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diff --git a/43904-0.txt b/43904-0.txt index 277246e..77dcf2a 100644 --- a/43904-0.txt +++ b/43904-0.txt @@ -1,35 +1,4 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Mystery Wings, 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: Mystery Wings - A Mystery Story for Boys - -Author: Roy J. Snell - -Release Date: October 7, 2013 [EBook #43904] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYSTERY WINGS *** - - - - -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 43904 *** _A Mystery Story for Boys_ @@ -5095,360 +5064,4 @@ new book, _Red Dynamite_. 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Snell</title> @@ -148,44 +148,7 @@ 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 Mystery Wings, 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: Mystery Wings - A Mystery Story for Boys - -Author: Roy J. Snell - -Release Date: October 7, 2013 [EBook #43904] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYSTERY WINGS *** - - - - -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 43904 ***</div> <div id="cover" class="img"> <img id="coverpage" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Mystery Wings" width="500" height="719" /> @@ -5850,380 +5813,6 @@ look for our new book, <i>Red Dynamite</i>.</p> <li>Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and dialect unchanged.</li> <li>In the text versions, delimited italics text in _underscores_ (the HTML version reproduces the font form of the printed book.)</li></ul> - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Mystery Wings, by Roy J. Snell - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYSTERY WINGS *** - -***** This file should be named 43904-h.htm or 43904-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/3/9/0/43904/ - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, -set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to -copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to -protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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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 43904 ***</div> </body> </html> diff --git a/43904.txt b/43904.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 7583009..0000000 --- a/43904.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5454 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Mystery Wings, 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: Mystery Wings - A Mystery Story for Boys - -Author: Roy J. Snell - -Release Date: October 7, 2013 [EBook #43904] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYSTERY WINGS *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - _A Mystery Story for Boys_ - - - - - MYSTERY WINGS - - - _By_ - ROY J. SNELL - - - The Reilly & Lee Co. - Chicago - - COPYRIGHT, 1935 - BY - THE REILLY & LEE CO. - PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. - - - - - CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - I The Mysterious Chinaman 11 - II A Strange Prophecy Comes True 23 - III The Thought Camera 33 - IV A Place of Great Magic 45 - V Johnny's Think-O-Graphs 58 - VI Beside the Green-Eyed Dragon 63 - VII Mystery Ship 70 - VIII Strange Passengers 82 - IX "Who's Afraid of a Chinaman?" 96 - X Clues from the Dust 103 - XI What an Eye! 112 - XII The Vanishing Chinaman 128 - XIII Secret of the Pines 135 - XIV The Steel-Fingered Pitcher 143 - XV The White Flare 155 - XVI A Tense Moment 162 - XVII A Narrow Escape 172 - XVIII The Flying Ball Team 181 - XIX A Revelation in Chinese 190 - XX Ether and Moth-Balls 200 - XXI Liquid Air--Almost 209 - XXII The Smoke Screen 220 - - - - - MYSTERY WINGS - - - - - CHAPTER I - THE MYSTERIOUS CHINAMAN - - -"Pardon, my young friend!" - -Johnny Thompson started at the sound of these words spoken by someone -close behind him. He had been seated in a corner of the park. It was -early evening, but quite dark. He sprang to his feet. - -"Pardon! Please do not go away." There was something reassuring in the -slow easy drawl of the stranger. Johnny dropped back to his place. Next -instant as the light of a passing car played upon the stranger, he was -tempted to laugh. He found himself looking into the face of the smallest -Chinaman he had ever known. To Johnny the expression "Who's afraid of a -Chinaman?" was better known than "Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?" - -But what did this little man with his very much wrinkled face puckered -into a strange smile, want? Johnny leaned forward expectantly. - -"You think hard. You are worried. Is it not so?" The little man took a -seat beside him. "All the time you think baseball. You do not play. But -you think very much. Is it not so? This town, your team, they are -everything just now. Is it not so? And you are troubled." The wrinkles on -the little yellow man's face appeared to crinkle and crackle like very -old parchment. - -"Let me tell you," he put a hand on Johnny's arm. "You think of -Centralia. A long time you have thought, 'They will defeat us unless we -find a pitcher, a very good pitcher.' And you have found a pitcher. -Perhaps he will do. You are not sure. Is it not so?" - -Johnny started. All this was true. Centralia was the great rival of the -little city he chanced to call home at that moment. He was thinking of -the coming game. But this new pitcher! That was a closely guarded secret. -Only three people knew and they were pledged to silence. - -"Ah!" the little man leaned forward, "You are more greatly troubled now. -You are thinking, 'Someone has told.' No, my young friend, it has not -been told. It is given Tao Sing to know many things. Tao Sing can tell -you much." - -"Are you Tao Sing?" Johnny fixed his eyes on the dark face beside him. - -"I am Tao Sing." The little man blinked strangely. "It is written, I -shall be your friend. Tao Sing shall tell you many things. Ah yes, many, -many things." - -Johnny was astonished, so much so that for an instant his eyes strayed -away to the deep shadows beyond. When his gaze returned the dark figure -of the little yellow man was gone. He had vanished into the night. - -"How could he know that?" the boy asked himself in great perplexity. "I -have only known it three days. It has been a pledged secret." Here indeed -was a mystery. - -Johnny Thompson was, at that moment, living in the little city of -Hillcrest. Having wandered the world over, sleeping beneath the tropical -moon and the Midnight Sun, and meeting with all manner of weird -adventures, he had returned to the place that had fascinated him most as -a very small boy--his grandfather's home. At the edge of this sleepy -little city, a hundred and fifty miles from any truly great city, Johnny -had found the rambling old home still standing, and in it, a little -grayer and slower, but still his kindly old self, was his grandfather. - -"You've come for a long stay this time, Johnny," he said with a warming -smile. "That's fine!" - -"Yes," Johnny had replied, "I'm tired of big cities, of adventures and -mysteries. I--well, I guess I'd just like to sit in the sun awhile -and--well, perhaps play around a little." - -"There's a fine ball team," the old man had said enthusiastically. "Lots -of interest in it this summer." - -"Baseball--" Johnny said the word slowly. "I'm rather poor at that. Might -be ways I could help though." - -And there had been ways. When their best pitcher's arm went bad and their -hopes of winning the Summer League pennant promised to go aglimmering, he -had marched bravely into the office of Colonel Chamberlain, the town's -most resourceful business man, and said, "Colonel, it's up to you to help -us out." - -To Johnny's vast surprise the Colonel replied, "Sure I will, Johnny." At -the same time the Colonel had smiled a mysterious smile. "Truth is," he -said, "I've been sort of holding out on you boys. I've got a man right -here in the laboratories who can throw circles all around any pitcher in -the League." - -"Here in the lab--" - -"Wait and see!" the Colonel stopped Johnny. "You bring Doug Danby around -tomorrow night." (Doug was Captain of the team.) "I'll have him throw -over a few for you, just in private." He had kept his promise. - -"Mysteries," Johnny thought, sitting there in the park in the dark after -the little Chinaman had vanished. "They're not just in big cities nor in -tropical jungles either. You find them everywhere. Take that pitcher--one -of the most mysterious persons I ever saw. Such a strange looking chap -too--dark-skinned as some priest from India. And can he pitch! - -"Boy, oh boy!" He spoke aloud without meaning to. "Will we win!" - -"No, my friend!" So startled this time was Johnny, at once more hearing -the sound of the little yellow man's voice that he sprang to his feet, -wild-eyed and staring. - -"No, my friend, you will not win," the little man repeated quietly. -"There is a reason. Soon I shall tell you the reason, my young friend." - -"Why you--" - -Johnny saw a yellow hand waving before him for silence. - -"One more thing I will tell you," the little man continued. "There is a -pep meeting tomorrow night. You will not go." - -"No, I--" - -Johnny did not finish. Once more the little yellow man had disappeared. - -"How could you know that?" Johnny called into the darkness. - -"I have a picture of your thoughts," came drifting back. "You will not -believe. Sometime I shall show you this picture of your thoughts." - -"A--a picture of my thoughts." Johnny dropped back to his place on the -bench. "A picture of my thoughts? How could that be? And yet-- - -"How could he know?" he repeated after a long period of silence. And -indeed how could this little man know all he had told? In regard to the -mysterious pitcher the Colonel had discovered for the team, there was a -bare chance that someone had talked. They, the three of them, Doug Danby, -Colonel Chamberlain, and Johnny, had agreed to keep this a secret for at -least one more day. - -"Yes," he thought slowly, "someone might have talked. But that pep -meeting! I only decided last night that I'd better not go. And yet he, a -strange Chinaman I have never seen before, he comes and tells me what I -have thought. How strange! How--how sort of impossible. And yet-- - -"He said he had a picture of my thoughts. I--I hope he brings it round -for me to see." Laughing a short uncertain laugh, the boy rose from the -bench to walk slowly toward his grandfather's home. - -A rather strange city was this one where, for the time, Johnny had a -home. No city of its size has a more unusual population. A dozen or more -years back it had been a mere village. Only native-born Americans lived -there. Then it began to grow. The Chinese people came first. For some -reason all his own, a very rich Chinese merchant, Wung Lu, had settled -there. In almost no time at all, he had gathered about him a large group -of the strange little yellow men. They had erected a Chinese Chamber of -Commerce. Men came from afar to bargain here for Oriental goods from -across the sea. - -"They're queer, these little yellow men," Johnny told himself now, "but -somehow I like them." - -Yes, though he was not very conscious of it, this was one of Johnny's -great gifts. He had a way of "somehow liking" everyone. And because they -somehow came to know this, they liked him in turn. He and Wung Lu, the -Chinese merchant who, rumor had it, was immensely rich, had become great -friends. - -"But this little fellow with the wrinkled face," he thought, "now who can -he be? I supposed I had seen them all. And he is one I could never -forget, yet I've never seen him before. - -"Strange sort of fellow," he mused. "Said he had a picture of my -thoughts. How could he have? But then how could he know those things he -told me?" - -Johnny had read books about the way people think. He remembered reading -something about one person being able to read another's thoughts. Could -this little man do that? Had he read his thoughts? He shuddered a little. -It was so mysterious, so sort of ghost-like. - -"He couldn't have read my mind, at least not when he found out I wasn't -going to the pep meeting. I hadn't thought of it once, at least not -tonight." - -The whole affair was so baffling that he gave it up and turned his -thoughts to Saturday's baseball game. - -Johnny had known for a long time that Centralia, nine miles away, and -Hillcrest had been rivals, friendly rivals, but the keenest of rivals all -the same. For four years, one straight after the other, Centralia had won -the annual summer baseball tournament. - -"Last year," Johnny thought, "Hillcrest almost beat them in the last -game. But this year we'll win if-- - -"But then--" his mood changed. "He said we wouldn't win, that little -yellow man with the wrinkled face said that!" he exclaimed, half in -anger. "How could he know? And yet, how could he know what I had been -thinking? - -"Oh well!" He stamped the ground defiantly. "What's one game? There are -others to be played. If we lose one, we'll win in the end. And we'll not -lose this one! See if--" - -He broke short off. Soft footsteps were approaching. It was the little -Chinaman again. - -"It's he," Johnny whispered. "Will I never get rid of him? He's like a -shadow, a ghost haunting a fellow in the night." - -As the little man came close to Johnny he said in a voice that was little -more than a whisper, "You know that Centralia baseball captain, Barney -Bradford?" - -Johnny grumbled, "Of course I do. Suppose you have a picture of his -thoughts too." - -"Ye-s-s," the little man drawled, "Tao Sing has picture of that one's -thoughts." - -"Oh, you have?" This affair was getting almost funny. "What does he -think?" - -"He thinks his pitcher has been sick. He thinks, not sick now. Pitch -tomorrow. Win tomorrow. He thinks this--Barney Bradford." The little -Chinaman let out a low cackle. "I have the picture of his thoughts. So -now you know that Tao Sing tell no lie. You did not know this pitcher is -well again. Is it not so?" - -"I--I did not know," Johnny agreed reluctantly. - -"And your team mates did not know. But Tao Sing, he know. Listen!" The -little man's voice dropped to a whisper. "You are a friend of Wung Lu, -the rich and wise one, is it not so?" - -"Y-yes, that's right," Johnny stammered, too astonished to think clearly. - -"Ah yes, you are a friend of Wung Lu," the little man murmured. "Perhaps -some day I will show you the picture of your thoughts. Perhaps very soon, -some day I shall show you." - -Once more the little yellow man vanished into the darkness. He left an -astonished boy staring at the place where he had been. - -A few moments later Johnny met Meggy Strawn at his own door. Meggy was -champion cheer leader for Hillcrest. - -"Why Johnny, what's up?" she asked. "Why all the gloom?" - -"Burt Standish is going to pitch tomorrow." - -"Burt! He can't! He's got heart trouble. Johnny, who told you?" - -"Why, a--" Johnny stopped short. He couldn't tell Meggy that some little -Chinaman had taken a picture of Barney Bradford's thoughts. That would -sound sort of queer. "I--I--" he hesitated, "I just found out." - -"And yet I believe it," he thought to himself as he hurried past her. - -There was reason enough to believe, for next day as Johnny took his place -on the bleachers there was Burt Standish, the pitcher who was supposed to -have serious heart trouble, on the mound warming up. - -"He knew," Johnny told himself with sudden shock. "That little Chinaman -knew! And yet Centralia succeeded in keeping it a dead secret. Not a -player on our team knew Burt was to pitch." His respect for the little -Chinaman's mind reading, or whatever it might be, rose several notches. - - - - - CHAPTER II - A STRANGE PROPHECY COMES TRUE - - -"Oh!" someone exclaimed. "There is Burt Standish! He's going to pitch -against us!" - -Johnny knew that voice. It was Meggy Strawn. Johnny could not quite -remember when he first played with Meggy. Many summers he had visited at -Grandfather Thompson's old-fashioned house, and Meg was always there. She -lived only three doors away. He remembered her in rompers, short dresses -and knickers. Now she was sixteen. Her bright orange sweater and skirt of -brilliant blue somehow matched her sharply turned-up nose and freckled -cheeks. Meg was real. Johnny thought her the realest girl he had ever -known. "Not soft," was the way he had expressed it, "Just gloriously -old-fashioned, no painted lips, nor cheeks either, and no -cigarets--nothing like that; just all girl! And pep! Say, there's not a -girl with half her get-up-and-go, not in the whole big city of Chicago, -or anywhere else!" - -Yes, Johnny liked Meg. And now as he smiled at her he said, "Burt -Standish will pitch, and we'll lose the game." - -"Lose! Johnny--" Meg grabbed his arm. "Why do you say that? I just heard -we were to have a marvelous pitcher, a real star." - -"Yes," Johnny agreed slowly. "Guess I know as much about that as--well, -as anyone, except Colonel Chamberlain. All the same, we'll lose. You'll -see!" - -"Crepe hanger!" Meg gave him a shake. "Just you watch our smoke!" Seizing -a megaphone, she sprang out upon the turf to shout: - -"Yea! Yea! Yea! Team! Team! Team!" Then, as her lithe young body swayed -in rhythmic motion there came back from a hundred throats: - -"Yea! Yea! Yea! Team! Team! Team!" - -All the same, as Meg dropped to a place beside him on the grass, Johnny -repeated solemnly, "We lose. Tao Sing knows." - -"What?" Meggy gave him a sharp look. "Who is Tao Sing?" - -Johnny did not reply. - -A moment later, at a motion from Colonel Chamberlain, who had just come -onto the field, Johnny walked away. - -"I'm sorry, Johnny." The Colonel's face was sober as Johnny reached his -side. "It's a tough break for the team, but J. can't be with us today." - -"Jay?" Johnny stared. - -"Suppose you are thinking J-a-y." The Colonel smiled. "Just leave the -last two letters off. That's what our star pitcher prefers to be known -by--just the plain letter 'J.' And, as I was saying, I couldn't get him -out--not today. He--he told me he didn't want to chance it." - -"Chance what?" Johnny was keenly disappointed. "'Fraid his arm wouldn't -hold out?" - -"Not that. Something else. I can't explain further." The Colonel's voice -dropped. "Just tell the boys we're sorry. Hope he can be with you next -game." - -It was a very sober Johnny who walked toward the spot where the Hillcrest -team was gathered, waiting, expectant, hoping at any moment to see their -new pitcher. This quiet, old-fashioned city had somehow gotten into -Johnny's blood. It was the home of his ancestors. He loved it for that -and for other reasons. The people who lived here stood for certain -things--that is, most of them did. They were honest, or at least as -honest as they knew how to be. They were kind to the unfortunate. They -believed in both work and rest. Saturday afternoon was their time for -recreation. They loved their ball games. And there were very special -reasons why, this year, these games _must_ be a grand success. Johnny -knew this. That was one reason for his sober face. - -"Sorry!" he said quietly, a moment later, to Doug Danby, the captain. -"The Colonel just told me our surprise pitcher won't be here today." - -"Won't be here?" Doug's jaw dropped. - -"Oh well!" he sighed a moment later. "Just have to make the best of it. -And--" his lips closed tight. "We'll win anyway." - -"Oh no, you won't." These words were on Johnny's lips. They remained -unsaid. - -"See?" Johnny grinned at Meg as he returned to his place. "Our star -pitcher will not be here! What does that mean? What did I tell you?" - -"Yes, you and your mysterious Chinaman!" Meg scoffed. "We'll win, you'll -see!" - -Johnny did not truly hear this outburst. He was wondering, in a strange -and sudden sort of way, whether there could be any connection between the -mysterious little Chinaman and the failure of their star pitcher to -appear. "Of course not," he whispered to himself. All the same, he did -not feel quite sure. - -If they lost that game it would not be Meggy's fault. This became evident -from the start. With her bright sweater thrown carelessly upon the -ground, shapely brown arms waving, nimble feet dancing, she led the -cheering as no cheer leader had done before. - -And it did seem from the start that old Hillcrest had more than an even -chance. Fred Frame, their regular pitcher, whose arm had a mean way of -going back on him just at the wrong moment, held his place in the box and -pitched remarkably well. - -Hillcrest went into the lead in the first inning. They held that lead -doggedly until the fifth. In the sixth they slipped. Three runs came in -for the rival team, and Hillcrest stood one score behind. - -"It's going to be too bad if we lose," Johnny said soberly as Meg, -seizing his arm to steady herself for a moment, whispered hoarsely, -"Every game counts. The fans want victory. They want the pennant, or--" - -She did not finish for at that moment Doug Danby, captain of the -Hillcrest team, got a homer, tying the score. - -"Ray! Ray! Ray! Doug! Doug! Doug!" Meggy was away like a flaming rocket. - -The first half of the eighth found Hillcrest ahead by two runs. - -"Johnny, we're going to win!" Meggy was jumping up and down. - -"No," said Johnny soberly, "we're going to lose." - -"Johnny, why do you say that? We're two runs ahead!" - -"Wait and see." Johnny's face was solemn. - -"Now why _did_ I say that?" he thought to himself a moment later. "Just -because that little Chinaman said it. And how could he know?" He was -quite disgusted with himself. And yet-- - -"We'll show them!" Meggy cried. Seizing a megaphone, once again she -sprang to the grass before the grandstand. - -Johnny cheered loudest of all and hoped with all his heart that his dire -prophecy might not come true. - -"We'll win!" Meggy screamed. "Of course we will!" - -Hillcrest came up to bat. The dark eyes of the opposing pitcher gleamed -as he sent the ball streaking across the plate. - -"Strike one!" - -"Strike two!" - -"Strike three!" The umpire's voice boomed, and Hillcrest's star batter -went down. Two others followed in a row. - -A hush fell over the grandstand as the home players took their places on -the diamond. It was now or never. - -The pitcher seemed nervous. The balls went wild. The short, stocky -catcher waited the next in grim silence. - -"Strike--" - -"Strike----" - -Even Johnny was hopeful. Vain hope! The next two were balls. - -"Take your base." - -But now the pitcher got a grip on himself. One man went down swinging. -The next sent a pop-up into the infield. - -"Two down. We got 'em!" Meggy screamed. Johnny was silent. Why did he -believe in that little yellow man? He was plagued by the question. - -"Yes! Yes! We got 'em! There he goes! Down to second. Francois will get -him!" For a space of seconds he was sure the game was over. - -Like the steady swing of a pendulum the catcher's arm went up. The ball -sped. It came exactly where Roger Kreider's mit should have been. But -Roger muffed it. The hard-thrown ball rolled far into center field. The -runner went on to third. Four more wild ones and a batter went to first. -The next man up hit one squarely on the nose and boosted it over the -fence for a home run. After that the Centralia rooters went mad. - -Had Hillcrest lost? The fans watched in grim silence as their team came -to bat. It took but one score to tie, and two to win. But those scores -never came. They went down swinging bravely, one, two, three. The game -was over. Hillcrest had lost. - -"There will be other games," Johnny consoled the disconsolate Meggy. -"Many more." And at that instant he resolved that Colonel Chamberlain's -star pitcher should be in the box for the next game. "Even if I have to -drag him by the heels!" he muttered grimly. - -But Meggy, staring at him in a strange way, whispered, "Johnny, how did -you know?" - -"I--I didn't," Johnny replied hoarsely, "not really." - -Then he ducked. He saw the little Chinaman approaching and did not want -to be seen in his company. - -Ten minutes later the diminutive Tao Sing caught up with him. - -"You see!" He was all smiles. "I tell you! I have picture of what you -think. I have picture of what Barney Bradford think too. You are good -friend of Wung Lu." Once again his voice dropped. "Monday I show you -picture of what you think. Four o'clock? Heh? Mebby all right. Heh? You -come to Whong Lee's place, yes? All right. Monday." - -He was gone. Johnny stared after him. What was it all about? He had to -know. He would be at Whong Lee's place at four on Monday--he was sure of -that. - - - - - CHAPTER III - THE THOUGHT CAMERA - - -"I now proceed to take a picture of your mind." The queer little Chinaman -who called himself Tao Sing twisted his face into a smile and in doing so -added a hundred wrinkles to the thousand that already made up his rather -comical face. - -Four o'clock on the Monday following the ball game had found Johnny at -the door of Whong Lee's little shop asking for Tao Sing. Tao Sing had -said he would show him a picture of his thoughts. Johnny did not believe -he could do that. However, one of Johnny's rules for living was, "Never -pass anything up." So here he was. - -"Take a picture of my mind?" he laughed. "You can't do that. I still have -my head on. You can't take a picture through my skull." - -"No. This I cannot do," the little man said soberly. "But I can make a -picture of what you think." - -"What I think," Johnny whispered to himself. "That's what he said the -other night. Of course it's nonsense. But he did tell me what I had -thought about the pep meet. He did tell me what none of our team knew -about the ball game. I'm going to find out how he did that if I can." - -"You mean you can read my mind?" he said to the little Chinaman. - -"No, I cannot read your mind. No! No! Not that." The little man's brow -puckered in a comical manner. "I can make a picture of your thoughts. You -shall see. - -"Wait!" Tao Sing twisted a knob on some small instrument before him on a -table. He punched a button that made a loud click. - -"What's he up to?" Johnny asked himself. He had met this man only twice. -Knew nothing of him really. Now in a stuffy little room in the back of -Whong Lee's shop where all manner of Oriental roots and seeds were sold, -he was listening to strange talk. There was a druggy smell about the -place that made him slightly dizzy. He wished in a vague sort of way that -he was not there, but being there, decided to stay. - -"Now!" The little yellow man heaved a heavy sigh. "Now you think. Ah yes, -to think is easy. We always think, except when we sleep. Then we dream. -You do not believe? Then you try not to think at all. Ah! This you cannot -do. - -"But to remember what you thought--" the little man rattled on, "ah, that -is more difficult. But now you must remember. For very soon I shall show -you what you have thought. It shall be all put down, right in here." He -tapped his instrument. "Where I can see it, read it when I choose. -Tomorrow? Yes, in ten years? Yes. In a hundred years? Yes, yes, always." - -"Why, you--you couldn't do that!" Johnny stammered. - -"Ah, you shall see!" The little man's wrinkled smile appeared again. -"Now! Get ready--think! I record your thoughts." A second button clicked, -sounding loud in the silent, drug-scented room. - -"He won't record much," the boy told himself stoutly. "But of course it's -all nonsense." - -He put his mind to the task of running over a song: - - "I'm riding to the last round-up, - I'll saddle Old Paint, and ri--ide--" - -What utter nonsense! This little man was a fake. He could not keep his -mind on the words of that song. A fly caught in a spider's web buzzed -loudly in one corner. He heard the rustle of rice paper--Whong Lee -wrapping up some Ginsing roots perhaps. - -With a wrench he brought his mind back to the song: - -"The last round-up, the la--ast round-up." - -He felt all sort of stuffed up. Even in the daytime this place was spooky -enough. What if this little man _could_ read people's minds? How terrible -to have someone about, who could tell everything you thought! You'd just -have to stop thinking, and that was impossible. Again he was back at the -song: - -"I'm riding to the last round-up--" - -"Now you may stop thinking," the little man broke in. "Only--" he smiled -again. "You will never stop, not for one moment, except when you are -asleep. - -"Now," he said briskly, "we take this out." He held up a round metal box -a little larger than a silver dollar. "We fit it in here. We turn this -handle, so--very slowly, for two minutes." - -Taking out his watch, he proceeded to time himself while the tiny handle -went round and round noiselessly. - -"This little Chinaman is a fake," the boy thought to himself once more. -"He must be. How could anyone make a picture of your thoughts?" - -And yet--he found himself trying to think what that would mean. If you -were able to photograph the thoughts of your mother on the night before -Christmas, or your teacher when you thought she had caught you in some -prank, or the person who sits next to you in a street car, or the new -girl next door, or a person suspected of some terrible crime. Johnny's -head fairly whirled with the possibilities of the thing. In the end he -thought, "Huh! It can't be done!" - -Beginning to feel that he had dwelt upon this long enough, he switched -his thoughts to the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. Johnny could visit that -fascinating place any time he pleased because he was a friend of the -great Wung Lu, who spent much time there. - -At times Johnny had lived near great forests. These he had explored with -interest. He had followed mysterious rivers and searched hidden places in -wild mountain ranges. Here he explored Chinatown. - -And such a fascinating place this Chinatown was--especially the Chamber -of Commerce to which, from all over the world, rich Chinamen came that -they might trade silk and tea, quaint Chinese toys, teak wood boxes and a -thousand other articles of trade, for wheat and typewriters, teaspoons -and automobiles. - -There were strange and fascinating things in the great hall of the -Chinese Chamber of Commerce--a lamp made of three thousand pieces of -porcelain, banners old as the hills from which they came, and brass -dragons that seemed much older. - -Johnny was deep in his contemplation of these things when the little man -who called himself Tao Sing said, "Now then, you shall see!" He heaved a -sigh. He snapped his old-fashioned watch shut. "Now we take it out of -here. It is done. Your thoughts, how shall we say--they are pickled. They -will keep a long, long time. - -"But wait!" He held up a finger. "You shall see these so wonderful -thoughts. - -"See." He took a small instrument from a shelf on the wall. "I put it in -here. I wind this so." A clicking sound followed. "I press this so. Now. -Now! You look." His tone rose as he pointed to the top of the instrument -resembling a high power microscope. "You look! You see!" - -Johnny did look, and what he saw struck him dumb. There, passing slowly -before his eyes were words, faintly illuminated words. Strangest of all, -he realized as he read that these words represented his thoughts of a few -moments before. - -The words passed slowly. There was ample time for reading every one. Yet, -so astonished was he that for a time he did not read. When at last he got -a grip on himself he realized that here recorded, apparently for all -time, just as a moving picture is recorded, were his least and most -trifling thoughts of a few moments before. The buzzing fly was there, and -Whong Lee's wrapping of a package. And, sadly jumbled with the rest, was -his thinking through of that song. - -There came a click louder than the rest. The space beneath his eyes went -blank. The show was over. - -"You see!" cried the little man. "I have your thoughts. They are -recorded. They will keep a long, long time." - -To say that Johnny was astonished is to express his feelings not at all. -He looked up at Tao Sing for all the world as if he had never seen him -before. - -"Say! You are wonderful!" he exclaimed. "Can you do that again?" - -"You want to see again?" The little man grinned. - -"Yes. Oh yes." - -"All right. You see." - -The little man fingered the microscope affair for a moment. "All right." -He stepped back. "You look see." - -Johnny did "look see," and the thoughts that passed through his mind as -he looked were strange indeed. - -"It can't be true," he told himself. "And yet it is. A wonderful new -invention, like the telegraph, radio, television. Like all the wonderful -things of our marvelous age." - -The words that fell from Tao Sing's lips as the spot before Johnny's eyes -once more went blank, left him staring. - -"You want to try?" said Tao Sing. - -"T--try?" Johnny stammered at last. "Try to take pictures of people's -thoughts?" - -"Yes, yes." - -Once again Johnny stared. "Nothing," he thought, "could be more -interesting. And yet-- - -"Oh bother!" he whispered at last. - -Then to the Chinaman, "Yes, I sure would!" - -"All right." The Chinaman's eyes narrowed. "You do for me, I do for you." - -"Do what?" Johnny asked. - -"Not very much." Tao Sing's eyes became mere slits of light. "You know -Wung Lu?" - -Johnny nodded. - -"Wung Lu very rich, very wise." The little man's eyes opened suddenly -very wide. "You see Wung Lu sit and think long time, eyes half shut. -Think long time. Very wise thoughts. You take picture of these thoughts. -Tao Sing read thoughts. By and by Tao Sing very wise. You take picture -Wung Lu's thoughts. You give 'em to Tao Sing. What? You take 'em pictures -your friends. All right. You keep 'em. What?" He looked at the boy very -hard. - -Johnny stared. Here indeed was a strange offer. He was to sit in the -Chinese Chamber of Commerce, as he had often sat before, admiring the -ancient, green-eyed dragon, while Wung Lu, the rich and wise one, sat in -his corner contemplating a large portly Buddha. He was to take pictures -of the wise one's thoughts. - -"Wung Lu thinks much." Tao Sing spoke slowly. "He talks little." - -Johnny knew this to be true. Wung Lu smiled often. He seldom spoke. - -"No great thought should be allowed to perish." The little man was -quoting some Chinese proverb. - -"I'll do it," said Johnny quite suddenly. - -"All right. Here, I will show you." Soon Johnny was lost to the world in -his study of the invention he believed to be the most marvelous in -existence. - -A half hour later, as he marched home with a mysterious package under his -arm, his mind was overflowing with the strangest, weirdest plans. How -many things there were that he truly wished to know! Now he would get -them from the minds of others without asking questions. There were -secrets too that required no end of scheming to uncover. Now it would be -no trouble at all. - -"And those stories I have been planning to write for the _Sentinel_!" -(The _Sentinel_ was the little city's weekly newspaper.) He was fairly -bubbling over with enthusiasm. "Never have to write them at all now; just -prop that old thought-camera up against the books on my table, get all -set to look right at it, start it going, think the story through. And -there you have it. All that's left is to copy it down from the thought -picture. How simple! How grand! How--" - -He broke short off. Arrived at his own door, he had all but tumbled into -Meggy Strawn who had been waiting for him there. - -"Meg!" he muttered. "I--I beg your pardon." - -"You better!" Meg exclaimed. "I've been waiting half an hour. Doug Danby -wants you to go over to the laboratories with him right away. Important -business. He-- - -"But Johnny!" Her tone changed. "How queer you look! You must have been -seeing a ghost." - -"Per-perhaps I have," Johnny said slowly. "A ghost of--well, never mind -of what." - -"Johnny, tell me." There was a teasing look in Meg's eyes. - -"Not now. Perhaps never." Johnny was through the door and into the house -like a flash. - -After hiding the newly acquired thought-camera in his closet, he tiptoed -down the back stairs, then sped away through the garden and the back gate -toward Doug Danby's house. - -"Can't face those teasing eyes," he told himself. "Not just yet. I might -tell, and that would be betraying a dark secret, Tao Sing's and mine." - - - - - CHAPTER IV - A PLACE OF GREAT MAGIC - - -"Hello Johnny!" Doug Danby exclaimed, as Johnny came racing into the -Danby's back yard. "Where you been? Gee! You look queer! As if you'd been -stealin' chickens or something." Doug laughed. - -"Oh forget it!" Johnny exploded. "Here! Give me your catcher's mask. I'll -use it to hide my face." - -"Don't need it," Doug replied. "All self-respecting secrets carefully -guarded--that's our motto. - -"But say!" Doug exploded. "The Colonel wants to see us! Guess it's about -that pitcher of his. Bet he'll be with us next Saturday. And if he -is,--say! Boy! We'll lick 'em!" - -Doug was a fine boy. Johnny liked him a heap. Tall, slightly angular, -like the boy Abe Lincoln, he was honest, hard-working and full of droll -fun--just the sort of boy that should come from a little city like -Hillcrest. - -Together the boys walked rapidly down the street. They soon caught up -with a slow ambling figure that greeted them with a squawky but none the -less hearty, "Why, hello Doug! Hello Johnny!" - -This was Professor George, the little city's favorite old man. He was -eighty years old, was Professor George. The younger men of the city could -remember when he was a popular teacher in the high school. Now, for -years, he had been Professor George, friend of every boy in town. - -The professor had a hooked nose and there were huge brown freckles all -over his dry face, but his kindly smile was worth earning, and many a boy -owed his success to Professor George's kindly, steadying hand. - -"Sorry you lost the game Saturday," he said as he tried hard to keep in -step. "You'll have better luck next time. I'm sure of it." Professor -George had not missed a ball game in twenty years. - -"Yes," Doug exclaimed enthusiastically, "we're going to have a grand -pitcher, regular big league stuff! We--" - -His words were broken in upon by a booming voice. It was Big Bill Tyson -speaking. He had suddenly appeared from somewhere. "Just the fellows I -want to see!" he roared. "The very ones. Wanted to tell you about the -ball grounds." - -"Ye--es. What about it?" The words caught in Doug's throat. He had been -dreading this for some time, in fact ever since Big Bill's father died. -Bill's father had owned the ball park. He had owned a lot more of the -town besides. Now it all belonged to Big Bill. Once the ball park had -been the grounds of a canning factory. Bill's father had been rich and -generous, a good citizen and a great friend of Professor George. So, when -the antiquated canning factory failed to pay, he had allowed Professor -George and his boys to tear it down and to use the lumber for a fence and -bleachers of a ball park. - -But now the good old man was dead and Big Bill reigned, in his stead. Big -Bill was a different sort. He cared little for boys, in fact he thought -very little about the welfare of anyone but Big Bill. So now Doug, Johnny -and Professor George stood, inwardly quaking, awaiting his next word. - -"It's like this--" he tried to be brisk and business-like, but succeeded -only in appearing, in the boys' eyes at least, as a big bully. "Like -this--" he began again. "Fellow came into my office last week. He's -interested in organizing a professional baseball league. Hired players -and all that from out of town. Play the games on Sunday. Big thing for -the city. Bring lots of folks here. Fill up the soft-drink places, pool -halls an' all that. Fine big thing!" Thrusting his fingers in his belt, -he swelled out like a turkey gobbler. - -"But the boys could play their games on Saturday just the same," -Professor George put in hopefully. - -"No. No, they couldn't. That's what I wanted to tell you." Big Bill -scowled. "Boys would be in the way. Professionals need practice and all -that. So--it's out you go, just like that!" He snapped a pudgy finger. -"Unless--" - -"Unless what?" Doug breathed. - -"Unless you can get me a thousand dollars." - -"Rent?" Professor George gasped. "We--" - -"Rent nothing!" Big Bill roared. "First payment on a contract to purchase -the grounds." - -"For--for how much?" Doug was staring. - -"Ten thousand dollars on contract." - -"Ten thousand!" Johnny whistled through his teeth. - -"We--ll," Professor George said slowly, "that's a fair price, William. -But you'll have to give us time to think where we can get it." - -"All right." Big Bill suddenly put on a business-like air. "Two weeks. -Time enough for anybody." At that he strode away. - -"Might as well make it two years," Doug grumbled gloomily, "for all we'll -ever make it!" - -"Now, now Doug!" Professor George admonished. "It's a worthy cause, a -very worthy cause. Nothing better for the boys than good, clean baseball. -God loves boys, I'm positive of that. So, just like as not He'll show us -the way." Professor George was religious but he was not what you call -pious. His religion, like the blood that coursed through his veins, was a -real part of him. Every boy who came to know him respected him the more -because of his religion. - -"Well, boys," the good old professor said as he left them at his own -door, "don't let William trouble you too much. We'll get round him -somehow. Used to trouble us in school, William did, but we always got -round him, somehow." He gave forth a cackling laugh. "Always got round -him somehow." - -"Bill went to school when Professor George taught," Doug explained as he -and Johnny went on down the street. "Dad says Bill cheated something -terrible, but Professor George always caught on to him. That's why he -don't like Professor George, even now. - -"He's been cheating ever since," he added gloomily. "He'll cheat us out -of our ball park if we don't watch out. - -"A thousand dollars," he murmured thoughtfully. "We've got half that much -in the bank--been saving it for new bleachers. Took two years to save it. -Fine chance to gather up that much more in two weeks!" - -"Got to advertise," said Johnny. "This mysterious new pitcher now. He -ought to draw a crowd if we only had him advertised." - -Like a flash a bright idea occurred to Johnny. "I'll think up some good -publicity," he told himself. "Think it up just right. Then I'll shoot -that thought-camera at myself and turn out some swell copy. Old C. K. -Lovell will put it in the _Sentinel_, I know he will." But of this he -said never a word to Doug. The thought-camera was a deep, dark secret. - -"He is mysterious!" Doug exclaimed quite suddenly. - -"Huh! What? Who's mysterious?" Johnny dragged himself back to earth with -a start. "Oh! Yes! That pitcher. Sure he is. Terribly mysterious." - -"The Colonel says he's been working in the laboratories for three -months," Doug broke in. "Three months! I've been round the lab nearly -every day, and I never once saw him, except that evening when he pitched -a few over for us." - -As the boys approached the long, low building known as the laboratories, -Johnny felt a thrill course up his spine. He was to see that strange -pitcher. With his olive skin and bright gleaming blue eyes, this -pitcher's very movements seemed to say, "Here I am. A mystery. Solve me." - -The laboratories too held a special charm for Johnny. Here all manner of -strange chemical secrets were sought out and often found. Already these -laboratories were famous. Here a new drug had been discovered that had -proved a great boon to those suffering from asthma. With characteristic -generosity, the Colonel had given this discovery to the world, asking no -profit to himself. - -It was rumored that here a poison had been discovered, so powerful that -it would make war impossible. One drop of it on any part of the body -would mean instant death. This was only a rumor. Better founded was the -statement that "heavy water"--a water in which no animal life, however -small, could live--had been produced. However these things might be, both -Johnny and Doug approached the place with a feeling akin to awe, for this -to their growing minds was a place of great magic. - -In the office of the laboratories they found awaiting them not only the -Colonel, but a short, round-shouldered boy who wore heavy horn-rimmed -glasses with thick lenses. - -"Hello, Goggles!" Doug greeted the bespectacled boy with a hearty grin. -"What you doing here? Been discovering some new element or something?" - -"Johnny--" he turned to his friend. "Meet Goggles Short, the boy wizard, -both chemical and electrical, of our fair city." - -"Aw now!" Goggles was embarrassed. - -"Fame," said the Colonel with a cordial smile, "is a terribly -embarrassing thing, Goggles. However, since you have attained it, you'll -have to bear up under it." - -"I suppose you think--" the Colonel's tone changed as he wheeled about to -face the other boys, "I suppose you think that I sent for you to talk -about our new pitcher. I did not. He is not here." - -"Not here!" Doug's face dropped. "Gone for--" - -"No, not for good," the Colonel broke in. "Just for a day or two. He'll -be back for Saturday's game. I'm ready to guarantee that. And you boys -are going to need him--for--" his voice dropped, "for more reasons than -one." - -"You know Big Bill's plans." Doug's face took on a hopeful look. "You'll -help us." - -"Yes." The Colonel spoke slowly. "Only moral and mental support, however. -Cash is all tied up. - -"But you'll lick Big Bill, I'm sure of it!" the Colonel's tone carried -conviction. "Goggles here has an idea. Sit down." He motioned them to -chairs. "Goggles, tell them about it." - -"Well I--you know--" Goggles pulled at his sleeve nervously. "It's sort -of like this. Maybe it won't help a bit. But this is it. Dave Saunders -over at the electric shop has been experimenting with a thing. I've been -helping him. Thing's got eyes, better'n human eyes because they're -quicker." - -"Electric eyes," Johnny put in. - -"Sure! How'd you know?" Goggles' eyes bulged behind his thick lenses. - -"Know a lot about them," Johnny chuckled. "Sometime I'll tell you about -how a fellow talked to me down a beam of light. Electric eyes helped him -to do that, and a lot of exciting things happened. But go on. What you -using electric eyes for?" - -"Umpire," Goggles said with a broad grin. "Baseball umpire. Got forty -eyes. Some see up and down and some sideways. We've tried it out. Works -swell. Calls balls and strikes perfectly. Never a miss. - -"Thing is--" Goggles hurried on. "A week from Wednesday we play -Fairfield. That team's always beefing about the umpire. Holler their -heads off. So I thought--" he took a long breath, "thought you might like -to try our old electric umpire. He'll umpire fairly. Never a mistake." - -"That--" Doug sprang to his feet, "that would be swell! And man! Oh, man! -We'll draw a crowd! Think of it! Something absolutely new. Electric -umpire! What do you think of it, Johnny?" - -"Wha--think of what?" Johnny started. "Electric eye. Oh! Yes, it's -interesting." - -"No! More than that!" Doug exploded. "Electric umpire!" - -Truth was, strange as it may seem, Johnny's mind had gone off the track. -It had suddenly been deflected by the thought-camera, the most -extraordinary thing he had ever seen. "I dreamed it," he had been telling -himself. "Thing never happened. That Chinaman never recorded my thoughts. -But if he did, if the thing's in my closet when I get home, I'll try -it--like to try it now." This was what he had been thinking when Doug -Danby brought him back to his present surroundings. - -"Swell idea!" he enthused, once the electric umpire had been explained to -him. "Work all right, I'm sure of it." - -"And draw a crowd," put in Doug. - -"That's what I was thinking," Colonel Chamberlain agreed. "Paying crowds -are what you need right now. You'll get that extra five hundred dollars -in plenty of time. All you need is advertising." - -"Leave that to me." Johnny was on his feet, ready for a dash home. With -the aid of the thought-camera, he would dish up plenty of fancy -advertising. - -"All right," Doug agreed, "you look after that. I'll get in touch with -the Fairfield bunch. See if they'll stand for this electric umpire." - -"They'll stand for it right enough," the Colonel said with a smile. "They -get a percentage of the gate receipts. Just talk publicity to them and -they'll agree readily enough. - -"Well--" his tone became brisk. "Council of war is over. I'll have my -pitcher on hand for Saturday's major attraction. And you, Goggles, you'll -take care of Wednesday. Meeting's adjourned." - -With a "Thank you, thank you a lot!" the three boys filed out of the -office. - -"Well," Doug sighed, "we didn't see him after all." - -"See who?" Johnny was once more lost in his contemplation of the -immediate future. - -"The pitcher, of course," Doug grumbled. "Fellow'd think he was just an -ordinary person." - -"Well, perhaps he is," Johnny chuckled. - -"And perhaps he is not," Doug replied as they lost themselves in the -gathering darkness. - - - - - CHAPTER V - JOHNNY'S THINK-O-GRAPHS - - -"Yes," Johnny whispered to himself as he thrust his hand deep into a dark -corner of his closet. "It's still there. The thought-camera is no dream. -But will it record thoughts for me? That's the question." - -He found himself all aquiver with excitement. He was like a very small -boy with his very first camera. - -"Like to try it on myself," he thought. Then, recalling the little -Chinaman's test and the sadly muddled thoughts the camera had brought -out, he, for the time at least, abandoned that plan. - -"There's grandfather," he told himself. "He sits by the hour every -evening, looking off into the night and thinking. Wonder what those -thoughts are like. I'd really like to know. That--that's where I'll try -it first." He hurried downstairs. - -Johnny was very fond of the stalwart old man he called grandfather. A -pioneer of his small city, he had seen much of life. At times he talked -of those days long gone by. For the most part he sat in his great chair -on the broad porch and gazed away into the darkness toward the spot -where, in the daytime, the blue began. - -Slipping silently into a chair close to the old man, Johnny touched the -release to the thought-camera. There followed a low buzzing sound. -Johnny's heart leaped. The camera was working. But was it recording -thoughts, his grandfather's thoughts? Only time would tell. - -For several moments in the night, disturbed only by the cricket's chirp -and the distant bullfrog's hoarse croak, the pair sat there motionless. - -Then the old man stirred. "What's that, Johnny?" he asked. - -"What's what?" Johnny's voice trembled slightly. - -"Sounds a little like a new sort of cricket," the old man rumbled. - -"Nothing I guess." Johnny snapped off his thought-camera. The sound -ceased. "Well, guess I'll go up," he said in as steady a tone as he could -command. "Goodnight!" - -"Goodnight, Johnny." - -The boy fairly ran up the stairs. He was obliged to drop into a chair in -his room to calm himself. Then, after shaking his fingers to loosen their -tenseness, he went about the business of the hour. - -Having removed the small cartridge containing the long, thread-like film, -he set it revolving in that other magic box that was supposed to develop -and finish it. Two minutes of this and the thing was done. Or was it? - -Drawing one long deep breath, Johnny placed the film in the -microscope-like affair, then started the mechanism. - -For ten seconds he stood there squinting into the brass tube, spellbound. -Then he exclaimed, "Hot diggity dog!" - -After that, for a full fifteen minutes his thoughts were focussed upon -the thing before him. In that quarter hour he ran the film through three -times. - -"Nothing," he murmured as at last he sank into a chair, "nothing could be -half so marvelous!" - -And indeed it _was_ marvelous for there, stripped of all the backwardness -and timidity that so often hamper the speech of old men, were recorded -the golden thoughts of one grand old man as he dreamed of the glorious -pioneer days that are gone forever. - -"I'll copy it," Johnny told himself, "then I'll have it printed in the -_Sentinel_. - -"No," he amended, "I'll do better than that. I'll record his thoughts -night after night. They'll never be the same. It will make a book. And -such a book!" - -At that he sat for a long time dreaming of the marvelous things he would -do with that thought-camera. - -"But it belongs to Tao Sing," he reminded himself. "Only he knows the -secret of it. How long am I to have it? As long as I fulfill Tao Sing's -wishes I suppose." - -At that, with a shudder he could not entirely explain, he recalled his -promise to Tao Sing. He was to carry the camera to the Chinese Chamber of -Commerce. He was to point it at his friend, the rich Chinese merchant -Wung Lu, and record his thoughts for Tao Sing. - -"I wonder why?" Disturbing thought! - -"Think-o-graphs," he whispered to himself before he fell asleep that -night. "Good name for them, all right. A picture of your face is a -photograph, so, naturally a picture of your thoughts is a think-o-graph. -There now!" he chuckled to himself, "I've coined a brand new word. And if -this thought-camera comes to be a common possession as ordinary cameras -are, it will be a very popular word. If it does--" he repeated slowly. - -He tried to think what the world would be like if anyone who wished it -might have a thought-camera and photograph other people's thoughts. There -would not remain in the world one secret that could be kept, that was -certain. All the secrets between nations would be at an end. Spies would -lose their jobs. No criminal could escape revealing his innermost -thoughts. The whole thing made him slightly dizzy, so he gave over -thinking about it, and fell asleep. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - BESIDE THE GREEN-EYED DRAGON - - -The days that followed were strange ones for Johnny. At the very -beginning, in his enthusiasm for a new and quite wonderful thing, he -nearly gave the secret of the thought-camera away. - -"Penny for your thoughts!" he said as he met Meggy Strawn on the street -the very next day. - -"Not for a dollar!" Meg exclaimed. - -"All the same, I shall have them!" declared Johnny. - -"You never shall!" Meg laughed in his face. - -"I have them right now," Johnny said in a mysterious tone. "I'll bring -them round later." - -He did too. The result was rather surprising. As Meg read her own -thoughts, copied by Johnny from the thought picture he had taken, she -gave him a startled look. "Why you--" she broke off to stare at him for -all the world as if she had never seen him before. For a full moment -after that neither of them spoke. When Meg at last broke the silence, it -was in a queer small voice. - -"Johnny, don't ever do that again! I don't know how you did it--you don't -need to tell. But never, never, never do it again!" - -"I won't," Johnny said soberly. "Here! Shake on it!" Their hands clasped -for a space of seconds. Then, without another word, each turned and went -his own way. - -"Not so good," was Johnny's mental comment. "Swell way to lose a good -friend." - -His experiment in recording his own thoughts worked out in a more -satisfactory manner. Having built up in his own mind a tale of mystery -about the new pitcher and, having visited the electric shop and watched -Goggles' mechanical umpire with forty eyes perform, he hurried home, set -up the camera, then fixing his thoughts on the publicity he wished to -create for the two ball games, he sat quite still, staring at the wall -for a full ten minutes. - -"There!" he breathed at last. "The cake is done." - -With ever increasing enthusiasm he developed and copied his own personal -think-o-graph. - -"Gee! This is great!" He paused at last to gloat over the nearly finished -product. "Am I the thinker! If only I could write as well as I think I'd -become a great author right away." - -He carried his stories of the two approaching ball games to the -slow-going, genial editor of the weekly paper. - -"Let's see it." The editor put on his glasses. "Same old stuff I suppose. -Have to do it all over before I run it." - -"Maybe it is." Johnny gave himself a mental hug. - -A moment later he saw the editor pouring eagerly over his copy. "Whew!" -the editor exclaimed under his breath. Then, "Great Jehosophat, Johnny! -Didn't know you had it in you! Been seein' you around your grand-pap's -for a good many years. What paper you been workin' on?" - -"No paper." Johnny grinned broadly. - -"Well, I'm surprised, Johnny. This is fine copy. Run it just as it is. -Get you some fine crowds. I'll say it will! - -"Want you to know, Johnny," he went on, "Want all the boys to know this -paper's for 'em. We want you to have that ball field, have it always." - -"Than--thanks, C.K.," Johnny stammered. "That's sure kind of you." - -"And look here, son!" The editor put a hand on his shoulder. "This stuff -shows real talent. Keep on writing like this and you'll get somewhere." - -"I--" Johnny had it on the end of his tongue to say, "I didn't write it." -Fake glory was one thing Johnny had never craved. But then, if he did not -write it, who did? That would require much explaining. He decided to -leave well enough alone. "I--I thank you," he muttered uncertainly. Then -he was gone. - -That evening he went to the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and sat near to -the rich and silent wise one, Wung Lu, for a long time. He liked this -quiet place, full of treasures from the past. He loved to sit looking at -that green-eyed dragon more than two thousand years old. He wondered what -those green eyes could have seen when the world was very young. He -wondered many things. But he did not forget to point his thought-camera -at the silent, wise Wung Lu and to record his thoughts. He wondered what -those thoughts were. This was not given to him to know. Wung Lu thought -in Chinese. Only Tao Sing would read these. This made Johnny uneasy. He -was almost ready to return the thought-camera to its owner--almost but -not quite. - -There were many things that might be done with that thought-camera. There -were mysteries to be solved. Perhaps some day he would point it at that -strange pitcher over at the laboratories. He wanted terribly to know his -secret. And yet--one does not spy upon his friends. This young man -promised to become a friend of Hillcrest and that meant he must be -Johnny's friend as well. - -"Anyway," he told himself, "I'll keep it for another day or two." - -He carried the small round box containing the rich Wung Lu's -think-o-graph to the little room at the back of the Chinese spice store. -There, in the semi-darkness, Tao Sing's claw-like hand grasped it with -such a nervous tenseness that Johnny was actually startled. - -"Very good! Very good!" the little Chinaman cackled. "You will go again -and again. Wung Lu is very wise. Soon we shall all be wise. Here are -more--many more." He pressed a bag of small metal boxes into Johnny's -hand. - -As Johnny left the place to step into the cool air of night, he felt -himself all but over-powered by a strange sense of Oriental intrigue and -mystery. "Perhaps I shouldn't be doing any of this," he told himself. In -the end, however, he succeeded in overcoming his misgivings. - -The day for their second battle with the Centralia baseball team -approached. - -"We'll win!" Johnny said to Meggy Strawn. - -"We've got to," was Meggy's reply. - -Johnny wondered if the thought-camera would help any. "Not a chance," was -his final decision. "But I'll take it along anyway, just for company." - -Three times that week he sat in the great room with Wung Lu and the -ancient dragon. Each time his uneasiness grew. Each time that he -delivered the think-o-graphs, as he had come to call them, to the -wrinkled Tao Sing, the little man's enthusiasm increased. - -"Wung Lu's thoughts must be very wonderful," was the boy's mental -comment. "And yet--" one more shudder. "Could it be that Tao Sing was -learning things he had no right to know? And was he, Johnny, assisting -him?" The thought gave him a start. "Secrets," he whispered, "sometimes I -think they're no good." - - - - - CHAPTER VII - MYSTERY SHIP - - -"I can't get over the way that pitcher came to us," Goggles Short -murmured low to Johnny Thompson. They were seated in the bleachers. The -Saturday game was about to begin. The new pitcher from the laboratories, -cap drawn low, eyes gleaming, was putting over a few to the catcher. - -"It _is_ strange," Johnny said. "Prince of India!" he exclaimed. "I gave -him that name and I'm proud of it." In his publicity produced by the -thought-camera Johnny had played up the name "Prince of India." He liked -the sound of it. "He looks the part too! Look at that slim nose of his," -he went on, "those thin lips, that high forehead. You'd take him for a -Frenchman, or perhaps an Englishman, if it weren't for that dark skin of -his. If he's not a Prince of India, he should be. Watch him pitch!" The -slender man on the mound, moving with the smooth agility of a cat, seemed -to fairly slide the ball over the plate. - -"Listen to the crowd!" Goggles cried. "And is it a crowd! That publicity -stuff of yours was great! We'll get nearly half the money we need for -that first payment today. And Wednesday! It's in the bag." - -"Don't be too sure," Johnny warned. - -"Listen to that crowd!" Goggles exclaimed once more. - -Led by Meggy Strawn, a streak of gold and blue that danced across the -grass, the crowd was chanting: - - _A Prince! A Prince! A Prince!_ - _No quince! No quince! No quince!_ - _A Peach! A Peach! A Peach!_ - _We win! Yea! Yea!_ - -As for the "Prince," he seemed totally unconscious of his surroundings as -he slid one more stinger over the plate. - -"It _is_ strange," Johnny said to Goggles, "strange about that pitcher, I -mean. Colonel Chamberlain has had him working in his laboratories for -more than three months. The pay-roll proves that. But who knew it? The -pay-master and Colonel Chamberlain, that's all. Queer, isn't it? And now, -when everything seems lost for old Hillcrest, he walks right into the -picture. He takes the ball, and whang! How it pops into that old mit! Not -a man will get to first. See! There goes one of 'em. Three strikes and -out. Great, I'd say! Suppose he can keep it up?" - -He did not wait for an answer. Instead, he allowed his eyes to seek a -spot in the sky. Something up there interested him. - -"Nope!" he murmured. "It's not coming down." - -"What's not coming down?" Goggles asked quickly. - -"That airplane. It's been circling way up high there for a long time." - -"I should hope it wouldn't come down," Goggles laughed good-naturedly. -"What d'ye think? Think they'd come right on down and land square in the -middle of the ball field?" He laughed again. - -Johnny did not reply. Truth was, he did not know what he had expected. It -was strange about that airplane. He had been watching it off and on for -twenty minutes. All that time it had been circling above the ball field. -At first it had seemed little more than a speck against the dull gray of -a leaden sky. Moment by moment it had circled lower. - -"Saw an eagle do that once," he had told himself as a little thrill ran -up his spine. "Old eagle soared and soared and soared until he was maybe -a hundred feet from the ground. Then he folded his wings and dropped. And -such a drop! Straight down! When he came up he held a half-grown rabbit -in his talons. He'd had his eye on that rabbit all the time." - -Strangely enough, as he watched the airplane circle above the ball field -where two fine teams were contending for high honors, fantastic as it -might seem, he had gained the impression that this plane, circling as the -eagle had circled, would in the end make one straight drop to the ball -field. - -"What nonsense!" he whispered to himself. "Why should they do that? Crack -up! Everyone in the plane would be killed. Eagle's a different sort of -bird. He could recover balance and rise again. That plane--" - -All the same, the impression remained a haunting suggestion until, with -the end of the first half, a shut-out for the opposing team, the -Centralia boys went trotting off the field. Only then did the airplane go -skimming away into the hazy distance. - -"It is as if the eagle had been watching the rabbit only to see the -rabbit scurry into his hole," he told himself. - -"But the rabbit will come out again? Another inning?" a voice seemed to -whisper in his ear. - -With that, for a time at least, he forgot the strange airplane and gave -his attention to the ball game. - -"Hello Meggy," he said a moment later as she slid into the place beside -him. "We're going to win, Meg!" he cried. - -Meg's voice was low. "Yes, we must, Johnny!" - -Suddenly Meggy pinched Johnny's arm. "Look! He--he's up to bat! Isn't he -mysterious! The--the 'Prince of India'--that's what they call him." - -Once again Johnny's eye was on the ball. The opposing pitcher shot it -through to the Prince, but it went high and wide. The dark-faced one -never moved a muscle. - -"Believe he can bat," was Johnny's mental comment. His practiced eye -swept over the diamond. Arthur Lowe was on first, Fred Frame on second. -There were two men out. No score on either side. - -"Now," he whispered hoarsely, "just one good swat! That's all we need! -Get a grand lead! We--" - -He did not finish. Came the crack of a bat and the ball went soaring high -and far. - -"Yea! Yea! Yea!" The crowd sprang to its feet and howled madly. "Yea! -Yea! Yea! Prince! Prince! Prince!" - -When the crowd settled back to its seats the new pitcher was on third -base. Two men had come romping home. - -"Two to nothing!" Meg exulted. "Watch us climb!" - -Little Artie Snow was up next. He swung wildly and fanned. The inning was -over. - -"Well!" Johnny stretched himself. "Looks as if we'd lick 'em all right." - -All Meggy said was, "Isn't he mysterious?" She was thinking of the -"Prince." - -Then, as her mood changed, Meggy seized her megaphone and, grasping -Johnny by the arm, screamed, "Come on! Cart wheels!" - -Johnny had done cart wheels with Meggy on many another occasion, but -always in private. But now! Oh well, Meg was Meg. Her word was law. Cart -wheels it was, an even dozen, then a rousing cheer led by Meg: - - _Yea! Hillcrest! Yea! Hillcrest!_ - _Beat 'em! Beat 'em! Beat 'em!_ - -Scarcely had Johnny got his breath than he discovered that the "Prince" -was once more on the mound, the second inning about to begin. Quite -automatically his eyes swept the sky. They came to a focus. - -"The airplane!" he whispered excitedly. "Like the eagle, it is circling -back." - -It was strange the excitement this stirred up within his being. Why was -it? It seemed absurd, yet in his soul there was a feeling that the dark -pitcher must hurry, that the men who came up to bat must go down as they -had before, one, two, three, or else the eagle would drop. "What -nonsense!" he muttered once more. - -For all that, the airplane did circle lower and lower. There was too in -the mysterious pitcher's action a suggestion of tense nervousness that -was hard to explain. - -A bat cracked. A ball popped into the air. The pitcher had it. One man -down. - -A second man came up. Ball! Strike! Ball! Crack! Up went the ball again. -Down it came, right into that pitching wizard's mit. Two out. - -The plane circled lower. In the damp, cloudy air it seemed nearer than it -really was. - -Third man to bat. Strike! Strike! Strike! You're out! - -"Just like that!" Johnny exulted. He did not so much as glance at the -plane. He knew that once again it had gone skimming away. - -"It's strange," he murmured. - -"What's strange?" Meggy asked. - -"Oh--everything," he evaded, "everything's strange today." How could he -tell Meggy of this fantastic daydream? - -Again the opposing team took their places in the field. Once more -Hillcrest came to bat. And how they did bat! Inspired by rosy dreams of -victory, they sent the ball spinning, right, left and center. By the time -Centralia had them stopped, the score stood 5 to 0 in favor of Hillcrest, -and the crowd had gone mad. - -"We'll win!" Meggy screamed. - -"We'll win!" Goggles roared. - -As for Johnny, he merely murmured, "Wait!" - -The wait was destined to be longer than he dreamed it might be. Four wild -balls put the lead-off man of Centralia on first with no one out. - -It was then that Johnny once more began noticing that haunting airplane. -It had returned. Once again it was circling downward. - -The mysterious pitcher was slipping, there could be no doubting this. A -hard-hit liner put the second batter on base. - -Then the pitcher seemed to tighten up. He fanned the third man. - -"But that plane!" Johnny was truly startled now. The plane did actually -seem to be in a nose-dive. Down, down, down it came, straight at that -lone figure, the pitcher, on the mound. - -"They--they--" In his excitement Johnny stood up. He crushed his cap -within his tight clenched hands. "No! No! Thank--" He did not finish. -With a burst of speed, a thunder of motors, the airplane righted itself, -then shot upward. But what was that? Did Johnny's eyes deceive him? Did -he catch a gleam of fire--or was it only a brilliant flash of light? Half -unconsciously he waited the report of a shot fired. It did not come. - -"It's the strangest thing!" he murmured as he settled back in his place. -Already the airplane was a long way off. - -So filled was the boy's mind with wild speculations that he failed to -follow the game. Perhaps this was just as well. Dame Fortune appeared to -have deserted the mysterious pitcher. He walked another man. The bases -were full. - -"But look at him," Meggy whispered in Johnny's ear. "Look at him wind up! -You'd think he was doing it in his sleep!" - -Indeed, as Johnny focussed his attention upon this mysterious stranger, -he appeared to waver, as if he might fall. - -"Something awfully queer about that," Johnny murmured. - -With what appeared to be tremendous effort the pitcher hurled the ball. -It would have cut the plate squarely in the middle had not a stout bat -met it to send it high and far. - -When the commotion was over, the score stood 5 to 6 in favor of -Centralia. There were men on second and third. What was more, the -"Prince" was walking unsteadily toward the bench. - -"Listen!" Meggy exclaimed. "They're calling for Fred Frame." - -"Something queer about that!" Johnny repeated as he turned to watch the -"Prince" walk away toward the showers. "The eagle swooped downward, and -now--" he did not finish. - -"He walks as if he were half blind. Poor 'Prince!'" Meg sympathized. -"What could have happened?" - -Johnny would have given much to know the answer. For some time to come it -was to remain a veiled secret. - -"The mystery ship," Johnny thought as he watched that airplane glide away -toward the clouds. Then he murmured low, "Mystery wings." - -"'Mystery wings!' What makes you say that?" Meg whispered. - -"Because that's the way I think of a plane," he replied soberly. "You -can't say the planes of an airplane. Don't sound right. Why not wings of -a plane? And, for my part, every plane that passes over my head has wings -of mystery." - -"You're queer," was Meg's only reply. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - STRANGE PASSENGERS - - -Among the Hillcrest fans feeling was running high. That something strange -and rather terrible had happened to their new and quite marvelous -pitcher, they appeared to realize. "But what did happen?" they were -asking. "Who's to blame? Who were the men in that plane?" Two men had -been seen. They were not close enough to be recognized. Had the Centralia -crowd hired them to heckle the new pitcher? This they found it difficult -to believe. The friendliest of relations had always existed between the -two small cities, even though there was a keen rivalry. "But who? Who? -Who?" they were asking on every side. The mystery of the dark-skinned -pitcher from the laboratories deepened. - -As for Doug Danby, on whose shoulders rested Hillcrest's hopes of -victory, he found no time for solving mysteries. - -"Fred, old boy," he said to Fred Frame, "you'll have to go in there and -win the game. And you can!" He gave him a slap on the back. "If--" - -"If my arm holds out," Fred finished. - -Tall, angular, red-headed, silent and droll, Fred was a universal -favorite. He had been a successful pitcher until his arm had taken to -going wrong. "I'll go in," he said simply, "and do my best." - -A loud cheer greeted him as he walked toward the mound. Despite all this, -he felt a chill run up his spine. The score stood 6 to 5 against him. -This wonderful crowd had turned out to see their team win. They had -banked heavily on the mysterious "Prince." In this they had lost. Would -they lose the game as well? - -"Not if _I_ can help it!" Fred set his teeth hard. - -"What if that plane returns?" He shuddered. "What if they do to me the -thing they did to the 'Prince,' whatever that was! Oh well!" He set his -shoulders squarely. - -But now the shouts of the throng brought him back to earth. Motioning the -batter to one side, he prepared to "throw a few over." - -As his hand grasped the ball, as his muscles began playing like iron -bands, as the ball went speeding to cut the plate and land with a loud -plop in the catcher's mit, all else but the game was forgotten. - -"We must win!" He set his lips tight. - -And indeed they must. They had lost one game, could not afford to lose -another. - -That he was in a hard spot he knew quite well. With the score standing 6 -to 5 against him, with men on second and third and only one man out, the -game might be lost with a single crack of the bat. It was with a rapidly -beating heart that he motioned the batter up. - -Yet, even as his arm went back, two questions flashed through his mind: -"Who is this 'Prince'? What happened that after such a brilliant start he -was unable to finish? - -"Something queer!" he muttered for the third time as he sent the ball -spinning. - -"Ball!" the umpire called. - -Then, like a bolt from the blue came a thought. He made a sign to the -catcher. They met half way between the mound and the home plate. After a -few whispered words they parted. - -Fred's second offering went very wide of the plate. He did not seem to -care. Then, just as he wound up for the third pitch, someone caught on. - -"He's goin' to walk that batter!" a big voice bellowed from the bleachers -of the opposing team. "Big League stuff! Walking Billy to get at Vern!" - -At once there was a mad roar that ended in hisses and boos. - -Little Fred cared for that. If he wished to walk Centralia's toughest -batter to get at a weak one, it was his privilege. "And after that?" an -Imp seemed to be whispering in his ear. All the same the passed batter -went down to first. The bags were loaded. - -"If I slip now--" he thought. "Just listen to them howl!" He gripped the -ball hard. - -"Wow! He's got a rubber arm!" a big voice roared as the umpire called -another ball. - -There was silence as Fred slipped over a strike. - -Again that roar with the second ball. - -"Strike!" - -"Ball!" - -"There you are!" the big voice roared. "Two and three! Let's see you get -out of that!" - -Fred caught his breath. Bases full. Three balls, two strikes, and--"If -only the old soup-bone holds out!" he murmured. - -His hand went out. It came back. He shot the ball straight from the -shoulder. Then, without knowing why, he followed the ball. Lucky break! -The batter connected. He sent a bouncer straight into Fred's mitt and he -half way to the plate. With a mad dash he was there to cut off the run to -the plate. Next he sent the ball speeding to first. - -"Double play! Double play!" the crowd roared. And so it was. The inning -was over. For the moment, at least, all was well. - -Inspired by his unusual success in pulling his team out of the hole, Fred -pitched the remaining innings with the skill of a genius. He allowed only -five hits, and left but three men on base. Hillcrest scored three runs in -the seventh, to cinch the game. In the end Fred was carried from the -field in triumph. - -"Another big day Wednesday, and we'll win!" exulted Doug Danby. - -"Don't get too much excited," he warned Johnny and Meg as they came -rushing up to congratulate him. "This is not the end. It is only the -beginning. We must win again and again. It's going to take a real -campaign to gain our end." - -"Don't worry!" Johnny laughed. "The way Fred pitched those last innings, -there's not a team that can stop us." - -"There's where you're wrong." It was Fred who spoke. He had just come up -to them. - -"What do you mean?" Johnny asked in surprise. - -"Well--" Fred paused to ponder. "Well, you know there are times when you -do things and you say to yourself, 'I can do this as often as I choose.' -Then there are times when you feel all sort of lifted out of yourself and -you do things well without seeming to try. But when it's all over you -say, 'That was great! But I better never try that again. If I do, I'll -fail.' This afternoon was just like that. Johnny, I wouldn't like to face -that situation again, ever!" Fred's tone was so serious that for a full -moment no one spoke. - -It was Fred himself who at last broke that silence. - -"But then, there'll not be the need." He smiled. "Our old friend, the -'Prince' will lead us to sure victory next time." - -"The 'Prince'!" Doug turned to Meggy. "Where did your uncle find him, -Meggy? Who is he? Where's he been hiding?" Meggy was Colonel -Chamberlain's favorite niece. - -"I don't know," Meggy admitted. - -"But your uncle said he'd been working down at his laboratories for more -than three months!" Johnny protested. - -"Ye-es," Meggy replied slowly, "and I suppose that should make him my -first cousin! But it doesn't. I never saw him before, nor heard of him -either. Uncle doesn't tell me much about the laboratories. There are -always so many secret investigations going on down there, so many -processes being developed--things he can't talk about--that--well, I -guess he thinks it's best to say nothing at all about any of it. And I -suppose," she added, "this pitcher is just one more secret." - -"But why would he hide out so?" Doug Danby asked. - -"He just doesn't wish to be recognized, that's why," Johnny said in a -tone that carried conviction. - -"In a town like this?" Doug exclaimed. "It sure does seem strange!" Had -he but known it, those were the very words that were passing from lip to -lip all over this quiet little city. "A strange pitcher! A mysterious -dark stranger! And in a town like this!" That was what they were saying. -And, almost without exception, the answer was, "Just think, in a town -like this!" - -"Well anyway," Fred said, "he _can_ pitch! And that's just what we need. -We'll just have to have him next Wednesday when we go against Fairfield. -They're the toughest battling bunch we'll play for a long time. You can't -count on me to lick them." - -"The 'Prince' only lasted two and a half innings," Doug suggested. - -"Yes, but some--" Johnny did not finish. What he started to say was, -"Something rather terrible happened to him." After all, he had only -guessed that; could not prove it. - -"Well," Johnny said, "I gotta be anklin' on home. Goodbye, Meggy. -Goodbye, boys." - -A half hour later he was seated on a ridge that lay above the town. -Beneath him was a long, low building. - -"The laboratories!" he whispered. "Place of mystery. Home of the -mysterious 'Prince.'" - -His whole being was stirred. It was not that he suspected any wrong of -those who worked behind heavily glazed windows in the laboratories. Far -from that. Colonel Chamberlain had always been counted among Hillcrest's -foremost citizens. The laboratories belonged to him. - -"I'll have to hunt up Goggles," Johnny told himself. "Wonder where he -went? He always knows a lot. He may know more than I do about this -pitcher." - -Goggles was a thinker. He was the only boy ever entrusted with Colonel -Chamberlain's secrets. He alone, of all the town's boys, had crossed the -threshold of the laboratories. Only he had seen something of that which -went on inside. - -"They test all sorts of things in there," he had confided to Johnny one -day, "soap and silk, dyes, and all sorts of powerful drugs. They try to -find things out, to do things that have never been done before, like -making rubber out of crude petroleum or paper out of sunflower stalks. -They succeed sometimes, too. See!" He had pulled a sheet of paper from -his pocket. "Made from a sunflower stalk. Pretty good paper, eh? - -"When they make a real discovery," he went on, "they sell it to some -great manufacturer. - -"Colonel Chamberlain--" he had taken a deep breath. "He showed me a lot -of things I can't talk about. He says maybe some day I can work with him -in the laboratories. Boy! Won't that be grand!" - -"Yes, I shouldn't wonder if Goggles knows something about this 'Prince,'" -Johnny said to himself now. - -He broke short off to stare down at the laboratories. Someone had come -walking down the gravel path. He walked slowly. "Seems to drag his feet," -Johnny whispered. Just then the newcomer looked up toward the sun. Johnny -got a full view of his slim, dark face. It was the 'Prince.' A moment -more and the long, low place of mysteries had swallowed him up. - -That evening Johnny searched in vain for Goggles. Goggles' mother did not -know where he was, nor did anyone else. Johnny decided to go on a little -detective cruise all by himself. Mounting his bicycle, he rode east nine -miles to the Shady Valley landing field. In the office he found two men -in aviators' uniforms playing checkers. - -"Say!" he said in a subdued voice, "Did any of you fly a plane over the -Hillcrest ball field this afternoon?" - -"Yes, I did." The younger of the two men looked up quickly. "Why?" - -"Oh nothing I guess." Johnny dropped into a seat prepared to watch the -game. - -Though for a full quarter hour he said never a word, the young aviator -looked at Johnny in a queer way many times. - -"Well, what about it?" he said, turning to Johnny when the game was over. - -"Nothing I guess," Johnny repeated. - -"That _was_ a queer business," the aviator chuckled, "that flying over -your field. Had two passengers, sort of hard lookers, but well-dressed. -Said they lived in Hillcrest. They wanted to go over the ball game. Kept -telling me to circle down, down, down. Then they'd say, 'No! Not now! Up -again!' They repeated that little trick three times." - -"I know," Johnny breathed. - -"You know?" the young aviator stared. - -"Of course I do. Go on." - -"Well--" the aviator cleared his throat. "The third time we went down -closer than I like to. Then we flew away. Sort of queer, I'd say!" He -shot Johnny an enquiring look. - -"Did they carrying anything?" Johnny asked. - -"Nothing that I saw." - -"No gun or anything like that?" - -"Of course not. What do you think? Think we operate a bombing plane or -something?" - -"No, not quite that." Johnny lapsed into silence. - -"Queer business!" The aviator stared at him hard. "What do you know about -it?" - -"Nothing much I guess." Johnny's tone did not change. "Only thought I -might." - -"But look!" the aviator exclaimed. "If you think that's queer, listen to -this one. A short while back I took a long trip, thousand miles or more. -Flew it at night. Passenger told me where to go and where to land. - -"Place we landed was all light when we were coming down. It went dark the -minute we landed. - -"Two men in uniform came rushing up. One said, 'Say! Where do you think -you are?' - -"'Don't know,' I said. - -"'Well, you'd better,' one of them yelled. 'This is a Federal prison. -Move out of here quick!' - -"'Guess we'd better leave right away.' That's what my fare said to me." - -The aviator paused for breath. Johnny was staring. - -"Wait! That's not all!" The aviator waved a hand. "The lights came on, -bright as day, just long enough for me to taxi across the enclosure and -rise; then all went dark. - -"And listen!" He paused once more. "When my fare left the plane, there -was a man with him, a slim, dark-faced man. He came from that prison. I'd -swear to it! Can you beat that?" - -"Looks like a jail delivery." Johnny spoke low. "Should think you'd be -afraid!" - -"I would," the aviator settled back in his chair, "only the man who went -with me that night, my passenger, was one of the best known and most -highly respected citizens in this part of the country. I was hired by -him." - -"Slim, dark-faced man," Johnny murmured to himself, recalling the -aviator's words as he rode home a short time later. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - "WHO'S AFRAID OF A CHINAMAN?" - - -Next morning Johnny wandered over to the _Sentinel_ office. He wanted to -thank the editor for the fine publicity he had given the game. More than -this he always had enjoyed a half hour in the box-like office of C. K. -Lovell, or "old C. K." as the people of the city had come to call him. - -C. K. was something of a character. More than six feet tall, a -broad-shouldered, slouching figure of a man, with masses of gray hair and -bushy eyebrows, slumped down in his office chair, he resembled a shaggy -St. Bernard dog basking in the sun. - -"H'llo Johnny!" he greeted. "Fine game yesterday. Sort of queer, though. -Rather unusual about that pitcher! And did you notice that airplane? What -did you make of that?" - -"Haven't got it made yet." Johnny dropped into a chair. "Tough about that -pitcher though. It must not happen again. - -"But say!" he enthused. "Wasn't that a grand crowd! Boys owe you a lot." - -"Oh, that's nothing," the editor laughed good-naturedly. "Boys deserved -it. Fine lot of boys. Be a bigger crowd than ever next week. What about -that electric umpire? Think it will work?" - -"Sure will." - -"Call strikes and balls, and all that?" - -"Sure will, C. K." - -"Dodge pop bottles too?" C. K. laughed. - -"No. Pop bottles would be bad for his eyes. Got forty eyes, that umpire -has." Johnny laughed. "Guess the crowd will go easy on that, though. - -"You see," Johnny went on as the editor showed his interest by hitching -up in his chair, "an electric eye is like a radio tube. When a beam of -light is sent to it from across a space it stays just so until the light -is shut off by some object, say a baseball. Then it sets up a howl. If -you connect it with a phonograph attachment, you can make it call out -'Foul ball!'" - -"Interesting if true," C.K. drawled. "Sure ought to draw a crowd. - -"Say Johnny!" The editor leaned forward to speak in a tone little more -than a whisper. "Heard anything about Federal agents being around town?" - -"Federal agents!" Johnny stared. "No. What for?" - -"I've heard they're looking for a Chinaman, a little fellow--name's Tao -Sing, I believe." - -"Tao Sing!" Johnny started. A mental picture of Tao Sing in the small -room at the back of the Chinese spice shop flashed into his mind. - -"Thought I knew them all," said C.K. "This must be a new one." - -"Why should Federal agents want a Chinaman? Who's afraid of a Chinaman?" -This last slipped from Johnny's lips unbidden. - -"Who's afraid of a Chinaman!" C.K. sat up straight quite suddenly. -"Plenty of people afraid of a Chinaman, Johnny. Plenty! - -"A Chinaman looks dull and sleepy enough," he went on. "So does a big old -tom cat. But let a dog come around the corner and see what the cat does -to him. A Chinaman's like that. He'll go up like a rocket most any time. - -"I worked down near Frisco's old Chinatown, Johnny, years ago," he went -on. "Got to be sort of an amateur guide. Went with the police when they -raided Chinese gambling joints and opium dens. Say! I can hear the steel -door bang yet when the first Chink gave the warning. Bang! Bang! Bang! -And sometimes it wasn't a door that banged either." His voice dropped. -"Johnny, things happened there I wouldn't dare tell about--not even now. -And that was a long time ago, a long time ago." C.K. settled back in his -chair. - -"Well, I--" Johnny got to his feet a trifle unsteadily. "Guess I better -get going." - -"Don't hurry, Johnny." - -"Got to go." - -Johnny did hurry. He was afraid he might tell what he knew about Tao -Sing. He was not ready to do that--not just yet. - -"But boy, oh boy!" he whispered. "Would what I know about that little -Chink make front page stuff! First column in every city!" He could see it -now: "CHINAMAN INVENTS THOUGHT-RECORDING CAMERA. NO MAN'S THOUGHTS HIS -OWN." - -He was sorely tempted to release the story at once. On sober thought, -however, he decided he was not ready to do that--not yet! - -"So they're looking for Tao Sing, those Federal agents," he thought. -"Wonder why? Wonder if the think-o-graphs and the thought-camera have -anything to do with that?" He recalled his visit to the Chinese Chamber -of Commerce, of the pictures he had taken of Wung Lu's thoughts and how -he had delivered them to Tao Sing. The thought was disturbing. "Ought not -to have been snooping round gathering up another fellow's thoughts, then -peddling them to someone else," he grumbled. "And yet--" ah yes, and -yet--if he had not done that he could not have had the thought-camera for -his own use. - -"I'll use it a lot more," he assured himself. "Find out all sorts of -queer things for C.K. He'll run them in his paper and make a scoop." - -But would he return to the Chinese Chamber of Commerce? Well, not right -away. He recalled what C.K. had said of things that had happened in old -Frisco's Chinatown, and a chill ran up his spine. - -"Fellow'd think--" - -No matter what he'd think. Here was Goggles. - -"Look here, Johnny!" Goggles exclaimed. "I heard you found out about that -airplane that was over the ball field yesterday." - -"Didn't find out much--just that a pilot from over at the flying field -took two men up." - -"Who were they?" - -"Wish I knew. The pilot said they were from Hillcrest." - -"If they were it should be easy to find them. Not many new people in -Hillcrest. Only about half a dozen stop at the hotel. Rest live in -houses. I'll get 'em. Give me time." Goggles' big eyes gleamed behind his -thick glasses. "I'm an amateur detective, Johnny." - -"Done a little of that myself," Johnny said with a grin. "Not in a small -city, though. Guess I'll leave that to you." - -"I'll find 'em, Johnny." Goggles was away. - -Johnny smiled as he watched him hurry down the street. Goggles sure was -an interesting boy. He dug into everything just as a gopher digs into the -earth. Chemistry, electricity, detective work, it was all the same to -him. - -"Little cities are surely interesting," was Johnny's mental comment. "In -big cities everyone tries to be just like everyone else. People think -alike, walk alike, dress the same, everything. In a little city everyone -is different." - -Then he brought himself up with a jerk. There was the thought-camera. -Somehow, since talking to C.K. about the Chinese, he found himself all -but overcome with a desire to hide the thought-camera in some very dark -and secret spot. In the end, after hurrying home, he buried it deep among -the clothes in his trunk, locked the trunk, then hid the key. - -"So they're after Tao Sing!" he murmured low. "Wonder if they'll find -him. And if they do, I wonder--" he did not finish that last wonder. - - - - - CHAPTER X - CLUES FROM THE DUST - - -"In cases like this--" Goggles' eyes bulged behind his thick glasses. His -beak-like nose appeared to wrinkle and wriggle as a rabbit's. "In a case -like this," he repeated, "one may learn a great deal from dust. Take a -vacuum cleaner now. It's queer. I've helped clean dozens of furnished -houses and apartments after the tenants were gone. Some of them would -scrub the place till it shone like a new dollar. But the vacuum cleaner! -What do you think?" He paused. "Always half full of dust! - -"And yes!" he exclaimed. "Same here. A good big lot of dust. I'm -prepared. See!" He drew a stout paper sack from his pocket. Unfastening -the cloth dust-bag from the vacuum cleaner, he proceeded to empty its -contents into the paper sack. - -"Dust?" said Johnny, "What can you do with dust?" - -"You wait," said Goggles, "You'll see." - -"Well, you can have your dust," Johnny grumbled. "Can't see how that can -help any." - -Since his visit to the landing field, Johnny had been more convinced than -ever that the presence of that airplane above Hillcrest baseball grounds -on that day when the mysterious "Prince" had somehow been forced from the -mound, had meant something very strange. - -"Up to something, that's what they were!" he had told himself. "And I'm -going to find out what." - -Recalling Goggles' suggestion regarding the manner in which these men -might be found, he hunted him up on the following day. - -"Found out anything?" he asked. - -"No, but I'm going to," Goggles replied. "It should not be hard. They -live here. They're strangers in town. They'd rent furnished rooms. All we -have to do is to check up on rentals." - -They had checked up and they had, they believed, found the very place -they were looking for. The description of the two men who had rented a -small furnished bungalow tallied with that of the men they sought. - -There was only one hitch--the men had checked out of the bungalow. - -"That's too bad!" Johnny had mourned. "I hoped to catch up with them. -It's not so much what they've done as what they may do. It's my theory -that they have a grudge of some sort against the 'Prince.' He's got to -pitch some more games for us if we are to win. Those men will do -something more, perhaps something a great deal worse." - -"What will we do if we find them?" Goggles had asked. "You can't prove -anything." - -"Proof is what we want." - -"You can find clues in an empty house," Goggles had declared. "Plenty of -them. It doesn't matter that they're gone. Left all sorts of clues -behind. Take dust, for instance. You get the keys and we'll go right over -there." - -So here they were in the recently deserted bungalow. Here was Goggles -industriously collecting dust while Johnny tiptoed softly from room to -room, pulling out drawers without a sound and, after peering within, -softly closing them again. - -"Dust!" he mumbled, "What good is a lot of dust? You'd think--" - -He broke off short to stare. In the drawer just before him his eyes took -in two objects. One was a small dry battery of an unusual shape. On the -end of this was a threaded attachment that apparently just fitted into -the small end of the other object. This second object was a funnel-shaped -tube a foot long. It was an inch across at one end and three inches at -the other. The inside of this tube shone with an unusual brilliancy. - -"Queer business!" Johnny murmured. These objects were quickly transferred -to the inner pocket of his coat. The drawer was softly closed. - -It would seem that he was not a second too soon, for from below came the -sound of an opening door, then a gruff voice: - -"Well son, you're cleanin' the place up a bit." - -The voice sent a chill coursing up Johnny's spine. It was the voice of a -stranger. He was talking to Goggles. - -"Yes, I--" Goggles' answering voice sounded unsteady and weak. "I do this -sort of thing quite--quite a lot. Sort of--of dust up a bit." - -"Well now that's fine!" (It did not sound fine to Johnny.) "But me and my -pardners here moved out of this place a short while back. We came here to -get a few things we forgot, didn't we Joe?" - -"Yep, that's right," a second gruff voice replied. - -"Them shoes now," the first voice went on. "We left 'em. See you got 'em -all cleaned up for us." Goggles had found a pair of shoes and had scraped -the mud from them in search of clues. - -"Yes, I--" Goggles' voice faded out. - -"Well that's O.K., buddy," said the first voice again. "We'll just get on -into the little bedroom and look for a thing or two." - -"The little bedroom." That was where Johnny found himself at that -instant. Like a rabbit that has sighted a dog, he was up and silently -away. In truth he went out of the side door to vanish into the shadows of -a broad old pine tree. - -Well enough that he did too, for a moment later he heard one of the -strangers say to Goggles in a tone not so friendly: - -"Boy! We left something in a dresser drawer in that little bedroom. You -cleaned in there yet?" - -"No, I--I've not been out of this room." Goggles stammered a little, but -had spoken the simple truth. - -After looking him over from head to foot, the speaker turned on his heel -and left the house. He was followed by his pardner. - -"Whew!" Goggles breathed five minutes later, "What do you think of that?" - -"I think," said Johnny, "think--. Come on! Let's get out of here! I got -'em in my pocket." - -"Got what?" - -"The things they came back after." - -"Let's see!" Goggles held out a hand. - -"Not now. I say, let's go!" - -"All right," Goggles agreed reluctantly. "Guess I've got all the dust I -need." - -After locking the door, they hurried away to Goggles' basement where he -had rigged up a sort of laboratory and workshop. - -"Now," Goggles breathed, snapping on the light, "we'll have a look at -that stuff from the sweeper." He emptied the contents of the paper sack -into a sheet of wrapping paper. - -"Now." With a needle set into the end of an old pen-holder, he began -dragging the stuff about, at the same time naming his findings: "Hairs, -dark ones, three or four of them. Their hair is dark. That don't matter; -but here's some coarse sand they tracked in. Say! What color is the stuff -they have out on the landing field?" - -"Red sand," Johnny replied. "Brought it in trucks." - -"And here it is, some of it!" Goggles was getting excited. "Let's have a -look at this other bag." He dumped coarse dirt on a second paper. "Came -from the bottom of those shoes," he explained. "Yes, there it is--red -sand, some oil mixed in--just what you'd find on a landing field. They're -the men all right." - -"Well, that's something," Johnny replied quietly. - -"What are we going to do about it?" Goggles asked. - -"Nothing just now. You can't keep people from flying over your head." - -"But you'd think--Say!" Goggles' tone changed. "There's some sort of -chemical in this dust from the sweeper. Two kinds. One's coarse and gray. -Other's a fine white powder. - -"Yes." He examined the contents of a small envelope. "Some of the white -powder is in the dust I took from the pocket of an old coat they left. -Must have rubbed it off his hands into his pocket. People do that without -thinking." - -"Goggles--" Johnny found it hard to control his voice, "could you make a -bright light by touching off two powders?" - -"I'll say you could! All kinds of light." - -"Goggles--" Johnny's tone was deeply serious, "you separate those -chemicals from the rest of the dust as well as you can, then keep -them--both kinds. It--it may be important." - -"I'll do more than that," Goggles agreed. "I'll take them down to the -laboratories. I'll ask someone to test 'em out and tell me what they are. -Maybe I'll ask the 'Prince.'" - -"You know the 'Prince'?" Johnny was surprised. - -"Talked to him twice. He isn't half bad," admitted Goggles modestly. - -"Who said he was? I think he's great!" Johnny put his cap on. "All right. -Got to get going. See you later." - -Back in his own room, Johnny drew two objects from his pocket and -examined them. - -Then he closed his eyes. "The eagle soared and dropped," he murmured. "So -did the airplane. The eagle got a rabbit. The airplane got a man. It was -no accident that the 'Prince' had to give up pitching. I know why he -did--and--and I can almost prove it. - -"Those two men," he said slowly, "have it in for the 'Prince.' I wonder -why? They'll do something more. I wonder what? - -"One thing's sure," he said stoutly, "I'm for the 'Prince' a hundred -percent!" - - - - - CHAPTER XI - WHAT AN EYE! - - -That evening Johnny sat on his grandfather's porch staring at the moon -and allowing the events of the past few days to glide across his memory -as a panorama glides across a picture screen. - -It was strange! Here he was in the quiet little city of his grandfather. -He'd been here many times before. Nothing unusual had happened; but now -there was the little Chinaman who apparently had been seen by no one but -himself and who was now being sought by detectives. And there was the -thought-camera. He wondered whether the little man was still in town, but -had no desire to visit the spice shop to find out for sure--at least not -in the dark. He recalled C. K.'s words, and shuddered afresh. - -"And there's the 'Prince,'" he thought. "Queer sort of fellow. How did he -come here?" He seemed to see an airplane landing within prison walls. Had -the Colonel rescued him in that strange manner from a prison? "Of course -not!" he whispered. "Perfectly absurd!" And yet, there was that air -pilot's story. "Mystery wings!" he whispered low. How many mysterious -things might be carried on high in the air--kidnaping, smuggling, daring -robbers escaping from the scene of their crime. What had happened that -day as the airplane soared over their baseball diamond? He had a rather -definite notion. But was that idea correct? He meant to find out. - -He thought of the coming ball game. The "Prince" would be there. He had -promised to come. Meggy had brought word of this. - -"Good old Meg!" he thought. "How I'd like to tell her about the -thought-camera!" He was burning to tell someone. And yet, had he the -right? Meg would keep the secret. Threats of death would not wring it -from her. Good old Meg! And yet--. He wouldn't tell, not just now. - -How was the ball game to come out? And Goggles' forty-eyed umpire? Would -it work? They would get a crowd, he was sure of that. But would they be -able to satisfy that crowd? - -He stole a glance at his grandfather. As usual, he sat in his big chair -dreaming of the past. Slipping up the stairs, Johnny returned with the -thought-camera under his coat. He recorded one more chapter of the grand -old man's life. Then he crept back upstairs again. - -"Wonder how that thing works," he murmured as he once more hid the camera -in the bottom of his trunk. "I'd give a lot to know." He had read of -things scientists were doing with what they called the spectrum, how they -divided it into different rays, red, violet, indigo blue, and how some -rays were life-giving and some deadly. It might be something like that. -If he knew the secrets of that camera he could become the richest person -in the world. Perhaps some day he would know. - -"But now," he laughed low, "the next thing is a ball game." - -He was late to the Wednesday game. His grandfather had a hurry-up call -into the country. Johnny drove the car. Twenty miles from town they got a -flat tire. The bolts stuck. He was a full hour getting it changed. When -he finally reached the ball grounds the game had been in progress for -some time and, to his great surprise and consternation, this is what he -heard: - -"Oh! What an eye! Kill that umpire! Git a pop bottle! Git twenty pop -bottles! Wreck him! Wreck him!" The cries were loud and persistent from -every corner of the grandstand. - -"Trouble is," Doug Danby groaned as Johnny came racing up, "they are -liable to break loose any minute and do just that--'wreck the umpire.' -And that umpire cost hundreds of dollars. How could we ever pay it back?" - -Doug was, he believed, at that moment the most miserable person in the -world. They were losing, losing the game they by all odds should be -winning. And it was all his fault, or at least he accepted the blame. He, -as captain of the team, had stood up for Goggles' mechanical umpire. "And -now look!" He gave Johnny an appealing glance. - -Johnny didn't want to look. Everyone else was looking; that is, everyone -on the Hillcrest bleachers, and everyone was yelling: "Wide a mile!" or -"Way below his knees!" "Take out that umpire! Wreck him!" "Strike! -Strike! Strike!" They began chanting this as a refrain, and clapping -their hands in a rhythmic accompaniment. - -"Johnny, something's gone terribly wrong!" Meggy Strawn screamed this -into Johnny's ear above the din. - -"You're telling us!" Doug shouted back. "Terribly wrong! I'd say! Bill's -out on strikes and all three were balls. Dave's got two strikes now, and -there--no--that tin umpire called it a ball!" - -"There!" Meggy jumped up and down. "Dave swatted it. It's a two bagger! -Rah for Dave!" - -Doug did not shout. He was glad Dave had made second. But he was sure -he'd never see home. - -"You can't beat a crooked umpire," he groaned. That the umpire was -crooked he could not by this time doubt. Yet, how could it be? A -mechanical umpire with an eye a thousand times faster than the human eye, -set to call balls and strikes impartially, all the balls to be outside -the plate, above the shoulder or below the knee, a mere thing of -electrical tubes and cells, of wires and steel mechanisms, how could that -kind of an umpire be crooked? Doug could find no answer. Nor could -Johnny. He could only stand and stare. - -"Johnny," Meggy whispered, "why does that Fairfield sub always stand -leaning against that post while our team is up to bat?" - -The post she spoke of stood before the bench used by the visiting team. -It held one end of the wire cable that kept the crowd off the field. - -"Probably leans because he's the leaning sort," Johnny chuckled. - -"He's done that for four innings." Meggy's tone was low, mysterious. -Johnny missed that tone. He was too much absorbed by what was going on to -notice it. "When his team comes up to bat," Meg went on, "he goes back to -the bench. Then when we are at bat again, he hops up, strolls slowly to -the post and stands there until the inning is over. Johnny, I--" - -"There!" It was Doug who interrupted her. "Steve struck out. I'm up. -Watch me fan! All I got to do is stand right still, and that tin umpire -will call 'Strike! Strike! Strike!' and I'm out! You just watch!" - -"Doug!" Meggy gripped his arm tight. "You--you're being almost yellow. -Buck up! Get in there and win in spite of odds. There's something crooked -about it. We all know that. But we can't help it. At least not now. -Listen! Uncle Rob told me once he'd seen a lot of crooked things tried in -all sorts of games, but he'd found out this--if the straight player stood -up to it and did his level best he'd win; but that a fellow who is -crooked can never do his best--his conscience won't let him. So you just -get in there and swat that ball! Strike at every one. Boot it over the -fence! And next time, when you're up, I'm going to--" - -She did not finish. Doug was gone. - -With Meggy's words ringing in his ears, Doug marched up to the plate. Ten -seconds later he saw the ball coming. Figuring it would be "wide a mile," -he gave a quick side-wise lurch, swung the bat, struck the ball low and -hard, then dashed for first base. - -"Go! Go! Go! Go on!" came in a deafening roar. Nor did that call subside -until he had crossed the home plate. He had boosted the ball clear out of -the lot, a home run just like that. - -"But even that won't win," he told Johnny gloomily. "The score is still 5 -to 3 in their favor. And that tin umpire is set dead against us." - -This conclusion seemed fair enough, for when Tim Tyler, the best batter -on their team, came up next he went down "One, two, three." After that -the Hillcrest players wandered gloomily to their places on the diamond. - -Doug played right field. Since the men on the opposing team almost to a -man batted right handed, he now had plenty of time to think. And those -were long, long thoughts, you may be sure. "How could that electrical -umpire be crooked?" he asked himself over and over. "It worked perfectly -every time yesterday. If it wasn't for the pledge that both teams made to -see the thing through, I'd demand a new umpire. But thunder! We'd look -fine throwing out our own umpire!" - -Yes, they had tried the umpire out the day before. Goggles had secured -the necessary equipment from the electrical shop which was really a -laboratory for research work, and with the assistance of the head -electrician had set the electrical umpire in place on the ball grounds. - -"You see," he had explained before they started to test it out, "there's -a battery of ten lights shining out at the side beyond the plates. There -are ten above the batter's shoulder, and ten below the knee. These lights -shine on electric eyes. The moment one of these lights is shut off, even -for an instant, a red light will flash and a phonograph shout, 'Foul.' -Two other batteries of lights watch for strikes. Another phonograph calls -'em. Now you fellows try it." - -They did try it. Tried it many times and not once had the mechanical -umpire failed. - -"It did not slip once yesterday," Doug groaned to himself out there on -the field watching for any chance fly that might come his way. "And now, -today, when the Fairfield batters are up, it works perfectly, but when we -are up it just squints its forty eyes and gives the pitcher all the -breaks. - -"Crowds," the boy grumbled, "are queer. One minute they are with you, -next they are against you." It had been so with the crowd from his own -town in regard to the mechanical umpire. When they had heard it call -"Strike!" "Foul!" then "Strike!" once more, they had gone wild over it. -"But now," he groaned, "they're all against it. May swarm onto the field -any minute and smash it up. Worst is," he grumbled on, "we agreed to -abide by the decision of that brainless mechanical man--even put it in -writing. Both teams signed it--so--" - -He broke short off. There had come a wild shout from the enemy's -bleachers. A high fly came sailing his way. Judging it correctly, he -turned his back and ran; then, whirling about just in time, put up a -single hand to nab the ball. It was a beautiful catch. Even the rivals -applauded. - -"Fine! Great! Wonderful!" His teammates patted him on the back as they -raced in for their turn at bat. - -"Lot of good that will be," Doug grumbled. "We're beat right now; beaten -by our own little tin umpire. What an eye! is right." - -Then Meggy's words came back to him: "Go in and beat them anyway. Fellows -that are crooked seldom win. Their conscience won't let them." - -"We'll win!" He set his teeth tight. "Win in spite of it all. We--" - -His thoughts broke short off. What was Meggy up to now? She had walked -away from her regular place, had crossed the field and was standing -leaning against the white post just before the bench used by the rival -team--the one she had said the Fairfield sub leaned on. - -"You'd think she's gone over to the enemy," Doug whispered to Johnny. She -hadn't, though. He knew Meggy better than that. But what _was_ she there -for? Surely that was a puzzler. - -Shortly after the "Prince" took up his batting position for old -Hillcrest, the sub from the Fairfield bench moved forward to touch Meggy -on the shoulder. - -"Sorry, Miss, you'll have to move. It's this way. The boys back on the -bench can't see through you." His tone was apologetic. - -"Oh! Is that so?" Meggy's pug nose turned fully half an inch higher. -"Well then! Suppose they try sliding along on the bench." She held her -position. - -The sub returned to his bench discomfited. - -In the meantime, wonder of wonders, the electrical umpire of forty eyes -had at last apparently taken pity on the Hillcrest team and was giving -them a square deal. The "Prince" actually got a base on balls. - -The fans on the bleachers ceased their fruitless razzing of the tin -umpire and began to cheer. The opposing pitcher appeared to be losing his -poise. After dealing out three more balls, he tossed Dave Dawson an easy -one and Dave swatted it for a two bagger. Another walk, and the bags were -loaded. - -Fairfield changed pitchers. The fresh pitcher bore down hard. The result -for that inning was one score for Hillcrest. - -"Come on boys!" Doug yelled. "A shut-out this time! Then we'll go after -them. Two more runs and we got 'em. Something's happened. I don't know -what, but at last we're getting a square deal from our old tin ump." - -The shut-out was managed easily. The "Prince" did his part nobly. Two -pop-ups and a strike-out did the work. All this time Doug was like one in -a trance. Strange things were happening. The mechanical umpire had -suddenly gone on the square. But poor Meg! She had apparently quite lost -her mind. She was still leaning on that white post before the enemy's -bench. Had anyone been close beside her, however, he would have noticed -that her attention was divided between a certain spot on the ground close -to the post and a Fairfield player who had remained on the bench. The -player was captain of the rival team. He had sent the sub out to take his -place. - -Hardly had the batting begun than this captain rose with some dignity to -approach Meggy. "Sorry, dear child," his air was patronizing, "but you'll -have to leave. This is our side of the diamond. Besides, you are in -danger of being struck by a foul ball." - -"Oh! Thank you!" Meggy smiled sweetly. "I'm awfully good at ducking." - -"But you _must_ leave!" The visiting captain's tone was stern. - -Meggy did not answer. Instead she turned her back upon him to cup her -hands and shout across the diamond. - -"Yoo-hoo! Johnny! Bring me that spade! There's a dandelion, a great big -one, here." - -The astonished Johnny did her bidding. The rival captain held his ground. -A look of dread overspread his face. He seemed to be saying to himself, -"What will this wild young creature do next?" - -He did not have long to wait. Seizing the spade, Meggy hissed, "There! -Right down there!" then sank her spade deep. - -The captain made a move as if to stop her, opened his mouth as if to -speak, then retired in apparent confusion. - -There was no dandelion where Meggy sank her spade. The spot of gold that -was a yellow "dannie" was fully a yard away. She did not trouble the -dandelion at all. Instead, she sank her spade with a vicious poke of her -stout young foot three times. Then, shouldering her spade as if it were a -rifle, she marched back to her own bleachers and took up the task of -cheer leader. She led the Hillcrest team to such a victory as the old -town had never before witnessed. When the ninth inning was ended and Doug -was borne in triumph off the field, the score stood 22 to 7 in favor of -the home team. Doug, riding aloft on his fellow townsmen's shoulders, was -disturbed by a vague feeling that Meggy was far more richly deserving of -this ride than he. But why? This he could not tell. That was to come -later. - - -"Meggy, you're holding something back," Johnny insisted as he sat with -Meg and Doug on Meg's porch drinking lemonade late that evening. - -"All right," Meg laughed, "then I am. And I suppose you'd like to know -what. They say," she smiled whimsically, "that 'figures won't lie but -liars will figure.' Well, Goggles may be able to make a perfect -mechanical umpire, but he can't keep some other electrical shark from -tampering with it. - -"You see--" she leaned forward, eyes gleaming, "you set up your equipment -yesterday. During the night some smart boy from Fairfield came over and -cut in a switch that would turn half the eyes of old Mr. Umpire off when -they wanted them off. That gave Mr. Ump only half sight. And of course -they made him half blind every time our team came up. He couldn't see the -balls." - -"But I don't under--" - -"Wait!" Peggy held up a hand. "The switch was by that white post. They'd -buried the wires underground two or three inches. When I saw that sub -stand there every inning, I guessed there was a reason. So--o, you see," -she laughed, "I took his place. - -"He'd been throwing the switch off and on with his toe. Couldn't while I -was there. Bye and bye I discovered the switch, figured out where the -wires ran, then chopped one off with that spade. After that old Mr. Ump -could see very well all the time." - -"Meg!" Doug exclaimed, "You're a whizz!" - -"Oh I don't know about that," Meg laughed. "One thing I do know. The -score wouldn't have been so terrible if they hadn't tried to cheat. Which -all goes to show that the fellow that cheats can't win." - -"Correct!" Johnny laughed. "Now how about another lemonade?" - -"Well--" Doug sighed a happy sigh as he rose to leave a half hour later, -"we got our thousand dollars and a little left over. So the old ball -ground is safe, at least for a while." - -"Wasn't the 'Prince' gr--and today!" Meg's tone was rich and mellow. -"Isn't he mysterious!" - -"He sure was good!" Johnny agreed. "And no one bothered him today. That -airplane did not come back." - -"But it will," a voice seemed to whisper in his ear. "You wait! Mystery -wings!" - - - - - CHAPTER XII - THE VANISHING CHINAMAN - - -On his way home Johnny met Goggles. "Great work, Goggles!" he exclaimed -with enthusiasm. "That stunt of yours sure drew a crowd." - -"Ye-a," Goggles said with a drawl. "There was a time, though, when it -looked as if the old ump and I'd be mobbed. That Fairfield bunch played a -mean trick on us. Ought to be thrown out of the League." - -"Oh I don't know." Johnny paused for thought. "You couldn't prove a -member of their team did it. We licked 'em good and plenty. That should -be enough. Anyway, they don't stand high in the League. -Centralia--there's the team we've got to watch out for!" - -"Say!" Goggles' big eyes bulged. "I think Hop Horner and I have got a new -pitcher for you." - -"A new pitcher?" Johnny stared. "What's the matter with the 'Prince'?" - -"Nothing. Only--" Goggles' voice dropped to a low, mysterious note, "this -pitcher's different." - -"He'll have to go some if he's as different as the 'Prince.'" - -"You'll be surprised! Tell you what." The young inventor's tone changed. -"You know that open space out in the center of the pine grove?" - -"Yes, sure." - -"Meet me there day after tomorrow about two in the afternoon. I--I'll -bring this--this er--pitcher round. Let--well, sort of let him throw over -a few." - -"All right, I'll be there. But I don't see--" Johnny looked up. Goggles -was gone. - -"Now what's he up to!" Johnny muttered as he turned toward home. - -"I'll wander over to that Chink spice shop," he told himself with sudden -resolve. "See if Tao Sing's there." He felt in his pocket. Yes, the -latest think-o-graph of the wise Wung Lu's thoughts was there. He would -give it to Tao Sing and then go right home. - -"You want Tao Sing?" the clerk behind the counter asked as Johnny entered -the shop. - -"Sure." - -"No can do." The Chinaman showed all his yellow teeth in a broad grin. -"Tao Sing gone velly fast, velly far, mebby not come back velly quick." -He laughed a dry mirthless laugh. - -"Oh!" Johnny's eyes swept the place nervously. - -"I--maybe I'll come back some other time." As he slid out of the place -Johnny barely escaped bumping into two slim young men who had an air of -watchful waiting about them. - -"Federal agents, like as not," was the thought that struck him all of a -heap. Experience had taught him that the best detectives of today were -likely to be young, slender and quick. These were of that sort. - -Finding himself still free, he hurried away. - -"Perhaps I ought to tell them," he thought. And then, a moment later, -"Tell them what?" What, indeed? What did he know about Tao Sing that -Federal agents should know? Little enough, that was certain. "Know he -wants to salt down some of Wung Lu's wisdom," he chuckled. Then of a -sudden it occurred to him that the sort of knowledge he had secured from -Wung Lu's thoughts might not be that which wise men would record in a -book of Chinese philosophy. - -"Like to read just one of them," he told himself. He fingered the small -metal box in his pocket. "I can't," he sighed. "It's all Chinese." - -Next morning Johnny, Doug, and old Professor George went to the bank and -drew out a thousand dollars. "Whew! What a lot of money!" Doug whispered. - -They carried it to Big Bill Tyson's office. - -"Here it is, William," Professor George squeaked in his high-pitched -voice. "Here's your first payment on the baseball grounds." - -"Fine! Fine!" Big Bill's eyes shone as if he were truly glad. And perhaps -he was. Big Bill loved money. "Here's the contracts you'll have to sign." -He wheeled about in his swivel chair. "One for you and one for me. Don't -mind signin' with them, do you Professor? Mere matter of form. Boys are -under age, you know." - -"No. I'll sign the contracts, William." The aged professor's smile was a -fine thing to see. "I'm always glad to help the boys out. And William, -I'm proud to see that you're willing to do your part." - -Big Bill's eyes squinted in a strange way. - -"Oh! Yes!" His voice seemed unusually loud and a trifle off key like the -dong of a cracked bell. "Yes, Professor, you and I must help the boys out -when we can. Here--you sign right there, all three of you. And then this -one." - -He stood up when all had signed. "Well boys, I wish you luck." Just then, -strangely enough, a cloud passed over the sun. It left Big Bill's face in -a shadow that to Johnny's keen imagination seemed a mask. A moment later -they were out in the open air and the sun had escaped from behind the -cloud. - -That evening Johnny got out the two strange objects he had taken from the -deserted bungalow--the battery and the bright tube. He studied them a -long time, screwing them together and unscrewing them many times. "I'd -like to know," he murmured. "Those were the men who flew over the ball -field, I am sure of that. They had these. Wonder if Goggles still has -those two powders. Hope he has." With that he hid the battery and tube -along with the thought-camera at the bottom of his trunk. - -"Oh Johnny! Come in here a minute." It was old C.K. the editor who called -to Johnny from his door next day. - -"Just thought I'd tell you," C.K. said as Johnny took a seat in his -office, "that, mebby you didn't know it, but Big Bill Tyson drove a sharp -bargain with you boys and old Professor George yesterday." - -"A--a sharp bargain!" Johnny stared. "We didn't pay too much did we?" - -"N--no. The price is a fair one," C.K. drawled. "But!" He sat straight -up. "How you boys going to raise four thousand dollars in sixty days?" - -"Four thou--" - -"That's the contract you signed. Doug showed it to me yesterday. Didn't -say anything to him about it. Wanted to think it over. - -"Of course--" he sank back in his chair, "you boys can't be held for it, -but the contract is binding. Four thousand dollars in sixty days, five -thousand more in three years--that's the way it reads. And, as it stands -Professor George is stuck for it. He signed you know. He's got a little -house and a few investments. I figure it will about clean him out. Tough, -I'd say!" - -"Why! I--it can't happen!" Johnny exploded. "Big Bill tricked us!" - -"Guess that's right," C.K. agreed. "Too bad! But a contract is a -contract." - -"Four thousand dollars!" Doug groaned when Johnny told him of it. "And to -think good old Professor George will have to suffer for our blunder! Of -course he wouldn't suspect Big Bill. Professor George is so honest and -kind himself, he'd never suspect a trick. Johnny, we've just got to do -something." - -"Sure we have," Johnny agreed. "But just think! Four thousand in sixty -days!" - -"Four thousand. Sixty days," Doug repeated after him. This was followed -by a vast silence. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - SECRET OF THE PINES - - -Next day, in keeping with his promise to Goggles, Johnny found himself -seated beneath the broad-spreading boughs of a pine tree. All about him -were other pines. He was not in a forest, but a grove--a twenty acre -grove of pines. Old Colonel Pinchot had planted them there a half century -ago. Now they were known simply as The Pines. The heart of The Pines was -a marvelous place to think, and Johnny was thinking hard. When he went -into anything he went in heart and soul, did Johnny. He had gone in for -the Hillcrest baseball team for all he was worth. - -"And now," he sighed, "looks as if it were all off just because--well, -because somebody wants what he wants and appears to have the power to -take it. Four thousand dollars!" He gave vent to a low grunt. "How's a -fellow to raise that much in times like these, for a baseball team,--and -in sixty days! It can't--" - -He broke short off to listen. A curious sound, for such a place, had -struck his ear. It seemed to be the low rattle and chuck-chuck of a two -wheel cart. - -"Who can that be carting things about way out here?" he asked himself. -The question soon ceased to interest him. His mind turned once more to -strange happenings in old Hillcrest. The little Chinaman with his -thought-camera and think-o-graphs, lurking Federal agents, the mysterious -pitcher, and Big Bill Tyson--all came in for their share of his thoughts. -He lingered longer on the question of Big Bill and the four thousand -dollars than all the rest, but was no nearer a solution than before, when -to his vast surprise he saw Goggles break through the pine boughs, -dragging a heavy cart behind him. - -"Whew!" the young inventor exclaimed, mopping his brow. "That thing pulls -like a ton of bricks." - -"Then why pull it?" Johnny grinned. "Where's your friend the pitcher?" - -"Right in behind." Goggles grinned broadly as he nodded at something -covered with canvas. - -"You don't mean--" - -"Give me a hand," Goggles grumbled. "It--it--I mean he's pretty heavy." - -The astonished Johnny saw him throw back the canvas to disclose several -sections of a mechanical contraption that might have been just anything -at all. - -His astonishment was not very much abated when, some fifteen minutes -later, he saw standing before him on an improvised pitcher's mound a -six-foot figure that to some degree resembled a man. - -"Meet Irons O." Goggles beamed. "He doesn't walk very well. He's quite -stiff-legged. He's quite deaf, so there's no use talking to him. But he -can bawl out the umpire something fierce. His eyesight is very bad, so -someone has to catch the ball for him and throw bases. But boy! How he -can pitch! With just a little training he could fan out Babe Ruth nine -times out of ten. - -"Here!" he said, handing Johnny a big baseball mit, "You just get down -there about where the catcher would stand, and I'll have him throw a few -over to you." - -After placing a ball between four steel fingers and a cast iron thumb, -Goggles touched a button and the thing began a low puff-puff-puff that -resembled low, heavy breathing. Johnny was mystified and amused beyond -belief. - -"Watch this curve!" Goggles shouted a moment later. He touched a button. -A steel arm rose in air, wound up for all the world like a professional -pitcher, then let fly. The ball shot forward, took a sudden broad curve, -then went thud against Johnny's big mit. A second ball, then a third -followed and all took that same sharp curve. - -"You set the fingers," Goggles explained in a matter-of-fact voice. "Look -at this straight, fast one." Once again the steel arm went through its -motion. This time the ball, shooting straight ahead like a cannon ball, -cut the plate squarely in the middle. - -"That," said Johnny solemnly, "is the strangest thing I ever saw. A -mechanical pitcher!" - -"Nothing less!" Goggles agreed. - -"Whe--where'd you get him?" - -"Hop Horner and I have been working on him down at the electric shop for -months. You see there's a little motor inside that generates electricity. -Electricity runs him. All a fellow has to do is to set his fingers and -operate the controls. As I said before, he can even rave at the umpire. -Watch!" He punched two buttons and old Irons O began bobbing his -outlandish head. His steel teeth cracked together again and again, while -from his metal throat there came sounds resembling the complaints of a -wildcat chased up a tree. "He--he's almost perfect!" Goggles admitted -proudly. - -"Yes," Johnny agreed, "but what good is he? You can't expect another ball -team to let you substitute a--a machine for a real flesh-and-blood -pitcher." - -"No, you can't do that," Goggles agreed, "but you can do this--it came to -me just last night. You can announce an exhibition game. Get Centralia to -come over and play us just for fun--fun and profit. We'd have a complete -sell-out. Can't you see it? Big headlines: 'Come and See Irons O, the -Mechanical Pitcher, Perform!' Why even Big Bill would have to come and -see that game! That game would bring in the first hundred dollars or so -toward that four thousand." Goggles went hopping about in his excitement. - -"Sounds good to me," Johnny agreed. - -And indeed it sounded good to everyone interested in the Hillcrest -baseball team. The date of the game was set for the following Saturday. -As Goggles had predicted, the thing became a headline story. Reporters -were admitted to the evergreen grove for a demonstration. Everyone else -was barred. Then Irons O went into seclusion; a seclusion however that -was to prove not quite adequate for the occasion. - -When the time came for calling the game every bleacher seat and all -available standing space was packed. The fame of the mechanical pitcher -was spread far and wide. - -"It's in the bag," Johnny grinned broadly as he saw old Professor George -tucking the day's receipts, a fat wad of bills, into his pocket. - -"Not yet," Goggles warned. "Remember, we promised a perfect performance. -'Nine full innings pitched by Irons O, or your money back.' That's the -way the handbills were printed." - -For all this the young inventor wore a jaunty air as he marched out to -the pitcher's mound where his mechanical man awaited him. - -Touching a button here, another there, he caused Irons O to bob his head -from side to side, then let out a cry of defiance at the shouting throng. -The crowd roared back its glee. - -When this roar had subsided another reached Johnny's ear. A huge -bi-motored plane was circling to the landing field a half mile away. A -shudder ran over him. He had not forgotten those "Mystery wings," nor the -two strangers who had done something terrible to the "Prince" on that -other day. "Have trouble doing it to a mechanical pitcher." He laughed in -spite of himself. - -Ten minutes later, as the players took their place on the field, Johnny -saw three men in aviation caps crowding toward the front. - -"Wonder who they are and what they want?" he thought to himself. -Something seemed to tell him that their arrival was important. Why? He -could not tell. - -The great moment came at last, and "Irons O pitching!" the megaphone -announced at the end of the line-up. - -Goggles' fingers trembled as he threw on an electric switch, then pressed -the button. And well they might tremble for Irons O, instead of facing -the batter and doing his plain duty, let out a defiant squeal, turned -half about, wound up and let fly at the astonished second baseman who, -taken off his guard, was struck squarely on the chest and knocked over -like a policeman with a bullet through his heart. Instantly pandemonium -broke loose. Goggles could not hear himself think for the wild tumultuous -noise. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - THE STEEL-FINGERED PITCHER - - -Next moment Goggles found himself experiencing one of the tragic moments -of his young life. In a moment of confidence and enthusiasm he had agreed -to direct his mechanical man, Irons O, while he pitched a nine inning -game of baseball, and now before a crowd of three thousand or more, old -Irons O, who had always been reliable in the past, had turned squarely -about on the first pitch and had all but sent the second baseman to the -hospital with a baseball in his heart. What was the answer? - -"Someone's been fooling with him," Hop Horner shouted as he came running -up. "Here! Give me the screw driver. That's it. Now the wrench." - -"Time out!" a big voice roared, "Time out!" It was Big Bill Tyson. -Everyone roared with delight; that is, everyone but those who were -interested in the youthful inventor's success. Good old Professor George -did not laugh. Instead, he crowded forward to ask, "Anything I can do -here boys? Anything at all?" As if a professor who had taught Latin all -his life could do anything with a mechanical man! All the same it made -Goggles feel good inside. A friend at a time like this--well that was -something. - -"Wires all twisted up," Hop was grumbling. "Somebody messed 'em up." - -For fifteen minutes the two boys worked feverishly. Perspiration streamed -down their faces. Their hands were black and oily, their knees trembling. -"Hundreds of dollars gone," Goggles was thinking, "hundreds gone if we -fail. Hope for the baseball park gone perhaps." Still Irons O would not -swing his arms in a proper manner. - -The crowd was getting out of hand. Some were swarming on the field. In -one corner, led by a small dark man, a group was chanting in a maddening -manner: "We want baseball! We want baseball! We want Irons O! We want -Irons!" - -It was in the midst of this uproar that Goggles felt a hand on his -shoulder and turned to find himself looking into the friendly smiling -face of a man wearing an aviator's helmet. "He's one of those men from -the big plane," he thought to himself. - -"Look!" the stranger was saying, "Isn't that wire, the short one with a -pink thread in its insulation--isn't it out of place?" - -"Sure! Sure it is!" Goggles felt his thoughts clearing. Seizing a pair of -pliers, he quickly made the change. "Now," he breathed, "Now! Let's try -it." - -They did try it and old Irons O did his work perfectly. - -"O.K. boys?" the stranger asked, still smiling. - -"O.K.!" Goggles breathed. - -Seizing a megaphone, the man roared, "Ready to go! Clear the field!" - -Once again the crowd settled into its place. A look of pleasant -anticipation flashed like a gleam of sunlight from face to face. - -"S-strike!" the umpire roared. The game was on. And such a game as it -proved to be! A plucky, good-natured young fellow cheerfully pitted his -strength and skill against a thing made of iron, copper and steel. - -The first Centralia batter went down, one, two, three in a row. Goggles, -with Irons O's aid, had given him two easy curves and a straight swift -one. Perhaps the batter experienced stage fright at batting against such -a pitcher. However that might be, he went down swinging and the crowd -roared its applause. - -The second batter came to bat wearing a confident grin. Nor did his -confidence go unrewarded. He made first on a line drive and received his -full share of fans' approval. - -Then Irons O appeared to lose his control. He gave the third batter three -balls in a row. - -"He's afraid of him! He's walking him. Boo! Boo!" came in good-natured -banter. "Boo! Boo! Boo!" shouted the crowd. Whereupon Irons O, dropping -his steel arm to his side, turned his head half around and, to the -umpire's surprise, let out wildcat howls that could be heard at the -farthest end of the field. - -"Get that umpire!" someone shouted. "Where's that pop bottle?" But it was -all in fun. The mechanical pitcher tightened up, pitched three sizzlers -in a row. A moment later, a third man went out on a pop-up. - -Johnny Thompson saw all of this inning. He saw very little of those that -followed. In all that throng he was interested in just one man--the -little dark fellow who had led the razzing when Irons O appeared to be -down and out for good. Johnny had always been interested in the things -people did and their reasons for doing them. This little dark man was a -complete stranger to him. He wondered, at first in a vague sort of way, -why he was such an ardent heckler. When Irons O had been put into service -again, he thought he detected on the fellow's face a look of -disappointment and chagrin. - -"What can he care?" Johnny asked himself. - -All through the game he sat close to that man and watched him. He had -once seen two large dogs fighting a battle for a bone. One had dropped -the bone. It lay beneath their feet as they fought. A third dog, a sort -of insignificant hungry-looking pug, had hovered near all during the -fight, licking his chops but never quite daring to seize the bone. -Somehow, in a strange sort of way, the expression on this little man's -face resembled that on the insignificant pug's face. - -"I wonder what his interest in this game can be!" the boy whispered. "I -do wonder!" - -As for Goggles, during his spare moments while his team-mates were at -bat, he was wondering about an entirely different matter. The men from -the big airplane had caught his attention at once. When one of them, -evidently a skilled mechanic, had interested himself in their problem and -aided them in solving it, he had completely won Goggles' heart. But -Goggles' interest went farther than that. "They came here to see this -game. Probably came all the way from the big city, three hundred miles -away," he told himself. "I wonder why?" For the time he could form no -satisfying answer. - -In the meantime the game went on. Bernard caught the ball as it came back -from the catcher. He caught a pop-up fly now and then and also threw -bases. To the excitement of the throng, Irons O did the rest. He pitched -a good game too, but no better than the smiling pitcher from Centralia. -Goggles had always admired that Centralia pitcher, but never as now. Now, -as he directed the pitching of Irons O, as the score went from 3 to 4, to -6-5; then from 7-8 to 8-10, his sympathies were evenly balanced between -the man of iron and the man of brawn. Who was to win? Well enough he knew -that in the end it was up to him to decide. - -And so it turned out to be. At the end of the first half of the ninth -inning the score stood 10-9 in the iron man's favor. At the beginning of -the game they had tossed up to see who came first to bat. Centralia had -lost, so now in the last half of the ninth they were up to bat. - -"It's up to Irons O," Goggles breathed to Johnny as he went out on the -field. - -"Which means it's up to you!" Johnny smiled. He had read the story of -struggle written on the other boy's face. He wanted his team and his iron -man to win the game; yet, down deep in his heart he had a feeling that to -set Irons O for a shut-out would be taking an unfair advantage of that -smiling pitcher. - -"I--I've got to give them a break," he murmured as he took his place -behind the man of iron. He set Irons O's fingers for an easy curve, then -pressed the button. - -"St-trike! Ball! St-trike! Ball! Ball." The audience was on its toes. -"Ball three! Strike two!" Irons twisted his head about and screamed at -the umpire. Once again the audience went into near-hysterics. - -Goggles set the fingers for a swift fast one. The man went down swinging. - -Second batter up. Two curves went wild. A swift fast one would have cut -the plate in halves had not a stout hickory bat sent it shooting away -into centerfield for a two bagger. - -"The tying run on second and only one out!" Goggles was thinking hard. -"They can't have it, not yet!" he decided. He raised the speed of the -iron pitcher's arm a couple of notches, then set his fingers for a very -wide curve. A ball and three strikes. The third batter went down -swinging. - -"Pitcher's up next. They'll put in a pinch-hitter," Goggles thought. But -no, here came that smiling pitcher. He was swinging three bats and -smiling broader than ever. - -"It's a sure thing," the young inventor groaned. "But how can I?" - -Mechanically he set the controls, gave the ball into the iron pitcher's -fingers, then whispered, "Now!" - -And "now" was right. The ball, a slow straight one, was met squarely by -the strongly swung bat. It rose high to go sailing away over the -bleachers and out of the park. - -"Home run, and the game's over!" a thousand voices shouted. A wild roar -of approval greeted the end of the game. Only the little dark man, who -had occupied so much of Johnny's attention, did not cheer. He sat in -moody silence. "I wonder why?" Johnny murmured. Then he joined the throng -that pressed on toward the spot where the mechanical pitcher stood. - -A double rope barrier had been thrown about Goggles, Hop Horner and their -strange invention. As for Irons O, he now bowed to the grown-ups who -cheered him, and then screamed at the boys who shouted at him. Take it -all in all, it had been a day of complete triumph for the Hillcrest boys -and their iron pitcher. And the day was not over--far from it. - -The crowd had thinned to a mere handful of over-curious boys, and Goggles -was reaching for a wrench and pliers for unhooking and unscrewing his -good iron friend when, as once before that day, a friendly hand touched -his shoulder and smiling eyes met his. - -"I'm back," the stranger said simply. It was the man of the airplane. -With him were his two companions. "You see," he began to explain, "we -didn't just _happen_ to come here. We were sent." - -"I--I guessed that." Goggles' heart leaped, though he scarcely knew why. - -"You did?" The other seemed surprised. "Well," he went on, "this is the -story. Mr. Montgomery here, who is vice-president of the Northern -Airways, read of this--this mechanical man of yours. He wanted to see it -perform." - -"I wonder why?" Goggles repeated. - -"This is it." Montgomery, who appeared a quick nervous type of man, -stepped forward. "We are anxious to advertise air travel in every way we -can. We feel it to be safe and we know it's a fast and clean way to -travel. I said to the boys: 'If that iron pitcher really works, we'll -pick him up with his whole ball team and carry him across the country in -one of our big bi-motors, putting on exhibition games.' This--this man of -yours--what is it you call him?" - -"Irons O." - -"Well, he put on a good show--a very fine show. What do you say?" - -"I--I--" Goggles' head was whirling. "I'll tell you in two hours, if--if -I can." - -"All right. Meet us at the airport." - -"We sure will!" - -"Here, Hop!" Goggles threw his tools on the ground as the man walked -away. "You take old Irons O and put him to bed. I've got business, plenty -of it." - -"I'll say you have," Hop agreed. - -"Across the continent!" Goggles thought as he dashed wildly away. "Across -the continent in an airplane. Ball games perhaps in Denver, Cheyenne, -Salt Lake City, Seattle! Boy! Oh boy! And a bag of gold from every port -for our ball field." - -But could they do it? His spirits dropped. "Can we? It--it seems almost -impossible. And yet, somehow, we must. We just must!" - -"Goggles," Johnny said to him later that evening when everything had been -settled that they were to start on that marvelous airplane cruise. "I -don't like the actions of that little dark man." - -"What little dark man?" Goggles asked in surprise. - -"Didn't you notice him? But of course you wouldn't have." Johnny went on -to tell of the little man's part in that day's game. - -"It is strange that old Irons O should have gotten all mixed up inside." -Goggles said this as if it were part of the story Johnny had just -finished. "Oh well," he concluded, "if that little dark man wants to make -us trouble on our trip, he'll have to hire a plane." - -"He'll never do that," Johnny replied. To his own surprise he found -himself wondering, "What _will_ he do?" Had he known the answer, he would -have experienced an even greater feeling of surprise. - - - - - CHAPTER XV - THE WHITE FLARE - - -To the members of the Hillcrest ball team the days that followed were -those of tremendous thrills and heart breaking disappointment. Whenever -two members of the team met, wildly enthusiastic words regarding the -coming airplane tour were exchanged. - -"It's a bi-motored plane!" one would exclaim, "a great silver ship of the -air. Hundred and sixty miles an hour. And with a stiff wind behind you, -boy, oh boy! What a ride!" - -"And all the way to the Pacific coast!" the other would fairly shout. - -On the other hand two games were played. Sad, tragic games they were -indeed. Games that counted in the pennant race, they were lost. The -"Prince" failed them. He did not show up. Everyone asked "Why? Why?" No -one knew where he was; at least, if Colonel Chamberlain knew he did not -tell. - -Fred Frame's arm gave out in the first of the two games. Leander Larson, -who took his place, did his best. That best was not good enough. - -"We are a whole game behind Centralia!" Doug Danby groaned. "Got one game -with her next week. If the 'Prince' don't show up we'll lose, and that -ends it all. What's the good of a cruise with a steel-fingered pitcher, -after we've lost the year's contest at home?" - -"You have to think of the money you'll make," Johnny reminded him. -"Taking that cruise is the only thing that will save the ball field to -the boys of Hillcrest. And that's important. That will last for years and -years and years. Why," he cried, "that's like setting up a monument to -the team that's playing just now! Better than a monument, I'd say! A lot -better. You can only look at a monument. A ball field you can enjoy -using. Thousands will have a good time there every year. It's your grand -and glorious opportunity." - -"Why do you say 'you'?" Doug demanded. "You're going along, aren't you?" - -"I can't," Johnny said soberly. "Grandfather has some government work to -do, looking after the loaning of money. I've got to drive for him. -Anyway, I'm not needed. Besides--" - -He did not finish. He was about to say, "Besides, there's that missing -Chinaman, Tao Sing, the Federal agents, and the thought-camera. I've got -to see that thing through." He did not say it. - -"Besides what?" Doug asked. - -"Oh nothing," Johnny countered. "I'll not be with you, that's all. -Goggles and his mechanical pal will have to go along. Those, with the -team, will give the airplane a pretty good load." - - -"Meggy," Johnny said that same afternoon, "why didn't the 'Prince' come -today?" - -"That," Meggy whispered, "is just what I asked Uncle Rob. And do you know -what he said?" - -"No. What?" - -"He said," Meggy whispered, "the 'Prince' is afraid! Afraid of what, -Johnny?" - -"I--I think I know," Johnny said slowly. "But I'm not quite sure. -Sup--supposing I don't answer until I know?" - -"That--that's all right, Johnny." - -"Say, Meggy!" Johnny exclaimed, "Do you suppose you could get your uncle -to let us go down to see--see the 'Prince' and take Goggles along?" - -"I'm sure I could, Johnny." - -"Tonight?" - -"Maybe." - -"All right. You try, then phone me." - -At eight o'clock that evening three dark figures approached a door in the -laboratories. Through the clouded glass of that door a pale light shone. - -The smaller of the three, a boy, rapped three times. The door opened a -crack. Shining eyes peered into the darkness. The door opened wider. The -trio entered. Meggy, Johnny and Goggles found themselves being ushered -into a dimly lighted room. The room was lined on all sides by test-tubes, -beakers, retorts and all manner of instruments that belong to the -fascinating and mysterious science of chemistry. - -"You wanted to see me?" Something very like a smile played about the lips -of the "Prince." - -"Yes,--er--it's this." Goggles drew two very small bottles from his -pocket, then held them up to the light. Each vial contained a small -quantity of some chemical substance. - -Taking these, the "Prince" poured a little from each upon a bit of tissue -paper. He pinched each, examined it under a pocket microscope, poked it -about with a needle. Then straightening up, he said rather sharply, -"Where'd you get it?" - -"Jus--just now I'd rather not tell," Goggles stammered. - -"All right." The chemist's tone was brusque. "Want me to show you -something?" - -Without waiting for a reply, he left the room, returning in a moment with -a rather curious triangle of metal set on a wooden handle. He scattered -grains of two mysterious powders along the bottom of this triangular -trough. Next he ran insulated wires with bared ends, one each from two -directions along this trough. The ends almost, but did not quite, touch. -He connected the other ends of these wires to a dry battery. - -"Now," he breathed. Methodically he fastened a pair of very dark glasses -before his eyes. - -"Now," he repeated, "watch for a surprise! No harm. Just a bit of a -shock." - -Too much thrilled to watch his next move, the children jumped almost to -the ceiling when there came a dazzling white flash. - -"All that from those few powders!" Johnny exclaimed. "And no smoke at -all." - -"Yes," the "Prince" said quietly. "A truly marvelous discovery. By adding -more powder one may light up a square mile in the darkest night--a great -boon to aviators. With such a powder at hand, no secret army movement at -night in war time could be sure to succeed. A truly marvelous discovery!" -he repeated. He did not say, "Where did you get it?" - -"Perhaps he knows," Johnny told himself. - -"'Prince,' you--you'll pitch for us next Saturday?" There was pleading in -Meggy's tone. "We need you badly. You--you just _can't_ fail." - -A shadow passed over the strange dark face. "I--I'll try to be there," -the "Prince" replied. "And now," he said abruptly, "I must bid you -goodnight. I am working on something for the Colonel, some--something -rather large for so unimportant a person as myself." - -"Thank you, 'Prince.'" Meggy made for the door. "Thank, oh thank you," -came from the others. - -Johnny was the last one out. Just why he should have looked back at the -instant the door was swinging shut behind him, he could never tell. -Enough that he did look back and that, from this looking through a crack -not more than two inches wide, he received the shock of his young life. - -He saw a leg, the leg of the "Prince." His sock had slipped down. He was -pulling it up. In doing so, he lifted his trouser leg so high that it -showed his bared leg. _And that leg was not brown, but white as Johnny's -own._ - -"He's not naturally brown!" The thought shot through the boy's mind like -a flash. "His hands, arms and face are dyed; probably his hair is too. I -wonder why?" He was to continue wondering for some time to come. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - A TENSE MOMENT - - -When a mysterious stranger takes up his abode in any community, there is -sure to be a difference of opinion regarding his true nature. To some he -is certain to be a romantic figure, to others an evil menace. It was so -with the "Prince." There were those who said he was a famous young -chemist working out a formula that was to be of vast benefit to all the -world. There were others--and this was strange--many others who said, "He -is an industrial spy! Colonel Chamberlain will find this out too late!" - -But what is an industrial spy? Probably there was not one person in ten -who could have told. And always the thing we do not understand is the one -we fear most. - -Having heard all this, Johnny, on the day following his visit to the -"Prince," buckled up his courage and walked into Colonel Chamberlain's -office. - -"Hello, Johnny!" the Colonel greeted him. "What's troubling you? Lost -last week's game? Well, you can't win 'em all. You'll win next time." - -"We sure will," Johnny agreed, "but it's not that. - -"Colonel--" Johnny was sitting on the edge of his chair. "Colonel -Chamberlain, what is an industrial spy?" - -"An industrial spy?" The Colonel sat up. "He's a man paid by one nation -to steal industrial secrets from another nation--new inventions, new -processes, new chemical inventions. - -"But," he added quickly, "if you think our J., the one you call 'Prince,' -is an industrial spy, think again. He's not!" - -"I--I'm glad." Johnny settled back in his place. - -"But see here!" He was on his feet now. "Look at this, and this, and -this." He was dragging things from a paper bag. - -"What's it all about?" The Colonel smiled. - -"I'll tell--tell you all about it." Johnny seemed out of breath. - -When he got going, however, the things he said, the proof he gave for all -the things he believed, left the good Colonel staring. - -"If all you say is true--and of course it is--" the Colonel said slowly, -"something should be done about it." - -He went into a brown study. He drummed the desk with his pencil. - -"Tell you what," he said at last, "Rome was not built in a day. Let's not -be in a hurry. The evidence you already possess convinces you and me. But -would it convince everyone? We'll just wait a bit and see if we cannot -gather more. If those two men return they will do something else. We'll -be prepared to trap them. Let's see if we can't worry along until two -weeks from--let's see--" he consulted his calendar. "Yes sir! That's the -very day!" - -Johnny knew he was speaking now of something strange and quite unknown to -him. - -"Yes sir!" the Colonel repeated, "You see if we can't wait to spring this -thing two weeks from next Saturday, after the game, the last of the -season. And Johnny--" he leaned forward to whisper in the boy's ear. "I -think at that time I can tell you J.'s secret. Or--wait! Better -still--I'll have him tell it." - -"That," said Johnny in a tone that carried conviction, "will be swell!" - -A moment later he found himself once more in the street. His precious -paper bag of "evidence" was securely tucked under his arm. - -After taking a dozen steps he paused to look back. Strangely enough, in -his mind's eye he saw at that moment not a brick building, but an -airplane landing. From the airplane two persons stepped. One slim and -dark with a dyed face, and the other was Colonel Chamberlain. Then his -own words to the aviator on that night several days ago, came back to -him: "Looks like a jail delivery." - -"But it couldn't have been Colonel Chamberlain!" he told himself stoutly -now. "Or, if it was, it surely was all right." He was determined not to -lose faith in a friend. "'Thine own friend and thy father's friend -forsake not,'" he whispered. - -Saturday afternoon came. The day was bright and clear. A brisk breeze -from the west was blowing loose papers across the diamond. "Good!" Johnny -exulted to himself. "There'll be no soaring airplane today. But that ugly -pair will be up to something!" His brow wrinkled. Once again he murmured, -"I wonder why." - -The fame of the "Prince" had traveled far. The fact that he would once -again appear had been highly advertised. There is nothing like a first -class mystery to draw a crowd. The crowd was there for sure. The -bleachers were packed and all available space overflowing long before the -game was scheduled to start. - -The umpire had taken his place, the mysterious pitcher was moving toward -the box. Johnny was staring dreamily at nothing at all, when Goggles, -with a strange look on his face, came sidling up to him. - -"Jo--Johnny!" He stared through his thick glasses. He fairly stammered in -his excitement. "Johnny, you didn't see tho--those men who ca--came back -to g--get something out of that bun--bungalow. Wan--want to see them? -Well, th--there they are! Right over there, close to Big Tim Murphy!" - -"Big Tim!" Johnny's blood ran cold. Big Tim had once been the promoter of -a Sunday baseball league. Could it be that Big Tim was trying to get the -ball park, that these two were his aids? - -It flashed through Johnny's mind that he might be behind the group who -were seeking to get control of their ball ground. "Can it be that Big Tim -has hired these men to annoy our pitcher?" he asked himself. He hated to -think this. Big Tim was not like Big Bill Tyson. He had very little money -and he surely was not soft and flabby. Big Tim worked. "Must give him the -benefit of the doubt," he decided. - -That the strangers sitting close to Big Tim were here for no good purpose -became apparent at once. Hardly had the "Prince" taken his place than -they began to razz him. - -If the "Prince" heard them, he made no sign. The throng that gathered -that day had never seen better pitching than came from his supple arm -during the first four innings of that game. - -For all this, the mysterious pair became more and more personal and -cutting in their shouts at that silent figure on the mound. - -"They should be put off the grounds!" Goggles fumed. - -"Ought to mob 'em!" Johnny agreed. - -The affair came to a sudden climax as, at the end of the fourth inning -the "Prince" on his way to the bench passed close to the strangers. Then -it was that the larger of the two, leaning far forward, called him a -name. He spoke low. It was not a pretty name. Few heard it. Johnny heard. -The pitcher too must have heard, for his lips turned blue and twitched in -a manner painful to behold. He did not speak. He marched straight on. - -Big Tim Murphy must have heard, for, slowly lifting his great bulk from -his bleacher seat, he stood towering above the two strangers. - -"Look a-here!" His tone was like the low rumble of a lion. "You've said -enough. Fact is, you've said a few words too much." He cleared his -throat. "I've been watchin' these boys with their ball game. They're -puttin' on a good, clean, honest show." - -Johnny felt a sudden ache in his throat. Big Tim was championing their -cause! Big Tim! - -"As for that pitcher," Tim went on, "I don't know him--reckon there ain't -many here that does. But I been watchin'. He ain't done nothin' to you. -Not a thing! Not here. If he's done things in other places, then you go -there to settle 'em. You can't spoil these boys' baseball game." - -"_You_ don't look like a Sunday School scholar!" the larger man sneered. - -"All right--" Tim's voice boomed. "Just for that, you'll apologize!" - -He took a step forward. "You called that pitcher a name that in this town -means an apology or a fight! You'll beg that pitcher's pardon. You've got -three minutes to do it. An' if you don't, I'll pop your heads together -till they crack like pumpkins bustin' on the frozen ground!" - -"He'll do it too!" Goggles whispered to Johnny. - -"But two of them!" Johnny whispered. - -"Don't matter. He'll do it." - -Tim had dragged a huge watch from his pocket. The men were silent. The -whole throng was still. The chirping notes of a robin in a distant apple -tree could be heard distinctly. So a moment passed. - -Big Tim did not move a muscle; just stood there watching the second hand -go around. So another moment passed. - -"All--all right." The larger of the two strangers wet his lips. "All -right, you win. Call that fellow over. I'll tell him." - -"Hey!" Tim roared, "You pitcher! Come over here! This fellow's got -somethin' to say to you!" - -The "Prince" came. The little ceremony was soon over. Then the game was -resumed. - -"Big Tim," Johnny whispered, "Even Big Tim is with us! What a wonderful -town this is!" Then a thought struck him with the force of a blow. "If -only I had the thought-camera I could take a picture of what's in those -fellow's minds." He was away like the wind. - -He was back in fifteen minutes, but the place where the strangers had -been was vacant. "Gone!" he murmured as a wave of keen disappointment -swept over him. - -They were gone. But were they through? He doubted that. What would they -do next? And why? There came no answer. - -That was a red letter day for old Hillcrest. The gate receipts were -wonderful. Never in the town's history had there been so many paid -admissions to a ball game. This crowd had come to see a mysterious youth -pitch a ball game. They were not disappointed. The "Prince" lasted the -whole nine innings. After the episode of Big Tim Murphy and the -strangers, he pitched like one inspired. In the remaining innings only -six men got on base and none came home. The score at the end stood 12 to -1. Again the Hillcrest rooters went wild. Once more Johnny sighed deeply -as he murmured, "Only one more game, and the pennant will be won." - -That game was still nearly two weeks off. When that game was played the -Hillcrest team would be back from their airplane cruise. - -"Will it be a triumphant return?" he asked himself. "Will they bring home -the money needed to make the ball field truly our own?" He thought of the -short dark man who had seemed so determined that Irons O should not be a -success. He thought of the two strangers, of the Chinaman Tao Sing, and -of the Federal agents. "In that time," he told himself, "anything may -happen, just anything at all." And, as you shall see, many things did -happen. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - A NARROW ESCAPE - - -"Look, Meg!" Johnny's voice was close to a whisper. "See those two slim -fellows that seem to be just hanging around in front of the Chinese -Chamber of Commerce?" - -"Sure." Meg's eyes shone. "Who are they, Johnny?" - -"Don't matter just now." Johnny's tone was full of mystery. "I want you -to do something for me. Those fellows are looking for a little Chinaman -named Tao Sing. I want to know why. You ask them why for me, will you?" - -"Sure, Johnny." Meggy laughed. She thought he was joking. "And they'll -tell me just like that!" - -"No." Johnny was serious. "No, Meg, they won't. They'll not tell you, but -they will tell me." - -"Tell you?" Meggy stared. - -"Sure. You know when you ask a person about a thing, he is sure to -_think_ the answer. He may not say it, but he thinks it all the same. -That's enough. I'll be lurking in the shadow of that pillar. I'll get the -answer." - -Meggy gave him a long slow look. "Johnny, you're queer! But I'll do it." - -"Good!" Johnny gripped her hand. "Go ahead. I'll be near by." - -Two minutes later, in her finest inquisitive-little-girl tone of voice, -Meggy said to one of the strangers who, as you have guessed, was a -Federal agent, "Mister, I heard you were looking for Tao Sing." - -"Yes." The slender young man started. "Do you know where he is?" - -"N-no," Meg drawled, "not just now, I don't. But I--I just wondered why -you wanted that innocent looking little fellow." - -The Federal agent favored Meg with a searching glance. "Well, sister--" -he returned her drawl. "Truth is that Tao Sing has been teaching all the -little Chinks to play marbles for keeps. We don't think it's right to -play marbles for keeps. Do we, Joe?" - -"That's right. We don't." His partner chuckled. - -"Aw, you just don't want to tell me." Meggy put on a good imitation of -goo-goo eyes. "What'll you give me to find him for you?" - -"Find him?" The agent was serious again. "Plenty, sister! Good and -plenty! A new dress, a silk one, or a bicycle--anything. Just you bring -him around." - -"All right. I'll try." Meggy glided away. - -"Johnny," she whispered a moment later, "did you get it? Did you read his -thoughts?" - -"Perhaps I did," Johnny replied slowly. "And again, perhaps I didn't." - -"Johnny, you're queer." - -"Perhaps I am. Tell you what, Meg!" Johnny came to a sudden resolve. -"Meet me at the heart of The Pines at eleven tomorrow morning. I'll tell -you a secret, Meg." - -"A secret?" Meggy thrilled. "How grand! I'll be there, Johnny." She -vanished into the dark. - -For days Johnny had been fairly bursting with his secret--the story of -that strange and seemingly improbable, if not quite impossible, thing, -the thought-camera. He could not bear to think of keeping that secret -alone. He would tell Meggy. - -Just now, however, a question was burning in his mind. Had he got a real -picture of the thoughts in that Federal agent's mind? Perhaps he should -not have tried this. Perhaps it was his duty to walk right up to them and -tell what he knew. - -"May do that tomorrow," he told himself. - -Of a sudden Johnny felt a wave of loneliness sweep over him. He sensed -the reason at once. Early that morning a great silver airplane had come -swooping down from the sky. It had gathered up the Hillcrest ball -players, Doug Danby, Fred Frame and all the rest. Goggles and Hop Horner -had stored the steel-fingered mechanical pitcher in the wings of the -plane, then had climbed into the cabin with the others. - -"I don't see the little dark man with you," Johnny had laughed. "The one -you know who took such an interest in Irons O." - -"No, you wouldn't," Goggles bantered. "We've stowed Irons O away with the -baggage in the wings." - -"All the same," Johnny advised, "keep an eye out for him, and don't take -any wooden quarters at the gate. Goodbye and good luck!" - -These last words had fairly stuck in his throat. How he wanted to join -them on that trip! But that was impossible. - -"Probably be exciting enough right here in old Hillcrest," he now told -himself philosophically. He was not wrong. - -He had turned his steps toward home when the many-colored lights from the -windows of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce fell upon his eye. - -"I'll just go in and have one more shot at that rich and wise old Wung -Lu," he told himself. "May be more to his thoughts than appears on the -outside." - -He entered the big room just as he had done many times before. He found -the rich and wise one sitting, as was his custom during the evening -hours, contemplating the fat and smiling Buddha that stood against the -wall. - -Tonight, as he crept into a corner, Johnny thought there was in the smile -of the Buddha something crafty and dangerous. This, of course, was pure -imagination. The Buddha, which had been carved from the trunk of a great -tree many centuries ago, had never been known to utter a word. - -Johnny did not care so much for the Buddha. Banners and dragons -interested him more. He liked to think of small Chinese ladies working -over the banners that hung on the walls--days, months, perhaps years, -drawing marvelous pictures in silk, stitch by stitch. "Every banner says -something," Wung Lu had told him once. Tonight, as he sat staring at a -blue and white banner, Johnny was seized with a desire to know its -meaning. - -"Pardon me, Mr. Wung Lu," he broke in upon the wise one's meditations at -last, "what does that banner say?" - -"It says, my son," replied the Chinese merchant soberly, "that he who -gets knowledge and discovers secrets by hard labor shall reap a reward, -but he who obtains them some easy way will have cause for regret!" - -Johnny started and stared. Did Wung Lu know of the thought-camera? Was -this some sort of warning? He could not so much as guess the answer, for -Wung Lu's round face was as silent and expressionless as a placid lake at -sunset. - -The thought disturbed him. Soon he excused himself and started for home. -While still in Chinatown, passing a narrow alley, he was startled by two -dark figures leaping at him from the dark. Johnny was quick. He could run -and dodge like a hare. This was his golden opportunity. Dodging to the -right, he missed the two figures only by inches, caught a glimpse of -their tense yellow faces, then shot away at a desperate pace. - -He would soon have outdistanced them but for one thing. So startled was -he that he at once lost his direction. Before he realized it, with his -pursuers hot on his tracks, he found himself in a blind corner. The -street, ending in a wall, closed him in. - -"Got--got to get out of here," he thought with a touch of despair. - -The steel frame of a building in process of erection loomed above him. -Before him, erected to keep onlookers out, was a high board fence. - -One thing saved him. A large sign, POST NO BILLS, had been nailed to this -wall. More than an inch thick, the frame about this sign offered a -precarious hand and foot hold. He went up and over like a cat. - -There were, however, others with climbing ability. Before he could catch -his breath and ask himself, "What can they want?" the foremost of the men -was atop the fence. - -Before Johnny was the steel framework of the new building. So, up he -went, one story, two, three, with the little yellow men only one jump -behind. At the top was a swinging crane. From it a long chain dangled. -Across a narrow space, not fifteen feet away, was the roof of a building. -"Get the chain swinging," he thought excitedly. "Swing over. Jump." - -At once the chain began to swing. His pursuer's hoarse breathing came to -him as he let go and swung out over space. - -A breath-taking second over a hard pavement, and he dropped, still -clinging to the chain, safely upon the roof at the other side. - -Wrapping the chain about a flagpole, without turning to look back, he -disappeared among the chimneys at the top of the broad apartment -building. - -Ten minutes later, still breathing hard, he entered his own home and went -at once to his room. - -"I'd give a lot to know what they wanted," he thought soberly. "But -that's one time when the old thought-camera didn't help a bit." - -After a full hour of serious thinking he decided on a very definite -course of action which, he assured himself, should be begun on the very -next day. - -He had decided to confide all his secrets to someone older and he -believed, much wiser than himself. This, we have reason to believe, is a -wise course of action for any boy who finds himself bewildered by the -strange circumstances that surround his life. - -"But first I'll keep my promise to Meg," he assured himself before he -fell asleep. - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - THE FLYING BALL TEAM - - -At the heart of The Pines next morning, Johnny found Meg seated on a log -waiting. This spot, so quiet and secluded, disturbed only by the chirp of -a robin and the chatter of a squirrel, held for them many pleasant -memories. Here, as small children, they had tumbled on the grass. Here, -in early 'teens, together with other playmates, they had done cart wheels -and wild, hilarious Indian dances. Now it was a sober-faced, eager Meggy -who awaited him. - -"Johnny," she exclaimed with a little catch of breath, "what are you -going to tell me?" - -"That you helped me a lot last night, that I can find out anything that -any person is thinking, and that at this moment I'm scared stiff." With a -heavy sigh Johnny dropped to a place beside her. - -"Why, Johnny?" She gripped his arm. "Why are you frightened?" - -"It's that Chinaman, Tao Sing! There's a tong war, and I'm in the midst -of it--or at least I'm likely to be. But then--" Johnny checked this wild -flow of words. "I'd better start at the beginning. It all began when that -little Chinaman loaned me that thought-camera." - -"Thought-camera!" Meggy stared. - -"I--I'll tell you all about it." So, seated there in the sun with only a -robin and a squirrel, as he supposed, listening in, he told Meg the -amazing story of Tao Sing's great invention and some of its startling -revelations. - -"And last night," he said, pausing to catch his breath, "last night I -squinted the thought-camera first at the Federal agent, and then at that -wise old owl Wung Lu up there in the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. Then, -after I'd been chased and almost captured by some wild-eyed Chinks, I -sneaked along home to develop those last think-o-graphs. And what do you -suppose the thoughts of that Federal agent told me?" - -"What?" Meggy's breath came quick. - -"That a Chinese tong war has started with half a hundred Chinamen -carrying big blue pistols, and any one of these ready to start popping at -any moment, and--" - -Johnny broke off abruptly. "What was that?" - -"What?" Meggy was all aquiver. - -"Something back in the pines." - -Johnny sprang back into the pine boughs. He found nothing. "Perhaps it -was a squirrel," he said quietly when he returned. - -"So now you see," he whispered, "I'm between the devil and the deep blue -sea. The thought-camera belongs to Tao Sing. He loaned it to me. I should -return it. But where is he? A tong war is a terrible thing. It's a fight -between two Chinese secret societies. If it gets going right, several -people will be killed. On the Pacific coast two Chinamen have been -killed. The thing is spreading. Tao Sing is at the bottom of it all. He's -in this country without permission. These two Federal agents know he's -been here--found his finger-prints at the back of the Chinese spice shop. -Perhaps someone has told them I know about Tao Sing--I'm not sure. -Someone _does_ know I have the thought-camera, or at least they think I -have. That's why I was chased last night. I'm sure of it." Johnny mopped -his brow. "I--I suppose I helped Tao Sing discover secrets. Probably when -I brought him Wung Lu's think-o-graphs he read what he wanted to know. - -"Meggy," Johnny said solemnly, "there's no good in stealing anyone else's -thoughts! This thought-camera! I'd like to give it back right now. But I -can't. Tao Sing has vanished." - -"Johnny, let me see it," Meg whispered. - -Johnny drew the thought-camera from beneath his coat. Meg looked at it, -starry-eyed as she might had she seen a ghost. "Johnny, where do you keep -it?" - -"In my trunk." - -"In your room?" - -"In my room." - -"Well," said Meg, shaking herself as if to waken from a bad dream, "it's -the strangest thing I ever heard of. It-- - -"There!" Her voice dropped. "I heard something back there!" - -"Come on!" Johnny shuddered. "This place is haunted today." - -Together they hurried away through the pines and were soon upon the -sunlit streets of old Hillcrest. - - -In the meantime the "Flying Ball Team," as someone had aptly named it, -had arrived at its first destination, and things were doing. - -They arrived an hour before sundown, after a thrilling ride high in air, -at the little city of Cannon Ball on the wheat-growing Dakota prairies. - -The moment their plane came to a standstill, they were surrounded by a -crowd of boys, shouting: "Where is he? Where is he? Show him to us!" - -"Where's who?" Doug asked with a smile. - -For reply one boy held up a crumpled handbill on which had been pictured -a grotesque mechanical man with sparks shooting from his finger tips and -flames of fire pouring from his nostrils. Beneath were the words: - -IRONS O, THE STEEL-FINGERED PITCHER WHO LIVES ON FIRE. SEE HIM PERFORM AT -THE BALL FIELD TOMORROW! - -At sight of this, Doug felt his knees sag. "Somebody," he grumbled, "has -been over-playing the thing. And now if we fail! Man! Oh man!" - -"Where is he? Where is he?" the boys were still shouting. "Show him to -us." - -"He goes to bed an hour before sundown." Doug chuckled in spite of -himself. "He's asleep in one of the plane's wings now. You can't see him -until tomorrow." - -"Oh! Oh! Oh!" came in a disappointed chorus. - -"It's a good place to leave him," Sheeley the pilot whispered to Doug. -"Nothing like a little secrecy to make people keen for a thing." - -"But will he be safe there?" Doug's brow wrinkled. - -"Sure! Oh sure!" Sheeley assured him. "In a place like this, I roll up in -my blankets and sleep on the cabin floor." - -So Doug and Goggles wandered away from the town to have a look at the -glorious rolling prairies. Lit up as they were by the slanting rays of -the setting sun, they offered the boys a view that time would never erase -from their memories. - -"Think of it!" said Doug, "tomorrow the wheat country; the next day the -cattle country; then the gold-mining city. After that Spokane, and then -the Pacific coast!" - -"Don't be too sure." Goggles' tone was a bit gloomy. "If we fail -tomorrow, this place is our only destination." - -"You're tired," Doug said reassuringly. "You'll feel better tomorrow." He -did; but not for long. - -The fame of the mechanical pitcher who, with his steel fingers, could -pitch a curve like a flesh and blood man, had spread afar in this land of -golden grain. This was a slack period for wheat farmers. They began -pouring in before noon. - -"You have such a crowd as that there ball ground never saw before!" a -tall, lanky lad in a ten gallon hat assured Goggles. You might believe -this would stir up in the boy's mind a feeling of joy. Instead, it made -him feel shivery all over. - -"We've got to be careful," he said to Hop Horner. "Every crowd's a mob. -You can never tell what it's going to do when things go sort of queer." - -"Everything's going to be O.K.," Hop said coolly. - -The appointed hour arrived at last. Never had the boys from the quiet -little city of Hillcrest seen such a crowd, and never had they looked -upon such a sea of sun-tanned faces. - -Irons O had been carried secretly to the grounds in a covered truck. -Assembled within the shelter of the truck, he was then assisted with much -ceremony and shouting to his place in the pitcher's box. Solemnly the -Hillcrest boys took their places in the field. - -"The zero hour has arrived," Goggles muttered to Hop. His tongue stuck to -the roof of his mouth. - -"Game! Game!" shouted a group of high school boys in a corner. "We want -baseball! We want baseball!" - -"Hey, Mister!" a small boy in the front row squeaked. "Make him spit -fire, will ye?" Everyone laughed. - -Only one person sat staring in silence. That was Doug Danby. Sitting -alone in the bleachers, he had caught sight of a vaguely familiar face. -At this moment he was staring at the person in open-mouthed astonishment. -"How did he get there? How could he?" he was asking himself. - -"But perhaps I'm wrong," he hopefully reassured himself. Something told -him he was not. A voice seemed to whisper in his ear, "You're in for it, -all right. That is really the same little dark man who caused you so much -trouble at home--" - -As for the little dark man himself, he sat staring at Irons O, and on his -face was a look hard to describe. It was a look in which was mingled -hate, contempt and triumph. - -"Play ball!" the umpire roared. He was a western man of the old school. -"Play ball!" - -Goggles threw a switch. He pressed a button. With a circular sweep of his -ludicrous head and a broad grin, Irons O lifted his good right arm; then, -to Goggles' utter dismay, swung it around three times instead of once, to -at last discharge the ball in the manner of a cannon. The batter and the -catcher both saw the action and dodged, each in good time. Quite -unembarrassed by the wire screen behind the catcher, the ball went right -on through to lose itself on the boundless prairies of the Dakotas. The -crowd let out a terrible roar. But Goggles murmured weakly, "Something's -gone wrong again at the very start." - - - - - CHAPTER XIX - A REVELATION IN CHINESE - - -That something had surely gone wrong with Irons O, the mechanical -pitcher, there could be no doubt. After making a hasty adjustment, -Goggles and Hop Horner gave him a second ball and one more chance. This -time his behavior was worse than ever. Swinging his arm about in a circle -four times, he sent the ball speeding over the catcher's head, on over -the low screen netting, and away into the blue. - -"Strike!" a big voice roared from the crowd. This was greeted with a wild -scream of merriment. - -"Our first stop on the grand tour!" Goggles groaned once more. "A failure -here, and we're through." In his mind he saw the baseball grounds of his -home town deserted on Saturday, but crowded to over-flowing on Sunday -afternoons. He heard wild shouts disturbing the sober citizens' rest, saw -autos full of pleasure seekers, shouting through the town. Then he -muttered low: "We must not fail!" - -"Hop!" he exclaimed, "There's someone back of all this trouble. I'm going -to find out who it is." - -For ten minutes both he and Hop worked feverishly, their trembling -fingers serving them badly, when a quiet voice from behind them said: -"Take your time, boys. Don't get excited. You are hoping to entertain a -quiet peace-loving and patient people. They will not fail you." The -speaker was a little man in steel-rimmed spectacles and a long black -coat. - -"An old-fashioned minister," Goggles thought, swallowing hard to keep -back tears. "God bless him! Everyone here loves him, I'm sure." - -The man went on talking slowly, quietly, reassuringly. "These Dakota -farmers plant wheat. If the hail does not beat it down, if a prairie fire -does not destroy it, if a drought does not dry it up--they get a good -crop. If there is no crop, they plant again next year. They are patient. -They can wait now, and they will." - -It is strange what confidence such quiet assurance can inspire in a boy's -mind. Five minutes had not passed before the boys had things adjusted and -old Irons O was ready to pitch a perfect game. - -The boys from the wheat belt put up a game defense, but they were no -match for the Hillcrest team and their steel-fingered pitcher. At the end -of the game the score stood 14 to 8 in Hillcrest's favor. - -"Well, you won!" Dave Tobin, who had come along as financial manager, -exclaimed enthusiastically. "And say! You should see the wad of bills I -have for the ball grounds at home!" - -"Yes," Goggles thought a trifle wearily, "we won." Truth is, he was not -thinking of this at all. Instead, he was asking himself, "How is it that -Irons O gets his insides all mixed up before every game?" - -"Mr. Sheeley," he said a half hour later, "our mechanical pitcher got all -mussed up while he was inside one of your wings." (He always thought of -the planes as wings.) - -"How could it?" Sheeley was incredulous. "Locked up tight all the time. -And I'm the only one that has a key. Fine lock too!" - -"All the same," the boy thought to himself, "I'd like to ride to our next -stop right there in that wing. - -"But of course it wouldn't do," he thought a moment later. "Fantastic -sort of notion. Sheeley wouldn't like it. And yet--'mystery wings.'" He -whispered these two last words. - -"We get a different crowd next time," Doug said. He had just come up. -"Cattle men. Cowboys. Do you suppose they are a patient lot too?" - -"Hope they won't need to be," Goggles smiled. "Cowboys! Well, you don't -think of them as a quiet sort of people. Whirling over the prairie -shouting enough to split your ears--that's my notion of them." - -"Say," Doug asked in a low tone, "who do you suppose I saw in the crowd?" - -"Who?" - -"The little dark man." - -"What! How'd he get here? Where is he now?" - -"He's vanished. Been looking all over for him." - -"Wonder what it means?" said Goggles. "Wonder if he'll be at the next -place?" - -"Mystery wings!" he murmured once more as he hurried away. Why did he say -that? Perhaps he himself could not have told. - - -That same afternoon Johnny took his secret regarding the thought-camera -to good old Professor George. He did not tell him all he knew, not nearly -all, but enough to, in a way, outline the problem. What he really wished -to know was, just how much right he had to keep such a secret. - -"That, I suppose," the old man replied thoughtfully, "is a question you -will have to decide for yourself. Secret knowledge is rather strange. -What your rights are in regard to it has never been decided; that is, -when the law does not come in. Of course, if it's a question of someone -breaking the law, then your duty's clear. You've got to tell." - -Johnny started. - -The old professor was very wise. "And Johnny--" he leaned forward quite -suddenly. "Seems to me this affair between the two Chinamen needs looking -into. Why should Tao Sing wish to know what Wung Lu is thinking? Does he -want to profit by Wung Lu's wisdom? Well, perhaps--if it has to do with -buying and selling, making money. But pure wisdom, the wisdom of ancient -Chinese scholars? Never a bit of it. It's all written down where he can -read it if he chooses to do so. I doubt if you have a right to carry Wung -Lu's thoughts to Tao Sing." - -"I--I've been wondering," Johnny said uneasily. - -Again the professor had spoken more truth than he guessed. - -"You've got the think-o-graphs you made last night," Professor George -said quite suddenly, "the one you took of Wung Lu's thoughts?" - -"Why yes. I--" - -"Let's take it to Captain Gallagher." - -"To--to the police?" Johnny stared. "He couldn't read it. It's all in -Chinese." - -"He has an interpreter who can. He's to be trusted. I know him," the -professor replied calmly. - -"We-l-l," Johnny said slowly. Go to the police? He had asked this old man -in to help clear things up. It looked now as if they were more tangled -than ever. - -Their visit to the police station had the most astonishing results. When -the think-o-graph of Wung Lu's thoughts had been placed under the -magnifying lens, the tiny mechanism started, and when the Chinese police -interpreter was told to look into the microscope-like affair and watch -the words go by, the result was most startling. At first he just stood -there squinting into the glass. Then of a sudden he let out a wild howl -and went dancing around the room as if he had been stung by a bee. - -Johnny stopped the mechanism and waited. When at last the interpreter had -regained proper control of himself, he stepped to his place once more. -But not for long. - -Leaping into the air he let out one more wild howl, began calling out all -sorts of strange Oriental names and would have bolted out of the door had -not Chief Gallagher blocked the door. - -Seizing the interpreter by the arm, the Chief dragged him into his -private office and closed the door. - -For a full quarter of an hour only the low rumble of voices from the -inner room disturbed the silence of the police station. - -When the Chief and his interpreter returned the Chinaman appeared a shade -paler, but seemed quite calm. - -"Chief," (Johnny had been thinking hard during that fifteen minute -conference), "perhaps I should tell you, there's a pair of Federal agents -hanging around. I--I think they're working on this." - -"As if I didn't know!" the Chief exclaimed. "Fact is, we're working with -'em hand in hand. That's where I got a lot of my information. But -Johnny!" His voice rumbled. "There's no harm in givin' the local police a -break. Is there now?" - -"Not a bit of harm." Johnny grinned happily. He liked the Chief. Long -years ago the Chief had saved him from a terrible beating by some older -boys. - -The Chief signaled Johnny to start the mechanism once more. The -interpreter took his place and saw the thing through to the end. - -"Johnny," said the Chief, "do you think you could get one more of -these--er--what is it you call 'em?" - -"Think-o-graphs," Johnny grinned, "of Wung Lu? Well, if--if it seems to -be my duty." Johnny shuddered slightly. "But not at night." - -"Any time you say." The Chief's face was sober. "It's very important. I -don't mind telling you that you may have prevented a tragedy." - -"A--a tragedy. Yes," Johnny replied quietly, "I had sort of guessed that. -You wouldn't mind telling me just a little, would you?" he asked timidly. - -"Well now," the Chief smiled, "if I don't you will be turnin' that mind -readin' machine on me an' then there's no tellin' what you'd be findin' -out. - -"I'll tell you this much." His voice dropped to a mere whisper. "You've -heard of these Chinese secret societies called tongs? Well, it has to do -with that. Your old friend Wung Lu belongs to a tong. He's done somethin' -that's displeasin' to another tong. Probably nothin' illegal, just short -tradin' or somethin'. So they've decided to get him out of their way." - -"Sho--shoot him?" Johnny stared. This had never occurred to him as a -possibility. - -"Somethin' like that. Queer part is," the Chief rumbled, "Wung Lu knows -all about it but he won't tell. They're like a lot of boys, these -Orientals. Just go about settlin' their own affairs. But this is too -serious to let them settle. We know the men we want and we've got to go -get 'em. One of 'em's this wrinkle-faced little fellow Tao Sing. He an' -his pals are in the United States illegally. We'll just send 'em back -where they came from--if we can catch 'em. And that," the Chief ended, -"is about all I can tell you just now." - -"All," Johnny whispered to himself as he lay in his bed that night. "It's -enough to make a fellow's head whirl." - - - - - CHAPTER XX - ETHER AND MOTH-BALLS - - -"For once old Irons O is fit as a fiddle." Goggles heaved a sigh of -relief. Hours had passed. They had gone sweeping high above the prairies, -had tilted the nose of their plane upward and had gone roaring over the -Rockies. Now here they were in the little cattle-country city of Broken -Bow, ready for the second game of their unusual tour. - -The city was not marvelous but the crowd, the boy thought with a thrill -and a shudder, was immense and rather terrifying. Banked in rows to the -right of the narrow bleachers were hundreds of cowboys. They had not -dismounted, but were seated easily in saddle, awaiting the opening of the -game. - -"Nothing's wrong this time!" Hop Horner agreed. "But just to make sure, -we'll put a few over the plate." He called to the catcher. Goggles set -the levers, placed a ball between the steel fingers, then pushed a -button. - -"Never behaved better!" was Hop's pronouncement after five minutes of -practice that set the crowd to staring. - -"Better give him a little gas before we start," Goggles suggested. - -"Right!" Hop took up a gallon can and poured half its contents into the -small tank concealed in the iron pitcher's back. - -"Whew! What's that queer smell!" Goggles exclaimed as Hop set the can on -the ground. - -"Something drifting in on the wind," Hop said quietly. "Sort of smells -like a hospital." - -"Bad sign!" Goggles laughed. He was more right than he thought. - -Ten minutes later the teams were all ready to go. Goggles set the levers -and threw the switch. From somewhere within the iron pitcher's strange -being came an unaccustomed sound. "Don't breathe right." The boy was a -trifle startled. "And look, he's really spouting fire from his iron -nostrils. Some--something's gone wrong again! And we thought nothing -could!" He was ready to give up in despair. - -Hop threw off the controls, unbolted the back plate and started a careful -inspection. He took plenty of time, testing out every wire. - -"I tell you there's nothing wrong," he muttered. - -All this had kept the crowd waiting and it was growing impatient. There -were shouts of "Play ball! Play ball!" from every corner. - -"What's to be done?" Goggles groaned. "The crowd will be on the field in -a minute. But we can't let old Irons O burn up." - -"Look! They're coming! At least one is." Hop pointed to a huge cowboy -riding toward them. - -"Well!" Goggles sighed, "We--" - -"Look Buddy!" The big cowboy's tone was deep and mellow. "Do you all plan -to play a ball game with that iron thing this afternoon?" - -"We--we mean to." - -"And this ain't no trick to git our money?" The big man looked him -squarely in the eyes. - -"It is not!" Goggles returned his look. "If the game doesn't start in -twenty minutes, you'll all get your money back." - -"Fair enough!" The big man wheeled about and rode away. - -"Hop!" Goggles said suddenly, "Do you suppose it's the gas?" Seizing the -gallon can, he removed the cap and, holding it up, took one big sniff of -its contents. Next instant both boy and can went tumbling to the earth. - -Goggles was down for only the count of ten. He came up sputtering. -"Ether! Ether and moth-balls! Someone has loaded up our can. Drain the -tank. Throw that can away. Get some real gas, then we're off." And they -were! - -"Ether and moth-balls!" Sheeley the air pilot chuckled to Goggles a half -hour later. "That's a rare combination. Load a flivver up with that stuff -and it'll think it's a Rolls Royce or an airplane right off." - -"Wonder who could have done that?" Goggles said thoughtfully. - -As for the game, from that time on it was a huge success. Never had the -boys and their iron pitcher received such a hand. Nor did Irons O lose -any of his popularity when, for some unknown reason, he got a trifle -wild, gave two bases on balls, let in a runner with a wild pitch, and -finally lost the game 9 to 7. - -"You're real sports!" the big cowboy complimented Doug and Goggles later -that evening. "You came all this way in a big airplane to play our boys a -ball game, then you give 'em a break and let 'em win." - -"We didn't _let_ them win," Goggles said quite frankly. "They just took -it. - -"Of course," he added with a smile, "even an iron pitcher has his off -days. Old soup-bone gets tired don't you know." - -"You're all right!" The big fellow grinned broadly. "Wish you all sorts -of good luck!" - -"Luck!" Goggles said to Hop. "That's what I'm going to need, for sure as -my name's Goggles I'm going to ride to the next stop inside one of those -wings of mystery, right along with our old iron pal." - -"You wouldn't dare!" Hop stared. - -"Why not? Plenty of room. Safe there as anywhere." - -That was all there was said about it, but when they took off a few hours -later, Goggles did not occupy his accustomed seat in the airplane cabin. - -Pilot Sheeley had offered no objection to the boy's plan of riding inside -the airplane's wing. "You won't find it very exciting. It'll be a bit -bumpy. You won't be able to see a thing, and we'll be passing over some -gorgeous country." - -"May see enough!" the boy replied. "Someone has been tampering with our -iron man--done it three times. I'm going to find out how and why." - -He recalled his own words as, lying flat along the inside of the plane, -he felt the throb of motors and knew they were on their way. "I wonder if -I shall!" he whispered. - -At the back of him were the parts of the steel-fingered pitcher. Before -him, and on the other side of the trapdoor through which he had crawled, -was a large roll of canvas. "Probably used for covering the motors in -severe weather when there is no hangar near," he thought. - -What did he expect as he lay there feeling the lift and drop of the plane -as she swung along through the air? He hardly knew. He suspected that -somehow, someone had a means of getting into the plane after the ship was -on the ground. - -Whatever he expected, he had not long to wait, for all of a sudden as he -stared at that roll of canvas, a head appeared above it. A small figure -dragged itself over the canvas into the space before it. The boy barely -escaped uttering an audible gasp. It was the little dark man. - -That night as he slept in his second-story bedroom of his grandfather's -house, Johnny was troubled by strange dreams. He seemed to be riding on a -limitless sea in a cockle-shell of a boat. The wind began to whisper -across the small waves. It blew a whiff of air into his face. Then, with -astonishing speed, it rose into a gale, driving damp spray against his -cheek, and set his frail bark rocking perilously. The little craft -climbed a wave, another, and yet another. It rose, then seeming to rear -on high, came splashing down to dive, prow foremost, into the foam. - -It was just as Johnny caught his breath, prepared to withstand this -chilling plunge, that he awoke. - -For a full moment, quite bewildered, he stared about him. At last, -shaking himself, he murmured, "There was no storm. It was a dream. I am -in my grandfather's house." - -Then with a sudden start, he sat up wide awake and staring. It was true -there was no storm and no sea. For all that, the wind was blowing -strongly into his window. "It's wide open!" His bare feet hit the floor. -"And I left it open only a crack!" - -Leaping to the window, he looked down. "Ah! I thought so!" A tall ladder -leaned against the house. It reached his window. Whirling about, he -looked where his trunk had been. - -"Gone!" he muttered. "My trunk's gone!" - -He had not thought of that as a possibility. Now he realized how absurdly -easy it had been. His trunk was small--an old army locker. The window was -large. "What could be easier?" he whispered. - -Slipping on his trousers, he crept down the stairs and out on the -dew-drenched grass. - -In a shadowy spot at the back of the house he found the trunk. The frail -lock had been pried up. The thought-camera and his entire collection of -think-o-graphs were gone. "As if they had never been," he murmured. - -Shouldering his trunk, he climbed the ladder and slid it back into his -room. After that he carried the ladder to its place on some hooks against -the wood-shed. - -"Fellow's foolish to keep a ladder outside his house," he grumbled. -"Invites thieves." - -For all that, as he tiptoed back up the stairs, he experienced a -surprising sense of relief. The thought-camera, he supposed, was gone for -good, and with it a great deal of his responsibility in the matter. - - - - - CHAPTER XXI - LIQUID AIR--ALMOST - - -In the wing of the airplane, sailing high above the western prairies, -Goggles was in a tight place. He had never been in a tighter one and -never expected to be in the future, if indeed there was to be a future. - -Just what had he expected when he crawled into that narrow place? -Certainly not this. Perhaps he had hoped that someone would unlock the -trap door after they landed. Then he would catch him. But now, as he -thought all this, and his head went into a whirl, the little dark man -looked up and saw him. For one full minute he did not speak or move; only -his beady eyes bored into the boy's very soul. - -"So you're here!" he said at last. "Don't you think I did a good enough -job messing things up? Well then, you and the Big Shot are agreed. But -what's he want?" - -"I don't know." Goggles spoke slowly. He was thinking hard. He was, as we -have said, in a tight enough place surely. Securely sealed up in a -duramen tube a half mile in air with no means of communicating with his -friends and with this enemy staring him in the face, his situation was -anything but pleasant. - -"Why do you want to spoil things for us?" he asked in as quiet a tone as -he could command. - -"I--why, now I don't." The little man laughed mirthlessly. "I'm paid to -do it. I do what I'm paid to do." - -All this time the boy was thinking, "I've got to get the better of him. I -must do it. But how?" - -He moved a little. Something poked into his side. What was that? Oh yes, -he remembered. A bottle! A sudden desperate plan came to him. - -"Well," he spoke slowly, "as long as we're here, we may as well talk -about something. Let's make it liquid air." - -"Air ain't no liquid," the little man protested. - -"Sometimes it is." Goggles' courage was growing. "You can make it liquid -by putting it under very high pressure and getting it down to 216 degrees -below zero. When it gets into liquid form you may keep it in a bottle for -three or four days." At this point he pulled the flat bottle from his -pocket. It was half filled with a pale liquid. The little man stared at -the bottle. "Liquid air is strange stuff," Goggles went on. "It's cold, -colder than the North Pole. Put a fresh rose in it for a second, take it -out and you can pinch it into a powder. Put a steel clock spring in it, -take it out and it will snap like glass. Stick your finger in a bottle of -it and I'll break it off like an icicle." He thrust the bottle out before -him. The little man seemed to shrink back. - -The boy's tone did not change. He might have been a professor lecturing -to a class. "Yes, liquid air is strange. I could pour it over my hand, or -even put it in my mouth and, providing I got rid of it at once, it would -not harm me. One minute of holding a spoonful in my mouth would mean -death. - -"If I were to pour even a small amount down your neck--" (he drew himself -forward ever so little), "which I could--I'm strong. Much stronger than -you think. I have strong fingers and arms. If I poured a quarter of a -bottle down your back you would die. No one would guess what killed you. -The liquid air would turn to gas and there you'd be. You--" - -A strange look of terror came into the little man's eyes as he cried in a -shrill high-pitched voice, "You let me be! Don't touch me! I'll leave at -the next stop, and you'll never see me again. So help me, you won't!" - -Goggles settled back in his place. As he did so, his right hand was -closed about the bottle, carefully concealing a printed label. - -After that the big bi-motored plane with its flying baseball team in its -cabin and that curious cargo in its wings sped across the land. Not once -did Goggles relinquish his hold on that magic bottle. From time to time -the little dark man spoke. His words were always in the nature of a -confession. He had been hired by Big Bill Tyson to break up this trip. He -had not been told why--he had only been paid to do it. He knew about -locks. Locks had always been easy for him. He had a key to the lock on -the door to this place. How? Well, that did not matter. He hadn't -succeeded in breaking up the cruise. Now he was going to quit. - -"Yes," he said, rolling his eyes horribly as he took one more look at the -magic bottle, "yes, I'm going to quit! Just let me out of this place and -you'll never see me again." - -"If he only knew!" Goggles thought with an inward shudder. "If he knew, I -wonder what would happen?" - -Ah, well, he had this little dark fellow within his power, that was -enough. So the plane sped on. - -Never in all his life had the boy experienced such a sense of relief as, -after the plane had bumped on some landing field, then gone gliding along -to a stop, he saw the little dark man slip like a snake through the small -door and disappear. - -He grinned a broad grin as he dropped the flat bottle back into his -pocket. "Lucky break!" he murmured. "Wonder if Sheeley missed it?" - -"Old Irons O will do his full duty at this place," he assured Doug as he -came out to meet him. - -"Are you sure of that?" Doug was still in doubt. - -"Sure as anything. But just to make it a cinch, ask one of the boys to -watch this plane while I go for a cup of coffee. I'm starved." - -The guard was arranged for at once. As the two boys hurried away, Goggles -pulled a bottle out of his pocket. "Just read the label on that, will -you?" he said. "I packed my glasses in my bag by mistake." - -"Sure!" Doug took the bottle. "It says, 'Dr. Jordan's Face Lotion. Good -for sun-burned and chapped skin.'" - -"It's good for more than that--sometimes," Goggles chuckled. - -"What do you mean by that?" Doug demanded. - -"Tell you sometime," Goggles chuckled again. "Belongs to Sheeley, that -bottle does. He left it in his room by mistake. I brought it along, and -I--I'm glad I did. - -"Do you know," he said after a while, "it pays to know a little about a -great many things. If you get sort of--well sort of shut off from the -world with someone else, you've always got something to talk about. Take -liquid air for instance. There's a grand little topic for conversation." - -"Huh? Yes, I suppose so," Doug grunted. He was already lost to the world -in his contemplation of that day's game. - -He need have had no fear for that ball game. Never had Irons O performed -so well as on this day. Not only did he pitch a big league type of game, -allowing only seven hits and no runs, but he kept the crowd in an uproar -of laughter with his bobbing head, his ludicrous grimaces, and his -wild-cat screams at the umpire. - -"A perfect day!" was Goggles' enthusiastic comment when it was over. "And -the little dark man kept his word. He was not about." - -He had not, however, seen the last of the little dark man--not quite. As, -hopeful of receiving a letter from his mother, he hurried into the -post-office, he ran squarely into him. "See here!" he exclaimed, "I -thought--" - -Ignoring his thoughts, the little dark man waved a telegram in his face. -"From the Big Shot!" he exclaimed. "You know, him that's paid me. He says -for me to quit! He says that! Can you beat it?" At that, he darted from -the door and was lost to the boy's sight forever--or at least for a very, -very long time. - -"Big Bill's called him off," Goggles thought. "That's sure good news. But -I wonder why?" He was to wonder this many times in the days that were to -come and then, in the end, was to know the answer. - -Who can describe the joy of those days? Seeing the world from an -airplane--Salt Lake City, Spokane with her magnificent falls, the green -timbered Cascade Mountains, and then Seattle and the Pacific--all this -came to them. To play ball with the finest sort of fellows from ranches, -saw mills, canning factories, all entertained and amused by the perfectly -behaved Irons O--all this was joy indeed. But to know that this joyous -excursion was fast driving away clouds of doubt and fear, to know that -the big payment on the home ball grounds was fast being collected--this -indeed brought deep, satisfying and lasting joy to the weary boys. - - -One day, after a long drive with his grandfather, Johnny Thompson -wandered down to the deserted baseball field to sit in the bleachers in -the sun. Meggy spied him from afar, and came tripping down to take a -place beside him. - -"They'll be back soon," Meggy said. - -"Yes," Johnny agreed dreamily. "Their trip has been a success. The ball -ground is safe. What's better still, old Professor George told me this -morning that Big Bill Tyson had turned over a new leaf. He's going to -give us a deed for the land as soon as the four thousand dollars is -paid." - -"Johnny! That's wonderful!" Meggy cried. "But Johnny! What made him -change?" - -"Don't know," Johnny replied. "Guess each man in the world has just so -much capacity for meanness, same as a barrel will hold only so much -water. Bill must have reached his limit." - -"Johnny--" Meggy suddenly changed the subject. "Did they ever find that -little Chinaman and the thought-camera?" - -"Tao Sing?" Johnny said soberly. "No, not yet I guess. But then," he -added, "you couldn't very well prove he took that camera and the -think-o-graphs. What I figure is that someone heard us talking there in -the heart of the pines that day, then came and got 'em that night." - -For a time after that, there was silence. It was Meggy who spoke at last: - -"The boys will have to be back soon. The last big game is next -Saturday--the final battle for the pennant. Johnny, do you think the -'Prince' will pitch?" - -"Your thought is as good as mine," Johnny smiled. - -"Isn't he mysterious!" Meggy thrilled as of old. - -"You don't know the half of it, Meg." Johnny chuckled. "Know what?" he -exploded in a sudden burst of confidence, "That fellow isn't brown! He -never came from India. He's as white as you or I!" - -"Whi--white? How could he be?" - -"His face and arms are dyed. I saw him pull up his sock, back there in -the laboratories. You just wait and see!" - -"Mystery--sweet mystery," Meggy whispered after a time. - -A moment more, and she was off on another tack. "Johnny, do you think -those two terrible men will come back to bother the--the 'Prince' if he -does pitch?" - -"If they do--" Johnny stood up. "If they dare, we--we'll give them -plenty! We--" - -"Listen!" Meggy sprang to her feet. "An airplane! And see! Over there. A -big silver ship! The boys are coming home!" She dragged at Johnny's arm. -They were away like a flash, ready to celebrate the heroes' return. - - - - - CHAPTER XXII - THE SMOKE SCREEN - - -"I have a feeling--sort of dread--" Doug Danby's voice dropped. "I -believe they'll try that trick of theirs again today--those two fellows -who go after the 'Prince'--in a different plane. If they do, then--" he -did not finish. His voice trailed off. - -"And I too have a feeling--" there was a suggestion of hidden knowledge -in Johnny Thompson's voice. "I have a feeling that if those two -ill-wishers, who've been trying to break up our game every time the -'Prince' is on the mound, try any tricks today, they'll get fooled!" - -He cocked his head on one side as he murmured, "Wind's in the west, what -wind there is. Not much of any. Cloudy and damp. Just right, I'd say." - -"Just right for what?" Doug was curious. - -"Don't ask me. Just wait." Johnny lapsed into silence. - -Doug waited, and as he waited he thought. They were long, long thoughts, -I assure you. The opening hour for the last game of the season was -approaching. Today the championship of the series was to be decided. The -crowd exceeded that of any preceding game. Excitement ran high. - -Meggy Strawn, garbed in her brightest and best, was already on the -sidelines, ready to lead in the cheering. Little wonder that chills and -thrills coursed through her. Was this not the greatest day old Hillcrest -had ever known? Had not the four thousand dollars been paid in full? Was -not the ball park their very own--theirs to have and to hold for many a -year? Yea! Yea! And yet there was mystery in the air. - -"Something will happen today." One might hear this whisper in many a -corner. "Something strange, perhaps something quite terrible will -happen." - -"Would it?" Meg wondered. - -In the meantime, on foot, by train, by auto, the crowd continued to pour -in. - -"All paid attendance." Old Professor George rubbed his hands together. -"You boys are doing wonders! Hurray for old Hillcrest!" - -"Yes!" Doug was truly happy. "But we must win today, Professor. We truly -must!" - -But would they? Centralia, the opposing team, their ancient rival, was -first up to bat. As the mysterious "Prince" strolled out upon the diamond -a strange hush fell over the assembled throng. - -There were those in that crowd who had said quite boldly that this -mystery should not be allowed to continue, that the pitcher should reveal -his true identity or stay out of the game. "Only evil people wish to hide -their identity," this was their argument. - -So, with the "Prince" in the box, the game began. For three innings he -pitched a faultless game. Only two men found their way to first base. -They "died" there, Hillcrest scored twice. Hopes ran high. Even Johnny -Thompson, sitting on the bench and expecting almost anything, began to -smile. - -And then, out of the west came a gray streak. - -Just as he expected, as on that other day the airplane began to circle. -Down it came, lower and lower. - -The "Prince" did not glance up. "But he knows," Johnny whispered. -"He's--he's beginning to break from the strain." - -Surely this must be true. "Men on first and second; only one out!" Johnny -groaned. "They--they'll make it. Sure to. And then--" - -But what was this? A fire? To the west, hardly three blocks away, a dense -column of smoke appeared. Rising higher and higher in the all but quiet -sky, it at last drifted slowly over the ball grounds. So dense was it -that it cast a deep shadow over all. - -"Hurray!" Johnny sprang to his feet. "Hurray! That beats 'em!" - -This, considering the "Prince" had just walked a man, filling the bases, -seemed sheer madness. - -"They'll think I'm out of my head," was Johnny's second thought as he -sank back into his place. - -That Johnny was right was soon enough demonstrated. Seeming to find fresh -power flowing through his veins, the mysterious pitcher stiffened his -pace. The two men who came up next got three pitches each. They fanned -the air. The inning was over. - -"We arranged to put up a smoke screen," Johnny whispered to Meggy. "Set a -lot of old tar paper on fire. That checkmated those fellows in the -airplane. They couldn't see through it, nor--nor do anything else!" - -"But Johnny! Who's in that plane?" - -"You'll know tonight, per--perhaps," was Johnny's reply. - -Three times the airplane circled. Three times a pillar of smoke rose to -meet it. - -"That airplane is from River Forest," Big Bill Tyson said to Colonel -Chamberlain. "Hate to take you away from the game; but if we're to be -there when they land, we'd better be travelin'." - -Three minutes later a long gray car shot away to the east. In it rode Big -Bill and Colonel Chamberlain. Big Bill was at last truly interested in -the boys of his city. - -Johnny saw them leave the field. He knew why they were going, and smiled. - -The boy who received the greatest surprise, however, was Fred Frame, the -one-time star pitcher. As the team came in for its turn at bat, Doug -Danby sidled over to him at the end of the sixth inning and said in a low -tone: - -"You are to pitch next inning." - -"Why! What?" Fred's brain whirled. Was he to finish this last game? Score -2 to 0 in Hillcrest's favor! The championship at stake! He to pitch! He -could not understand. - -Nor was he to know more save that the "Prince," a trifle more stooped -than usual, but walking with a firm, proud tread, was leaving the -grounds. - -Slowly a buzz like the swarming of bees sounded through the crowd. Then -all was still. - -It was well that Fred did not come up to bat that inning. He surely would -have fanned. - -As at last he stood in the pitcher's box, he found above him a cloudless, -smokeless sky where no airplane soared and circled. - -"Think I'm small fry!" he muttered. "Not worth bothering with! I'll show -'em!" - -The seventh and eighth innings passed without a score on either side. - -In the ninth, two Centralia men fanned. The game seemed over. Then came a -two-bagger, followed by a single that brought in a run. By taking wild -chances, the runner on first base stole second, then third. So there it -was, last inning, two men down and the tying run on third. - -Wildly Fred's eyes searched the crowd for the familiar figure of the -"Prince." - -"He's gone," a voice seemed to whisper. "You may never see him again. -Perhaps he is no real person at all--just a sort of imaginary being. It's -up to you, and you alone!" - -Then the catcher gave him a signal. For such a time as this, it seemed a -piece of madness, that signal. But Fred was desperate. He took the -chance. - -Winding up, he sent the ball spinning. It was a wild throw--a perfect -wild throw, if wild throws you want. By one mad leap the catcher was able -to knock it down. Even so, he did not stop it. It went on rolling. He was -after it in a mad scramble. - -Shooting down the course came the tying run. - -But not so fast! Francisco the catcher had the ball. He was on the home -plate. The runner turned to dash back. He all but fell into Fred's arms. -And Fred had the ball. Francisco had passed it back to him. - -This mad play, so cleverly planned and executed, had won! The game was -over. Hillcrest was champion! - -The crowd went wild. Seizing Fred, they tossed him to their shoulders, -shouting: "Hurray for Fred! Hurray for Fred!" He tried to shout, "The -'Prince'!" but his cries were drowned by a roar. - -It was an interesting group that gathered in Colonel Chamberlain's office -two hours later. There was Johnny and Goggles, Fred Frame and Meggy. -Besides these there was Big Bill Tyson and close beside him, grim and -sullen, sat the two strangers who had caused so much trouble. There was -too a tall, slightly stooped young man. At first the boys stared at him -in wondering silence. "Who is he? Who can he be?" they whispered. - -"I see you do not recognize a friend," Colonel Chamberlain smiled. "I am -surprised. - -"This--" he paused to smile once more. "This is your old friend J., the -one you have called the 'Prince.' Today, for the first time, he is able -to remove the dye that might have concealed his identity from some -people." - -"Oh! Oh! Oh!" came as in one breath. - -"And now," the Colonel said, turning to J., "perhaps you will tell them -your story. Only," he warned, "be brief. There's a big feast of real good -things to eat in store for us after it is told. Tonight the business men -of Hillcrest are giving a banquet to all the boys who have fought so -bravely for the honor of their city." - -"Tell us! Tell us!" they all pleaded. - -"I shall be glad to," the "Prince" replied. - -"You see," he began, "I've always been fascinated with chemistry. My -native home is in Europe. Three years ago I was allowed to enter another -country as a student. At once I was successful with my chemistry. Men -said I had made some remarkable discoveries. - -"Well," he sighed, "success brings enemies. There are those who wished to -possess my secrets. - -"The part of that strange country I was in," he went on after a period of -silence, "was disputed territory. In time it became known that it was to -be controlled entirely by this nation that was not friendly to my native -land. This meant that I must leave. Many men came to me demanding to know -my scientific secrets, which--pardon my pride--were very valuable. - -"I refused. They threatened to have me sent to prison. I defied them and -finally, with my secret formula hidden away in my garments, I escaped to -America. - -"But they followed, still threatening me. I put on that disguise, which -has deceived some. Unfortunately it did not deceive all. So tonight I am -removing it. Tonight I have taken out my first papers as an American -citizen. Soon I shall belong to your wonderful country." - -"Good! Good! Fine! Wonderful!" came from the throats of his hearers. - -Only two were silent--the two strangers. - -"And you!" The "Prince" made a dramatic gesture. "Why do you still -persecute me?" He had turned upon the silent pair. - -"I think," said the Colonel when the men did not reply, "it is because of -greed and a deplorable race hatred. You need not, however, fear them any -longer. They have done enough to send them to prison." - -"This," the "Prince" exclaimed, "I do not wish! Only that they shall -pledge themselves never to disturb me again." - -"Very well," said the Colonel, "you shall be the judge." - -He turned upon the strangers. "Do you promise?" - -"Yes, yes sir. We do!" was the answer. - -"Very well. You may go." - -"Any other questions?" The Colonel turned to his young guests. - -"I--I'd like to know what happened that day when the--the 'Prince' was -obliged to leave the pitcher's box," said Meggy, "that first day." - -"That--" Johnny sprang up, "let me try to explain that." - -He held out a long tube with a very bright inside, also a small battery -and two small bottles of powder. "You put the two powders in the tube, -then touch them off with the battery. This makes a blinding flash that -may be directed like the shot of a gun at any single individual. That's -what they did to the 'Prince' from the airplane," he explained rapidly. - -"What I can't understand," he went on in a puzzled tone, "is why it -should spoil your game." He turned toward the "Prince." - -"I will explain," said the "Prince." "I once was in a terrible chemical -explosion. My sight was saved only as a sort of miracle. Since then, a -flash of light half blinds me for hours. These men, knowing this, -invented that instrument of torture. So now," he added, smiling, "you -know." - -"But why did you leave the game today?" Meggy asked. - -"Oh that!" The "Prince" smiled a rare smile. "That was a case of -_noblesse oblige_. The team was yours. The game yours too. How could I, a -stranger, truly win it when that plucky boy of yours had tried so nobly? -It was a duty of honor." - -"That--" Johnny's eyes were dimmed. "That's what I call sporting! - -"One more question!" Johnny was on his feet. "This may seem strange, but -'Prince,' were you ever in prison in America?" - -"No." The "Prince" smiled a strange smile. "I have not had the honor." - -"Just one of my bum guesses," Johnny thought to himself. He was thinking -of the story told to him by that air pilot. - -"And now," said the Colonel, springing to his feet, "I call you all to a -banquet." - -The banquet was all that anyone could ask, but, as for Johnny Thompson, -his mind was on other things. As he was hurrying to this meeting, Chief -Gallagher had called to him: "Come in and see me as soon as you can. I've -got something big to tell you." - -"It has to do with the little Chinaman Tao Sing and the thought-camera," -Johnny assured himself more than once. As soon as he could, he was away -to the Chief's office. - -"You're right the very first time, Johnny," the Chief laughed when Johnny -hazarded a guess. "We caught up with that little Chink this afternoon. He -and two others were tryin' to make a getaway in an airplane. Guess they -didn't savvy that plane. Anyway, that plane didn't get far. Those -Chinamen had parachutes. They landed safely. Our men picked them up. -Plane came down in flames. - -"Queer part--" he rumbled, "that little fellow wanted to jump right into -the flaming wreck. Said he wanted to save something--only one in the -world. Man that made it was dead--all that stuff. - -"Of course," he added thoughtfully, "my men wouldn't let him commit -suicide that way. He'll go back to China with those other fellows. The -tong war is over." - -"That thing he wanted to save," said Johnny soberly, "must have been the -thought-camera. And I--you know I'm sort of glad it's gone and that there -are no more in the world. For you know--it's no fun at all to take -pictures of other people's thoughts. And to have other people taking -pictures of yours--why that would be simply terrible!" - -"Yes," the Captain said with a laugh. "It sure would be!" - -Johnny enjoyed a few peaceful days in Hillcrest. After that he was off -for fresh adventure. If you wish to know of these adventures look for our -new book, _Red Dynamite_. - - - - - 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; left non-standard spellings and - dialect unchanged. - ---In the text versions, delimited italics text in _underscores_ (the HTML - version reproduces the font form of the printed book.) - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Mystery Wings, by Roy J. 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