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diff --git a/41719-0.txt b/41719-0.txt index cfd88b5..94d56cd 100644 --- a/41719-0.txt +++ b/41719-0.txt @@ -1,34 +1,4 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of White Fire, by Roy J. Snell - -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: White Fire - -Author: Roy J. Snell - -Release Date: December 28, 2012 [EBook #41719] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHITE FIRE *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41719 *** _Mystery Stories for Boys_ @@ -4730,360 +4700,4 @@ volume of mystery and adventure, “The Black Schooner.” End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of White Fire, by Roy J. 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Snell</title> @@ -146,43 +146,7 @@ p.t15,div.t15,.t15 { margin-left:19em;text-indent:-3em; margin-top:0; margin-b </style> </head> <body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of White Fire, by Roy J. Snell - -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: White Fire - -Author: Roy J. Snell - -Release Date: December 28, 2012 [EBook #41719] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHITE FIRE *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41719 ***</div> <div id="cover" class="img"> <img id="coverpage" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="White Fire" width="500" height="744" /> @@ -5496,380 +5460,6 @@ and adventure, “The Black Schooner.”</p> <ul><li>Copyright notice provided as in the original printed text—this e-text is public domain in the country of publication.</li> <li>Silently corrected palpable typos.</li></ul> - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of White Fire, by Roy J. 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Thus, we do not necessarily -keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: - - www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - - -</pre> - +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41719 ***</div> </body> </html> diff --git a/41719.txt b/41719.txt deleted file mode 100644 index bd90980..0000000 --- a/41719.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5092 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of White Fire, by Roy J. Snell - -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: White Fire - -Author: Roy J. Snell - -Release Date: December 28, 2012 [EBook #41719] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHITE FIRE *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - _Mystery Stories for Boys_ - - - - - White Fire - - - _By_ - ROY J. SNELL - - - Chicago - The Reilly & Lee Co. - - - _Printed in the United States of America_ - - Copyright, 1922 - by - The Reilly & Lee Co. - _All Rights Reserved_ - - - - - CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - I The Beginning of a Mystery 9 - II Johnny's Trap Works 23 - III Johnny Flushes a Skulker 36 - IV A Fight in the Night 48 - V A Strange Test 60 - VI A Wild Race in the Night 72 - VII A Race Across the Desert 90 - VIII The Dust-Eating Mule 101 - IX A Plane in a Typhoon 128 - X The Taste of Salt Sea Water 142 - XI Life's Hazard of a Single Glide 154 - XII Flying Knives 168 - XIII The Mystery Deepens 182 - XIV A Strange Life Boat 197 - XV The Chests Are Found 213 - XVI A Race in Mid-Air 225 - - - - - WHITE FIRE - - - - - CHAPTER I - THE BEGINNING OF A MYSTERY - - -Johnny Thompson started, then stared with dilated pupils at a spot on the -aluminum casting before him. The spot, a jagged notch left by imperfect -work in the foundry, turned first a dull red, then a bright red, then a -glowing white. - -Mechanically his hand touched the valve of his oxy-acetylene torch. Yes, -it was as he had believed, the acetylene valve was closed. The oxygen -valve was open, it was true, but the drum which had contained oxygen -under a thousand pounds pressure was empty. In fact, he was waiting for -the arrival of a new drum. That was what made the thing seem strange, -impossible! It was a miracle, only miracles don't happen in such -places--he was working in the heart of a great industrial plant which -turned out automobiles in twenty carload lots and airplanes by the -hundreds. - -Johnny scratched his chin and stared at the white spot. True, the nozzle -of his torch was aimed at that spot; but five minutes before it had -sput-sputted for a few seconds, then died down to an insignificant flame -giving too little heat for any sort of welding. He had cut that flame -off, yet now, before his very eyes the metal glowed white hot. - -With a grin which said plainer than words, "I'm dreaming," he thrust a -finger in a can of water, then held it over the glowing spot until a drop -of water fell. - -Instantly he started afresh and stared with wilder eyes. There had come -the hiss of water on white-hot metal. - -"It's hot--hot enough to weld!--no doubt about it," he whispered. "What -in the name of all that's good?" - -Mechanically he lifted a light hammer and struck four deft blows. The -metal yielded to the touch of the hammer as wax to the seal. Still as in -a dream he selected a bit of metal and dropped it into the niche in the -casting. - -Watching it closely, he saw it, too, turn dull red, bright red, then glow -white. Again his hammer fell upon the spot. Deftly he struck it here and -there until presently no trace of the weld remained save the glowing -white spot. - -That, too, changed rapidly, first grayish white, then light red, then -dull red, then black. - -For a time he watched it, then with a file he brushed away the black -scar, leaving the casting perfect, ready to take its place in a splendid -chummy roadster. - -A chummy roadster! For a moment, at thought of it, Johnny's mind left the -mystery. It was to be _his_ chummy roadster, and was to cost him only a -small fraction of what it would cost on the market, for was he not of the -salvage department? And had not the head of that department given him -permission to salvage a part here, another part there, and another there, -a few in the foundry, in the forge room, in the electrical repair shop, -here and there all over the factory, until he had all the parts to make a -complete car, and was he not to pay for the car just what the total value -of the whole number of parts would have been if they had been thrown upon -the scrap pile? - -A chummy roadster! It was the only bright spot that had come upon his -horizon since he had returned home at the call of a telegram, and had -arrived to find his home draped in black, with noiseless footsteps -passing to and fro. His father, the father who had been his boyhood chum, -had left him for other lands. He had left, too, through no fault of his, -a debt unpaid and no estate from which to pay it. - -To Johnny Thompson, who had had many adventures but had saved no money, -whose soul was a soul of honor, this situation called for but one thing: -Adventures for him must cease. He must settle down to hard work and clear -off the debt which clouded the family's good name. - -Dearly as he loved adventure, much as he longed to be away to some -untried wilderness of Russia, Africa, South America, he had set his teeth -tight and had said: - -"It is my duty and I will." - -For a half hour he had permitted his mind to dwell upon his thrilling -experiences in Russia with the "Reds"; in Alaska with Hanada; beneath the -Chicago river with Cio Cio San; with Panther Eye and the wild beasts of -the jungle. All these adventures he had dreamed through once more, then -he had resolutely turned his back upon them and had gone forth in search -of work. - -Work was not easy to find. Times were dull. At last after five days of -fruitless search, through the kindness of an old friend of his father he -had secured a place in the salvage department of a great automobile and -airplane factory. This department took parts that had been badly forged, -or badly cast, and attempted to make them perfect, to put them back into -the line of construction. - -"Cutting costs," the aged manager had told him. "That's what we're after -these days. Can't afford to waste a move. And if you can help us do that -you'll soon be a valuable man." - -"Not much chance for adventure in sorting rusty castings, I guess," -Johnny had smiled, "but I'll take the job; glad to. Thanks!" - -"Now, see here," the manager had smiled. "It's queer about that adventure -stuff. You can't always dope it out, but sometimes I think that if a -fellow is destined for adventure he'll find it; yes, even in the heart of -a noisy old industrial plant." - -Johnny had smiled and had at once forgotten the remark. He had resigned -himself to hard and grimy toil, and for four months had stuck with -determination to his job. - -Now that remark came back to him as if he were hearing it again: "If a -fellow is destined for adventure he'll find it; yes, even in the heart of -a noisy old industrial plant." Was this strange white fire which enabled -him to make a perfect weld with no oxygen and with his gas turned off, -the mystery which was to provide the adventure destined to come to him? - -He stared about the deserted room. It was after hours and no one was in -the building save Tommy Barr, who had gone for a new tube of oxygen. He -could discover no possible clue which would tell him of the origin of the -strange white fire. - -He started as there came a metallic click, click. Then he smiled. It was -Tommy rolling the tube over the tile floor. - -"Tommy," he said, "the funniest thing," then he paused and turned the -remark to another subject. He had been about to tell of the strange white -fire. "The mystery is mine," was his sudden conclusion. "I'll solve it -alone." - -When Tommy had gone for the night, with trembling fingers Johnny selected -a second defective casting and set it in the vise as the other had been. -Eagerly he watched to see what would happen. His impatience grew as the -moments passed, for no dull red glow answered his invitation to the -unseen source of magic fire. - -"Guess the spell's broken," he mumbled. - -He waited a few minutes longer, then, switching on the valves of his -torch, he sent a touch of blue flame against the defective casting and, a -few minutes later, threw the now perfect part on the rapidly growing pile -by his side. - -After that he switched off his torch, snapped off the electric light and -went home. - -Long before sleep gave his tired eyes rest, however, he pondered over the -strange doings of the mysterious white fire, and well he might, for as -the days passed that mystery was destined to become more intricately -complicated, more strangely baffling on each succeeding day. - -Arriving at the factory, as was his custom, a full ten minutes before -work for the day, Johnny, next morning, was surprised to find a boy -waiting for him with a message from William McFarland, manager of and -large stockholder in the plant, his father's old-time friend. - -"What's he want, sonny?" Johnny smiled. - -"Don't know; jes' wants to see you at the office." - -"Something to do with that white fire," was Johnny's mental comment. - -"Johnny," said the industrial leader, motioning him to a chair, "when I -gave you a job in our salvage department you said something about -adventure." - -Johnny smiled and nodded. - -"You've had some adventures," the magnate scowled, "that ought to have -been profitable." - -"How--how?" Johnny stammered. - -"Don't matter how I found out. The point is you should have saved a lot -of money from the proceeds of those adventures. Apparently you haven't. -There was that gold mine in Siberia; I'm told it was a new Klondike." - -"It was, but--" - -The magnate held up his hand for silence. "There was also that bag of -diamonds you rescued from the head of the bolsheviki band. Where'd your -share of all that disappear to?" - -"I never had any share," Johnny answered. "In that Siberian gold mine -affair I was pledged to pay over the profits to a relief committee -working with the refugees in Vladivostok. In the case of the bag of -diamonds, it belonged to a defenseless Japanese woman and her people. I -returned it to its rightful owner." - -The magnate sat down. He was smiling. "That's the sort of fellow I -thought you were--a son of your father. Know what broke your father?" - -"Not--not altogether." - -"He was too honest, too good to his employes. Sold them stock when things -were booming because he thought it would be a good thing for them. Then, -when the slump came and the stock went down, down, down, he bought it -back at the price they had paid. I think it was a mistake. He thought it -a point of honor. He paid them the last cent and it broke him flat." - -The capitalist sat staring into space. When he spoke again his voice was -husky. - -"Such men as that are rare. You're like your father. That's why I took -you into our shop. I didn't need you in the salvage department. I do need -you now for a far more important mission." He rose and closed the door. -"I need you for a secret mission, one about which you must not breathe a -word to any living being save myself." - -A silence fell over the room; a tense, almost vibrant silence. - -"Johnny," he put his hand on the boy's arm, "we've a great discovery -within the walls of our factory, a discovery to which the formula, for -the time being, is lost. It is a new type of steel. It has the hardness -and the flexibility of the Damascus sword blade and, like that wonderful -weapon, its owner cannot tell how it was made." - -"Then what good will--" - -Mr. McFarland again held up his hand for silence. "You know, in these -days of keen competition, manufacturers of motors for airplanes and -automobiles are bending every effort to produce steel that will stand -severe tests, that will endure strains and over-drive, and will last, -last!" - -Johnny nodded. - -"We have such a steel as that, a marvelous steel. The man who discovered -it is a genius--one of our mechanics. Unfortunately, after he had -produced a few bars of this steel, and before he confided the formula to -any other person, or had discovered ways of working it, he broke down -from the excitement and over-strain. His mind became a blank--a complete -blank." - -He paused to stare at the wall, as if in a dream. - -"And there," he went on, "are the bars of steel, some only eight inches -long, some two feet--eight of them. Up to last night, that is. Now two of -the shorter ones are missing. I was very careless. They should have been -guarded. Competition is very strong, and doubtless a competitor has a spy -in our plant. If that spy makes away with that steel, if the other man -discovers the secret formula first and secures a patent, you can see what -it will mean to us." - -He looked Johnny squarely in the eyes. Johnny returned the gaze, but his -knees trembled. He remembered his experience of the previous night. He -had been the last man to leave the factory. Was his employer about to -accuse him of stealing the precious bars? - -It was a tense moment. For a full thirty seconds not a sound disturbed -the room. At last the magnate spoke in a whisper: - -"Johnny, from now on it shall be your task to guard the six remaining -bars, and to discover the whereabouts of the two that were stolen." - -Johnny's muscles relaxed like a violin string when the bridge falls. - -"I--I--" he leaped from his chair, "I'll do my best." - -"I know you will. Now sit down there in the corner for fifteen minutes -and think out some plans for discovering the lost property. You don't -need to tell me of the plans, but tell me what I can do to aid you." - -Eight minutes had elapsed when Johnny sat up with a start. - -"I have it," he exclaimed. "I'd like an electro-magnet, a powerful one, -leaned against the south doorpost to the east exit. I want it connected -up with switches in such a manner that I can operate it at a point where -I can watch the doorway and not be seen myself. The electro-magnet should -appear to be merely stored there temporarily." - -"I'll have it attended to at once," said the magnate. "I wish you luck." - - - - - CHAPTER II - JOHNNY'S TRAP WORKS - - -Closing time that afternoon found Johnny in a cubby-hole just back of the -main entrance. He was peering through a crack which appeared to have been -left between the boards by accident. It had, in fact, been made for -Johnny's benefit that very day. - -He was watching the long line of workmen, each swinging in his right hand -his paper lunch-box, file out of the building. A clicking, turnstile gate -allowed only one to pass out at a time. The factory had other exits, but -this was the only one close to the spot where the strange and precious -steel bars had been stored. - -Beside the narrow board-walk over which the single-file line traveled, -lay a circular affair of iron. Some three feet across and two feet thick, -it appeared but a crude lump of metal carelessly left there. A close -observer, however, would have noted that electric wires led away from the -back of it. This was Johnny's electro-magnet. When suspended in air from -a cable this innocent-appearing affair could lift a half-ton of steel to -a freight car platform as easily as a child might pick up a handful of -straw. - -"It isn't likely that the fellow who took that steel would attempt to -take it from the building at once. He'd hide it in the factory and carry -it out some other night. Sooner or later I'll get him. Sooner or--" - -Johnny's thoughts were cut short by a hand lightly laid on his shoulder. - -"Thought I'd find you here." It was his employer. "Some things in the -factory I want to show you when the men are gone. They're about out now. -I'll just wait here. Don't let me disturb you." - -But Johnny _had_ been disturbed; his eyes for the moment had been drawn -from that passing string of men and the electro-magnet. As he again -focused his eyes on the crack, he gave an involuntary start. Clinging to -the face of the electro-magnet as if glued there, was an oblong paper -box--a lunch-box. And the man who owned it? He had passed on out of sight -without any apparent attempt to regain possession of his property. - -"Rotten luck!" Johnny's lips framed the words but did not say them. The -trap had worked. There was iron or steel in that box; that was why the -powerful electro-magnet had drawn it to itself. He had recovered the -property, but his man had escaped. The precious steel was safe. That much -was good. He heaved a sigh of relief; watched the last workman march by, -touched the switch, saw the box drop from the magnet as the current was -shut off, then turned toward the door. - -At this point a doubt came to his mind. What if the metal in the box -proved to be some other metal than the precious steel? He had been about -to display his catch in triumph. He decided to make sure first, and so -merely said: "In just a moment I'll be ready." - -Stepping outside, he secured possession of the mysterious lunch-box and, -carrying it as if it were dynamite, again entered the cubby-hole and said -cheerfully: "All right; I'm ready now." - -As they walked slowly back into the factory Johnny's eyes turned first to -the right, then to the left. For the time the baffling mysteries of the -hour were forgotten, and for the hundredth time he was lost in admiration -of this marvel of modern industry, a vast manufacturing plant. Here they -passed through the forge-room where, by the dull light of dying fires, -one might see trip-hammers, looming like giants, resting from their -labors. Now again they passed through a sand-strewn room where -crater-like heaps were smoking--the foundry. And now they emerged into -the assembly-room, where were automobiles partly put together, and -further down, airplanes poised like giant birds ready for flight. - -"The things I am to show you to-night"--the voice of his employer roused -him from the spell which the place had put upon him--"are secrets, -secrets known only to myself and two other men. This factory was rebuilt -and enlarged during the World War. Our entire output was then being taken -by the Government. In those days every precaution was necessary. Spies of -the enemy were all about us and in our very midst, seeking out our most -valuable secrets, ready to destroy our plants and so cripple our army. It -was such a time as this that I had installed in this plant the -contrivances which I am about to show you and which may, perhaps, be of -assistance to you. Your work from now on will be done at night. You slept -this afternoon as I instructed?" - -"Yes." - -"Good. Then you will be all right for tonight." - -"Easy," answered Johnny slangily. - -"Now, here," they had paused in the center of an aisle, "please note your -exact position. Got it?" - -"Yes." - -Johnny's employer nodded approval. - -"Have you a watch and flashlight? It's dark where you're going." - -"No flashlight." In spite of his best efforts, Johnny's knees trembled. - -"Here's a small one. Now prepare yourself for a surprise. In five minutes -stand up. Watch me." - -The magnate reached up and gave a pull on an electric lamp wire just -above his head. The next instant Johnny felt himself shoot rapidly -downward, to land at last with no perceptible shock upon some flat -object. All about him was pitch darkness. At once his trembling hand -snapped on the flashlight. As its welcome gleam shot out before him, he -saw that he was in a narrow, cement-walled chamber. One glance downward -and his tense muscles relaxed. - -"Humph!" he grunted. "The scrap-conveyor!" - -It was true. Beneath this up-to-date factory, a tunnel had been cut, -through which a broad, flat conveyor ran. On this conveyor, from every -point in the factory, scraps of iron, steel, brass, cloth, wire, rubber -and what-not were carried without the lifting of a human hand, direct to -the scrap-room. - -"It's a clever exit, nevertheless," thought Johnny, "and worth -remembering. 'Five minutes,' he said, 'then stand up.'" - -Focusing the flashlight on his watch, he waited. The conveyor was moving. -He could see the shadows of cement beams slowly rise and pass by him. The -place was fairly spooky--"like a tomb," he said to himself. It was dead -still, too. Nothing save the almost noiseless motion of the conveyor -broke the silence. "What a spot for a tragedy," he thought. "A fight here -in the night; the victor escapes; the dead body is carried silently on to -the scrap-pile." - -One minute passed, two, three, four. The silence grew oppressive. Five! -Then came a sudden flood of light from above him. Leaping to his feet, he -reached up to the edge of a cement floor and vaulted up to it. Silently a -second trapdoor closed behind him. His employer stood beside him. - -"Have a nice ride?" he smiled. - -"Fine! A bit spooky, though," Johnny grinned back. - -"Could you use it in an emergency?" - -"I think so. It's the wire of the lamp hanging directly above it, isn't -it?" - -"Right. Works electrically. Pulling that wire does the trick. There are -some others, though. We must hurry on. I have a directors' meeting at -eight." - -The marvels, the tricks of magic which Johnny witnessed during the tense -half-hour that followed, thrilled, charmed and at times frightened him. -Now he caught himself leaping aside, as if to avoid the blow of a hidden -force, and now frozen in his tracks, he felt chills race up and down his -spine, while cold perspiration stood out upon his brow. Convinced as he -was that he was in the hands of a friend, he could not fully overcome the -spell of this seemingly magic factory. While standing idly leaning -against a wall, he would suddenly become conscious of a movement in front -of him, and there, not three feet before him, a second wall towered. -Whether it had risen from the floor, dropped from the ceiling or -developed out of thin air, he could not tell, so sudden and silent was -its motion. Again, he was standing talking to his employer and, having -been attracted by a sound in the distance, turned away for an instant, -only to find on turning again to his friend that he had vanished; the -pillar beside which he had been standing had swallowed him up. - -After initiating him into the secret mysteries of six of these strange -devices, his employer promised him more in the future, then took him over -to the front of a massive vault built into the wall of the factory. - -"Here," said Mr. McFarland, "we keep our most valuable tools and the -diamonds used in giving to shaftings their finishing touches. Here also -rest the six bars of steel of the mysterious, unknown formula. We hope -soon to rediscover that formula, or that its inventor, through the -agencies of the doctor of the sanitarium, will be restored to his normal -mind and memory. An old and trusted employe presides over the vault -during the day. It will be your task to guard it nights. At any time you -feel yourself in danger, there are the secret doors, walls and passages I -have shown you. They may be of great service to you in securing aid, if -it is needed. And now I must bid you good night." - -"Good night." Johnny's own voice, as if coming from a cavern, sounded -hollow to him. - -As his employer disappeared from sight, however, he shook himself and -attempted to remember something he had postponed, something of which his -subconscious memory was striving to tell him. - -Suddenly he started. - -"The box! That lunch-box caught by the electro-magnet!" - -The next instant he was hastening away to the cubby-hole where the box -still rested. - -As he put his hand to the door, a sinking feeling seized him. What if it -were gone? The next instant found him reassured; with the handle of the -box in his own right hand, he was hurrying back to his post of duty. - -But what was that? Had his well-trained ear caught the sound of a -footstep? With heart beating double-time, he stood in the shadow of a -great punch-press and listened. Yes, there it was; a stealthy, gliding -footstep. - -Stooping, with a silent, tiger-like motion he crept forward until the -steel door of the vault was within his view. There, in the shelter of a -milling machine, he paused and crouched motionless as a cat. - -He did not have long to wait, for out of the shadows there crept the -dark, crouching form of a man. - -Direct as an arrow the man glided forward. Now he was ten feet from the -steel door, and paused to listen. Two steps more, and a second pause. And -now his hand was nearing the shining metal knob that controlled the -combination lock of the vault. Again he appeared to listen. - -At that second, Johnny's eyes fairly popped out of his head--a strange -thing was taking place. The knob which had been white in the -semi-darkness, had turned a dull red! - -"The mysterious fire!" he whispered, almost aloud. - -The next instant there came a strange hissing cry of pain. The person -crouching there, without noting the red glow, had grasped the knob. - -For a second he appeared to study the knob; then, without as much as -looking backward, he turned and darted away. - -Frozen in his tracks, Johnny stood staring at the knob until the red glow -had faded out and the knob shone white once more. - -A long time he stood there, his mind rife with wild wonderings. What was -this white fire? Whence its origin? Johnny was not superstitious; he felt -that some human being was back of it all. But that human being, was he -friend or foe? If friend, then he had frightened the enemy away! If -enemy, then he had known of Johnny's presence and had used this means to -warn his confederate. - -Presently, when his mind was again composed, he thought of the lunch-box -and with trembling fingers reached down to lift it from the floor. - -What would it disclose? How would its contents affect the mystery he was -trying to solve? - -Johnny drew a deep breath, and grinned happily. - - - - - CHAPTER III - JOHNNY FLUSHES A SKULKER - - -Trembling with suppressed excitement, his brow deeply furrowed, Johnny -lifted the lid to the lunch-box, then stared in surprise and disgust. The -box contained, not the precious steel bars of unusual and as yet unknown -composition, but a small twist drill, worth, perhaps, a dime. For a -moment he stared at the thing, then picked it up and thrust it into his -pocket. - -"Sneak thief! Petty larceny of the pettiest kind. But, anyway, I'll -report it to the chief. He may want to do something about it." - -The rest of that night, waiting in the shadow of a gigantic sheet-steel -press, in full view of the vault where rested the remaining bars of -steel, Johnny saw no movement, heard no sound that told him there were -other human beings in the building save himself and the regular night -watchman, who made his monotonous hourly rounds, pausing only to punch a -clock here and there. But motionless and silent as they might be, Johnny -knew there were at least two persons in that building who were there -without leave or license. - -To attempt to run down a single individual in the vast plant, with its -labyrinth of aisles, with thousands of machines, drill presses, millers, -forges, moulders, cranes, conveyors, with its seemingly tangled mass of -overhead equipment and its endless underground tunnels, would be equal to -the task of capturing a fish with a hand-net on the bottom of the -Atlantic. To discover the person would be almost impossible, and even if -he were discovered, his capture would be difficult indeed. Only the best -of good fortune could crown such an effort with success. - -Johnny knew there were two men. One was he who had attempted to tamper -with the vault's lock, and the other was the originator of the mysterious -white fire. That the fire was produced by electric currents set to -operate upon certain given contacts, Johnny could not believe. In the -case of the knob to the vault's door, this might be true, but in that of -the aluminum casting such a theory was impossible, for Johnny knew there -could have been no prearranged electrical contacts. - -The casting had been on the floor. Johnny had lifted it to his vise and -had clamped it there. No one had been near it, save he himself, from that -time until the mysterious heat had enabled him to do the work of repair -by welding. How could the heat have come there? That, he could not tell. -Who had created it? He could not even guess. What had been the purpose in -either case? Was he friend or enemy? What would be his next strange -demonstration of power? All these remained unanswered. Of one thing alone -Johnny was positive: The person had been in the building and was there -still. - -The thought made him distinctly uncomfortable. "Why," he thought -suddenly, "if he is our enemy, he has but to burn out the lock to the -vault and the door will swing open of its own weight!" - -Then he thought of himself. He had an uncomfortable conviction that this -heat might be applied anywhere--on his own body, like as not. At times he -saw himself racing about the factory tortured by an intolerable heat -which turned his garments to ashes and charred his very flesh. At such -times as these he rose and shook himself free from disturbing fancies. - -He tried in vain to remember any great discovery which would make such -intense detached heat possible. He could think of none. - -"It's a discovery! A great discovery!" he whispered at last, "and the -discoverer, instead of bettering the world with it, is playing with it -just to make one person most awfully uneasy and unhappy. And yet," he -paused to think, "and yet he did send that chap gliding away from the -vault door as if his life depended upon it." - -In spite of all his forebodings, nothing further disturbed the vast -silence of the night, and Johnny was ready, upon the arrival of his -employer in the morning, to make his report. He had decided to tell of -the lunch-box and twist drill episode, but to say nothing, for the -present, of the strange white fire. He felt that his employer would -simply be perplexed and disturbed by this news, without in any way -offering a contribution to the solution of the problem. This was an -affair which a single individual might best work upon alone. - -"No," said his employer, as Johnny displayed the small twist drill and -told how he came into possession of it, "we're not, as you have already -suggested, interested in that sort of thing. If there is a sneak-thief in -our factory, he will receive his just deserts in due time, and that with -no assistance from us. Our factory is run on the honor plan. Every man is -put upon his honor. If he proves unworthy of the trust, his -fellow-workmen will find it out first of all, and, since the honor of the -entire group is at stake, they will request him to mend his ways or draw -the pay due him and leave. It is useless for him to attempt to deceive -them. He must be on the square or get out. - -"In this case," he smiled, "it is probably not a case of theft at all; it -is very probable that this drill was borrowed by the workman for some -work at home, with the consent of his foreman." - -Johnny blushed uncomfortably. - -"Your plan, though," the manager hastened to assure him, "is a good one. -Keep it up, and you may catch something yet. - -"I have said," he went on, "that we are not interested in petty thefts. -We are not. This perhaps makes you wonder that you are employed as you -are at the present time. But this is quite another matter. The taking of -those two bars of steel, insignificant as they may seem--a few pounds in -all--is of great importance to us, since, as I have explained to you, it -may mean the revealing of a valuable secret. - -"The question of one's right to keep a commercial secret is a delicate -one. From a moral standpoint it depends entirely upon the type of secret. -Unquestionably there are some secrets which no one has a right to keep. -Many great secrets have been thrown open to the world as soon as they are -discovered. Radium is a case in point. If our nation were at war with -some other nation at the present time, it would undoubtedly be our duty -to share our secret steel process, should we be so fortunate as to -unravel all its mysteries, with the Government. Since we are not at war, -it does not appear to be our duty. - -"The law allows us to retain our secret until it has been patented. -However, if another should discover it, we would hardly be in a position -to claim a share in the patent right, since no one can prove that the -other person did not possess the secret first. - -"You will see then, that any person who attempts to discover our secret -can hardly be classed as a criminal; he is simply playing the game in a -rather unfair way. There have been secrets enough carried from one -manufacturing plant to another. Retaining one's commercial secrets and -reaping advantages from them is part of the romance of business. You will -find few manufacturing plants, big or little, but have their secrets. In -one with the magnitude of our own there are many secrets; the one you are -guarding is but one of them." - -"But--" Johnny began, then hesitated. - -"But what? Come on; let's hear what's on your mind." - -"Don't you think it's really one's duty to give the whole world the -benefit of his secrets?" - -"In time, yes. But not at once, unprotected by patents. We have spent a -great deal of money in discovering these secrets. We have a right to get -that money back with a fair profit." - -"I see," said Johnny. - -"And you are ready to go on with the search?" - -"Yes." - -"Good. Report to me when there is any new development. Good morning, and -better luck next time." - -That night the electro-magnet trap caught nothing. Johnny went to work -with a sense of defeat disturbing his usually well-composed mind. Had the -two bars of steel been carried at once from the factory, and were his -well-laid plans to come to naught? Would the steel be tested and -analyzed, the formula discovered and patented by the intruder? - -"At least," he told himself, "I can guard securely that which is left. - -"Mr. Jordan," he said to the aged keeper of the vault by day, as he came -to take his post for the night, "can't they work that steel as it is?" - -"What steel?" The old man gave him a sharp look. - -"You know," Johnny smiled. - -"Oh!" the other laughed. "No, it doesn't seem to respond properly to the -heat they have tried on it; it crumples up like mud when they try to work -it. And when it comes to analyzing it, there's an element or two they -don't understand. It's as if the stuff was from a meteor dropped out of -the sky." - -Johnny thought of these things on the watch that night. "I'd like to have -a piece to experiment with," he told himself. "This white fire, now; I -wonder how that would affect it. Fine chance to try that," he laughed to -himself, "First place, no steel; second place, no white fire." - -A week passed with no reappearance either of the mysterious white fire or -the stranger who had attempted to tamper with the lock of the vault. -Johnny was growing uneasy. It was true that his pay had been increased -enough to enable him to put away a generous sum at the end of the week -toward the paying of his debt of honor. But the task was growing -monotonous, and, besides, there was no opportunity to work on his chummy -roadster that was to have been built up from salvage. - -But one dark night, when the wind was banging at the steel-framed windows -of the plant, and rain beat upon the skylights in great torrents, -adventure came stalking his way in the form of a crouching, skulking -human who made his way, all oblivious of Johnny hidden by the shadow of a -forge, to a dark corner of the forge-room, where he rattled about in a -pile of imperfect forgings. He had just turned and was about to skulk -away when Johnny's lips framed a word. - -The word was not uttered, for like a flash it came to him that in that -particular spot there was no opportunity to head the man off and capture -him. - -He thought of the strange entrance to the scrap-conveyor tunnel which had -been shown him by his employer. The conveyor was not running. Once he had -dropped down upon it, he could stoop and run forward upon its surface -some two hundred feet. He would then come out at a place in the direction -in which the man was going. In that spot a trick-wall might be made to -rise and head him off. He would be trapped! - -A few silent steps and Johnny was upon the spot above the scrap-conveyor. -His hand went up to the light wire. Straight down he dropped. The next -minute he was racing along the conveyor. - -At the end of this race he took a long breath and waited. There would be -a struggle, he knew that. The best man would win; there was no one to -aid. - -With a sharp intake of breath, he touched a button, a trap flew open. -With a leap he cleared the opening and fell sprawling. His estimate of -time had failed him. The skulking stranger had tripped over him and they -had gone down together! - - - - - CHAPTER IV - A FIGHT IN THE NIGHT - - -Johnny Thompson was as nearly as possible a perfect physical being. -Having been taught from childhood the necessity of physical well-being -and muscular prowess to the business man as well as to the mechanic or -professional athlete, he had kept himself fit and had never neglected an -opportunity to learn some new trick or turn on the wrestling mat or -gymnasium floor. - -In the struggle that followed the collision there in the dark aisle of -the factory neither Johnny nor the stranger had the advantage of -anticipating attack. Both had been surprised. - -Johnny soon learned that his antagonist was no ordinary person. Seizing -the man by the feet, Johnny clamped on with a grip of iron. But to his -utter surprise the man gave the sudden twist of a professional -contortionist, and came up between his own knees, clawing at Johnny's -face like a cat. - -Loosing his hold Johnny made a sudden grab for the other's waist, but in -that fraction of a second the man took a sudden double backward -somersault, and leaping to his feet, dashed away. - -Instantly Johnny was up and after him. He was dashing along at full -speed, making a good gain at every leap, when of a sudden he banged into -a perpendicular wall. The wall was rising. It lifted Johnny some four -feet in air to dash him to the floor again. - -"The fake wall!" he muttered, astonished. Had the other runner known of -this trap and had he sprung it? Or had it been an accident? - -There was not a moment to lose. Dashing back the way he had come, he -rounded a pillar and was again in full pursuit. - -The stranger was now far ahead of him, just rounding a corner to enter -the loading-room. - -Through this loading-room, which was a full block in length and two -hundred feet in width, there ran a double railway switch. This switch was -filled with freight cars, some empty, many loaded with raw material, -bales of rubber-cloth, bars of steel, bundles of wire. If the man chose -to lose himself among these cars the pursuit was at an end. Johnny -pressed on; there was a chance that the great doors at the farther end -stood ajar, and that the man would attempt escape at once. - -As he rounded the corner, Johnny saw that the doors were ajar and that, a -third of the way down the long unloading platform, a slim figure was -fleeing. - -"Can't do it. Got to try, though," he panted, as he sped along. - -Suddenly he became conscious of a chain dangling just before him. It -seemed to him that there came a slight jangle from that chain. Yes, now -he saw it lift, then drop a foot or two. What could it mean? Now it moved -forward a yard and stopped. - -The chain was within his reach. Acting from instinct rather than reason, -he grasped it, thrust his foot in the loop at the bottom, and the next -minute, with a grinding roar sounding above him, he felt himself shoot -forward at a terrific speed. - -The chain was attached to a huge traveling crane. This crane, which was a -steel beam swung from wall to wall of the structure and running on iron -wheels along a steel rail set at the very top of the wall, fifty feet -above, was electrically operated from a small cab that hung just beneath -it. - -Johnny looked up at the cab. He could see no person there. Darkness might -account for that, but all the same he felt a cold chill creep up his -spine. Was this, after all, a charmed factory? Had he, all unknown to -himself, been moved to some enchanted city where heat, with no apparent -origin, melted metals, and where giant cranes ground their way at -express-train speed with no one to guide them? He was tempted to think -so. - -But cold reality brought him back to his senses. Dangling from a chain, -he was rapidly approaching a man who was doing his utmost to escape. What -if that man were armed? A wonderful target he would make, dangling there -in mid-air! - -Cold perspiration stood out on his furrowed brow. His knees seemed about -to sink from beneath him. He swung one foot free, and began whirling -about to give the chain a side-wise pendulum motion that he might prove a -poorer target. - -Meanwhile, the stranger did not turn to look back. The very thunder of -the traveling crane appeared to lend new speed to his limbs. Perhaps he -imagined the entire place to be swarming with men engaged in pursuing -him. A surprised look overspread his face, as Johnny, not three feet to -the right of him, swung past. - -The man instantly dodged back and dropped to the floor, but Johnny, -leaping from his iron swing, was upon him before he could get to his feet -again. - -There followed a second struggle similar to the first. This stranger -_was_ a contortionist, there could be no question about that now. Before -three minutes had elapsed, he had again wriggled like an eel from -Johnny's grasp and had dashed through the door to freedom. - -In disgust, Johnny sat up and dabbed at some scratches on his face which -were bleeding. "Never saw anything like that," he grumbled. - -Above him the traveling crane hung in impressive silence. He gazed up at -the driver's cab. All was motionless there. But what was that? Did he see -one of the landing doors on the fourth floor open a crack, then close -again? He thought so, but in the pale moonlight that streamed in through -the windows he could not be sure. - -"Fate seems to mock at a fellow sometimes," he mumbled. "Look at the luck -I had, that trip on the crane and everything, and then look at the luck I -didn't have; he got away!" - -He moved a foot to rise, and something jangled beside it. - -"What?" - -He put out his hand and took up a bar of steel. For a second he flashed a -light upon it. His heart beat wildly; the steel was blue--the bluest -steel he had ever seen. - -"It's one of the stolen bars," he muttered. "Lost it out of his pocket." - -A careful search showed him that the second one was not there. Then -suddenly he remembered that he was a long way from his main trust--the -vault where reposed the remaining six bars. Rising hurriedly, he went -racing back to the center of the factory where the vault was located. - -Arrived at the corner of the forge-room he paused and peered away through -the darkness to a point where a small light shone above the vault door. -He half-expected to see a figure crouching there. There was no one in -sight. Once more the aisles of machines, conveyors and tunnels appeared -deserted. Strain his eyes and ears as he might, he caught only the din of -the storm beating on the cupolas above the forge-room and an occasional -flash of lightning. - -Seating himself on a fireless forge, he leaned back against its smoke -conveyor and rested. The double struggle, the race, the strange -occurrences of the night, had unnerved him. He started at every new blast -of the wind, fancying it the move of some new intruder. - -He was puzzled. Who could have been present to give him that fast ride on -the chain of the traveling crane? Surely not a watchman; these men knew -nothing about traveling cranes; indeed, few men did. The manipulating of -these huge burden-bearers, capable of carrying a loaded box-car from one -end of the unloading room to the other, was a delicate and difficult -task. There were scores of levers and switches to operate, scores of -motions to memorize, yet this man, whoever he was, had shown a competent -control of the massive machine. Who could he have been? - -He thought again of the bar of secret-process steel which he had now in -his possession. Only a few days before he had wished for a particle of -that steel that he might test it. Now he had in his possession a whole -bar of it, yet how was he to secure a sample for testing? Only a minute -particle was needed, but how was that to be obtained? - -He was seized with a sudden desire to try his skill on this strange -metal. He had learned a little of steel-testing while in the salvage -department. Not sixteen feet from the point where he now sat there was a -branch laboratory for testing steel. All the equipment for testing it was -there. There was only lacking the tiny particle of steel. - -Taking the bar from his pocket, he turned it over and over. He struck it -on an anvil and enjoyed the bell-like ring of it. He held it to the light -and studied the intense blue of it. Never before in the history of the -world had there been such steel, he was sure of that. - -Laying the bar down upon the cinders of the forge, he took a little -circle around the forge-room to stand at last gazing at the door of the -vault. - -Some faint sound caused him to turn about. At once his gaze was fixed on -the forge where the steel bar was resting. The red glow of fire was on -the forge. The coal was on fire. One end of the bar glowed with a -peculiar white light! - -His first thought was that there had been matches lying on the forge, and -that they had been accidentally lighted, setting off the coal. This -theory was quickly abandoned. Coal didn't start burning that easily. - -Then, remembering the old vault-keeper's remark, "It doesn't seem to take -the heat right. Gets all sort of crumbly when it's been heated," he -dashed for the forge, seized a pair of tongs, and drew the piece of metal -from the fire. It slipped from the tongs and fell upon the cement floor -with a dull thud. - -In an agony of fear lest the steel had been ruined he seized a hammer and -cold chisel and, placing the edge of the chisel against the still -white-hot surface, struck it sharply with the hammer. - -A thin circle of steel coiled up about the edge of the chisel, then -dropped to the floor. - -"Nothing the matter with that steel," he muttered, as he watched the -white heat slowly fade to a bright red, then dull red, then black, "but -one thing, I'll wager: That was our old friend the 'white fire' once -more." - -He glanced about him apprehensively, as if fearing to see glowing eyes -staring at him from the dark, but all he saw was a fresh flash of -lightning followed by a burst of thunder. - -Looking down, his eyes were caught by the thin coil of steel cut from the -bar. It was cool now and blue almost to transparency. He picked it up and -dropped it again, to see it bounce ten inches from the floor. - -"Nothing the matter with that steel," he repeated. - -Then a new thought struck him. - -"Why, that--that bit of coiled steel is my particle for testing." - -Touching the bar of steel he found it still hot. Waiting impatiently for -it to cool, he paced the floor, his eye first on the vault-door, then on -the precious steel. What if he were to be successful in his analysis of -the steel? That would be a great honor, indeed. - -Retracing his steps to the side of the forge, he once more tested the -steel bar. Finding it cool enough, he thrust it into his pocket, picked -up his bit for testing, and strode away to the laboratory, where through -a window he could keep watch of the vault door. - - - - - CHAPTER V - A STRANGE TEST - - -On a work bench before the window in the laboratory there rested an -instrument the like of which Johnny had never seen before entering the -factory for work. The main body of it was a black drum about a foot long -and ten inches in diameter. Out from this drum there ran a tube which, -bending first this way, then that, passed into a bottle, then out of it -into a second, then out again and so on until six or eight bottles had -been included in its route. - -"Let's see," said Johnny. "This one catches the carbon, this one, -tungsten, this, water vapor, this, iron, and so on. Guess the thing's all -set for taking off the different known elements that are likely to be -found in any steel. But how about those unknown elements? Here's a wild -shot in the dark." Taking down three bottles from the wall, he poured a -little from each into a fourth bottle. He then replaced the three bottles -and, by the aid of two short tubes, inserted the bottle he had just -filled into the circuit running from the drum. Repeating the operation -with a new set of bottles he added a second bottle to the circuit. - -"There," he smiled, "if there are any strange atoms floating around, -those ought to give them a home. Now for it!" - -Pushing open a slide in the side of the drum he adjusted his bit of steel -in a position between two electrical poles and directly before a small -nozzle. He then shut the drum, turned on a switch which started a low -snapping sound inside the drum, turned a valve which set a slight roar -resounding within the drum, then sat back to watch. - -Presently a greenish gas could be seen passing along inside the glass -tube. - -"Working!" he smiled. "Pretty slick arrangement! Electric spark sets fire -to the metal, oxygen feeds the flame. Burn up anything that way. That gas -was the hardest, most flexible steel in the world a moment ago." - -As he sat there watching the process go forward, hearing the hum and snap -inside the drum, now and then catching the roll of thunder from the storm -that raged outside, he thought of the three Shakespearean witches and -their steaming caldron. He liked to think of himself as a modern wizard -with his smoking electrical caldron. - -But something caught his eye. The color of the liquid in one of the -bottles of chemicals he had mixed at random was turning from white to a -dull brown as the gas from burning steel passed through. - -"Catching something!" he ejaculated. "Wonder what it may be?" - -For ten more minutes he sat watching. Then, when all the gas had -apparently passed off he turned the valve, threw out the switch, and sat -there lost in thought. - -It was interesting, this experiment. This instrument had always -fascinated him. He felt that it might be that he had made a discovery. -But thus far he could go, no farther. Of chemical analysis he knew -nothing. Already he had made a vow with himself that, as soon as his debt -of honor was paid, he would begin somewhere, somehow, a study of those -sciences which were so closely related to industry--chemistry, -metallurgy, engineering, mechanics, physics. - -But now he was stuck. He had never really been given permission to work -in the laboratory alone at night and he was loath now to admit he had -done so. - -"Oh, well," he sighed, "probably nothing to it, anyway. I'll just label -you and put you up here for the present." He scrawled a few words on a -label, pasted it to the bottle containing the dull brown liquid, then set -it upon an upper shelf. - -"Some day," he smiled, "perhaps I'll have the nerve to tell Mr. Brown -about it, but not now." Brown was the head of the laboratory. - -He went out into the aisle and began walking slowly up and down before -the vault. He was sleepy and tired. This night work was telling on him. - -"Wish it was over with," he muttered. "Anyway," he smiled, "I've got -something to show them this time," and he patted the steel bar in the -right-hand pocket of his blouse. - - * * * * * * * * - -"You say someone drove the traveling crane down the loading-room and -helped you chase that man!" the manager exclaimed next day after Johnny -had told the story of his queer night's adventures. "That seems -incredible!" - -"Maybe so, but it's true!" - -"There are only three men in our employ who can run that crane and they, -I am sure, were not there." - -Johnny smiled. "Can't explain it; all I know is, it's true." - -"I'll put a double guard on the place. Can't have things going on like -that." - -Johnny smiled again. He had told of the double struggle with the -snake-like adversary, of the chase, of the ride on the traveling crane, -and the recovery of one steel bar, but had not mentioned the "white fire" -nor the steel test he had made. "What's the use?" he had asked himself. -"Who'd understand a thing like that 'white fire'?" - -"Well," said his employer, "I'm glad you recovered one of the bars; I -only wish you had secured the other. One may do us all the harm -possible." - -"You never saw such a man," Johnny half-apologized. "Like an eel, he was, -a regular contortionist. I've handled a lot of fellows, but never one -like him." - -"It wasn't your fault," Mr. McFarland reassured him. "You did better work -than many persons twice your age might have done. Well," after a moment's -thought, "you keep that bar until this evening, then, when you go to -work, give it to Marquis and have him put it in the vault. Your work will -be as before until further orders." - -Johnny was disappointed. He had hoped to be relieved from this task, -which would grow doubly monotonous since it was definitely known that the -remaining bar of steel had been carried from the factory. He managed to -conceal his disappointment, however, and went his way, to sleep the day -through with the bar of steel beneath his pillow. - -He did not return the bar to Marquis, the day keeper of the vault, as he -had been instructed to do. When Johnny arrived he found the vault locked, -its keeper gone. - -"Well, old precious one," he smiled, patting the bar of metal, "it's one -more night in my company for you, whether you like it or not." - -It was that same night, in the long, silent hours just following -midnight, that something happened that was destined to change the entire -course of Johnny Thompson's life. He was sleepy--sleepier than usual, for -his sleep had been broken into that day. - -"If only I had another shaving off that steel bar," he thought to -himself, "I'd do that experiment again, and try for a different result." - -As if expecting the miracle to repeat itself, he walked to the forge-room -and placed the bar of steel on the little heap of coals at the center of -the same forge that had burned so mysteriously the previous night. - -Then with a laugh, which told plainer than words that he thought he was -kidding himself, he turned and strolled away down the aisle among the -forges. - -No room held such an endless fascination for him as this forge-room. In -the day, especially toward evening when the outer light was failing, when -the forge fires burned brightly, and the white hot metal on the dies -glowed at each stroke of the massive hammers, when the whang-whang-whang -of steel on steel raised a mighty clamor, then it was a place to conjure -about. But even now, in the dead still of the night, the powerful hammers -resting from their labor, the long line of forges with fires burned out -spoke to him of solemn grandeur and dormant power. - -He had just made the length of the room and had turned about when from -his lips there escaped a muffled cry. - -Instantly he broke into a run. Once more, as on the previous night, the -forge on which the steel bar lay was a mass of white and red fire. - -By the time he had reached the spot, the bar of metal was a glowing white -mass from end to end. - -His first thought was to seize the tongs and drag the bar from the forge -to the floor; his second was a bolder one. It caused his heart to thump -loudly, his breath to come quickly. - -Dared he do it? - -He put his hand to an electric switch by the side of the trip-hammer -nearest the forge. The answer was a snap and a spark. - -"Current's on," he murmured. "I could do it. Old McPherson taught me how -when I was in the salvage department--but dare I?" - -To the lower surface of the hammer was attached a nickel-steel die. To -the surface on which it fell was bolted another. The two matched. A -white-hot bit of steel placed upon the lower die at just the right spot, -then struck; then moved and struck again; moved and struck two times -more, would be no longer a clumsy bar of steel, but a rough-finished -connecting-rod for an automobile. The white-hot bar of steel before him -was just the right length and thickness. Dared he do it? - -As in a dream, he seized the metal with the tongs, lifted it, swung it -about to the proper position on the nickel-steel plate, touched a pedal -with his foot, heard the whang of steel on steel, saw the hammer rise -again, moved the white-hot metal, touched the pedal, heard the whang -again; twice more repeated the operation, then tossed the bit of metal, -still glowing white-hot, upon the sanded floor; a perfect connecting-rod -as to shape--but as to composition? His breath came hard. Had the bit of -metal been spoiled in the heating and the forging? And, if it had, how -could he ever square himself? - -To quiet his wildly beating heart he took a turn about the factory, then -returned to the forge-room. He was just re-entering the forge-room when -something caught his eye. What was it? Had his eye deceived him, or had -he caught sight of a furtive figure dodging behind the sheet-metal press -over at the right? In a moment he would investigate, but first he must -make sure that the newly forged connecting-rod of priceless steel was -safe. - -Quickly his heart beat as he lifted the now thoroughly cooled steel, and -allowed it to fall upon the cement floor. - -"Sounds like real steel," he exulted. - -He picked it up and examined it closely. "Not a flaw. And real steel--the -best steel on earth--and I forged it! But how?" He paused, a puzzled look -overspreading his face. "How shall I tell them I heated it? What good -will one forging do with no means of forging more?" - -"Oh, well!" he murmured, at last, "I'll tell them, anyway. And now," -dropping the connecting-rod in his pocket, "the next thing is something -else. I wonder what it will be!" - -He left the forge-room and walked cautiously toward the sheet-metal -press. - -As he neared it, a dark object, like some wild animal leaping from its -hiding-place among the crags, leaped out, and away. - -Who was this? Was it his contortionist-enemy returned in hopes of -retrieving the lost bar, or was it some other intruder? - -Johnny did not waste time on idle questions, but sprang away in hot -pursuit. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - A WILD RACE IN THE NIGHT - - -Johnny had not gone far in the pursuit of the strange intruder who had -leaped out from behind the sheet-steel press, before he realized that -this was no ordinary runner. Not only was he fleet and sure, but he was -also nimble as a deer. - -Almost from the first it became an obstacle race, a hurdle race, a -long-distance endurance race, all in one. Into the milling-room, where -were long lines of milling-machines and where great quantities of -unfinished parts--cam-shafts, crank-shafts, gears and a multitude of -smaller parts--were piled close together, the fugitive raced. Over -machines and heaps of parts alike he hurdled. Dodging this way and that, -he was now lost to Johnny's view and now found again. - -Panting, perspiring, yet confident, Johnny followed on. Knowing full well -that when it came to a test of endurance few men could outdo him, he held -to his pace, striving only to keep his opponent in sight. - -One thing puzzled him. In the tiger-like leap of the fellow, in the -swinging, crouching stoop, there was something strikingly familiar. - -"I've seen him before, I know that," he told himself, "but when and -where?" - -Suddenly the fellow shot up the cross-bars of an inclined conveyor track -which led to the second floor. Suspended from a mono-rail above this -conveyor track was an electrically controlled tram. - -Was the electricity turned on? Johnny's mind worked with the speed of a -wireless. His muscles did its bidding. Leaping to the platform of the -tram, he threw the lever back. So suddenly did the thing start forward -that Johnny was all but thrown from the tram. - -The next instant he caught his breath and threw in the clutch. He was not -a second too soon, for had the tram traveled ten feet further it would -inevitably have struck the racing stranger square in the back of his -head. - -"I want to catch him, not kill him," muttered Johnny. - -But the stranger was game. Leaping away to the right, he dropped through -a hole in the floor in which there dangled a chain. Quickly he -disappeared from sight. - -Johnny followed, and, just as he touched the floor below, heard the hum -of an electric motor. - -Johnny knew at once what it was--a "mule," as the workmen called the -short, snub-nosed electric trucks used all over the shops for light -hauling. - -"I can't catch him on a mule," he groaned. - -But again his face cleared. Just before him there stood another of the -trucks. "A mule against a mule," he smiled. "Now we'll see who's the best -driver." - -The race, while wild and furious, assumed an almost humorous aspect; -indeed, Johnny fancied that from time to time the stranger turned about -and uttered a low chuckle. That was disconcerting, to say the least. -Added to this was the growing conviction that he had met this fellow -before, and that under more favorable circumstances. - -All this, however, did not in one whit abate his desire to win the race -and capture the fellow. Wildly the mules plunged on. Around this corner, -then that one, down a long row of half-assembled automobiles where a -single mislaid tool in their track might mean a disastrous spill, through -a maze of trucks loaded down with finished parts, now out into the open -air between buildings, now through a tunnel, they raced. Now gaining, now -losing, now dashing through a short-cut and almost clipping the end of -the stranger's mule, now headed off by a slamming door, Johnny gained, -only to lose again, until at last he came up short to find the stranger's -mule standing deserted in the heart of the packing-room. - -"Where could he have gone?" - -It took but a moment for the answer. There came the grind of the overhead -tram. The tram used for carrying fully boxed machines led to the great -loading room where Johnny had lost his other race. - -"If he makes it, he's gone!" Leaping out and up, Johnny caught the -platform of a second tram; he drew himself up, threw in the lever and was -once more in the race. - -At last fortune was favoring him. The door to the loading-room was -locked. The stranger was running himself into a narrow passage from which -escape would be impossible. Johnny leaped from his tram, to find the -stranger facing him. That person was clearly on the defense. With fists -doubled up he advanced to attack. - -Just as the stranger struck out with his right hand, Johnny ducked -low--so low that the other's blow glanced harmlessly over his head. The -next instant Johnny would have come up with a "haymaker," had not the -stranger thrown himself, stomach down, on Johnny's back, and turned a -quick somersault forward. - -Whipping himself about, prepared for another wild race, Johnny was -astonished to find the stranger standing smiling at him, and extending -his hand; - -"Good work, Johnny, old boy!" the other grinned. "You haven't lost a bit -of your pep!" - -"You've got the best of me," Johnny smiled doubtfully, "but if you ever -had any more pep yourself, I'd hate to have followed you far!" He mopped -his brow. - -"Don't recognize me, eh? Perhaps you miss the blue goggles." - -"What?" Johnny stared. "What? Not my old pal, Panther Eye?" - -"The same," smiled the other. - -"But what are you doing here?" - -"Been working here for a month. Got a way of getting in when I want to. -Thought I'd make you an early morning call. Whew! you sure gave me a -merry chase! Good of you though not to knock my head off with that tram. -'Fraid you'll never make an ideal guard." - -"I'd never be a guard at all if I had my way. But what'd you run for?" - -"Just wanted to see how much you had in you," chuckled Panther Eye. - -"Oh, you did! Well, you saw, didn't you?" - -"Yes," the other admitted, taking his turn at mopping his brow. - -"Say!" Johnny exclaimed, "since it's only you, I've got to get back to my -post. Got some cakes and a little ice-cream in the bottom of a freezer -from the company cafeteria. Want to join me?" - -"Sure." - -"All right; let's go." - -As they made their way back through the maze of machinery to the vault, -Johnny was busy with his own thoughts. Strange questions kept rising in -his mind. This fellow, Panther Eye, or "Pant," as the boys called him for -short, had been with him in many an adventure. He had appeared to possess -strange powers, too. The boys had called him "Panther Eye" because he -appeared to have the power to see in the dark. There had been a time when -Johnny had been with him in a cave dark as a dungeon, surrounded by -hostile natives, yet Pant had somehow known that the natives were there, -and had led the way through the dense darkness to safety. There had been -other times--many of them--in which Pant had made Johnny a heavy debtor -to him through his use of wonderful powers. - -"Now," Johnny was wondering, "just how much has he to do with the events -of the last few days? He's too honorable a fellow to have anything to do -with the attempt to secure the secret-process steel for some other -manufacturer. But how about the white fire? What of the driving of the -traveling crane?" - -At last he closed his mental questionings with a sigh. He had never asked -Pant to reveal any of his secrets and he was not going to begin now. - -Soon they were feasting on ice-cream and cake and talking over old times. - -"By the way," said Johnny, as dawn began to break, "have you ever met Mr. -McFarland?" - -"Say not!" grinned Pant. "He's the manager, ain't he?" - -"Yes. Want to meet him?" - -"I'd try it once." - -"All right. Soon's I'm relieved from duty we'll wander around to his -office." - -"Chum of yours, I suppose?" - -"Not exactly. But I'm working under his orders. Got something to turn in -this morning." - -"Let's see. What?" - -Johnny showed him the connecting-rod made of the strange blue steel. -"Made that myself," Johnny said proudly. - -A peculiar smile played about Pant's lips, but he said never a word. - -When Pant had been introduced to the manager, as one of Johnny's oldest -and best friends, who happened to be working at the plant, Johnny -produced the connecting rod, and, with trembling fingers, handed it to -the manager. - -"What's that?" A puzzled expression came into the manager's eyes. - -"Connecting-rod made of the new-process steel." - -"What! Can't be! That steel won't work! Nobody knows how. But--" He -paused to look more closely--"but it is! Say! Do you know how to work -it?" - -"No," Johnny said regretfully, "I'm afraid I don't." - -"Then how was it made? Where did you get it?" - -Johnny sat down and this time told the story of the white fire through -from the beginning. Only one thing he did not tell: He did not tell of -testing the steel in the laboratory and of the bottle of brownish liquid -on the top shelf. - -The manager listened with rapt attention, now and then ejaculating: -"Never heard of such a thing! Can't believe it unless I see it myself! -Impossible, young man! Impossible! Can't believe it!" - -"But here's the forging to prove it," insisted Johnny stoutly. - -"Tell you what!" said the manager, "I'm willing to lose a night's sleep -over it, or part of one at least. We'll try the thing out. We'll see if -the ghost walks to-night," he laughed. "We'll take out two of the long -bars in the vault and one of the short ones. We'll put them on the forge -and--and if the fire comes and they get white-hot, we'll cut the two long -bars in half, and hammer four connecting-rods from them and one from the -short one. That will give six with this one you have, making a full set -for one of our chummy roadsters. Can you drive a car?" he asked suddenly. - -"Yes, sir." - -"All right. If the ghost walks to-night, it's a trip clear across the -continent for you--all the way to the Golden Gate and back again! What -say?" - -"I--I--say all right," stammered Johnny. - -"Mind you," warned Mr. McFarland, shaking his finger at Johnny, "that's -providing the white fire comes. But, pshaw! it won't. Whoever heard of -such a thing? But, anyway, I'll be around at nine sharp." - -"Shall I bring Pant?" asked Johnny. - -"As you like--providing the ghost doesn't object." The manager laughed -again, and the two boys walked out. - -That night, when the perpetual din of trip-hammers, riveters, millers, -and general construction machinery was stilled, and the plant had taken -on a hushed and seemingly expectant air, the three, Mr. McFarland, Johnny -and Pant, gathered in the corner of the forge-room. - -The manager seemed nervous. His hand trembled slightly as he placed the -three steel bars on the forge. - -Johnny's brow was wrinkled. He was worried. He was fearful that the -experiment would not work. Indeed, he had little hopes that it would. And -he did want it to, for success meant the chance to get away from his -monotonous task, as well as a glorious cross-continent trip. - -Pant's face wore the old mask-like look that Johnny had seen on it so -many times before. - -"Now, I take it," smiled the manager, "that the formula is to place the -bars of steel on the forge, then turn your back and walk away. Always -must go according to formula when dealing with ghosts," he laughed. "Are -you ready? I have placed the bars in position. All right. We're off! -Remember, no looking back!" Slowly, solemnly, they marched to the end of -the forge-room, then turned about. Johnny's heart was beating violently. - -"Why!" exclaimed the manager, "your friend isn't with us!" - -It was true. Pant had disappeared. Before Johnny could make a guess as to -what had become of him, there came another exclamation from Mr. -McFarland: - -"It's working!" There was awe in his voice. - -Johnny stared for a second, then started on the run. He was closely -followed by his employer. The bars, already glowing red, had turned to -almost a white heat by the time they reached the side of the forge. - -The manager had been an expert forge man long before he became a -capitalist. He now took charge. - -"Steady!" he cautioned. "One thing at a time. First we'll cut those bars -in two. A chisel edge on that anvil there. That's right. There you are. -Now forge that one while I cut the other one." - -Whang-whang-whang went the hammer. One perfect connecting-rod. -Whang-whang-whang--another. Three times more, then with perspiration -standing out on their faces, Johnny and his employer sat facing one -another while the connecting-rods cooled. To Johnny it seemed that they -must resemble nothing quite so much as two puppies, who, after succeeding -in killing a rat, sit on their haunches to grin at one another. - -Suddenly Johnny sprang up; - -"Hello! Here's Pant," he shouted. "Where you been? Look what we've got!" -He pointed at the forgings. - -Pant smiled a strangely noncommittal smile. "Why, I--happened to think of -something," was all he said. There was again that teasing smile about the -corners of his mouth. - -"Well, now, I'd like to know more about that transcontinental auto trip," -smiled Johnny, turning to his employer. - -"Not to-night. All the details are not worked out yet. Besides, it's -late, and old fellows like me belong in bed. But I want to congratulate -you." He put out his hand. Johnny shook it warmly. "The more I think of -it, Johnny, the more I'm inclined to think your ghost is a scientific -enigma." With a nod to Pant which might have meant merely "good night" -and which also might have indicated something more mysterious, he was -gone. - -"You see," said Mr. McFarland, as Johnny took the chair by his desk next -morning, "you helped us to speed things up quite a bit by getting those -connecting-rods forged. This new steel must be tested out in actual -service. Even had we the formula, this would be true. Now, with this set -of connecting-rods in our possession, we are in a position to give the -steel a thorough testing out. - -"My proposition is this," he wheeled about, and leveled his eyes upon -Johnny. "We'll get those connecting-rods milled down to the shape and -surface needed, if we have to use diamond millers to do it. When they are -in perfect shape, we'll put them into one of our chummy roadster engines, -and you take that roadster across the continent and back again to test -them out. What do you say to that?" His face broadened into a smile. -"It'll be some trip, but by George you deserve it!" - -Johnny did not appear to share fully in his enthusiasm. - -"It's all right," he hesitated, "and I'd like to do it. It would be a -wonderful experience, but--but there's that chummy roadster I was -salvaging and was to have at cost. It's two-thirds done. It will mean a -long wait. I--I'd like to finish it." - -"I see," said the manager, stroking his chin. "You want a car of your -own--that's natural. I suppose most boys do." - -"It's not that," Johnny hesitated, then added: "Not that at all, sir. I -want to finish it to sell." - -"Sell it?" His employer stared. - -"Yes, sir! I have a debt." - -"A debt?" The manager's eyes registered disapproval. "A boy of your age -shouldn't have debts." - -Johnny got red in the face, hesitated a moment, then blurted out: "It's -not my debt. My father's debt, but one he would have paid every cent of -had he lived." - -"Your father's debt?" the manager asked with a curious change of tone. -"Yes, he would have paid it. I believe you. And you want to pay by -selling the car you have salvaged?" - -"Yes, sir; part of it." Johnny's eyes were upon the floor. - -"All right, you shall. You shall pay it. But just now we need you for -this new service. Can you trust me to see that your affairs come out all -right?" - -"Yes, sir." Johnny looked him in the eye. - -"All right. Be back in my office here at this time day after to-morrow. -In the meantime, you are on your own." - -"There's one thing more," said Johnny. "This fellow Pant is an old friend -of mine; he's seen me through a lot of things. Any objection to his going -along?" - -"None whatever. He'll be a help to you, and between you, you must guard -the car well, for you must not for one minute forget that it contains -almost our entire supply of the precious new steel, and that as yet we do -not know the formula." - -"We'll do our best," said Johnny, as he pulled on his cap and left the -room. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - A RACE ACROSS THE DESERT - - -Johnny was puzzled and not a little worried. The chummy roadster, -equipped with connecting-rods of the new steel, which had carried them -seven thousand miles without a mishap, lunged first to one side of the -road, then to the other. It leaped forward to bury itself in a cloud of -dust that lay deep as mud on the desert trail. To the right and left of -them and before them, far as eye could see, was sagebrush. The air was -permeated with the odor of it. - -They were two hundred miles from anywhere, in the heart of the Great -American Desert, and behind them, like a streak of fire, a long, low red -car was bearing down upon them. It was this car that puzzled and worried -him. - -"Can't give her more gas, can you?" Pant asked hoarsely. "They're gaining -fast." - -Pushing the dusty goggles up from the ridge of his nose, Johnny stared -ahead. There never was another such trail. In a land where rain never -falls the roads rut, and the ruts fill with dust. Cars sink in to the -axles, and skidding, shoot to the other side, to fall into a deeper rut. - -"To go faster is suicide," Johnny groaned. "Guess it'll have to be a -fight!" - -"Mighty uneven one, too, probably," Pant muttered. "Don't stop till I -tell you to; I'm getting into the back seat to have a look at them." - -Gripping the seat he made his way, tossed first this way, then that, to -the back of the car. There he remained with eyes fixed on the back trail. - -Rapidly Johnny ran over in his mind the circumstances which led up to -this moment. He had gone to the manager's office at the time appointed, -and there had been given the car, equipped with the strangely valuable -connecting-rods. He had been instructed to draw on the company for -expense money when necessary, to report progress once a week, to make his -way to the Pacific coast and back. - -The outgoing journey had been wonderful. The speeding across broad -plains, between waving fields of grain, the climbing of the Rocky -mountain and Cascade passes, circling up and up and up, with here a -yawning canyon hundreds of feet beneath them, and here, not a hundred -feet above them, one of those perpetual banks of snow; all this had given -Johnny a new vision of the grandeur and beauty of his native land. - -The return trip had been uneventful until they had reached the western -edge of the Great American Desert. There in a garage, where they had left -their car for a change of tires and to secure a box lunch to take with -them in crossing, they had seen a man who roused Johnny's suspicions. - -"Did you see that fellow?" he had asked of Pant, as they left the garage, -"the chap standing by the door?" - -"Some bird!" Pant had chuckled. - -"Looks like a gigantic frog," Johnny had smiled. "Did you notice what -prodigiously long fingers he had, and what spindly legs?" - -"I bet he could scratch his ear with his big toe all right," Pant had -laughed. "Some contortionist, maybe." - -At the word "contortionist" Johnny had started. He recalled his struggle -back there in the factory with the fellow who appeared to have all the -strange characteristics of a contortionist. So strong was the resemblance -between this man and the one back in the garage he was tempted to turn -back. - -But he had called himself fanciful and foolish, and had gone on with Pant -for their lunch. - -Upon returning to the garage, however, his first thought was of the car. -The instant his eyes fell upon it a quick exclamation had escaped his -lips, and he bounded forward. - -Dressed in a suit of unionalls, and bending over the engine, had been the -slim stranger. - -"Hey, there! What's up?" Johnny had demanded. - -"Tunin' her up a bit. Why? What's worry'n' yuh?" - -Johnny eyed the stranger angrily. - -"That's our car. We didn't order any work done in it." - -"Your car?" The other had straightened up in amazement, real or cleverly -pretended. "Why, then I'm workin' on the wrong jitney! Beg your pardon. -I'll put her back in shape. Won't take but a minute." - -"I'll tend to it myself," Johnny had said rather shortly. - -"Oh! All right, brother. No quarrel about that!" The stranger had -gathered up his tools and had backed away. - -Johnny's heart had skipped a beat when he saw how close a shave it had -been; two of the connecting-rods were all but free from their fastenings, -and the others might have been in a few moments more. - -"I'd like to have him pinched," he grumbled, "but what's the use. They'd -say we were crazy. You can't tell them the whole truth, and you can't -have a man arrested for working on the wrong car by mistake." - -Pant nodded a sympathetic assent. - -They had taken the desert trail with many misgivings. This roaring red -demon behind told them that their fears were well founded. They did not -know how many men there were in the car, but there were probably two to -their one, and the other men were doubtless heavily armed. There could be -no doubting their purpose. They were after the steel. - -"Looks bad!" Johnny groaned, as he braced himself in the seat and -prepared to give the car three more notches of gas, hoping against hope -the meanwhile that they would heave in sight of some sheep-herder's shack -or some truck caravan coming from the other direction. Well he knew that, -on this unfrequented road, the chance was slight. - -They were speeding up. The car swayed from side to side like a drunken -man. It tossed this way and that like a ship in a high sea. Now they -careened to the right, and, running on two wheels, plunged madly forward, -to swing back and go whirling to the left. - -All this time Johnny, with hands grimly gripping the wheel, with eyes -glued upon the road, was, in his subconscious mind, counting the cost. It -had been his chance. Now he was going to lose. He had hoped that this -trip would mean much toward wiping out his debt of honor. That was all -over now. He had made, he hoped, a good impression on his employer. This, -too, would be forgotten. With the valuable steel parts stolen, the work -of their weeks of travel would be lost. The secret formula, too, might be -discovered. And all this because he had not taken precaution to see that -the wily stranger was clear of the neighborhood before they started -across the desert. - -A hill loomed ahead. The slight climb ended in a broad, flat plateau. -Here the alkali dust disappeared. Straight, hard and smooth for a mile, -perhaps two miles, the road stretched. - -Johnny's heart gave a bound of hope. What was beyond the brow of that -plateau? - -All this time his mind was wandering back to Pant. Sitting there silently -in the back seat, his eyes glued upon the road, he seemed oblivious to -all else. There had been a time when Johnny would have considered him -equal to the task of stopping the pursuers by some magic power. By the -flash of a crimson light, which appeared to come from his very eyes, he -had seen him stop a hungry tiger stalking its prey. But those were the -days in which Pant wore a cap pulled well down and a pair of immense -black goggles. There had been mystery behind this cap and those goggles. -Pant without them seemed shorn of his magic power, like Samson when shorn -of his hair. - -Down the smooth, straight stretch of road they sped, and for one mile at -least the red demon gained not one single yard. - -But as they reached the end of that plateau, grim despair gripped the -boy's heart. Far and away lay only the uneven volcanic ash and the -sagebrush. Not a house, not an automobile, not a cattleman's pony dotted -the landscape, and from this promontory one might see miles. - -"Might as well wreck her." Johnny ground his teeth. "We're stuck here. If -they catch us they'll strip her, and you can't run a car without -connecting-rods. Old boat," he groaned, "we'll stick to the trail till we -crash or they run us down." - -The car gave a lurch, all but turned over, righted itself and shot down -the ridge. - -"Hey!" Johnny caught Pant's voice at his elbow. "Guess you can ease up a -bit now. No use takin' too many chances. I think by the looks of it, -their car's on fire!" - -Johnny slowed down, then looked back. He could not believe Pant. He -looked again. It was true; above the dull brown cloud of dust was a white -and black cloud of smoke. - -"Couldn't be the sagebrush?" said Johnny, rubbing his eyes. - -"Don't think so," said Pant, climbing back into the front seat. -"Sagebrush wouldn't make that kind of smoke; besides, it's green and -wouldn't burn." The car bumped along at a milder pace. The red demon, now -unmistakably ablaze, reached the crest of the plateau and stopped. Men -swarmed out of her. - -"Four of 'em," Pant chuckled. "Fine chance we'd have had against 'em!" - -"They're waving at us," said Johnny, after a glance over his shoulder. - -"Let 'em wave. Think we're green, I guess. Expect us to come right back -and play things into their hands. Be a car or something along here to-day -or to-morrow, sure. Won't hurt 'em to eat dust awhile. That's the job -they meant to give us, all right." - -Ten miles farther on they stopped for lunch. As Johnny drew the lunch-box -from beneath the back seat, he noticed a long, slim leather case lying on -the floor of the car. As he picked it up, he was astonished at the weight -of it. - -"What's this, Pant?" he asked in a surprised tone. - -"That? Why that"--Pant seemed unduly excited--"that's a little emergency -case I always carry with me." - -He put out his hand for it, and having it, at once fastened it to his -belt beneath his jacket. - -"Emergency case?" thought Johnny. "I wonder what kind." But as usual he -asked no questions. - -He was destined to remember that case and the unusual circumstances of -the burning car many days later. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - THE DUST-EATING MULE - - -The long, dark corridors of the vast automobile and airplane factory were -silent. The same old ponderous machines loomed here and there, while -smaller ones stood sentry everywhere. At the end of one long alleyway a -small light gleamed. Flickering first to the right, then to the left, it -cast gigantic shadows against the walls. - -Two boys were working over a "mule." A mule in a factory, as you will -remember, is one of those hard-working, snub-nosed little motors that -drag trucks about from department to department. The boys were working -over the motor of this mule. There came now and then the metallic clink -of a wrench, or the tap tap of a hammer, followed by a grunt of -satisfaction or disgust. - -"There!" Johnny Thompson straightened up and stretched his cramped -muscles. "I guess she's about ready to move." - -The trip across-continent and the return had been accomplished. Aside -from the stirring adventure on the desert, they had met with no unusual -experiences. The connecting-rods, struck from the steel of mysterious -composition, had performed wonderfully well. When measured by instruments -that were exact to the ten-thousandth part of an inch, it had been found -that they had worn down only thirty-four ten thousandths of an inch, -while connecting-rods of the best known commercial steel would have worn -one hundred and forty-two ten thousandths of an inch in making the same -mileage. Small figures, but in the history of steel they promised to mark -an epoch. - -The inventor's mind was improving but he had not as yet succeeded in -recalling the formula. While hoping for his recovery, the boys were -preparing to make a more rigorous test of this new steel. The company -were manufacturing a new type of seaplane. Every afternoon the two boys, -togged out in aviator's garb, were learning to fly this new plane. It was -planned that, when the boys found themselves to be perfect masters of -this new vehicle of the air, the six connecting-rods should be placed in -the motor of the seaplane, and that it be shipped to the Pacific coast. -There, under ideal conditions, they were to test out, not only the -connecting-rods, but the seaplane, flying, as a last trial, a thousand -miles or more. - -The pay Johnny had received for the cross-continent trip had enabled him -to make a large payment on his debt of honor. As for Pant, he, for the -first time in his life, had a savings account. - -During their forenoons they were busy in the factory. At times Johnny -thought of the vial of dark liquid that reposed on the shelf in the -laboratory, the one he had placed there the night he made the analysis of -the mysterious steel. At one time while in the laboratory he had glanced -up to make sure it was there. It was still in its place. He had been -tempted to tell the chemist about it but was afraid of being laughed at. - -"Never mind," he told himself, "in time I will learn to make a chemical -analysis myself. Then I'll see what's what." - -The question of the strange white fire puzzled him at times. He wondered, -too, how the automobile of the contortionist had happened to catch fire -in the desert. But these were mere vague wonderings which had no answer. - -Though they were well occupied during the day, the boys found time at -night for working upon a new, strange problem of which as yet, their -friend, Mr. McFarland, the president and manager, knew nothing. It was -this problem that occupied their minds at the present moment. It was a -stirring moment. Many nights they had spent working over a new type of -engine, one that had never been set in a motor vehicle before. Now it was -ready for the try-out. - -"Track clear?" breathed Johnny. - -"All clear," Pant whispered back. - -"All right; here goes!" - -There followed a series of sudden sharp explosions. These increased -rapidly until they became a loud and insistent purr. Then, with the force -and speed of a frightened pig, the little motor car shot forward. - -The movement was too sudden for the boys. Johnny was thrown backward upon -the floor. Pant, thrown in a wild whirl to the right, saw the motor, a -black streak, shoot down the dark alley-way. - -"She's got speed," he muttered. - -The wild snorting of the motor awakened echoes in every corner of the -factory. This was followed almost immediately by a deafening crash. - -Pant started quickly forward, then paused. Johnny was now on his feet. - -"Did she explode or hit the wall?" Pant asked. - -"Hit the wall." - -Johnny rubbed his bruised head ruefully. - -"Wouldn't believe she could make such time." - -"That was a powerful engine." - -The two boys were now on the run. They arrived at the scene of the -disaster just ahead of a tall man carrying a flashlight and a bunch of -keys. - -This man--the watchman--flashed his light upon the bent and twisted metal -that lay against the wall, then demanded sternly: - -"What's that?" - -"That," said Johnny with a wry smile, "is a pile of scrap." - -"Don't get fresh," the watchman warned. "What is it?" - -"It's what I said it is," said Johnny seriously. "If you want to know -what it was, I'll tell you; it was a dust-eating mule." - -The watchman's mouth flew open. "A--A," he sputtered incredulously. "I -told you before, young fellow, don't get fresh." He moved a hand toward -Johnny menacingly. - -"I have told you the truth," said Johnny stoutly. "Perhaps I should have -said a dust-burning mule. That's what she was. It wouldn't be a bit of -good to explain to you; you wouldn't understand, and besides, I don't -want to. That's our secret. We have permission from Mr. McFarland to -conduct experiments here nights." - -"But you have no permission to endanger men's lives." - -"That's right," Johnny admitted; "we were a bit careless." - -"I'll just turn the facts in to the boss and you can fight it out with -him," said the watchman sourly as he turned away. - -"Well, that's that," said Johnny sorrowfully. "It's a complete loss. -We'll have to begin all over again. But from that little test I am -convinced that the engine has a wonderful future." - -"This particular one had a brief but eventful past, I'd say," grinned -Pant. - -After one more look at the wreck, they turned and went their way. - -That night before he fell asleep Johnny reviewed in his mind the events -that led up to the happenings of that evening. - -He, Johnny, had been standing on the steps of the official entrance to -the plant one afternoon, when Mr. McFarland had said to him: "Johnny, -please go down to the north gate and request that old man to go away. He -is stopping the workers as they pass and trying to engage them in -conversation. He looks like he is a propagandist for some radical -organization trying to make the men discontented. Get rid of him if you -can." - -The man had turned out to be not a radical at all, but a friendly and -harmless old man who was seeking some one who could be interested in a -new type of engine which he had invented. Such a fine spoken and polished -old gentleman had he proved to be that Johnny had been prevailed upon to -accompany him to his home to see the engine. - -He had found the home of the aged inventor to be a fourth-floor back -flat, being merely two dark rooms upon an alley. Here, with his wife, a -pleasant-faced old lady, he lived and labored. - -"You see," he had said, as he uncovered the engine with the dramatic -movement of one who unveils a great work of art, "this engine of mine is -different from all other internal-combustion engines. It doesn't burn -gasoline; it burns dust." - -"Dust!" Johnny had exclaimed. - -"Dust!" the old man had smiled. "Watch it!" - -He touched a lever. There followed a succession of rapid and sharp -explosions. These increased in number per second until they became a -prolonged purr, as the one in the "mule" had done. The engine was now -revolving at full speed. - -"You see?" the old man had smiled. "She runs--on dust!" - -"On dust," Johnny had repeated in a daze. - -The old man had touched the lever and the engine had stopped. - -"You think it strange," the old man had smiled, motioning Johnny to a -chair and taking one himself; "but, after all, is it so strange? The -first internal-combustion engine, we have it on good authority, did not -burn gasoline but a composition of gun powder and other substances. The -greatest grain elevator in the world was destroyed by a dust explosion. -Billions of fine particles of carbon dust gathered in the air space above -the wheat. A spark touched it off. A tremendous explosion followed. There -is unlimited power there. Why not harness it? - -"You are looking," he pointed at the engine, "upon the motor power of the -future. It ran, as you saw a moment ago, on coal dust, a very finely -powdered coal dust. A little is let in at a time. A slight ash is formed. -This drops out at the top of the cylinder, as you will see the engine -runs inverted. It was burning coal dust, but any carbon dust will do. -Wood ground fine, wheat dust, peat dust, any carbon dust will drive it. -Think what that means to the world-traveler of the future! No more -disgusting waiting for gasoline; no more weary miles on foot. You land in -the heart of Africa, India, Siberia. You have with you a small grinder -like a wheat mill. It is run by batteries. You are out of fuel. You -merely grind up a dry tree-trunk, a sack of wheat or a few pounds of -coal, and you are away again." - -"Sounds like a dream," Johnny had sighed. - -"It is a dream--a dream that has come true," the old man had fairly -shouted. "All that is needed is capital to perfect larger motors, to put -them upon the market. If only your president can be made to see it, as -you and I see it--" - -"I'll try," Johnny had gripped the old inventor's hand. "I'll see what I -can do." - -The next night Pant had accompanied Johnny to the aged inventor's room, -and there over some wonderful coffee and doughnuts prepared by the -inventor's wife, they talked over the future of the strange dust-burning -engine. - -It was decided that, since the engine had never been tried out in any -vehicle, Johnny and Pant should obtain permission to experiment with it -in the factory after hours to perfect it further before it was presented -to the busy president. - -Three weeks of spare time experimenting had resulted in the complete -wreck of the engine, smashed against a brick wall. - -"Now we'll have to begin all over again, and because that watchman turns -us in we'll have to show our plans to the president," said Johnny. - -The revealing of their plans was not the misfortune they thought it, for -Mr. McFarland at once became keenly interested in the enterprise. He took -them off their regular work and set them doing full time in experimenting -with this new engine. - -In two weeks they had a new mule doing double-quick time all over the -shop. Another two weeks saw them riding about the streets of the city in -a car driven by a dust-burning motor. - -Their happiness knew no bounds. Boundless, too, were their ambitions. -This should be the airplane engine of the future. Two twelve-cylinder -motors were manufactured for the seaplane they were to drive and the -plane and motors were shipped to the Pacific coast where, over the placid -waters of a bay, they might experiment with little danger of disaster. - -They had been on the Pacific coast, driving the plane equipped with the -two dust-burning motors and with one of the motors using the six -connecting-rods of mysterious steel, for a week when one day Johnny -decided to make a short drive over the country alone. Not suspecting that -anyone could, this time, be on their trail, he told Pant of his intention -while in the lobby of their hotel while a number of persons were present. - -He made a successful trip of some two hundred miles. A fog had blown up -from the sea but he knew the location of a beautiful mountain lake which -he had often longed to visit. On an island in this lake, he had been -told, were to be found traces of the wonderful fossilized forests for -which the West is famous. - -By circling low he succeeded in locating the placid surface of the lake -and in making a creditable landing. Unbuckling his harness he rose -stiffly, stretched his cramped limbs, then, turning hastily, unlashed a -small skiff from the back of the fuselage and, having tossed it lightly -into the water, seized the paddle, leaped into the skiff and paddled -rapidly toward the shore. - -He had been gone for perhaps five minutes when, without warning, from out -of the white fog there appeared the prow of a small motorboat. The engine -was not going. The two occupants of the boat were rowing, each with one -oar. Their destination, beyond doubt, was the seaplane. - -Not a word was spoken until the taller of the two men, a -strange-appearing fellow with unusually long fingers, put out a hand and, -steadying himself for a moment, leaped from the boat to the lower wing of -the plane. - -"Work fast," the shorter man cautioned in a whisper. "He may be back any -moment." - -"Count on me. Don't want any mix-up. Nasty business," whispered the -other, then with a spring he was away down the length of the plane. The -next minute he had climbed to a narrow platform parallel with the -powerful motors which hung suspended halfway between the upper and lower -planes. - -Drawing a wrench and a pair of pliers from his pocket, he worked over the -engine to the right for some eight or ten minutes. When he had finished, -he mumbled something that sounded like: - -"Guess that'll slow him up," then thrusting his tools, together with some -other small objects, into his pocket, he leaped back to the plane, and, -racing down its length, sprang into the motorboat. - -"Thought you had decided to stay," grumbled the waiting man. - -"Time enough," the other drawled. Seizing his oar, he pushed the boat -away from the plane. - -The next moment they disappeared silently into the fog. They had been -gone but an incredibly short time when Johnny reappeared in his shallow -skiff. - -"Well, she's still here," he breathed with a sigh of satisfaction. "Guess -I ought not to take such chances, but who'd be out here that knows our -secret?" - -He climbed happily back to his seat in the plane, buckled on his harness, -then touched his lever. - -But what was this? The engine gave a few sput-sputs, then stopped dead. - -"What?" - -He could not believe his senses. He tried it again. No better results. - -Snatching off his harness, he leaped to the platform beside the motor. - -For a moment his eyes and his fingers played over the line of spark plugs -of the twelve-cylinder motor, as a skilled musician plays over the keys -of an organ. - -Then his face went blank. - -"Changed!" he muttered. "Somebody's been here. That spark plug there; -never had one like that. And that one; I cracked the enamel when I put -one in there. It's gone. Perfectly good-looking one there now. Somebody's -tampered--" - -He drew from his pocket a wrench. Quickly unscrewing the spark plug, he -placed it on top of the cylinder, then gave the propeller a whirl. - -"No spark," he mumbled. "Dead! Dead as a last year's ragweed!" - -Again he paused in thought. - -The next moment he was all action. Dropping to the fuselage, he dragged -from within the space back of the seat numerous odds and ends of wooden -rods, coils of wire, clamps, bolts and glass insulators. These he pieced -together with incredible speed. At length a wire-strung pole was thrust -high in air. Wires were attached at the bottom, a receiver thrust over -his head, and then, seated in his place before the wheel, he was allowing -his fingers to play upon the key of a wireless. - -"Sput--sput--sput!" The snap of the electric current sounded above him. -He was sending out an S. O. S. addressed to Pant at the home station. - -"Sput-sput-sput," the instrument sounded again and again. Each time he -waited for an answer. At last, to his great joy, it came. The buzzing in -his receiver resolved itself into the dots and dashes of the Morse code: -"Shoot, Pant." - -"Thank God!" Johnny exclaimed. - -The purpose of the intruders was plain enough. They had hoped to drive -Johnny to desert his plane in this lonely spot, then they would return -and strip it of its priceless steel at their leisure. - -"I'll show them!" he hissed. - -Again his fingers played on the key. He instructed Pant to bring twelve -spark plugs to the island on Lake Poncetrane. He was to make a landing -there, if possible, then to bring the spark plugs to the northeast corner -of the island where he, Johnny, would be waiting for him. - -He listened until the other boy's O. K. rang in his ears then, removing -the receiver from his head, he settled back in his seat. It would be two -hours before Pant arrived. Everything would be all right if--suddenly he -sat up straight, his brow wrinkled--"if he can land on the island!" he -exclaimed; "and I doubt if he can. There's a small bare space in the very -center, and that is covered with rocks; the rest is timbered. If he can't -land, we lose!" - -At last he rose and, having drawn himself up beside the motor, busied -himself with the task of removing the faulty spark plugs. - -"The villains!" he muttered. "It's a dirty trick!" - -He had just completed his task of removing the spark plugs, when there -came to his waiting ear the drum of a powerful motor. - -"Pant," he murmured, "good old Pant. He's made it in record time. Now if -only--" - -He did not finish. He dared not hope that it could be done. - -The thunder of the motor grew louder. The fog had cleared now, and he -could see the plane, an airplane Pant had borrowed, like some gigantic -dragon fly, drifting down upon him. - -Before it reached the spot in the sky above him, it swerved to the right -and went skimming low over the tree-tops of the island. - -Johnny made no move to go ashore; there would be time enough for that -after Pant had effected a landing--if he did. - -For a second or two the drum of the motor ceased, and Johnny's heart -stopped beating with it. Could Pant make it? - -But again came the thunder of the motor. Again the plane appeared above -the trees. He had not found a safe landing place. - -Once more the plane circled over the island, then dipped out of sight. -Again the motor stopped. This time Johnny was sure Pant had been -successful, but again his hopes fell, for the plane rose to circle once -more. - -Four times he attempted it; four times failed. - -"Can't do it. It's no use!" Johnny sank limply down into his seat. - -But Pant was swinging around. He was preparing to pass low over the -seaplane. What could he want? - -As he came scudding along with engine shut off, Johnny heard him shout: - -"Watch this!" - -The next moment he saw his hand shoot out. Something dropped from that -hand. Straight down it dropped for a hundred feet, then something -resembling a parachute filled with air appeared, and checked its fall. - -Quickly Johnny leaped into his skiff and was away to the spot where this -miniature parachute would fall. The thing was heavy. Could he reach it -before it dragged the parachute to the bottom of the lake? Straining -every muscle, he sent the skiff flying over the surface of the water. - -The parachute had fallen into the lake. Now he was a hundred feet from -it, now fifty, now twenty-five, and now--now, his hand shot out and -seized it just as, water-logged, it was beginning to sink. - -As he dragged the cloth affair from the water, from his lips there -escaped a glad shout. Attached to the parachute's cord were three spark -plugs. - -Hardly had he made this discovery than there came again the shout: - -"Watch this!" - -He did watch, and did do his best, but in spite of his efforts the second -parachute sank before he reached it. - -But there were others. Twice more he succeeded and three times failed. -But he now had nine new spark plugs. Surely there were enough. - -Paddling hastily to the plane, he made the changes, dropped into his -seat, and again touched his lever. This time there came a welcome burst -of thunder and he was away. - -He gazed for a second behind him to see Pant, his purpose fulfilled, -speeding away toward home. - -"That," smiled Johnny, "was a clever trick. I'd never have thought of it. -But trust good old Pant for that. Who'd have thought, though," his brow -wrinkled, "that old Slim Jim, the contortionist, was still on our trail?" - -Strangely enough, during the days that followed the contortionist put in -no second appearance. - -Three weeks of testing proved to them that their engines were a complete -success. Then began what proved to be their great adventure. - -There came to them a short, bald-headed man of middle age, with a letter -from Mr. McFarland, their employer. - -The letter read: "This gentleman, Professor Paul Lasky, is a very close -friend of mine. He may ask you to do something difficult and dangerous. -Do it if you can, for his cause is worthy and his need imperative." - -The stranger was not slow in laying his needs before them. A tramp -steamer had gone on the shoals of a coral island some two thousand miles -from the Pacific coast of America. Some passengers and members of the -crew had been drowned. The others had been rescued. The wreck was driven -high on the sand in a sheltered bay, so she would not break up at once. -Some hardy adventurers, claiming to have owned the steamer, had put off -in another steamer four days previous with the purpose of salvaging her -cargo. It was imperative that he, the professor, should reach the wreck -before them. A seaplane was the only craft that could bring him to the -island in time, and of all the air-craft then on the coast, none had the -possibilities of such protracted flight save their own. He wished them to -take him there. The reward would be ample and, should his mission be -successfully accomplished, they would be real benefactors of mankind, -since some tens of thousands of children would be benefited. - -Johnny and Pant held a long consultation. The undertaking was a serious -one. Could it be that the stranger knew the type of engine their plane -carried? His mission must indeed be an important one if a mere landsman, -accustomed to neither the sea nor the air, would attempt such a perilous -flight to accomplish it. - -"What can it be?" Johnny demanded of Pant. - -"Can't tell. Some treasure on the ship, perhaps." - -"But the ship and the cargo belong to the men who have gone to strip the -wreck, don't they?" - -"Perhaps. Then again, perhaps not. Perhaps, at least, not all." - -"Well, if you are ready to undertake it, I am." - -"You're on!" exclaimed Pant, gripping Johnny's hand. "It will be a -wonderful test for our motors." - -"And I don't think our contortionist friend can follow us," smiled -Johnny. - -Twenty hours later, after having covered fifteen hundred miles in steady -flight, they realized that it was indeed to be a wonderful test for their -motors, and to them as well; a test out of which they might never emerge. - -They were sailing high over a boundless expanse of water, when Johnny -suggested that they drop to the level of the sea and rest their motors -for an hour as they drifted, sea-gull-like, on the surface of the gently -heaving ocean. - -"Perfectly calm down there," he called through his speaking-tube. - -"Guess so." Pant, who was acting as pilot, set her nose downward and -slowed his engine for volplaning. - -As they neared the surface of the water, an exclamation of surprise -escaped Pant's lips. - -"Why, she's rolling in great billows. Not a breath of air, either!" - -"It's stifling," grumbled Johnny. - -Pant gave one look at the barometer. Instantly his face clouded. - -"Didn't know the glass could drop so low," he mumbled. "Nasty weather -coming. Can't float on that water. Better climb back up." - -Slowly the plane climbed skyward again. When she had reached a high -altitude, with the suddenness of thought she ceased to climb. - -It was as if she had run, head on, into an immense filmy veil of silk -that hung from the high heavens, its fringe touching the sea. The veil -was dark, the darkness of midnight blue. It seized the plane and set it -twirling, whirling, pitching, plunging. It was as if a giant hand had -seized the veil from above and twisted it, as one twists a damp towel to -wring it. - -It was then that Pant at the wheel lost all control. Johnny, in the -cabin, became an over-large punching-bag. Harnessed to his seat from -every side, he swung now into space, and now jammed hard into place, to -feel himself banged against the side of the narrow cabin. With head sunk -limply forward, with his whole body relaxed, he waited dumbly for the -end. What that end might be, he could not even guess. They were caught in -a typhoon, hundreds of miles from land, somewhere in mid-Pacific. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - A PLANE IN A TYPHOON - - -When they struck the typhoon Johnny had the courage to hope that Pant -might bring them out of it in safety. This, however, seemed scarcely -believable. The cabin, a moment before stuffy as a clothes closet, was -now as breezy as a mosquito-bar tent in a stiff wind. She was battened -tight, too. The mad whirl of the plane made Johnny dizzy and sick. His -ears were full of strange sounds. The creak and groan of planes, stays -and guys, that seemed about to snap, was mingled with the thunder of the -engines. Above all this, like the voice of some mad siren's spirit filled -with hatred and revenge, rang out the shrill scream of the wind. Johnny's -eyes were blinded by strange weird lights--red, yellow and purple--flash -upon flash. - -"Must be in the midst of the gigantic smithy where lightning bolts are -forged," he grumbled, as he closed his eyes tight and took one more mad -whirl that it seemed must be the craft's last. - -But at that, the seemingly last moment, the whirling gale took a strange -turn. The plane hung motionless in mid-air. By good fortune she stood -right side up. Her planes were as yet unimpaired. - -She was a staunch craft. Not a stick, nor wire, nor screw but had been -tested and doubly inspected before they went into her. Her two -twelve-cylinder engines, lying one beside the other above the fuselage, -were bound and braced from every side. Johnny thought of all this as they -lay there suspended in space. - -It was a lull; he understood that well enough. A strange lull it was, -too, as if the storm had taken their frail craft into its gigantic fist, -as an ape holds a fledgling bird in his horny claw before crashing it -against the trunk of a tree. - -Johnny's lips were pressed to the speaking-tube. "We're in for it!" he -shrilled to his pal. - -"Yes?" came back from Pant. - -"How you standing it?" - -Pant retorted with a grim chuckle: - -"Not so bad. Pretty wet out here." - -"What--what'll we do?" - -"Going to climb. Top to this thing somewhere, maybe. Nobody knows, -though. It's a typhoon. Always wanted to see what a plane'd do in a -typhoon." - -"You'll see, but never tell, maybe." - -"Maybe." - -"Look out--here she comes again! It's--" - -"Yes, it's--" Pant's voice seemed blown back into him by the terrific -gust of wind. The next instant, a darkness such as he had never seen; a -tumult such as he had never heard; a torrent of rain such as he had never -witnessed; a wild whirling such as he had never experienced, drove all -power of thought from his befuddled brain, leaving him again a -half-animate, over-large punching-bag, swinging in the narrow center of -the cabin. - -Even in this dizzy state of half-consciousness he thought of Pant. When -told that he might not escape disaster, he had not said, "I have escaped -before." He might have said it, for there had been other adventures; a -night in a forest in India, with a mad black leopard's eyes gleaming at -him out of the darkness; an hour in a dungeon-dark cave, with murderous -savages about him. There had been other adventures, too, and he had -escaped; yet he did not say, "I will again." That was the kind of fellow -he was. Confident of his ability, interested in all of life, thrilled by -each new experience, he stood ready to face each one as it came and do -battle valiantly, leaving the results to a power greater, a mind wiser, -than his own. - -At this moment when Johnny was thinking these thoughts, Pant was being -dragged forward half out of his soggy, water-soaked harness, then slammed -back into his seat, to be deluged to the drowning by a downpour that was -not rain, he thought, but more like a sky-suspended tank of fresh water. -He found himself surprised that the plane held up against it; that it did -not sink at once into the sea. His leather coat hung like a weight of -steel upon his shoulders; his eyes, his ears, his mouth were filled with -water. It chilled, benumbed, depressed him. - -The plane was traveling with the gale; whether in a circle or straight -ahead, he could not tell. The engine was shut off. Would it start again -at his bidding? That he did not know. If not, their situation was -hopeless. The time would come when the storm would drop them, as it drops -a bird it has harried and beaten to its death. Then, with no power, they -would sink helpless into the sea. And such a sea as it must be! He had -not seen it since the storm began. He could imagine it, though. Black, -angry water tossed into foam. Billows, mountain high. What a -landing-place for a seaplane! One resounding crash that echoed above the -demon laughter of the waves, then all would be over! - -"She must start! She must," he muttered. Half-unconsciously he put his -hand to the lever, then quickly drew it away. - -"No, not now, not now," he muttered. "The dust! The dust! If only it is -still dry!" - -Then, for a moment, his mind dwelt upon the wind. It was strange about -that wind. It did not come in gusts, but flowed straight on like a stream -of water. In the utter darkness, flooded by torrents of rain, carried -steadily forward by that constant flow of wind, he was overcome by an -illusion. He fancied himself passing beneath the surface of the sea. Only -the touching of his tongue to his lips, to satisfy his mind that this was -not salt water that beat in from every side, could dispel the illusion. - -The whole thing was so terrific, so altogether beyond comprehension, that -it shunted off the powers that drove his brain to action. It was -altogether unbelievable. - -As Johnny Thompson's mind cleared itself of the effects of the airship's -mad whirl, it began puzzling over certain questions: What was to be the -end of this? Why where they there? - -The truth was, Johnny did not know why they were there. They had come -upon this long and perilous air journey over the sea at the request of a -stranger. No, perhaps they had not been as mad as that. The man had -brought with him a letter of introduction from their employer. Yet, why -should he not have told them more of his intentions? How could this -journey benefit tens of thousands of children? They were in imminent -danger of being destroyed by the storm. He felt that it would help if -only he knew the reason why. - -There came another whirl. He caught his breath and tried to think -clearly. It was a monstrous experience; he could not think of it in any -other way. - -"Can't last long--wonder we haven't hit the water before this. Must have -been mighty high up." - -To his surprise and great relief, the plane again righted herself. This -time, half on her side, she lay upon the air like a crippled bird poising -for its death plunge. - -His lips were at the tube. - -"What you going to do?" he shouted above the roar of the wind. - -"Going--to--get--out--of--here," came back. - -"Can--you?" - -"Can--try. Look--out. Start--engine. May--take--tailspin. -Can't--be--worse,--though." - -The next instant there came the thunder of the powerful motor. - -"Thank God! Dust's dry," Pant muttered as he tried to straighten up his -tilted car. - -When he heard the thunder of the motors, Pant could scarcely have been -more thankful about anything. True, there were not another such pair of -engines in the world, but there had been a strain put upon every bolt, -rod, feed-pipe and screw such as had been endured by no other engines. If -there had been a single break, then all was lost. - -When they did respond to his touch, he at once tilted his right plane in -such a manner as to square her up. The wind was blowing steadily, and, he -thought, less violently, though this was hard to concede, since it seemed -to him that a more madly violent gale than even now was blowing would be -hard to imagine. - -The plane righted herself gracefully. Truly, this was a marvelous bit of -machinery, made by master builders. She had been designed for -dependability rather than speed, yet she presented a rather rakish -appearance, her upper planes jutting out over the lower ones by a full -five feet. Her fuselage was built like the body of a wasp, in two parts. -In the forward part was the driver's seat, fully exposed to the open air. -In the rear portion was a closed cabin fitted with two seats. These seats -in fair weather might be made to collapse in such a manner as to form a -bed. Thus it was possible for one aviator to rest while the other was at -the wheel. - -But the distinctive part of the whole equipment was the engines. If Pant -had felt any misgivings about the type of engine their plane was fitted -with, the next few minutes made him doubly thankful that they were just -what they were. - -Hardly had they begun a mad rush straight away with the wind, the nose of -the plane tilted twenty-five degrees upward, than there began to play -about him vivid sparks of fire. - -"Picking up lightning," he muttered. - -Like lights twinkling on the deck of a steamer the sparks leaped from -plane to plane. They flashed down the guy-wires and braces, leaped to the -motors. Setting her firing irregularly for a second, they raced for the -tail, only to flash back to the wheel and give Pant's arm such a sudden -twist that for the second he was paralyzed. - -The next moment his lips were at the tube. - -"Mighty bad," he shouted. "Dangerous--I--I--say." - -"Better--stop--her," came back from Johnny. - -Pant's hand was at the lever. The engine went still, but just at that -instant a tremendous flash leaped up from the large tank at the rear of -the fuselage. - -Pant leaped high, then sank back with a shudder. - -"Man! Man!" he gasped. "If that had been gasoline in that tank! If it -had!" - -His brow wrinkled. "I only hope it didn't rip her wide open. Anyway, we -climbed some. Can afford to glide." - -They were surrounded by a succession of vivid flashes of lightning. The -plane was tipped to a rakish angle. Through a storm-washed window Johnny -saw what lay below. The ocean, vast, mysterious, dark and terrible, -appeared as a limitless open-hearth steel furnace filled with gleaming -molten metal. - -In the very midst of this was what appeared at first to be a mere splotch -on the surface, but which in time resolved itself into the form of a -steamship. - -He gasped as he made out its form, "To think," he muttered, "that any -ship could live in this!" - -Yet, as he thought of it, he knew that they had in years past. He had -read authentic accounts of ships riding out such a storm. - -Even as he watched he saw the water smooth out into what he knew to be -the surface of a gigantic wave; saw, amid the flashes, the ship leap -forward to meet it; saw her prow rest on air; saw her plunge; saw her -buried beneath an avalanche of sea. - -He shut his eyes, expecting never again to see that ship; yet, when he -opened them, she was still there battling with the elements. - -"Bravo! Bravo!" he exclaimed involuntarily. - -The next instant the plane tipped back into position, the engines roared, -he felt her turn and knew that Pant had set her head-on against the -storm. - -He listened to the roar of the engines and thrilled at the battle as he -felt the shock of the storm. - -Suddenly, as the sheet-lightning flashed, he saw a dark object pass his -window, then another. - -"The parachutes!" he exclaimed in consternation. He put his lips to the -tube: "Storm--tore--the--parachutes--away." - -"I--know," came back from Pant. "No--good--now,--anyway. Can't--land." - -Then at the very thought, Johnny laughed. On a calm sea the parachutes -might save them; in such a storm, never. - -"Saw--a--ship--down--there. See--her?" he asked a moment later. - -"Yes." - -"Think--that's--the--ship--we're--racing?" - -"Might--be." - -"If--it--is--we--win." - -"If--we--live--through,--yes." - -There was silence. But again there came a sound from the tube. This time -it was not Pant, but the stranger who rode behind Johnny. Johnny started; -he had quite forgotten him. - -"What--what is it?" he stammered. - -"Thought--I--ought--to--tell--you." The voice was low and subdued, like a -parson reading the funeral service at a grave. - -"Tell--me--what?" Johnny asked, bewildered. - -"About--the--wreck. Why--we--are--going--" - -But at that instant there came a blinding flash, a deafening roar, and -the plane seemed to leap into midair, like a rowboat hit by a fifty-pound -projectile. - - - - - CHAPTER X - THE TASTE OF SALT SEA WATER - - -When he had collected his scattered senses after the tremendous lift -which the plane had been subjected to, Johnny Thompson knew that they -must have been in the midst of a terrific electrical explosion which had -occurred in mid-air; a current of electricity such as no mere man-made -voltmeter would ever measure had leaped from cloud to cloud. For a -fraction of a second the circuit had been broken. The explosion had -followed. - -Pressing his lips to Pant's tube, Johnny inquired curiously: - -"Any--damage?" - -"Can't--tell--yet," came back. "Hope--not." - -For a moment there was no sound, save the screaming of the wind. Then, -again, came the call of the stranger. - -"Hello!" exclaimed Johnny. - -"About--the--wreck. Ought--to--tell. May--not--come--out--of--this. -You--may--come--out. Can--you--hear?" - -"Yes,--yes!" Johnny was impatient of delay. - -"Ought--to--tell. Mighty--important. Wreck--mighty--important. -Lot--of--people--affected. Children--most. Ought--to--tell." - -"Well, why doesn't he tell?" was Johnny's mental comment. "Has the storm -driven him mad?" - -He wanted to know about that wreck. His life was imperiled for a cause, -but what cause he did not know. His mission in life, he had found out -long ago, was to help others live more happily and profitably. If the -cause were a good enough cause, he might cheerfully die for it. -"Children," the man had said, "many children." Well, that was best of -all: to help many children. - -"Well," Johnny grumbled through the tube, "why--don't--you--tell?" - -"Going--to--tell," came to Johnny through the tube. Then the Professor -told his story. There was a pause between every pair of words; the wail -of the storm, the thunder of the engines, the roar of the ocean, made it -necessary. Even so, he was forced to repeat several sentences over and -over before Johnny caught them. It was aggravating, doubly so since any -word might be the man's last; might be the last Johnny ever listened to, -as well. There was one word the man repeated ten times or more, and, at -that, Johnny did not catch it. It was an important word, too, the most -important word, the very keyword, but Johnny gave it up at last. - -"Isn't any use," he muttered after the tenth time. "Some great treasure, -but whether it's gold or diamonds, or old ivory or frankincense, I'll -never be able to tell, if I ask him a thousand times." - -The stranger, it seemed, was a professor in a medical college; his -brother, a medical missionary in one of those border countries that lie -between China and Russia. During the war something became very scarce, -but just what something Johnny could not make out. He, the Professor, -wrote his brother about it. The something came from Russia--only place it -could be obtained. There was fighting still in those regions where it was -found, between the bolsheviki and their enemies. Children in the United -States, it seemed, tens of thousands of them, would benefit if it were -brought out from Russia. Johnny could not see how that could be. "Perhaps -the mine belongs to an orphanage," he decided, half in humor, half in -earnest. - -The Professor had written his missionary brother of the need. He had -written that he thought that, for the sake of the children, the thing -must be managed. It could be carried out, the treasure could. It would -require a considerable investment, perhaps twenty thousand dollars. The -Professor had sold his home, had raked and scraped, borrowed and begged. -At last the money was sent to the brother. - -Months of anxious waiting followed. Finally there came a cable from an -obscure Chinese port. The missionary brother had the precious stuff and -was boarding the "Men-Cheng," a tramp steamer, manned half by Chinamen -and half by white men. She bore a Chinese name but carried an American -flag. - -He had not trusted the officers and steward of her overmuch, so, instead -of putting his treasure in their hands, he had chartered a two-berth -stateroom and had carried it with him in four flat chests. Piling three -of them on the lower berth, and sliding the other beneath, he had slept -in the berth above. - -That cable was the last ever heard from him. The steamer had been caught -in a gale and driven upon the shore of a coral island, as Johnny already -knew. The missionary brother did not appear with the rescued members of -passengers and crew. All these survivors had been questioned, but none -knew anything about what became of him. It seemed probable that he had -come on deck in the storm and had been washed overboard. - -And the treasure was there still. Beyond question, it was in that -stateroom where he had stored it, since none but him knew of it. - -The wrecking crew, more than likely, was a gang of ghouls, with no -principle, and with no knowledge of such things, anyway. They would -either dump the treasure into the sea or carry it away. In either case it -would be a total loss, and the small fortune of the Professor would be -gone forever. It seemed, however, that the Professor was more concerned -about the children's share than he was about his own. - -"What sort of treasure could it be," Johnny asked himself, "that even the -roughest, most ignorant rascals would dump into the sea?" - -"Bunch of nonsense," he muttered. Yet there was something about the -intense earnestness of the man that gripped him, convinced him that it -was not nonsense, but that here was a truly great and worthy cause. - -Suddenly it came to him that, were he to outlive the stranger and reach -the wreck, he would have no means of identifying the chests. Again his -lips were at the tube. - -"The--chests!" he shouted, "the--chests!" - -"Yes--yes," came back. - -"The--chests. How--can--you--identify--" - -His sentence was broken halfway. There came such a thundering, grinding, -screaming horror of noises as he had never heard, not even in this -hurricane. The seaplane stood still. Her engines were going, but she did -not move. It was as if the shaft had broken loose from the propeller and -was running wild, yet Johnny knew this was not so. He knew that the -violence of the storm had suddenly become so great that the plane could -make no headway before it. - -So there they stood, halted in mid-air. What must come next? Was this the -end? These questions burned their way to the very depths of his throbbing -brain. - -He had not long to wait for action. The plane began to turn slowly about. -It was as if it were set upon a perpendicular shaft, and a mighty hand -was gripping and turning it against its motor's power to resist. - -Then the thunder of the engines ceased; Pant had foreseen the ultimate -end of the struggle and had prepared himself for it. - -The plane swung around, square with the wind, then began a glide which -increased in speed with each fraction of a second. Pant was dragged from -his seat by the mere force of the air. With nostrils flattened, eyes -closed, body bent like a western rider's, as he is thrown in the air by a -bucking bronco, he still clung to the wheel and guided the craft as best -he could. - -Feeling himself constantly drawn to the right, he realized that they were -not gliding straight downward, but were following a gigantic -spiral--perhaps miles across. He shuddered. He had experienced something -similar to this in his boyhood days--the spiral glide of the amusement -park. Yet that was child's play. This was grim reality, and at the end of -the glide lay the remorseless, plunging sea. - -Johnny Thompson and the Professor sat in their cabin, too much overcome -to move or speak. Through Johnny's mind there ran many wild thoughts. Now -the past, his home, his friends, his mother, were mirrored before his -mind's vision. The next he was contemplating freeing himself from his -harness and opening the cabin door. To be trapped in that cabin, strapped -to his seat, as they took the plunge into the sea, would be terrible. -Better that he might have one fierce battle with the ocean. Yet there was -still a chance--a ghost of a chance--some startling development that -might save them. Then, if he were loose in the cabin, the cabin door -open, he would be shaken out to his death while the plane flew on to -safety. - -He ended by doing nothing at all, and the plane, holding true to her -spiral glide, swung on toward the dark waters. The spiral seemed endless. -One might almost have imagined that the storm had an upward twist and was -shooting them toward the skies. - -A moment's flash of lightning undeceived them. The sea lay close beneath -them, perilously close; almost it appeared to be lifting up hands to -grasp them. - -Johnny Thompson at last began to struggle with his harness. Pant licked -his lips with his tongue and thereby received a revelation. The moisture -on his lips was salt; they were in the midst of the salt spray of some -titanic wave. The end was not far off. - -In desperation he kicked the engines into gear. There followed a moment -of suspense. Thinking of it afterward, not one of the three could account -for what followed. Perhaps the current of air created by some on-rushing -wave had lifted them; perhaps the very force of the powerful engines had -torn them from the grip of the remorseless spiral glide. Whatever it was, -they suddenly found themselves booming along over the raging sea, and -with each hundred yards covered there came a lessening of the wind's -violence. It seemed that they were truly on their way to safety. - -Johnny started as from a revery. The signal from the Professor's -speaking-tube was screaming insistently. - -"Hello!" he shouted hoarsely. - -"Those--chests," came back through the tube. "Do--you--hear--me? -Those--chests--they--are--marked--with--initials--L--B--on the bottom. -Do--you--hear? L--like--lake. B--like--bird. Get it?" - -"Yes," Johnny answered. - -"All--right." - -Again, save for the thunder of the engines and the diminishing howl of -the wind, there was silence. - -"Wish I had tried harder to get the name of those things in the four -chests," Johnny mused. "I'd like mighty well to know. Didn't sound like -anything I have ever heard of. Perhaps it's some kind of Russian fur; new -name for Russian sable, maybe. Guess there's no use asking him about it -now. Too much noise; couldn't hear." - -Then his mind turned to the steamer they had seen struggling in that -raging sea. He wondered if it had escaped. - -"Hope so," he murmured, "even if they are our rivals. We'll beat them -easily if we get out of this. Looks like we would, too." - -Then, suddenly, his face went gray. He had thought of something--the dust -in the fuel tank! There would have been enough to carry them to their -destination, and a little to spare, had they not encountered the storm. -They had battled the storm for what seemed hours. This had consumed much -fuel. What awaited them once they were free from this storm? - -He put his mouth to Pant's speaking-tube, but the message remained -unspoken. - -"No use to cross a bridge till we come to it," he muttered. "Not out of -the storm yet." - - - - - CHAPTER XI - LIFE'S HAZARD OF A SINGLE GLIDE - - -The coming out of the storm was like riding out of night into the bright -light of a new day. Pant, as he sat at the wheel, steering as in a dream, -was entranced by the beauty and wonder of it. They had been near death a -score of times in a single hour; now they were racing away to life. Life! -What a wonderful privilege just to live! How foolish boys must be who -risk life for some useless plaything--to accept a "dare" or experience -some new thrill. So he mused, and then all at once he realized that they -had risked their lives for a cause of which they knew little. - -"Well," he said, as he settled himself more firmly in his position behind -the wheel, "we've come this far, so we've got to see it through. I wonder -how far that storm has carried us off our course, and in what direction -we are going now?" - -Rubbing the moisture off the glass of his compass, he read their -direction. Then he started. They were going north by east, and their -course was set for south by southwest. - -Pant stared at the compass. - -"Whew!" he whistled. "At that rate, we'll be back where we started from -in due course of time." - -Then a new thought worried him. He, too, had remembered the dust in the -fuel tank. It must be running low. He could not tell their exact -position, but believed they were far nearer to a small group of islands -which they had sighted shortly before the storm struck them than they -were to their destination. - -Immediately there was set up in his mind a tense conflict. "It's better -to keep going in your present direction and to seek safety with a fresh -supply of fuel from those islands you just passed," said his native -caution. "You have no right to turn back, for if you do you are sure to -lose the race," said his instinctive loyalty to the cause of another. - -Loyalty won the day, and with mouth grimly set he gradually turned the -plane about. Skirting the fringe of the storm, he sent the plane speeding -on her way. - -Gradually the smoke of battle--the mists that lay low on the -horizon--disappeared, and they emerged into the glorious sunlight. The -ocean lay a glittering mass of jewels beneath them, jewels that sparkled -on a robe of emerald green. The sky, a vast blue dome, lay spread above -them, while a few white clouds skirted the horizon. Behind them, like the -uplifted head of a terrible sea-dragon, the storm still reared its masses -of tumult to the heavens. - -"That," said Pant through his mouthpiece, "was the worst I ever saw." - -Johnny Thompson threw back his head and laughed. A merry laugh it was. It -was easy to laugh when they were free. - -For an hour the plane held steadily on its course--south by southwest. It -was a wonderful journey. Weary as he was and prone to fall asleep at his -post, Pant enjoyed it. Here and there they passed flocks of sea-gulls -that rose screaming from the sea. Once they raced for a few miles with a -honking wedge of wild geese. The presence of this flock made Pant think -they must be near some land. What land it might be he could not even -guess, but the thought cheered him. - -For an hour, an hour and a quarter, an hour and a half, they sped on. -Both boys had forgotten the question of fuel. Johnny was puzzling over -the name of the contents of the chests on the wreck; Pant was wondering -about the fate of the ship they had sighted in the storm, when there came -a hoarse rumble from the right-hand engine, and the thunder of their -drivers was lessened by half. - -With trembling hand Pant threw the lever out. The other motor was still -going, but he realized that it would be but a matter of moments until -that one also was dead. - -Instinctively, as if preparing to run away from the ocean, which, having -been lashed by the storm, must still be rolling in great, sweeping waves -that would wreck their frail craft the instant she touched its surface, -he tilted the plane's nose to a sharp angle and set her climbing. - -They had been traveling some three thousand feet above the sea. Now they -climbed rapidly. Four thousand, and five thousand, six, seven, eight, -nine thousand. They were now entering a filmy cloud that sent long waving -arms down to clutch them. Now and again they "bumped," dropping straight -down a hundred feet, then rising again. It was a glorious experience, -even if it might be their last. - -With ears alert, as are the ears of a man expecting the sentence of -death, Pant awaited the last hoarse cough of the engine. - -Finally it came; a grinding whirr, a tremor running through the plane, as -a shudder runs through the form of a dying animal, then all was silence. - -It was such a silence as none of the three had ever experienced. For -hours they had listened to the scream of the storm, to the roar of -breakers, to the thunder of their engines. For another hour and a half -they had listened to the engines alone. Now there was utter silence; a -silence so intense that, had a feather been falling from a sea-gull's -wing, it seemed that its passage through the air might be heard. - -The plane had broad, spreading wings. It would float with easy grace to -the very surface of the sea. But then? - -There was plenty of time to think now. No one cared to speak. Their minds -were concerned about many things. Life as they had lived it lay spread -out before them like the pages of a picture-book. All the past moved -before them. They came to the end, at last, and thus to the question of -the ship in the storm and the wreck on the desert island. Had the ship -escaped from the storm? Was the wreck still intact, or had it been -destroyed by the waves? Would the wreckers find the treasure? What then? - -Slowly the plane drifted down. Eight thousand feet, seven thousand, six, -five, four, three. - -Suddenly Pant moved in his seat. Seizing his tube in his excitement, -forgetting that they might easily speak to one another since the sound of -the engines was gone, he shouted: - -"Listen!" - -Johnny threw open the door of the cabin and sat listening. - -"I only hear the waves," he said. - -"Two kinds of sounds, though," smiled Pant; "a steady wash and a -thundering." - -"Yes, I hear them." - -"The thundering means land." - -"Eh?" Johnny gazed down toward the wide circle of the sea. "But where?" - -It was true. From this point in the air, though they could see for many -miles, only the unbroken expanse of dark green waters met their view. - -"There!" exclaimed Pant in triumph. He was pointing to a long line of -white. "That's surf. Some coral island there. Surf's breaking over it. If -we can make the lee of it we're safe." - -He brought the nose of the plane about until it pointed toward the white -line. Silence followed--a silence that could almost be felt. Only the -murmur of vast waters and the distant thunder of the breakers, like the -falls of a great river, disturbed that silence. Their lives depended on -the length of a single glide. - -Johnny Thompson opened two small round windows, portholes to the cabin. -The Professor, sensing the tenseness of the situation, without fully -understanding it, did likewise. Then the three of them watched the -rolling ocean as it rose up to meet them. - -Now they appeared to be a mile from that white line of foam. They were -twenty-eight hundred feet in air. At fifteen hundred feet they appeared -to be scarcely half a mile away. Beneath them rolled the treacherous -waves; before them the breakers roared. Just over that crest of foam -there lay a narrow bay, still as a millpond. Could they make it? Pant -lifted a trembling hand to his forehead to brush away cold perspiration. -Johnny stirred uneasily. Only the Professor was silent. Motionless as a -sphinx, he watched the ocean spin along beneath him. - -Gradually as they sank lower and lower objects became distinct to them. -The north end of the island appeared to rise some twenty feet above the -sea. The south end was lower. The whole of it was lined with a fringe of -palms. - -"Better turn her a bit south," Johnny suggested. "It's lower there and -less chance of a smash." - -Without a word Pant followed his directions. - -Lower and lower they drifted. Closer and closer came the island. For a -time it seemed that they must inevitably drop into the sea. Then it -appeared that they would miss the ocean but drive into the palms. - -A hundred feet in air they swept on. Catching his breath, Pant unbuckled -his harness. Johnny and the Professor followed his example. The next -second, with a strange, land-like breath of air sweeping up to them, they -passed over the very fringe-tops of the palms. One moment later they were -standing up in their craft, which gently rose and fell with the water. -Without a word they solemnly shook hands. - -There are moments in the life of every person when he feels himself so -closely welded to the life of some other one that only death can separate -them. Johnny felt that such a time had arrived in his life. He and Pant -were already inseparable. Now, by this simple, silent handshake, they -took the Professor into their narrow circle. They had suffered in peril -together. - -They were now on a narrow island of the Pacific in a seaplane without -fuel, and with provisions for but a day. Come what might, they would -stick together until the end. - -Their first precaution was to bring their plane as close in shore as the -shallow water would permit, then to anchor it securely. After that they -unfolded a small, collapsible boat and prepared to make their way ashore. - -"Inhabited or not?" smiled Pant. - -"If inhabited, cannibal or otherwise?" Johnny smiled back. - -"I hope we are not to tarry here long," said the Professor. - -"We'll tarry until we discover some fuel, and I don't think green palm -trees will be of much use," said Johnny seriously. "Have you anything to -suggest?" - -The Professor seemed inclined to take these remarks as being in the form -of a joke, but seeing that Johnny was serious, he said, as his brow -wrinkled: - -"It is really very important that we be on our way. We cannot be more -than a hundred miles from our destination." - -"Perhaps not even that," said Pant, "but they may be very hard miles to -travel." - -"If we only were there," sighed Johnny. "There is sure to be coal on the -wreck." - -"But, since we're not, let's explore our island," suggested Pant. - -"And sleep," said Johnny. "I'm about to fall asleep as I walk." - -"Better bring the rifles," suggested Pant. "Doesn't seem likely that -there is a single living soul on this island--it's no more than a coral -rock sticking up out of the sea; can't be two miles long--but you never -can tell." - -Johnny brought two rifles from the plane. After rubbing the moisture from -their barrels, he slipped a handful of cartridges in each, and set them -up in the bow of the boat. - -Pant had already gathered up an armful of sacks and cans, enough food for -a day ashore. Throwing these into the bottom of the boat, he exclaimed: -"All aboard for no man's land." - -Then all climbed in. Johnny took the oars. Ten minutes of rowing brought -them ashore. - -It was a strange sensation that came to them as they stepped on solid -ground once more. They had been swinging and tossing about for so long -that solid earth seemed unreal--only part of a dream. - -"Don't see a sign of life," said Johnny as he glanced up and down the -beach, then into the depths of the palms. - -"Here's a bit of bamboo that looks as if it had been cut with a knife," -said Pant. - -"Might have drifted in," suggested Johnny. Other than this they found no -sign of life. - -After a brief consultation they decided that, simply as a matter of -precaution, they should make the rounds of the shore before settling down -to sleep. - -Night would be coming on in an hour, so, after partaking of a hasty -repast, the two boys, armed with the rifles, struck up the beach to the -right. The Professor was left to keep an eye on the plane. - -Nothing eventful happened until the boys had made three-fourths of their -journey. As they had expected, they had found no sign of human life on -the island. Night was falling; the sea was growing calm after the storm; -they were looking forward to a few hours of refreshing sleep when, of a -sudden, as they rounded a clump of palms, Johnny sprang backward, and, -clutching his companion's arm, dragged him into the deeper shadows. - -"Wha--what is it?" stammered Pant. - -"A camp fire on the beach, and men, six or eight of them, I think, -sitting about it. Natives, I should judge." - -For a time the boys stood there in silence. It was a tense moment. Each -in his own way was trying to solve the problem that had suddenly thrust -itself upon them. Should they show themselves to the natives, or should -they try to discover some way to escape from the islands? - -"I don't think," said Pant, as if talking to himself, "that we can get -off the island without their aid." - -"A ship might appear," suggested Johnny. - -"Not likely," said Pant. "We're too far off the beaten path of sea -travel." - -"All right. C'm'on," said Johnny, as he led the way out into the open -where the camp fire gleamed. - - - - - CHAPTER XII - FLYING KNIVES - - -The two boys approached the strangers with rifles loosely slung under -their arms, as if they had just come from hunting. The men about the fire -showed no signs of surprise. They did not leap to their feet nor attempt -to glide away. They merely turned their heads at the sound of footsteps, -then sat there watching as the boys approached. - -Pant took the lead. He had lived among men of many climes, and would -doubtless be better able to understand these strangers. Reaching the edge -of the circle he sat down by the fire, motioning Johnny to do the same. - -For several moments the little group sat in silence. Out of the corner of -his eyes, Johnny studied the strangers. There were five heavily-built, -raw-boned fellows with dark skins and thick lips. They were dressed -merely in breech-clouts. There were two small brown boys with the squint -eyes of Orientals. - -"Couple of Japs and their serfs," was his mental comment. - -Presently one of the Orientals dug from the ashes of the fire two roasted -sweet potatoes. These he offered to the guests. After that he supplied -each member of his own group in the same manner. - -Johnny noticed that there was a little pile of these potatoes on the -beach, also two brown hempen sacks full of some commodity. These sacks -were tied tightly at the top. - -They ate the potatoes with great relish. After that they were given water -to drink. - -When they at last attempted to engage the strangers in conversation, they -found them quite incapable of understanding English. - -Finally Pant, growing tired of the effort, rose and strode down to the -beach where the brown sacks were lying. He thumped one of the sacks, then -lifted it from the ground. - -"About a hundred pounds," he muttered. Then, turning, he walked back to -the group by the fire. He had taken one hand from his pocket. In its palm -reposed a shiny ten dollar gold piece. He pointed to the sack he had -lifted, then offered the gold to the smaller of the two brown boys. - -The boy reached out his hand and took it. - -The act was repeated in reference to a second gold piece and the -remaining sack. This offer was also accepted. - -"They know the value of gold all right," he smiled. "I have bought two -hundred pounds of rice. Let's get it on our backs. I think if we cut -right across beneath the palms here we will about strike our camp." - -With the sacks of rice on their shoulders, they trudged on for a time in -silence. At last Johnny spoke: - -"What do we want of all this rice?" - -"Three people can live a long time on two hundred pounds of rice." - -As he stepped out again into the moonlight he gazed about him for a time, -then in a musing tone said: - -"I wonder where we'll be to-morrow night. It's going to work all right. -The only question is, how many miles do you get out of a hundred pounds -of rice?" - -The next morning, after they had taken their bearings, Pant said, "Far as -I can make out, we're something like a hundred and fifty miles from the -wreck. Question is, will our fuel carry us that far?" - -"Our fuel? What fuel?" his two friends echoed. - -"Yes," smiled Pant, "we have some fuel--two hundred pounds of it." - -"The rice!" exclaimed Johnny. "I hadn't thought of using it for that." - -"Well, perhaps we'd better not," said Pant, wrinkling his brow. "It's all -that stands between us and starvation. Our brown friends left the island -last night. What's more," he went on, "I don't know how much carbon there -is in rice. Do either of you?" - -They both answered in the negative. - -"Well, there you are," said Pant. "You see, if we can't tell that, there -is no way of guessing how far two hundred pounds of rice will carry us. -It may let us down after we've gone fifty miles and clump us right into -the ocean. And the next time we may not be as fortunate as we were this -time in finding a safe harbor. Then again, we might land safely in the -lee of another of these islands, only to find ourselves without a single -mouthful of food. So you see there's something of a hazard in it." - -The Professor rose and began to pace back and forth. He was very plainly -agitated. For fully five minutes he did not speak. Then he turned to face -the boys. - -"The need of haste," he said slowly, "is great. Nothing in the world, it -seems to me, could be much more important. But you have risked your lives -for the cause; I will not press you to do so again. You must decide for -yourselves whether we shall take the venture or not. As for me, I am -ready to go." - -Pant and Johnny looked at one another. Pant read Johnny's answer in his -eyes. - -"Fair enough." He sprang to his feet. "We go." - -A half-hour's time was consumed in grinding a quantity of the rice, then -they were away. The remaining rice might be ground and fed to the engines -as they traveled. - -Pant was again at the wheel. On his face there was the strained look of -one who constantly listens for some dread sound. They were flying low. -Now and again his gaze swept the sea. Twice he dropped to an even lower -level, as he fancied he caught the rush of waters upon an unseen shore. -Each time he climbed back to their old level and they sped steadily -onward. - -Fifty miles were recorded, then seventy-five. A hundred stretched to a -hundred and twenty-five. - -Suddenly Pant's brow cleared. He climbed to a higher level. The engines -stopped all at once. But this was because he had thrown back the lever. -As they glided silently down, there came to them the old welcome sound of -breakers. Johnny Thompson, leaning far out of the cabin, swept the sea -with a pair of binoculars. - -"Over to the right," he exclaimed. - -"Land?" asked the Professor. - -"An island; ours, I think. A rocky promontory to the south, flat to the -north, just as the sailors described it." - -"Thank God! We have made it!" The Professor brushed cold perspiration -from his brow. "I was afraid--afraid of many things." - -The motors were again started, only to be shut off five minutes later. -Then they began the delightful circling journey which was to bring them -to a safe harbor and their goal. This time there was no trying -uncertainty; there was still fuel in their tank and they knew something -of the place to which they were coming. - -"I hope we don't have to." - -"We'll go back and try for some sweet potatoes in the morning. I think -perhaps I'll find another use for the rice." - -"What?" - -Pant did not answer. "Funny bunch, those brown boys," he mused. "Don't -savvy English, but they know Uncle Sam's money, all right. It's that way -all over the world." - -The island was very narrow. They soon found themselves on the beach -facing the bay where the "Dust Eater," as they called the seaplane, was -anchored. - -It was decided that they should take turns at the watch, three hours to -the watch. This would give each of them six hours of sleep and fit them -for whatever of fortune or misfortune lay in their immediate future. - -The Professor took the first watch, Pant the second. Pant had hardly -begun to pace the beach on his watch when there sounded across the waters -the quick pop-pop-pop of a motor. His first thought was of the "Dust -Eater," but immediately he laughed at his fears; the popping was made by -a much less powerful motor than those belonging to their seaplane. - -The sound came from toward the south end of the island. Racing down the -beach, tripping over sand-brush and bits of drift here and there, he -managed to arrive in time to see the tail-light of a motorboat fast -disappearing out on the sea. - -"The Orientals and their men!" he exclaimed disgustedly. "It was stupid -of us not to keep track of them. They might have given us a lift to the -very island we're bound for. We were too played out to think clearly, -though, and now they're gone." - -He walked slowly back toward their camp. - -"Since that's settled," he thought to himself, "it's time I was trying -something else. I'll get at it at once." - -Arrived at camp, he cut open one of the large sacks of rice and poured a -quart of it in an aluminum kettle. Placing the kettle in the bottom of -the canvas boat, he shoved off and was soon at the door of the cabin on -the "Dust Eater." - -For a moment he paused to gaze about him. He had never seen anything -quite like the night that lay spread out before him. The moon, a great, -yellow ball, hung high in the heavens; the sea, now calm, lay sparkling -in the moonlight, while the palms shot skyward, a blue-black fringe on -the garment of night. - -He had little time for such reveries, however. There was work to be done. - -Once inside the cabin, he took up a trapdoor in its floor and, from the -space beneath, drew out a strange circular arrangement. To this he -attached wires running from a line of batteries hung securely against the -walls. He next poured his quart of rice into a small hopper at the top of -the circular mechanism. There came a snap-snap as he threw in a switch. A -whirling grinding sound followed. Presently, from a small tube, there -began to pour forth a white powder, finer than the finest flour. This he -caught in the kettle. - -"Ought to work," he mumbled, as the white pile in the bottom of the -kettle grew to a sizable cone. - -When the machine gave forth a strange new sound, as of a feed-mill -running empty, he snapped off the switch. - -"Now we'll see," he murmured. - -Taking up the kettleful of white dust, he walked back to the fuel tank of -the plane, and, with the aid of a funnel, poured in the powder. After -screwing on the top, he went back to his old place at the wheel. - -He pressed a button here, threw a lever forward there, and at once there -came the thunder of a motor. Quickly he threw back the lever. "Don't want -to wake them." He stood up and peered shoreward. - -Satisfied that his companions had not been disturbed, he returned to the -cabin and put things to rights. - -"Wreck's to the southeast," said Johnny. "I can see it plainly. Look's -queer, though; all white, as if there had been a recent snow." - -A moment later, as they circled lower, he laughed and exclaimed: -"Sea-gulls!" - -It was true. The ship, but recently a staunch sea-craft, had become a -roost for sea-gulls. Literally thousands of them rose screaming into the -air as the "Dust Eater" gracefully glided into the waters of the -sheltered bay. - -There is no mystery in all the world greater than a deserted wreck. An -old house, an abandoned mill, a cabin in the forest, all these have their -charm of mystery, but the wreck of a ship, laden with who knows what -treasure, and abandoned by her master, a wreck so remote from inhabited -lands that it has not been visited since the night of its disaster, here -was mystery indeed. - -So eager were they to board the craft that they could scarcely wait until -the plane had been made fast and the canvas boat lowered. - -One question troubled Johnny: The seamen, taken from the wreck, had -reported no native inhabitants of the island, yet some might have been -hiding out in the rocky portion of the place, for this island was some -three times the size of the island they had just left. - -As he climbed up the rope ladder which still dangled from her side, and -sprang upon her deck, slippery with guano deposited by the gulls, he kept -a sharp watch for any signs of depredation done to the ship since she was -deserted. He found none, and no signs of life on the main deck, but as he -went down the hatch, he fancied he discovered the faint mark of a bare -foot on one step. - -Their first thought was of the four chests. - -"Was your brother's berth on the main deck or below?" Johnny asked. - -"That I cannot tell," said the Professor. - -"Probably main deck," said Johnny, "but you can't be sure. You take the -larboard side of the main deck, and, Pant, you take the starboard. I'll -go below and see what I can find. Some of the staterooms will be locked. -We can search the open ones first, and pry the others open later if -necessary." - -As he sprang down the hatchway, he fancied he heard a sound from below. -For a moment he was tempted to turn back. Then with "Probably only a -sea-gull," he dropped on down and began making his way along a dark -companionway. He had not gone ten paces when he heard a soft pat-pat of -footsteps. The next moment a sharp exclamation escaped his lips. - -From the door of a stateroom had appeared a brown head, then another and -another. - -Suddenly some object whizzed past his head, to strike with a sickening -spat in the wall behind him. He did not need to be told it was a knife. - -The door of a stateroom stood open beside him. Instinctively he sprang -inside and slammed it shut. He was not an instant too soon, for a second -knife struck the door. Such force had been used in its throwing, so keen -a blade it had, that the point of it struck through the wood the length -of Johnny's little finger. - -"Well, now what?" he murmured. - -And then he thought of his companions. How was he to warn them before it -was too late? - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - THE MYSTERY DEEPENS - - -For a single minute Johnny Thompson remained behind the closed door; then -his fear for his companions drove him forth. Throwing the door wide open, -he made a dash for it. Down the companionway and up the hatch he raced at -full speed. - -The Professor was the first person he came across. - -"Where's Pant?" he gasped. "Natives on board--murderous fellows!" - -"Where?" - -"There!" A black form appeared on deck. "Dodge!" exclaimed Johnny, -setting the example. "They throw knives!" - -It seemed, however, that this precaution was unnecessary, for the black -man sprang to the gunwale, then leaped overboard. He was followed rapidly -by two others. - -Pant had heard something of the commotion, and now came hurrying around -the corner of a cabin. - -"Natives," explained Johnny. "Bad ones!" - -"Better get to the rifles," breathed Pant. "Can't tell how many of them." - -He leaped for the rope ladder. In another minute they were rowing rapidly -for the "Dust Eater." As Johnny climbed to the cabin on the plane he -looked back. "There they go!" he exclaimed. - -It was true. A long, slender canoe, manned by four husky native paddlers, -was shooting over the water at an incredible speed. They were striking -boldly out to sea. - -"Guess they're as afraid of us as we are of them," smiled Johnny. - -"Think that's all of them?" asked Pant. - -"Yes, that's one more than I saw," answered Johnny. - -"We came at a fortunate time," remarked the Professor. "They doubtless -belong to another island and have discovered the wreck in passing. The -whole tribe will be along presently to loot it." - -"In that case," said Johnny, "we'd better work fast." - -"And get away before they come," said Pant. "Good idea. Plenty of coal to -grind up for fuel. Perhaps we can get away before dark." - -After securing the rifles they hastened back to complete their search, -confident that the treasure chests would be in their hands in short -order. - -In a cabin formerly occupied by the chief steward, Johnny found a master -key, which expedited their work. With his two companions standing guard, -Johnny was able to unlock one stateroom after another in rapid -succession. One glance in each was enough to satisfy him that the chests -were not to be found there. - -When they had made the entire rounds of the main deck, and had discovered -no chests of any sort, their hopes fell a trifle. There remained, -however, the lower deck. To this they hastened. When this search proved -fruitless, they stood for a minute silently looking at one another. - -"The hurricane deck!" exclaimed the Professor. "The officer's cabin!" - -Thither they rushed. Here again they were unrewarded. - -"What could have happened?" asked the Professor in consternation. - -"You don't suppose he changed his mind and shipped them as cargo, do -you?" asked Johnny. - -"I hardly think so," said the Professor, "yet all things are possible." - -"It's my opinion that those natives carried them off," said Pant. - -"Didn't in that canoe," objected Johnny. "Saw right into it. Wasn't a -thing. Might have hid them on shore, though. I suggest that we go ashore -and do a little searching, and prepare some sort of meal. There's food -down in the galleys--canned stuff and the like." - -Leaving the Professor to keep watch, the two boys hurried down below, to -reappear a few minutes later each with a dishpan full of cans, jars and -cartons of food of every description. - -"Won't starve, anyway," panted Johnny. - -"Yes, but whatever we do we've got to hurry," said Pant. "Those natives -will be coming back. Then there'll be no staying on the island for us. -Natives are all right when there are plenty of white men about to make -them be good, but give them three white men and a shipload of loot and -them about a hundred strong, then see how quickly the white men -disappear." - -Hurriedly they dumped their supplies into the canvas boat, then paddled -rapidly for the shore. They were soon partaking of a hearty meal as they -sat upon the fallen trunk of a giant palm in the shade of a delightfully -cool grove. - -Johnny could scarcely finish his meal in his eagerness to explore that -region of the island close to the shore. Before the others had finished -eating, he hastened around the end of the grove and came out upon the -shore close to an out-jutting rocky cliff. At the base of this cliff he -paused in astonishment. Back a little from the beach and against the end -of the cliff was a rude cabin built of drift-wreckage from the ship. - -With much hesitation he approached the door of the cabin, which was a -real door taken from the ship. "Some white man; no native built that," he -murmured as he knocked on the door. - -Getting no answer, he knocked again; this time louder. Still no response. -Having turned the knob he was surprised to find that the door was not -locked. Pushing it back, he looked within. Then, quickly closing it, he -raced back to camp. - -"Come see what I have found!" he exclaimed. "There must be at least one -survivor of the wreck who did not escape with the ship's crew. There is a -cabin built of driftwood at the end of the cliff!" - -"A cabin! A cabin!" exclaimed the others, as they sprang up and prepared -to follow him. - -An inspection of the cabin convinced them that it had been occupied for -some time and had been but recently abandoned, if, indeed, the builder -might not be expected back at any moment. Some garments of an oriental -design hung upon the wall. - -"Wonder if he's a Chinaman?" said Johnny. - -There was a well-built bunk on one side of the room, and on the opposite -a wood-burning stove improvised out of empty gasoline cans. There was a -small table, a ship's chair and a box of dishes, also a handmade set of -shelves well stocked with ship supplies. - -As the Professor rummaged about one corner of the room his hand fell upon -an object which immediately absorbed his attention. For a few minutes he -stood staring at it. Then he whispered to himself: - -"Could it be possible? If it only were!" - -To the boys he said nothing, but Johnny saw an unaccountable new light of -hope in his eyes. "I wonder," he said, "if this man could have discovered -the chests and brought them ashore for safe keeping?" - -"I have been wondering that myself," said the Professor. "It's worth -looking into." - -"In the meanwhile, where is he?" asked Pant. - -"The natives may have done for him," suggested Johnny. - -A cloud passed over the Professor's face. "Let us hope not," he said -quickly. After a moment's thought, he added: "We must search the island -thoroughly. We must find the chests and that man." - -"Do you know," he said suddenly, drawing an object from his pocket, "that -is the razor I learned to shave with when a boy? It was my father's--an -old-styled one, called a 'pipe razor.' There was never a better made. I -found it in that shack just now." - -The two boys stared but asked no questions. - -A few minutes later, while the Professor was gone for a bucket of water, -the boys held a brief consultation. "It's all right to search the -island," said Johnny; "I don't like the idea of owning up we're beaten -myself, but how about those natives?" - -"It'll be pretty bad if they once land," said Pant, "but perhaps we can -prevent them from landing." - -"I don't see how. We couldn't attack them before they had done us any -harm." - -"No, we couldn't, but there may be a way to stop them. Time enough to -think about that once they come in sight." - -"And then there're those chaps who claim the wreck belongs to them." -Johnny's gaze wandered far out to sea, as if he expected to catch sight -of a coil of smoke drifting there. "If they weathered the storm, they'll -soon be down upon us." - -"Can't do anything about that, either, until it happens," said Pant. - -"All right then, we'll take up the search. I fancy the Professor will -want to be one of the searching party. Will you stay with the camp, or -shall I?" - -"I'll stay." - -"Say," said Pant, a moment later, "it's funny about that razor he found!" - -"Yes, it is. Probably his brother had it on board, and this sailor, or -whoever he is, this survivor, took it off and has been using it." - -"Maybe so," said Pant in a skeptical tone of voice. "Seamen are very -superstitious about razors belonging to dead men, though." If he thought -any further along that line, he at least said no more about it at that -time. - -Several hours later, just as the two searchers were returning from a long -and fruitless tramp over the island, and were being cheered by the odor -of coffee boiling over an open fire, Pant suddenly pointed to the open -sea. - -"There they come!" he cried. - -Low on the horizon there appeared three long, low sailing vessels. - -"Natives!" said Johnny in dismay. - -"That's what," agreed Pant; "and what's more, we've got to do something -about it quickly or they'll be swarming ashore with murder in their eyes. -We've got to get to the plane." - -"Will you go along?" asked Pant, pausing to address the Professor. - -"I thank you," said the Professor. "I don't blame you for seeking safety. -As for myself, I shall stay here until I have succeeded in proving -certain conclusions I have come to, or else have disproved them." - -The boys rushed on down to the beach, then pushing the canvas boat off, -rowed rapidly toward the "Dust Eater." - -"I am afraid," said Pant, "that our professor friend doesn't understand -us very well." - -"And I fear I don't understand this move very well, myself." - -"You will shortly." They had arrived at the seaplane. "You take the -wheel; I'll stay in the cabin." - -Though surprised that he should be requested to fly the plane, Johnny -asked no questions, but, taking his place before the wheel, set the -engines in motion and soon found himself gliding out over the sea. - -"Sail straight out over them," ordered Pant through the tube, "then hover -there as best you can. Not too high though." - -Johnny followed instructions and was soon directly above the three large -canoes. He could see the natives plainly. There were twenty or more of -them in a canoe. Great, swarthy fellows they were, dressed in all manner -of apparel, from a full suit of white duck to a mere breech cloth. They -were heavily armed. Johnny was a little startled to note that many of -them carried rifles. The plane was not out of range of a good rifle. The -natives, apparently stupefied at the appearance of this gigantic bird, -were staring upward, making no movement. Even their paddles were idle. - -Presently a wisp of smoke rose from one of their canoes. - -"That's strange," Johnny thought to himself. - -The native nearest the spot leaped to one side, and there were frantic -efforts to quench the little fire that had started in the side of the -boat. While this was being accomplished, however, with all the natives -bunched at that end of the boat, a second fire broke out in the other end -of this canoe. This fire gained some headway before it was discovered. -The boat began to leak. The natives flew into a panic. Some of them -leaped overboard and swam toward the other canoes. - -When a third blaze appeared in the boat a panic followed. Every native in -the canoe forsook her. Plunging into the sea, they made haste to reach -the remaining boats. - -Pant looked down with interest while the burning boat, now in full blaze, -sent flashes of light across the water. - -When the last survivor of this strange wreck at sea was aboard the -remaining boats, these crafts turned rightabout. Every oar and paddle was -set doing double time to carry them out of these mysterious and terrible -waters. - -"Good thing it happened," said Pant. "Don't think we could have trusted -them." - -"Not if the sample of knife-throwing they gave me was any sign," Johnny -replied. He was greatly relieved. - -"Might as well go back now and join the Professor again in his search," -said Pant. "Hope we can make it snappy, though. That steamer'll be along -any minute now." - -"I'd like to know where those chests are, and what's in them," said -Johnny. - -"So would I." - -Slowly the "Dust Eater" settled down upon the waters of the bay. A few -minutes later they were sitting about the fire, making plans for the -night's watch and the morning's renewal of the search. - -"Clouding up. Looks like storm," said Pant suddenly. - -"Hope it doesn't bring those black boys back to us," said Johnny, -wrinkling his brow. - -Before Johnny went to sleep he thought in some wonder of one experience -of that day, of the burning of the native canoe. He could not help but -connect that up with other incidents: the white fire in the factory and -the burning of the automobile in the desert. Had Pant been at the bottom -of all these things? If he had been, what strange new power did he -possess? - -After that he thought for a time of their own problems. Would they ever -return to the factory to report the complete success of the new steel and -of the dust-burning engines? And would he ever analyze the contents of -that vial in the factory laboratory? Of one thing he was certain, and he -smiled grimly as he thought of it: they were not likely to be bothered by -their ancient enemy, the contortionist, on this desert island. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - A STRANGE LIFE BOAT - - -It was night, a night of storm. The wind had come sweeping in from the -sea, bringing rain and rolling waves. It was not a typhoon, but a -straight-on nor'wester of great violence. By the aid of an improvised -capstan, the two boys had dragged the "Dust Eater" high up on the beach, -and, with ropes and wooden stakes had guyed her there. - -The storm was now at its height. The wind set the dark clumps of palms -swishing and moaning in a dismal fashion. Great sheets of rain beat -against Johnny's face as, wrapped to the chin in a slicker, he went from -the cabin close to the cliff where they had taken refuge, down to the -beach, to make sure that the guys to the plane were holding firm. - -When he had assured himself that all was well, he paused for a moment to -gaze out to sea. He was half afraid that the two native boats had not -reached their harbor before the storm broke. - -"Keeping them off this island is one thing, driving them into the teeth -of a storm another; wouldn't want to be responsible for their deaths," he -mumbled. Then he started. - -"What's that? A light?" - -There had come a lull in the storm. The rain had ceased. It seemed to him -that, as he strained his eyes to gaze seaward, he made out a light. Now -appearing, now disappearing, it seemed to be upon some craft bobbing up -and down with the waves that were rolling high. - -"Can't be the natives. No canoe could ride this storm. It might be--" -This second thought sent him hurrying across the beach toward the cabin. -His companions were asleep, but this was important; he would waken them. - -"They're taking an awful risk," he explained to Pant and the Professor, a -few moments later, as they stood upon the brow of the cliff watching the -now unmistakable light of a ship out to sea. "They're too close in now -for safety. Shoals out there, and it seems to me they're coming closer." - -"Lost their bearings," suggested Pant. - -"Think a beacon fire would help?" asked the Professor. - -"Probably would only mislead them," said Johnny. "Besides, I think it's -rather too late. Unless I mistake their position, they're due to go -aground any minute." - -With strained and expectant faces the three stood watching the bobbing -light. Now it appeared, now it was lost to sight, but at each new -appearance it seemed to gleam more brightly, as if coming nearer. - -They were troubled by this new turn of affairs. There could be little -doubt but this was the ship they had seen struggling in the grip of the -typhoon, the ship which had come to dismantle the wreck. If she went -aground, it would be their duty to assist the unfortunate sailors in -every way possible, yet, in doing so, they would doubtless be bringing -disaster down upon their own heads. These were rough, unscrupulous men. -They would at once suspect the two boys and the Professor of treachery. -After that, what would happen? Who could tell? Yet, they were men and, in -time of disaster, they must be given every assistance. - -The three of them had scarcely thought this through, each in his own way, -when Johnny exclaimed suddenly: - -"There she goes!" - -They caught their breath and waited. The light had disappeared. For a -moment they looked in vain for it; then it reappeared, rose higher than -ever before, then hung gleaming there like a fixed star. - -"Hard aground!" exclaimed Johnny. - -"And likely to break up at any minute," answered Pant. - -A moment later there burst out above the ship a ball of fire, then -another and another. - -"Sending up rockets," said Pant. "I wonder how they expect to get aid -from these desolate shores? No ship could come near them without going -aground. No lifeboat could ride such a sea." - -"And yet," said Johnny, "we must try to give them assistance. If we don't -there'll not be a man of them alive by morning. Their ship is out where -the breakers are rolling strongest, not sheltered by the point, as the -Chinese ship was." - -"It's true," said the Professor, "we must render them some assistance, -but how?" - -"The 'Dust Eater,'" said Johnny. - -"Couldn't ride that sea, even if she could the storm," said Pant. "What's -your idea?" - -"Might not work," said Johnny, "but in times like these, anything's worth -trying. C'm'on." - -They hastened down to the beach where the "Dust Eater" was straining at -her moorings. - -"You and the Professor prop up the boat and set the wheels under her, -while I work at something else," said Johnny. - -He rushed into the cabin of the "Dust Eater" to return at once with two -great balls of stout hempen twine. This was a reserve supply to be used -for lashing the wings of the plane in case of accident. - -There were quantities of drift timber from the wreck of the Chinese craft -scattered about on the beach. After gathering up several of these, Johnny -began splitting them into pieces a foot in length and about the size of a -broom handle. These, as fast as he had split them, he tied into one end -of a ball of cord, leaving a space of six or more feet between each two. -When he had worked at this for some time, he at last turned to his -companions. - -The "Dust Eater" was supplied with a set of starting wheels which might -be attached to the beam of her boatlike body. These were for use only -when an emergency made it necessary to take a start-off from land. Such -an emergency was now at hand. Whether, with the gale blowing, they would -be able to make a successful flight, remained to be seen. They were now -in a position to make the attempt, for Pant and the Professor had -completed their task. - -"Now each of you go to a guy behind her and loosen it, but do not let -go," said Johnny. He stepped forward and loosened the two in front. - -"Take a snub 'round a stake," he cautioned, as an afterthought. "Are you -ready? There's two balls of twine on the beach there. I've tied some -sticks to one end of one of them. The other end of that one is tied to an -end of the second one. I'm taking the end with the sticks on in with me. -When we get away, Professor, you must attempt to play the line out to us -as we fly. Don't let it break if you can help it. We're going to try to -take them a line. They must have rope enough to reach shore, and pulleys -to make a flying car. We can get them ashore if it works. Do you get -that?" - -"Yes," came the answer. - -Johnny nodded approval. - -"All right. Pant, give your guy rope to the Professor. Keep it snubbed, -though." - -Pant, understanding his part, climbed into the pilot's seat. - -"Now, Professor, ease away. Give her the dust," he breathed to Pant. - -The engine thundered. They were away with the storm. A wild circle -brought them perilously near the cliff, but they missed it. - -Johnny felt the slowly growing strain on the cord and knew that the -Professor was succeeding with his task. - -"Right over her, if you can," said Johnny. - -The wind caught them, nearly dashing them into the sea. The line tangled -with the braces, but Johnny managed to drag it free. - -"Now, now--right over!" shouted Johnny. The next moment he sent the -wood-weighted end of the cord whirling toward the ship. The line burned -his fingers, but he clung to it as it played out. - -It was a fortunate cast; almost a miracle, was Johnny's mental comment, -for at once he felt a tug on the cord such as mere water could not give, -and that instant he let go. - -"Can't help but find it," he told Pant through the tube. "Back to the -island now. It'll take all of us to draw their line in." - -It was a difficult landing. The beach was narrow and none too long; the -waves washing it from end to end. Three times they soared low, but did -not dare attempt it. The fourth time, driving straight against the wind, -they sank lower and lower, at last to feel the welcome bump-bump on the -sand. The next moment they were out of the plane and guying her fast. - -"Made it!" was Johnny's brief comment, as they finished. "Now for that -line." - -Pant did not follow at once; he was looking intently out to sea, where a -light was blinking, brightening, then dimming, then lighting up again. - -"Get that?" he shouted to Johnny. - -"What?" - -"It's a signal. The message they sent says, 'Haul away!'" - -"That's good. That means they have our line. We can't haul a heavy wet -rope across the water and up the cliff by hand; have to have a capstan -for that. Guess the one we used this evening will do." - -Finding the capstan, they dragged it up the side of the cliff. Here they -anchored it firmly. Then began the task of pulling in the line. It came -in quite freely at first; Johnny was beginning to think the cord had -broken, when the back-pull began to stiffen. - -"Got 'em all right," he panted, as they redoubled their efforts. - -Fathom after fathom the line was reeled in. So tight grew the strain that -they felt sure it must break. But it did not. Presently they came to a -knot and the end of a heavier line. - -Attaching this to the capstan, they reeled in rapidly until they came to -the place where the line was double, the added strand much larger than -the other. - -"Big one's for the pulley to ride on; the little one's to pull them in -by," explained Pant. "Now, all together, let's draw her tight!" - -Round and round went the capstan. Up--up--up rose the dripping rope -until, at last, it swung entirely free from the sea. - -Seizing a lantern, Pant alternately dimmed and brightened it. This he -repeated several times. - -"Giving them the signal for O. K.," he explained. - -He then watched their light as it dimmed and brightened. - -"They say," he smiled, "'Haul away.'" - -This time by hand they reeled in the smaller cord. Length after length of -it was drawn in and coiled on the rocks. When, for a moment, there was a -heavy back-pull, they knew that the men on the swaying rope-hung pulley -had been dipped beneath a giant wave. They redoubled their efforts, and -presently had the pleasure of seeing five half-drowned men drop down by a -line from the pulley to the sandy beach. - -This time it was Pant's turn to signal "Heave away." - -The signal was obeyed. The swinging car was hauled back and loaded once -more with human freight. - -This was repeated over and over again until the last man was ashore. When -this last man cupped his hands and shouted up to them, "All safe," the -two boys dropped down upon the rocks exhausted. - -"Well," said Johnny, after a time, "we've got them. Question is, what are -we going to do with them?" - -"More than likely it is, 'What are they going to do with us?'" grumbled -Pant. "There are twenty or more of them to our three. Their ship is a -hopeless wreck. It will, half of it, be on the beach in pieces by -morning. We have the only means of transportation. The only way to leave -the island is by plane. Question is, what will they do about that?" - -It was, indeed, a serious situation. Johnny's brow wrinkled as he took in -the full significance of it. - -"Might as well go down and mingle with them," he said, presently. -"There's no better way to judge of a man's character than by listening to -what he says in the dark." - -They found the men rough and boisterous. Some of them were smashing up -all available timber and building fires under the brow of the cliff. -Others had crowded the little cabin to an unbearable degree. - -Pant and Johnny crept into a dark corner beneath the cliff and facing a -blazing fire. - -"Pretty rough," was Johnny's only comment. - -Soon he became conscious of the presence of a little man who appeared to -stand aloof from the others. He was a clean, decent appearing fellow. - -"Pretty close one," Johnny said, by way of starting conversation. - -The little man turned and gave him a sharp look. - -"You from that airplane?" - -"Yes." - -"I'll say it was close." The man lowered his voice. "Wouldn't 'ave -'appened but they was quarrelin' over 'ow they'd divide the plunder, them -officers was." - -"The plunder?" said Johnny. - -"Yes, didn't you know?" the sailor whispered. "That wreck don't belong to -them. It belonged to a company in China. The captain of 'er fergot to set -a line to 'er and attach it to the shore, as is the law of the sea, so -she's fair salvage to those 'as gets to 'er first--just plunder, I'd call -it." - -"But they claimed her." - -"Sure, so's no other ship wouldn't come fer 'er. They was sharp ones, -them officers!" - -"And worse than I thought," said Johnny. - -"Worse, did you say? They're a 'ard lot. Know what they done to me? -Shanghaied me, they did. 'Ere I is in the 'arbor with no money and no -place to sleep, and they says to me, 'Sleep in the ship. We can't sail -fer four days,' an' that night, up they 'eaves anchor and out to sea they -blows, an' me a-sleepin' sound. That's 'ow they ships me. An' no -agreement to pay 'er nothin'. Say," he whispered, "if they's a show-down, -or anything, between you and them, you count me in on your side. But -don't you fight them if you can 'elp it, fer, as I say, they's a 'ard -lot." - -Johnny thanked him, then lay for a time listening to the low murmur of -voices. At last he fell into a half-sleep from which he awakened to find -that day was breaking. - -He scrambled down from the rocks to the beach. There he met a short, -broad-shouldered man with beady rat-like eyes. - -"I'm Captain Hicks," said the stranger. "That your seaplane?" - -"Yes," Johnny answered, trying to smile. - -"Fine plane. Luck, I call it. Our purser is a licensed pilot. Soon's -weather clears, I'll have him take me over to another island in that -plane." - -Johnny gasped. He was about to protest. Then the hopelessness of the -situation came to him. - -"I suppose," he said slowly, "that he is accustomed to handling all kinds -of motors?" - -"Knows 'em like a book," the captain chuckled as he passed on. - -"All the same," said Pant, some time later, when he had been told of the -conversation, "I'll wager he'll have some difficulty in getting old 'Dust -Eater' to perform for him. These dust-eatin' birds are particular who -rides on their backs!" - - - - - CHAPTER XV - THE CHESTS ARE FOUND - - -The storm passed over with the rising sun; the clouds scurried away, the -wind went down, and the sun set the ocean, the shore and the tree-tops -all aglitter with a million diamonds. It seemed fortunate that there was -to be no prolonged uncertainty about the future, yet the boys dreaded to -face the conflict which manifestly lay before them. - -The beach was strewn with drift from the lately wrecked vessel. Hardly a -vestige of the ship was left to mark the spot where it had gone aground. -The wreck of the Chinese ship, however, was still standing, the point -having sheltered it from the force of the waves. - -Seamen were at once busy salvaging eatables from the wreckage. Various -barrels, boxes and casks, containing beef, pilot-bread, tea, coffee, -cheese and like commodities, which would prove invaluable if there was to -be a prolonged stay on the island, were piled on the shore. - -"Here, you. Lend a hand," the captain shouted to a knot of men. - -The bay was quiet now. His purser, the former air pilot, had had the -landing-wheels removed from the "Dust Eater." They were prepared to -launch her. - -"That captain is a rotter," said Pant. "He and his purser would go off -and leave us all here to starve if they could." - -Very confident of his ability, the usurping pilot took his place before -the wheel as the seamen prepared to shove the plane into the water. - -Johnny Thompson had been looking on with interest when, all at once, his -eye was caught by a stranger who had silently joined the group that stood -about. He wore an oriental costume, yet he was a white man. - -Johnny started. At first he thought it was the Professor who had garbed -himself in the clothing left in the cabin while his own clothing dried. -But instantly he knew he was wrong; this man's face was too brown and too -much seamed to be that of the Professor. - -Like a flash, the truth dawned upon him: This was the Professor's -brother. He had not been drowned at the time of the wreck of the Chinese -ship, but had, somehow, saved himself after the others had been picked up -by the passing steamer. It had been he who had built the cabin by the -cliff. That explained the presence of the razor in the cabin. It -explained, too, the mystery of the missing chests; he had brought them -ashore and had hidden them somewhere on the island. - -He had been hiding out, but, on seeing the ship wrecked the previous -night, had doubtless decided to cast his lot with these marooned men. - -He did not have long to wait for the proof that at least some of these -conclusions were correct, for almost instantly the Professor, turning, -saw the stranger. For a second his face went white and he seemed about to -fall. He recovered himself and sprang forward, and the two men embraced -one another, like two children who had been a long time separated. - -But now Johnny's attention was attracted by a suppressed laugh from the -men about him, who had been watching the new pilot in his attempt to -start the "Dust Eater." As he looked, he saw that the man's face was as -black as it might have been had he smeared it with burnt cork. - -What had happened was that having attempted to start the engine, and -having failed, he had climbed back to the fuel tank and there had -unscrewed the top, thinking to see if there was gasoline in it. In -attempting to look inside, he had put his face too close to the opening, -had blown into it, and the feathery coal dust with which the boys had -filled the tank had risen up in a cloud to besmirch his damp visage. - -The purser was in a fine rage. He ordered the sailor who had rowed him -out to the "Dust Eater" in the canvas boat to take him ashore. Once his -feet touched the beach, he came racing toward Johnny and Pant. - -"Leave this to me," said Pant. "You and the Professor quietly drop out of -the bunch, and then make your way to the north end of the island as -quickly as possible." - -He had hardly said this than the purser was upon him: - -"Smart trick!" he snarled. "Thought you'd balk us. Took out the gasoline -and filled the tank with coal dust!" He seemed about to strike Pant. - -With a tiger-like spring, Pant leaped back. - -"Better not." His voice was low, like the warning hiss of a panther. - -The purser hesitated. - -"Let me tell you something," Pant said evenly. "There isn't a drop of -gasoline on this island as far as I know; not a drop in that plane, -either, but all the same, she'll fly for a man who understands her. - -"Now, I'll tell you what," he went on. "You come over to the plane with -me. Look her all over. See if there is any gasoline on her. Then you let -me try to get her going. See if I can't do it." - -"All right." The other man's smile showed his incredulity. - -Together in the canvas boat they went out to the plane. Carefully the -purser looked the plane over, then expressing himself satisfied that -there was no gasoline on board, he seated himself carelessly astride the -fuselage, and with a mock-smile, said: - -"All right. Let's see you start her." - -Pant dropped silently into his seat. This was his chance. If he could -make a clean get-away all would be well. Johnny and the Professor would -be waiting at the north end of the island. He would pick them up and they -would fly away. They would report the wreck of the steamer at the nearest -port and leave the rest to the American consul. - -Catching a quick breath, he touched a button, then pulled a lever. At -once the engine thundered. They were moving. - -"Now a little quick work," he whispered to himself. - -He whirled about, and with one swing of his powerful arm pitched the -astonished purser from the fuselage into the sea. The next instant the -plane rose gracefully from the water. He was away. - -The purser came up sputtering, to swim for the shore. The captain roared -at Pant, commanding him in the name of all things he knew to stop. -Bullets from a seaman's rifle sang over his head, but all these arguments -were lost on him. He was on his way. - -Taking a wide circle, that he might give his companions time to arrive at -the meeting-place, he at last swung back to the end of the island. - -To his surprise, as he eased the plane down into the water, he saw, not -two men, but four, awaiting him. Besides his two companions, there was -the Professor's brother and the little shanghaied English sailor. - -There was no time for demanding and receiving explanations; not even when -he saw four large chests piled on the rocky shore did Pant ask a -question. The canvas boat had been fastened to the "Dust Eater"; it was -still there. Righting this, he pulled for the shore. The chests were -quickly tied together, and the men loaded into the boat. Then, with the -line of chests following in their wake, they pulled back to the plane. - -The lashing of the chests, two back and two before the cabin, consumed -time. When this was done, Pant tumbled into his seat, the other four -piled, pell-mell, into the cabin; the motors thundered and they were -away. - -They were not a moment too soon, for the captain, suspecting the move, -had ordered his men to race to the end of the island. Just as the "Dust -Eater" rose, graceful as a swan, out of the water, the first man appeared -at the top of the cliff. - -"Close one!" grumbled Pant through the tube. - -"Safe enough now, though," sighed Johnny. - -Their journey to a port on the largest island of the scattered group was -made in safety. The wreck was reported; then the "Dust Eater" was loaded -aboard a steamer bound for San Francisco. They were to have a safer if -not a more eventful journey home. - -It was only after the four chests had been safely stowed away in a large -stateroom aboard the steamer that Johnny and Pant were let into the -secret of their contents. Then, with his brother by his side, the medical -missionary unlocked one of the chests and lifted the lid. - -The two boys leaned forward eagerly. - -What they saw first was nothing more than sawdust. The missionary put his -hand into this sawdust, and drew out a half-gallon can. This can had a -small screw top. This he took off, and, having poured a little of the -contents into the palm of his hand, held it out for the boys' inspection. - -"Oh!" exclaimed Johnny in surprise. "Do you mean to tell us that we have -gone through all this to save four chests of oil?" - -"But wait," said the Professor quickly. "This is no ordinary oil. It is -Russian napthalan. It is worth at the present moment, a dollar and a half -an ounce. There are sixty-four ounces in that can, seventy-five cans to -the chest, and four chests. Figure for yourself its value. But money," he -went on in a very serious tone, "is not the principal reward. It never -is. There are in America today tens of thousands of children suffering -from a terrible skin disease. They have no relief. A salve, of which this -oil is the base, will at once relieve their condition, and in time will -cure them. To save these children, is this not a cause for which one -might gladly risk his life many times?" - -"It is," said Johnny with conviction. "I am glad we came." In this -expression he was quickly seconded by Pant. - -Later that evening, after the moon had spread a long yellow streamer -across the waters, Johnny and Pant sat in steamer chairs side by side -silently gazing across the sea. Each was busy with his own thoughts. -Johnny was going over the events of the past few months. In these months -many mysteries had leaped out of the unknown to stare him in the face and -challenge his wits to find their answers. Some had been solved; others -remained yet to be solved. There was the white fire of the factory which -had worked such wonders with steel and, closely associated with that, -were the fires that had started, apparently without cause, on the red -racer in the desert and the savages' canoe. These remained mysteries, as -did the problem of the composition of the new steel. He wondered still if -the vial he had put away on the upper shelf of the laboratory in the -factory could possibly add some light to this problem. - -Of two things he was certain: The dust-burning motor was a complete -success and the blue steel was the most marvelous steel ever invented. He -hoped that Pant and he would not now be long in revealing these facts to -those most interested. They would delight the heart of their employer and -would bring great joy to the aged inventor of the motor. - -First, though, they must return from the coast to the factory with their -machine. He hoped that, by this time, they had succeeded in shaking the -contortionist off their trail. - -"But you never can tell," he whispered to himself. - -As if his mind had been working on these very problems, Pant said -suddenly: - -"We'll take the boat rigging off the 'Dust Eater' when we reach the -Golden Gate and rig her up with landing wheels. Then we'll fly home. What -do you say?" - -"Looks like the best plan," said Johnny. "That'll give the motors one -more try-out and us another thrill." - -Had he known the kind of thrill it was going to be, he would doubtless -have favored shipping the plane by freight. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - A RACE IN MID-AIR - - -Johnny Thompson was happy; he thought he had never been so happy in his -life. They were on their last lap home. The flight over the Rockies and -across the Great American Desert, then over the vast prairies, had been -accomplished with ease and pleasure. In a few hours they would be -dropping down to the landing field at the factory. - -"I only hope the inventor has come to himself enough to tell them the -secret formula," he mumbled to himself. He was thinking of the new -process steel and again, for the hundredth time, the vial in the -laboratory flashed through his mind. - -"Guess I should have told them," he mused. "Might be something in it. -Might be--" - -Pant's signal at the speaking tube broke in on his reflections. - -"Plane to our larboard aft," he called. "Big blue one with wide planes. -Looks like a racer." - -Johnny started. What plane could this be? They were not in a region -frequented by airplanes, nor in the path of an air mail line. But then, -he reassured himself, planes were common enough the country over. - -He could not, however, shake off at once the sense of fear that gripped -him. He had not forgotten their mad race across the desert, nor his -narrow escape on the mountain lake. A race in an airplane might not end -happily, especially with him at the wheel. - -His mind became at ease presently, and he again took up the thread of -thought that had been broken off. Should this day's work be completed in -safety, their days of thrills and dangers would, for a time at least, be -over. - -"Seem to be following us," broke in Pant again. "Man, but they've got -some speed! Let her out a notch or two." - -The plane seemed fairly to leap from beneath them as Johnny, obeying -instructions, "let her out." She was a good, substantial plane, of the -type that is destined to become the express-carrier of tomorrow, but she -was not of the fastest model. - -Johnny risked a glance back. Pant seemed to be fumbling at something near -his belt beneath his heavy leather coat. - -"If he were only up here at the wheel!" Johnny groaned. - -"Drop down a few hundred feet," suggested Pant. "If it's necessary, we -might make a landing." Johnny tilted her nose groundward. - -As they came closer to earth, they realized at once that a landing was -impossible; they were passing over range after range of low, rolling -hills. There were no valleys to the crooked streams that flowed between -the hills. - -"Shoot her up again; better traveling," suggested Pant. - -It seemed to Johnny that he could catch the thundering throb of the other -plane's engine. But this was only imagination. Truth was, however, that -the other plane was gaining on them. Yard by yard they came closer. As -the miles sped from beneath them, the distance diminished. Now they were -a mile away; now three-quarters. And now they plunged into a great mass -of white mist, which was a cloud, and were for a time lost to view. - -As they came again into clear sky, Johnny gasped. The other plane -appeared to have doubled her speed. It could be only a matter of moments -now. What mad thing did those fellows mean to attempt? Did they hope to -force them to the ground? Would they ram them? To do so seemed certain -death to all. - -"They've got parachutes!" shouted Pant through the tube. - -Parachutes? Johnny's mind was in a panic. Perhaps they meant to take to -their parachutes after ramming the "Dust Eater." - -"Johnny!" Pant's voice was even and composed, "just slow her up a bit and -hold her in a steady, straight line." - -"Slow up!" Was Pant mad? The other plane must be all but upon them! -Without question he obeyed. Straight as a chalk line they shot on through -the blue. - -One minute, two, three, four, five. As Johnny counted them on the dial of -the clock in front of him, he expected at any one of them to feel a -sudden shock. - -But the shock did not come. - -"As you are," he heard Pant breathe at last. "No, I think you might -circle a bit. Looks like we're over a meadow. Not a bad landing-place. -They've taken to their parachutes. Their plane's on fire, but she'll -carry on a mile or two before she drops." - -"Their plane's on fire!" Pant had said it in such a composed tone of -voice that one might think it quite the thing to expect at this juncture. - -Glancing back, Johnny saw him struggling to replace something beneath his -leather coat. It looked like a long black leather case. - -With trembling hands he set the plane to circle downward, to follow the -burning plane, which was now careening wildly. Some two miles back the -two parachutes of the others, white specks against the blue, were nearing -the ground. - -"We'll just have a look at their plane and be away again before they -arrive," suggested Pant. "Their fuselage is of sheet-steel. It won't -burn. There may be something of interest in the seat or somewhere." - -Johnny did not fully approve of this maneuver. Yet, since Pant was in -charge of this expedition, he proceeded to put the suggestion into -execution. - - * * * * * * * * - -"Here's what I found in that plane." Pant drew some jagged bits of rusty -metal from a canvas bag. It was four hours after the burning of the blue -racer. The two boys had made a landing near the wreck, and Pant had -hurried over there, to return with two objects which he found in the -seat: a canvas sack and a pair of gloves. - -They were now safe on the landing-field of the factory. They were "home." -Their journey and its dangers at an end, they were resting on the grass -for a few moments before going to report to their employer. - -"This is all there is left of the bar of new process steel they made away -with. They tried to work it by heating it in the usual way, and failed. -They found out some way that we were trying out some parts made of the -steel, and were all for running us down and taking it away from us." - -Johnny examined the bits of metal carefully. "I believe you're right," he -answered. - -"And these gloves," said Pant, holding the pair up for inspection, -"establish the identity of the driver of the blue racer. No one but your -friend, the contortionist, the frog-man, could wear such long-fingered -affairs as these. I suppose," he said thoughtfully, "that we could have -the sheriff out in that country hunt those fellows up." - -"What kind of a case would we have on them, though?" smiled Johnny. "The -sky's all free property up to date, isn't it? You can't have a fellow -arrested for following you, can you?" - -"I suppose not," Pant reluctantly admitted. "Well, anyway, we got their -machine." - -"Pant," said Johnny suddenly, "you set that airplane on fire." - -"What?" Pant started and stared. "Well," he said after a few seconds, -"what if I did? Didn't do it until they had shown they were planning to -run us down, and then, not until I knew they had parachutes. That was all -right, wasn't it?" - -"Sure it was all right," smiled Johnny. "It was more than all right--it -was good." - -For a time the two were silent. - -"You set their auto on fire back in the desert, too," Johnny resumed. - -"Sure I did." - -"How'd you do it?" - -The masked look that appeared to hide Pant's face faded. "I'll show you, -Johnny. Just because you're such a good pal I'll show you." - -Detaching from his belt the black leather case, which Johnny had seen -twice before, he walked to the plane and, after attaching two wires, -started the motor. - -"Watch the grass over there a hundred feet." - -Suddenly the ground began to smoke, and a patch of grass turned to brown, -then black. - -"Fairly rips up the ground, she does," Pant said with a proud grin. -"There's a piece of gas pipe somebody's left sticking up in the ground -over there about three hundred feet. Watch that!" - -Johnny watched with popping eyes while a foot of the pipe turned first -red, then intensely white, then toppled over like a weed in a forest -fire. - -"Pant," he said breathlessly, "what is it?" - -"I don't quite know myself," Pant smiled, as he shut off the motor. -"There's been a lot of things like it. X-ray, violet-ray, radium and the -like, you know. But this is something I got up myself--sort of a cross -between fire and lightning, near's I can find out. I'm having it -patented, though for the life of me I don't know what you'd use it for. -You can't go around the world setting autos and planes on fire when they -come up behind you." - -"And that," said Johnny, "is the white fire?" - -"Exactly! I got a lot of fun out of that business in the factory. Fooled -you, didn't I?" - -"Yes, and helped us a lot. That's why you didn't stay about when the -manager was with us?" - -"Sure it was. I had to go back and get the show going." Pant threw back -his head and laughed. - -"Well," said Johnny, rising and stretching, "guess we'd better go in and -make our report." - -"Leave that to you," said Pant. "I'll run over and see if my patent -papers are at the postoffice." - -"And there," said Mr. McFarland, a half-hour later, as Johnny sat by the -desk in his private office, "are a couple of papers you might be -interested in." - -The instant he had them in his hand Johnny recognized his father's -signature. - -"Notes," he murmured. "Why, they're marked 'Paid in full.' I--I don't -understand." - -"You will remember," said the manager, struggling against a huskiness in -his voice, "that your banker told you he held notes against your father. -He never told you who the real owner was. He was acting according to -orders in doing this. I was the real owner, and now--since you have -rendered a service to our company which more than balances the account--I -am giving them to you marked 'Paid in full.'" - -Johnny's mind whirled. His good fortune seemed too good to be believed. -His debt of honor was canceled. He might face the world with a clean -start. - -"I--I," he stammered, "I can't thank you." - -"There is no occasion," said the magnate. "It is a plain business -proposition--value for value received. - -"You may be pleased to know," he hurried on, glad to change the subject, -"that we found a glass bottle left in the laboratory by the inventor, -that tells us what the new element in the steel is. We have also -discovered a method of heat treatment which enables us to work the metal. -We are now in a position to manufacture engines and utilize this new -steel. It will be worth millions, and the inventor, who is slowly -recovering, will receive his share." - -Johnny was experiencing strange sensations. "Where," he managed to ask, -"did you find the bottle which gave you the secret of the formula?" - -"Upper shelf; right-hand corner; central laboratory. Why do you ask?" - -"For no reason," said Johnny, a queer smile playing about his lips, -"except that I guess I was the fellow who put that bottle there." - -He then explained how he had made the test at night, to help keep himself -awake, and how he had not dared to reveal the results for fear of being -censured. - -They had a good laugh over it, and at the end Mr. McFarland said: - -"Just for that you may have the chummy roadster which you and Pant drove -so far. And, by the way, send Pant to me. He must have some reward. How -do you think he'd like the plane you drove?" - -"Guess he'd like that O. K.," smiled Johnny. "Thanks for the car. If -you'll allow me, I should like to use it driving back and forth from your -factory to the School of Engineering. I'd like to spend a half day in -each place. There are a lot of things I need to know." - -"A splendid idea!" said Mr. McFarland. And at that Johnny bowed himself -out. - -A half hour later he and Pant sat drinking coffee and munching doughnuts -in the small kitchen of the aged inventor of the dust-burning motor. They -were telling their story to the delighted old couple. And that story, -better than mere assurance, informed them that the invention was a huge -success and that they were rich. No other pleasure could have so -fittingly crowned this series of adventures than did this simple -story-telling to two old people who appreciated it all as no others -could. - -Johnny stuck to his purpose of attending the engineering school. He -learned there many of the secrets of science and industry. The time soon -came, too, when he might put his knowledge to work. For, one day, he -received a wire from Pant, who was again on the Pacific coast with the -"Dust Eater." - -"Come at once," the telegram ran. "Need you. Big new sea mystery. Will -explain on arrival." - -What that mystery was and how they solved it must be told in our next -volume of mystery and adventure, "The Black Schooner." - - - - - Transcriber's Notes - - ---Copyright notice provided as in the original printed text--this e-text - is public domain in the country of publication. - ---Silently corrected palpable typos. - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of White Fire, by Roy J. 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