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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 20:07:22 -0700 |
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diff --git a/37175-h/37175-h.htm b/37175-h/37175-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..228cd79 --- /dev/null +++ b/37175-h/37175-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,10149 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" > +<head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> + <meta content="The Boy Aviators’ Flight for a Fortune" name="DC.Title"/> + <meta content="Wilbur Lawton" name="DC.Creator"/> + <meta content="en" name="DC.Language"/> + <meta content="1912" name="DC.Created"/> + <meta name="generator" content="ppgen (1.18) generated Aug 22, 2011 10:47 PM" /> + <title>The Boy Aviators’ Flight for a Fortune</title> + <style type="text/css"> + body {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%;} + p {margin-top:1ex; margin-bottom:0; text-align:justify;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size:x-small; text-align:right; text-indent:0; + position:absolute; right:2%; padding:1px 3px; font-style:normal; + font-variant:normal; font-weight:normal; text-decoration:none; + background-color:inherit; border:1px solid #eee;} + .pncolor {color:silver;} + h1 {text-align:center; font-weight:normal; + font-size:1.4em; margin-top:4em; margin-bottom:2em;} + h2 {text-align:left; font-weight:normal; + font-size:1.2em; margin-top:4em; margin-bottom:2em;} + h3 {text-align:center; font-weight:bold; + font-size:0.9em; margin-top:1.5em; margin-bottom:1em;} + hr.pb {margin:30px 0; width:100%; border:none; border-top:thin dashed silver; clear:both;} + .sc {font-variant: small-caps;} + .center {margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; text-align:center;} + .larger {font-size:larger;} + .smaller {font-size:smaller;} + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + table.c {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + .caption {font-size: 80%;} + .sc {font-variant:small-caps} + div.center>:first-child {margin: .5em auto 0 auto;text-align:center;} + div.center p {margin: 0 auto; text-align:center;} + hr.tb {border:none; border-bottom: 1px solid black; margin: 20px auto; width:35%} + </style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Boy Aviators' Flight for a Fortune, by Wilbur Lawton + +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 Aviators' Flight for a Fortune + +Author: Wilbur Lawton + +Illustrator: Charles L. Wrenn + +Release Date: August 23, 2011 [EBook #37175] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY AVIATORS' FLIGHT FOR *** + + + + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + +<div class='figcenter' style='padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='i001' id='i001'></a> +<img src="images/illus-fpc.jpg" alt="FRANK WAS LIFTED BY MAIN FORCE AND PLACED IN IT.—Page 228." title=""/><br /> +<span class='caption'>FRANK WAS LIFTED BY MAIN FORCE AND PLACED IN IT.—<em>Page 228.</em></span> +</div> +<p> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> +</p> +<div class='center'> +<p><span style='font-size:1.6em;'>THE BOY AVIATORS’</span></p> +<p><span style='font-size:1.6em;'>FLIGHT FOR A FORTUNE</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p>BY</p> +<p><span style='font-size:larger;'>CAPTAIN WILBUR LAWTON</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p><span style='font-size:smaller;'>AUTHOR OF “THE BOY AVIATORS,”</span></p> +<p><span style='font-size:smaller;'>“DREADNOUGHT BOYS,” ETC.</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p><span style='font-size:smaller;'><em>ILLUSTRATED BY</em></span></p> +<p><em>CHARLES L. WRENN</em></p> +<p> </p> +<p><span style='font-size:smaller;'>NEW YORK</span></p> +<p>HURST & COMPANY</p> +<p><span style='font-size:smaller;'>PUBLISHERS</span></p> +</div> +<p> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> +</p> +<div class='center'> +<p><span style='font-size:smaller;'>Copyright, 1912,</span></p> +<p><span style='font-size:smaller;'>BY</span></p> +<p><span style='font-size:smaller;'>HURST & COMPANY</span></p> +</div> +<p> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> +</p> +<div class='center'> +<p><span style='font-size:larger;'>CONTENTS</span></p> +</div> +<table class='c' summary='table of contents'> +<tr><td style='font-size:smaller'>CHAPTER</td><td></td><td style='font-size:smaller'>PAGE</td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>I.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>On Brig Island</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chI'>5</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>II.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>The Wireless</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chII'>22</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>III.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>A Night Alarm</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chIII'>36</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>IV.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Cut Adrift</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chIV'>45</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>V.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Adventures on the Hulk</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chV'>56</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>VI.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Harry Meets an Old Friend</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chVI'>66</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>VII.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>A Puzzling Problem</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chVII'>80</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>VIII.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>The Derelict Destroyer</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chVIII'>89</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>IX.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>The Flight of the “Sea Eagle”</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chIX'>97</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>X.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>“C. Q. D.!”</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chX'>112</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>XI.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>“Good Luck!”</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chXI'>121</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>XII.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Through the Night</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chXII'>129</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>XIII.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>A Twentieth-Century Rescue</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chXIII'>137</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>XIV.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Ben’s Plan Stolen</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chXIV'>148</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>XV.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>What Happened Ashore</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chXV'>158</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>XVI.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Off on the “Air Route”</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chXVI'>170</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>XVII.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>An Aerial Ambulance</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chXVII'>180</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>XVIII.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>An Errand of Mercy</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chXVIII'>189</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>XIX.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Plumbo Found Wanting</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chXIX'>199</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>XX.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Frank’s Battle</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chXX'>209</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>XXI.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>A Rascally Trick</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chXXI'>219</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>XXII.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Reunited!</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chXXII'>230</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>XXIII.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Off Once More</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chXXIII'>237</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>XXIV.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>A Struggle for Life</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chXXIV'>246</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>XXV.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>A Race to Cloudland</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chXXV'>253</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>XXVI.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>The Boy Aviators’ Pluck</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chXXVI'>264</a></td></tr> +<tr><td valign='top' style='text-align:right; padding-right:1em;'>XXVII.</td><td valign='top' style='text-align:left; padding-right:3em;'><span style='font-variant:small-caps'>Captured by Aeroplane</span></td><td valign='top' style='text-align:right;'><a href='#chXXVII'>275</a></td></tr> +</table> +<h1>The Boy Aviators’ Flight for a Fortune</h1> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_5'></a>5</span><a name='chI' id='chI'></a>CHAPTER I.—ON BRIG ISLAND.</h2> +<p> +The sharp bow of Zenas Daniels’ green and +red dory grazed the yellow beach on the west +shore of Brig Island, a wooded patch of land +lying about a mile off the Maine Shore in the +vicinity of Casco Bay. His son Zeb, a lumbering, +uncouth-looking lad of about eighteen, with +a pronounced squint, leaped from the craft as it +was beached, and seized hold of the frayed +painter preparatory to dragging her farther up +the beach. +</p> +<p> +In the meantime Zenas himself, brown and +hatchetlike of face, and lean of figure—with a +tuft of gray whisker on his sharp chin, like an +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_6'></a>6</span> +old-fashioned knocker on a mahogany door—gathered +up a pile of lobster pots from the stern +of the dory and shouldered them. A few lay +loose, and those he flung out on the beach. +</p> +<p> +These last Zeb gathered up, and as his father +stepped out of the dory the pair began trudging +up the steeply sloping beach, toward the woods +which rimmed the islet almost to the water’s +edge. All this, seemingly, in defiance of a staring +sign which faced them, for on it was printed +in letters visible quite a distance off: +</p> +<div class='center'> +<p>PRIVATE PROPERTY.</p> +<p>NO TRESPASSING!</p> +</div> +<p> +Instead, however, of checking the fisherman, +it caused old Zenas to break into a harsh laugh +as his deep-set, wrinkle-surrounded eyes dwelt +for an instant on the inscription. His jaw +seemed to set with a snap, and his thin lips +formed a narrow, hairlike line as a second later +he saw something else. This was a stout wire +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_7'></a>7</span> +fence, clearly of recent construction, which extended +along the edge of the woods. Apparently +it must have encircled the island, for it ran as +far as eye could see in either direction. +</p> +<p> +“Waal, I’ll be dummed-gosh dummed!” +snorted Zenas, his thin nostrils dilating angrily. +</p> +<p> +“Put up a fence now, have they?” he continued. +“Waal, if thet ain’t ther beatingest! A +passel of city kids ter come hyar and think they +kin run things in Casco Bay!” +</p> +<p> +“I reckon thet fence ain’t goin’ ter hinder us +powerful much, dad.” +</p> +<p> +“Waal, I swan <em>not</em>. Come on, Zeb, look lively +with them pots; we’ve got ter git across ther +island an’ back ez slippy ez we kin.” +</p> +<p> +But as father and son resumed their journey, +the thick brush suddenly parted and down a narrow +path a boyish figure came suddenly into +view. The newcomer was a tall, muscular +youth, with a face tanned to a healthy brown by +constant outdoor life. His clean-cut figure and +frank, open countenance formed a striking contrast +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_8'></a>8</span> +to Zenas’ crabbed features and the shifty +look of his son. +</p> +<p> +“Where do you intend going?” demanded the +boy, as he halted a few paces on the opposite +side of the fence. +</p> +<p> +“You know waal enough, Frank Chester, or +whatever yer name is,” growled out Zenas, +“we’re goin’ across ther Island ter stow our +lobster pots, just as we’ve bin a-doin’ fer years.” +</p> +<p> +“I’m very sorry. I don’t want to seem unfair, +but, as I explained to you the other day, +this island is now private property. It was rented +from Mr. Dunning of Portland on the express +condition that we were not to be interfered +with.” +</p> +<p> +“Land o’ Goshen! So ye think yer kin come +hyar an’ run things ter suit yerselves, do yer?” +</p> +<p> +“We rented the island for that purpose. As +I said before, we are all very sorry if it interferes +with your convenience; but there’s Woody +Island half a mile below, and closer in to Motthaven, +too, why won’t that suit you as well?” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_9'></a>9</span> +</p> +<p> +“’Cos it won’t. Thet’s why. Brig Island’s bin +here a sight longer than you er I, and it’s goin’ +ter stay hyar arter we’re gone, too.” +</p> +<p> +“I don’t quite see what that has to do with it.” +</p> +<p> +“Waal, I do. We ain’t used ter bein’ dictated +to by a passel of kids. I’ve bin usin’ this island +fer ten years or more. It suits me first rate, and +I propose ter go on using it, and ther ain’t no +kids kin stop me,” spoke Zenas stubbornly. +</p> +<p> +“Well, we shan’t keep you from it for more +than a few weeks at most—at least I hope so,” +rejoined Frank, with perfect good nature, “after +that, although we have leased it for a year, we +shall be glad to have you use it in any way you +like.” +</p> +<p> +“I want ter use it right now, I tell yer.” +</p> +<p> +“Well, you can’t!” +</p> +<p> +Frank’s control of himself was beginning to +ooze away in the face of such mule-like obstinacy. +</p> +<p> +“Kain’t, eh? We’ll see. You’re alone on the +island ter-day, I seen ther other kids go ashore +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_10'></a>10</span> +this mornin’. Come on, Zeb, climb over thet +fence.” +</p> +<p> +“Thet’s right, dad,” applauded Zeb, “ef he +gives yer any sass jes’ hit him a clip in ther jaw. +Reckon that ’ull stop him fer a while.” +</p> +<p> +As his son spoke Zenas made as if to lay his +hand on the top wire of the fence preparatory +to scaling it. Frank Chester stepped hastily forward. +</p> +<p> +“Don’t try to climb that fence!” he warned. +His tone was so earnest that, involuntarily, Zenas +checked himself. +</p> +<p> +“Why not?” he demanded. +</p> +<p> +“Because if you do you are going to get hurt. +I give you fair warning.” +</p> +<p> +“Shucks! ez if a kid could bother me. Come +on, Zeb.” +</p> +<p> +As he called to his son, Zenas clapped his hand +on the top wire. Zeb, with a contemptuous grimace +at Frank, did the same. +</p> +<p> +“We’ll show yer——” Zeb was beginning, +when a singular thing happened. +</p> +<div class='figcenter' style='padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='i002' id='i002'></a> +<img src="images/illus-010.jpg" alt="“OUCH! WHAT IN THE NAME OF TIME HIT US!”" title=""/><br /> +<span class='caption'>“OUCH! WHAT IN THE NAME OF TIME HIT US!”</span> +</div> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_11'></a>11</span></div> +<p> +Zenas, with a yell, sprang into the air and, +tripping as he came down, alighted in a sprawling +heap among the freshly-tarred lobster pots. +His gray goatee wagged savagely as he lay there +impotently clenching his fists, alternating this +performance by vigorously rubbing his elbows. +In the meantime his son, giving vent to a no less +piercing cry, had executed a backward bound +from the fence with as much velocity as if he +had been a rubber ball. +</p> +<p> +“Ouch! What in ther name of time hit us!” +he demanded. +</p> +<p> +“Dear land o’ Goshen! What was thet?” +shouted his parent. +</p> +<p> +Frank had some difficulty in steadying his +voice to reply. The sight of the two lately militant +figures sprawling there on the beach was +too much for his gravity. +</p> +<p> +“<em>That</em>,” he managed to gasp out at length, +“that was a <em>mild</em> current of electricity running +through those wires. You recollect I warned you +not to touch them.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_12'></a>12</span> +</p> +<p> +“You—you—you young villain!” roared Zenas, +springing to his feet with great agility for +one of his years, “I’ll have ther law on yer!” +</p> +<p> +“Consarn you, yes!” echoed Zeb, “assault and +battery!” +</p> +<p> +“No, not batteries—a dynamo,” Frank could +not resist saying. “If you think of going to law +over it,” he added, more seriously, “please recollect +that I warned you not to touch those wires. +Furthermore, you were defiantly trespassing on +private property, although you could see that +sign from quite a distance out on the water.” +</p> +<p> +The elder Daniels’ face was a study at this. +But his son continued to bellow angrily. +</p> +<p> +“You may hev injured dad and me fer life!” +he shouted. +</p> +<p> +“Oh, no; on the contrary, a mild shock of electricity +is a fine thing for the system. But,” and +Frank smiled, “don’t take an overdose.” +</p> +<p> +“Oh, y’er laughin’ at us, are yer? Waal, maybe +ther laugh ’ull be on the other side of yer +face nex’ time we meet.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_13'></a>13</span> +</p> +<p> +All this time the elder Daniels had remained +silent, gathering up his scattered lobster pots. +Evidently he did not meditate a second assault +on the fence. Now he turned the overboiling +vials of his wrath on his son. +</p> +<p> +“Pick up them pots, consarn ye!” he rumbled +throatily, “and git out ’er this.” +</p> +<p> +Zeb obeyed, and then, with what dignity they +could muster, the two shuffled back down the +beach to their dory. Then they shoved off and +began pulling for Woody Island. Frank Chester +watched them in silence. But they did not +look his way once during the swift row. When +they landed on the distant islet, he saw Zeb turn +and shake his fist in the direction of Brig Island +with vicious emphasis. The elder fisherman, +however, simply strode off along the beach of +the adjacent island without turning. +</p> +<p> +“Well, the fence certainly served its purpose,” +said Frank to himself, as he turned away; “it +proved as effectual as it did that night we used +the same sort of contrivance to put to rout the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_14'></a>14</span> +rascals who wanted to wreck the old Golden +Eagle. Sorry I had to give those fellows such a +severe lesson, though. They liked us little +enough before. They’ll have still less use for us +now.” +</p> +<p> +He was about to retrace his steps up the path +when his attention was arrested by a sudden +sound—the sharp “put-put-put!” of a motor boat. +</p> +<p> +“I’ll bet that’s Harry, Billy and Pudge coming +now!” he exclaimed. “I’ll go round to the +hulk and meet them.” +</p> +<p> +So saying, he started off along the beach. In +a few seconds he rounded a wooded promontory +and passed out of sight. Right here, perhaps, is +a good place to give those readers who have not +already formed their acquaintance, some further +idea of who Frank Chester and his companions +are, and how the quartet came to be on Brig Island, +off the coast of Maine, in the island-dotted +Casco Bay region. +</p> +<p> +The first volume of this series related the adventures +of Frank and Harry Chester, two +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_15'></a>15</span> +bright, inventive New York lads of seventeen and +sixteen, in the turbulent Central American Republic +of Nicaragua. In this book was set down +the part that their aëroplane, <em>The Golden Eagle</em>, +played in the drama of revolution, and followed +also the tempestuous career of their chum Billy +Barnes, a young reporter whom they met in the +tropics. Mr. Chester, a New York man of affairs, +owned a plantation in Nicaragua, and the +boys and their aëroplane were the means of saving +this from the depredations of the revolutionaries. +But in an electric storm in which she +was driven out to sea the <em>Golden Eagle</em> was lost. +By means of the wireless apparatus with which +she was equipped, the lads, however, managed to +communicate with a steamer which picked them +up and saved their lives. +</p> +<p> +In The Boy Aviators on Secret Service, the +second volume of the Boy Aviators’ series, we +find them in the mysterious region of the Everglades. +Once again they demonstrated—this +time for Uncle Sam—the almost limitless possibilities +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_16'></a>16</span> +of the two greatest inventions of modern +times—the aëroplane and wireless telegraphy. +In this book we related how the secret +explosive factory was located and put out of +commission, and what dangers and difficulties +surrounded the boys during the process. +</p> +<p> +Not long after this a strange combination of +circumstances resulted in the boys taking a voyage +to Africa. In The Boy Aviators In Africa +you may read how they discovered the ivory +hoard in the Moon Mountains, and how the +Arab slave trader, who had cause to fear them, +made all sorts of trouble for them. The first +aëroplane to soar above the trackless forests of +the Dark Continent conveyed them safely out +of their dilemmas, and indirectly was the cause +of their being able to voyage back to America +on a fine yacht. +</p> +<p> +The boys had figured on resting up after this, +but the love of adventure that stirred in their +blood, as well as their warm friendship for Billy +Barnes, prompted them to take part in a cross-continent +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_17'></a>17</span> +flight against great odds. The story of +the contest, The Boy Aviators in Record Flight, +related stirring incidents from coast to coast. +Readers of that volume will readily summon to +mind the ruse by which the lads escaped the cowboys +and baffled some renegade Indians and, +finally, their fearful battle in midair with the +sand storm. +</p> +<p> +The story of an old Spanish galleon enthralled +in the deadly grip of the Sargasso Sea furnished +the inspiration for the tale of the Boy Aviators’ +Treasure Quest. But they were not alone on +their hunt for the long-lost treasure trove. Luther +Barr, a bad old man who had caused them +much trouble before, fitted out a rival expedition. +High above the vast ocean of Sargasso +weed the boys had to fight for their lives with +a crew of desperate men in a powerful dirigible +craft. How they won out, and through what +other adventures they passed—including the surprising +one of the “rat ship,”—you must read the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_18'></a>18</span> +volume to discover, as we have not space to detail +all that befell them on that voyage. +</p> +<p> +Then came what was, in many respects, their +queerest voyage of all—the flight above the Antarctic +fields of eternal ice, in search of the goal +of discoverers of half a dozen nationalities, the +South Pole. The Boy Aviators’ Polar Dash was +a volume full of swift action and enterprise. +Many hardships were endured and dangers faced, +but the boys did not flinch when duty required +their best of them. They emerged from the +frozen regions having achieved a signal triumph, +but one which would not have been possible of +accomplishment without their aëroplane. +</p> +<p> +Having thus briefly sketched the previous careers +of the Boy Aviators, we shall give a short +account of how they came to be on Brig Island, +and then press on with our story. About a +month before the present story opens then, a +scientific friend of Mr. Chester’s, Dr. Maxim +Perkins, had called on the Boy Aviators’ father +and requested the aid of the young aërial inventors +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_19'></a>19</span> +in some problems that were bothering +him. Dr. Perkins was already an aviator of +some note, but his achievements had not found +their way into the newspapers as, like most scientific +men, he did not care for publicity in connection +with his experiments. +</p> +<p> +In common with the rest of the civilized world +Dr. Perkins—horrified at a mid-ocean tragedy +in which hundreds of lives were sacrificed—had +set his wits to work to devise some means of +life saving—in addition to the regular boat equipment—which +might be easily carried by ocean +liners. He was convinced that it would be feasible +for vessels of that description to carry an +auxiliary fleet of what he termed “dirigible-hydro-aëroplanes.” +By this rather clumsy name +he meant a combination of the hydroplane, dirigible +and aëroplane. But although his ideas on +the subject were clear enough in theory, he was +rather hazy about the practical side of the matter, +and this was the object of his call on Mr. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_20'></a>20</span> +Chester—to ask the aid of the Boy Aviators in +carrying out his experiments. +</p> +<p> +To make a long story short, arrangements +were finally completed by which the doctor had +leased Brig Island, and had set up on it such +sheds and appliances as would be needed by the +boys in their work. These included a wireless, +by means of which communication with the mainland +might be kept up—via Portland—and also a +unique piece of apparatus (if such it could be +called) of which we shall learn in the next chapter. +</p> +<p> +The boys had now spent two busy weeks on +the island, and the work that they had mapped +out for themselves was so nearly completed that +they had felt justified that morning in wirelessing +Dr. Perkins to come and see how things +were going on. As we have seen, their stay on +the island had not been altogether tranquil. The +spot had been used for years by the fishermen +as a sort of stowage place for their apparatus, +and also, sometimes, as a summer residence. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_21'></a>21</span> +With the coming of the boys and their necessarily +private work, all this had been changed, +and the resentment of the fishermen had been +bitter. Of all the complainers, Zenas and his +son were the most aggressive, however, and +had openly threatened to drive the boys off the +island. +</p> +<p> +To avoid being taken by surprise the lads had +rigged up the electric fence, which device, as +readers of The Boy Aviators on Secret Service +will recall, had been used by them before with +success to repel unwelcome visitors. +</p> +<p> +Let us now rejoin Frank Chester as he goes +to meet the approaching motor boat on which +his brother Harry, Billy Barnes and Pudge Perkins, +the doctor’s son, had visited the mainland +for provisions and mail that morning. +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_22'></a>22</span><a name='chII' id='chII'></a>CHAPTER II.—THE WIRELESS.</h2> +<p> +As Frank rounded the point, the waves almost +lapping his feet as he edged along the rocky +promontory, he came into full view of the +adjunct to the little settlement which was mentioned +in the preceding chapter. This was nothing +more nor less than the hulk of what had once +been a fair-sized schooner. But her masts had +vanished, and on her decks nothing now rose +above the bulwarks but a towering structure of +sufficiently odd form to have set the wits of +every man in Motthaven who had seen it at +their keenest edge. +</p> +<p> +This structure began about amidships, where +it attained a height of some thirty feet. From +thence its skeleton form sloped sharply down +toward the stern of the dismantled hulk, much +in the manner of the “Chute the Chutes” familiar to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_23'></a>23</span> +most lads throughout the land from +their having seen them at amusement resorts. +The old schooner—formerly rejoicing in the +name of <em>Betsy Jane</em>—had been picked up for a +song in Portland by the Boy Aviators, who saw +in it exactly what they needed for a bit of experimental +apparatus. At their orders the inclined +“slide” had been built, and when this was +accomplished the craft had been towed into the +cove, where it now lay anchored by a stout line, +about 200 yards off shore. +</p> +<p> +As Frank came into view of the black old hull, +swinging on her mooring line on the turning tide, +a “Hampton” motor boat came chugging round +the <em>Betsy Jane’s</em> stern. In it were three lads. +The one in the bow handling the wheel is already +familiar to our readers, who will at once recognize +the cherubic, smiling features of the spectacled +Billy Barnes. In the stern, tending to the +engine—a five horse power one of the make-and-break +type—was Harry Chester, Frank’s younger +brother, and standing amidships, waving +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_24'></a>24</span> +cheerfully to Frank, was a youth best described +as being “tubby” of build, with round rosy +cheeks and a most good-natured expression of +countenance. +</p> +<p> +This last lad was Ulysses—otherwise “Pudge” +Perkins, the son of the aërial scientist who had +sent the lads on their strange mission. +</p> +<p> +“Batter and butterflies!” he shouted, as the +boat drew closer and he spied Frank, “how are +you, Frank? Get lonely without your chums?” +</p> +<p> +“No; I rather enjoyed myself,” laughed back +Frank, shouting his words across the water; +“you see, while you were away I had some quiet, +and a chance to work out a few problems.” +</p> +<p> +“Mumps and mathematics!” sputtered Pudge +amiably, “you don’t mean to say I worry you, +Frank?” +</p> +<p> +By this time the motor boat had approached +close to her mooring, at which swung a small +boat of the dory type. The motor boat was +speedily made fast, and the boyish occupants +tumbled into the small boat and Harry rapidly +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_25'></a>25</span> +sculled them ashore. Before leaving the motor +boat some sacks of supplies had been thrown in, +and the small craft was so heavily laden that +Pudge had to be sternly warned to keep still on +peril of swamping it. +</p> +<p> +“Dories and dingbats! as if my sylphlike form +could bother this staunch craft! Yo-ho! my +lads, yo-ho! pull for the shore and don’t bother +about me.” +</p> +<p> +The beach was reached without catastrophe, +and while Frank helped the others unload the +supplies he told them of what had occurred during +their absence. +</p> +<p> +“After you left,” he said, “I got busy figuring +on that plane problem. All at once I heard +voices, and by listening I soon recognized them +as Zenas Daniels and that precious son of his. +As I knew what ugly customers they were I +turned the current into the fence and sauntered +down toward the shore. Sure enough it was +Zenas and Zeb and they tried to rush the fence.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_26'></a>26</span> +</p> +<p> +Frank then went on to tell of what had happened. +Shouts of laughter greeted his narrative. +</p> +<p> +“Sugar and somersaults! But I’d have liked +to see those chaps do a flip-flap,” chuckled the +rotund Pudge, hugging himself in his joy. +</p> +<p> +“I guess Zenas must have learned that electricity +is good for the rheumatiz,” laughed Billy +Barnes gleefully; “I’d like to have had a picture +of them when they hit the wire,” he added, +swinging his inevitable camera at the end of its +carrying straps. +</p> +<p> +“It would have been worth while,” laughed +Harry; “but come on, boys, let’s get this stuff up +to the hut. Anything to eat, Frank? I’m hungry +enough to swallow one of old Zenas’ lobster +pots.” +</p> +<p> +“Sandwiches and sauerkraut! So am I,” +chimed in Pudge. +</p> +<p> +“Great Scott!” cried Billy Barnes, “as if we +didn’t know that. If you told us you <em>weren’t</em> +hungry it would be something new.” +</p> +<p> +“Well, I don’t see where I’ve got anything on +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_27'></a>27</span> +you when it comes to meal times,” retorted the +fat youth. +</p> +<p> +“Only about six inches more around the waist +line,” grinned Billy, dodging a blow from the +fleshy youth’s fat but muscular arm. +</p> +<p> +Shouldering the supplies, which consisted of +such staples as bacon, flour, sugar, rice and so +forth, the lads made their way up the beach, +having first carried the dory’s anchor far up +above highwater mark. They took their way +along the electrically-charged fence till they came +to a spot where there was a gate and a switch +to break the connection. Frank turned off the +switch, grounded the current, and opened the +gate, through which they passed, and entered +on a narrow path winding up among the rocks. +When they had all gone through, Frank closed +the gate, snapped on the switch again and the +fence became as mischievous as before. +</p> +<p> +In single file, headed by Harry, for Frank had +now taken a rear place, they toiled up the steep +path until, at the summit of the rocky little cliff, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_28'></a>28</span> +it plunged into the woods. Traversing these +for a short distance, and always climbing upward, +for the island converged to a point in the +middle, they at length emerged on a clearing, +evidently of nature’s workmanship, for there +was no trace of recently felled trees or other +human work. +</p> +<p> +The floor of this clearing was of rock, and off +at one side a clear spring bubbled cheerfully over +into a barrel set so as to catch the overflow. In +the center of the open space stood a small but +substantially-built portable house—one of the +sectional kind. This formed the living quarters +of the young island dwellers. Above it rose, like +gaunt, leafless trees, two iron poles set thirty +feet apart and stayed by stout guy wires. Between +those two poles were suspended, by block +and tackle, the aërials, or antennæ, by which messages +were caught and sent. Within the hut was +the rest of the wireless apparatus, which, with +the exception of some improvements of Frank’s +devising, was of the portable kind—the same in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_29'></a>29</span> +fact that they had used in Florida. Outside the +hut was a small shelter covering a four horse-power +gasolene engine, which generated the +power for the station. +</p> +<p> +As most boys are familiar nowadays with the +rudiments of wireless telegraphy we are not going +into technical details concerning the plant. +Suffice it to say that the boys were able to converse +with Portland, under favorable conditions, +and judged that, in suitable weather, they had a +radius of some two hundred and fifty miles. +</p> +<p> +But it was off to one side of the clearing, the +side nearest to the cove, that the most interesting +structure on the island was situated. This +was more of a covering than a shed, for it consisted +merely of a roof supported with uprights; +but in bad weather canvas curtains could be +drawn so as to make its interior stormproof. +</p> +<p> +This shed was now open, and under the roof +could be seen what was perhaps at the moment +the most unique machine of its kind in the world. +Looking into that shed you would have said at +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_30'></a>30</span> +first that it housed a boat. For the first object +that struck your eye was a double-ended, flat-bottomed +craft of shimmering aluminum metal, +about thirty feet in length and built on the general +lines of one of our life-saving craft. That +is to say, with “whalebacks” at each end containing +air chambers, and plenty of beam and +room within the cockpit. A peculiar feature, +however, was the addition of four wheels. +</p> +<p> +But the boat theory would have had to be +abandoned the next moment, for above the hull +of the whaleboat-shaped craft was what appeared +to be the understructure of an aëroplane. But +the planes—the broad wings—themselves were +lacking. The twin propellers connected to a motor +within the boat were, however, in place. Apparently +they were driven by chains, similar to, +but stouter than, the ordinary bicycle variety. +</p> +<p> +All about was a litter of tools and implements +of all kinds. Several large frames leaning +against one side of the shed appeared to be the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_31'></a>31</span> +skeleton forms of the wings which were soon to +be added to the superstructure. +</p> +<p> +“Tamales and terrapins!” cried Pudge admiringly, +as he gazed at the uncompleted craft, “but +she begins to look like something, eh, Frank?” +</p> +<p> +“Yes,” nodded the young aviator, “but until +your father arrives we cannot adjust the wings. +There is a lot of theoretical work connected with +them that he will have to do. By the way, I +wonder if Portland’s got any answer to our message +yet?” +</p> +<p> +Followed by the others, Frank entered the living hut, +which proved to be a snug, neat compartment +about fifteen feet in length, by ten in +width. It had four windows, two on a side, and +a door at one end. At the other end was the +wireless apparatus, with its glittering bright +metal parts, and businesslike-looking condensers +and tuning coils. Along the walls were four +bunks, two on a side, one above the other. In +the center were a table and camp chairs, and +from the ceiling hung a large oil lamp. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_32'></a>32</span> +</p> +<p> +A shelf held a good collection of books on aëro +and wireless subjects, and at one side of the door +was a blue-flame kerosene stove. On the other +side of the door was a cupboard containing +crockery, knives, forks and cooking utensils. +Altogether, if the boys had not been there for a +more serious purpose, the place might have been +said to form an almost ideal camp for four +healthy, active lads. +</p> +<p> +“Start up the motor, Harry,” said Frank, as +soon as they had deposited their burdens, “and +we’ll try and get some track of Dr. Perkins. His +answer to our message ought to be in Portland +by now.” +</p> +<p> +The younger Chester lad hastened outside, and +soon the popping of the motor announced that it +was running. Frank sat down at the key and, +depressing it, sent a blue-white flame crackling +across the spark gap. Out into space, from the +aërials stretched above, the message went volleying. +It was the call of the Portland station that +Frank was sending. He flashed it out three +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_33'></a>33</span> +times, as is customary, and then signed it F-C., +the latter being Brigg Island’s agreed-upon signature. +Then, while the others gathered round, +Frank adjusted the “phones,” the delicate receivers +that clamp over the ear and through which, +by way of the detector, any message vibrating in +the air may be caught as it encounters the antenna. +</p> +<p> +Frank listened some time but—save for the +conversation of two wireless operators far out +at sea—he could hear nothing. With a gesture of +impatience Frank began adjusting his tuning +coil. All at once he broke into a smile of satisfaction. +At last Portland was answering: +</p> +<p> +“F—C! F—C! F—C!” +</p> +<p> +“All right,” rejoined Frank, sending a volley +of sparks crashing and flashing across the gap as +soon as he could break in, “is there any answer +to my message?” +</p> +<p> +“Yes. Perkins will be at Motthaven to-morrow night. +He wants you to meet him,” came +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_34'></a>34</span> +back the answer, winging its way over the intervening +miles of space. +</p> +<p> +“Is that all?” +</p> +<p> +“That’s all.” +</p> +<p> +Frank removed the “phones,” grounded his +key and told Harry he could stop the motor. +</p> +<p> +“I’ll be glad when the doctor does get here,” +he confided to the others, after he had communicated +the message, “for I’m beginning to think +that we are in for some sort of trouble. Those +two Daniels are pretty influential in the village, +and it only needs a word from them to turn the +whole crowd against us.” +</p> +<p> +“We could stand ’em off,” bragged Pudge +grandiloquently, “lassoes and lobsters, we could +stand ’em off. I half wish they would come—buttons +and buttercakes, but I do!” and Pudge +doubled up his fists and looked fierce. +</p> +<p> +“You forget, Pudge,” said Frank, “that we are +here in positions of responsibility. All this property +is your father’s. It is our duty to see that +no harm comes to it. A bunch of those fishermen inflamed +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_35'></a>35</span> +by anger might be able to do more +harm here in an hour than could be repaired in +months, not to mention the cost.” +</p> +<p> +“Surely you don’t think they’d come down to +actual violence, Frank?” inquired Harry. +</p> +<p> +“I don’t know. The two Daniels looked mighty +savage to-day, I can tell you. If it hadn’t been +for the electric fence they might have made trouble. +At all events I’ll be glad to have some advice.” +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_36'></a>36</span><a name='chIII' id='chIII'></a>CHAPTER III.—A NIGHT ALARM.</h2> +<p> +After supper that night, a meal consisting of +fried salt pork, boiled potatoes and some fresh +fish which Frank had caught earlier in the day, +the elder of the Chester lads called what he +termed “a conference,” although Billy Barnes declared +it was more in the nature of a “council of +war.” +</p> +<p> +We are not going to detail here all that was +said as it would make wearisome reading; but, +after an hour or more of talk, Frank spoke his +mind. +</p> +<p> +“It may be all foolishness, of course,” he said, +“but I think that we ought not to leave the island +unguarded to-night. Daniels and his son +have had a taste of that wire fence and they +may have figured out some way to get around +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_37'></a>37</span> +it—it would be a simple enough matter to do, +after all.” +</p> +<p> +“Well, what’s your proposal?” inquired Billy +Barnes. +</p> +<p> +“To patrol the island all night, taking turns +on watch. It’s not more than a mile or so all +round it, and it ought to be an easy matter to +keep the ground thoroughly covered.” +</p> +<p> +“Rifles and rattlesnakes!” burst out Pudge, +“I thought this was to be a sort of working vacation +and not a civil war.” +</p> +<p> +Frank smiled, and then assumed a graver expression +as he went on: +</p> +<p> +“There is so much valuable property here +which it would be easy for malicious people to +injure that I wouldn’t feel justified in leaving +the island unguarded all night. What do the +rest of you think?” +</p> +<p> +“Just as you do, Frank,” rejoined Harry heartily, +while Billy and Pudge nodded vigorously; +“we’ve got to keep a sharp lookout. I nominate +myself and Pudge for the first watch—say from +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_38'></a>38</span> +eight to twelve. You and Billy can go on duty +from midnight till daylight.” +</p> +<p> +After some discussion this order of procedure +was adopted. Promptly at eight o’clock Harry +and Pudge Perkins went “on duty,” while Frank +and Billy turned in to get what sleep they could. +As a matter of precaution, when they came to +the island, the boys had brought along a revolver, +and Harry was armed with this when he went +on duty. He was not, of course, to use it as a +weapon of offence, but it was agreed that, in +case there was any alarm during his watch, he +was to fire it three times, when the others would +come to his assistance. +</p> +<p> +Harry and Pudge accompanied each other as +far as the gate, and then threaded their way +down the path among the rocks toward the beach. +A mild current had been turned on in the fence, +enough to give an uncomfortable shock to any +one tampering with it, but not enough to exhaust +the storage batteries which supplied it. +</p> +<p> +When they reached the beach, Harry paused. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_39'></a>39</span> +</p> +<p> +“We’d better start this patrol in opposite directions,” +he said, “and then we can meet each +other once on every circuit.” +</p> +<p> +“All right,” agreed Pudge, “but—pirates and +parachutes—keep a good eye open.” +</p> +<p> +“Don’t worry about me,” rejoined Harry; “so +long!” +</p> +<p> +As he spoke each boy stepped off into the darkness +to begin the patrol. As Harry trudged +along the beach his mind was full of the events +of which Frank had spoken that afternoon. Up +in the lighted hut, with his companions around +him, it had seemed a very remote possibility to +the boy that any attack should be made on the +island. But pacing along under the stars, with +only the sound of his own footsteps for company, +placed a very different light on the matter. What +if the disgruntled fishermen should make a night +descent on the island? +</p> +<p> +“This won’t do,” exclaimed Harry to himself, +coming to a sudden halt in the cove opposite to +which the motor boat was moored, and where +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_40'></a>40</span> +a blacker patch on the dark sand showed him +the beached dinghy, “it’s no use getting shivery +and scared just because a couple of cranky fishermen +are so sore at us. I’ve got to brace up, +that’s all there is to it.” +</p> +<p> +His surroundings, however, were not calculated +to soothe the nervous suspense of the lad. +Except for the stars glittering like steel points +in the night sky there was no light. The night +was so pitchy dark, on the beach under the +shadow of the trees, that he could hardly see +with certainty a yard ahead of him. The surf +roared hoarsely against the rocks at the point—for +the tide was full, and the night wind moaned +in the trees like a note of warning. +</p> +<p> +With an idea of carrying out his patrol properly, +Harry went toward the darker patch amid +the gloom which showed him where the beached +dinghy lay. He examined it as well as he could, +and made sure that it was well above tide water. +Having completed this, he paced on, and in due +time heard footsteps approaching him which he +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_41'></a>41</span> +knew must be those of Pudge Perkins. A minute +later the two young sentinels met and exchanged +greetings. Pudge had nothing to report, except +that it was what he called a “creepy” job. However, +he pluckily averred: “Ghosts and gibberish, +Harry, I’m going to stick it out.” +</p> +<p> +“That’s right,” approved Harry, and after a +few words both boys once more started out on +their lonesome tours of duty. +</p> +<p> +In due course Harry again reached the cove +opposite the schooner hulk, and this time, being +rather tired, he decided to sit down on the +beached dinghy and take a rest. But, to his astonishment, +it didn’t seem to be in the place +where it should have been. +</p> +<p> +“I could have sworn it was right here,” said +Harry to himself, as he trudged about on his +quest, “it must be close at hand. Guess I’ll fall +over it and hurt my shins in a minute.” +</p> +<p> +But although he reassured himself, the boy +felt far from secure in his belief. After a further +painstaking search he was fain to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_42'></a>42</span> +confess—what he really believed from the first—that the +dinghy which had lain there a short time before +had mysteriously vanished! +</p> +<p> +“Can it be those miserable Daniels?” gasped +Harry to himself. “Yes, it must be,” he went +on, answering his own questions, “who else would +have done it, unless it drifted off.” +</p> +<p> +He was moving about as he spoke, and as he +uttered the last words he stumbled across something +that showed him very plainly that the +dinghy could not have drifted away from the +beach. What he had fallen over was the anchor +firmly embedded in the sand, with a length of +rope still attached to it. +</p> +<p> +Harry felt along the bit of rope in the darkness +till he reached the end of it. Then he +struck a match. In the flicker of light which +followed he saw plainly enough what had occurred—the +rope had been slashed through. The +boy had just made this discovery when from the +water he heard something that caused him to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_43'></a>43</span> +listen acutely, bending every sense to the operation. +</p> +<p> +What he had heard was the splash of an oar, +and a quick exclamation of impatience, as if the +rower, whoever he was, had blamed his involuntary +misstroke. +</p> +<p> +“Some one’s out there, and they’re aboard the +schooner, too; or I’m very much mistaken,” exclaimed +Harry to himself, as, listening acutely, +he caught the sound of footsteps proceeding, +seemingly, by their hollow ring, from the decks +of the dismantled hulk; “what will I do? If I +fire the pistol I’ll scare them off, and if I +don’t——” +</p> +<p> +He stopped short. A sudden daring idea had +flashed into his mind. The boy hastily slipped +off his shoes and divested himself of all but his +undergarments. Then, leaving his pistol on the +beach, he slipped noiselessly into the bay and +struck out in the direction of the schooner. The +water was bitterly cold, as it always is off the +Maine coast, even in the height of summer, but +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_44'></a>44</span> +Harry kept dauntlessly on, determined to brave +anything in the execution of his purpose. +</p> +<p> +The hulk lay only about a hundred yards off +the shore, and before long he could see her dark +outlines looming up against the lighter darkness +of the sky on the horizon. He fancied, but could +not be certain that it was not an illusion, that +for an instant he could see two forms creeping +along the decks. The next moment something +showed up ahead of him with which he almost +collided. +</p> +<p> +Harry, with a gasp of gratitude, for the water +had chilled him to the bone, recognized it as the +motor boat. As silently as he could he drew +himself up into it, and then, casting himself flat +in the cockpit, he listened with all his might for +further sounds from the schooner. +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_45'></a>45</span><a name='chIV' id='chIV'></a>CHAPTER IV.—CUT ADRIFT.</h2> +<p> +He did not have long to wait. Seemingly, whoever +the marauders were—and as to their identity +the lad could hazard a pretty good guess—they +did not bother much about lowering their +voices. +</p> +<p> +“By the jumping crickey!” he heard coming +over the water from the schooner, “jiggered if I +kin make out what they cal’kelated ter use this +hulk fer.” +</p> +<p> +“Hush! Not so loud, pop. Ther sound carries +tur’rble fur over ther water.” +</p> +<p> +“As if I didn’t know thet, Zeb, but what do +we care? Them kids is fast asleep, and anyhow, +we cut the dinghy adrift so they couldn’t do us +any harm ef they wanted to.” +</p> +<p> +“Thet’s right, too; but some of ’em might be +prowling about. They’re up ter all sorts uv +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_46'></a>46</span> +tricks. I ain’t forgot thet thar fence, I kin tell +yer. My arm’s a-tingling yet whar thet electricity +hit me.” +</p> +<p> +Soaked through as he was, and chilly into the +bargain, Harry couldn’t help smiling as he heard +this eloquent testimonial to the efficacy of the +“charged” fence. He had caught the name of +“Zeb,” too, which speedily removed all doubt +from his mind as to the identity of the marauders. +</p> +<p> +“The precious rascals,” he thought, while his +teeth chattered with cold, “I’m mighty glad I +did swim out here, even if I am almost frozen +to death. If they aren’t under arrest to-morrow +it won’t be my fault.” +</p> +<p> +Little more was heard from the schooner, but +from what he could catch he surmised that the +two fishers were completely mystified by the +craft. Presently he heard their footsteps descending +the gangway and then came the splash +of oars. They were dipped silently no longer, a +pretty sure sign that the two rascals didn’t much +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_47'></a>47</span> +care if they were heard or not. After a moment +the splashing sound grew more remote, and +Harry knew that the two prowlers had taken +their departure. +</p> +<p> +There was a scull in the motor boat and as +soon as he was sure that the Daniels were out +of earshot, Harry up anchored and began sculling +the motor boat toward the hulk. The distance +was so short that he did not want to bother +to start the engine, and in a few seconds he was +alongside the dark hulk. He shoved along the +side till the motor boat grated against the gangway, +and then, not forgetting to make the motor +craft fast, he leaped up the steps, with the purpose +of discovering what harm, if any, had been +wrought aboard the <em>Betsy Jane</em>. +</p> +<p> +Harry knew where a lantern was kept, and +descending into what had once been the cabin he +began rummaging about for it. In the pitchy +blackness the task took him longer than he had +anticipated, but at last he found the lantern and +the matches which lay beside it. Hastily striking +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_48'></a>48</span> +a light he soon had the bare cabin filled with the +yellow rays of the lamp. As has been explained, +the <em>Betsy Jane</em> had been purchased as a sort of +“trying-out” appliance for the inventions of Dr. +Perkins, and therefore the cabin contained nothing +in the way of furniture. The lamp, in fact, +had only been placed on board as a precaution +in case a riding light was ever needed on the anchored +hulk. But as she had remained at her +moorings in the isolated cove this was not, of +course, necessary. +</p> +<p> +A brief look about the cabin showed Harry +that nothing had been molested there. In fact, +as has been said, there was nothing to molest. A +door in the forward bulkhead led into the empty +hold, and the boy next made his way there, the +lamp casting weird shadows on the timbers as +he went. His steps rang hollowly through the +deserted ship, and he could hardly repress a shudder +as he threaded his way among the stanchions, +which, like the pillars in a church, upheld the +deck above his head. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_49'></a>49</span> +</p> +<p> +Reaching what had been the forecastle of the +<em>Betsy Jane</em>, Harry came to the conclusion that +nothing had been damaged below. His next task +was to go up on deck. His examination below +decks had been painstaking, and had occupied +him some time, but he was determined to make it +a thorough one. The fact is that an ugly suspicion +had crept into Harry’s mind as he lay in +the bottom of the motor boat listening to the two +Daniels on board the schooner. This was nothing +more nor less than a dread that they might +have “scuttled” the craft. From what he knew +of them the two were capable of anything, and +he thought that in their rage at finding nothing +on board that they could damage they might have +bored holes in the schooner in order to sink her. +His investigation of the hold, however, had +shown him—to his great relief—that nothing +of the sort had occurred. +</p> +<p> +Coming on deck Harry made as careful a +search for damage as he had done in the hold. +But the inclined superstructure remained intact, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_50'></a>50</span> +and nothing indicated that the Daniels had done +anything more than stroll about, trying to discover +what the object of the schooner was. +</p> +<p> +So intent had Harry been on his task that he +had, for the time being, completely forgotten +that Pudge must be anxiously looking for him. +Going into the eyes of the craft he sent a hearty +hail ashore: +</p> +<p> +“Pudge ahoy! Oh-h-h-h, Pu-d-g-e!” +</p> +<p> +Then he stopped to listen intently. But no reply +came to his hail. He tried it again and again, +without success. Then he determined as a last +resort to fire the agreed-upon three shots. He +did not want to alarm his companions unnecessarily, +but surely, he thought, it would be a good +idea to arouse them and communicate what had +occurred since he left the hut. +</p> +<p> +Up to that moment the boy had completely forgotten +that he had left the pistol on the beach. +He felt compelled to laugh at himself for his +absentmindedness, but while the laugh was still +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_51'></a>51</span> +on his lips something happened that caused it to +freeze there. +</p> +<p> +A mass of cold spray was suddenly projected +over the bow. At the same instant the old hulk +quivered at the smart “slap” of a wave. +</p> +<p> +“Gracious!” thought Harry to himself, “the +sea must be getting up. I reckon I’d best be +going back ashore.” +</p> +<p> +As he made his way aft toward the gangway +he found that the sea must indeed have risen +since he came on board. The old hulk was rolling +about like a bottle, and he had to hold on to +the rail as he made his way along the decks. Getting +into the motor boat under these conditions +was no easy task. But it was accomplished at +last. +</p> +<p> +“I guess I’ll start the engine before I cut +adrift,” said Harry to himself. +</p> +<p> +Later on he was to be very thankful he did. +Turning on the switch and gasolene he began +to “spin” the fly wheel; but beyond a wheezy +cough the motor gave no sign of responding. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_52'></a>52</span> +For more than half an hour the boy worked with +might and main over the refractory bit of machinery, +but to no effect. The engine was absolutely +“dead.” +</p> +<p> +“What can be the matter with it?” thought +Harry to himself. “It’s never acted this way before.” +</p> +<p> +He stood up, too engrossed in his problem to +realize what a sea was running. Before he could +recover his balance the pitching craft almost +bucked him overboard. +</p> +<p> +“Gracious! the waves are getting up with a +vengeance,” exclaimed the boy to himself; “I can +never scull ashore in this sea. Queer, too, there, +doesn’t seem to be any more wind than when I +left shore. Certainly I’ve never seen the sea as +rough as this in the inlet before.” +</p> +<p> +With the object of finding out what ailed the +obstinate motor, he returned to the deck of the +schooner where he had left the lamp. Getting +into the motor boat with it once more, by dint of +much balancing and holding on he cast its rays +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_53'></a>53</span> +on the single cylinder. Almost simultaneously +he saw what had happened. Somebody, he had +no difficulty in guessing who, had removed the +sparking points. No wonder that no explosion +had followed his efforts to get the craft under +way. +</p> +<p> +“Well, here’s a fine fix,” thought Harry; “even +if I could attract their attention ashore I’ve got +no means of getting there. Oh, if I won’t get +even with those Daniels as soon as I get a chance! +Wonder what I’d better do?” +</p> +<p> +His first move was to clamber back on board +the schooner, for the wild rolling of the motor +boat, as she plunged about at the foot of the gangway, +was not helpful to thought. Gaining the +deck once more Harry sought out the cabin and +seated himself on the edge of one of the empty +bunks which ranged its sides. +</p> +<p> +Suddenly it occurred to him that he was uncommonly +sleepy, and at the same time he +thought that possibly it would be a good idea +to pass the rest of the night in slumber. He had +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_54'></a>54</span> +no watch, but he imagined that it could not be +so very far to daylight. With this object in +view he cast himself down in the bunk and, despite +the hardness of the bed and the chilliness +of his scantily clad limbs, he rapidly slipped away +from his surroundings into a dreamless sleep. +</p> +<p> +When he awoke the sun was shining through +the stern ports. That is, it was for one instant, +and then in the next it was obscured again. +Harry was enough of a sailor to know that this +meant a cloudy day, with possibly a piping wind +scurrying the clouds across the sky. +</p> +<p> +“Thank goodness it’s daylight anyhow!” he exclaimed, +jumping from his uncomfortable couch, +with an ache in every limb in his body; “now +to go on deck and attract their attention ashore.” +</p> +<p> +Utterly unprepared for the shock that was to +greet him, Harry bounded up the companionway +stairs and on to the deck. +</p> +<p> +Had a bomb exploded at his feet he could not +have been more thunderstruck than he was at +the sight which greeted him. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_55'></a>55</span> +</p> +<p> +There was no island, no distant mainland. +Nothing but miles upon miles of tumbling blue +water in which the <em>Betsy Jane</em> was wallowing +about, casting showers of spray over her bow +every time she nosed into a billow. +</p> +<p> +Harry’s heart stood still for an instant. His +senses swam dizzily. Then, with a sudden return +of his faculties, he realized what had occurred. +</p> +<p> +The mooring rope of the <em>Betsy Jane</em> had been +cut or had broken, and he was miles out on the +Atlantic without a prospect of succor. +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_56'></a>56</span><a name='chV' id='chV'></a>CHAPTER V.—ADVENTURES ON THE HULK.</h2> +<p> +A sudden sharp puff of wind, followed by a +heavier dip than usual on the part of the dismantled +hulk, apprised the boy that both breeze +and sea were increasing. Putting aside, for the +moment, by a brave effort, his heart sickness, +Harry ran to the rail and peered over the side. +The motor boat was careering gallantly along by +the side of her big consort, and the boy was glad +to note that the painter still held, despite the +strain. +</p> +<p> +But Harry knew, from his examination the +previous night, that it would be useless to try +to escape by the motor craft. She was disabled +beyond hope of repair, unless he could get another +spark plug. Having made sure the motor +craft was all right, Harry returned to the bow +and sat down to think the situation over. +</p> +<p> +It would have been a trying one for a man to +face, let alone a lad; but Harry’s numerous adventures +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_57'></a>57</span> +had given him a power of calm thought +beyond his years, and he managed to marshal +his ideas into some sort of shape as he crouched +under the bow bulwarks. +</p> +<p> +“Evidently the <em>Betsy Jane</em> was caught by the +tide, when it turned, and carried out to sea,” he +thought, “and then, when the wind got up, she +drifted still faster. I wonder if her mooring +rope broke or if it was cut—guess I’ll take a +look.” +</p> +<p> +The boy dragged inboard the end of the mooring +line that still hung over the bow. One look +at it was enough. The clean cut strands showed +conclusively that it had been severed, just above +the water line, by a sharp knife. The fact that +the Daniels could not know that any one would +come on board after they slashed the line did not +make their act any less heinous in Harry’s eyes. +It had been their deliberate intention to set the +schooner adrift, and they had succeeded only too +well in their act of spite. +</p> +<p> +“Whatever will they be thinking on the island +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_58'></a>58</span> +when they discover all this?” thought Harry with +a low groan. “They’ll imagine that I’m dead, or +at least that some fatal accident has befallen me, +and, worst of all, they have no boat to use to +reach the mainland. They are just as much prisoners +as I am.” +</p> +<p> +Sharp pangs of hunger now began to assail +the lad, and he recollected, with a thankful heart, +that on board the motor boat there were the remains +of a lunch they had taken ashore with +them on their expedition the previous day. There +was also a keg of water. Harry lost no time +in descending the gangway and making his way +to the locker where the food had been stored. +First, however, he made a foray on the water +keg. Taking out the stopper he found that it +was only half full, but he slaked his thirst gratefully, +taking care to use as small a quantity of +the fluid as possible. He knew that before long +the water might be precious indeed. +</p> +<p> +In the locker he found the remnants of the +lunch. As he consumed the scraps of bread and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_59'></a>59</span> +cheese, and a small hunk of corned beef, he recalled +with what light hearts they had fallen to +the meal of which he was now devouring the remains. +The recollection almost overcame him. +With a strong effort the boy choked back a sob +and formed a grim determination not to dwell +upon his miserable situation more than was possible. +He felt that the main thing was to keep +a clear head. +</p> +<p> +There was some spare rope on board the hulk, +and with this Harry made the fastenings of the +launch more secure, leading one end of the rope +on board the schooner itself, and making it fast +to a cleat. He felt that the craft would be more +safe if attached thus than would have been the +case had he depended on the gangway alone. +</p> +<p> +This done, he took a look about him. He had +had a vague hope that he might sight a ship of +some sort, but the ocean was empty as a desert. +Not a sail or a smudge of smoke marred the +horizon. All this time the wind had been steadily +freshening, and Harry judged that the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_60'></a>60</span> +schooner must be drifting before it quite fast. +The inclined superstructure naturally added to +her “windage” and made her go before the gale +more rapidly. The sea, too, was piling up in +great, glistening, green water rows, which looked +formidable indeed. But so far the <em>Betsy Jane</em> +had wallowed along right gallantly, only shipping +a shower of spray occasionally when a big +sea struck her obliquely on the bow. +</p> +<p> +“If only I had plenty of food and water,” +thought Harry, “this would be nothing more than +a good bit of adventure, but——” +</p> +<p> +In accordance with his resolution not to dwell +on the more serious aspects of his predicament +he dismissed this side of the case from his mind. +But as the day wore on, and he grew intolerably +thirsty, the thought of what might be his fate, +if he did not fall in with some vessel, beset his +mind more and more, to the exclusion of all else. +In the afternoon, as closely as he could judge +the time, he took another drink from the fast-diminishing +supply in the keg. He noticed, with +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_61'></a>61</span> +an unpleasant shock, that the fluid was growing +alarmingly lower. Before he took the draught +he had cleaned up the remaining crumbs left in +the locker, and was now absolutely without food. +</p> +<p> +The rest of that afternoon he passed watching +the empty sea for some sign of a ship, but not +a trace of one could he discover. Utterly disheartened +he watched the sun set in a blaze of +crimson and gold. The sunset lay behind him, +and Harry knew by this that he was drifting east +at a rapid rate. Just how rapid he had, of course, +no means of calculating. Of one thing he was +thankful—the sea had not increased, and the +wind appeared to have fallen considerably with +the departure of daylight. +</p> +<p> +“Surely,” thought the boy, “I must have +drifted on the track of ocean vessels by this time. +I know there’s a line to Halifax, and another to +Portland, besides the coasters.” +</p> +<p> +With this thought came another. What if he +should be run down during the night? The idea +sent a shudder through his scantily clothed form. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_62'></a>62</span> +He knew that derelicts are often the cause of +marine disasters, and during the dark hours +the hulk might invite such a fate if he did not +take steps to guard against it. +</p> +<p> +Accordingly he lit his lantern and hung it in +the underpinning of the inclined superstructure. +</p> +<p> +“At least they can see that,” he thought, as he +completed the hanging of his warning light. +</p> +<p> +Then, having done all he well could under the +circumstances, Harry cast himself down in the +lee of the weather bulwarks and tried to sleep. +But in his scanty attire he was far too cold to +do aught but lie and shiver till his teeth chattered. +He determined to pass the rest of the +night below, and once more sought a couch in +the empty bunk. But sleep was a long time coming. +Tired, excited and hungry as the boy was, +he could not compose himself to slumber. Ten +or a dozen times he started up and ran to the +deck, thinking that he had heard the distant beat +of some vessel’s engines. But each time it proved +a false alarm. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_63'></a>63</span> +</p> +<p> +At length tired nature asserted herself, and +he sank to sleep in good earnest. When he +awakened it was daylight, and there was an odd +feeling about the motion of the <em>Betsy Jane</em>. She +seemed to have ceased her rolling and pitching, +and was almost steady in the water. Suddenly +there came a jarring crash that almost threw +Harry out of the bunk. +</p> +<p> +Much startled, he ran on deck, and found, to +his astonishment, that the vessel lay right off an +island. Seemingly she had grounded on a reef +of rocks stretching out from the island itself. +At any rate, as the waves rocked her she gave +a jarring, crunching bump with each pitch of her +hull. The island appeared to be a small one, +and in general appearance was not unlike Brig +Island. In fact, at first Harry had thought that +in some magical way the <em>Betsy Jane</em> had drifted +back to that small speck of land. But a second +glance showed him that the island off which the +dismantled hull had grounded differed in many +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_64'></a>64</span> +essentials from the one he had left. Far to the +westward, about twenty miles as well as the boy +could judge, lay a dim streak of dark blue that +Harry guessed was the mainland. But for all +the good it did him it might have been a hundred +miles removed. +</p> +<p> +Harry was still gazing at the island and wondering +how he could reach it before the <em>Betsy +Jane</em> pounded herself to pieces on the rocks, when +he started violently. The island was not, as he +had supposed, uninhabited—at least, he had +caught sight of a swirl of blue smoke rising from +among the trees on its highest part. This meant +help, companionship and food. An involuntary +cry of joy rose to the boy’s lips, which the next +instant turned to a groan as he looked over the +side of the schooner and saw that the reef on +which she had struck was much too far out from +the shore for him to try to swim the distance, +even if a roaring, racing tide would not have +made it suicidal to attempt the feat. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_65'></a>65</span> +</p> +<p> +“Unless I can attract the attention of whoever +lives there by shouting, I’m as badly off as I was +before,” exclaimed Harry, in a voice made quavery +by panic. +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_66'></a>66</span><a name='chVI' id='chVI'></a>CHAPTER VI.—HARRY MEETS AN OLD FRIEND.</h2> +<p> +All at once, while he was still gazing at the +column of smoke shoreward, Harry became +aware of a figure coming out of the woods toward +the beach. He shouted with all his might, +and the man who had appeared from the undergrowth +waved a reply. +</p> +<p> +Then his voice came over the water. +</p> +<p> +“What’s up?” +</p> +<p> +The tone somehow was strangely familiar to +Harry, and, for that matter, when he had first +seen the figure of the newcomer it had struck +him with an odd sense of familiarity. Suddenly +he realized why this was. +</p> +<p> +“Ben Stubbs!” he yelled at the top of his lungs. +</p> +<p> +“Ahoy, mate!” came back after a pause; “who +are you?” +</p> +<p> +“Harry Chester!” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_67'></a>67</span> +</p> +<p> +“By the great horn spoon! What the dickens +are you doing out there?” +</p> +<p> +Cupping his hands to make his voice carry +the better, Harry hailed back once more. +</p> +<p> +“I drifted here on this hulk. Can you take +me off?” +</p> +<p> +“Can I? Wait a jiffy.” +</p> +<p> +Ben Stubbs—for it was actually the “maroon” +whom the boys had rescued from a miserable fate +in the Nicaraguan treasure valley—began running +along the shore as fast as his short legs +would carry him. Presently he vanished around +a wooded promontory, leaving Harry in a strange +jumble of feelings. What could the good-hearted +old companion of several of their adventures be +doing on this desolate island off the Maine coast? +When they had last heard from him he had been +running a tug boat line in New York harbor, having +purchased the business with the profits made +out of the discovery of the treasure trove in the +Sargasso Sea. +</p> +<p> +Before a great while the man who had so opportunely +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_68'></a>68</span> +appeared came into view once more +This time he was in a skiff, rowing with strong +strokes toward the stranded hulk of the <em>Betsy +Jane</em>. Harry watched him with eager eyes. Fast +as Ben Stubbs rowed, it seemed an eternity to the +anxious boy before his strangely rediscovered +friend reached the side of the grounded schooner. +</p> +<p> +When he did so he hastily made fast, and was +up the gangway ladder three steps at a time. +Fortunately for his haste, the sea had diminished +in roughness considerably, and the <em>Betsy Jane</em> +lay almost motionless on the reef. Otherwise he +would have stood a strong chance of being +thrown from his footing. Harry was at the +gangway as Ben Stubbs’ weather-beaten countenance +came into view at the top of the steps. +</p> +<p> +Ben seized the boy’s hand in a grip that made +Harry flinch, but he returned it with as strong +a clench as he could. For a moment both of +them were too much overcome with emotion at +the strange meeting to utter a word. It was Ben +who spoke first. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_69'></a>69</span> +</p> +<p> +“Waal, what under the revolving universe +are you doing here?” he demanded. +</p> +<p> +“I was about to ask the same question of you.” +</p> +<p> +“It’s a long story, boy, and you look just about +played out. What has happened? I never +dreamed that you were even in this neighborhood.” +</p> +<p> +“I guess the same thing applies to me, so far +as you are concerned, Ben,” rejoined Harry, between +a laugh and a sob. “As for myself, I’ve +been adrift all night on this old hulk. Some rascals +cut her loose from her moorings at Brig +Island.” +</p> +<p> +“Wow! you’ve drifted all the way from there. +Why, it’s fifty miles or more away.” +</p> +<p> +“I know it. It seemed a million to me. What +worries me is what the others must be thinking. +They won’t know if I’m dead or alive.” +</p> +<p> +“We’ll find a way to let ’em know, never fear,” +struck in Ben in his deep, rumbling voice; “but +I reckon you’re hungry and thirsty?” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_70'></a>70</span> +</p> +<p> +“Am I? Why, I could eat a horse without +sauce or salt, as you used to say.” +</p> +<p> +“Then get in the skiff and come ashore. I’ve +got a sort of a hut there. It ain’t much of a +place, but I’ve got enough to eat and a good +spring of clear water, and I can give you a +suit of slops.” +</p> +<p> +“But the schooner?” demanded Harry. +</p> +<p> +“She’ll be all right, I reckon. She’s lying on +a sort of sandy ridge that runs out here. The +sea’s gone down so that she won’t do herself any +harm, and we can’t do her any good right now. +You see, the tide is falling. When it rises we’ll +try to get her off and anchor her in a snugger +berth.” +</p> +<p> +Harry might have argued the point, but the +prospect of food and drink made so strong an +appeal to him that he did not stop to waste words. +Five minutes later they were rowing ashore, and, +while Ben bent to the oars with a will, Harry +told him in detail all that happened since they +came to Brig Island, and the reason of their presence +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_71'></a>71</span> +there. He knew that he was safe in confiding +in old Ben. +</p> +<p> +The relation of his story occupied the entire +trip to the shore, and when Ben had beached his +skiff he seized Harry by the arm and began hurrying +him up the beach toward a small hut, half +canvas, half lumber, which stood back under the +shelter of a low bluff. The boy was desperately +anxious to learn the reason of Ben’s presence on +the island, for he knew it could have no ordinary +cause. But the weather-beaten old adventurer +would not allow the boy to say another word +till he had clothed himself and eaten all he could +put away of a rabbit stew washed down with +strong coffee. +</p> +<p> +“Now, then,” remarked Ben, as soon as Harry +had finished, “I suppose you’re a-dyin’ to hear +what I’m doin’ on Barren Island, which is the +name of this bit of land?” +</p> +<p> +“I am, indeed,” declared Harry, shoving back +the cracker box which had served him as a chair; +“the last person in the world I would have expected +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_72'></a>72</span> +to see when the <em>Betsy Jane</em> grounded was +Ben Stubbs.” +</p> +<p> +Ben chuckled. +</p> +<p> +“Allers turnin’ up, like a bad penny, ain’t I?” +he said, shoving some very black tobacco into his +old pipe. “’Member ther time I dropped out of +the sky in thet dirigible balloon?” +</p> +<p> +“Well, I should say I did,” laughed Harry; +“but how you got here is past my comprehension. +What became of the tug boat line?” +</p> +<p> +Ben snapped his fingers. +</p> +<p> +“All gone, my lad! Gone just like that! I +reckon I’m not a good hand at business, or the +crooked tricks that answers for that same. Anyhow, +to make a long yarn a short one, I went +on a friend’s note and he dug out. That was +blow number one. To meet that note I had to +mortgage some of my boats, and in some way—blow +me if I rightly understand it yet—I got +myself in a hole whar’ the lawyer fellers bled +me till I was mighty near dry. I tried to struggle +along, but it wasn’t no go. Then came a strike +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_73'></a>73</span> +of tug boat hands and that finished me. I +couldn’t stand the long lay off without anything +to do, so I sold out for what I could get, and—and +here I am.” +</p> +<p> +“I’m mighty sorry to hear that you failed, +Ben,” said Harry with real sympathy in his tones, +“but you haven’t said yet what you are doing +here on Barren Island, as you call it.” +</p> +<p> +“I’m a-gettin’ to that, lad,” said Ben, emitting +a cloud of blue smoke; “give me time. As I told +you, that feller on whose note I went, skedaddled. +You see, I’d trusted him as my own brother, +bein’ as I knew his father when I was a miner. +He—that’s this chap’s father, I mean—was a +Frenchman, Raoul Duval was his name, and his +son’s name the same. Old man Duval made his +pile in Lower Californy and was makin’ fer his +home in New Orleans when ther steamer he was +travelin’ on blew up, and he and all his gold dust—a +whalin’ big lot of it—went to the bottom. +</p> +<p> +“I never calculated to hear anything more of +Duval arter this, but one day this young feller +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_74'></a>74</span> +I’ve been tellin’ you about shows up in New York +and hunts me up. He tells me that he’s old +Raoul’s son, and that he’d had a run of hard +luck and so on, and wants to go into business, +and if, for his father’s sake, I’ll help him out. +I asks him how he found me out, and he says +that in his father’s letters home I had often been +mentioned, and that when he heard of the Stubbs +Towing Line he made inquiries and found that +I was in all probability the same man. +</p> +<p> +“As I told you, I let him have the money. It +don’t matter just how much, but it was quite a +bit. You see, I did it for the old man’s sake. +I was sorry afterward. Young Duval wasn’t a +chip of the old block at all. He was idle and +dissipated. His business went under and he +skipped out.” +</p> +<p> +“Did you lend him this money without security +of any sort?” asked Harry incredulously. +</p> +<p> +“In a way, yes. In another way, no. The +young chap, when he came to me, had a wild +story about knowing where the steamer on which +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_75'></a>75</span> +his dad lost his life had sunk. He said that from +letters written home before he left Lower Californy, +he knew the old man was carrying with +him, besides the dust, a fortune in black pearls. +Of course, all these went down when the steamer +blew up. He had tried, he said, to get a lot of +folks interested in a scheme to get at the +wreck and recover the dust and the pearls, but +they had all laughed at him. He said if I’d give +him the money he wanted he’d give me, in return, +the plan of the location whar’ the steamer went +down.” +</p> +<p> +“And did he?” +</p> +<p> +“Yes; but since he acted as he did I guess +there’s no more truth in his yarn than there was +in anything else he told me. Anyhow, I’ve never +bothered my head about the matter since.” +</p> +<p> +“Have you got the plan?” +</p> +<p> +“Sure enough,” Ben fumbled in his pocket, +“here it is; it’s a roughly drawn thing, as you +see, but I reckon if the ship was really there it +would be an easy matter to locate her bones.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_76'></a>76</span> +</p> +<p> +Harry nodded. He was looking over the map +with deep attention. It was, as Ben had said, a +crudely drawn affair, and purported to have been +sketched by one of the survivors of the wreck, +who, of course, did not know that in the returning +miner’s cabin there was so much wealth. +</p> +<p> +“How did young Duval get hold of this?” he +asked at last. +</p> +<p> +“He said that by chance he met a man who +was the lone survivor of the disaster. This feller +didn’t know who Duval was, and began talking +to him about the wreck. Duval, recollecting that +his father had carried a sum that amounted to +more than $75,000, was naturally interested. He +asked the man if he could draw him a sketch of +the scene where the steamer sank. The feller +said he could, and that thar sketch is what he +drawed. At least that’s Duval’s story, and I’m +frank to tell you I don’t believe a word of it.” +</p> +<p> +“But still you haven’t told me what you are +doing on this island,” said Harry after an interval. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_77'></a>77</span> +</p> +<p> +“That’s so, too, lad. I got so interested in +tellin’ my troubles I clean forgot about Barren +Island. Well, it’s this way. Arter the crash I +felt ashamed to show my face. Oh, all the creditors +were paid up—every last one of ’em. But +I felt like I was an old failure, and good fer +nuthin’, so I remembered all of a sudden about +this island that I’d been stranded on a good +many years ago. I made inquiries and found +that I could live here rent free as long as I liked, +with none to interfere, and so I came here. It’s +quiet and might be lonesome to some folks, but +it suits me well enough, and I was calculatin’ +to spend the rest of my days here, till you came +along. But I feel different now.” +</p> +<p> +“How’s that?” asked Harry, not knowing well +just what to say to the old man who took his +business failure so much to heart. +</p> +<p> +“Why, I was watching you studyin’ that map. +I could see by yer face that you put some stock +in Duval’s yarn. Ain’t that so?” +</p> +<p> +Harry could not but confess that it was. The +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_78'></a>78</span> +old man’s story, and the map, had aroused in +him the strong desire for adventure that both +Boy Aviators possessed to a marked degree. Of +course, from what Ben had said, Duval did not +appear to be a person on whom much reliance +could be placed, but then, again, there was the +map, and it at least, even if crude, appeared to +have been a genuine effort to mark the spot +where the wreck lay. It showed a bayou marked +“Black Bayou,” running back from the main +stream of the Mississippi. A black dot some distance +up this bayou was lettered “Belle of New +Orleans,” presumably the name of the steamer +on which Duval met his end. +</p> +<p> +The boy was still pondering over the map +when, from seaward, there came a sound that +made both Harry Chester and Ben Stubbs spring +to their feet. +</p> +<p> +“It’s a gun!” shouted the old man, as the booming +echoes died away; “may be a ship in distress.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_79'></a>79</span> +</p> +<p> +“Hardly, in this weather,” rejoined Harry, in +a perplexed tone. +</p> +<p> +But Ben Stubbs had darted from the shanty +and was running for the beached skiff. A minute +later Harry was close on his heels, and presently +they were pulling around the point, about +to run into the surprise of their lives. +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_80'></a>80</span><a name='chVII' id='chVII'></a>CHAPTER VII.—A PUZZLING PROBLEM.</h2> +<p> +It is now time that we returned to the island +where we left Pudge Perkins patrolling the +beach, and Frank Chester and Billy Barnes +wrapped in slumber. Frank had set the alarm +clock for midnight, when it had been arranged +that he and Billy were to turn out on patrol, and +its insistent clamor had only just commenced +when he sprang out of his bunk broad awake and +prepared to go on duty. Billy stretched and +yawned a bit before he, too, tumbled out. +</p> +<p> +“Gee whillakers!” he exclaimed, as he got into +his clothes, “it seems to me that we are making +a lot of fuss over nothing, Frank. I don’t believe +those fellows will come near the island to-night.” +</p> +<p> +“Perhaps not; but it’s our duty to be on guard. +If anything happened to Dr. Perkins’ invention +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_81'></a>81</span> +now it would be almost impossible to repair it in +time for the tests he wants to make.” +</p> +<p> +Talking thus the two lads got into their +clothes, drank some coffee, which Frank had prepared +while they were dressing, and then set out +into the night. They made for the cove from +which Harry had started his eventful swim. +</p> +<p> +“Best wait here till they come round,” said +Frank, and he and Billy found places in the sand +and made themselves as comfortable as possible +till they should hear the footsteps of one of the +young sentries. They had not long to wait. +Hardly fifteen minutes had elapsed before +Frank’s sharp ears caught the sound of some one +approaching. A minute later Pudge joined them. +His first words were not calculated to make the +newcomers feel at ease. +</p> +<p> +“Where’s Harry?” he demanded. +</p> +<p> +“Don’t you know?” ejaculated Frank with considerable +surprise. +</p> +<p> +“No. I’ve been making my patrol regularly, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_82'></a>82</span> +and the last three times I’ve been round I haven’t +met him.” +</p> +<p> +Frank’s face could only be dimly seen in the +darkness, but all his alarm was plain enough in +his next words. +</p> +<p> +“What can have become of him?” +</p> +<p> +“Maybe he took the dinghy and decided to look +over the motor boat and the hulk,” suggested +Billy. +</p> +<p> +“That’s easy enough to find out,” declared +Frank, starting for the place where the dinghy +had been beached. A moment later he stumbled +over the anchor and, closely following this, by +the aid of a lighted match, he made the discovery +that the rope had been slashed. +</p> +<p> +“Harry never took that dinghy,” he exclaimed +apprehensively, “there’s been some crooked work +here.” +</p> +<p> +“Thunder and turtles! What do you mean?” +gasped Pudge, fully as anxiously. +</p> +<p> +“That some one has landed here and stolen +the dinghy and taken Harry along with them. I +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_83'></a>83</span> +can’t think of any other explanation. Harry +would never have cut that rope.” +</p> +<p> +“You mean he’s been carried off?” The question +came from Billy Barnes. +</p> +<p> +“I can’t think of any other explanation. +Pudge, did you hear anything that sounded +suspicious?” +</p> +<p> +“Oilskins and onions, no! Not a sound. Let’s +fire a pistol and see if we get any answer.” +</p> +<p> +“That’s a good idea, Pudge—Great Scott!” +</p> +<p> +“What’s the matter?” demanded Billy Barnes, +as Frank broke off short and uttered the above +exclamation. +</p> +<p> +“Look here! Harry’s clothes! Wait till I get +a light. There! Now, see all his outer garments +and his pistol lying by them.” +</p> +<p> +“Gatling guns and grass hoppers, if this +doesn’t beat all.” +</p> +<p> +“He can’t have been carried off, then,” burst +out Billy, “but if he wasn’t, how did that dinghy +rope come to be cut?” +</p> +<p> +Frank made no answer at the moment. The +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_84'></a>84</span> +discovery of Harry’s clothes on the beach had +put a dreadful fear into his mind. What if the +boy had heard a disturbance on the hulk or on +the motor boat and, having swum off to see what +was the trouble, had been seized with a cramp +and drowned? +</p> +<p> +But Frank firmly thrust the question from him +the next minute. Such thoughts were by far too +unnerving to be dwelt on. The others remained +silent. They seemed to be waiting for Frank to +speak. Presently the words came. +</p> +<p> +“It’s too dark to see anything out there,” said +the boy, in as firm a voice as he could command. +“Let’s fire three shots—the signal we agreed +upon—and then if Harry is on the hulk or the +motor boat he will be sure to answer them.” +</p> +<p> +The others agreed that this seemed about the +best thing to do, and Pudge, taking Harry’s discarded +weapon, fired it three times. Then came +a long pause, filled with an ominous silence. +</p> +<p> +“Try again,” said Frank in a strained voice. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_85'></a>85</span> +Once more three sharp reports sounded. But +again there was no answer. +</p> +<p> +“That settles it,” declared Frank solemnly; +“something has happened to Harry. We must +get out to the hulk and to the motor boat.” +</p> +<p> +“How? The dinghy’s gone, and——” +</p> +<p> +“I’m going to swim for it.” +</p> +<p> +Already Frank had thrown off his outer garments. +On the beach lay a balk of timber which +they sometimes used to tie the dinghy to. Frank +now ordered his companions to help in rolling +this down to the water. +</p> +<p> +“I’m going to use it as a help in swimming out +there,” he said; “the water’s pretty cold, and I +don’t want to risk a cramp.” +</p> +<p> +“Wait till daylight, Frank,” urged Billy; “it +won’t be long till dawn now, and——” +</p> +<p> +But Frank cut him short abruptly. +</p> +<p> +“My brother’s out there somewhere,” he said +in a sharp, decisive voice, “and I’m going to find +out what’s happened to him.” +</p> +<p> +A minute later Frank was in the water pushing the balk +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_86'></a>86</span> +of timber before him and heading, +as nearly as he knew how, for the spot +where the hulk and the motor boat had been +moored. +</p> +<p> +It was more than half an hour before Billy +and Pudge saw him again. Then he reappeared, +chilled through and shivering in every limb. His +first words almost deprived his companions of +breath. +</p> +<p> +“They’re gone!” he exclaimed. +</p> +<p> +“What!” the exclamation came from both +Billy and Pudge simultaneously. They guessed +by some sort of intuition what Frank referred to. +</p> +<p> +“Yes, they’re both gone,” repeated Frank; +“the <em>Betsy Jane</em> and the motor boat.” +</p> +<p> +“Are you sure you’re not mistaken, Frank?” +inquired Billy, unwilling to believe the extent +of the catastrophe that had overtaken them. +</p> +<p> +“I’m as sure that they’re gone as I am that I +am standing here,” was the reply. “I cruised +about on my log for quite a radius, and couldn’t +discover a sign of them. I found the motor +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_87'></a>87</span> +boat’s buoy, though. She had been untied by +some one.” +</p> +<p> +“But the <em>Betsy Jane</em>? Schooners and succotash! +The <em>Betsy Jane</em>!” broke in Pudge. +</p> +<p> +“Gone, too,” Frank’s voice broke, “but I +wouldn’t care about either if I only knew what +had become of Harry.” +</p> +<p> +“Come on up to the hut and we’ll have some +hot coffee and talk it over,” said Billy, who saw +that Frank, besides being almost numb with cold, +was half crazy at the mystery of Harry’s fate. +</p> +<p> +Frank suffered himself to be led up to the +hut and the rest of the night was passed in speculation +as to the fate of the missing boy. All +three of the lads were pretty sure that the two +Daniels had had a hand in the night’s work somehow, +but they were far from guessing what had +actually occurred. +</p> +<p> +Soon after daylight the wireless began working. +Dr. Perkins notified them from Portland +that he expected to arrive that afternoon at +Motthaven, and wished them to meet him. Frank +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_88'></a>88</span> +found some relief for his wrought-up feelings +in informing the inventor of what had occurred. +</p> +<p> +“Will charter fast boat and be there with all +speed,” came the reply through the air; “make +the best of it till I come. Am confident that everything +will come out all right.” +</p> +<p> +And with this message the “marooned” trio on +the island had to be content. The day was passed +in making a careful survey of the island to discover, +if possible, some trace of the marauders. +But none was to be found. The tide had even +obliterated any footmarks they might have left +in the damp sand. Thoroughly disheartened and +miserable, the boys ate a scanty lunch and then +sat down to await the arrival of Dr. Perkins. +</p> +<p> +It was sundown when a fast motor boat appeared +to the southward, cleaving the water at a +rapid rate. A quarter of an hour later Dr. Perkins +was hearing from the boys’ own lips the +strange story of their adventures of the past day +and night. +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_89'></a>89</span><a name='chVIII' id='chVIII'></a>CHAPTER VIII.—THE DERELICT DESTROYER.</h2> +<p> +Assuredly it was a surprising sight that greeted +the eyes of Harry and Ben Stubbs as the latter +pulled the skiff around the point. Not half a +mile away lay a dull, gray-colored craft like a +gunboat, with the Stars and Stripes floating from +her stern. From her bow a puff of smoke was +drifting away, showing that she had been the +craft that had fired the shot which had aroused +them. +</p> +<p> +But what could she be doing? Above all, why +had the shot been fired? Harry’s eyes furnished +the answer as he saw that part of the rail of the +schooner was missing, a jagged break showing +where it had been torn away. +</p> +<p> +“Great guns!” shouted Ben, “they’ve bin firin’ +at your old hulk.” +</p> +<p> +As he spoke there was a flash from the side +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_90'></a>90</span> +of the lead-colored craft, and a projectile shrieked +by above the pair in the boat, causing them to +duck involuntarily. +</p> +<p> +“Cracky!” shouted Harry, “I’ve got it. That +craft is a derelict destroyer. One of Uncle Sam’s +craft whose duty it is to put obstructions to navigation +out of the way.” +</p> +<p> +“You’re right, boy, and they are bent on sending +that there <em>Betsy Jane</em> to the bottom.” +</p> +<p> +“We must stop them,” ejaculated Harry excitedly; +“that schooner is wanted by Mr. Perkins +to use in his experiments. That’s why he had +the runway built. We must signal them somehow.” +</p> +<p> +“No need to, lad. See, here comes a boat.” +</p> +<p> +Sure enough, as he spoke a cutter was lowered +from the warlike-looking vessel’s side, and before long, +impelled by muscular arms, it was flying +over the water toward the hulk. +</p> +<p> +“Pull round and meet them,” suggested Harry. +</p> +<p> +But Ben was already doing that very thing. +So fast did the government cutter approach that +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_91'></a>91</span> +just as the skiff was rounding the stern of the +ill-used <em>Betsy Jane</em>, the former craft, with a +dapper young officer in the stern, was drawing +alongside the hulk. +</p> +<p> +The astonishment of the officer was great when +Harry explained matters. +</p> +<p> +“It’s lucky that I decided to make an examination +into the effect of the shots already fired before +I finished her up,” he laughed. “I am in +command of the United States derelict destroyer +<em>Seneca</em>, yonder. We’ve just despatched an old +hulk some miles out at sea, and when, on our return +down the coast, we saw your old hull, we +thought it was a good chance to try out a new +kind of gun we have to despatch these menaces +to navigation.” +</p> +<p> +“I’m glad we heard your first shot in time to +explain matters,” said Harry; “this craft belongs +to Dr. Perkins, the aëronautical inventor, who +wishes to use it in some experiments. As I told +you, I unfortunately drifted to sea in it when +some rascals cut the rope.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_92'></a>92</span> +</p> +<p> +The officer sympathized to the full with Harry +and offered to give him a spark plug for his +motor boat from a supply carried for a similar +craft on board the <em>Seneca</em>. +</p> +<p> +“But,” he continued, “I’ve got a better plan +than that. I’m bound down the coast. I know +Dr. Perkins slightly and should be glad to do him +a service. Why not accept a tow from me? I’ll +get you to Brig Island by nightfall anyway, and +that’s much quicker than you could tow this hulk +with the motor boat, even if you <em>could</em> get her +off the sand.” +</p> +<p> +Harry gladly agreed to this arrangement. A +line was made fast to the <em>Betsy Jane</em> and affixed +to the towing bitts of the derelict destroyer. The +tide by this time had turned, and after a short +struggle the <em>Betsy Jane</em> once more floated in deep +water. +</p> +<p> +“I don’t know if this is exactly regular,” remarked +the young officer in command, when the +hulk lay bobbing astern of the trim and trig government +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_93'></a>93</span> +craft, “but I guess it’s all in the line of +duty. So come on board.” +</p> +<p> +Harry and Ben were in the skiff alongside the +<em>Betsy Jane</em> when this offer was made. +</p> +<p> +Without hesitation Harry stepped upon the +companionway. He turned to Ben, and was +about to bid that veteran adventurer good-by, +with a promise to visit Barren Island in the near +future, when, to his astonishment, Ben calmly +hitched his skiff alongside the motor boat and +stepped up after him. +</p> +<p> +“I reckon I’ve had about enough of that +island,” he said; “I’m a-goin’ to ship with you +on this cruise if it’s agreeable.” +</p> +<p> +“Agreeable?” laughed Harry. “Why, Ben, +you are as welcome as the flowers in May. But +haven’t you left a lot of stuff behind on the +island?” +</p> +<p> +“Nothing that ’ull hurt. The only other suit +I own you’ve got on, and funny enough you look +in it, too,” and Ben chuckled; “as for the hut and +what grub’s left, and so forth, any one’s welcome +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_94'></a>94</span> +to ’em that takes a fancy to ’em. I’ve got a bit +left in the bank yet, and I guess I can afford a +new outfit anyway, so heave ahead, Mister Skipper, +as soon as you’re ready.” +</p> +<p> +The officer, who had watched this scene in some +astonishment, broke into a laugh. +</p> +<p> +“I see you are an individual of impulse,” he +said, “but if you want to go along it will spare +my sending a man on board the schooner to help +our young friend.” +</p> +<p> +“Waal, then, it’s an arrangement that’s agreeable +to all parties,” rejoined Ben, lighting his +pipe; “so that’s all settled.” +</p> +<p> +A short time later the <em>Seneca</em> moved ahead, at +first slowly, and then faster, while the wandering +<em>Betsy Jane</em> followed docilely after her +through the now calm sea. True to Lieut. MacAllister’s +promise, they were off Brig Island by +sunset. As deep water extended close inshore, +the derelict destroyer was enabled to tow the +hulk almost up to the boys’ “front door,” so to +speak, and from the beach a little group set up +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_95'></a>95</span> +a loud cheer as the <em>Betsy Jane’s</em> spare anchor +rattled down and she swung at rest. +</p> +<p> +The presence of the little party to witness the +arrival is due to the fact that Lieut. MacAllister, +who knew from Harry that there was a wireless +on the island, had kept his operator busy sending +“bulletins” to Dr. Perkins all the way down +the coast; and so, when first the <em>Seneca’s</em> smoke +streaked the horizon, all was ready to give the +returned wanderer a big reception. +</p> +<p> +The <em>Betsy Jane</em>, having been safely anchored, +the <em>Seneca</em>, with three toots of her siren, departed +on her way, while Harry and Ben lost no time in +tumbling into the skiff and rowing ashore. To +describe what took place then would take up a +lot of space without giving any clearer picture +of the reunion that each of you can imagine for +himself. +</p> +<p> +Readers of the former volumes of this series +know how highly the Boy Aviators regarded Ben +Stubbs, and after a short conversation with him +Dr. Perkins came to share their good opinion of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_96'></a>96</span> +the rugged old adventurer. It would be impossible +to tell with accuracy how many times that +night Harry’s story was told, and how many +times Frank and the others repeated the tale of +their anxious hours while he was missing. The +first wireless flash from the <em>Seneca</em>, Frank described +as “the best thing that ever happened.” +This opinion the others heartily echoed. +</p> +<p> +“Well,” said Dr. Perkins, as at last they made +ready to “turn in,” “all is well that ends well, +and to-morrow I have an announcement of some +interest to make to you lads. From my inspection +of the work done so far on the ‘<em>Sea Eagle</em>,’ +as I have decided to christen her, I think that +within a few days we can take her on her trial +trip.” +</p> +<p> +“Anchors and aëroplanes!” shouted Pudge, in +high glee, “I book passage right now!” +</p> +<p> +“And I—and I—and I,” came from the others, +while Ben Stubbs inquired plaintively if there +would be room for him. +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_97'></a>97</span><a name='chIX' id='chIX'></a>CHAPTER IX.—THE FLIGHT OF THE “SEA EAGLE.”</h2> +<p> +Having already given a brief description of +Dr. Perkins’ <em>Sea Eagle</em>, it would be wearisome to +dwell in detail on all that was done during the +next week to put that craft in shape for the final +tests, upon which so much depended. It may +be said here, though, that besides a visit paid to +Motthaven in an effort to secure the apprehension +of the two Daniels, a search was prosecuted +for the missing dinghy. Neither mission proved +successful. +</p> +<p> +The Daniels, having discovered that Harry +was on board the <em>Betsy Jane</em> after they cut that +craft loose, had vanished from the little community. +As for the dinghy, it was supposed that +they had taken that small craft with them. At +any rate, it was impossible to get any news of +their whereabouts on shore. This may be attributed +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_98'></a>98</span> +to a distinct prejudice felt by the fishing +community against the dwellers on Brig Island. +Your down-easter is inquisitive to a degree, and +the secrecy under which operations on the island +were carried on was felt as a distinct affront to +the little town. So therefore, although the local +authorities promised every co-operation in seeking +out the Daniels and punishing them for their +outrageous conduct, it may be doubted if the efforts +went much further than the mere assurance. +</p> +<p> +But after all, in the rush of interesting work +that was now on hand, the Daniels were almost +forgotten. The <em>Betsy Jane</em> had been towed round +into the nearer cove, where she could be constantly +watched, and the motor boat was used in +the operation, the officer of the derelict destroyer +having fulfilled his promise to furnish the boys +with a new spark plug for the engine in place of +the one taken by the marauders. +</p> +<p> +The morning after Harry’s return to the island +Dr. Perkins had laid down a systematic plan of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_99'></a>99</span> +action. Frank and Harry were assigned to aid +him in giving the finishing touches to the <em>Sea +Eagle</em>, while his son and Billy Barnes were set +to work with axes to clear a sort of runway down +to the beach. Both Billy and Pudge would much +rather have had a hand in the mechanical part +of the work, but they pluckily went ahead on +their designated duty and stuck to it till a broad +path had been cleared from the summit of the +island to the margin of the beach. +</p> +<p> +When this “roadway” through the brush had +been cleared, two lines of planking, firmly nailed +to stout supports, were run down on each side +of it, forming a sort of railway, similar to those +from which vessels are launched. +</p> +<p> +It was down this runway that it was designed +to introduce the <em>Sea Eagle</em> to her initial plunge. +At last the day arrived when all was complete, +and the <em>Sea Eagle</em> was pronounced fit for the +test. During the night before this event not one +of the boys got more than half his usual allowance +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_100'></a>100</span> +of sleep. In fact, it is doubtful if Dr. Perkins +enjoyed much more repose. +</p> +<p> +By earliest dawn they were out, to find every +promise of a glorious day. Breakfast that morning +was a hasty apology for a meal, and hardly +had it been gulped down before all hands were +in the <em>Sea Eagle’s</em> shed. As has been said, the +boat-like underbody of the craft had been +mounted on a wheeled frame before it was assembled. +All that had to be done then to get +everything in readiness for the final test was to +make fast a block and tackle to a stoutly rooted +tree, and then wheel the <em>Sea Eagle</em> to the top +of the inclined runway. +</p> +<p> +When the odd-looking craft was safely poised +on the top of the rails the loose end of the tackle +was made fast to the stern of the substructure, +and Billy, Pudge and Harry were delegated to +“belay” the rope as required. Frank and Dr. +Perkins seated themselves in the “boat,” and at +the words “Let her go!” the <em>Sea Eagle</em> in her +wheeled frame began her descent down the runway. By +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_101'></a>101</span> +means of the tackle the three boys at +the summit of the incline easily controlled the +novel craft’s descent, stopping from time to time +while Dr. Perkins and Frank made a survey to +see that all was going well. +</p> +<p> +“Bunting and buttercakes!” grumbled Pudge, +as the boys alternately “let go” and “hauled in” +on the tackle, “I thought a launching was more +of a gala event than this.” +</p> +<p> +“I guess the doctor is too anxious to test out +the <em>Sea Eagle</em> to bother with the trimmings,” +laughed Harry; “it’s <em>results</em> that he’s after.” +</p> +<p> +As a matter of fact, the launching of the <em>Sea +Eagle</em> was a very mild affair compared with what +might have been expected. Had the villagers +ashore known of it, doubtless a small fleet of +boats would have been lying off the cove to witness +it, but it was for that very reason that the +deepest secrecy had been observed, and that the +early hour had been chosen. As Dr. Perkins +said, he “didn’t want any fuss and feathers” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_102'></a>102</span> +made over what was merely, after all, an experiment. +</p> +<p> +The rolling glide down the runway was made +without incident, and at last the bow of the <em>Sea +Eagle’s</em> “hull” struck the water. A cheer went +up then that, rang shrill and clear out over the +calm sea. Even Dr. Perkins joined in the enthusiasm, +as well he might, for the goal of his +ambition was in sight at last. +</p> +<p> +The <em>Sea Eagle</em> had been sent on her initial +voyage without the aëroplane wings or the auxiliary +lifting bags being attached. It was desired, +first of all, to try out her qualities as a +water skimmer. As soon as she was fairly +afloat, the wheeled carriage on which the descent +had been made was drawn ashore. Having been +weighted before the start was made, it of course +sank under the <em>Sea Eagle</em> when the sea and air +craft floated, thus allowing it to be reclaimed +with ease. +</p> +<p> +“Looks like a butterfly with its wings clipped +off,” commented Billy Barnes as, with the others, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_103'></a>103</span> +he hastened to the beach as soon as their task +was over. +</p> +<p> +Indeed, the odd-shaped hull, with its naked +frame and two gaunt aërial propellers, did look +strangely incomplete. But the boys knew that +the wings were all ready for instant attachment. +In fact, it was one of the features of the <em>Sea +Eagle</em> that the craft was capable of being taken +to pieces and put together again with very little +loss of time or labor. +</p> +<p> +As the hydroplane portion of the <em>Sea Eagle</em> +floated clear of the weighted frame in which it +had made its journey to the beach, Frank looked +inquiringly at the inventor. His hand was on +the self-starting device which put the powerful +motor in operation. Dr. Perkins was actually +pale, and Frank could see that his strong hand +shook perceptibly as he nodded his head. +</p> +<p> +But he mastered his nervousness quickly, and, +grasping the steering-wheel in a firm grip, he +spoke: +</p> +<p> +“You can start up now,” he said. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_104'></a>104</span> +</p> +<p> +Frank turned the starting handle, admitting a +charge of gas to the cylinders. Then he pressed +a button and instantly the motor responded with +a roar and a series of explosions, like those of a +battery of gatling guns going into action. Having +started it he admitted gasolene, and adjusted +the carburetor till the cylinders were all working +steadily. +</p> +<p> +Close to Dr. Perkins’ hand was a lever. This, +when moved, “threw in” the clutch connecting +the motor with the driving mechanism. Directly +Frank had finished tuning up the motor Dr. Perkins’ +hand reached for the lever. He jerked it +nervously back. There was a whirr and a buzz, +as the chains whirled the twin propellers round, +and at the same instant the <em>Sea Eagle</em> darted forward +like an arrow from a bow. +</p> +<p> +Faster and faster she went, getting up speed +with seemingly marvelous rapidity. But instead +of driving deeper into the water, under the +pressure of the aërial propellers which rushed +her forward through the atmosphere, the faster +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_105'></a>105</span> +the <em>Sea Eagle</em> was driven the more lightly did +the craft skim the surface of the water, till at +top speed—2,000 revolutions a minute—her bottom +barely touched the water. This was owing +to the peculiar construction of the hull, which +was designed so as to “plane” the water in exactly +the manner it did. +</p> +<p> +Cheer after cheer broke from the lads on shore +as they saw the swift craft dart off, slicing the +tops of the small waves like a cream skimmer. +Dr. Perkins circumnavigated the island three +times before he gave the signal to Frank to slow +down. Then, releasing the clutch, the inventor +allowed the <em>Sea Eagle</em> to come to rest, with its +bow almost touching the beach. +</p> +<p> +“Now we will have a weight test,” he announced; +“come on, boys.” +</p> +<p> +The lads ashore surely needed no second invitation. +Without bothering to remove shoes or +stockings they waded into the water and out to +the <em>Sea Eagle’s</em> side. In less time than it takes +to tell it they were swarming over the side of the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_106'></a>106</span> +cockpit and struggling for positions near the engine. +But Dr. Perkins made them arrange themselves +so that their weight would be evenly distributed. +Ben Stubbs and Harry sat in the extreme +stern, while Pudge and Billy occupied opposite +seats amidships. +</p> +<p> +This done, off darted the <em>Sea Eagle</em> once more, +and speedily set at rest all doubts as to her capability +to “plane,” or skim the water, under an +added load. +</p> +<p> +“It’s like riding on a floating island over a sea +of raspberry ice cream soda,” declared Billy, +when he was asked later to describe his sensations. +</p> +<p> +But a severer test awaited the <em>Sea Eagle</em>, +namely, the trying out of her capacity actually +to rise into the air. The craft was run partially +ashore, and the great wings bolted in place and +the stay wires adjusted. The stay wires were +tightened by turn buckles till they were taut as +fiddle strings, assuring stability of the wings. +But in addition the wings were, of course, partially +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_107'></a>107</span> +supported on the light but strong skeleton +framework before noticed. +</p> +<p> +Much to the disappointment of the others, only +Frank and Harry Chester and Dr. Perkins were +to participate in the flying trials. But they took +it all in good part, being promised rides later if +the tests were successful. As before, the <em>Sea +Eagle</em>, after she had been backed off and the propellers +started, skimmed along the top of the +water like a flying fish. But all at once the +watchers on shore saw her rise bodily from the +water and soar upward into the air. Higher and +higher went the craft, gliding like a gull through +the ether. It was an inspiring sight, and a perfect +tornado of yells broke from Ben Stubbs, +Billy and Pudge. But those on board the <em>Sea +Eagle</em> could not hear the sounds of enthusiasm +above the roaring of the motor. +</p> +<p> +Under Dr. Perkins’ skillful guidance the <em>Sea +Eagle</em> climbed the aërial staircase till a height +shown by the barograph to be almost 4,000 feet +had been attained. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_108'></a>108</span> +</p> +<p> +“Now to test the buoyancy apparatus,” cried +the doctor suddenly. “Shut off power, Frank.” +</p> +<p> +Frank, who knew what was coming, obeyed +the order and turned a valve admitting the pure +hydrogen gas from one of the cylinders into the +buoyancy devices. Instantly the upper wings +swelled, till they resembled puffed-out mattresses +more than anything else, and the “volplaning” +downward movement was perceptibly checked. +But, setting the descending device, Dr. Perkins +headed the <em>Sea Eagle</em> for the water, and, skillfully +manipulating the craft, landed it as lightly +as a drifting feather on the water by the hull of +the <em>Betsy Jane</em>. +</p> +<p> +Now came a further trial of the capabilities of +the wonderful new craft which, so far, had +proven such a success. Dr. Perkins set the planes +in a rising position and allowed the <em>Sea Eagle</em> +to hover above the <em>Betsy Jane</em>, like the bird for +which the aërial craft had been named. Then +suddenly he began a rapid descent, landing finally +on the very summit of the inclined runway before mentioned. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_109'></a>109</span> +The sides of the <em>Sea Eagle</em> +were equipped with large metal hooks, which +were hastily thrown out by the boys and attached +to four “eyes” arranged to receive them. +</p> +<p> +When this had been done the suction pump +was set to work, and the inflated wings emptied +of the gas, which was forced back into its receiver, +and the valve closed. It was calculated +that less than two per cent of the gas was lost +during the process. The <em>Sea Eagle</em> was now once +more a simple hydroplane, without any buoyancy +device. +</p> +<p> +At a word from Dr. Perkins the hooks which +had held the machine in place were disengaged, +and instantly the craft began to glide down the +runway. Half way down the engine was started, +and when the graceful craft reached the abrupt +end of the incline, the <em>Sea Eagle</em> went soaring +off into space like a huge white-winged bird. +This test was regarded by Dr. Perkins as the +most important, for it proved the entire practicability +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_110'></a>110</span> +of launching the <em>Sea Eagle</em> from a ship +far out on the ocean. +</p> +<p> +After circling in the air a few times the tests +were concluded by a rapid drop toward the earth +right above the summit of the island. Just as it +seemed as if the new craft must end her career +by being dashed to bits against the construction +shed, a skillful twist of the steering device sent +her soaring upward once more. Two more +swinging aërial loops were described, and then, +with hardly a jar or vibration, the <em>Sea Eagle</em> +was brought to rest by her inventor, almost in +front of the shed where she had been assembled. +</p> +<p> +As the thrilling and wonderful trip was concluded, +the boys came pressing about Dr. Perkins, +showering congratulations and good wishes. +</p> +<p> +“Why, one could fly across the ocean in such +a craft,” declared Frank enthusiastically. +</p> +<p> +The others laughed, but, to their astonishment, +Dr. Perkins looked perfectly serious. +</p> +<p> +“I have a long trip in view,” he said, “a flight +that will test every wire and bolt in the <em>Sea</em> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_111'></a>111</span> +<em>Eagle’s</em> construction. I did not announce this +before for I wished first to see if everything +worked satisfactorily.” +</p> +<p> +“No doubt about that,” said Billy Barnes with +enthusiasm. He had been dodging about the +great flying machine, taking photos from every +possible angle. +</p> +<p> +“No,” admitted Dr. Perkins; “I must say that +so far the <em>Sea Eagle</em> is all that I could desire. +But the final test will put that beyond the shadow +of a doubt. Do you boys wish to undertake a +long trip?” +</p> +<p> +“Cookies and cucumbers! Do we!” roared +Pudge, as the others pressed eagerly about to +hear the unveiling of the doctor’s plan. +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_112'></a>112</span><a name='chX' id='chX'></a>CHAPTER X.—“C. Q. D.!”</h2> +<p> +But they were compelled to curb their impatience +till that evening after supper, for the doctor +set every one busily to work “stabling” the +<em>Sea Eagle</em> and attending to the engines after the +hard test they had undergone. Every part was +carefully gone over, and it was found that despite +the strain of the novel craft’s first try-out, nothing +save a few minor adjustments were required. +</p> +<p> +“Now, dad,” said Pudge, after the dishes had +been washed and Ben had his pipe going, and +the others were perched on the edge of the lower +bunks, like so many birds on a rail, “now, then, +dad, we are ready to hear your plans for that +cruise.” +</p> +<p> +Dr. Perkins smiled. +</p> +<p> +“I’m afraid, my boy,” he said, “that you are +in for a disappointment. While I thoroughly +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_113'></a>113</span> +believe the <em>Sea Eagle</em> is capable of conveying our +whole party through almost anything, I am unwilling +to place too great a burden on her at her +first long-distance trial.” +</p> +<p> +Pudge’s face lengthened. +</p> +<p> +“Oceans and octopuses!” he groaned, “I s’pose +I’m to be left behind, as usual.” +</p> +<p> +“I’m afraid it will be necessary,” was the reply; +“you see, there will only be room under my +present plan for experienced navigators. But +not to keep you in suspense any longer, my present +plan is to cruise down the coast to Florida, +round that peninsula, and then fly up to New +Orleans, and then possibly I might test out the +<em>Sea Eagle</em> still further on a flight up the Mississippi.” +</p> +<p> +“Wow! And we’re to miss all that?” +</p> +<p> +“Not <em>all</em> of it, Pudge,” smiled the doctor. “I +was planning to send you and Billy on ahead to +meet us at New Orleans and make arrangements +for our arrival there.” +</p> +<p> +“Cookies and catamounts! That’s not so bad. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_114'></a>114</span> +I’ve always longed to see New Orleans. But, +then, would you take us with you up the Mississippi?” +</p> +<p> +“If we go—yes.” +</p> +<p> +“Look a-here,” struck in Ben’s bass voice at +this point, “I don’t want to butt in, or nothing +like that, doctor; but this here is a cruise that +just suits me. Would you have any objection +if I went along with ther boys ter New Orleans?” +</p> +<p> +“Why, I hadn’t thought of it,” confessed Dr. +Perkins. +</p> +<p> +“You see, I’ve got some partic’lar business +down that way,” said Ben, with a portentous +wink at Harry; “ain’t I, Harry?” +</p> +<p> +The boy addressed instantly guessed that Ben +referred to the supposed treasure trove lying at +the bottom of the Black Bayou. Now, in the +rush of events following Harry’s return from his +strange cruise on the <em>Betsy Jane</em>, he had quite +forgotten about Raoul Duval’s map. But now +it flashed back on him, and the recollection caused +him to flush with excitement. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_115'></a>115</span> +</p> +<p> +Dr. Perkins looked puzzled, while a glance of +intelligence shot between the grizzled old adventurer +and the boy. +</p> +<p> +“Have I got your leave to tell about the sunken +steamer?” inquired Harry. +</p> +<p> +“Sure. Heave ahead, my boy,” was the hearty +answer; “I was never much of a hand at spinning +a yarn.” +</p> +<p> +“Pirates and petticoats! What’s all this about +a yarn and a sunken ship?” demanded Pudge. +</p> +<p> +“Sounds like some fresh adventure. Anything +like the Buena Ventura cruise?” asked Billy +Barnes, referring, of course, to their experiences +in the Sargasso Sea. +</p> +<p> +“I hope not,” laughed Harry. “No, this is a +much tamer affair,” he continued. “Ben, here, +thinks that he knows of a craft sunk in a bayou +off the Mississippi, on board of which is a small +fortune in gold dust and black pearls.” +</p> +<p> +“Gold dust and black pearls!” cried Billy +Barnes. “Wow! that sounds like a regular +story.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_116'></a>116</span> +</p> +<p> +“Suppose we let Harry heave ahead, as Ben +calls it, and tell us what all this is about,” suggested +Frank quietly. But his eyes were shining. +He knew that what Harry was about to communicate +must be of deep interest from the manner +in which the boy had spoken. +</p> +<p> +“Yes, let us hear the story,” said Dr. Perkins; +“since we plan to be down in that region, anything +of interest to be investigated will add to +the pleasure of the trip.” +</p> +<p> +Thereupon Harry, without further delay, +plunged into the narrative as Ben had related +it to him. He was interrupted from time to time +by excited exclamations, but at last he finished +his narration and then, turning to Dr. Perkins, +he said: +</p> +<p> +“What do you think of it, sir?” +</p> +<p> +“Aye, aye,” growled out Ben, “supposin’ the +yarn is true, have I got a legal right to the +stuff?” +</p> +<p> +“Undoubtedly, if you have papers assigning +the claim to you,” said Mr. Perkins, after a moment’s +thought. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_117'></a>117</span> +</p> +<p> +“Oh, I’ve got them fast enough. I was goin’ +to chuck ’em away, but I thought better of it. +Glad I did now, but you see I never thought I’d +have a chance to go down there.” +</p> +<p> +Ben reached into his pocket and drew out a battered, +brown leather wallet. From it he produced +Raoul Duval’s promise to deed him his (Duval’s) +interest in the supposed treasure chest, providing +the loan Ben had made the mining man’s son was +not repaid. He handed the document to Dr. Perkins, +who perused it with knitted brows. +</p> +<p> +“This certainly appears to give you a legal +claim to whatever may be of value in the late +Duval’s effects,” he said. +</p> +<p> +“Then you think it is worth looking into?” +</p> +<p> +“By all means. While the story sounds fanciful +to a degree, it is not much more so than +plenty of recorded cases. At all events, no harm +can be done by trying to locate the wreck, and +it may be the means of rehabilitating your fortunes.” +</p> +<p> +“I dunno what that means,” grinned Ben, “but +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_118'></a>118</span> +if it signifies that I’m to get some money out +of the cruise, I’m willing right now to split it up +any way it suits you.” +</p> +<p> +“We can talk about that later,” said Dr. Perkins, +with a smile at the old man’s enthusiasm; +“now would you mind letting me have a look at +that map to which Harry has referred?” +</p> +<p> +“Here it be,” grunted Ben, once more diving +into the wallet and producing the map that Harry +had looked over on Barren Island. +</p> +<p> +“At any rate, this looks definite enough,” declared +Dr. Perkins after a careful examination +of it. “Of course, as this Duval appears to be a +thorough rascal, he may have ‘cooked this up,’ +as the saying goes, in order to induce you to +make him a loan. But certain things about it +make me believe that it may be genuine. I recall +reading some time ago a newspaper account of +mysteries of the Mississippi, and among them +was an account of the serious disaster to the +<em>Belle of New Orleans</em>, so, at any rate, that part +of the story is authentic enough.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_119'></a>119</span> +</p> +<p> +“Meanin’ it’s true,” murmured Ben. “Waal, +if you’ll help me we’ll soon find out the truth of +it, or otherwise.” +</p> +<p> +“As I said,” rejoined Dr. Perkins, “I had intended +to cruise up the Mississippi from New +Orleans. What you have told us furnishes us +with a distinct object in making the trip, and,” +he added with a smile, “I suppose the spice of +adventure about it does not displease the lads +here.” +</p> +<p> +Frank was about to reply when, from the wireless +table, there came a queer buzzing sound from +an instrument which the boy had connected with +his detector. +</p> +<p> +“Hullo! some one is sending out a message,” +he exclaimed, “and our wires have caught it. +Wonder what it can be.” +</p> +<p> +The boy rose and went over to the wireless +table. Seating himself on the stool in front of +the instruments he adjusted the “phones” and +began putting his variable condenser in tune to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_120'></a>120</span> +catch whatever message was pulsing through the +air. +</p> +<p> +“What’s coming?” demanded Harry, as the instruments +began to crackle and snap. +</p> +<p> +“Don’t know yet,” spoke Frank, again changing +the capacity of the condenser; “looks as +if——” +</p> +<p> +He ceased speaking suddenly. Sliding his +hand across the table he made an adjustment to +catch longer sound waves. Instantly a hail of +aërial dots and dashes came pattering against +his ear drums, like rain on a window pane. +</p> +<p> +With startling suddenness Frank sensed the +meaning of the storm of desperate flashes. +</p> +<p> +“C-Q-D! C-Q-D! C-Q-D!” +</p> +<p> +“Some one out at sea is calling us in distress!” +he cried loudly. The others, brim full of excitement, +rose and crowded about him. But Frank +waved them back. +</p> +<p> +“No questions yet, please!” he said sharply, +and then bent all his faculties to catching the +voice out of the black night. +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_121'></a>121</span><a name='chXI' id='chXI'></a>CHAPTER XI.—“GOOD LUCK!”</h2> +<p> +The silence in the hut was absolute as Frank +bent low over his instruments. Even Pudge was +subdued for once. There is something thrillingly +dramatic to the most phlegmatic of temperaments +in the idea of a wireless call for aid. Across unknown +miles the message comes winging through +the air—an appeal out of space. +</p> +<p> +Of course, the others could not catch what was +coming, for the whisper of the wireless waves +sounds faint and shadowy even to one with the +“phones” clasped to his ears. But Frank’s manner +showed plainly enough that, whatever was +winging its way to his organs of hearing, was +exciting to the last degree. +</p> +<p> +Suddenly the boy switched to his transmitting +apparatus. With his helix he began attuning the +length of his sparks, while the snake-like blue +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_122'></a>122</span> +flame hissed and crackled across the “high-efficiency” +spark gap. It looked like a living thing +of lambent fire, as it writhed and screamed in +response to the pressure on the key. +</p> +<p> +“What’s wanted? Where are you?” +</p> +<p> +This was the message that went speeding out +on the air waves from the aërials above the hut. +</p> +<p> +“This is the yacht <em>Wanderer</em>, from New York +to Rocktown. We have struck a derelict and are +leaking badly. Who are you?” +</p> +<p> +“A station on Brig Island, about four miles +at sea from Motthaven. Where are you?” +</p> +<p> +The latter question was unanswered for the +time being. Instead came another query: +</p> +<p> +“Have you any means by which you can get +to our assistance? We are in dire peril.” +</p> +<p> +“We will try to aid you. But what is your position?” +</p> +<p> +“Wait. I’ll look at the chart.” +</p> +<p> +There came a pause, during which Frank rapidly +detailed what he had heard to the eager +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_123'></a>123</span> +group of listeners. But in the midst of it the +unknown sender broke in once more. +</p> +<p> +“We are about twenty miles to the southeast +of you, on an almost straight course. Can keep +afloat only a few hours longer. Can you get tug +from the mainland?” +</p> +<p> +“Impossible,” flashed back Frank, “but will do +what we can. Are you at anchor?” +</p> +<p> +“No, but the drift is very little. We are off +soundings. Can you come to our aid?” +</p> +<p> +Frank’s fingers pressed down on the key firmly. +Rapidly he sent this message pulsating: +</p> +<p> +“How many on board?” +</p> +<p> +“Three. Owner, a friend and a hand.” +</p> +<p> +“All right. Standby!” +</p> +<p> +“Good-by, and hurry,” came out of the night, +and then—silence. +</p> +<p> +Frank disconnected his instruments and turned +to the others. Rapidly he detailed the impending +tragedy out there in the darkness. +</p> +<p> +“Can’t we get to them in the motor boat?” demanded +Harry breathlessly. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_124'></a>124</span> +</p> +<p> +Frank shook his head. +</p> +<p> +“Not in the time we have. They can’t keep +afloat much longer, recollect. What can be done? +Is there no way we can help them?” +</p> +<p> +“Yes, there is.” +</p> +<p> +The words came quietly but in a decided tone +from Dr. Perkins. Frank was the first to guess +the import of the speech. +</p> +<p> +“The <em>Sea Eagle</em>!” he exclaimed excitedly. +</p> +<p> +Dr. Perkins nodded. +</p> +<p> +“Yes. Here is our chance to test her in the +service of humanity. She is ready for flight this +instant.” +</p> +<p> +“But in the darkness? How can we pick up +this yacht?” +</p> +<p> +“By the searchlight. Most likely the yacht has +rockets. When she sees our searchlight she will +send some up. That will give us her bearings. +The general location of the craft we know.” +</p> +<p> +“Are we all to go?” demanded Pudge. +</p> +<p> +“Hardly,” rejoined his father, slipping into +an overcoat, for the night was somewhat chilly, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_125'></a>125</span> +though the air was calm. “Frank and Harry, I +need you two. You others await our return. +Have hot coffee and food ready, as the survivors +may be in need of nourishment.” +</p> +<p> +“Aye, aye, sir,” responded Ben; “and now, sir, +if I may give a bit of advice, lose no time in getting +away. I’ve been in some sea disasters myself, +and sometimes every second counts.” +</p> +<p> +“You’re right, Stubbs,” ejaculated Dr. Perkins. +“Boys, get the <em>Sea Eagle</em> ready. I’ll bring along +the searchlight.” +</p> +<p> +While Frank and Harry hastened on their errand, +Dr. Perkins got the searchlight out of its +locker. It was a small but powerful one, constructed +so as to fit into a socket on the <em>Sea +Eagle’s</em> “bow.” Its light was supplied from a +small dynamo connected with the engine of the +sea-and-air craft. By the time the doctor was +ready the <em>Sea Eagle</em> had been wheeled out of her +shed, and Frank gave a sharp hail. +</p> +<p> +“All ready, doctor!” +</p> +<p> +“With you in a moment, my boy,” was the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_126'></a>126</span> +response, as the inventor hastened out into the +darkness. +</p> +<p> +The outlines of the <em>Sea Eagle</em> loomed up gray +and ghostly in the gloom. Only a tiny speck of +light showed in her bow by the steering wheel, +where a minute electric bulb shed light on the +compass. This light was obtained from a storage +battery of peculiarly light construction, connected +with the dynamo before mentioned. +</p> +<p> +The boys had clambered on board as soon as +the airship had been wheeled out of its shed. +They extended their hands to Dr. Perkins and +helped him on board. The searchlight was put +in place and its wires connected to the storage +battery. A snap of a switch and a sharp pencil +of light cut the night. The appliance worked +to perfection. +</p> +<p> +“Now, then,” said the doctor, as he took the +wheel, “the less time we lose, the better. Frank, +you had better apply the buoyancy apparatus, as +we must make an abrupt rise to clear the trees.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_127'></a>127</span> +</p> +<p> +“Why not launch from the runway?” inquired +Frank; “wouldn’t that be quicker?” +</p> +<p> +“That’s right. I think it would. Head the +prow round for the rails.” +</p> +<p> +Willing hands pushed the <em>Sea Eagle</em> around, +for on her ball-bearing supporting wheels she +handled very easily, despite her great weight. +</p> +<p> +Presently the craft was poised at the summit +of the incline, ready for her rush downward. +</p> +<p> +“Give her power!” cried the doctor. +</p> +<p> +Frank seized the self-starting lever, and gave +it a twirl. A pressure of his forefinger on the +button followed, and almost simultaneously the +motor began to thunder and roar. +</p> +<p> +“Right here!” cried Frank. +</p> +<p> +“All right. Hold tight. I’m going to apply +full power.” +</p> +<p> +Dr. Perkins jerked back the clutch lever as +he spoke. There was a jarring shock, and then +a downward rush through the night, the searchlight +cutting a blazing white path through the +blackness. Down, down they raced at terrific +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_128'></a>128</span> +speed. Suddenly the jarring movement ceased. +The <em>Sea Eagle</em> appeared to glide upward as if +drawn skyward by invisible ropes. As the craft +left the rails, and began soaring to the stars that +looked quietly down on the exciting scene, a +sound was borne upward to the aërial voyagers. +</p> +<p> +“Good-by.” +</p> +<p> +And then an instant later in Ben’s stentorian +tones: +</p> +<p> +“So long, mates! Go-o-o-d luck!” +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_129'></a>129</span><a name='chXII' id='chXII'></a>CHAPTER XII.—THROUGH THE NIGHT.</h2> +<p> +Up and out into the night winged the great sea-and-air +craft, the powerful motors working without +a skip, and the propellers beating the air with +a noise like the drone of a mastadonic bee—or +more appropriately, night beetle. Above shone +the stars, steady points of brightness in the dark +blue canopy of heavens; below stretched the +silent, empty sea, heaving gently. The air was +calm and still, and the <em>Sea Eagle</em> cleaved her way +through it powerfully. Dr. Perkins set the course +at due southeast, and kept a careful eye on the +compass. +</p> +<p> +“What speed are we making?” shouted Frank +presently. +</p> +<p> +The inventor glanced at the aërial speed meter, +a device of his own invention. +</p> +<p> +“Close to fifty,” he shouted back, for, owing +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_130'></a>130</span> +to the roar of the engines and propellers, it was +necessary to raise the voice in speaking to any +one at a distance. +</p> +<p> +“Then we should be in the vicinity in half an +hour?” +</p> +<p> +“Yes; that is unless——” +</p> +<p> +But Dr. Perkins broke off abruptly. The <em>Sea +Eagle</em> had now attained a height of some five +hundred feet, at which altitude he intended to +keep the craft till they reached the vicinity of +the disabled yacht. +</p> +<p> +The cause of the sudden breaking off of his +shouted remarks was this: Without the slightest +warning the <em>Sea Eagle</em> gave a sickening dip +downward, and rushed toward the sea; or rather, +to those in the falling ship, it seemed as if the +sea was racing up devouringly toward them. +</p> +<p> +“Gracious, what’s happened?” shouted Harry. +</p> +<p> +But Frank was too busy with the engine to answer +just then. +</p> +<p> +“Power! Give me lots of power!” yelled Dr. +Perkins. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_131'></a>131</span> +</p> +<p> +But although Frank instantly opened up the +motor to its full capacity of two thousand revolutions +a minute, the downward rush still continued. +</p> +<p> +“The sea! We’ll be plunged into the sea!” +cried Harry, in alarm, gripping a side support. +</p> +<p> +Indeed there appeared to be good cause for his +apprehension, for the <em>Sea Eagle</em> was falling like +a stone flung into space. All this, of course, took +place in far less time than it takes to describe +or to read it. In fact, hardly had Harry shouted +his fears before the <em>Sea Eagle’s</em> “hull”—as we +must call the hydroplane part of the craft—struck +the water, and a huge cloud of spray flew +high on either side. +</p> +<p> +But instead of diving, the <em>Sea Eagle</em> shot forward +over the waves, gliding over their tops for +some time before Frank shut off the motor. +Even then such was the “shooting” velocity +gained, that the <em>Sea Eagle</em> still continued to scoot +along until the young engineer, in response to +Dr. Perkins’ instructions, reversed her propellers, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_132'></a>132</span> +and thus brought the craft to a speedy standstill. +</p> +<p> +“What on earth happened?” demanded Frank +anxiously, as the <em>Sea Eagle</em> lay still, bobbing up +and down on the gentle swell. +</p> +<p> +“We struck an air pocket. An empty hole in +space where there was no ether to support us,” +explained Dr. Perkins. +</p> +<p> +“Gracious; I thought we were goners,” cried +Harry, still a little shaky over the fearful sensation +of the fall. +</p> +<p> +“Had the <em>Sea Eagle</em> been of different construction +we should have dived as straight to the bottom +as a loon,” said the inventor, “but the spoonlike +construction of the bow allowed me to handle +her so that, instead of the impulse of the fall +being downward, it was diverted into a forward +movement along the surface.” +</p> +<p> +“Shall we go up again?” asked Frank, after a +hasty examination had been made to ascertain if +anything had parted or snapped under the strain +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_133'></a>133</span> +of the suddenly arrested tumble through the air +pocket. +</p> +<p> +“Yes. We had better lose as little time as possible,” +was the rejoinder. “If you are ready, +start the engine up, and we will try a flight from +the surface of the water.” +</p> +<p> +“You want full power?” asked Frank. +</p> +<p> +“Yes; but start up gently at first, gradually +increasing to top velocity. I think, however, that +we shall leave the water at about 1,500 revolutions +a minute.” +</p> +<p> +The next minute the roar of the newly started +engine prevented further conversation. In order +to develop every ounce of power of which the +motor was capable Frank had opened the muffler +cut-out, and the uproar was terrific. Spurts of +greenish flame spouted from the exhausts, and +the acrid smell of burning oil and gasolene filled +the air. To any one less accustomed than the +Boy Aviators to the uproar of aërial motors, the +noise would have been alarming to say the least. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_134'></a>134</span> +They, however, were too much used to such +scenes to pay any attention to it. +</p> +<p> +Faster and faster the <em>Sea Eagle</em> sped over the +waves, till her keel barely touched the tips of +the swells. Then suddenly the jerky motion +ceased, and the craft, buoyed by its wings, began +to soar upward in a steadily increasing gradient. +Before ten minutes had passed they were once +more on an even keel at a five-hundred-feet altitude, +and bearing steadily for the southwest. +</p> +<p> +Frank looked at his watch. +</p> +<p> +“We ought to be getting pretty close to that +yacht by now,” he remarked to Harry, who had +seated himself at his side, and was assisting in +attending to the lubrication and watching of the +motor. +</p> +<p> +“I’ll keep a sharp lookout,” rejoined Harry; +“they surely ought to hear the noise of our motor +and send up a rocket or wave lights, or something, +if they are in the vicinity. +</p> +<p> +“That’s just what I think. Keep your eyes +open while I watch the engine.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_135'></a>135</span> +</p> +<p> +Harry peered out into the night, but as far as +he could see nothing appeared but the reflection +of the stars in the water to relieve its blackness. +</p> +<p> +“I can’t see anything yet,” he said, after a +while. +</p> +<p> +“Just keep on looking,” rejoined Frank; +“there’s a chance that they may have drifted +from the position they gave us.” +</p> +<p> +“Well, in any case it would have been impossible +for us to fly direct to the spot,” rejoined +Harry; “this thing is a good deal like looking +for a needle in a haystack, to my way of thinking.” +</p> +<p> +“I’m not so sure of that. If they are anywhere +within five or six miles they must hear the +beat of our motor.” +</p> +<p> +“Wonder why Dr. Perkins doesn’t switch on +the searchlight. Hullo, there it goes now.” +</p> +<p> +As Harry spoke, a fan-shaped ray of brilliant +white light cut the night in front of the <em>Sea +Eagle</em>, like a radiant sword. Hither and thither +it swept over the dark sea; but it revealed nothing. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_136'></a>136</span> +All at once Dr. Perkins shut the searchlight +off. +</p> +<p> +“If they have seen it they will reply in some +way,” he shouted in explanation to the boys. +“Keep a bright lookout for an answer. I’ll keep +the <em>Sea Eagle</em> swinging in circles. We have +been doing thirty miles an hour, and even allowing +for the delay when we struck the air pocket +we ought to be in the disabled yacht’s vicinity +by this time.” +</p> +<p> +As the searchlight was extinguished Harry +peered out into the darkness with straining eyes. +Suddenly he gave a shout and clutched Frank’s +arm. +</p> +<p> +“What’s that,” he shouted, “that light off +there to the south?” +</p> +<p> +“It’s a lantern,” cried Frank; “somebody’s +waving it.” +</p> +<p> +Dr. Perkins confirmed Frank’s supposition, +and the <em>Sea Eagle</em>, on her errand of rescue, was +headed for the swinging pin-point of light in +the distance. +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_137'></a>137</span><a name='chXIII' id='chXIII'></a>CHAPTER XIII.—A TWENTIETH-CENTURY RESCUE.</h2> +<p> +As he flew his craft in the direction of the +feeble beacon of distress, Dr. Perkins once more +switched on the searchlight. Its comforting +beam shot across the sea, and finally ceased its +swaying and centered on a strange sight. As a +dark scene in a theater is illumined at one single +point by the calcium light, so the search rays +concentrated themselves on a striking picture of +distress at sea. +</p> +<p> +Framed in the circle of white light the boys +could see a small gasolene craft, apparently up +to the rails in the water. At any rate nothing +of the hull but a narrow white strip could be seen, +while, on the top of the raised deck cabin crouched +the figures of three men. One of these had been +swinging the lantern, but he ceased as the bright +light from the <em>Sea Eagle</em> bathed the group in its +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_138'></a>138</span> +rays. One single mast arose high above the +pitching hull, and from it could be seen wires +strung down to the cabin top. Evidently this +was the wireless apparatus which had been the +means of bringing the Boy Aviators and their +friend to the rescue. +</p> +<p> +The yacht could not have been more than fifty +feet in length—a very small craft to be equipped +with wireless; but her owner, if he was on board, +must have been congratulating himself at that +very moment on his wise precaution. +</p> +<p> +It was but a few minutes after the searchlight +had first revealed the <em>Wanderer</em> and her distressed +company that the <em>Sea Eagle</em> was swinging +in a graceful, birdlike circle in the air above +the sinking craft. +</p> +<p> +Frank seized up a small megaphone, which +formed part of the sea and sky ship’s equipment. +</p> +<p> +“Ahoy! Aboard the yacht!” he cried. +</p> +<p> +“Ahoy!” came back the cry, with a note of incredulous +wonder in it, as well there might be, +considering the extraordinary circumstances. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_139'></a>139</span> +</p> +<p> +“Are you the folks we talked with by wireless?” +called Harry. +</p> +<p> +“The very same,” was the shouted reply, “but +who are you? Can you get us off this? The +ship won’t last much longer.” +</p> +<p> +“We’ll get you off all right,” exclaimed Frank +comfortingly, and as he spoke Dr. Perkins allowed +the <em>Sea Eagle</em> to glide down to the surface +of the waves, alighting on the water about +five hundred feet from the castaways. He at +once headed the <em>Sea Eagle</em> round, and calling +for reduced speed made for the sinking yacht. +</p> +<p> +“Slow down! Stop her! Reverse!” he shouted +in rapid succession, as they bore down. +</p> +<p> +“On board the yacht!” hailed Frank, as they +glided up alongside, “throw us a line.” +</p> +<p> +The desired rope came snaking through the air, +falling across the <em>Sea Eagle’s</em> bow. Harry +bounded forward and made it fast. +</p> +<p> +“Now haul in,” ordered Dr. Perkins, as soon +as the propellers had ceased to beat the air; “easy +now; we don’t want to foul the wings.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_140'></a>140</span> +</p> +<p> +His order was obeyed; and before long the +<em>Sea Eagle’s</em> bow was scraping the side of the +<em>Wanderer</em>. Fortunately, the sea was smooth, or +the maneuver would have been impossible of execution. +As it was, however, on the easy swell +that was running it was made with comparatively +small difficulty. +</p> +<p> +“Well, great Cæsar’s ghost!” blurted out a +stout, blond man in yachting costume, who occupied, +apparently, the position of owner of the +yacht, “if this isn’t the twentieth century with +a vengeance. Just think of it, Griggs—rescued +by an aëroplane!” +</p> +<p> +The man addressed, a good-natured-looking +man, almost as corpulent as the first speaker, +nodded appreciatively. +</p> +<p> +“We don’t really know how to thank you +folks,” continued the stout man; “we haven’t +much longer to stay above water, as you see. We +hit a derelict at dusk, and stove in our port bow. +The water came rushing in so fast that I had +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_141'></a>141</span> +barely time to flash that wireless that you so +providentially caught.” +</p> +<p> +“It was feeble enough, I can tell you,” Frank +assured him; “fortunately, we were not far off, +and so managed to catch your appeal for help.” +</p> +<p> +The stout man was again warmly thanking +his rescuers, when Dr. Perkins interrupted. +</p> +<p> +“Suppose you come on board,” he said; “by +the looks of your craft she is likely to take a +plunge at any minute. I’d like to be able to cut +loose from her before that happens.” +</p> +<p> +Taking this hint, the stout man clambered on +board the <em>Sea Eagle</em> with more agility than might +have been expected from a man of his heavy +build. This done he extended a hand to his +friend, and then came the turn of the third occupant +of the cabin roof to disembark. This third +man was evidently, from his costume, a paid +hand on board the <em>Sea Eagle</em>. He was slight and +dark and foreign looking, with beady black eyes, +and a not over-prominent chin. +</p> +<p> +Directly all were on board, Dr. Perkins ordered Frank +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_142'></a>142</span> +to “cast off” from the sinking yacht. +It was well this order was obeyed promptly, for +hardly had the <em>Sea Eagle</em> been disengaged from +the other craft’s side, than the <em>Wanderer</em> gave +a sudden plunge, bow downward, under the +waves. For one instant her stern upreared itself +vertically, showing the rudder and propeller, +and then, as if by magic, the whole craft vanished, +to find a grave in the ocean bed. +</p> +<p> +All this was seen by the searchlight, which Dr. +Perkins had kept concentrated on the yacht while +the last act of this ocean drama was being consummated. +As the yacht vanished a deep sigh +broke from the stout man. +</p> +<p> +“Good-by, poor old <em>Wanderer</em>,” he said, +“there’s an end of this cruise.” +</p> +<p> +“I am sorry that she was not in a condition to +tow to Brig Island,” remarked Dr. Perkins. +</p> +<p> +“My dear sir, so far as the actual monetary +loss is concerned it was fully covered by insurance,” +responded the stout man; “my only regret +is to see a craft I was very fond of end her +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_143'></a>143</span> +days in such a fashion. Also, I am afraid my +friend Griggs here will be disappointed at the +failure of our cruise.” +</p> +<p> +“Good heavens!” cried Mr. Griggs, who appeared +to be a highly nervous individual, “I’m +glad to have my life, Sterrett—glad to have my +life. If I don’t catch my death of cold over this +I’ll be fortunate indeed.” +</p> +<p> +“In the meantime,” struck in the man addressed +as Sterrett, “we are forgetting in our +own troubles the debt of gratitude we owe to +our friends here. In the first place, let me introduce +ourselves. I am Paul Sterrett, late +owner of the <em>Wanderer</em>. This is my friend, +Samuel Griggs, and yonder,” indicating the foreign-looking +third man, “is Francis Le Blanc, +our cook and general handy man. We left New +York on a cruise up the coast sometime ago, and +up till to-night experienced no mishaps. However, +as my friend says, we must not repine; we +should consider ourselves fortunate indeed to +be onboard your remarkable +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_144'></a>144</span> +craft instead of being in a watery grave, as we must have been had +it not been for your opportune arrival.” +</p> +<p> +“We consider ourselves fortunate to have been +of service to you,” responded the inventor, and +then went on in his turn to introduce himself and +his party, and also give a brief explanation of +the <em>Sea Eagle</em>, which had, as may be imagined, +excited the liveliest curiosity on the part of the +rescued castaways. +</p> +<p> +“But as we shall now get under way without +further loss of time,” he concluded, “you will be +able to see for yourselves just how the <em>Sea Eagle</em> +is controlled, and what she can do.” +</p> +<p> +As he finished this speech, Dr. Perkins extinguished +the searchlight, which had still been playing +on the oil-streaked waters which marked the +burial spot of the ill-fated <em>Wanderer</em>. This +done, he gave Frank the “come ahead” signal. +Obediently, as usual, the motor began its song, +and the propellers took up the whirring, buzzing +refrain. Mr. Sterrett and his companions sat +perfectly still in the positions in the stern which +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_145'></a>145</span> +had been assigned to them. Had it been light +enough to read the expressions on their faces +one would have said that they were absolutely +dumbfounded. +</p> +<p> +Of course both Mr. Sterrett and his friends—as +well informed men—knew the wonderful +capabilities of the modern aëroplane. They had +witnessed many flights, and in common with +the generality of progressive Americans, knew +the general principles of aërial locomotion. But +when the <em>Sea Eagle</em> from a “boat” turned suddenly +into a hydroplane, they exchanged swift +expressions of the utmost astonishment. Only +their companion, the paid “hand” from the yacht, +sat sullenly unimpressed. In fact, since he had +boarded the <em>Sea Eagle</em>, he had not uttered a +syllable, only mumbling his thanks when Mr. +Sterrett and his companion had finished expressing +their gratitude for their rescue. +</p> +<p> +Under the skillful guidance of Dr. Perkins, +and the constant attention that Frank paid to +the whirring motor, the <em>Sea Eagle</em> made a quick +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_146'></a>146</span> +run back to the island, being guided, when she +was still some distance away, by the ruddy glare +of a big beacon fire lighted by Ben Stubbs. It +was an instance of the veteran adventurer’s +thoughtfulness and resource that he had thought +of doing this, for in the hurry of the departure, +no such instructions had been given him. But +on his own responsibility he had kindled the blaze +which materially aided the swift return of the +<em>Sea Eagle</em> to her eyrie. +</p> +<p> +Reaching the island, the aërial wonder was +sent swinging in decreasing circles, till Dr. Perkins +was sure of a safe drop to the workshop on +the summit of the little spot of land, and then, +with a breath-catching rapidity, the helmsman +sent his wonderful vessel earthward, bringing it +to a stop within the ruddy glow caused by the +blazing bonfire which had guided them. +</p> +<p> +As the <em>Sea Eagle</em> settled to the earth the party +that had been left behind on the adventurous +night flight pressed to the side of the novel craft. +A glance showed them that the mission of Dr. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_147'></a>147</span> +Perkins’ craft had been crowned with success, +and Billy and Pudge began plying the returned +voyagers with eager questions. Ben Stubbs was +slightly in the background, and it was not till +Mr. Sterrett and his companions had stepped out +on to the ground that he got a good look at them. +</p> +<p> +When he did, he gave a deep-drawn gasp of +surprise. An expression of supreme amazement +overspread his weather-beaten countenance. But +his eyes did not fix on Mr. Sterrett or his companion, +Griggs. Instead they traveled beyond +the nattily clad yachtsmen and rested on the slim +figure of the paid “hand.” +</p> +<p> +“Raoul Duval, as sure as there’s a north star!” +choked out Ben, half to himself, “waal, if this +ain’t a small bit of a world!” +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_148'></a>148</span><a name='chXIV' id='chXIV'></a>CHAPTER XIV.—BEN’S PLAN STOLEN.</h2> +<p> +For his part Duval was no less quick in recognizing +Ben Stubbs. At the moment, Dr. Perkins +and the rest were standing in a group a +little apart, and discussing their adventure, while +Mr. Sterrett was loud in his praises of the <em>Sea +Eagle</em>, which he described as the most wonderful +craft on earth. Giving a swift look round to see +that he was unobserved, Duval pressed a finger +to his lips to enjoin silence on Ben, and then +beckoned him to come a short distance out of the +firelight. +</p> +<p> +Ben, in wonderment as to this unexpected reappearance +of the young man who had exercised +such sharp practice on him, obeyed the summons. +But when he addressed Duval it was in an angry +tone. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_149'></a>149</span> +</p> +<p> +“What’s this mean,” he exclaimed, “how did +you come here?” +</p> +<p> +“As you see, by that air ship,” was the reply; +“I never expected to see you here, however. I +tell you, Stubbs, I’ve had a lot of hard luck. +When those boys and that professor-chap rescued +us I had been compelled to ship as a deckhand +and cook on that yacht. Just think of it.” +</p> +<p> +“A mighty good thing for you, say I,” grunted +Ben brusquely, “a little good, honest, hard work +will take some of the crooked kinks out of your +brain. My recommendation to you, Duval, is +to stick to that sort of a job, and in time you’ll +learn to be a man.” +</p> +<p> +Duval shot a look full of malice at the blunt +old fellow. But his face was in the shadow, and +Ben did not notice it. Instead he continued: +</p> +<p> +“But I ain’t the one to bear a grudge, Duval, +although you did come mighty near shipwrecking +my faith in human natur’. Shake hands, +mate, and for your old father’s sake I’ll do what +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_150'></a>150</span> +I can fer you. I ain’t one to kick a man when +he’s down.” +</p> +<p> +Duval extended his thin, long-fingered hand, +and Ben seized it in his rough paw and shook it +with a heartiness that made the dark-skinned +Duval flinch. +</p> +<p> +“There!” exclaimed the old fellow heartily, as +he relinquished his grip, “that’s all ship-shape +and in good trim. Now let’s get back to the rest +of ’em afore they see us talking apart.” +</p> +<p> +“You’re not going to give me away to them?” +asked Duval, almost breathlessly. “Sterrett +thinks I’m all right, and may give me a better +job some time.” +</p> +<p> +“I won’t stand in your way, lad,” heartily rejoined +Ben. “In fact, I’d like to help you get on +your feet again.” +</p> +<p> +“How about that plan of the location of the +<em>Belle of New Orleans</em>?” asked Duval, without +paying any attention to Ben’s last remarks. +</p> +<p> +“Safe enough in my pocket, mate,” replied +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_151'></a>151</span> +Ben, tapping his worn coat; “why do you want +to know?” +</p> +<p> +“I wondered if you had investigated my +story.” +</p> +<p> +“No, I haven’t yet; but I don’t mind telling +you that I may do so before very long. And I’ll +tell you right now, Duval, that if we recover +anything valuable from that wreck I’ll see to it +that you get a good share of it, and then you can +set up in business again and make a new start.” +</p> +<p> +Duval expressed what appeared to be very +deep thanks for Ben’s generosity. But, in reality, +his thoughts were busy elsewhere. An idea +had come into his head that was to bear strange +fruit before very long. They joined the group +clustered about Dr. Perkins without their absence +having been noticed. Billy and Pudge +had seen to it while the <em>Sea Eagle</em> was on +her mission of rescue that a good hot lunch +should be ready on the return of the expedition. +A few moments after Ben and Duval joined +the others Pudge announced this fact, and the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_152'></a>152</span> +party trooped into the hut, nothing loath, to fall +to with hearty appetites on a good meal. Soon +after they “turned in,” the boys insisting on the +strangers taking their bunks, while they and Ben +Stubbs put up with “shake-downs” on the floor. +</p> +<p> +It was very late—or rather early morning—when +they retired, and before long all were +wrapped in the deep sleep of exhaustion. Ben +was the first to awaken, to find the sun streaming +into the hut. +</p> +<p> +“Great guns!” he exclaimed, glancing at +Billy’s alarm clock on a shelf, “it’s after seven.” +</p> +<p> +Broad awake in a jiffy, he aroused the others, +going from the floor sleepers to the bunks. Dr. +Perkins, Mr. Sterrett and the latter’s friend were +awakened in turn, and it was not till then that +Ben noticed that Duval’s bunk was empty. +</p> +<p> +“Good fer him,” he said to himself warmly, +“the young chap has started to turn over a new +leaf by gittin’ out early. I’ll take a turn outside +afore breakfast and see if I can find him.” +</p> +<p> +But Duval was not about the workshop, nor +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_153'></a>153</span> +did Ben’s calls summon him to breakfast. It +was not till that instant that an ugly suspicion +flashed into Ben’s hitherto unsuspecting mind. +Without saying a word to the others he hastily +drew out his wallet and, withdrawing to a corner +of the hut, examined its contents. Instantly his +suspicions were verified. +</p> +<p> +The plan of the location of the wreck of the +<em>Belle of New Orleans</em> was missing! +</p> +<p> +Stifling his anger as well as he could, Ben hastened +to the beach. As he had suspected the +moment he found the plan missing, the small +skiff was gone. What had happened was as +plain as print to Ben now. Young Duval had +waited till all in the hut were asleep, then he +had stealthily crept from his bunk, recovered the +plan he had given to Ben, and had decamped in +the small boat. +</p> +<p> +“Waal, the dern scallywag!” burst out Ben, as +he stood on the beach in the first shock of his +discovery. +</p> +<p> +In his anger he shook his fist at the strip of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_154'></a>154</span> +sea between the island and the mainland to which, +he did not doubt, Duval had crossed in his flight. +</p> +<p> +“The—the—precious scamp!” he continued, +his bronzed features working, “and I trusted him +as I would have trusted his dad.” +</p> +<p> +Shaking his head, Ben slowly made his way +from the beach back to the hut. He said nothing +of his discovery during breakfast, but after +the meal he found a pretext for drawing Dr. +Perkins to one side. To him he communicated +what had occurred. +</p> +<p> +“A good riddance of bad rubbish,” said Dr. +Perkins when Ben, whose voice shook with anger, +had concluded his story; “we are cheaply +rid of him, Ben.” +</p> +<p> +The inventor, while not a selfish man, was +so wrapped up in the success of the <em>Sea Eagle</em> +that, to him, the loss of the plan of the wreck +did not appeal in the same way that it did to +Ben Stubbs. But the old adventurer took him up +indignantly. +</p> +<p> +“Bad rubbish, as you say, sir,” he grated out, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_155'></a>155</span> +“but if that paper hadn’t bin worth something +Duval wouldn’t have taken it. It’s good-by to +recovering that stuff from the <em>Belle of New Orleans</em> +now.” +</p> +<p> +“By Jove! I’d quite forgotten my promise to +you,” said Dr. Perkins contritely; “but never +fear, Ben, I’ll see that you are not a loser.” +</p> +<p> +“It ain’t that,” rejoined Ben; “I don’t give a +snap for the plan; but it’s the ingratitood of that +young whippersnapper that’s got me sore. I’d +like—I’d like to find that wreck just to get ahead +of him.” +</p> +<p> +“Humph!” rejoined the inventor, “I understand +your feelings. He has certainly treated +you very badly. But possibly we can think up +some way to outgeneral him.” +</p> +<p> +“Don’t see how we are goin’ to do it without +that plan,” rejoined Ben; “but I ain’t one to cry +over spilt milk. It’s gone, and that’s all there is +to it. The best thing to do is to forget it.” +</p> +<p> +Frank and Harry, on their way to the <em>Sea +Eagle’s</em> shelter, were passing at the moment. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_156'></a>156</span> +After asking the inventor if he thought it would +be advisable, and receiving an affirmative reply, +Ben called them over. As briefly as he could he +told them what had happened. +</p> +<p> +“Well, the precious rascal!” broke out Frank; +“I thought there was something snaky-looking +about the chap last night. Isn’t there a chance +of catching him?” +</p> +<p> +“Not such a slick rascal as he is, Frank,” rejoined +Ben despondently; “no, the plan is gone, +and gone for good—so good-by to that.” +</p> +<p> +But Harry now spoke up, and to the astonishment +of the others his voice did not hold a trace +of the disappointment they could not help but +feel. +</p> +<p> +“Cheer up, Ben,” he said heartily, “and by the +way you might just cast your eye over this and +see if it looks familiar.” +</p> +<p> +As he spoke he dipped a hand into his breast +pocket and produced a folded paper. Ben, with +a mystified expression, took it and opened the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_157'></a>157</span> +thing up. The next instant it almost fell from +his hands. +</p> +<p> +“Why!—why, by the glittering Pole Star!” he +choked out, “it’s the plan itself!” +</p> +<p> +“Not exactly,” laughed Harry, “but I think +it’s a pretty good copy. You see I always liked +drawing and that sort of thing, so when you +showed me that plan I memorized it, and when I +got a chance I sketched out this copy in case +anything happened to the original. I think it’s +good enough to take a chance on.” +</p> +<p> +“Good enough!” roared Ben, “why, lad, it’s +the plan itself. Now, then, if we don’t beat Master +Duval to the <em>Belle of New Orleans</em> call me +a double-decked, lee-scuppered sea cook!” +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_158'></a>158</span><a name='chXV' id='chXV'></a>CHAPTER XV.—WHAT HAPPENED ASHORE.</h2> +<p> +As Ben had surmised, Duval had waited till +the boys and their friends were sound asleep, and +had then, in accordance with a plan he had +thought of the instant he set eyes on his kind-hearted +friend, sneaked out of his bunk and, tip-toeing +softly to Ben’s clothes, located the +wallet and with small trouble or loss of time +abstracted the plan of the lost wreck. During +the evening the ingrate had heard a description +of the island given to Mr. Sterrett by Dr. Perkins, +so that after taking the plan he left the hut +and made for the beach by the path through the +woods. +</p> +<p> +Shoving off the skiff, he had taken up the oars +and started rowing as fast as he could for the +mainland. But what with the darkness and his +unfamiliarity with that part of the coast, he had +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_159'></a>159</span> +failed to land in the cove adjoining the fisher +village of Motthaven, and had beached his craft +a considerable distance to the south of the place. +It was just growing light when the bow of the +skiff grated on the sand, and Duval hastily +scrambled out and started off. His object was +to find a railroad station and travel as far as his +scant supply of money would take him from the +vicinity of Brig Island. +</p> +<p> +After that his plans were still vague; but he +had an indefinite idea of getting to New York +or some large town, and interesting anybody +with capital to finance an expedition for the recovery +of the gold dust chest and the bag of +black pearls that lay at the bottom of the Black +Bayou amid the moldering timbers of the lost +steamer. The utter depravity and black-heartedness +of this plan, and his base ingratitude to +the man who had aided him in every way, did +not strike him. Instead, there was but one over-mastering +thought in his mind, and that was to +secure whatever treasure might be in the wreck +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_160'></a>160</span> +as quickly as possible, and then vanish from +America for some foreign country with his ill-gotten +wealth. +</p> +<p> +Busy with such thoughts as these, he hastened +up the beach in the gray of the dawn, and finding +a rough sort of path leading up the low cliff +that overhung the beach, he started to ascend it. +He had not gone more than a few paces, however, +before he saw, buried back in some trees, a +rough-looking hut. +</p> +<p> +Duval was hungry and thirsty, and, moreover, +his long row, at such a feverish pace, had exhausted +him. Determining to tell a story that +would account for his presence in that isolated +part of the coast at such an early hour, he made +up his mind to apply at the hut for some refreshment. +His story was to be that he had set +off on a fishing expedition and had lost his way +and been wandering all night. +</p> +<p> +“Probably only some fool fisherman lives there +who will believe anything I choose to tell him,” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_161'></a>161</span> +he thought; “these fellows are all as thick as +mud, anyhow.” +</p> +<p> +Musing to himself in this fashion, the renegade +fellow made his way toward the hut and, +coming to the door, knocked loudly on it. But +there was no answer, and when, after repeated +knockings, he could elicit no response, Duval +determined that, as there appeared to be nobody +at home, he would walk in uninvited and see +what he could “forage” for himself. +</p> +<p> +The door was unlocked; in fact, it had no latch +and hung crazily on its rusty hinges. Opening +it, Duval found himself in an interior as rough +and uncouth as the outside of the hut had promised. +A table made of old planks, seemingly +flotsam from the beach, two soap boxes for +chairs, and a rough sort of bunk, or rather shelf, +littered with a pile of dirty old blankets, made +up the furnishings. On the table were the remains +of a meal, which had consisted apparently +of roasted lobsters and fish. Two tin cups and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_162'></a>162</span> +tin plates, with battered knives and forks beside +them, completed the table service. +</p> +<p> +“Confound it all,” muttered Duval, “whoever +lives here is as poor as a church mouse. Some +miserable fisherman, I suppose, who has hardly +enough to keep body and soul together.” +</p> +<p> +He walked to a corner of the shack where there +was a sort of cupboard contrived out of old +boxes. He had guessed that this formed the +pantry of the establishment. Sure enough, in it +he found a loaf half consumed, and the remains +of a roasted lobster, as well as some scraps of +fish. He was too hungry to be particular and +was just about to start eating when a quick step +behind him caused him to start violently, dropping +the food he had in his hand. +</p> +<p> +But before he could utter a word the young +man—or, rather, loutish boy—who had entered +so quietly, owing to his being barefooted, stepped +up to him and, raising a heavy oar he carried, +dealt the intruder a blow that deprived him of +his senses for the time being. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_163'></a>163</span> +</p> +<p> +As Duval fell to the floor a man in rough +fisherman’s garb, with a wrinkled, mahogany-tinged +face and a tuft of gray whisker on his +prominent chin, entered. +</p> +<p> +“Why, Zeb, what’s up?” he exclaimed, in an +astonished voice. +</p> +<p> +“I found this feller snoopin’ about in here, +pop,” was the rejoinder, “an’ I calkelated ter +lay him out till we could find out what his business +was.” +</p> +<p> +“Good ernuff, boy,” responded the elder Daniels, +for most of our readers must be aware by +this time of the identity of the two newcomers; +“but who do yer suppose he is? He’s dressed +like one of them fancy sailors off’n a yacht.” +</p> +<p> +“Dad, I figger he’s a detective sent here by +them kids on Brig Island. That’s the way it +looks to me.” +</p> +<p> +“I guess you’re right, Zeb. Here, give me a +hand to get him up on the bunk. By hickory, +but you must have hit him a clip.” +</p> +<p> +“Reckon I did land kind er hard on him, dad, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_164'></a>164</span> +but I wasn’t takin’ chances of his turning on +me.” +</p> +<p> +The two worthies lifted Duval’s limp form +and laid it, not over-gently, on the tumbled pile +of frowsy blankets. This done, a sudden thought +struck the elder Daniels. +</p> +<p> +“Calkerlate I’ll take a look through his +pockets,” he said; “might rummage out something +worth havin’.” +</p> +<p> +Zeb helped his father in this task; but aside +from a small sum of money, and a collection of +worthless odds and ends, they found nothing +that appeared to them to be of importance. In +an inner pocket Zeb came across the stolen map. +Much mystified, he showed it to his father. +</p> +<p> +“What do you think this kin be, pop?” he inquired. +</p> +<p> +The old man took it and knitted his brow over +the document in a puzzled fashion. +</p> +<p> +“By hickory, I kain’t make it out,” he confessed; +“thar’s some riting in ther corner, +though. Spell it out, Zeb.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_165'></a>165</span> +</p> +<p> +Zeb, obediently, but somewhat laboriously, +read out: +</p> +<p> +“‘Map of the location of the wreck of the +<em>Belle of New Orleans</em>.’ That’s what it says; but +what does it mean?” +</p> +<p> +“That’s plain enough, ain’t it?” retorted the +old man. “It’s a map of some wreck or other, +but what does this feller want with it? That’s +the question.” +</p> +<p> +“Better ask him. He’s opening his eyes and +coming to.” +</p> +<p> +Sure enough Duval stirred uneasily, and threw +up his hand as if to ward off a blow. +</p> +<p> +“Don’t hit me, Frank Chester,” he cried out; +“I’ll give back the plan I stole.” +</p> +<p> +“Oh-ho! That’s the way the wind blows, is +it?” muttered the elder Daniels, and then, addressing +Duval, who was now staring wildly +about him, he said: +</p> +<p> +“So you come from Brig Island, eh, my +hearty?” +</p> +<p> +“Yes; but how did I get here? Oh, I remember now. I +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_166'></a>166</span> +was looking for food and somebody +struck me.” +</p> +<p> +“That was me, I reckon,” grinned Zeb, “who +are you, anyhow? Did those kids on Brig Island +send you here after us?” +</p> +<p> +What with the effects of his blow, and his +alarm at his position, Duval lost his customary +caution. +</p> +<p> +“I’m no friend of anybody on Brig Island,” he +exclaimed, “but what do you know about that +place, anyhow?” +</p> +<p> +“A whole lot,” grimly rejoined the elder Daniels; +“now, see here, my lad, you’d best make a +clean breast of it. How did you come by this +plan?” +</p> +<p> +The old fisherman, who was pretty keen-minded, +had guessed by Duval’s guilty manner +that there was some mystery connected with the +document which he now flourished. +</p> +<p> +Duval sat up on the bunk and pleaded for the +return of the plan; but to no avail. +</p> +<p> +“I’m smart enough to see through a wall when +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_167'></a>167</span> +there’s a hole in it,” said old Daniels; “now, see +here, I reckon you ain’t no friend of them kids +on the island?” +</p> +<p> +Duval shook his head. He had, of course, no +reason to dislike the boys; but he was an arrant +coward at heart, and saw that the men in whose +power he was, hated the young dwellers on Brig +Island. He therefore thought it good policy to +affect to be of their way of thinking. +</p> +<p> +“I’m no friend of theirs,” he said, rather sullenly, +“but what’s that to you?” +</p> +<p> +“May be a whole lot, if this plan is what I +think it is. Now I’ve a pretty good idea that +you come by it in no very honest way. Ain’t +that so?” +</p> +<p> +“I—I was given it,” stammered Duval uneasily, +while Zenas’ little gimlet-like gray eyes +bored him through. +</p> +<p> +“That’s a lie,” rejoined Daniels easily; “come +on, out with the truth, now. It won’t do you no +harm, and may keep you from the constables.” +</p> +<p> +This was a shrewd move on Daniels’ part. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_168'></a>168</span> +Duval’s eyes dilated with fear at the idea of +coming within the reach of the law. Without +more ado he blurted out part of the story of the +lost <em>Belle of New Orleans</em>, and offered to let Zenas +share in the prize if he should locate it. +While Duval was talking the elder Daniels had +leaned forward, consumed with interest. Avaricious +to a degree, the thought of the sunken +treasure made him fairly burn with desire to +gain it. +</p> +<p> +“You’re sure that was a true story that feller +give you?” he asked, as Duval concluded his +story. +</p> +<p> +“I’m certain of it. I know for a fact that my +father had a lot of gold dust and those black +pearls with him on his last voyage, for he had +written home about the fortune that he was +bringing.” +</p> +<p> +“Humph! Waal, your story sounds all right, +and I don’t know but what you’ve come to the +right shop to get some one to help you get at the +wreck. I’ve got a diving outfit and a little +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_169'></a>169</span> +money, and I kin raise some more. Now sit +down and Zeb will get you a bite to eat, and +we’ll talk things over.” +</p> +<p> +And thus was begun an alliance which was to +prove a source of much trouble to the Boy Aviators +and their friends in the near future. +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_170'></a>170</span><a name='chXVI' id='chXVI'></a>CHAPTER XVI.—OFF ON THE “AIR ROUTE.”</h2> +<p> +In the meantime indignation was at white heat +on Brig Island. Mr. Sterrett was for advertising +the disappearance of Duval, and offering a +reward for his apprehension. He confessed that +he had not liked the man’s looks, but had shipped +him as help was hard to get at the time. Dr. +Perkins agreed that it might not be a bad idea +to communicate at once with the authorities and +try to have the rascal captured. +</p> +<p> +“But,” he added, “I am afraid he is too clever +a scamp to fall into the clutches of the law very +easily.” +</p> +<p> +“I am of that opinion, too,” frankly admitted +Mr. Sterrett, “but it will do no harm to do all +we can to place him where he belongs.” +</p> +<p> +To get ashore Frank had first to swim off to +the motor boat, for the skiff, as we know, had +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_171'></a>171</span> +vanished. He then ran the engine-driven craft +in alongside some rocks that sloped down into +deep water, and from that elevation the party +embarked. A quick run was made to Motthaven, +from whence a description of Duval was wired +to the metropolitan police, and the local authorities +urged out of their usual lethargy by promises +of a reward if Duval was found. Late that +afternoon the search yielded results in the finding +of the abandoned skiff, and the discovery of +the hut in which the Daniels had been living +since the boys had instituted proceedings against +them. +</p> +<p> +Some evidences of a hasty departure were +found, but no clews that would give any idea of +whither the fugitives had proceeded. In fact it +was only by piecing together some scraps of torn +paper that it was discovered that the hut had +been used by the Daniels as a refuge. +</p> +<p> +“Well,” said Dr. Perkins that evening, after +they had bidden good-by to Mr. Sterrett and his +friend, who had returned to New York, “well, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_172'></a>172</span> +in my opinion the less time we lose in getting to +Black Bayou the better it will be, for, to my mind, +there is little doubt that Duval means to forestall +our friend, Ben Stubbs, in ransacking the +wreck.” +</p> +<p> +The others agreed that this seemed highly +probable, and Dr. Perkins made immediate arrangements +for a caretaker to occupy quarters +on Brig Island during their absence. This done, +a return was made to the little settlement, and +the next day final preparations were made for +the adventurous trip through the air. The <em>Sea +Eagle</em> was provisioned, and a light wireless apparatus +installed, the stay wires being used as +aërials. Of course the instruments were not so +strong as those used at the shore station, but it +was calculated that they had a capacity of about +twenty miles over land, and forty above the sea, +depending, of course, a good deal on the wave +adjustment and the weather conditions. +</p> +<p> +Twenty-four hours after the adventurers had +started work on the <em>Sea Eagle</em>, the craft was +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_173'></a>173</span> +ready for her dash. Ben Stubbs, Pudge Perkins +and Billy Barnes were to go to New Orleans, +there to await the arrival of the party. +Their departure took place amid regretful wails +from Pudge, who loudly declaimed: +</p> +<p> +“Aërials and ant-hills! I don’t see why we +can’t go by the <em>Sea Eagle</em>.” +</p> +<p> +But Dr. Perkins’ word was law and he had +decided that the fewer persons who took part in +the test the better the chance of success would +be, and as Frank and Harry were both experienced +aviators he placed great reliance in their +aid. The morning after the departure of the +New Orleans-bound passengers the caretaker +and his family arrived. They were honest folk +from the shore, who could be trusted to look +after the many valuable devices on the island, +and keep curiosity seekers off till the party returned. +For Dr. Perkins had decided to use Brig +Island as a permanent workshop, and expected, +if the <em>Sea Eagle</em> proved a success, to build many +craft like her and dispose of them at good prices. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_174'></a>174</span> +The working of the electric fence was explained +to the caretaker; but he declared: +</p> +<p> +“I reckon my old gun will do more to keep undesirables +off than any of them electric didoes.” +</p> +<p> +There was now nothing more to do, the caretaker +being duly installed, but to take to the air, +in what was, at that date, the most unique aërial +craft in existence. For the voyage, beside the +provisions and extra fuel and oil, life belts had +been provided, and not a detail had been overlooked. +It was seven o’clock on a fine, breathless +morning when Dr. Perkins gave the order, +“Start up the engines!” +</p> +<p> +A thrill shot through both Frank and Harry +at the words. Experienced in aërial adventure +as were both boys, they could not but feel that +they were embarking on the most adventurous +undertaking of their lives. +</p> +<p> +“We’re off!” cried Harry, as a quiver ran +through the craft, and the motor roared from its +exhausts, emitting clouds of mingled flame and +blue smoke. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_175'></a>175</span> +</p> +<p> +“Yes; off on a fight for fame and fortune!” +cried Frank, as Dr. Perkins threw in the clutch; +and, with her propellers beating the air so rapidly +that they were a mere blur, the <em>Sea Eagle</em> +shot skyward. +</p> +<p> +In half an hour’s time, to the watchers on the +island, the aërial craft had dwindled to a mere +dot in the distant sky, and five minutes later she +vanished from view. The boys gave many backward +looks as they winged away from Brig Island. +Despite their adventures, they had spent +many pleasant days there, and it appeared to +them to be almost a second home. Of all that +they were to experience before returning to the +island they little dreamed at the moment, but +their hearts beat high with exultation as the <em>Sea +Eagle</em> winged her way southward at forty miles +an hour, and about five hundred feet above the +ocean. +</p> +<p> +They had been in the air about an hour +when they encountered a situation which may +become common enough before many years have +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_176'></a>176</span> +passed, but which was an exciting novelty to +them. Off on the horizon a liner was sighted, +steaming toward the American coast. Before +long they made her out to be a big, two-funneled +craft, painted black, and with numerous +decks rising above her shapely hull. +</p> +<p> +“One of the transatlantic liners that make +Portland their terminal,” decided Dr. Perkins. +</p> +<p> +“Shall I wireless them?” said Harry. +</p> +<p> +“Yes, do so. It will be an interesting experiment, +and besides will show how the apparatus +will work.” +</p> +<p> +Harry lost no time in getting to work. After +a brief interval he “raised” the operator on the +liner, Dr. Perkins keeping the <em>Sea Eagle</em> swinging +in big, lazy circles while he did so. +</p> +<p> +“We sighted you from the bridge half an +hour ago,” flashed the operator, “who and what +are you?” +</p> +<p> +“The hydro-aëroplane <em>Sea Eagle</em>, bound from +Maine for New Orleans. Who are you?” flashed +back Harry. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_177'></a>177</span> +</p> +<p> +“The <em>Ultonia</em>, of the Portland and Liverpool +line, eight days out from England,” was the +rejoinder; “have you got any American newspapers +on board?” +</p> +<p> +Now it happened that Dr. Perkins had brought +some papers of the day before along in his +pockets, and at Harry’s request he handed them +to him. +</p> +<p> +“What are you going to do?” asked Frank. +</p> +<p> +“I was going to suggest that we dive across +the <em>Ultonia</em> and deliver the papers,” said Harry; +“can we do it, doctor?” +</p> +<p> +“By all means,” rejoined Dr. Perkins, deeply +interested; “flash them a message of what we +intend to do so that they may be prepared.” +</p> +<p> +Harry sent out the message and the operator +flashed back a quick “Thanks,” adding the next +moment: “Good-by. I’m going to beat it out +on deck and watch you.” +</p> +<p> +Frank, in the meantime, had done the papers +up in a compact bundle and weighted them with +an empty beef can. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_178'></a>178</span> +</p> +<p> +“All ready?” cried Dr. Perkins. +</p> +<p> +“All ready, sir,” was the prompt reply from +the boys. +</p> +<p> +“Then hold tight. I’m going to make a swift +dive.” +</p> +<p> +The liner was now almost directly underneath +the soaring <em>Sea Eagle</em>. Her rails were black +with passengers craning their necks upward at +the great, man-made bird. From her funnels +poured clouds of inky smoke, while her sharp +prow cut the water on each side of her bow into +sparkling foam. On the bridge were uniformed +officers, pointing binoculars and spy glasses aloft, +for the operator had communicated the news of +what the <em>Sea Eagle</em> was about to do. +</p> +<p> +Suddenly the watching throngs of ocean travelers +saw the <em>Sea Eagle</em> poise in air like a hawk +about to pounce. Then down she came, cleaving +the air like a falling stone. +</p> +<p> +A great cry went up from the packed decks. +It seemed as if the air craft must perish, that +nothing could check her fall, and that she was +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_179'></a>179</span> +doomed to plunge headlong into the sea. But +in a flash the cry changed to a mighty cheer. +</p> +<p> +Less than forty feet from the water the <em>Sea +Eagle</em> was seen to shoot upward and straight +toward the steamer. Like an arrow from a bow +the great aërial craft shot whizzing above the +liner’s bridge, and under the wireless aërials extending +from mast to mast. Just as she roared +by above the officers’ heads, like some antedeluvian +thunder-lizard, something was seen to fall +downward and land on the top of the charthouse. +It was the bundle of papers thrown by +Harry. A sailor scrambled up and got them, +while the crowded decks yelled themselves hoarse. +</p> +<p> +Then the <em>Sea Eagle</em> soared up high above the +mast tips, and Harry seated himself at the wireless +once more. Presently to his ears came a +message from the speeding liner far below. +</p> +<p> +“Captain Seabury wishes to congratulate you +on the most wonderful feat of the century.” +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_180'></a>180</span><a name='chXVII' id='chXVII'></a>CHAPTER XVII.—AN AËRIAL AMBULANCE.</h2> +<p> +Harry was about to flash back an answer to +the message of congratulation when, suddenly, +into the scene of triumph was injected a grim +note of threatened tragedy. One of the passengers, +a young woman who had been leaning far +out over the rail of the boat deck waving a handkerchief +of filmy lace and linen, was seen, all +at once, to topple from her perch. +</p> +<p> +The next instant, and while her shrill scream +for help still rent the air, a young man who +had been standing beside her jumped out into +space without waiting to do more than strip off +coat and shoes. The <em>Ultonia</em> was speeding ahead +at the fastest gait her twin screws were capable +of. She was a large vessel, probably some 15,000 +tons of registration, and her momentum was too +great to stop her for a considerable distance. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_181'></a>181</span> +</p> +<p> +From the <em>Sea Eagle</em> horrified eyes saw the accident, +and witnessed the young woman’s head +bob up for an instant amid the frothy wake of +the big craft. The liner’s whistle screamed out +a shrill alarm, and men could be seen scampering +to lower a boat, while life buoys were thrown +overboard. +</p> +<p> +But before anything more could be done the +<em>Sea Eagle</em> took a sudden swoop, a swift dive +downward, characteristic of the bird for which +she had been named. +</p> +<p> +The wonderful craft struck the water with a +force that sent a cloud of spray boiling up about +her, temporarily hiding her substructure and her +occupants from view. +</p> +<p> +“She’s sunk!” went up a moaning cry from the +decks of the liner. But, no! An instant later it +was seen that the <em>Sea Eagle</em>, an aëroplane no +longer but a winged boat, was speeding as fast +as her twin propellers could drive her toward +the spot where the young woman had last been +seen. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_182'></a>182</span> +</p> +<p> +Hardly a word, except Dr. Perkins’ caution to +“hang on tight,” had been exchanged between the +aviators from their simultaneous observation of +the accident till the moment the <em>Sea Eagle</em> struck +the water. But now orders came quick and fast. +</p> +<p> +“Attend to the engines!” +</p> +<p> +The order came from Frank, and Harry +sprang into the place his brother vacated. +</p> +<p> +Frank hastily buckled on one of the life jackets +and then, as the <em>Sea Eagle</em> skimmed the water +at a twenty-five knot gait, he scanned the seething +lane of foam behind the liner. Suddenly he +saw what he was looking for. A white, imploring +face, crowned with a wealth of golden hair. +</p> +<p> +“Save me!” screamed the girl who, although +she had been swimming, was by this time too +exhausted with the effects of her immersion and +the weight of her water-soaked clothes, to keep +up any longer. Without an instant’s hesitation, +Frank leaped into the water and began striking +out with powerful strokes for the sinking girl. +He reached her side just as she was going down +for the third time. +</p> +<div class='figcenter' style='padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='i003' id='i003'></a> +<img src="images/illus-182.jpg" alt="WITHOUT AN INSTANT’S HESITATION, FRANK LEAPED INTO THE WATER." title=""/><br /> +<span class='caption'>WITHOUT AN INSTANT’S HESITATION, FRANK LEAPED INTO THE WATER.</span> +</div> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_183'></a>183</span></div> +<p> +In the meantime the young man who had +sprung after her had also become exhausted, and +would certainly have sunk had not Dr. Perkins +headed the <em>Sea Eagle</em> in his direction. Leaning +far out as they came alongside the struggling +man, Harry grasped him by the collar, and then +half dragged him into the hydroplane portion of +the air craft. This done, full speed was made +for Frank and the young woman. +</p> +<p> +None too soon did they reach Frank’s side. +With the blind instinct of a drowning person the +young woman was clinging so tightly to Frank +that, strong swimmer though he was, he had +much difficulty in keeping above the water. Dr. +Perkins ordered the motor stopped as they neared +the two, and allowed the <em>Sea Eagle</em> to glide up +to them. Then both he and Harry bent all their +strength to hauling on board, first the young +woman and then Frank. +</p> +<p> +By this time the liner’s speed had been checked, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_184'></a>184</span> +and her officers were swinging her in a broad +circle to the scene of the accident. A boat had +been lowered and was heading for the <em>Sea Eagle</em>, +but Dr. Perkins, snatching up the megaphone, +hailed the oarsman and told them that everything +was all right. +</p> +<p> +This done, power was applied once more, and +the <em>Sea Eagle</em> headed for the liner’s side. As +if guessing his intention a gangway had been +lowered, and all was ready for their reception as +they came alongside. In the meantime the young +man had introduced the golden-haired young +woman as his bride, and himself as Stanley Travers, +of Portland, Me. To say that both he and +Mrs. Travers were grateful would be not to +state one half of their actual feelings. +</p> +<p> +In fact, their expressions of appreciation took +so long that one of the officers at the head of +the gangway shouted: +</p> +<p> +“This is a mail boat and we must hurry, +please.” +</p> +<p> +While this was going on congratulations on +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_185'></a>185</span> +the plucky act had been shouted down from the +uniformed skipper on the bridge and from a +score of the passengers that banked the rails +three and four deep. +</p> +<p> +At last Mr. and Mrs. Travers, wet to the skin, +clambered up the liner’s tall, black side, and the +boat was hauled up on the davits. As the big +craft, dipping her ensign and blowing her siren, +heaved ahead, a shout of enthusiasm went up. +But it was drowned by the roar of the <em>Sea +Eagle’s</em> motor. Hardly had the propellers of the +vessel begun to churn the water once more before +Dr. Perkins’ craft rose from the water like +a white-winged sea gull after a refreshing dip. +As the gallant sea-and-air ship rose, her three +occupants waved their hands in farewell in rejoinder +to the babel of shouts beneath them. +</p> +<p> +“Well, at any rate, if the <em>Sea Eagle</em> never +does anything more,” remarked Dr. Perkins, “she +has accomplished a great deal.” +</p> +<p> +“I should think so,” exclaimed Frank, who +had slipped into dry clothes as soon as the <em>Sea</em> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_186'></a>186</span> +<em>Eagle</em> took the air once more; “it isn’t every +craft that finds her baptism in life-saving at +sea.” +</p> +<p> +As long as they could see the <em>Ultonia</em> the big +liner continued to blow her whistle, and doubtless +the eyes of all her passengers remained fixed +attentively on the wonderful sky ship as she +waxed smaller and smaller against the blue. +That afternoon the voyagers found themselves +off Cape Ann. High above the cape they flew, +cutting off a good chunk of distance in this way. +The folks in West Gloucester stared in wonderment +as the huge air ship soared by high above +the town, and when a short time later the aviators +passed above the white-winged fishing fleet, +every tin pan and fog horn in the flotilla of small +craft sounded an enthusiastic “God speed” to +the air travelers. +</p> +<p> +Far behind the main body of the fisher craft +lagged a small sloop, and as the <em>Sea Eagle</em> came +closer to her the boys noticed that her flag was +flying from the peak “union down,” a sign of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_187'></a>187</span> +distress the world over. The big hydro-aëroplane +was flying low at the time, and it was easy +to see, without the aid of glasses, that several +men were running about the sloop’s decks and +shouting something up at the air voyagers. +</p> +<p> +“Shall we go down and see what the trouble +is?” asked Frank, as he and Harry saw the signs +of distress. +</p> +<p> +“Yes,” decided the doctor, “no craft, either +of the air or of the sea, can disregard such a +signal of disaster. It will be odd if, for the +second time on the very first day of our cruise, +we are able to render aid to somebody who needs +it badly.” +</p> +<p> +The boys thought so, too, and as they dropped +seaward the minds of all three occupants of the +<em>Sea Eagle</em> were busy with speculations concerning +what could be the cause of the sloop’s distress. +Dr. Perkins caused his craft to alight +gently on the sea a short distance from the sloop, +and then headed her over the waves toward the +distressed vessel. As they drew closer they could +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_188'></a>188</span> +see a grizzled-looking fellow, in rough fisher’s +garb, leaning over the side. +</p> +<p> +“Come quick!” he shouted, “there’s been bad +work going on aboard!” +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_189'></a>189</span><a name='chXVIII' id='chXVIII'></a>CHAPTER XVIII.—AN ERRAND OF MERCY.</h2> +<p> +“What’s up?” cried Frank. +</p> +<p> +“Yes, what’s the trouble?” came from Dr. Perkins. +</p> +<p> +“Trouble enough. We sprang a leak two days +ago, out on the fishing banks, and have been at +the pumps ever since. Now we’ve got the leak +stopped, but my mate, Joe Higgins, was struck +on the head by the boom and is so mortal bad +that if we don’t get a doctor for him pretty quick +I’m afraid he’ll die. Then, too, our provisions +is run out.” +</p> +<p> +While the man was reciting this catalogue of +mishaps the <em>Sea Eagle</em> was run alongside, and +Dr. Perkins made her fast with a line the man +flung to him. +</p> +<p> +“First let’s have a look at the injured man,” +he said and, without further delay, Captain Zebedee +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_190'></a>190</span> +Crooks, as he informed the travelers his +name was, led them aft to a tiny cabin, stuffy, +dark and reeking of fish. The boys followed +Dr. Perkins into this wretched little den and +Captain Zebedee lighted a sea lantern. +</p> +<p> +Its rays showed them a heavily built man of +middle age lying on a locker. His head was +bandaged, and although he breathed he showed +no other signs of life. Dr. Perkins, with the skill +of a professional man, made a hasty examination. +</p> +<p> +“This man is badly hurt,” he said at length. +“I am afraid his skull is fractured, but of that I +cannot be certain. He should be ashore in a hospital.” +</p> +<p> +“Aye! I know that,” rejoined Captain Zebedee, +“but at the rate we are going now we won’t +get ashore till to-morrow night, and by that time +poor Joe may be dead.” +</p> +<p> +“I think it extremely likely,” replied Dr. Perkins, +“but we must get him ashore at once.” +</p> +<p> +“What, in that sky schooner of yours?” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_191'></a>191</span> +Dr. Perkins nodded. +</p> +<p> +“Yes, we must get him on deck without further +loss of time. Then we’ll rush him to a hospital.” +</p> +<p> +“The good Lord who sent you here bless you!” +exclaimed the rugged old fisherman, affected almost +to tears. “I never thought when I seen +you away up thar in ther sky that you’d bother +to notice the poor <em>Star of Gloucester</em>; but you +did. You come down from the clouds like so +many angels.” +</p> +<p> +“Funny-looking angels,” remarked Frank to +Harry, in an undertone. But Captain Zebedee’s +gratitude was so heartfelt and earnest that +neither of the boys could find it in them to smile +at his odd phrases. +</p> +<p> +Captain Zebedee summoned some of his crew +from the deck and as tenderly as possible the injured +man was conveyed from the cabin. This +done, he was lowered into the <em>Sea Eagle</em> and +laid on a pile of blankets already prepared for +his reception. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_192'></a>192</span> +</p> +<p> +“Better make for Bayhaven,” counseled Captain +Zebedee; “there’s a good hospital there, and +it lies right on the coast about in a straight line +from here.” +</p> +<p> +Dr. Perkins nodded, and then, having seen +that the injured man was in a position to endure +the ride comfortably, the flight to the shore was +begun; but not till a substantial amount of provisions +and some fresh water had been supplied +to the fishing smack. As the <em>Sea Eagle</em> took to +the air the <em>Star of Gloucester</em> was set before the +wind, and staggered off on her slow course once +more. The last the boys saw of the clumsy fisherman, +the stout figure of Captain Zebedee was +leaning on the stern bulwarks waving to them as +they winged shoreward. +</p> +<p> +The coast was a rocky one, with gaunt cliffs +and few habitations. But as they reached it and +flew low above a small house on the summit of +the cliffs, they spied a man at work in a small +garden. Of him Frank inquired the way to Bayhaven. +The man was too much astonished to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_193'></a>193</span> +answer at first, and stood looking stupidly up at +the winged monster above him. +</p> +<p> +But finally he collected his wits and pointed to +the south. The <em>Sea Eagle</em> was thereupon headed +round, and, not long after, her passengers came +in sight of a tiny town huddled in a cove almost +at the water’s edge. Heading out seaward once +more, Dr. Perkins dropped to the water in the +harbor, and then at reduced speed ran the <em>Sea +Eagle</em> up to the long wharf which jutted out +at the foot of the little city’s main street. +</p> +<p> +By the time they arrived alongside of the jetty +half the population of the town was on hand to +greet them. Their approach through the air had +been seen when they were still some distance off, +and as the <em>Sea Eagle</em> was the first air ship ever +seen in Bayhaven it may be imagined what a sensation +Dr. Perkins’ craft created. +</p> +<p> +But all eager questioners were waved aside +while Dr. Perkins and his young friends called +for volunteers to help lift the injured man out +of the <em>Sea Eagle</em>. A dozen willing hands responded, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_194'></a>194</span> +and before long the mate of the <em>Star +of Gloucester</em> was on his way to the hospital in +a wagon which had been hastily converted into +an ambulance. It may be said here that, thanks +to the prompt manner in which aid had been secured +for him, the man recovered after a long +illness, and was able to resume his work on Captain +Zebedee’s ship, where he never tires of telling +of how he was saved by an aërial ambulance. +</p> +<p> +Dr. Perkins accompanied his patient to the +hospital, where he saw him comfortably settled. +In the meantime Frank and Harry had been left +on guard with the <em>Sea Eagle</em>, for the crowd had +grown so large, and so curious, that it would +not have been wise to have left the ship to the +mercies of the inquisitive. The boys answered a +perfect hailstorm of questions as good-naturedly +as possible, but once or twice they had to use +physical means to keep the younger element of +the population of Bayhaven off the decks. +</p> +<p> +By the time Dr. Perkins returned they were +heartily tired of their job, and hailed his proposal +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_195'></a>195</span> +that they should go up to town and purchase +a fresh supply of provisions, with much +delight. Leaving Dr. Perkins to cope with the +throng, the two boys, arm in arm, made their +way through the press and set off for the main +street, which sloped up from the wharf. One or +two of the crowd followed them, gaping curiously +at the youthful aërial voyagers. But the +boys were too used to the curiosity of crowds to +mind this, and before long their followers +dropped back to gape at the great flying machine. +</p> +<p> +They found the town a small, uninteresting +place. There were several shops, a hotel, with +the usual group of loungers hanging about the +porch, and further back a canning factory, which +gave employment, in one way or another, to most +of the inhabitants of Bayhaven. Beyond the +hotel was a big “general store.” Entering it, the +boys made a variety of purchases, and arranged +that the goods should be shipped to the <em>Sea Eagle</em> +as soon as possible. +</p> +<p> +They were just leaving the place when out of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_196'></a>196</span> +the dusk—for by this time it was getting late—there +came a figure that caused both boys to +come to a dead stop in petrified astonishment. +As for the man who had caused their sudden +stoppage he, for his part, appeared to be nonplussed +for a second. But the next moment he +turned and fairly ran out of the store. +</p> +<p> +“After him!” cried Frank; “it’s that rascal +Duval!” +</p> +<p> +“That’s what!” cried Harry, no less excited. +</p> +<p> +Both boys, to the utter amazement of the storekeeper, +who thought they had gone suddenly +crazy, dashed out of the door of the emporium, +and taking the steps outside in one jump they +made off in the direction in which Duval, for +there was no doubt it was he, had vanished. But +as ill luck would have it, the cannery whistle had +just blown for the cessation of the day’s work, +and round the corner there streamed a big crowd +of the employees. +</p> +<p> +It took the boys some time to work their way +through the throng, for some of the men were +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_197'></a>197</span> +inclined to tease them by stepping in their way +and otherwise annoying them so that by the time +they got through the crowd all hope of catching, +or even sighting, Duval was gone. +</p> +<p> +Greatly disappointed, and almost as much mystified +by their sudden encounter with the rascally +Frenchman, the boys decided to turn back and +go down to the <em>Sea Eagle</em>. On their way they +discussed Duval’s sudden reappearance with interest. +</p> +<p> +“What can he be doing here?” wondered +Harry. +</p> +<p> +“Blessed if I know,” was the rejoinder, “but +I’ll bet he’s up to some mischief or other. My! +How he ran when he saw us.” +</p> +<p> +“He had good reason to,” declared Harry; +“I guess we’d have had him arrested if we’d ever +caught him.” +</p> +<p> +“Not much doubt of that,” declared Frank; +“we could have charged him with the theft of +that boat, anyhow, and that would have held him +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_198'></a>198</span> +in the custody of the authorities till we could +have obtained further evidence.” +</p> +<p> +“Well, I don’t imagine we’ll see him again,” +decided Harry, as they turned into the Main +Street. +</p> +<p> +“No such luck,” declared Frank. +</p> +<p> +But, after all, the boys were to see Duval +again, and sooner than they expected, too. +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_199'></a>199</span><a name='chXIX' id='chXIX'></a>CHAPTER XIX.—PLUMBO FOUND WANTING.</h2> +<p> +They were still talking in this vein when they +reached the wharf. The crowd had, by this time, +thinned out somewhat, and they made their way +to the <em>Sea Eagle</em> without difficulty. They found +Dr. Perkins talking with a most peculiar looking +individual. He was long and lanky as a bean +pole, and his thatch of bright red hair was +crowned by a hat that a scarecrow might have +disowned. +</p> +<p> +“Wonder who our new-found friend can be?” +laughed Harry, as they clambered down a rough +ladder to <em>the Sea Eagle’s</em> deck. +</p> +<p> +They soon found out. Dr. Perkins, it appeared, +had decided to spend the night at Bayhaven, +and had engaged quarters at the hotel +which the boys had passed. The man with whom +he was talking rejoiced in the name of Plumbo +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_200'></a>200</span> +Boggs, and was a village character. However, +he was honest, though not overmuch endowed +with brains, and had been recommended to the +inventor as a reliable man to leave in charge of +the <em>Sea Eagle</em>. +</p> +<p> +Immediately Dr. Perkins had introduced this +strange character, Plumbo broke out into rhymed +speech which was a peculiarity of his. Some odd +twist in his brain made it impossible for him to +express himself in prose. +</p> +<p> +“I’m Plumbo Boggs of old Bayhaven; from +harm your air ship I’ll be savin’,” quoth he, +striking an attitude. +</p> +<p> +“Do you always talk that way?” inquired +Frank. +</p> +<p> +“Yes; I’m a poet, though you didn’t know it,” +was the response. +</p> +<p> +“Well, I don’t know that that will keep you +from being a good watchman,” smiled Dr. Perkins. +</p> +<p> +“I’ll watch by day or I’ll watch by night; you’ll +soon find that I’m all right,” was the quick +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_201'></a>201</span> +response, while Plumbo’s blue, rather watery +eyes, flashed feebly. +</p> +<p> +“That’s satisfactory. Mind, you are to let no +one on board, under any pretext whatever.” +</p> +<p> +“Pretext is a word that I don’t understand; +but I’ll keep them off though they come in a +band,” rejoined Plumbo. +</p> +<p> +“How much will you do the job for?” asked +Dr. Perkins. +</p> +<p> +“Two dollars will be my price to stay here; +pay it and then no trouble you’ll fear.” +</p> +<p> +“I’ll agree to that,” said Dr. Perkins, “we are +going uptown now. I’ll have your supper sent +down to you and you are to remain here till you +are relieved by us early to-morrow.” +</p> +<p> +“I’ll stay right here, watchful and steady; +you’ll find me here when to go you’re ready,” +declared Plumbo. +</p> +<p> +“And now that everything is well I guess we’ll +start for the hotel,” said Frank, and not until +both Dr. Perkins and Harry burst into a roar +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_202'></a>202</span> +of laughter did he realize that he had caught the +rhyming “infection” from the poetical Plumbo. +</p> +<p> +“Be sure and don’t forget my supper; I like +pork and beans and bread and butter,” called +Plumbo after them as they left the wharf, and +he took up his vigil. +</p> +<p> +“An eccentric sort of character, but I guess +he’ll take good care of the <em>Sea Eagle</em> while we’re +gone,” said Dr. Perkins. +</p> +<p> +It was on the tip of Frank’s tongue to tell +about their encounter with Duval; but the next +instant he decided not to speak of it. Dr. Perkins +had several important matters on his mind, +and after all, the boy argued, Duval could not +do them any harm now. After supper the editor +of the local paper called round at the hotel to +elicit from the aërial voyagers the story of their +trip as far as it had gone. He was also correspondent +for the Associated Press, he informed +them. Dr. Perkins granted him a careful interview, +in which he described part of their adventures, +but was cautious not to reveal any of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_203'></a>203</span> +the details of the <em>Sea Eagle’s</em> construction. +Shortly after the newspaperman had taken his +departure the party retired, having left an early +call for the morning, for it had been determined +to get under way as soon as possible the next day. +</p> +<p> +Bayhaven retired early to its rest, and the +streets were deserted when, soon after midnight, +three men walked down the main street, taking +care to keep in the shadows of the buildings as +they proceeded. One of the men was Duval, and +the others were the Daniels, father and son. +Their presence in Bayhaven is soon explained. +</p> +<p> +As we know, the elder Daniels had offered to +get money to finance the trip to the Black Bayou, +and it was from relatives in Bayhaven that he +calculated on getting it. The trio had arrived +in the town the day before, and Daniels had +promptly obtained the money as a loan, he having +represented that the treasure was undoubtedly +to be found in the long-forgotten wreck. +</p> +<p> +They had been on the streets the day before +when the approach of the <em>Sea Eagle</em> was announced, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_204'></a>204</span> +and Duval instantly guessed that the +oncoming air ship was the same that had rescued +him and his employers from the illfated +<em>Wanderer</em>. Neither the Daniels nor Duval himself +knew anything of the destination of the <em>Sea +Eagle</em>, nor did they guess for an instant that +Harry Chester carried with him an exact duplicate +of Duval’s stolen plan. But their evil natures +prompted them to do all the harm they +could to the party, and it was with this end in +view that they were making their way down the +badly lighted and deserted streets of Bayhaven +at such an hour. Duval’s dislike of the boys had +been roused to fever heat by their chase of him +in the afternoon, and he was burning to do them +some injury. From one of the elder Daniels’ relatives +the rascals had learned that Dr. Perkins +and his two young friends were registered at +the hotel, leaving the <em>Sea Eagle</em> in charge of +Plumbo. At once they had decided to visit the +air ship and see what harm they could do it. +</p> +<p> +Stealthily they advanced toward the wharf, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_205'></a>205</span> +revolving in their minds as they went what they +would do when they got there. +</p> +<p> +“We’ll have to get that half-witted chap out +of the way,” declared Duval, in a low tone, “or +he may make an outcry and arouse the whole +place.” +</p> +<p> +“Leave that to me,” Daniels assured him; +“we’ll fix him up all right.” +</p> +<p> +“You don’t mean to hurt him? I don’t want +to get mixed up in anything like that,” whimpered +Duval, who was somewhat of a coward, +as we know. +</p> +<p> +Daniels actually chuckled. +</p> +<p> +“Waal, you are a chicken-hearted fool,” he +muttered, “but don’t you be scared. There won’t +be no necessity of hurtin’ this Plumbo. I can +recollect him from a time when I was here years +ago. He’s soft-headed and talks poetry. Them +two things most allers goes together I’ve found.” +</p> +<p> +Nothing more was said till they reached the +wharf. It was dark and deserted, but in the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_206'></a>206</span> +starlight the dim outlines of the <em>Sea Eagle</em> could +be seen as she lay at her moorings. +</p> +<p> +“I’ll bet a cruller that chap’s asleep,” whispered +Zeb, as they crept forward cautiously. +</p> +<p> +“Hope so. It’ll make our work a lot the easier,” +chuckled his worthy father. +</p> +<p> +But the next moment they had undeniable +proof that the watchman was not slumbering. +From amidst the ghostly outlines of the <em>Sea +Eagle</em> came Plumbo’s voice. +</p> +<p> +“Who’s there so late? Answer up, mate.” +</p> +<p> +“Is that you, Plumbo?” said the elder Daniels. +</p> +<p> +“Yes, this is me, as you can see.” +</p> +<p> +“How are we goin’ ter see you when it’s so +confounded dark?” growled Daniels. +</p> +<p> +“Well, what do you wish? To bathe or fish?” +inquired Plumbo, ignoring this remark. Then +he continued: +</p> +<p> +“You’d better skip. You’ll not board this +ship.” +</p> +<p> +“That’s just what we came here to do,” replied +Daniels, in an unruffled tone; “your mother +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_207'></a>207</span> +is very ill and we come down to take charge of +the air ship while you go home as quick as possible.” +</p> +<p> +Now poor Plumbo’s love for his widowed +mother was a matter of common talk in the village, +and the cunning of the elder Daniels had +suggested this scheme to him as they came along. +It worked even better than he had dared to expect. +The rhyming watchman gave a gasp of +pained astonishment. +</p> +<p> +“I must go home; though I ought not to roam,” +he said. +</p> +<p> +“Make your mind easy about that, lad,” Daniels +assured him; “we’ll watch this cloud clipper +while you’re gone. Dr. Perkins told us to stay +here while you are gone.” +</p> +<p> +“I’ll go home in a hurry; be back in a scurry,” +declared Plumbo, who was completely taken in. +His none too acute brain had been easily imposed +upon by Daniels’ rascally trick. He scrambled +up on the wharf and at once set off on a run for +his home, crying as he went: +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_208'></a>208</span> +</p> +<p> +“Watch every crack till I can get back.” +</p> +<p> +“Oh, go to the dickens while we get our pickin’s,” +growled out young Zeb Daniels, at which +specimen of wit his father laughed heartily, +though in a subdued way. +</p> +<p> +“Now, then, boys,” said Daniels, as Plumbo’s +footsteps died away, “get busy and spile this +cruise for that bunch of fine gentlemen. We’ll +show ’em what it means to try to take folks’ livings +away.” +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_209'></a>209</span><a name='chXX' id='chXX'></a>CHAPTER XX.—FRANK’S BATTLE.</h2> +<p> +It was about midnight that Frank, for no reason +that he could explain, awakened with a vague +feeling of uneasiness. Try as he would he could +not compose himself to sleep again, but lay +awake, struggling with a sort of intuitive suspicion +that all was not well with the <em>Sea Eagle</em>. +</p> +<p> +At last, so strong did his conviction become, +that, although he was ridiculing his fears all the +time, he arose and dressed himself, and then +started out for the wharf. For a moment he +thought he would rouse Harry, who slept on another +bed in the same room; but in the end he +decided not to disturb his brother’s repose. Perhaps +he had a vague fear of ridicule, but at any +rate Frank crept out of the hotel alone and made +his way silently down the dark and empty streets. +</p> +<p> +“This is certainly a fool’s errand I’m going +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_210'></a>210</span> +on,” he told himself; “I suppose that my reward +for my pains will be to hear some more of +Plumbo’s poetry, and yet—and yet, I can’t help +it. I couldn’t sleep another wink unless I was +sure that the <em>Sea Eagle</em> was all right.” +</p> +<p> +Musing thus, and minimizing his own fears, +Frank came in due time to the wharf. He made +his way down it and was about to step forward +to descend the ladder that led to the <em>Sea Eagle’s</em> +deck, when he heard something that made him +pause. He recognized the sound instantly. +</p> +<p> +It was the rasp of a file! +</p> +<p> +“My gracious! Somebody <em>is</em> tampering with +the <em>Sea Eagle</em>!” exclaimed the boy to himself. +“My fears were not as groundless as I thought +them, after all. I wonder if that rascal Duval——” +</p> +<p> +The current of his thoughts was suddenly +checked at this point by another noise near at +hand. It seemed to come from behind a big pile +of boxes on the wharf. +</p> +<p> +“Goodness! What’s that?” thought Frank, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_211'></a>211</span> +and then for the first time it flashed across him +that if more than one man was engaged in the +nefarious work that he was sure was going on, +he was at a serious disadvantage. He had no +weapons but his hands, whereas the others were +undoubtedly well armed. +</p> +<p> +“I’ll slip back uptown as quickly as I can and +arouse the authorities,” he decided, “if they are +quick we can catch the rascals red-handed. I +wonder what can have become of that fellow +Jumbo or whatever his name was? I suppose he +went to sleep or something. Well, it serves us +right for leaving such an eccentric fellow on +guard.” +</p> +<p> +Frank, who had been crouching in the shadow +of the very boxes behind which he had heard the +suspicious sounds, rose quickly to his feet. He +was just slipping off, congratulating himself that +he had been unobserved when from behind the +boxes a dark figure suddenly emerged. +</p> +<p> +“Hands up, Frank Chester,” it exclaimed; +“we’ve got you where we want you this time.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_212'></a>212</span> +</p> +<p> +“Zeb Daniels!” exclaimed Frank, dumbfounded +with astonishment. He had not supposed +the rascally young fisherman within miles +of the place. +</p> +<p> +“Yes; that’s me. Don’t move a step or you’ll +get hurt.” +</p> +<p> +But Frank’s indignation overcame his prudence. +</p> +<p> +“What are you doing here?” he demanded angrily. +</p> +<p> +“None of your business.” +</p> +<p> +“It isn’t, eh? Well I know that you are damaging +Dr. Perkins’ boat in some way and——” +</p> +<p> +Frank stepped deftly aside as Zeb, who was a +far heavier, stronger boy than the young aviator, +made a tigerish jump at him, at the same +time brandishing a thick club threateningly. +</p> +<p> +But Zeb’s sudden rush proved his undoing. +Before he could recover his balance Frank had +planted a clean, hard punch on the young ruffian’s +jaw, and Zeb reeled back dizzily. He recovered +himself almost instantly, however, and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_213'></a>213</span> +without making a sound hurled himself at Frank +once more. In a rough and tumble fight the +sturdily built fisher boy might have been a match +for Frank Chester, but Frank had already gained +some advantage and he met Zeb’s frenzied charge +coolly. +</p> +<p> +Zeb, as he got within reach, let loose a tremendous +swing which, if it had struck Frank’s +head as his burly young opponent intended, might +have laid him flat. But to his astonishment Zeb’s +fist met only empty air. Frank had ducked the +blow with consummate ease, and the next instant: +</p> +<p> +One! Two!—Crack! Smack! Two well-planted +blows landed on Zeb’s face and body. +Frank was rushing in to complete his victory +when he was suddenly seized from behind in a +powerful grip and hurled to the ground with +great violence. +</p> +<p> +Zeb’s father, on board the <em>Sea Eagle</em>, had +heard the disturbance, and had swiftly and silently +climbed the ladder leading up on to the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_214'></a>214</span> +wharf. Behind him, but at a prudent distance, +came Duval. The Frenchman had no love for +fighting, unless the odds were all in his favor, +and he was by no means certain how many men +might have attacked them. +</p> +<p> +The elder Daniels took in the situation in a +flash, and pinioned Frank’s arms, just as the +latter was about to put an end to the battle. Duval +saw instantly that there was no personal danger +to himself, and while the elder Daniels held +a grimy, leathery paw over Frank’s mouth to +prevent his shouting for aid, Duval pinioned the +lad’s lower limbs. Helpless as a baby Frank lay +there on his back, completely at the mercy of +three individuals whom he had no reason to suppose +would handle him gently. +</p> +<p> +While he still lay there a helpless captive, +young Daniels came up, and doubling up his fist +deliberately struck the helpless boy in the face. +But the elder of the Daniels angrily checked him. +</p> +<p> +“Stow that,” he muttered roughly. “What’s +the matter with you?” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_215'></a>215</span> +</p> +<p> +“I wanted to get even with him,” whined Zeb; +“he licked me and——” +</p> +<p> +“Waal, git even some other way. Bring me +that rope off them pile of boxes while I make +him fast.” +</p> +<p> +Zeb said no more, but obediently fetched the +rope, and before many minutes had passed Frank +was bound hand and foot. Moreover, a gag, +consisting of a dirty fragment torn from the +elder Daniels’ shirt, was thrust into his mouth. +</p> +<p> +“What’ll we do with him now?” demanded +Zeb, when this had been done. +</p> +<p> +“Humph, I hadn’t thought of that,” rejoined +the elder fisherman; “we can’t leave him here, +for we don’t want any one to find him when they +come down, as they are bound to do afore long +when that idiot Plumbo finds out that we’ve +fooled him. What <em>will</em> we do with the young +game cock?” +</p> +<p> +“I’d like to chuck him overboard,” quoth Zeb +amiably, staunching his bleeding nose with a +dirty coat sleeve. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_216'></a>216</span> +</p> +<p> +“Don’t waste time talking rubbish,” angrily +rejoined his parent; “see here, Duval, kain’t you +think of something?” +</p> +<p> +“Yes, I can,” was the eager reply; “it’s just +occurred to me. Ho! ho! I guess that’ll keep +him quiet for a while.” +</p> +<p> +“Well, what do you propose to do?” growled +Daniels. “Don’t stand there like an owl. Out +with it.” +</p> +<p> +“Well, my friend, you see those big barrels +over there?” +</p> +<p> +“Yes, what about them?” +</p> +<p> +“We’ll put him in one of those and give him a +sea trip.” +</p> +<p> +“By Jeehosophat, but that’s a notion! I reckon +by the time he’s picked up, or drifts ashore, he’ll +be sorry he interfered with us.” +</p> +<p> +“That’s a great scheme,” chuckled Zeb, equally +delighted. “That’s what I call getting even in +good shape.” +</p> +<p> +“Hold on a minute; how’s the tide?” murmured +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_217'></a>217</span> +Daniels. “We don’t want him to be picked up too +quick.” +</p> +<p> +“The tide’s running out, pop,” said Zeb, after +a minute; “I tell you, though, what’s the matter +with putting the barrel in that dory there and +then loading him in it? We can row out a ways +and then dump him overside.” +</p> +<p> +“That’s the best idea yet,” warmly approved +his worthy parent; “come on, boys, tumble the +barrel into that dory. Lively, now!” +</p> +<p> +The barrel, quite a big one, which had been +used for salting down fish and was quite watertight, +was lowered into the dory that Zeb’s sharp +eyes had spied with some difficulty. +</p> +<p> +Frank had watched the movements of his captors +as well as he could in the darkness; but he +was quite unable to guess what all this meant, +which, perhaps, was just as well. As the conversation +had been carried on in whispers, he had +not overheard a syllable of the rascally plan to +set him adrift out of pure malice. +</p> +<p> +Still bound and gagged, he was lowered into +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_218'></a>218</span> +the dory, unable to call out or move, despite the +now serious alarm he felt. What could the men +be going to do with him, he wondered, and was +still busy speculating on his probable fate when +Zeb and his father cast off the dory and, with +rapid strokes, began to row toward the mouth of +the harbor on which Bayhaven is situated. +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_219'></a>219</span><a name='chXXI' id='chXXI'></a>CHAPTER XXI.—A RASCALLY TRICK.</h2> +<p> +While all this had been occurring on the wharf +Plumbo Boggs had discovered the deception that +had been practiced on him, and was hastening +as fast as he could to the hotel. Even he, whose +mind could not be called quick acting, realized +that he was the victim of a trick, the object of +which was, in all probability, to injure the <em>Sea +Eagle</em>. +</p> +<p> +Arousing the night clerk, Plumbo begged to +be directed to Dr. Perkins’ room. The night +clerk knew the eccentric character, and lost no +time in escorting him to the doctor’s quarters. +Plumbo thundered on the door with noise sufficient +to arouse the other guests. +</p> +<p> +“What is it? What’s happened?” shouted Dr. +Perkins, thinking for an instant that the place +must be on fire at least. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_220'></a>220</span> +</p> +<p> +“Oh, doctor, come quick! They’ve played us +a trick!” yelled Plumbo. +</p> +<p> +“Who? Where? What do you mean?” exclaimed +Dr. Perkins, coming to the door. +</p> +<p> +“Two men and a lad; they’ve fooled me bad.” +</p> +<p> +“Do you mean that they persuaded you to +leave the <em>Sea Eagle</em> alone and unguarded?” +</p> +<p> +“They told me a story to get me from there; or +I’d have given your air ship the best of good +care,” pleaded Plumbo, seriously alarmed at the +angry look that had come over the doctor’s face. +“Don’t be angry with me, I pray; if they hurt +it I’ll ask you no pay.” +</p> +<p> +“As if that would help,” cried Dr. Perkins +angrily; “wait there till I get some clothes on.” +</p> +<p> +He retreated into the room and as he hastily +donned some garments he wondered who the +men could be who had induced the soft-witted +poet to leave his position of trust. +</p> +<p> +“For the life of me I can’t imagine who they +can be,” he was thinking, while he hurriedly +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_221'></a>221</span> +laced his shoes, when the door opened and in +walked Harry fully dressed. +</p> +<p> +“I heard the noise in the corridor, and heard +Plumbo telling you that something had happened +to the <em>Sea Eagle</em>,” he said excitedly. +</p> +<p> +“I don’t know that anything has happened +yet,” cried Dr. Perkins anxiously; “I’m hoping +not. But from what I can gather from Plumbo’s +foolish talk three men induced him, on some pretext, +to leave the ship unguarded. I must say it +looks suspicious. But I cannot think who there +is in this place where we are unknown who would +want to harm us.” +</p> +<p> +The thought of Duval flashed across Harry’s +mind. He and Frank had decided not to tell +Dr. Perkins about their encounter lest it should +worry him; but surely the time to tell about it +had come now. +</p> +<p> +“We ought to have told you,” he said, rather +falteringly, “but we did not want to cause you +undue anxiety,—we saw Duval this afternoon.” +</p> +<p> +“What!” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_222'></a>222</span> +</p> +<p> +Dr. Perkins almost shouted the question, or +rather exclamation, in a thunderstruck tone. +</p> +<p> +“Yes. We tried to catch him, but he escaped +us. Frank can tell you all about it. By the way, +where is Frank?” +</p> +<p> +“Isn’t he in your room?” +</p> +<p> +“No; when I was awakened by the noise in +the passage I saw that his bed was empty. I +supposed that he had got out of bed ahead of me +and had come in here.” +</p> +<p> +“I haven’t seen him since we retired.” +</p> +<p> +“Then where can he be?” +</p> +<p> +The inventor and the boy aviator stared at +each other for an instant. +</p> +<p> +“Good gracious, this looks serious, indeed,” +exclaimed Dr. Perkins; “not in his room, and +not in the hotel, apparently. Where can he have +gone to?” +</p> +<p> +“That’s what’s worrying me,” cried Harry, in +a rather quavering tone; “I’m sure, perfectly +sure, that that rascal Duval knows something +about him wherever he is. Maybe he heard some +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_223'></a>223</span> +word of a plot to injure the <em>Sea Eagle</em> and has +gone down to see if he can frustrate it. Duval——” +</p> +<p> +“Yes; but Duval, if it is he, is not alone in this +thing. Plumbo says there were two men and a +lad.” +</p> +<p> +“Two men and a lad,” cried Harry joyously, +“then the lad must have been Frank.” +</p> +<p> +“But who could the others have been? They +all came together and sent our watchman away.” +</p> +<p> +“It’s all a deep mystery, doctor. I think our +best plan is to make all the speed we can to the +wharf. Perhaps we can find some solution +there.” +</p> +<p> +“Yes; let us do so at once. I am all ready, +are you?” +</p> +<p> +“Yes; I hurried to get dressed as soon as I +heard the noise in the corridor.” +</p> +<p> +Plumbo was waiting, and as they hastened +down the street he explained in his odd rhyming +speech just what had happened. He could not +describe the men except to say that one had +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_224'></a>224</span> +whiskers on his chin. In a part of the country +where this is a favorite facial adornment this +information was not much of a clew. +</p> +<p> +It took the alarmed party much less time to +reach the wharf than they would have thought +was possible. In fact, almost the whole distance +was traversed at a run. But when they arrived +at the wharf and a lantern, which Dr. Perkins +had had the foresight to bring along, had been +kindled, they found nothing to inform them as +to what had taken place. The doctor had not +expected to find Plumbo’s three men there, but +he had had an idea that he would find something +damaged about the <em>Sea Eagle</em>. But as careful +an examination as it was possible to make by +lamplight failed to reveal any trace of damage. +</p> +<p> +Naturally this, instead of helping to clear the +mystery, only deepened it. What object could +the men have had who had sent Plumbo off on +his wild goose chase if it had not been to wreak +injury to the <em>Sea Eagle</em>? +</p> +<p> +“Maybe they were some inventors who wanted +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_225'></a>225</span> +to steal your ideas,” suggested Harry, recalling +some experiences of their own with unscrupulous +aviators. +</p> +<p> +But Dr. Perkins shook his head. +</p> +<p> +“Every important feature of the <em>Sea Eagle</em> +is fully covered by patents,” he said; “there isn’t +a single idea they could appropriate in the short +time they could have spent here anyhow.” +</p> +<p> +Harry had to admit that this was so, but to +tell the truth his thoughts were centered more +on Frank and on the strange circumstances surrounding +his disappearance than they were on the +<em>Sea Eagle</em>. +</p> +<p> +“I’m as certain as that daylight will come again +that Frank fits into this mix-up somewhere,” he +said, voicing his thoughts, “but the question is +where?” +</p> +<p> +“Well, he’s not here now, that’s certain,” declared +Dr. Perkins. “I propose that we should +return to the hotel now that we have discovered +that no damage has been done. He may meet +us there.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_226'></a>226</span> +</p> +<p> +“Let’s search the wharf first,” said Harry, but, +naturally, even their painstaking search failed +to reveal any trace of Frank’s fate till, all at +once, Harry, who was carrying the lantern, came +upon his brother’s cap lying where it had fallen +in the scuffle among the boxes. +</p> +<p> +The bit of headgear had been kicked close to +the string-piece of the wharf, and a fearful fear +that made Harry’s head swim shot into his mind. +Could Frank have come down to the wharf, suspecting +mischief was on foot, and have either +fallen or been thrown into the water? +</p> +<p> +“Look—look here, sir,” he exclaimed in a +shaking voice, as Dr. Perkins asked him what +was the matter. +</p> +<p> +“What is it?” asked the doctor, coming forward. +“A clew?” +</p> +<p> +“Yes; it’s—it’s Frank’s cap, doctor. Pray +heaven no harm has befallen him.” +</p> +<p> +“If it has, swift vengeance is going to overtake +somebody,” declared Dr. Perkins, clenching +his hands; “where did you find the cap?” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_227'></a>227</span> +</p> +<p> +“Close to the string-piece. You—you don’t +think he could have fallen over?” +</p> +<p> +“Nonsense,” declared Dr. Perkins with a confidence +he was far from feeling; “we’ll get him +back again safe and sound, never fear.” +</p> +<p> +But Harry’s heart sank as he fingered his +brother’s cap. +</p> +<p> +“I’m trying to think so, too, sir,” he said miserably; +“but—but——” +</p> +<p> +He paused abruptly, for he could not have +gone further without breaking down. Harry +had gone through some anxious moments in his +life, but never had his heart sunk so low as it +did that night on the Bayhaven wharf. +</p> +<p> +In the meantime, let us see how it was faring +with the boy whose disappearance had caused +such cruel fears—fears which even the vengeful +tempers of Daniels and his son would have been +satisfied with. We left Frank gagged and bound +on the bottom of the dory, while Zeb and his +father were pulling with strong, swift strokes +for the open water. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_228'></a>228</span> +</p> +<p> +The dory shot swiftly and silently seaward, +with Frank completely in the dark as to what +was to be his fate. It occurred to him, though, +that perhaps they meant to maroon him on some +island. This thought did not give him so much +anxiety as might have been expected, for he +knew that the waters about Bayhaven were fairly +populous with boats, and did not suppose that his +captors meant to keep him a prisoner any longer +time than would be necessary for them to take +their departure from that part of the coast before +the authorities could be notified. +</p> +<p> +Imagine, then, his thrill of surprise when the +boat suddenly stopped and the barrel, into which +some big stones had been thrown to keep it upright +in the water, was lowered from the dory. +This done, Frank was lifted by main force and +placed in it. +</p> +<p> +A brutal laugh broke from Zeb and his father +as they shoved the barrel containing its helpless +captive away from the side of the dory. Duval +said nothing, but his white teeth showed in a +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_229'></a>229</span> +grin in the starlight. Frank, gagged as he was, +could not utter a word or move a limb. He could +only realize, with dumb agony, the terrible nature +of his fate. +</p> +<p> +Still laughing, the brutal rascals who had conceived +the idea of setting him adrift, rowed off +at a quick rate, leaving the barrel and its helpless +occupant bobbing up and down on the swells +of the starlit sea. +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_230'></a>230</span><a name='chXXII' id='chXXII'></a>CHAPTER XXII.—REUNITED!</h2> +<p> +Frank’s heart sank as he cast a look about him +and perceived the helplessness of his position. +</p> +<p> +“If I could only get this gag off and shout for +help,” he thought, “maybe somebody would hear +me.” +</p> +<p> +But there seemed to be no means of compassing +this end, try as he would to think of some way. +All at once, as the stars were beginning to fade +and a faint flush of gray appeared in the east, +he perceived a nail sticking up on the rim of the +barrel. This gave him an idea. By bending +slightly he would be able to bring the edge of the +gag against the sharp pointed bit of metal, and +possibly tear it out. At any rate, it was worth +trying, and Frank at once proceeded to put his +plan into action. +</p> +<p> +It was a hard job to bend low enough to bring +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_231'></a>231</span> +his mouth on a level with the nail, but fortunately +the barrel was a large one, and consequently he +had not so very far to stoop. By making a desperate +effort he succeeded at last in dragging the +gag across the nail. In doing this he scratched +his chin, but he did not mind that, for the nail +caught and held the rag, tearing it out of his +mouth as he moved his head. +</p> +<p> +“Hurray!” breathed Frank, inhaling a great +lungful of fresh air. “Now I can at least make +a racket, and maybe that will bring some one.” +</p> +<p> +With all his might he began shouting for help. +In the still morning air his voice carried clearly +across the water, and to the lad’s huge delight it +was not long before he perceived, coming toward +him a small fishing boat, which, from the “chugging” +sound it made, was evidently furnished +with a gasolene engine. +</p> +<p> +But the question that now agitated the boy +was, “Would they see him or hear his voice above +the loud noise of the motor?” If they did not, +Frank realized that his plight would pass from a +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_232'></a>232</span> +serious to a desperate state, for the barrel was, +by this time, caught in a current which was rapidly +increasing the distance between himself and +the shore. +</p> +<p> +To his intense relief, however, he saw the fishing +boat suddenly change her course, and before +long she was close enough for him to read the +name “<em>Two Sisters</em>” on her broad, bluff bow. +</p> +<p> +“Waal, by the tarnal!” came a gruff voice, +“who and what are yer out here in a ba’rl?” +</p> +<p> +The speaker, a burly-looking fellow, with a +rough but kindly countenance, regarded Frank’s +face, which was all that was visible of him, with +the most intense astonishment, as well he might. +In a long experience off shore, covering all sorts +of adventures, Captain Elihu Carney of the <em>Two +Sisters</em> had never before beheld a floating barrel +with a human head projecting from it. +</p> +<p> +“It’s a kid—a boy!” shouted one of his mates +from the stern of the <em>Two Sisters</em>, where he held +the tiller. +</p> +<p> +“Crack-e-e! so it air. Hey, kid, what yer doin’ +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_233'></a>233</span> +out here? Takin’ a cruise, or is this one of them +new-fangled health cures?” +</p> +<p> +“It’s neither, I assure you,” cried Frank; “get +me out of this and I’ll tell you all about it.” +</p> +<p> +“I’ll run alongside and you can climb out.” +</p> +<p> +“No, I can’t,” returned Frank; “I’m bound +hand and foot.” +</p> +<p> +“What! Say, you be’ant one of them movin’ +picter fellers makin’ a fillum be yer?” +</p> +<p> +Captain Carney’s rugged face held a look full +of suspicion. Once not long before his boat had +been boarded by a beauteous maiden, apparently +fleeing from a band of desperadoes. The gallant +captain had fished her out of the dory in which +she was rowing from her pursuers and had +threatened the apparent rascals with all sorts of +dire things. Then to his chagrin a voice had +hailed him: +</p> +<p> +“Hey, you old mossback! You’ve spoiled a +grind!” +</p> +<p> +A “grind” being moving picture language for +a film. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_234'></a>234</span> +</p> +<p> +“I certainly am not,” returned Frank indignantly; +“no moving pictures about this, I can +tell you. This is the real thing.” +</p> +<p> +“Waal, as I don’t see no camera about I +reckon it’s all right. Put her head round, Eph, +and we’ll pick him up, but ‘once bitten twice shy,’ +you know.” +</p> +<p> +Eph, the helmsman, brought the bow of the +<em>Two Sisters</em> round and slowed up the engine. A +minute later the fishing boat’s side was scraping +the barrel, and Captain Carney’s muscular arms +lifted Frank out of his floating prison as if he +had been an infant. +</p> +<p> +“Waal, I’ll be double decked consarned!” he +roared, as he saw the ropes that confined the +boy’s limbs. “Who done this?” +</p> +<p> +“Some rascals who had good cause to wish +me harm,” said Frank. “I suppose they thought +they could get rid of me while they made their +escape.” +</p> +<p> +“What’s the world comin’ to?” cried the rugged +skipper, throwing up his hands. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_235'></a>235</span> +</p> +<p> +He reached into his belt for a tarry sailor’s +knife and cut Frank loose in a few strokes of +the keen blade. But the boy was so stiff from +loss of circulation that it was some time before +he recovered the use of his limbs. The <em>Two Sisters</em>, +it turned out, was headed for Bayhaven, to +which port she belonged, but so far had Frank +drifted in his—or rather somebody else’s barrel—that +he was able to tell his whole story before +the wharf was reached. +</p> +<p> +As they neared it the skipper ordered Eph to +blow the compressed air whistle so as to apprise +every one ashore that something unusual was +happening. Among the crowd that hastened to +the wharf in response to the frenzied tooting +Frank recognized Dr. Perkins and Harry. As +they drew close he saw how white and strained +their faces were, and realized what anxiety they +must have been through on his account. He +shouted loudly, and at the sound of his voice +both Harry and the staid inventor set up a series +of cheers that drowned the tooting of the whistle. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_236'></a>236</span> +As for Plumbo Boggs, who was also on the +wharf, he burst into rhyme at once. +</p> +<p> +“Home again! home again from the stormy +sea; now that your chum is found all right, don’t +blame me!” +</p> +<p> +So saying he capered about, snapping his fingers +and performing a dozen odd antics while +the <em>Two Sisters</em> was making fast. Without waiting +for Frank, who was still stiff and sore, to +come up on the wharf, Harry and Dr. Perkins +jumped to the deck of the <em>Two Sisters</em>, and the +former fairly threw his arms about his brother’s +neck. +</p> +<p> +“If you only knew how glad I am you have +come back,” he exclaimed. +</p> +<p> +“What ever happened to you?” demanded Dr. +Perkins. +</p> +<p> +“It’s a long story,” said Frank, “and I’m famished. +Suppose we ask Captain Carney and Eph +to breakfast with us and while we are eating I’ll +tell you all about it.” +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_237'></a>237</span><a name='chXXIII' id='chXXIII'></a>CHAPTER XXIII.—OFF ONCE MORE.</h2> +<p> +AS our readers are fully acquainted with +Frank’s adventure it would only tedious to +relate all that took place at the breakfast. It +may be said, however, that both Captain Carney +and his mate received a substantial recognition +of their services, from Dr. Perkins, in the form +of a check. At first the bluff fishermen were by +no means willing to take pay for what they had +done, but were finally prevailed upon to accept +the present, which, as Captain Carney owned, +“would come in mighty handy.” +</p> +<p> +After the conclusion of the meal all hands +adjourned to the wharf, and a thorough examination +was made once more of the <em>Sea Eagle</em>, +with the object of detecting any damage which +the Daniels and Duval might have done her, and +which might have been overlooked in the lamplight investigation +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_238'></a>238</span> +made by Dr. Perkins and +Harry. A bright spot was found on one of the +metal braces. Undeniably it had been done by +the teeth of a file, but it was only a superficial +damage, which did not affect the strength of the +<em>Sea Eagle</em> in any way. +</p> +<p> +“I guess Frank scared them away before they +had time to do any more harm,” was Dr. Perkins’ +conclusion; but later on he was to have a different +opinion. +</p> +<p> +As things were at present, however, Dr. Perkins +felt no hesitation in declaring the <em>Sea Eagle</em> +fit to resume her voyage without further delay. +The fresh provisions being on board, and there +being nothing to prevent an immediate start, the +voyagers at once made ready for a continuance +of the trip which, so far, had proved so packed +with adventure. +</p> +<p> +The gasolene tank was refilled, and the emergency +receptacles for the liquid fuel seen to. +Plumbo Boggs was paid and instructions left to +telegraph Dr. Perkins in New Orleans in case +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_239'></a>239</span> +any trace was found of the miscreants, who undoubtedly +had intended to injure the <em>Sea Eagle</em>, +and who had played such a dastardly trick on +Frank. +</p> +<p> +“You’ll fly from the sea far up to the sky; +good-by! good-by! good-by! good-by!” cried +Plumbo Boggs as the ropes that held the <em>Sea +Eagle</em> to the wharf were cast off and, amidst a +loud cheer from the crowd, the engine was +started. +</p> +<p> +It was a fine summer morning with a glassy +sea and a sky that was cloudless, except in the +east, where a great mass of castellated white +clouds were piled up. +</p> +<p> +“You’d best hug the shore,” were Captain Carney’s +parting words of advice. “To my mind +we’ll have a storm of some sort before the day’s +out.” +</p> +<p> +But in the noise and excitement of the departure +his words were unheard and the <em>Sea +Eagle</em> started off down the coast with the warning +unheeded. Dr. Perkins ran the craft over +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_240'></a>240</span> +the water till the mouth of the harbor was +reached, easily outdistancing some fast launches +that tried to keep up with them. When they got +“outside,” the <em>Sea Eagle</em> was driven ahead at +top speed, and with her rising planes set at a +sharp angle she was driven upward till a height +of some five hundred and fifty feet had been +obtained. Her course was due south. +</p> +<p> +They were flying over a small island not far +from the shore when Frank, who was looking +over the side, noticed a dory ashore on the beach. +He had hardly noticed this before three figures +came running down to the beach and pointed upward. +One of them jerked a rifle up to his shoulder, +and a minute later a puff of smoke came +from the barrel. Simultaneously a bullet sang +through the rigging of the <em>Sea Eagle</em>, boring a +small hole in one of the upper planes, but, fortunately, +not striking any vital part of the craft +or doing injury to her passengers. +</p> +<p> +“That’s those rascals now!” exclaimed Frank +indignantly. “They must have rowed down to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_241'></a>241</span> +that island and are waiting there for a chance to +get ashore quietly. Shall we go down and attack +them?” +</p> +<p> +Dr. Perkins shook his head. +</p> +<p> +“Nothing much would be gained by it,” he +said, “and it would only delay our trip.” +</p> +<p> +The <em>Sea Eagle</em> was flying fast, and the rascals +on the island, who, as Frank had rightly guessed, +were the two Daniels and Duval, had no chance +to try a second shot. At noon, after a steady +flight all the morning, the voyagers found themselves +off Martha’s Vineyard. A hasty lunch +was eaten in midair, with the <em>Sea Eagle</em> still +winging her way like a grayhound of the sky. +</p> +<p> +The shore swam by below them like a panorama, +but they only viewed it indistinctly, as the +course was kept about five miles off shore. In +the afternoon they saw, off to the right, a stretch +of mammoth hotels and amusement resorts. +</p> +<p> +“Atlantic City!” cried Frank. “I’ll bet there +are hundreds of glasses leveled at us from the +boardwalk right now.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_242'></a>242</span> +</p> +<p> +“I guess so,” rejoined Harry. “We must look +funny way out here at sea.” +</p> +<p> +It was half an hour later that Frank’s +attention was attracted to the sky by the +sudden blotting out of the sun, which had been +shining brightly. He gave a cry of alarm as he +looked upward. A vast bank of black clouds had +come rolling up, like a sable curtain, blotting out +the blue sky. The sea below was leaden and angry +in hue, and its surface was flecked with +white caps. +</p> +<p> +“We’re in for some bad weather, I’m afraid,” +declared Dr. Perkins, when Frank called his attention +to it. +</p> +<p> +Hardly had he spoken before, from the cloud +bank, a red, jagged flash of lightning blazed. It +was followed almost instantly by a sharp clap +of thunder, and some heavy rain drops began +to patter on the broad upper planes of the <em>Sea +Eagle</em>. +</p> +<p> +“I’ll make for shore,” declared Dr. Perkins; +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_243'></a>243</span> +“we must be about off Cape May now. We can +lie there in shelter till this blows itself out.” +</p> +<p> +“That will be the best idea,” said Frank. +“This is going to be a hummer. Wow! Look +at that!” +</p> +<p> +A flash of lightning, that seemed as if the +whole curtain of clouds had been split from top +to bottom, had caused his exclamation. So +brilliant was the glare that it caused them all +to blink involuntarily. +</p> +<p> +“Put on full speed, Frank!” shouted Dr. Perkins +above the deafening peal of thunder that +followed. +</p> +<p> +Frank needed no second bidding. He opened +both gasolene and spark levers to their full capacity. +Dr. Perkins had already headed the <em>Sea +Eagle</em> for the distant low-lying shore. This +caused the craft to plunge almost as much as if +she were “bucking” into a heavy sea. For the +wind was off shore, and the thunder storm, as +such storms frequently do, was coming up +against it. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_244'></a>244</span> +</p> +<p> +Suddenly, in the midst of the fight with the +wind, Frank noticed an ominous sound from the +motor. It gave a sort of spluttering, coughing +exhaust and slowed down perceptibly. +</p> +<p> +“What’s wrong now?” he exclaimed anxiously. +“Gracious, if the motor should go out of business +now!” +</p> +<p> +He did not say this aloud, but bent over the +laboring machine to try and ascertain what was +the matter with it. +</p> +<p> +“More speed!” cried Dr. Perkins from the forward +part of the air ship; “we can’t fight this +wind at this pace.” +</p> +<p> +“There’s something the matter with the motor,” +shouted Frank above the now almost continuous +rolling of the thunder. “I can’t make +out what——” +</p> +<p> +A sudden loud report, like a pistol shot, came +from the engine—a back-fire, as it is called—and +the next instant the motor stopped dead. +</p> +<p> +The <em>Sea Eagle</em> was at that moment some 750 +feet above the angry sea, with the storm raging +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_245'></a>245</span> +about her furiously. Before Dr. Perkins could +realize what had happened, the big craft began +to drop downward with sickening velocity, while +her occupants clung on to whatever was handy, +with the desperate clutch of drowning men. +</p> +<p> +Frank had just time to shout: +</p> +<p> +“The life preservers! Quick, quick! for heaven’s +sake!” +</p> +<p> +But there was no time to obey the order before +the <em>Sea Eagle</em> struck the waves, hurling +spray and wind-driven foam in a great cloud +all about her wings and substructure. +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_246'></a>246</span><a name='chXXIV' id='chXXIV'></a>CHAPTER XXIV.—A STRUGGLE FOR LIFE.</h2> +<p> +The next moments were filled with anxiety. +The sea was running high, and, although Dr. +Perkins had brought his craft upon a level keel +by skillful volplaning, before it struck the waves, +the situation was extremely serious. +</p> +<p> +The hydroplane portion of the <em>Sea Eagle</em> was +built lightly, and, although it was well strengthened +with braces, the test was a severe one. Over +the bow the crests of the waves broke constantly, +showering the occupants with spray. The <em>Sea +Eagle</em> was tossed about helplessly, a plaything +of the waves, while her adventurers strove to collect +their thoughts and decide what was to be +done. +</p> +<p> +First they adopted Frank’s suggestion and +donned the life jackets, so that if the worst came +to the worst they would have a fighting chance +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_247'></a>247</span> +for their lives. When this had been done, Frank, +who had had some experience in motor boats, +supervised the rigging of a “spray-hood” across +the bow. This kept some of the spray out, and, +although it was formed of sheets of spare canvas +intended to be used as waterproof night coverings, +it answered its purpose well enough. +</p> +<p> +“Do you think that there is a chance of our +keeping afloat?” asked Harry when this had been +done. +</p> +<p> +“Well, we appear to be making out all right +so far,” rejoined Dr. Perkins; “the wing floats +are working well, and if only we can get the engine +going again we may be able to fly ashore +yet.” +</p> +<p> +The wing floats referred to were nothing more +nor less than the light cylindrical pontoons affixed +to each lower wing tip. They acted precisely +as “outriggers” would do in steadying the <em>Sea +Eagle</em>. In fact, had it not been for this lateral +support, the craft must have turned turtle under +the terrific tossing she was receiving. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_248'></a>248</span> +</p> +<p> +“I’m going right to work on the engine,” announced +Frank. +</p> +<p> +With Harry to help him, the lad proceeded to +carry out this purpose. But it was the hardest +bit of “trouble finding” he had ever done. The +motion of the <em>Sea Eagle</em>, as she was tossed on a +wave crest and then hurled into the abyss beyond, +made it hard to hold on, let alone investigating +the complicated mechanism of a motor. +But as time wore on and they still kept afloat, +they began to have hopes that they would at least +stay on the surface till the engine could be started +once more. +</p> +<p> +One after another Frank made the different +tests employed to ascertain the various troubles +that may assail a gasolene motor. He tested the +ignition, the spark, the gasolene supply and the +bearings. Everything appeared to be all right, +and he paused in a puzzled way before he went +to work on the carburetor. That is a delicate +piece of mechanism, even to an ingenious boy +like Frank Chester; but he finally concluded that +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_249'></a>249</span> +the trouble must lie there. His first task was +to open the relief cock and drain the brass bowl +of the mixing chamber. +</p> +<p> +He turned the valve, and the mystery of the +stoppage of the engine was instantly explained. +</p> +<p> +Sand had been placed in the carburetor by persons +whom Frank had little difficulty in mentally +identifying. +</p> +<p> +“So that was what those rascals did!” he cried +aloud. “No wonder we couldn’t find anything +the trouble with the ship. They were too foxy +for that, and could hardly have found a better +way of injuring the <em>Sea Eagle</em> than to do that.” +</p> +<p> +“Is there any way of fixing the damage?” +asked Dr. Perkins, who, with Harry, had hastened +to Frank’s side as he cried out over his discovery. +</p> +<p> +“Yes. Thank goodness, we’ve got a spare carburetor +on board, for it would take a week to +clean out this. If no sand has got into the cylinders +I think I can promise to get things going +again before very long.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_250'></a>250</span> +</p> +<p> +Out of the locker in which the spare parts +were kept Frank produced another carburetor. +But unscrewing the feed pipe and taking off the +old mixing chamber and adjusting the new one +were tedious tasks, especially under the circumstances +in which Frank was compelled to work. +But at last it was done, and with a beating heart +Frank adjusted the self-starter. A few seconds +now would decide their fate. +</p> +<p> +Harry shivered in anticipation of failure as his +brother, having got the engine going by the just +mentioned appliance, turned on the gasolene and +spark. +</p> +<p> +For a breathless instant their fate hung in the +balance, and then there came the welcome sound +of the exhaust. Bit by bit Frank allowed the +speed to increase, till the engine was running at +its full capacity of revolutions. But the propellers +were not turning, as before testing the +motor he had thrown the clutch out of gear. +</p> +<p> +“I think that we can try to rise now,” he said +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_251'></a>251</span> +calmly, after the motor had run without a miss +or a skip for ten minutes or so. +</p> +<p> +“I think so, too,” said Dr. Perkins, “and I +want to tell you, Frank, that you have done what +I would not have believed possible under the conditions.” +</p> +<p> +Another anxious moment followed when the +clutch was thrown in and the full load of the propellers +came upon the engine. But not a hitch +occurred. The large-bladed driving fans of the +<em>Sea Eagle</em> beat the air rapidly and surely, and +the hydroplane-formed underbody began to glide +over the tops of the waves, instead of rolling and +pitching helplessly among them. To the westward, +too, there showed a patch of lighter sky, +heralding the passing of the storm. +</p> +<p> +But, as if unwilling to allow them to escape +without again bringing their hearts into their +mouths, the storm had one more buffeting to +give them. As full power was applied, and the +<em>Sea Eagle</em> rose above the tossing wave crests +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_252'></a>252</span> +and headed slantingly skyward, there came a sudden +puff of wind. +</p> +<p> +Skillful as Dr. Perkins was, it caught him momentarily +unprepared. In the wink of an eye the +<em>Sea Eagle</em> careened over, almost on her “beam +ends.” It seemed as if the right hand wing tips +actually touched the water. One inch more and +there might have been an abrupt conclusion to +this story, but Dr. Perkins’ hands seemed to be +everywhere at once. They flashed among levers +and wheels. +</p> +<p> +For the space of a breath the <em>Sea Eagle</em> hung +almost vertically, and then the big craft suddenly +righted and shot upward on an even keel +once more. But the moment had been an awful +one, and as they winged their way upward not +one aboard was there but felt that they had been +delivered from a dreadful fate by what might +well be described as a miracle. +</p> +<div class='figcenter' style='padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em'> +<a name='i004' id='i004'></a> +<img src="images/illus-252.jpg" alt="ONE INCH MORE AND THERE MIGHT HAVE BEEN AN ABRUPT CONCLUSION TO THIS STORY." title=""/><br /> +<span class='caption'>ONE INCH MORE AND THERE MIGHT HAVE BEEN<br/>AN ABRUPT CONCLUSION TO THIS STORY.</span> +</div> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_253'></a>253</span><a name='chXXV' id='chXXV'></a>CHAPTER XXV.—A RACE TO CLOUDLAND.</h2> +<p> +Scudding before the wind, for the half gale +that was blowing had shifted during their battle +with the waves, the aërial voyagers made fast +time beneath the storm wrack racing by overhead. +In fact, it appeared to the boys that they +actually outflew the wind. At any rate, it was +not long before the thunder of the great breakers +on a low, sandy beach told them that they were +close to the shore. +</p> +<p> +An instant later houses and streets came into +view, and Dr. Perkins began looking anxiously +about beneath for a place to land. He soon spied +a spot,—a large ball-ground, or at least it appeared +to be one, not far from the center of the +city. Calling to Frank to “stand by” the engines, +he began to descend in a series of circles. +</p> +<p> +Coming to earth in a high wind is a risky bit +of business for the air man, about as dangerous +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_254'></a>254</span> +a maneuver, in fact, as can be imagined. But in +this case there was no choice for Dr. Perkins +and his young friends, unless they wanted to be +carried clear across the cape and into Delaware +Bay. +</p> +<p> +Below them they could now see excited crowds +racing toward the ball-ground, as soon as it became +evident that that was the spot where the air +men intended to alight. This did not please Dr. +Perkins at all. A crowd was the last thing that +he wished to have about when he made his drop +earthward. But there was no help for it, and he +kept on descending, trusting to the good sense of +the throngs below to get out of the way when the +time came. +</p> +<p> +But crowds have never been remarkable for +their common sense, and this one was no exception. +The last “bank” had been made with +safety, and the <em>Sea Eagle</em> was making a clean-cut +swoop to earth, when the crowd rushed in +right below her. To have kept the craft on its +course would have meant much injury, and possible loss +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_255'></a>255</span> +of life. On the other hand, Dr. Perkins +knew that in the wind that was blowing it +would be dangerous in the extreme to the air +craft to change her course. +</p> +<p> +“Get out of the way!” he shouted. +</p> +<p> +“Out of the way unless you want to get hurt!” +yelled Frank and Harry. +</p> +<p> +But the crowd, like foolish sheep, only stared +and gaped, and made not the slightest effort to +avoid the on-driving <em>Sea Eagle</em>. +</p> +<p> +There was only one thing to do, and Dr. Perkins +did it. There was a quick twist of his steering +wheel, and the <em>Sea Eagle</em>, instantly obeying +her helm, darted off in an opposite direction to +the one in which she had been advancing. Like +a flash Dr. Perkins pulled the rising lever, at the +same time shouting to Frank to stop the engines +momentarily. He thought that the <em>Sea Eagle</em> +would rise of her own volition, and knew that if +the engines kept driving at top speed that his +craft would be plunged prow first into the earth. +</p> +<p> +So he chose the lesser of the two evils, and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_256'></a>256</span> +the maneuver might have been successful but +for one thing. There was not room in which to +execute it. +</p> +<p> +The <em>Sea Eagle</em> hesitated, half rose, and then +crashed down to the ground, landing heavily on +one wing tip and smashing it to bits. Frank and +Harry were pitched clean out of the hydroplane +substructure when the impact came, and a cry of +alarm went up from the crowd. But Dr. Perkins +clung to his seat and brought the big craft +to a stop. +</p> +<p> +Fortunately neither Frank nor Harry had been +much injured, beyond being badly shaken up and +bruised, and they were both on their feet again +in a jiffy after the accident. The crowd, as if +realizing that its actions had had a good deal +to do with the accident, forebore to press in, and +they made their way to Dr. Perkins’ side without +difficulty. +</p> +<p> +“Is she much injured?” was Frank’s first question. +</p> +<p> +“By good luck I think we have escaped serious +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_257'></a>257</span> +damage,” rejoined Dr. Perkins, “but only an examination +can tell.” +</p> +<p> +At this moment a well-dressed, prosperous-looking +man came elbowing through the crowd. +He came straight up to Dr. Perkins with hand +extended. +</p> +<p> +“Well, Perkins!” he exclaimed. “I always told +you you’d have a tumble some time, and now +you’ve had it; right in my back yard, too. But +I’m sincerely glad to see that neither you nor +your machine appears to be much injured.” +</p> +<p> +The newcomer was Mr. James Studley, an old +acquaintance of the inventor’s, who was summering +at Cape May. The doctor was very glad to +see him and accepted his cordial invitation to +spend the night at his house, the boys, of course, +being included in the invitation. +</p> +<p> +In the meantime, a squadron of police had arrived, +who drove back the crowds, and arrangements +were made to keep a guard on duty all +night till an examination of the wrecked machine +could be made. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_258'></a>258</span> +</p> +<p> +“The accident, if it had to happen, could not +have occurred more conveniently, so to speak,” +Dr. Perkins confided to his companions as they +followed Mr. Studley to a handsome house not +far away. “Mr. Studley is a manufacturer of +aëroplanes, and has started a factory here, so +that very probably we can get material to repair +our damages without much trouble.” +</p> +<p> +This was good news indeed to the boys, who +had begun to fear that the trip might be abandoned. +</p> +<p> +They enjoyed a good dinner and a change into +dry clothes as the guests of Mr. Studley and his +wife, and bright and early the next morning repairs +were made to the splintered wing tip, which +was not so badly damaged as had at first appeared. +Mr. Studley, who had provided workmen +and materials for the task from his aëroplane +factory, refused to hear of any compensation. +</p> +<p> +“Such services should be rendered freely and +gladly by one birdman to another,” he declared +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_259'></a>259</span> +laughingly. “Who knows that some day I may +not drop in on you at your island, in more senses +than one.” +</p> +<p> +As every trace of the storm had vanished, and +the morning was bright and clear, no obstacle opposed +itself to the continuance of their journey +as soon as the repairs had been completed. So +fine was the weather, in fact, that Mr. Studley +declared his intention of accompanying them in +a light “runabout” aëroplane of the monoplane +class, for a short distance. +</p> +<p> +The machine, a pretty little affair of the Bleriot +type, was soon wheeled out, and Mr. Studley +declared all was ready for the start. As on the +evening before, a large crowd had gathered, but +the police kept them back, and gave the two vastly +different aëroplanes a clear field in which to rise. +A greater contrast could not well be imagined +than that presented by the heavy, rather cumbersome-looking +<em>Sea Eagle</em> with her substantial underbody +and huge wing spread, and the trim, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_260'></a>260</span> +dainty little monoplane, which was named the +<em>Green Firefly</em>. +</p> +<p> +“We’re all ready when you are,” exclaimed Dr. +Perkins, turning to his friend, who was already +seated in his long-bodied, gauzy-winged air craft. +</p> +<p> +“All right! Clear the way!” cried Mr. Studley +with a wave of his hands. +</p> +<p> +His mechanics gave the propeller of the monoplane +a twirl, as it was not provided with self-starting +mechanism, and a moment later the roaring +fusillade of the <em>Sea Eagle’s</em> motor was +drowning the sharp, angry, hornet-like buzzing +of the <em>Green Firefly</em>. +</p> +<p> +“Go!” yelled Mr. Studley, and simultaneously, +as it seemed, the two sky ships dashed forward +over the smooth sward. +</p> +<p> +“Hooray!” shouted the crowd. +</p> +<p> +“They’re off!” shouted others. +</p> +<p> +And then, a minute later: +</p> +<p> +“Look! They’re going up!” +</p> +<p> +“So they are!” cried the spectators, as if there +was any room for doubt about the matter. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_261'></a>261</span> +</p> +<p> +The light <em>Firefly</em> was first, by the fraction of +a second, to point her sharp nose up toward the +tranquil blue dome of the sky. But the <em>Sea Eagle</em> +was not tardy in following. +</p> +<p> +“Come on!” shouted Mr. Studley, casting a +swift glance back over his shoulder at his large +comrade of the air. He appeared to think that +he would have little difficulty in distancing the +huge machine. +</p> +<p> +“We haven’t begun yet!” cried Dr. Perkins +back to him, with an answering wave of the +hand. +</p> +<p> +Nor was the <em>Sea Eagle</em> as yet making a quarter +of the speed she was capable of. On account +of her great weight, and general size of her wing +spread, it was not advisable to “open everything +up” at once when she made an ascent from the +land. +</p> +<p> +The <em>Firefly</em> darted ahead like some creature +that rejoiced to be sporting in its element. But +close behind came a roar and whirr as Frank let +out another notch on the <em>Sea Eagle</em>. Up and up +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_262'></a>262</span> +they flew, while the crowd below dwindled to +pigmies, and the houses looked like so many toy +Noah’s Arks. It was plain enough that Mr. +Studley was engaged in a good-natured effort to +show his friend that the <em>Firefly</em> was an infinitely +faster craft than her cumbersome rival. He +darted this way and that, making spirals and +doing rocking-chair evolutions with the perfection +of aërial grace. +</p> +<p> +Dr. Perkins attempted none of these stunts, +but from time to time he turned back to Frank +and nodded as a signal to give the craft a little +more power. +</p> +<p> +By the time the twin propellers were developing +their top push and speed, the owner of the +<em>Firefly</em> realized that he had a tussle on his hands. +He ceased his graceful evolutions and settled +down to real flying. But he had not gone a mile +over the aërial race track before the <em>Sea Eagle</em> +thundered past him like a “Limited” of the skies. +</p> +<p> +“Good-by and thank you!” Dr. Perkins found +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_263'></a>263</span> +time to yell, as they flashed past, bound due +south once more. +</p> +<p> +“Good-by. Good luck to you!” came from Mr. +Studley, as he waved his hand in the realization +that he was beaten. +</p> +<p> +There was no time to exchange more words. +In a few minutes the boys, looking back, could +only see a black speck like a shoe button against +the sky to mark where the defeated <em>Firefly</em> was +turning about and heading for home. +</p> +<p> +As for the <em>Sea Eagle</em>, at sixty miles an hour, +and with her motor going faster every minute, +that staunch and speedy craft was winging her +way at top speed for her distant goal. +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_264'></a>264</span><a name='chXXVI' id='chXXVI'></a>CHAPTER XXVI.—THE BOY AVIATORS’ PLUCK.</h2> +<p> +But it was almost a week later that the 1,400 +odd miles down the coast to Fernandina, Florida, +and from thence overland to the Crescent City, +were completed. Storms and minor accidents +spun out the voyage to this length, although Dr. +Perkins had calculated on making a faster run. +In fact, his aim had been to make about 500 miles +a day, with night flights to help out, if possible. +</p> +<p> +Many interesting incidents, which it would require +another volume to chronicle in detail, +marked the trip. Off Savannah the <em>Sea Eagle</em> +towed a disabled motor boat, containing a pleasure +party, into port, and a short time later flew +above the Atlantic squadron of the United States +fleet bound south for target practice. Aërial +greetings were exchanged by wireless between +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_265'></a>265</span> +the <em>Sea Eagle</em> and Uncle Sam’s bulldogs of the +ocean. +</p> +<p> +The next day the <em>Sea Eagle</em> was once more +enabled to render aërial ambulance service by +taking an injured keeper from a lighthouse off +Fernandina into port, and arranging for a substitute +to be sent out at once. At every city they +stopped they received a great reception, for by +this time the flight of the <em>Sea Eagle</em> had received +the attention of the country through the medium +of the newspapers. +</p> +<p> +Possibly one incident may be worth chronicling +in more detail. This occurred when, a +short time after rising for a night flight from +Eufala, Alabama, to the Mississippi State line, +Frank descried, through some trees, what he +thought was the rising moon. +</p> +<p> +“That’s the funniest-looking moon I ever saw,” +declared Harry, who happened to be doing duty +as engineer. +</p> +<p> +“Why, what’s the matter with it?” demanded +Frank. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_266'></a>266</span> +</p> +<p> +“Why, it’s red.” +</p> +<p> +“Probably caused by the mist from some +marshlands,” decided Dr. Perkins, who was resting, +while Frank guided the <em>Sea Eagle</em>, at which +he had become quite expert. But the next moment +he changed his opinion. +</p> +<p> +“It isn’t the moon at all. It’s the glare from a +fire, and a big one, too. Let’s hurry up, boys.” +</p> +<p> +Neither Frank nor Harry needed any urging, +and the <em>Sea Eagle</em> was soon traversing the air so +fast that the wind sang in their ears. As they +raced along the glare grew brighter and angrier, +glowing with a lambent red core from which +flames could be seen leaping skyward like a nest +of fiery serpents. +</p> +<p> +A few minutes brought them into full view of +the conflagration. It proved to be a fine old +farm-house. The front of the place was a mass +of flame, and the blaze appeared to be bursting +through the roof. Men could be seen running +about the grounds like a nest of disturbed ants, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_267'></a>267</span> +and others were hastening on foot, in autos and +in buggies, from every direction. +</p> +<p> +Nobody paid any attention to the oncoming +aëroplane in the excitement, and when it dropped +to earth on the lawn in front of the blazing +building, there was the liveliest sort of confusion. +Some of the farmers did not know what to make +of the visitor from the skies, but their more enlightened +neighbors soon informed them, and recalled +the newspaper accounts they had read of +the <em>Sea Eagle’s</em> great flight. +</p> +<p> +“Anybody in the building?” shouted Frank, +jumping from the <em>Sea Eagle</em> as the craft came +to a standstill. +</p> +<p> +Nobody answered for a moment, but suddenly, +from the back of the building, came a piercing +scream. +</p> +<p> +“Help! Help!” +</p> +<p> +“Goodness, that’s a woman calling!” exclaimed +Frank. “Come on, Harry.” +</p> +<p> +Both boys dashed round to the rear of the +blazing mansion, and there, at a third-story window, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_268'></a>268</span> +they saw a woman with a baby in her arms, +leaning out and frantically calling for help. +</p> +<p> +“Get a ladder!” shouted Frank. +</p> +<p> +“No time to hunt for it,” cried Harry. “We’ll +have to try another way.” +</p> +<p> +“What do you mean?” +</p> +<p> +“See the flat roof of that coach house over +there? If we had a board we could make a +bridge from it to the window.” +</p> +<p> +“But how are we to get to the roof of the +coach house?” +</p> +<p> +“Fly there.” +</p> +<p> +“What! in the <em>Sea Eagle</em>?” +</p> +<p> +“Why not? The roof is flat and big enough +to give us room to land if we are careful.” +</p> +<p> +“Cracky! I think you’re right. Has anybody +got a board?” +</p> +<p> +“Here you are,” exclaimed a man who had +darted off to a lumber pile when he overheard +Harry’s plan. +</p> +<p> +“Good! I think this will be long enough. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_269'></a>269</span> +Come on, Harry, let’s lose no time. See, the +flames are almost at that part of the house.” +</p> +<p> +At top speed the two boys ran back to the <em>Sea +Eagle</em>, calling to Dr. Perkins to join them. Hastily +they explained what they meant to do. Dr. +Perkins was inclined to doubt if the plan was +feasible, but as it appeared to be the only way +to save the woman and the child, he agreed to +attempt it, grave though the risk of disaster to +the <em>Sea Eagle</em> appeared to be. +</p> +<p> +While the excited men gathered about, and the +woman’s cries still filled the air, the <em>Sea Eagle</em> +was started up, and after circling about, dropped +to the coach house roof. The big craft landed +without mishap, but Frank reversed the engines +barely in time to prevent her from rolling off. +However, with the front wheels of the substructure +on the very brink of the cornice, the <em>Sea +Eagle</em> came obediently to a standstill. +</p> +<p> +They had brought the board with them, and it +was shoved across to the woman, who saw at +once what they intended to do. She secured it +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_270'></a>270</span> +to the ledge of the window at which she had +been standing, and Frank worked his way across +the plank bridge and took the child in his arms. +He recrossed in safety with it, and then came +the woman’s turn to trust herself to the frail +bridge. But she hesitated till smoke was pouring +into the room, and then, fairly driven to try +the slender support, she began to cross it. +</p> +<p> +From the coach house roof the boys called encouragingly +to her, for the plank was far too +weak to bear the weight of two persons. Even +under Frank and the baby it had sagged ominously. +Something in the woman’s face as she +neared the end of her journey caused Frank to +reach out toward her. It was well that he had +the foresight to do so, for as she reached the end +of her journey she suddenly fainted. +</p> +<p> +Another instant and she would have fallen +forty feet to the ground, but Frank caught her +dress in a strong grip. Luckily, it was of stout +material and did not rip as he seized it. Dr. +Perkins and Harry came to his aid the next minute, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_271'></a>271</span> +and with their united strength they managed +to draw the woman’s limp form to safety. +</p> +<p> +Hardly had they done so before the flames began +breaking out fiercely from the back of the +house, and, driven by the strong wind, they were +uncomfortably close to the coach house roof. No +time was lost in placing the woman and her infant +in the <em>Sea Eagle</em>, after which the air craft +was started. Dr. Perkins rose to a suitable +height from which to make a safe descent, and +then swept down to the ground, carrying the first +woman and child in the history of the world to +be saved from a blazing building by aëroplane. +</p> +<p> +The woman soon recovered after some friends +of the neighborhood had taken her and her child +to a nearby dwelling. +</p> +<p> +The owner of the building, and the husband +of the woman who had been so bravely rescued, +now came bustling up, his face beaming with +gratitude. At the moment he was not thinking +of the fire but of the brave strangers from the +sky who had saved his wife and child. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_272'></a>272</span> +</p> +<p> +“I don’t know who you are, or where you +came from,” he exclaimed, “but you literally +dropped from the skies when all hope appeared +lost. I was in town buying stock, and on my way +out I saw the flames coming from my home. +Knowing my wife and child had retired I dreaded +to think what would have happened if they had +not been aroused. I arrived here in time to find +my worst fears realized. How can I ever thank +you for what you have done?” +</p> +<p> +“Oh, we only tried to do what we could,” said +Frank modestly; “we saw the fire and came down +to see if we couldn’t help.” +</p> +<p> +“I owe the lives of my wife and child to your +quickness and courage, and that wonderful airship +of yours,” vehemently declared the man, +whose name was Winfield Thomas, a wealthy +farmer. “It was a real blessing you happened +along as you did.” +</p> +<p> +Dr. Perkins and the boys could only repeat +how glad they were to have done what they could. +Without waiting much longer, except to congratulate +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_273'></a>273</span> +Mrs. Thomas on her quick recovery, and +to express the hope that she would feel no bad +effects from her experience, the voyage was +shortly resumed. But the adventure at the burning +farm house long remained in the boys’ memory, +and strengthened their attachment to the +<em>Sea Eagle</em>. +</p> +<p> +Nearing New Orleans they caught a wireless +message from Billy Barnes telling them that he +had secured quarters for the <em>Sea Eagle</em> in Algiers, +a suburb across the river from the city. +That night one stage of the trip was concluded +when, in answer to a signal given with a blue +lamp, they dropped into a field on the outskirts +of Algiers and housed the <em>Sea Eagle</em> in a large +barn. +</p> +<p> +“Thunder and turtles!” cried Pudge when that +night in the St. Charles Hotel they were relating +their adventures. “You fellows have all the fun +and we do all the work.” +</p> +<p> +“Never mind, Pudge,” said Frank; “I guess +we’ll have adventures in plenty ahead of us when +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_274'></a>274</span> +we try to locate the wreck of the <em>Belle of New +Orleans</em>.” +</p> +<p> +“Which will be as soon as possible,” said Dr. +Perkins. “Our trip has taken us longer than I +anticipated, and there is a strong chance that +Duval may have got ahead of us.” +</p> +<p> +“There’s another reason for hurrying,” declared +Billy, who had just wired to his paper a +long account of the <em>Sea Eagle’s</em> trip; “they say +that the river is rising. There have been unprecedented +rainstorms and the levees are weakening. +Negroes are at work on them all along +the line, but they doubt if they can make them +hold if the river keeps rising.” +</p> +<h2><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_275'></a>275</span><a name='chXXVII' id='chXXVII'></a>CHAPTER XXVII.—CAPTURED BY AËROPLANE.</h2> +<p> +During the short time that they had been in +the city Ben Stubbs and his two young companions +had done wonders in the way of collecting +equipment for the purpose of rifling the treasure +which it was expected lay in the submerged hulk +of the <em>Belle of New Orleans</em>. A diving suit with +pumping apparatus of the latest type, blocks and +tackles and hand spikes were among the things +laid in stock. Ben had also invested in a new +device, a submarine searchlight. The choice of +this last was warmly approved by Dr. Perkins. +</p> +<p> +“I was wondering how it would be possible +to find one’s way about the sunken ship without +some such article,” he said approvingly, and old +Ben’s rugged face glowed with satisfaction. +</p> +<p> +“Trust an old timer, sir, for remembering +those things,” he said. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_276'></a>276</span> +</p> +<p> +“Indeed, nobody could have selected a more +complete outfit,” rejoined Dr. Perkins. +</p> +<p> +The inventory of the goods was taken the next +morning, and hiring a boat the stuff was transported +to Algiers, where the <em>Sea Eagle</em> had been +looked after over night by a couple of darkies. +</p> +<p> +As they crossed the river in a hired boat they +noticed how swiftly the current ran and how discolored +it was. The negro who rowed them commented +on it, too. +</p> +<p> +“Dey be po’ful big flood befo’ long, genelmen,” +he opined, “an’ when ole man Mississip’ git up +on his hind lags ain’t nuffin’ kin stop him. Dem +lebees dey go jes lak so much straw er hay.” +</p> +<p> +“All the more reason for our making haste,” +said Dr. Perkins, addressing the others; “it would +be hard fortune indeed if Ben were to be robbed +of his fortune by a flood.” +</p> +<p> +The shed which had sheltered the <em>Sea Eagle</em> +overnight was close to the water’s edge so that +the goods were soon transported on board. All +was found to be in good shape, and the two darkies, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_277'></a>277</span> +who had watched the air craft overnight, received +an extra gratuity for their pains. The +adventurers had been particular not to give out +any details of their flight, and it was expected +that they would stay in New Orleans for some +days before proceeding, so that no curious crowd, +only a few negroes and stragglers, were on hand +to see them start. +</p> +<p> +Dr. Perkins had an excellent chart of the river, +showing distinctly the location of Black Bayou, +which lay back from the river amidst a maze of +other wriggly creeks and water courses. The +<em>Belle of New Orleans</em> had been on her way to a +“far back” plantation to pick up cotton, when she +blew up, which accounted for the wreck being +submerged in such an out of the way place. +</p> +<p> +As they flew along the river, but far above it, +they could see human beings, busy as ants, working +along the levees, strengthening them against +the dreaded floods which already had devastated +whole sections of country in Ohio and farther up +the mighty stream. At length the course of the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_278'></a>278</span> +<em>Sea Eagle</em> was changed till she was flying over a +perfect maze of water courses and bayous, winding +in and out of a dense forest. From above, it +looked like a lace work of water overlying a piece +of dark green plush. +</p> +<p> +But the map showed a landmark for Black +Bayou. Harry’s plan was marked “Ruined plantation +house and sugar mill.” Frank was the +first to spy out this important “bearing.” The +<em>Sea Eagle</em> was at that time not very far up, and +the gaunt walls and desolate overgrown buildings +of the once prosperous place could be seen clearly. +“Giant cypress with three forks,” was the next +marking, and, sure enough, on a little patch of +an island, not far from the ruined plantation, +they presently saw a gaunt dead tree answering +this description. +</p> +<p> +“Bayous and bullfrogs! We’re getting hot +now!” cried Pudge excitedly. “Ben, I believe +that that rascal was telling the truth after all.” +</p> +<p> +“I’m inclined to think so, too, Master Pudge,” +rejoined Ben; “and look—look there—that must +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_279'></a>279</span> +be the Catfish Island marked on the plan. See, +it’s just the shape of one of them critters.” +</p> +<p> +“So it is, Ben,” cried Frank, peering down. +“Goodness, this <em>is</em> exciting, though. Just think, +in a short time we shall know if our flight for a +fortune is——” +</p> +<p> +“A fizzle or not,” interrupted the slangy +Pudge. +</p> +<p> +“Right off Catfish Island two points to the +north,” read out Harry. +</p> +<p> +Dr. Perkins glanced at the compass and +slightly altered the direction of the <em>Sea Eagle;</em> +then he allowed the great craft to drop gently to +rest on the waters of Black Bayou. +</p> +<p> +Harry referred to the plan again. +</p> +<p> +“North a hundred yards to the Lone Pine +Island.” +</p> +<p> +“There it is,” cried Frank, indicating a small +spot of land on which a dead pine reared its bare +trunk. +</p> +<p> +Hardly had he spoken when a canoe shot round +a bend in a small bayou just ahead of them, and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_280'></a>280</span> +a wild-looking man, who had been paddling it, +checked his frail craft. His unkempt whiskers +covered him almost to his waist, and his clothes +were ragged to a degree. But none of them +thought of this as the swamp dweller so unexpectedly +came into view. +</p> +<p> +“Is this the Black Bayou?” they cried almost +in chorus. +</p> +<p> +The other nodded and stared wildly and half +in alarm at the strange-looking craft that confronted +him. +</p> +<p> +“<em>Oui!</em> Thees Black Bayou,” he rejoined in +soft, broken accents; “what you want, eh?” +</p> +<p> +“Did you ever hear tell of the <em>Belle of New +Orleans?</em>” asked Ben, in a voice that shook with +suppressed excitement. +</p> +<p> +To his astonishment the Acadian—for the +weird figure in the boat was one of those strange +dwellers of the cypress swamps—burst into a +loud laugh. +</p> +<p> +“Oh ho! Oh ho!” he cackled; “what you want +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_281'></a>281</span> +wid zee <em>Belle of New Orleans</em>, eh? What you +want weez her?” +</p> +<p> +Ben hesitated, and before he could reply the +other burst into another weird cackling laugh, +and held up a small object. +</p> +<p> +“You want zee pearl, zee gold, hey? Zey all +gone! See, I have one. Zee men who come here +two day ago give it me for help zem. Adieu!” +</p> +<p> +Before anybody on the <em>Sea Eagle</em> could utter +a word the fellow gave a deft stroke of his paddle +and his canoe shot off into the trackless paths of +the swamps. +</p> +<p> +“Well, what under the sun!” burst out Frank, +while Pudge weakly ejaculated: +</p> +<p> +“Centipedes and spongecakes!” +</p> +<p> +“It’s all clear enough,” exclaimed Ben bitterly. +“Those ruffians got ahead of us. That ’Cadian +took them to the scene of the wreck and they’ve +rifled it.” +</p> +<p> +“That was undoubtedly a black pearl he held +up,” said Dr. Perkins in a faint voice. “I suppose +they gave him that for guiding them here.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_282'></a>282</span> +</p> +<p> +The sudden shriek of a high-crested kingfisher +made them look up suddenly. The bird +was darting from tree to tree on an island at a +little distance. Suddenly something that lay at +the foot of a tree caught Ben’s sharp eyes. +</p> +<p> +“What’s that? That glittering thing yonder?” +he exclaimed, pointing. +</p> +<p> +“Easy enough to see,” said Dr. Perkins, starting +up the <em>Sea Eagle</em> for the little island. +</p> +<p> +“It’s a diving helmet!” cried Frank as they +drew closer to the object, “just look, the rascals +must have left it there after they got the treasure +out of the sunken wreck. I guess they +thought that as they were so rich they need not +bother with it.” +</p> +<p> +They landed on the island as disconsolate and +downcast a band of treasure hunters as ever set +foot on the site of a treasure trove. Abundant +evidences of a camp were all about them. The +ashes of a fire, and scraps of food and paper. +One of these caught Frank’s attention. It was +a fragment of newspaper, and what had challenged +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_283'></a>283</span> +Frank’s notice was that a band of red ink +had been drawn around some printing on it. +Frank read the marked portion with a somewhat +vague curiosity. For the moment he did not +realize what an important clew he had stumbled +upon. Then it rushed upon him with full force. +</p> +<p> +Ben and the others were on the shore of the +island pointing down into the muddy waters of +the bayou. +</p> +<p> +The earth was trampled in the vicinity, and +showed plainly that the miscreants who had +stolen the treasure had carried on their operations +from that point of the bank. +</p> +<p> +“Down thar somewhar’ lies the wreck of the +<em>Belle of New Orleans</em>,” said Ben, shaking his +head dolefully, and pointing into the black current; +“but it ain’t going to do us no good, mates. +It ain’t going to do us no good; them sea skunks +has got ahead of us for fair.” +</p> +<p> +It was at this point that Frank’s shout interrupted +them. +</p> +<p> +“What is it?” cried Dr. Perkins. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_284'></a>284</span> +</p> +<p> +“This paper. Come here. I think it’s a clew +to where they have gone.” +</p> +<p> +They crowded about him while Frank read out +from the marked paper. +</p> +<p> +“‘The new South American Commerce Company’s +steamer <em>Buenos Aires</em> sails to-morrow for +the latter port. She is a fast, capable craft and +will make a direct run to the Argentine. The +inauguration of this service is a distinct addition +to the commercial importance of New Orleans +and establishes new trade relations with South +America.’” +</p> +<p> +“Very pretty,” said Ben; “but what does it +prove?” +</p> +<p> +“Yes, I don’t see much of a clew in that,” put +in Harry. +</p> +<p> +But Frank raised his hand to command silence. +</p> +<p> +“Listen a minute,” he said. “Of course, I may +be altogether wrong, but it seems to me that the +reason this paragraph is marked is because those +fellows meant to sail on this very boat.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_285'></a>285</span> +</p> +<p> +Ben brought his hand down on his knee with a +resounding whack. +</p> +<p> +“By hookey, lad!” he roared; “that’s reason. +That’s solid sense and reason.” +</p> +<p> +“What is the date of that paper?” asked Dr. +Perkins. +</p> +<p> +“Luckily the paragraph was torn off from the +top of the page,” said Frank, “and the date of +the issue is legible. It is dated yesterday.” +</p> +<p> +“Then the <em>Buenos Aires</em> sailed this morning?” +</p> +<p> +“Yes; that’s the way it looks.” +</p> +<p> +“And while we are wasting time here she is +heading down the river for the open sea,” +groaned Harry. +</p> +<p> +“Can’t we wireless to New Orleans and find +out?” asked Pudge. +</p> +<p> +“That’s a mighty good idea, Pudge,” said his +father, “but the set we have on the <em>Sea Eagle</em> +wouldn’t carry as far as that.” +</p> +<p> +“Then let’s get on board again and fly back as +quickly as possible. We are only wasting time +here,” said Frank. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_286'></a>286</span> +</p> +<p> +His suggestion was quickly acted upon, and +the voyagers reëmbarked. They were a very +different party from the pleasantly excited expedition +that had set out that morning so full of +hope and enterprise. Frank alone kept up his +spirits. He sat constantly at the wireless as they +winged their way back to New Orleans, incessantly +trying to get into communication. +</p> +<p> +At last he caught the operator of the Harbor +Master’s office. Instantly he flashed his +query: +</p> +<p> +“Did <em>Buenos Aires</em> sail this a. m.?” +</p> +<p> +“Yes. Ship sailed early to-day.” +</p> +<p> +“Where will she be now?” +</p> +<p> +“About off Fort Jackson, near the mouth of +the river,” came the reply. “She has wireless, +but it is out of order, so that I can’t tell you exactly +where she is right now.” +</p> +<p> +“Thanks!” flashed Frank and disconnected. +</p> +<p> +He quickly communicated his tidings, and immediately +a hasty, excited consultation followed. +The result of it was that Dr. Perkins decided to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_287'></a>287</span> +ground the <em>Sea Eagle</em> in Algiers. This done, Ben +would swear out a warrant before the most available +justice, and then, if they could find a deputy +nervy enough to make the trip, he was to be taken +on board the <em>Sea Eagle</em> and the <em>Buenos Aires</em> +overtaken before she got beyond the jurisdiction +of the State. +</p> +<p> +But after landing in Algiers these plans were +changed. It was decided instead to swear out a +federal warrant, as there was grave danger of +the ship getting out of the State’s power before +they could overtake her. On the extraordinary +circumstances being related to him, the U. S. +Commissioner at New Orleans readily granted +the warrant for the arrest of all three of the +rascals. It now remained only to find a Deputy +U. S. Marshal courageous enough to make the +trip through the air. +</p> +<p> +The only one available seemed a bit doubtful. +</p> +<p> +“A trip in an aëroplane!” he said. “I’ve never +taken such a journey and I’m scared of the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_288'></a>288</span> +blessed things. You see, I’ve got a wife and +family, and——” +</p> +<p> +“Don’t be afraid. There’s really no danger, +and we’ll be over water most of the way,” urged +Dr. Perkins. +</p> +<p> +The deputy seemed to come to a sudden conclusion. +His eyes snapped and his lips tightened. +</p> +<p> +“All right, I’ll go with you!” he suddenly cried. +“Wait till I ’phone the missus and I’m your man. +Those rascals played you a mean trick, and I’d +like to see you win out.” +</p> +<p> +The hearts of the adventurers gave a bound +of hope. There was a chance of seeing justice +come into its own, after all. +</p> +<hr class='tb' /> +<p> +The <em>Buenos Aires</em>, a fine ship of five thousand +or more tons, dropped rapidly down the river. +She had few cabin passengers, and of these only +three were on deck. The remainder were in their +cabins putting their belongings to rights. +</p> +<p> +These three men were the elder Daniels, his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_289'></a>289</span> +loutish son and Duval. But they all wore smart +new clothes, and Duval had shaved off his mustache. +As for the two Daniels, it is an example +of what clothes can do to say that they looked +more like prosperous, rather countryfied commission +dealers than rugged fishermen from Maine. +</p> +<p> +“Let’s have a look at them pearls again,” Daniels +was saying, after he had given a cautious +glance about him to make sure they were not +observed. +</p> +<p> +Duval reached into his pocket and drew out a +canvas bag. From it he poured out a number of +black, lustrous objects, catching them in a cupped +hand. +</p> +<p> +“Twenty of the beauties,” he exclaimed; +“twenty black pearls—the rarest gems that come +out of the ocean.” +</p> +<p> +“What are they worth again?” asked the elder +Daniels, licking his lips anticipatively. +</p> +<p> +“Thirty thousand dollars at the least.” +</p> +<p> +“Jiminy! Hold me, some one!” sputtered Zeb. +</p> +<p> +“And that, counting the gold dust in the cabin, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_290'></a>290</span> +makes a fortune of close upon seventy-five thousand +dollars we got out of that old hulk, don’t +it?” +</p> +<p> +“That’s right,” answered Duval; “you fellows +did a good day’s work for yourselves when you +knocked me on the head in that hut.” +</p> +<p> +“Waal, I should say so. Let’s go below and +look at that gold again. I kin hardly keep my +fingers frum touching it. We’re rich, boys, we’re +rich!” +</p> +<p> +The three worthies disappeared below after +Duval had carefully replaced the black pearls in +their bag. It was some hours later when they +came up again and the ship was passing the Port +Ead’s light. +</p> +<p> +“We’re safe now,” exclaimed Duval in a low +tone; “even if they do discover the trick we’ve +put up on em, they could never catch us now. In +another two hours we’ll be out on the gulf and by +to-morrow we’ll be out of reach of any one in +Yankeeland.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_291'></a>291</span> +</p> +<p> +“Hulloo, what’s up astern?” asked Zeb suddenly. +“What are they all pointing at?” +</p> +<p> +“Pointing at? What do you mean?” demanded +Duval, suspicious as are most guilty consciences +of anything unusual. +</p> +<p> +“Something in the sky. Hark! They are +shouting!” +</p> +<p> +“<em>Something in the sky!</em>” +</p> +<p> +Duval’s face went white. His knees shook. +By a flash of guilty intuition he had guessed what +that something was, even if the next minute a +shout had not split the air. +</p> +<p> +“An aëroplane! It’s an aëroplane!” +</p> +<p> +Duval’s knees quivered under him. He trembled +like a man with the palsy. Old Daniels came +up to him hastily. +</p> +<p> +“Duval, they’ve sighted one of them airyoplanes—you +don’t think——” +</p> +<p> +“No, I don’t <em>think</em>. I know,” choked out Duval, +“they are after us. Hark!” +</p> +<p> +From the distance came the sound of shots +high up in the air. In reply to the signal—for +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_292'></a>292</span> +such it was—the <em>Buenos Aires’</em> whistle emitted +three long, mournful toots. Her engines began +to slow down. As Duval felt the steamer’s speed +check he dashed below to his cabin. As for Daniels, +he stood rooted to the spot, his lips moving, +but no speech coming from them. Zeb was nowhere +to be seen. +</p> +<p> +Up on the <em>Buenos Aires’</em> lofty flying bridge +her officers, in the meantime, had been almost +equally excited. They had seen the aëroplane +some time before; but as nowadays such craft +are a fairly common sight, they had not paid +overmuch attention to it. It was not till the +unusual size of the craft was revealed that they +scrutinized it closely. +</p> +<p> +Then, as the big winged man-bird swung above +the steamer’s masts, had come the quick six pistol +shots. An imperative signal, rightly interpreted +“Stop!” +</p> +<p> +The whistle had replied and the vessel’s way +been checked as the jangling signals sounded in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_293'></a>293</span> +the engine-room, and “Slow down” flashed up +on the telegraph. +</p> +<p> +“What do you want?” hailed the captain +through a megaphone, as the <em>Sea Eagle</em>—for of +course our readers have guessed the identity of +the craft of the air—swung above him. +</p> +<p> +“We want to board you with a United States +warrant!” came the startling reply from midair. +</p> +<p> +“A warrant! For some of my passengers?” +</p> +<p> +“Yes; for three men whom we have reason to +believe booked passage as Daniel Maine and son +and another one who calls himself Francis Le +Blanc.” +</p> +<p> +“I have three such men on board and recognize +the authority of the United States. How will +you board me?” +</p> +<p> +“We’ll come alongside.” +</p> +<p> +The captain looked as if he didn’t understand +how this was going to be done, but gave orders +to stop the ship, drop anchor and lower the gangway. +This was done, and the <em>Sea Eagle</em> dropped +to the water alongside with perfect precision. In +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_294'></a>294</span> +the meantime, the wildest excitement reigned on +board. Rumors flew thick and fast as to the errand +of the men from the air. +</p> +<p> +Lest it should be wondered how Dr. Perkins +and his companions knew the names under which +the three rascals had sailed, we had better clear +this matter up. Before embarking in the <em>Sea +Eagle</em> in pursuit of the <em>Buenos Aires</em>, a passenger +list had been obtained from the offices of the +steamship company. It will be recalled that +Francis Le Blanc was the alias, or false name, +which Duval had used when in the employ of +Mr. Sterrett on the yacht <em>Wanderer</em>. This gave +them a clew, and when they came across the +names Daniel Maine and son, booked for an adjoining +cabin, there remained small doubt that +those names concealed the two Daniels. +</p> +<p> +The <em>Sea Eagle</em> was soon made fast, and Marshal +Howell, followed by Dr. Perkins and the two +Boy Aviators, sprang up the gangway. The +others they had been compelled to leave behind, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_295'></a>295</span> +as, with the three prisoners to carry back, the +<em>Sea Eagle</em> would have been overcrowded. +</p> +<p> +As they reached the top of the gangway Captain +Stow and his officers advanced to meet them. +</p> +<p> +“To what am I indebted for the honor of this +visit?” asked the seaman. +</p> +<p> +The marshal showed his authority and his warrant. +</p> +<p> +“We don’t wish to detain you longer than necessary, +captain,” he said, “so will you have us +shown to their cabins?” +</p> +<p> +The captain himself led the way below, and +conducted them down a corridor to the stern of +the ship. As they reached the end of the passage +a door was thrust suddenly open and a bullet +whizzed past Frank’s head. At the same instant +Zeb’s figure appeared in the doorway. +</p> +<p> +But before he could fire another shot the marshal +had wrested the pistol from him and burst +into the cabin. Frank was close behind him. At +a port hole was Duval; he had something in his +hand and was just about to hurl it out of the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_296'></a>296</span> +port hole, when Frank, in one bound, was at his +side and had his arm captive. With a snarl like +a wounded wild beast Duval turned on him, whipping +out a knife as he did so. But before any +harm could be done, Dr. Perkins seized and disarmed +him. +</p> +<p> +It was speedily found that the bag which +Frank had saved was the one containing the +black pearls which Duval, in his extremity, had +determined to throw away rather than let any +one else gain their possession. The Marshal +slipped the handcuffs on Zeb and Duval, who +submitted sullenly to arrest. It was not till then +that their thoughts turned to the elder Daniels. +He was not in his cabin, and search of the ship +failed to reveal him. The mystery was soon to +be explained, however. +</p> +<p> +A boat with a colored oarsman had been lying +alongside the steamer waiting to take off the +pilot. In the confusion old Daniels had opened +the bag of gold dust, selected a packet, and, dropping +into the boat, told the negro to row him +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_297'></a>297</span> +ashore to secure help for the officers. The negro +naturally supposed that he was acting under +proper instructions, and put the old fisherman +ashore. He was never heard of again. +</p> +<p> +Zeb and Duval sullenly refused to utter a +word, but ultimately, after their return to New +Orleans, Frank had an interview with Duval in +his prison cell, in which he made a clean breast of +everything. From Bayhaven they had hastened +south by fast trains, stopping on the way to buy +diving dress. The Acadian whom the boys had +encountered in the swamps had guided them to +the scene of the wreck, receiving one black pearl +as his reward. +</p> +<p> +Of the voyage back from the <em>Buenos Aires</em> +with the two prisoners not much can be said. It +was made at a good rate of speed, and both +Duval and Zeb were docile. Indeed, there was +no use in their being otherwise. On account of +his youth and the pleadings of Dr. Perkins and +the boys, Zeb got a light sentence in a reformatory +institution, and it is hoped that he will prove +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_298'></a>298</span> +a far better character when he gets out. Duval +was more severely dealt with, but even he got off +more lightly than he deserved, thanks to the +clemency of the people he had wronged. +</p> +<p> +And so ends the story of the Boy Aviators’ +Flight for a Fortune in the most wonderful aëroplane +constructed up to date. But no doubt, in +the rapid march of events, even the <em>Sea Eagle</em> +will soon be surpassed. Already, while this book +goes to press, plans are being made by no less +than four separate aviators to dare the terrors of +a transatlantic passage. Whether they will succeed +or not is in the lap of the future, but the +author is certain that some day flights across +“The Pond” at seventy or eighty miles an hour +will be so common as to attract but small attention. +</p> +<p> +Some of my readers doubtless wish to know +how Ben disposed of his fortune. Well, part of +it he wisely invested in real estate, and the rest +he is thinking of putting into the company Dr. +Perkins has formed to manufacture <em>Sea Eagles</em>. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_299'></a>299</span> +Mr. Sterrett is a member of the company, and so +are the Boy Aviators. Naturally Ben’s keen wish +to have them share some of his good fortune was +refused, for, as we know, the Boy Aviators’ adventures +in the past had netted them a good +share of this world’s goods. Billy Barnes is publicity +agent at a good salary for the <em>Sea Eagle</em> +Company, Ltd., and the work just suits his +tastes. As for Pudge, he is as hard a worker as +anybody at the plant on Brig Island, learning +the business “from the bottom up.” +</p> +<p> +And so, wishing them well in their future undertakings, +we will here take leave for the present +of our friends, until we hear of them again +in the next volume, entitled “The Boy Aviators +with the Air Raiders.” +</p> +<div class='center'> +<p>THE END.</p> +</div> +<p> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> +</p> +<p> +<span style='font-size:1.2em;font-weight:bold;'>BOY AVIATORS’ SERIES</span> +</p> +<p> +By Captain Wilbur Lawton +</p> +<p> +Absolutely Modern Stories for Boys +</p> +<p> +Cloth Bound, Price, 50c per volume +</p> +<p> +The Boy Aviators in Nicaragua +</p> +<p> +Or, Leagued With Insurgents +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +The launching of this Twentieth Century series marks +the inauguration of a new era in boys’ books—the +“wonders of modern science” epoch. Frank and Harry +Chester, the <span class='sc'>Boy Aviators</span>, are the heroes of this exciting, +red-blooded tale of adventure by air and land in +the turbulent Central American republic. The two +brothers with their $10,000 prize aeroplane, the <span class='sc'>Golden +Eagle</span>, rescue a chum from death in the clutches of the +Nicaraguans, discover a lost treasure valley of the ancient +Toltec race, and in so doing almost lose their own +lives in the Abyss of the White Serpents, and have many +other exciting experiences, including being blown far +out to sea in their air-skimmer in a tropical storm. It +would be unfair to divulge the part that wireless plays +in rescuing them from their predicament. In a brand +new field of fiction for boys the Chester brothers and +their aeroplane seem destined to fill a top-notch place. +These books are technically correct, wholesomely thrilling +and geared up to third speed. +</p> +<p> +Sold by Booksellers Everywhere +</p> +<p> +HURST & CO.—Publishers—NEW YORK +</p> +<p> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> +</p> +<p> +<span style='font-size:1.2em;font-weight:bold;'>BOY AVIATORS’ SERIES</span> +</p> +<p> +By Captain Wilbur Lawton +</p> +<p> +Absolutely Modern Stories for Boys +</p> +<p> +Cloth Bound, Price, 50c per volume +</p> +<p> +THE BOY AVIATORS ON SECRET SERVICE +</p> +<p> +Or, Working With Wireless +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +In this live-wire narrative of peril and adventure, +laid in the Everglades of Florida, the +spunky Chester Boys and their interesting +chums, including Ben Stubbs, the maroon, +encounter exciting experiences on Uncle Sam’s +service in a novel field. One must read this +vivid, enthralling story of incident, hardship +and pluck to get an idea of the almost limitless +possibilities of the two greatest inventions +of modern times—the aeroplane and wireless +telegraphy. While gripping and holding the +reader’s breathless attention from the opening +words to the finish, this swift-moving story is +at the same time instructive and uplifting. As +those readers who have already made friends +with Frank and Harry Chester and their +“bunch” know, there are few difficulties, no +matter how insurmountable they may seem at +first blush, that these up-to-date gritty youths +cannot overcome with flying colors. A clean-cut, +real boys’ book of high voltage. +</p> +<p> +Sold by Booksellers Everywhere +</p> +<p> +HURST & CO.—Publishers—NEW YORK +</p> +<p> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> +</p> +<p> +<span style='font-size:1.2em;font-weight:bold;'>BOY AVIATORS’ SERIES</span> +</p> +<p> +By Captain Wilbur Lawton +</p> +<p> +Absolutely Modern Stories for Boys +</p> +<p> +Cloth Bound, Price, 50c per volume +</p> +<p> +THE BOY AVIATORS IN AFRICA +</p> +<p> +Or, An Aerial Ivory Trail +</p> +<p> +In this absorbing book we meet, on a Continent made +famous by the American explorer Stanley, and ex-President +Roosevelt, our old friends, the Chester Boys and +their stalwart chums. In Africa—the Dark Continent—the +author follows in exciting detail his young heroes, +their voyage in the first aeroplane to fly above the mysterious +forests and unexplored ranges of the mystic land. +In this book, too, for the first time, we entertain Luther +Barr, the old New York millionaire, who proved later +such an implacable enemy of the boys. The story of his +defeated schemes, of the astonishing things the boys discovered +in the Mountains of the Moon, of the pathetic +fate of George Desmond, the emulator of Stanley, the +adventure of the Flying Men and the discovery of the +Arabian Ivory cache,—this is not the place to speak. It +would be spoiling the zest of an exciting tale to reveal +the outcome of all these episodes here. It may be said, +however, without “giving away” any of the thrilling +chapters of this narrative, that Captain Wilbur Lawton, +the author, is in it in his best vein, and from his personal +experiences in Africa has been able to supply a striking +background for the adventures of his young heroes. As +one newspaper says of this book: “Here is adventure in +good measure, pressed down and running over.” +</p> +<p> +Sold by Booksellers Everywhere +</p> +<p> +HURST & CO.—Publishers—NEW YORK +</p> +<p> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> +</p> +<p> +<span style='font-size:1.2em;font-weight:bold;'>BOY AVIATORS’ SERIES</span> +</p> +<p> +By Captain Wilbur Lawton +</p> +<p> +Absolutely Modern Stories for Boys +</p> +<p> +Cloth Bound, Price, 50c per volume +</p> +<p> +THE BOY AVIATORS TREASURE QUEST +</p> +<p> +Or, The Golden Galleon +</p> +<p> +Everybody is a boy once more when it comes to the +question of hidden treasure. In this book, Captain Lawton +has set forth a hunt for gold that is concealed neither +under the sea nor beneath the earth, but is well hidden +for all that. A garrulous old sailor, who holds the key +to the mystery of the Golden Galleon, plays a large +part in the development of the plot of this fascinating +narrative of treasure hunting in the region of the Gulf +Stream and the Sargasso Sea. An aeroplane fitted with efficient +pontoons—enabling her to skim the water successfully—has +long been a dream of aviators. The Chester +Boys seem to have solved the problem. The Sargasso +that strange drifting ocean within an ocean, holding ships +of a dozen nations and a score of ages, in its relentless +grip, has been the subject of many books of adventure +and mystery, but in none has the secret of the ever +shifting mass of treacherous currents been penetrated as +it has in the BOY AVIATORS TREASURE QUEST. +Luther Barr, whom it seemed the boys had shaken off, +is still on their trail, in this absorbing book and with a +dirigible balloon, essays to beat them out in their search +for the Golden Galleon. Every boy, every man—and +woman and girl—who has ever felt the stirring summons +of adventure in their souls, had better get hold of this +book. Once obtained, it will be read and re-read till +it falls to rags. +</p> +<p> +Sold by Booksellers Everywhere +</p> +<p> +HURST & CO.—Publishers—NEW YORK +</p> +<p> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> +</p> +<p> +<span style='font-size:1.2em;font-weight:bold;'>BOY AVIATORS’ SERIES</span> +</p> +<p> +By Captain Wilbur Lawton +</p> +<p> +Absolutely Modern Stories for Boys +</p> +<p> +Cloth Bound, Price, 50c per volume +</p> +<p> +THE BOY AVIATORS IN RECORD FLIGHT +</p> +<p> +Or, The Rival Aeroplane +</p> +<p> +The Chester Boys in new field of endeavor—an attempt +to capture a newspaper prize for a trans-continental flight. +By the time these lines are read, exactly such an offer +will have been spread broadcast by one of the foremost +newspapers of the country. In the Golden Eagle, the +boys, accompanied by a trail-blazing party in an automobile, +make the dash. But they are not alone in their +aspirations. Their rivals for the rich prize at stake try +in every way that they can to circumvent the lads and +gain the valuable trophy and monetary award. In this +they stop short at nothing, and it takes all the wits and +resources of the Boy Aviators to defeat their devices. +Among the adventures encountered in their cross-country +flight, the boys fall in with a band of rollicking cowboys—who +momentarily threaten serious trouble—are attacked +by Indians, strike the most remarkable town of the +desert—the “dry” town of “Gow Wells,” encounter a +sandstorm which blows them into strange lands far to the +south of their course, and meet with several amusing +mishaps beside. A thoroughly readable book. The sort +to take out behind the barn on the sunny side of the haystack, +and, with a pocketful of juicy apples and your heels +kicking the air, pass happy hours with Captain Lawton’s +young heroes. +</p> +<p> +Sold by Booksellers Everywhere +</p> +<p> +HURST & CO.—Publishers—NEW YORK +</p> +<p> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> +</p> +<p> +<span style='font-size:1.2em;font-weight:bold;'>BOY AVIATORS’ SERIES</span> +</p> +<p> +By Captain Wilbur Lawton +</p> +<p> +Absolutely Modern Stories for Boys +</p> +<p> +Cloth Bound, Price, 50c per volume +</p> +<p> +THE BOY AVIATORS POLAR DASH +</p> +<p> +Or, Facing Death in the Antarctic +</p> +<p> +If you were to hear that two boys, accompanying a South +Polar expedition in charge of the aeronautic department, +were to penetrate the Antarctic regions—hitherto only +attained by a few daring explorers—you would feel interested, +wouldn’t you? Well, in Captain Lawton’s latest +book, concerning his Boy Aviators, you can not only read +absorbing adventure in the regions south of the eightieth +parallel, but absorb much useful information as well. +Captain Lawton introduces—besides the original characters +of the heroes—a new creation in the person of Professor +Simeon Sandburr, a patient seeker for polar insects. +The professor’s adventures in his quest are the +cause of much merriment, and lead once or twice to +serious predicaments. In a volume so packed with incident +and peril from cover to cover—relieved with laughable +mishaps to the professor—it is difficult to single out any +one feature; still, a recent reader of it wrote the publishers +an enthusiastic letter the other day, saying: “The +episodes above the Great Barrier are thrilling, the attack +of the condors in Patagonia made me hold my breath, +the—but what’s the use? The Polar Dash, to my mind, +is an even more entrancing book than Captain Lawton’s +previous efforts, and that’s saying a good deal. The aviation +features and their technical correctness are by no +means the least attractive features of this up-to-date +creditable volume.” +</p> +<p> +Sold by Booksellers Everywhere +</p> +<p> +HURST & CO.—Publishers—NEW YORK +</p> +<p> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> +</p> +<p> +<span style='font-size:1.2em;font-weight:bold;'>BOY INVENTORS SERIES</span> +</p> +<p> +Stories of Skill and Ingenuity +</p> +<p> +By RICHARD BONNER +</p> +<p> +Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 50c. per vol., postpaid +</p> +<p> +THE BOY INVENTORS’ WIRELESS TELEGRAPH. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +Blest with natural curiosity,—sometimes +called the instinct of investigation,—favored +with golden +opportunity, and gifted with creative +ability, the Boy Inventors +meet emergencies and contrive +mechanical wonders that interest +and convince the reader because +they always “work” when put to +the test. +</p> +<p> +THE BOY INVENTORS’ VANISHING GUN. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +A thought, a belief, an experiment; discouragement, +hope, effort and final success—this is the history of many +an invention; a history in which excitement, competition, +danger, despair and persistence figure. This merely suggests +the circumstances which draw the daring Boy Inventors +into strange experiences and startling adventures, +and which demonstrate the practical use of their vanishing +gun. +</p> +<p> +THE BOY INVENTORS’ DIVING TORPEDO BOAT. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +As in the previous stories of the Boy Inventors, new +and interesting triumphs of mechanism are produced +which become immediately valuable, and the stage for +their proving and testing is again the water. On the +surface and below it, the boys have jolly, contagious fun, +and the story of their serious, purposeful inventions +challenge the reader’s deepest attention. +</p> +<p> +Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. +</p> +<p> +HURST & COMPANY—Publishers—NEW YORK +</p> +<p> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> +</p> +<p> +<span style='font-size:1.2em;font-weight:bold;'>BORDER BOYS SERIES</span> +</p> +<p> +Mexican and Canadian Frontier Series +</p> +<p> +By FREMONT B. DEERING. +</p> +<p> +Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 50c. per vol., postpaid +</p> +<p> +THE BORDER BOYS ON THE TRAIL. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +What it meant to make an enemy +of Black Ramon De Barios—that is +the problem that Jack Merrill and +his friends, including Coyote Pete, +face in this exciting tale. +</p> +<p> +THE BORDER BOYS ACROSS THE FRONTIER. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +Read of the Haunted Mesa and its +mysteries, of the Subterranean River +and its strange uses, of the value of +gasolene and steam “in running the gauntlet,” and you will +feel that not even the ancient splendors of the Old World +can furnish a better setting for romantic action than the +Border of the New. +</p> +<p> +THE BORDER BOYS WITH THE MEXICAN RANGERS. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +As every day is making history—faster, it is said, than +ever before—so books that keep pace with the changes +are full of rapid action and accurate facts. This book +deals with lively times on the Mexican border. +</p> +<p> +THE BORDER BOYS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +The Border Boys have already had much excitement +and adventure in their lives, but all this has served to +prepare them for the experiences related in this volume. +They are stronger, braver and more resourceful than ever, +and the exigencies of their life in connection with the +Texas Rangers demand all their trained ability. +</p> +<p> +Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. +</p> +<p> +HURST & COMPANY—Publishers—NEW YORK +</p> +<p> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> +</p> +<p> +<span style='font-size:1.2em;font-weight:bold;'>BUNGALOW BOYS SERIES</span> +</p> +<p> +LIVE STORIES OF OUTDOOR LIFE +</p> +<p> +By DEXTER J. FORRESTER. +</p> +<p> +Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 50c. per vol., postpaid +</p> +<p> +THE BUNGALOW BOYS. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +How the Bungalow Boys received +their title and how they retained the +right to it in spite of much opposition +makes a lively narrative for lively boys. +</p> +<p> +THE BUNGALOW BOYS MAROONED IN THE TROPICS. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +A real treasure hunt of the most +thrilling kind, with a sunken Spanish +galleon as its object, makes a +subject of intense interest at any +time, but add to that a band of desperate men, a dark plot +and a devil fish, and you have the combination that brings +strange adventures into the lives of the Bungalow Boys. +</p> +<p> +THE BUNGALOW BOYS IN THE GREAT NORTH WEST. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +The clever assistance of a young detective saves the boys +from the clutches of Chinese smugglers, of whose nefarious +trade they know too much. How the Professor’s invention relieves +a critical situation is also an exciting incident of this book. +</p> +<p> +THE BUNGALOW BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +The Bungalow Boys start out for a quiet cruise on the +Great Lakes and a visit to an island. A storm and a band +of wreckers interfere with the serenity of their trip, and a +submarine adds zest and adventure to it. +</p> +<p> +Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. +</p> +<p> +HURST & COMPANY—Publishers—NEW YORK +</p> +<p> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> +</p> +<p> +<span style='font-size:1.2em;font-weight:bold;'>DREADNOUGHT BOYS SERIES</span> +</p> +<p> +Tales of the New Navy +</p> +<p> +By CAPT. WILBUR LAWTON +</p> +<p> +Author of “BOY AVIATORS SERIES.” +</p> +<p> +Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 50c. per vol., postpaid +</p> +<p> +THE DREADNOUGHT BOYS ON BATTLE PRACTICE. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +Especially interesting and timely +is this book which introduces the +reader with its heroes, Ned and Herc, +to the great ships of modern warfare +and to the intimate life and surprising +adventures of Uncle Sam’s sailors. +</p> +<p> +THE DREADNOUGHT BOYS ABOARD A DESTROYER. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +In this story real dangers threaten +and the boys’ patriotism is tested in +a peculiar international tangle. The scene is laid on the +South American coast. +</p> +<p> +THE DREADNOUGHT BOYS ON A SUBMARINE. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +To the inventive genius—trade-school boy or mechanic—this +story has special charm, perhaps, but to every reader its +mystery and clever action are fascinating. +</p> +<p> +THE DREADNOUGHT BOYS ON AERO SERVICE. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +Among the volunteers accepted for Aero Service are Ned +and Herc. Their perilous adventures are not confined to the +air, however, although they make daring and notable flights +in the name of the Government; nor are they always able +to fly beyond the reach of their old “enemies,” who are also +airmen. +</p> +<p> +Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. +</p> +<p> +HURST & COMPANY—Publishers—NEW YORK +</p> +<p> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> +</p> +<p> +<span style='font-size:1.2em;font-weight:bold;'>FRANK ARMSTRONG SERIES</span> +</p> +<p> +Twentieth Century Athletic Stories +</p> +<p> +By MATHEW M. COLTON. +</p> +<p> +Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 60c. per vol., postpaid +</p> +<p> +FRANK ARMSTRONG’S VACATION. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +How Frank’s summer experience +with his boy friends make +him into a sturdy young athlete +through swimming, boating, and +baseball contests, and a tramp +through the Everglades, is the +subject of this splendid story. +</p> +<p> +FRANK ARMSTRONG AT QUEENS. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +We find among the jolly boys +at Queen’s School, Frank, the student-athlete, Jimmy, the +baseball enthusiast, and Lewis, the unconsciously-funny +youth who furnishes comedy for every page that bears +his name. Fall and winter sports between intensely rival +school teams are expertly described. +</p> +<p> +FRANK ARMSTRONG’S SECOND TERM. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +The gymnasium, the track and the field make the background +for the stirring events of this volume, in which +David, Jimmy, Lewis, the “Wee One” and the “Codfish” +figure, while Frank “saves the day.” +</p> +<p> +FRANK ARMSTRONG, DROP KICKER. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +With the same persistent determination that won him +success in swimming, running and baseball playing, Frank +Armstrong acquired the art of “drop kicking,” and the +Queen’s football team profits thereby. +</p> +<p> +Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. +</p> +<p> +HURST & COMPANY—Publishers—NEW YORK +</p> +<p> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> +</p> +<p> +<span style='font-size:1.2em;font-weight:bold;'>MOTOR RANGERS SERIES</span> +</p> +<p> +HIGH SPEED MOTOR STORIES +</p> +<p> +By MARVIN WEST. +</p> +<p> +Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 50c. per vol., postpaid +</p> +<p> +THE MOTOR RANGERS’ LOST MINE. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +This is an absorbing story of the +continuous adventures of a motor +car in the hands of Nat Trevor and +his friends. It does seemingly impossible +“stunts,” and yet everything +happens “in the nick of time.” +</p> +<p> +THE MOTOR RANGERS THROUGH THE SIERRAS. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +Enemies in ambush, the peril of +fire, and the guarding of treasure +make exciting times for the Motor +Rangers—yet there is a strong flavor of fun and freedom, +with a typical Western mountaineer for spice. +</p> +<p> +THE MOTOR RANGERS ON BLUE WATER; or, The Secret of the Derelict. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +The strange adventures of the sturdy craft “Nomad” and +the stranger experiences of the Rangers themselves with +Morello’s schooner and a mysterious derelict form the basis +of this well-spun yarn of the sea. +</p> +<p> +THE MOTOR RANGERS’ CLOUD CRUISER. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +From the “Nomad” to the “Discoverer,” from the sea to +the sky, the scene changes in which the Motor Rangers figure. +They have experiences “that never were on land or sea,” +in heat and cold and storm, over mountain peak and lost +city, with savages and reptiles; their ship of the air is attacked +by huge birds of the air; they survive explosion and +earthquake; they even live to tell the tale! +</p> +<p> +Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. +</p> +<p> +HURST & COMPANY—Publishers—NEW YORK +</p> +<p> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> +</p> +<p> +<span style='font-size:1.2em;font-weight:bold;'>GIRL AVIATORS SERIES</span> +</p> +<p> +Clean Aviation Stories +</p> +<p> +By MARGARET BURNHAM. +</p> +<p> +Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 50c. per vol., postpaid +</p> +<p> +THE GIRL AVIATORS AND THE PHANTOM AIRSHIP. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +Roy Prescott was fortunate in +having a sister so clever and devoted +to him and his interests that +they could share work and play +with mutual pleasure and to mutual +advantage. This proved especially +true in relation to the manufacture +and manipulation of their aeroplane, +and Peggy won well deserved +fame for her skill and good +sense as an aviator. There were +many stumbling-blocks in their terrestrial path but they +soared above them all to ultimate success. +</p> +<p> +THE GIRL AVIATORS ON GOLDEN WINGS. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +That there is a peculiar fascination about aviation that +wins and holds girl enthusiasts as well as boys is proved +by this tale. On golden wings the girl aviators rose for +many an exciting flight, and met strange and unexpected +experiences. +</p> +<p> +THE GIRL AVIATORS’ SKY CRUISE. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +To most girls a coaching or yachting trip is an adventure. +How much more perilous an adventure a “sky +cruise” might be is suggested by the title and proved by +the story itself. +</p> +<p> +THE GIRL AVIATORS’ MOTOR BUTTERFLY. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +The delicacy of flight suggested by the word “butterfly,” +the mechanical power implied by “motor,” the ability to, +control assured in the title “aviator,” all combined with +the personality and enthusiasm of girls themselves, make +this story one for any girl or other reader “to go crazy +over.” +</p> +<p> +Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. +</p> +<p> +HURST & COMPANY—Publishers—NEW YORK +</p> +<p> + <br /> + <br /> + <br /> +</p> +<p> +<span style='font-size:1.2em;font-weight:bold;'>MOTOR MAIDS SERIES</span> +</p> +<p> +Wholesome Stories of Adventure +</p> +<p> +By KATHERINE STOKES. +</p> +<p> +Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 50c. per vol., postpaid +</p> +<p> +THE MOTOR MAIDS’ SCHOOL DAYS. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +Billie Campbell was just the type +of a straightforward, athletic girl +to be successful as a practical +Motor Maid. She took her car, as +she did her class-mates, to her +heart, and many a grand good time +did they have all together. The +road over which she ran her +red machine had many an unexpected +turning,—now it led her +into peculiar danger; now into contact +with strange travelers; and again into experiences +by fire and water. But, best of all, “The Comet” never +failed its brave girl owner. +</p> +<p> +THE MOTOR MAIDS BY PALM AND PINE. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +Wherever the Motor Maids went there were lively times, +for these were companionable girls who looked upon the +world as a vastly interesting place full of unique adventures—and +so, of course, they found them. +</p> +<p> +THE MOTOR MAIDS ACROSS THE CONTINENT. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +It is always interesting to travel, and it is wonderfully +entertaining to see old scenes through fresh eyes. It is +that privilege, therefore, that makes it worth while to join +the Motor Maids in their first ’cross-country run. +</p> +<p> +THE MOTOR MAIDS BY ROSE, SHAMROCK AND HEATHER. +</p> +<p style='margin-left: 2em;margin-right: 2em;'> +South and West had the Motor Maids motored, nor +could their education by travel have been more wisely +begun. But now a speaking acquaintance with their own +country enriched their anticipation of an introduction to +the British Isles. How they made their polite American +bow and how they were received on the other side is a +tale of interest and inspiration. +</p> +<p> +Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. +</p> +<p> +HURST & COMPANY—Publishers—NEW YORK +</p> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Boy Aviators' Flight for a Fortune, by +Wilbur Lawton + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY AVIATORS' FLIGHT FOR *** + +***** This file should be named 37175-h.htm or 37175-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/1/7/37175/ + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +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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