"That's right," echoed Eph, following his leader's sentiments. "I +guess they haven't got any mortgage on it." + +Viewed from the Wondership, the desert spread out below was a +wonderful panorama. Through it, like a deep wound, the Colorado cut +its way and far beyond were the pale, misty outlines of mountains. As +they flew onward, the character of the scenery began to change. + +The river appeared to sink, while mighty walls, of most gorgeous +colors, cliffed it in. The rocks glowed with red and yellow and blue +like a painter's palate. But this was only in the deep canyon. On +either side the desert, vast and unlimited, stretched away grayly to +the horizon. + +"It must have taken centuries for the river to have cut such a deep +valley," said Tom, looking down as they flew far above it. + +"Some say that the river didn't cut it," said Zeb. "They claim that +there was a big earthquake or some sort of a shake-up, and that made +that big hole in the ground." + +Below them they could see birds circling above the swiftly racing +waters flecked with white foam. So far no sign of land answering the +description of Rattlesnake Island had come in view. But several small, +isolated spots of land were encountered, and on one, which looked +something like Rattlesnake Island described on the map, they +descended. + +The boys were delighted at the way the great Wondership settled down +into the canyon and then came to rest on the back of the island round +which the water rushed and roared. They scattered and ran about on it, +enjoying the opportunity to stretch their legs. + +Jack, Tom and Dick took a rifle along with them and they were glad +they had done so, for as they made their way through a patch of brush +a beautiful deer sprang out and dashed off. Jack had the rifle at his +shoulder in a minute and the creature bounded into the air, as the +crack of the report sounded, and then fell dead. + +The boy felt some remorse at having killed it, but he knew they would +be in need of fresh meat and some venison would be a welcome addition +to the ordinary camp fare. The boys carried the deer back and Zeb +skillfully skinned and quartered it. While he was doing this, the boys +speculated as to how the animal could have come to the island. + +Zeb set their discussion at rest by explaining that it had probably +swum the rapids to escape a mountain lion or a lynx. He said that he +had often shot deer under similar conditions. As it was almost noon, +they decided to wait on the island till they had eaten lunch. Zeb +sliced off some venison cutlets and cooked them to a turn over hot +wood coals. The boys thought they had never tasted anything better +than the fresh meat. + +While the plates and knives and forks were being washed and put away, +the professor wandered off on his perennial quest of rocks and +specimens. He said that he would be back in a short time but was +anxious not to miss the opportunity of finding some possibly rare +stones. + +But everything was ready and the boys were waiting impatiently half an +hour later, and there was no sign of the professor. + +Suddenly they heard his voice shouting to them from the distance. + +"What's he saying?" asked Jack. + +"Hark!" admonished Tom. + +The professor's shouts came plainly to their ears the next minute, +borne on a puff of wind that swept through the canyon. + +"Help! Help!" was the burden of his cries. "Get me out!" + +"Now, what's happened to him?" demanded Zeb, with a trace of +impatience. + +"I don't know, but he must be in trouble of some sort," cried Jack. + +"Maybe it's another donkey," mischievously suggested Dick. + +The cries were redoubled. They waited no longer but started off across +the island on the run. Zeb carried his big forty-four revolver. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +A MUD BATH. + + +The ground was rough and rocky but they made good time. Bursting +through a screen of trees from beyond which came the professor's +piteous cries, they received a shock. + +The man of science was in the center of a large, round hole full of +black mud that bubbled and boiled and steamed as if it were alive. All +that was visible of the professor was the upper part of his body. + +Seriously alarmed, the boys shouted to him to keep up his courage, and +that they would get him out. + +"How did you get in?" asked Zeb, cupping his hands. + +"I fell in," rejoined the poor professor. "The ground gave way under +my feet. Hurry and get me out, it's terribly hot." + +They looked about them desperately for some means of extricating him +from his predicament. But just at the moment none was offered, and +with every struggle the professor was sinking deeper in the black, +evil-smelling pool of mud. + +"Gracious, what are we to do?" cried Jack in despair. + +"He's too far out to reach him," said Zeb, equally at a loss. + +"But we must do something," chimed in Tom. + +Suddenly Zeb had an inspiration. A tree grew on the banks of the mud +volcano, the sudden caving in of which, under the professor's weight, +had precipitated him into it. + +"If I could get out on that branch," said Zeb, "I might be able to +bend it enough to bring my feet over him and then work back toward the +edge of the mudhole." + +"It's worth trying--anything is worthy trying," agreed Jack. + +Zeb took off his coat and then shinned up the tree. Then, hanging by +his hands he began working out along the branch. As he went it bent +till it hung right over the mudhole. Before long his feet dangled +above the professor's head. + +"Now then, professor," panted Zeb, "take hold on my feet and work +along toward the edge of the hole with me." + +The professor seized Zeb's boots with the grasp of a drowning man. The +branch cracked ominously. + +"Easy thar, professor," warned Zeb earnestly. "Don't pull more'n you +can help or we'll both be in the soup." + +The professor lightened his grip and slowly, hand over hand, Zeb began +the slow journey back along the branch. It was a feat only possible to +a man whose muscles were of iron. And before it was over even Zeb was +almost overcome. Perspiration streamed from his forehead and soaked +his shirt as he dropped from the branch, having accomplished the +journey and pulled the professor to the bank. + +[Illustration: The professor seized Zeb's boots with the grasp of a +drowning man.--_Page_ 240.] + +"That's what I call toeing a man out of trouble," punned Dick, in +the general relief that followed. + +"Good thing it warn't no further," puffed Zeb, mopping his forehead. +"My arms feels as if they'd been stretched on one of them racks you +read about in the history books." + +"How did it happen, professor?" asked Jack, as they scraped the mud +off the scientist. + +"It's hard to say," was the response. "I was walking along, intent on +my collecting, when I came to a barren patch of ground that was +crusted over with stuff that looked like salt. I stepped out on it to +investigate and suddenly in I went. Faugh! how it smells." + +"Yes, it isn't exactly perfumed," said Jack. "But how did such a place +come there?" + +"It's one of those mud-springs of hot water that are found in several +places throughout the West," said the scientist. "It must have been +quiescent for some time and then the thin skin of alkaline earth +formed over it. In Europe, or if we had that spring near a large +city, it would be possible to make a fortune with it." + +"In what way?" asked Dick. + +"As a curative bath," replied the professor. "Every year people spend +fortunes to go to Europe and take just such baths." + +"Reckon I'd go without washin' then," commented Zeb. + +"I'd just as soon bathe in rotten eggs," said Dick. + +"Well," said Jack, "I guess we've got off about all the mud we can for +the present. We'd better be getting back. It's mighty fortunate that +we came in time." + +"Yes, I was slipping into the stuff all the time," said the professor. +"If I'd been alone on the island I might have never been seen again," +he added in quite a matter-of-fact tone. "It's too bad I lost that bag +of fossils, though. I had some fine specimens." + +"Goodness, no wonder you sank down!" exclaimed Jack. "Why didn't you +let go of them?" + +The scientist was mildly surprised. + +"Why, how could I," he asked, "until it became a question of life or +death? It's too bad I had to lose them," and he shook his head +mournfully at the thought. + +The journey was soon resumed, the Wondership rising buoyantly out of +the dismal canyon. They were not sorry to get back to the upper air +for the gloom of the deep gulch had affected their spirits. But so +much time had been consumed in getting the professor out of his +predicament that it was not long before twilight set in and they still +had caught no glimpse of anything resembling the island they were in +search of. + +They decided to come to earth and make camp for the night and resume +the search in the morning. They made a hearty supper off the venison +which remained, and turned in, without setting any watch, as there was +no necessity for it out there with not a soul about for scores of +miles. + +It was about midnight when Jack was awakened by a wild yell from Tom. + +"Ow! Ouch! Leggo my toe!" the younger of the Boy Inventors was +shouting. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +NIGHT ON THE COLORADO. + + +"What's the matter? What has happened?" cried Jack. + +"Is it Indians?" cried Dick, who had a lively imagination. + +"Something grabbed my foot," declared Tom. + +"Grabbed your foot?" repeated Jack. + +"Well, maybe, nibbled at it, would be better," replied Tom. "It isn't +hurt, but I was awakened by it. I guess the thing, whatever it was, +must have been scared away." + +"What could it have been?" came from Dick. + +"Perhaps it was a bear," suggested Tom. + +"A bear, nonsense. I guess it was all imagination," scoffed Jack. "You +ate too much at supper, Tom." + +"It was not imagination, I tell you," retorted Tom indignantly. "I +felt it just as plainly as anything." + +"Well, I don't see what----" began Jack and then he broke off. + +From outside the tent had come an appalling crash of tin dishes, +followed by unearthly grunts and squeals. The uproar was terrific. It +sounded as if every piece of tinware in the camp was being hurled and +battered around. + +"What under the sun----?" gasped Jack. + +"It's Indians; they've attacked the camp," cried Dick. + +A weird screech split the night. Jack seized up a rifle. + +"Come on, boys," he cried, but it might have been noticed that Dick +was not particularly alert in following. + +Zeb and the professor rushed out of their tents and their shouts added +to the confusion. There was a bright moon and by its light Jack saw a +small, peculiarly-shaped animal charging about blindly here and there. +The next minute he saw, too, that the creature's head was caught fast +in an enameled cooking pot. + +It rushed about and uttered the muffled squeals that had attracted +their attention. Jack raised his rifle and fired. The creature fell +dead at the first shot. Zeb and Jack rushed up to it. + +"A badger!" exclaimed Zeb, "and he's got his greedy head stuck fast in +that mush cooker." + +"And in charging about trying to get it off he'd made a wreck of our +pantry!" exclaimed Jack, looking at the tin utensils scattered in +every direction about the wooden box in which they were kept. + +"It must have been that badger that came sniffing at my toes," said +Tom. + +"Or maybe it was Indians," laughed Jack, looking slyly at Dick, who +was glad that they couldn't see how red he turned. + +"Indians?" exclaimed the professor guilelessly. "Were there any +Indians about?" + +"Dick thought he saw some," explained Jack with a chuckle. + +The dead badger was pulled out of the pot into which it stuck its +head to lick out the remains of some oatmeal that had adhered to its +side, and the boys went back to bed. But they did not sleep much after +the uproar into which the camp had been thrown, and were glad when it +began to grow light. + +Zeb cooked a fine breakfast to which he urged everybody to do justice, +as they had a long and possibly a trying day ahead of them. The badger +was given decent burial by Dick. + +"Let its fate be a lesson to you," said Jack, at which they all +laughed, for Dick was always on the spot at meal times. + +When the morning meal was finished and the things all packed away, the +Wondership was inflated and soared into the clear air. Nights and +early mornings on the desert are cool, and it was crisp and +invigorating in the hours before the sun had risen high. But by noon +the heat grew blistering, and they were still soaring above the river +without a trace of Rattlesnake Island being visible. + +However, that afternoon they sighted a group of islands of which the +largest at once attracted their attention. A prominent feature of +Rattlesnake Island, as outlined on the map, was a big dead pine, +situated like a beacon, at the summit of the peak into which the +island rose. + +The river at this point broadened out. Great cliffs overhung it. They +were made up of strata of brilliant colors. It looked from above as if +they had been painted by some titanic sign painter--nature, the +artist. + +Jack was the first to call attention to the island which had caught +his eye while he scanned the river below them with the binoculars. He +at once noticed its formation, long and narrow, with a high, rocky +peak rising out from amongst trees and bushes which clothed it almost +to the summit. + +Then his eye caught a great white pine trunk, standing like a +flagpole almost at the apex of the peak. + +"Hurrah, boys!" he cried. "I guess that's the place. Welcome to +Rattlesnake Island!" + +Tom was steering, "spelling" Jack at the wheel. + +"You can see the island?" he demanded. + +"Yes, or if it isn't it, it's like enough to be its twin brother." + +Everybody began to get excited. Zeb took the glasses and after a +careful scrutiny and a reference to the map, declared that the island +below them tallied in every way with its description. + +"Then down we go," said Jack. + +"All right," nodded Tom, who was almost as good an air pilot as his +cousin. + +The Wondership dropped rapidly. Soon they were immediately above the +island, which was now seen to be rocky and precipitous, except at one +end where there was a great open place, bare and desolate looking. + +On the edges of this cleared spot, which looked swampy and +unwholesome, were serried rows of trees, every one of which was dead +as if from a blight, and offering with their gaunt, leafless branches +a sharp contrast to the green leafiness of the rest of the island. + +Jack scanned the place sharply as they dropped down and Tom prepared +to land on the edge of the swamp. As they got closer to the ground, he +suddenly became aware of something that caused him a sharp shock of +surprise. + +"Why there's somebody on the island!" he exclaimed. + +"Somebody on the island?" echoed Zeb incredulously. + +"Yes, or at least there's a dwelling place." + +The boy pointed to a rude sort of shack built of logs and roofed with +boughs, which stood on the edge of the cleared space. + +"Great Methuselah!" ejaculated Zeb. "Can someone have stolen a march +on us?" + +"I don't know, but it looks queer, and see, there's a shovel. Somebody +has been digging here." + +"But who could it be?" demanded Tom, mystified. + +"Gosh! Looks as if we've bin euchered after all," grumbled Zeb. + +The Wondership came to earth at the edge of the lifeless-looking, bare +space. They clambered out of the machine and stood on what was, +undoubtedly, Rattlesnake Island, for every landmark on the map had +been verified as they dropped. + +They looked about them for a minute and then Zeb drew his revolver out +of the holster and began idly twiddling the cylinder. + +"I want ter make sure she's in workin' order," he said with a grim +comprehension of the lips, "before we do any investigating." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +THE ISLAND OF MYSTERY. + + +There was an air of oppression, hard to explain, about the island. But +they all felt it. The boys were inclined to talk in whispers and even +Dick Donovan's usual lively spirits seemed daunted. There was +something about the blistered, barren look of the cleared space on the +edge of which they had landed that gave them all an odd feeling of +melancholy. + +Zeb was the first to shake this off. + +"Our first job," he said, "is to find out who is on the island and +what they've been doing." + +Here and there in the black, swampy-looking bare space, they could see +where holes had been dug, but when they examined the spade, which Jack +had seen from the Wondership as they descended, they found that it was +rusty and had evidently not been used for a long time. + +It was the same in the rude hut which they examined. Some rusty +utensils and a few ragged old garments were all that was inside. The +dust lay thick on the floor and a large squirrel leaped out of the +roof as they entered. + +"Well, whoever was on the island has moved on again," declared Zeb. + +"Or died," said Jack in a low tone. + +"Wa'al, what I say is," observed Zeb, "ther sooner we git at that +what-yer-may-call-um stuff and get away agin, the better it'll be for +all of us. There's suthin' about this island I don't like." + +The others agreed, all except the professor, who, on hands and knees, +was examining some rocks with his magnifying glass. + +"Where shall we make camp?" asked Dick. + +"I don't much fancy this side of the island, somehow," said Jack, "but +we could pitch the tents on that little plateau up there and be +comfortable and have a good view up and down the river at the same +time." + +And so it was arranged. Leaving the Wondership on the edge of the +clearing, they made camp on the flat ledge of sandy soil interspersed +with rocks that Jack had selected. From it they had a good view in +both directions. Above them was a small island, and below them the +river leaped and roared in a series of big rapids. + +Their preparations for camping occupied all the afternoon. It was +supper time when they had finished and everything was shipshape and +comfortable. In the meantime Dick had wandered off with the rifle and +returned with four good-sized rabbits and three squirrels which Zeb +cooked into a savory stew. + +They turned in early as they had all worked hard and were tired. Just +what time it was that he awakened, Jack did not know. But he thought +it was after midnight. Taking his watch he went to the door of the +tent to look at it in the moonlight, as he did not wish to arouse the +others by striking a light. + +The moon flooded the island. Jack looked about him, enjoying the +beauty of the scene. The cliffs were great masses of black and white +and the rushing river gleamed like silver. He glanced toward the black +waste, on the edge of which they left the Wondership. The next instant +he uttered a startled exclamation. Above the bare patch of +dark-colored earth tall white figures were dancing, gleaming in the +moonlight. + +Jack's heart gave a bound and he caught his breath for an instant. +Then he felt inclined to laugh at his own fears. What he had taken for +ghostly figures were columns of vapor writhing and twisting as they +steamed upward from the bare end of the island. What caused them, Jack +did not know. He noticed, too, that the whole patch of barren land +glowed with a strange phosphorescence like rotted wood. + +Fascinated by the spectacle, he stood gazing at it. There was +something eerie about the dancing, pirouetting columns of vapor. They +looked like a party of ghosts dancing a quadrille. They twisted and +contorted and bowed and soared upward and sank again in a kind of +rhythm. + +"Gracious, this is a spooky sort of place," thought Jack. "I wonder +what causes those wavering columns? Maybe some sort of hidden hot +springs like the one the professor fell into. I know one thing, I +don't like this island overmuch. As Zeb said, there is something queer +about it--something in the air. I don't know what, but I for one won't +be sorry when we leave it." + +He fell to musing about his father waiting so many miles away for news +of the discovery that was to rehabilitate his fortunes and place the +radio telephone in the list of practical inventions that have created +an epoch in the world's history. + +"Poor old dad," he thought "After all, he's really having the most +trying part of this thing. Waiting back there for he doesn't know +what, and with nothing to do but wait. I wonder if we are going to +succeed? We will, we must! But, supposing that the map was wrong and +that----" + +His musing broke off suddenly and he crouched forward watching +intently. His eyes were staring wide-open and startled at the +Wondership. Its bulk lay blackly against the faint, phosphorescent +glow of the black barren. + +Then he felt his scalp tighten and his mouth go dry while his heart +seemed to stop for an instant and then pound furiously, shaking his +frame. + +For a second he had seen something that had almost startled him into a +cry. A dark figure was creeping round the Wondership, crouched like an +ape as it examined the craft. + +The boy had hardly caught a glimpse of it before it vanished, gliding +swiftly like an animal into the brush. Jack rubbed his eyes. + +"Am I seeing things?" he asked himself, "but no, I'm positive, as sure +as I stand here, that that was a human figure sneaking about down +there. Who could it have been?" + +Jack did not sleep much more that night. The thought that they were +not alone on the island was a disquieting one. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +THROUGH THE WOODS. + + +The next morning Jack watched his opportunity, and under the pretext +of hunting, left camp after breakfast and made his way to the side of +the Wondership. He wanted to examine the vicinity for footmarks. But +he found none, which was not surprising, for the ground on which the +craft had been brought to rest was hard and firm, and not likely to +take on any impressions. + +In the bright, sunny glow it was hard for the boy to believe that he +had actually seen the mysterious figure in the moonlight. But although +he tried to assure himself that he had been the victim of an illusion, +and that he had mistaken the shadow of a waving tree branch for a man, +Jack knew that he was not laboring under a mistake. He was certain he +had seen rightly; but he decided, for the present, to say nothing to +his companions about the events of the night. + +Having failed to find any tracks round the Wondership, he started off +through the trees on his hunt. He was traversing a small glade when, +in a clump of flowering bushes, he heard a sudden scuffling noise. + +Startled, he stopped. The sound came again and this time it was +accompanied by a shrill scream as of some creature in pain. Jack +parted the bushes and made his way through them. On the other side he +came across a rabbit. The little creature was struggling violently and +squealing with the peculiarly human screech that rabbits have when in +pain. + +The boy saw that it had been caught in some way and could not get +away. Greatly mystified, he dropped to his knees beside it and the +next instant solved the puzzle. + +The rabbit was caught in a trap ingeniously made from pliable willow +twigs and set in a "rabbit run." For a minute the full significance of +his discovery did not dawn upon Jack. Then it came like a bolt from +the blue. + +Somebody on the island, other than themselves, had set that trap! +Perhaps it was the strange, half-ape-like man he had seen by the +Wondership the night before. The boy looked round him in the silent +wood as if he half expected to see somebody watching him. + +He was not afraid, but he felt that creepy feeling that accompanies +the mysterious. Suddenly he recollected that he had left his rifle +behind when he plunged into the bushes. + +He remembered this when the desire came to him to put the rabbit out +of its misery. It had been caught by the hind leg and had wrenched it +out of joint in its frantic struggles to get free. Jack made his way +back to where he had left his rifle. But when he got back to the trap +ready to end the poor creature's life, the rabbit was not there! + +The trap was empty! + +Then he looked about him. The ground was covered with blood and fur +as if the rabbit had been torn to pieces. + +"Some animal," was his first thought. Then, on examining the trap, he +found that the thong which had ensnared the rabbit had not been broken +or torn loose as would have been the case had some wild creature +pounced on the rabbit and dragged it off. + +It had been untied! + +Jack had just made this discovery when he noticed something fluttering +from a thornbush. He was sure it had not been there before, for he had +noted the surroundings of the trap carefully. He examined the object +that had caught his attention. It was a bit of canvas, seemingly torn +from a garment made of that material. + +"There _is_ somebody else on the island!" gasped Jack, looking round +with white cheeks. + +He clutched his rifle firmly. Looking about him he half expected to +see some wild face peering at him out of parted bushes. But nothing of +the sort happened. Feeling very uncomfortable, Jack came away from +the place and made his way back to camp. + +This time he made up his mind to confide in Zeb. The prospector was as +mystified as Jack over the events of the night and the incident of the +rabbit trap. But he was unable to throw any light on the affair. + +"It might be an Indian," he said, "or----" + +"It might be the man that built that hut and left the shovel sticking +in that barren place down yonder," said Jack. + +"In that case, wouldn't he be livin' in ther hut instead of snoopin' +round the island?" asked Zeb. + +This view seemed to be incontrovertible. At noon the professor, who +had been scouting over the island looking for specimens which might +give him some clue as to the mineral deposits they had come in search +of, arrived in camp breathless and indignant. + +"A joke's a joke," he said to the boys, "but this is going too far." + +"What's the matter, professor?" asked Dick. + +"Yes, what's happened?" asked Tom, who saw that the man of science +was really angry, and for some reason blamed them for whatever had +irritated him. + +"As if you didn't know," declared the professor. "I set my bag of +specimens down on a rock while I went to investigate a +peculiar-looking formation." + +"Well?" said Jack. + +"Well, I heard a soft footstep and the crackling of some twigs. I +looked round and my bag of specimens had gone. Now which of you boys +played that foolish joke on me?" + +"I'll give you my word we know nothing about it, professor," declared +Tom. "Dick and I have been working all the morning unpacking stuff +from the Wondership." + +The professor looked at them incredulously. + +"That's right," struck in Zeb, "they haven't been out of my sight." + +"But--but," stammered the professor, "my dear sir, that bag of +specimens didn't walk off, you know. Besides," he added, "I heard a +human footfall distinctly." + +"It may not have been the boys, though," spoke up Jack seriously. + +"Indeed, who else then?" inquired the professor stiffly. + +"An unwelcome neighbor," replied Jack. "We are not alone on this +island." + +"Not alone? What do you mean?" demanded the professor in thunderstruck +tones. + +"Just this, that there is someone else on it. Who or what it is I +don't know." + +And Jack went on to explain all that he had seen. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +THE SECRET AT LAST. + + +Mysteries are always uncomfortable. As Jack proceeded with his +narrative, Dick and Tom looked nervously about them. Even the boys' +two elders looked grave. The presence of a man on the island was +almost inexplicable. But Jack's story was so circumstantial that there +was no room to suppose that he might be mistaken. Besides, he had the +bit of canvas to show, the scrap that he had taken from the thornbush. + +After dinner Tom and Dick resumed their work of unloading necessaries +from the Wondership. Jack and the two elder members of the party +discussed plans. + +"You haven't found any trace of mineral-bearing rock yet, have you, +professor?" asked Jack. + +The professor shook his head. + +"Not a speck of anything that even remotely corresponds with the +black sand that Zeb brought East with him," said the man of science, +dejectedly. + +"It isn't possible that we have been fooled," said Zeb. + +"Or landed on the wrong island," struck in Jack. + +"It must be the right island," declared Zeb. + +"How do you make that out?" asked Jack. + +"Well, it's got every mark on it that the map gives, for one thing," +said Zeb. + +"That's so," agreed the professor, and then he added hopefully: +"However, I haven't covered half the ground yet." + +Tom and Dick came tramping back at that juncture. They carried some +canned goods and Dick bore the rusty shovel that they had seen the day +before sticking up in the black barren. + +"It was sticky and moist out there," he said, "but I figured we could +always use this shovel, so I went out and brought it along." + +He flung himself down full length in the shade for it was hot and +there was not a breath of wind to fan the canyon. The professor, who +sat facing Dick, concentrated his attention for an instant on the +soles of the youngster's boots. Then he leaped up with a yell that +startled them. + +"What is it? The wild man?" gasped Dick, looking round him in alarm. + +"No, your boots, your boots; look at them!" cried the professor. + +"Is there a snake on them?" cried Dick, preparing to jump up. + +"Don't move! Don't move for your life!" fairly screamed the dumpy +little geologist, springing forward. He fell on his knees at Dick's +boots as if they had been sacred, and with trembling fingers flaked +off, into his left palm, some black mud which stuck to them. + +Then he stood erect, his face aglow with triumph and enthusiasm such +as the man of science rarely permitted himself. + +"Gentlemen," he said, with a flourish, "there is no reason to look +further for the mineral-bearing ground." + +"You have found it?" choked out Jack. + +"Yes." + +"Where?" + +"On Dick Donovan's boots." + +They looked at him as if they thought he had suddenly gone demented. +Dick examined his boots carefully as if he expected to see money +plastered all over them. + +The professor extended his palm. In it lay the black earth he had +scraped from Dick's boots. In it tiny particles glittered and gleamed +like myriads of infinitesimal eyes. + +"Z. 2. X.," said the professor in solemn tones, and he waved his hand +down toward the black barren where the moist, unhealthy-looking bare +patch lay quivering and sweltering in the sun. A kind of haze hung +above it, like a very thin fog. + +"There it is," he went on, "down there. Waiting to be extracted from +that black earth. Look." + +He shook the black earth from his palm. Where it had lain there was a +red, irritated-looking patch. The professor showed it. It looked like +a slight burn. + +"Did that stuff do it?" asked Jack. + +"Yes; and that's almost as definite a proof as an analysis, of its +intense radio activity. You noticed that the sample that Zeb had was +enclosed in a leaden tube. That was the reason. Such powerful stuff +would inflict bad burns if not handled properly." + +"So that was why you made us include asbestos gloves and foot +coverings and black goggles in the outfit?" cried Tom, who had been +much puzzled over the reason for that part of the equipment. + +"That was why," said the professor, "and that also is the reason we +brought along those lead containers. Z. 2. X. or its ally, radium, or +in fact vanadium or any of the allied radio-active metals, would +destroy any other sort of container." + +"Let's go down now and start digging," suggested impulsive Dick. + +"Don't venture out there till you are fully equipped for the job," +said the professor. "Serious results might ensue. In the meantime, I +am going to analyze this sample in order to be doubly sure." + +Jack gave a deep sigh of relief. After all, it was not a dream. They +had found the valuable earth. It was now only a question of +transportation. His father's fortunes were saved. The radio-'phone +would be rushed to perfection and placed on the market within a short +time of their return home. + +While Jack lay back and indulged in daydreams, the others watched the +professor as he tested the black sand over a portable assaying furnace +and made all sorts of experiments to determine its value and the +proportion of the different precious metals contained in it. + +There was a slight rustling in the bushes behind him. Jack, whose +nerves had been rather on edge since the occurrences of the preceding +night and that morning, faced round quickly. + +The next instant he uttered a loud shout. + +Peering out of the bushes was a hideous, hairy face, more like an +ape's than a human being's. From it glowed two wild, piercing eyes, +like those of a beast of prey. + +As Jack shouted and the others started toward him, the face vanished +like a flash. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +THE INTERLOPERS. + + +"Well, we'll git ter ther bottom uv this afore we leave ther island," +declared Zeb vehemently, "but right now, pussonally, I'm more +interested in gitting those lead carboys filled up with Z. 2. X. and +gitting away from here." + +"So are we," said Jack, thinking of his father. + +They all donned their asbestos gloves and foot coverings under the +professor's directions and put on the huge black goggles that had been +brought along at the scientist's directions. + +"I guess we'd scare that wild man into conniption fits if he could see +us now," chuckled Tom, surveying his mates as they started out for the +black barren. + +"Yes, we look like a lot of men from Mars," agreed Dick. + +Armed with shovels they attacked the dark, soft earth at a place the +professor indicated. For an hour or more they worked and filled three +of the lead carboys. Then Jack spoke. + +"It's queer," he said, "but I begin to feel terribly tired, and I +haven't worked long, either." + +"So do I," said Tom. "I don't feel as if I could lift another +shovelful." + +"I'm all in," added Dick, throwing down his spade. + +"Same here. Jes' 'bout tuckered out," chimed in Zeb. + +"It's the effect of the stuff we are working in," said the professor. +"Anyhow, we've done enough for to-day. We'll load the lead carboys on +the Wondership and then knock off. I don't want you boys to get sick." + +They took the loaded carboys to the grounded craft and the professor +sealed and soldered a cover on each of them. Then they went back to +the camp. Curiously, as soon as they reached it, the lassitude they +had felt while working on the black barren left them. Jack proposed a +hunting trip to Tom. Dick said he wanted to write up his notes from +which, on their return, he was going to construct a big "story" for +his paper. + +The two chums struck out across the island. They met with fairly good +luck. Jack brought down some rabbits and a partridge. Tom got three +partridges and some squirrels. Game appeared to be plentiful on the +island and Jack had a theory that at one time it must have been +connected with the mainland. + +At last their walking brought them out on the upper end of the island +facing the smaller spot of land above. As they emerged from the trees, +both boys got a big surprise. + +Two boats had just been beached there! + +"What in the world!" stammered out Jack. + +"Who can----" began Tom, when the question was answered. The boys saw +three figures coming down to the beach. They, seemingly, had been +looking for a camp site. + +"It's that fellow, Bill Masterson," explained Jack. + +"So it is, and those other two are his cronies. The sneaks, they've +followed us here!" cried Tom indignantly. + +"Let's watch from behind these bushes and see what they do," said +Jack. + +They watched from a place of concealment while the three youths on the +island above unloaded the second boat which they had towed down the +river, carrying their camping equipment and provisions in it. They set +up their tents quite boldly in full view of the other island and then +proceeded to build a fire. + +"How on earth did they get down the river without having a spill?" +cried Jack. + +"How did they know where Rattlesnake Island was?" wondered Tom, +neither of the boys, of course, knowing of the opened letters. + +"They seem prepared to make a long stay," commented Tom, after a +minute, "but it's a wonder they weren't wrecked." + +"I don't know," said Jack. "Zeb says the river is much higher now +than he has ever seen it. That means that the rapids are not so +dangerous as at low water. But they were taking quite a chance, at +that." + +The boys watched for a while longer and then returned to camp with +their game and their news. + +"If they try to land on this island, we'll soon chase 'em off," +declared Dick vehemently. + +"Then they'd have a case at law agin us," said Zeb. + +"How do you mean?" asked Jack. + +"Wa'al, we ain't filed no claim yet and in the eyes of the law them +deposits down there in the black barren is as much theirs as ours." + +That evening Zeb occupied himself with making several signs of +intention to file claim which he intended to post all round the black +barren, thus marking it off as if it had been a mine. Before they went +to bed, Jack and Tom made another excursion to the upper end of the +island where they watched the campfires of the interlopers for some +time. + +Suddenly, while they watched, they saw one of the boats with three +figures in it shoved off. The craft began to drop down the river. +Masterson, who was at the oars, steered straight for Rattlesnake +Island. + +"They're going to land here," declared Jack. + +"What do you think of that for nerve," gasped Tom. + +"The worst of it is, we can't stop them." + +"No, that's so. Let's hide behind this rock and see what they do." + +The boys slipped behind a big boulder and a moment later the boat was +beached. + +"Well, here we are," came in Eph's voice, "and if the stuff is worth +all you say it is, we ought to get enough out in a couple of nights to +make us rich." + +"Gee! I can hardly wait till it's time to start digging," said Sam +Higgins. "Here we are, on Tom Tiddler's ground, picking up gold and +silver." + +"Wait till we get it before you start hollering," said Masterson +gruffly. + +"What time will we start over?" asked Sam. + +"About midnight. It will be plenty of time." + +"But how are we going to locate it?" objected Eph. + +"We can see where they've been digging, can't we?" said Bill +Masterson, "or if they haven't started yet, we can hang around and +watch till they do." + +The three worthies sat under a rock not far from where the boys were +and talked. It appeared that Bill Masterson had read up on mining and +claim law and knew that the boys could not order them off the island. +They had a right to take all of the mineral-bearing earth that they +could. + +Suddenly, however, their talk stopped. + +"What are you doing, Eph?" demanded Sam indignantly. + +"Nothing. What do you mean?" asked Eph in an astonished voice. + +"You threw a rock at me." + +"I didn't." + +"You did. Ouch! There's another." + +"One hit me, too," cried Eph, springing up, and at the same moment a +yell came from Masterson. + +Jack and Tom, as much surprised as the three marauders, heard the +rocks pelting around them. Suddenly they looked up. Standing on a high +rock above the place where Masterson and his cronies were talking, was +a strange-looking figure in tattered clothes outlined in the +moonlight. + +He was busily hurling rocks down at the intruders. Suddenly a +demoniacal laugh split the air and the creature vanished, running +swiftly, crouched, with long arms hanging. + +"It's the wild man!" gasped Tom, while the three worthies on the beach +uttered a startled cry. + +"It's ghosts, that's what it is," declared Sam Higgins shuddering. + +"Nonsense. It's those kids. That's who it is," said Bill, but his +voice was rather shaky. + +"I never heard anything human laugh like that," declared Eph. "Ugh! it +makes my blood run cold." + +"Maybe we'd better go back," said Sam. "If we've got a right here I'd +just as soon land in the daylight." + +"You're a fine pair of babies," growled Bill. "I'm sorry I brought you +along. Ghosts indeed--Wow! what was that?" + +Another long ringing peal of laughter sounded through the night. It +reverberated against the steep walls of the canyon and was flung +mockingly from crag to crag. The boys felt their blood chill as they +heard it. There was something diabolical in the merriment of the wild +man who, they knew, was making the hideous sounds. + +"I'm going back to the other island," declared Sam. + +"If you move I'll knock your head off," said Masterson. "It's just a +trick of those kids to scare us, that's all it is." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +TRIUMPH. + + +It was midnight. The moon rode high in a cloudless sky, and the camp +of the Boy Inventors, to all appearances, was wrapped in slumber. +Through the woods came three creeping, cautious figures. Each carried +a spade and a sack. They paused by the camp and looked about them. + +Then, by the bright moonlight, they saw the bare plateau below. The +black barren where the adventurers had been working that afternoon. +Masterson was the first to see traces of digging. He seized Eph's arm +and pointed. + +"That's the place," he said in a hoarse whisper. "See, they've been at +work there already." + +"Tom Tiddler's ground," whispered Eph. + +"I guess we'll get some of it, too," chuckled Sam, who had gotten over +his fright in a sudden greed at the thought of riches. + +Silently, for they had sacks tied round their feet, the three +interlopers crept down the rocky slope toward the black barren. The +dark ground, thickly sown with mineral wealth, glittered in the +moonlight as if a frost had fallen on it and made it gleam +iridescently with millions of sparkling points of light. + +As the trio stole down the slope, dark figures from the Boy Inventors' +camp followed them. Led by Zeb, they found hiding places and watched +operations as Masterson and his cronies began to dig. They wielded +their shovels frantically. + +"And we can't stop them," groaned Dick. + +"Wait a minute," said the professor. + +They continued to watch, and before many minutes had passed they saw +Sam Higgins lay down his shovel with a grunt. + +"Go on and dig," ordered Masterson. + +"Yes, hurry up, we haven't got all night," urged Eph. + +Sam made a few more feeble movements and then quit. + +'"I can't do any more," he said languidly. + +"Ouch! my hands are burning," cried Eph suddenly, "and I feel as if +all my bones had turned to water. What's the matter with the place?" + +After a few minutes more both Eph and Sam gave up, but Masterson stuck +doggedly to his task, although his hands were burning terribly, and +the radio-active stuff was eating through the sacking on his feet. At +last he, too, had to give in. They were too weak to carry the sacks +they had partially filled across the island, owing to the effects of +the black barren, and staggeringly they hid them to call for them at a +later time. + +"I thought so," said the professor, as the hidden watchers saw +Masterson and the other two wearily clamber up the slope. "They'll +have bad sores to-morrow and may be crippled for some time." + +"But they'll recover?" said Jack, whose conscience began to smite him. + +"Oh, yes, but they will have quite a lesson first," rejoined the +professor. + +"Let's see what they do next," suggested Jack, and he and Tom +carefully made their way to where the trio had left the boat. +Masterson ordered Sam to get on board; but just as the timorous youth +was about to obey another hideous laugh from near at hand startled him +so that he almost jumped out of his skin. + +He leaped forward, but in his alarm missed the boat and gave it a +shove that sent it into the stream. Sam fell flat on his face, while +Masterson, with an exclamation of dismay, leaped for the boat. But the +swift current had it in its grasp and bore it rapidly away. Masterson +sprang on Sam and began beating him violently as the cause of all the +trouble. It was serious enough for them. The loss of the boat had +marooned them on the island. + +The boat drifted past a rocky point further down the island shore. Had +they been there, they would have been able to seize it. They watched +it with alarmed eyes as it sailed down the current. All at once a dark +figure dashed from the trees and made a spring from a high rock, +hoping, seemingly, to land in the boat. Instead, there was the sound +of a heavy fall and then a piteous groan. + +Whoever it was had jumped for the boat, had missed it and fallen on +the rocks. Not caring whether Masterson and his cronies saw them or +not, the boys raced along the beach. From the groans of the injured +person they knew that he was badly, possibly mortally, hurt. + +In a few minutes they reached his side. + +"It's the wild man!" cried Jack, as they gazed at a hairy, +wild-looking man who lay stretched out, breathing heavily, on the +rocks where he had fallen. His only clothing was a pair of tattered +canvas trousers and a ragged shirt. + +"Poor old Foxy. He's done for at last, is Foxy, for his sins," groaned +the man in an insane voice. "He suffered terrible for his crimes, has +Foxy, but it's all over now." + +"Foxy!" exclaimed Jack. "That's the man that came down the river with +Blue Nose Sanchez. The man who stayed in the boat." + +"He must have landed here and then gone crazy from privation," said +Jack. "I can't find that any bones are broken," he said after a brief +examination. "Suppose we carry him back to camp?" + +"I wonder where that Masterson outfit has got to?" said Tom, as they +picked up the wasted form of Foxy, who was raving and moaning by +turns. + +"I don't know. They are in a fine predicament now. They've got no food +and no boat They're marooned on this island." + +"I suppose we'll have to help them out," said Tom. + +"I guess so, though they don't deserve it." + +"I lost that boat," moaned Foxy. "I could have got away in it. Poor +old Foxy. It's tough on Foxy," and he began to weep. + +The professor found that the man had not suffered any broken bones +but the fall had bruised and sprained him and he was helpless. From +scattered bits of his ravings they learned what he had endured on the +island and how, when the black sand began to burn him, he had had to +give up working on it. Then his boat had drifted away and since then +he had lived the life of a wild man, setting snares for rabbits and +partridges, and eating them raw, tearing them with his clawlike +fingers. + +Early the next day the expected happened. Chastened, and with burned +and swollen hands and feet, Masterson and his cronies came into the +boys' camp at breakfast time. They looked crestfallen and sheepish, +but the boys did not want to make them feel any worse than they did, +so they spared them questions at first. + +But when Masterson begged them to get them out of their predicament +and take them back to Yuma, Jack felt that it was time to put them +through a cross examination. + +"You followed us here to try to cut out some ground from under our +feet, Masterson," he said, "and you know you told me in Nestorville +you wanted to get even with me." + +"Don't rub it in, Chadwick," said the humbled Masterson. "I'll do +anything you say if you'll only get us out of this terrible place. I +can hardly walk, and my hands feel as if they'd been burned in a +fire." + +"How did you know our destination?" asked Tom. Masterson made a full +confession and at the end begged forgiveness. + +"This ought to be a good lesson to you to mind your own affairs," said +Jack as he concluded. + +"I know a man who made a big fortune just minding his business," said +Dick. "For my part," he went on, "I'll forgive you, but I want you to +sign a paper promising not to publish anything about this expedition." + +"I will--oh, I will," said Masterson. And then he wrote as Dick +dictated. The boys witnessed and signed the paper. + +"And now you'd better eat breakfast," said Jack. + + +Three days later, the Wondership made two trips to Yuma. On the first +she took the original party with the addition of the insane Foxy, who +was placed in an asylum. He never recovered his reason but died in the +institution. Also, there was carried a part of the leaden carboys +which they had filled. + +Masterson and his cronies had been left behind on the island to pack +up the camping equipment and thus make themselves useful. Zeb went to +the U.S. Assay Office and formally filed their claim to the island and +its riches. In the meantime, the professor took charge of Foxy and +turned him over to the authorities. + +As for the boys, they sailed back to Rattlesnake Island, after sending +a telegram to Mr. Chadwick. It was brief. + +"We win," was all it said. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +THE HOMECOMING. + + +The next day Masterson and his companions, very much subdued, boarded +the Wondership as passengers. All of them were still suffering +painfully from the effects of the burns, their only reward from their +ill-advised raid on the black barren. + +"Boys," asked Masterson, "can't you take our camping equipment along? +It's a shame to have it rot here." + +"All right," said Jack. "I think we may be able to sell it for you. +Come on, we'll get to work now!" + +"You're not such a bad chap," said Eph when he heard Jack agree to +Masterson's suggestion. + +"He's the finest chap on earth!" exclaimed Tom. + +"That he is," added Dick Donovan. + +"He is a model young man," declared Professor Jenks, overhearing +Tom's last remark. + +Jack flushed with pleasure and embarrassment. It was very gratifying +to know that his friends thought highly of him, but at the same time +he wished they would not give him that uneasy feeling with their +sincere compliments. So he hurried away, asking the others to follow +him toward getting together Masterson's outfit. + +While the dumpy little geologist went once more to search for strange +specimens, the boys readily set to work and in a very short time the +camping equipment was placed on board the Wondership. + +When the boys arrived at Yuma, Masterson found no difficulty in +selling the camping outfit to old man McGee, who decided to make one +more try to find the Three Buttes. + +"Don't you think you're too old, and that the gold, after all, may not +be there?" Tom asked the eccentric miner. + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed McGee indignantly. "As I tole you afore, it +stands ter reason thar's gold out thar, and 'at it war'ent up to +Peg-leg Smith nor'n to Guv'nor Downey, nor'n to McGuire, nor'n to Dr. +De Courcy, nor'n to any of 'em to find the Buttes, but as I says +afore, I says ag'in--'at ther good Lord never made nuthin' thet wasn't +of some use. Very well, then, the desert is good fer nuthin' else but +mineral wealth, and Providence made it so plagued hard ter git at so +'at all of us couldn't git rich at once. I've been arter the Buttes +all me life, and _this_ wack I'm goin' to land it rich!" + +The fanatical old prospector, chuckling gleefully and sucking his +pipe, ambled away while Tom looked after him, shaking his head +sympathetically. + +"Look out! Look out!" someone shouted in Tom's ear. "There's a beauty, +a wonder!" + +Tom, startled, whirled about to see the professor, gazing intently at +a small rock upon which one of Tom's heels was resting. The professor +violently pushed him aside, out came his little hammer, and in a +moment the new specimen was in his bag. Then, the man of science, +without looking up to see whom he had spoken to, pounced on another +stone. + +Tom could not help laughing outright at the professor's queer ways and +deep concentration on his pet hobby. + +"What a funny world this is!" remarked Tom, still amused. "Here is a +man forever after rocks, rocks, and there goes a miner set upon +becoming rich and discovering some imaginary mine." + +He saw Jack waving to him from the veranda of the hotel. + +"Listen, Tom," said his chum when they stood side by side, "I was +thinking that it would be a splendid idea to send the Wondership to +New York, and that from there we travel to Nestorville, _via_ the air +route." + +"Great!" cried Tom, delighted. "But say, are we to take Masterson +along?" + +"Of course not," replied Jack. "He can go back to Boston on the +train." + +"Good for you!" declared Tom, slapping his chum on the back. + +"But I haven't told you my main idea yet," said Jack, smiling, + +"What is that?" asked the other wonderingly. + +"Can't you guess?" + +"No," Tom began to say, and then the roguish twinkle in Jack's eyes +gave him a sudden inspiration. "You don't mean to use the Z.2.X. to +send messages with while we fly nearer and nearer to our old home +town?" + +"That is exactly what I wish to do," said Jack quietly. + +"Whoop! It's great!" cried Tom, throwing his hat in the air; and as he +saw Dick coming toward them, he fairly pounced on the astonished +reporter with the news. + +"Flamjam flapcakes of Florida!" gasped Dick. + +And so it was arranged. A few days later our party boarded a train for +the East. Jack, Tom, Dick and Professor Jenks arrived at New York. + +(They had left Zeb behind to attend to the work in the barren +fields.) + +The Wondership, as on the previous occasion, was quietly but quickly +assembled, and made ready to take its homeward flight. They had chosen +a spot on Manhattan island still very meagerly developed, and so were +not at all troubled by curious onlookers. Jack, to whom his father had +explained in detail the use of Z.2.X.--or Coloradite, as they had +decided to call it--busied himself almost exclusively with the radio +telephone apparatus. When all was ready, he sent his father the +following telegram: + +"Expect message, using Coloradite from New York." + +The next morning they ascended. Round and round the Wondership +circled, a golden speck against the blue sky. In a quarter of an hour +the great metropolis seemed nothing but a giant beehive, with millions +of busy workers ever hurrying in hundreds of different directions. The +cars and automobiles were only like giant bees, moving somewhat +swifter than those on what looked like fine threads of cotton or wool. + +"What a small place New York is after all," observed the professor. + +"It is larger than Boston," said Tom slyly, + +"Perhaps," admitted the man of science haughtily, "but not as learned +or stately--no city can take its culture away from Boston." + +Jack smiled, and in order to change the conversation, asked Tom, "How +high now?" + +"About fifteen hundred feet," guessed Tom. + +"Wrong," said Jack, glancing at the barograph on the dashboard in +front of him. "We have reached two thousand eight hundred feet." + +"I must be asleep," said Tom, frowning. "Shall I connect the +alternator?" + +Jack nodded and prepared to send greetings to his father, hundreds of +miles away. They were out in the country now. As the Wondership glided +through the air, the professor, in viewing the villages, farms, green +pastures, and stretches of woodland, regretfully shook his head as the +thought occurred to him that he was missing many a precious stone. He +looked over to Jack with the idea of suggesting a descent, but he saw +the boy inventor patiently adjusting the tuning knob, and waited, +realizing how anxious Jack was to test the Coloradite. + +The little professor, extremely interested, saw Jack place his lips to +the receiver, and for the second time in his life, send out the +distinct call: + +"Hullo, High Towers!" + +Many minutes passed without an answer. Jack's face became grave. Was +part of the machinery not properly adjusted? He went over the +instrument very carefully. In so far as he could see, everything was +just as it should be. Then a thought came that made him dizzy--was it +possible that the Coloradite was not suited for the work, that Mr. +Chadwick had been misinformed? + +"What's up?" inquired Tom, glancing up from his engines. + +"By the ghost of Guzzlewits!" gasped Dick. "Don't say it won't work, +Jack!" + +The professor, ordinarily cool and very calculating, was strangely +stirred. He watched the young inventor's face. Did it mean failure? + +"I don't know," said Jack at last with forced calmness. "I will try +again." + +Once more Jack, oppressed by a vague fear, sent out the words: + +"Hullo, High Towers!" + +The reply came with startling swiftness, relieving the party from the +mental strain. In one voice--the professor included--they yelled, + +"Hurrah!" + +"Congratulations!" came Mr. Chadwick's voice in return. + +"Why the delay?" asked Jack, smiling with + +"A small lever snapped. It required a few minutes to repair it. How +far from New York are you now?" + +"About forty miles." + +"Good! Try to land here before sunset." + +"Why?" asked Jack. + +"Nestorville has a little surprise for you!" replied Mr. Chadwick, and +Jack heard him chuckle. + +"Good for Mr. Chadwick!" cried Dick in glee, for Jack had so arranged +the instrument that all of them in the Wondership could hear Mr. +Chadwick's voice. + +Then followed a long conversation between father and son. Mr. Chadwick +had almost completely recovered his health, and was again working over +new experiments. Dick insisted that he be permitted to tell the story +of their adventures on the island of the Coloradite Treasure. + +"You won't tell it right," he declared to Jack, and insisted so +strenuously that the boy inventor had to let him speak to Mr. +Chadwick. + +Dick set his choicest language agoing, and his vivid description of +Jack's part in every incident was embellished by the most flowery +adjectives in his vocabulary. Jack had to listen, and grin. + +By the time his long story was done, Nestorville was sighted. As soon +as the people saw the Wondership, pandemonium broke loose. Not only +Nestorville, but officials and crowds from the neighboring towns had +poured in, and the reception the boys and the professor received +lingered with them for many, many years. + +Later, as time went on, Mr. Chadwick's fortune was completely +rehabilitated. Professor Jenks no longer was so eager to search for +rocks, and while doing so get into all sorts of difficulties. He lived +more at home, becoming at last, as his spinster sister declared, "a +man with the proper spirit to make an ideal husband." Of course, the +professor had received a very substantial sum of money from the boys. + +Jack and Tom soon found themselves wealthy, and often in fancy trace +the days back to that afternoon when they found the sturdy miner lying +on the roadside, having been knocked unconscious by Masterson's +careless driving of his automobile. + +Zeb, continued to take charge of the work on Rattlesnake Island, to +which the boys never returned. For a long time the supply from the +black barren appeared to be inexhaustible. Suddenly, however, it +ceased, and no more was dug. But what had been mined had been more +than sufficient to make all prosperous. + +Dick, with his share of the proceeds, which the boys insisted that he +accept, bought the _Nestorville Bugle_. From the very start, he made +it a live, progressive paper. Sometimes, when the now busy editor had +a spare hour, he invariably visited his two friends, and the +three--sometimes, too, the little professor joined them +unexpectedly--recounted old-time stories. + +But the boys were not made lazy by wealth and fame. To this very day, +Jack and Tom, with Mr. Chadwick's aid, are devising many inventions +calculated to benefit mankind. Possibly, at some future time, we shall +hear something more about these, but for the present let us take our +leave and say good-by. + +THE END + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Boy Inventors' Radio Telephone +by Richard Bonner + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY INVENTORS' RADIO TELEPHONE *** + +***** This file should be named 13783.txt or 13783.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/7/8/13783/ + +Produced by Curtis Weyant, Ronald Holder and the PG Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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