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diff --git a/old/53712-0.txt b/old/53712-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 8218184..0000000 --- a/old/53712-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6276 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's The Boy Inventors' Flying Ship, by Richard Bonner - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: The Boy Inventors' Flying Ship - -Author: Richard Bonner - -Illustrator: Charles L. Wrenn - -Release Date: December 11, 2016 [EBook #53712] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY INVENTORS' FLYING SHIP *** - - - - -Produced by Roger Frank, Les Galloway and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - -[Illustration: Jack now pushed the craft ahead at full speed.—_Page -40._] - - - - - THE - BOY INVENTORS’ - FLYING SHIP - - BY - - RICHARD BONNER - - AUTHOR OF “THE BOY INVENTORS’ WIRELESS TRIUMPH,” “THE BOY - INVENTORS AND THE VANISHING GUN,” “THE BOY INVENTORS’ - DIVING TORPEDO BOAT,” ETC., ETC. - - _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY - CHARLES L. WRENN_ - - - NEW YORK - HURST & COMPANY - PUBLISHERS - - - - - Copyright, 1913 - BY - HURST & COMPANY - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I. READY FOR THE TEST 5 - - II. A SIGNAL OF DISTRESS 21 - - III. AN AERIAL STOWAWAY 31 - - IV. INTO THE THICK OF IT 42 - - V. MUTINY 54 - - VI. A STORM AT SEA 66 - - VII. THE BOYS FIND NEW JOBS 76 - - VIII. “THIS IS THE FINISH” 84 - - IX. ASHORE 95 - - X. THE CASTAWAYS 105 - - XI. ABOARD THE WRECK 113 - - XII. IN DIRE PERIL 123 - - XIII. ATTACKED BY A WHALE 135 - - XIV. THE SEA-COW’S LULLABY 144 - - XV. THE PROFESSOR IN TROUBLE 153 - - XVI. THE CAMP IN THE FOREST 164 - - XVII. THE GIANT SLOTH 175 - - XVIII. IN THE JUNGLE 186 - - XIX. INDIANS OF THE AMAZON 196 - - XX. AN “EEL-ECTRIC” DISCOVERY 205 - - XXI. THE MARCHING ANTS 217 - - XXII. “UP A TREE” 227 - - XXIII. THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CAPTAIN 236 - - XXIV. THE LION’S MOUTH 251 - - XXV. THE TRIBE OF CHEKLA 265 - - XXVI. DIAMONDS VS. FREEDOM 276 - - XXVII. THE PROFESSOR TRIUMPHS 287 - - - - -The Boy Inventors’ Flying Ship - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -READY FOR THE TEST. - - -“Shake, Tom, old boy; ‘tip us your flipper,’ as Captain Andrews would -say. The _Wondership_ is ready for her final try-out.” - -“Finished.” Tom Jesson drew a long sigh, then he wrung his cousin’s -hand with energy enough to have wrenched it loose. - -Jack Chadwick flung down the “alligator” wrench with which he had -been going over every nut and bolt, and capered about the lofty, -bare-raftered shed. Tom’s round face beamed, mirroring the other’s high -good humor. - -“And the try-out’s going to be a big success, Jack,” he declared -positively. “I can feel it in my bones,—like Jupe when his rheumatics -are coming on. My! Jack, that pontoon idea was the biggest thing we’ve -ever struck.” - -“Wait till we’ve tried it out,” smiled Jack, less impetuously; “it may -prove the biggest bump we’ve ever struck.” - -“Well, I’m willing to risk it. When shall we make the trial trip?” - -“No time like the present. There are a few finishing touches still to -be seen to, but by this evening everything will be ready. Besides, -night is the best time. We don’t want a crowd around. There has been -enough curiosity in what we have been doing, already.” - -“I should say so. Look at this Boston sheet, will you? A column of -mystery for a cent!” - -Tom drew from his pocket a copy of a Boston paper and indicated some -staring head-lines. - -“’A Mystery of The Night Skies!’” he declaimed vociferously, waving an -arm. “Some class there, eh?” - -“Quite enough,” chuckled Jack. “We didn’t think that our little spin -the other night was going to cause such a stir-up, did we?” - -“It was all the fault of those red and green lights you hung out,” -protested Tom. “Can you blame a community for getting worked up at -the spectacle of colored lights like those on a ship, skimming around -above their heads at sixty miles an hour? Hullo!” he broke off, still -scanning the paper. “Here’s a letter from one fellow who declares that -what was seen was a comet.” - -“A comet, eh? Well, that wouldn’t be such a bad name for the new Flying -Road Racer,” mused Jack reflectively. - -“Never heard of a comet that would swim,” retorted Tom. - -“Well, we don’t know yet that the new Road Racer _will_ perform the -stunts we expect her to.” - -“In which case, we are in for a cold, cold bath.” - -“Cheer up, Tom,” laughed Jack. “Get busy now and finish up the -pontoons with that aluminum paint. If the trial is set for this -evening, we haven’t any too much time.” - -Both boys fell to work again with feverish energy. The work of -many weeks, carried on sometimes in high hope, sometimes in deep -despondency, was before them in complete form, except for the final -touches. Only the important experiment remained. Would the re-modelled -_Flying Road Racer_ do what the boys expected of her? If the answer to -that question was in the affirmative, they knew that they had invented -and carried to perfection the greatest craft of its kind hitherto -known. The new craft would indeed merit her name of _Wondership_ if she -did what the boys confidently expected of her. - -And what was this _Wondership_ that had for weeks occupied every minute -of the Boy Inventors’ time, exclusive of their studies in the Technical -College that both attended in Boston? Readers of former volumes of -this series will recall the _Flying Road Racer_, the air and land -ship that had carried the boys and their friends faithfully so many -miles, and in which they had encountered many stirring adventures. -Well, the _Wondership_, as Jack in his enthusiasm had termed the craft, -was nothing more nor less than the _Flying Road Racer_, altered almost -beyond recognition. - -The shed in which the changes had been carried out was located on a -lonesome part of the seacoast not far from Nestorville, where the boys -lived. But, remote as the spot was, it still was not far enough removed -from human haunts to escape much speculation over what was going -forward in the great, gaunt, unpainted shed among the sand-hills. - -Inquisitive folks had watched wagons, laden with big crates and -seemingly heavy boxes, making their way to the place at intervals; but -so carefully had the shed been guarded and locked that nobody had as -yet discovered the boys’ secret. Had anyone done so, it is certain -that the two lads would have been besieged by curiosity seekers, for -the craft on which they were working was the most ambitious thing that -they had undertaken. The _Wondership_ was nothing more nor less than an -invention capable of travel by land, air and water. On land it rolled -along on wheels, above the earth it depended on a large, gas-filled -bag for buoyancy, while on the water (and this was the feature still -untested), the boys hoped to make it float like a boat by means of -pontoons. - -Of course, the idea of pontoons as applied to aerial craft was by no -means a novelty. Glen Curtiss, pioneer in this field, already had a -fleet of successful hydro-aeroplanes, and many other inventors were -laboring along these lines. It was in the application of the idea that -the boys had radically departed from anything hitherto known. At the -risk of being tedious we must now describe the _Wondership_ at some -length, in order that what is to follow of her marvelous adventures -may be clear. - -Readers of former books relating the experience of the Boy Inventors -know that the _Flying Road Racer_ was a craft built like an immense -automobile with a semi-cylindrical body. It seated six persons, and at -a pinch could accommodate more. The lower part of the cylinder was a -big tank in which gas was generated from a concentrated powder which, -upon being mixed with water, formed a vapor of extraordinary buoyancy. -In the upper part were padded seats, storage chambers for food and -supplies, and a machinery chamber housed under a hood. - -Above this auto-like structure rose a framework of vanadium and -aluminum alloy, on which was folded, when not in use, the gas-bag which -lifted the _Flying Road Racer_ from the earth when it was desired to -fly. Pumps filled the bag with gas, or withdrew it, as was desired. -Provision allowing for the expansion and contraction of the bag had -also been made, as was fully described in another volume. - -What the boys had done was this: They had extended the semi-cylindrical -formation till they had formed a full cylinder of light but strong -metal. Roughly, the _Flying Road Racer_ now resembled a huge, gleaming -white cigar on wheels. Along her sides stretched hollow aluminum -planes, or wings. - -In the air these took the place of the former planes used in ascending -or descending. On the water it was hoped that they would act as -hydroplanes, buoying up the craft. But for buoyancy they did not depend -on these hydroplanes, or pontoons, alone. The body of the _Flying Road -Racer_ was, by a singular stroke of inventive ingenuity, made to be in -itself a buoyant craft. - -When running along the road, or while flying, the top of the -cylindrical body could be opened for air and observation. On a calm sea -or lake the boys believed also that the craft, with the aid of the -hydroplanes, would float, just like a boat. The hydroplanes at the side -would, of course, correct a tendency to roll over, which an unsupported -cylindrical body would naturally have. But in case of rough water, -during which they might, in the course of the long flights they meant -to take, be compelled to descend, the waves would be apt to break over -the craft and swamp it. - -To provide against such an emergency the ingenuity of the boys had -been called into full play. It took many sleepless nights and days -of anxious thought to solve the problem. But they believed that they -had found a solution. The open space on the top of the cylinder was -provided with metal doors which could be closed and screwed down, -forming a water-tight compartment. Thus, the _Flying Road Racer_ would, -in a rough sea, be a water-tight cylinder, practically unsinkable -unless the light metal hull was punctured. - -The next problem had been a difficult one likewise. The question of how -to ventilate an air-tight and water-tight cylinder was a vexing one. -It was Jack who hit upon a plan. Like most big ideas it was simple, and -was suggested to him by a recollection of the periscope tube on the -submarine _Peacemaker_, which, as told in “The Boy Inventors and the -Diving Torpedo Boat,” they had helped to construct. Jack’s solution, -then, was this: A collapsible twin tube was made which when extended -fully would reach upward, above the air-tight cylinder, to a height of -twenty-five feet. At the bottom of this tube, and inside the cylinder, -was a chamber containing two tiny fans. One of these fans, driven by -storage batteries, sucked in fresh air from the top of the tube; the -other drew out the foul fumes and sent them up the other channel of the -extension pipe. - -The _Wondership_ was driven in the air and on land and water by -the same power, the gas from the storage chamber which formed the -lower section of the cylinder. But to fit her for her new work extra -powerful engines had been installed, and a propeller of different -pattern added. The propeller-shaft was connected to the motor through -a water-tight stuffing box, as on a motor boat. The rudder lines, too, -led through water-tight connections to the steering wheel. The aerial -rudder, being of light metal like the propeller, was capable of use -both in the air and water. In place of the old driving mechanism, too, -the boys had simplified the _Flying Road Racer_ by their new form of -propeller. This did away with the cumbrous connections and clutches to -the rear axle. The new form of propeller drew the _Wondership_ along -the roads almost as swiftly as it pulled her through the air. - - * * * * * - -As for the boys themselves, as readers of earlier volumes of this -series know, they both lived at High Towers, the estate of Jack’s -father, near Nestorville. Jack’s father was an inventor of note, and -in our first story, “The Boy Inventors’ Wireless Triumph,” it was -described how the boys aided him in many stirring adventures in -Yucatan and in the discovery of Tom Jesson’s long missing father, an -explorer and naturalist. Since that time Mr. Jesson had made his home -with his brother-in-law who, like himself, was a widower. The next -volume detailed how Jack and Tom helped an inventor in trouble, and -how, after many perils and difficulties, a wonderful vanishing gun was -at length brought to perfection in spite of the machinations of a gang -of rascals. This volume was called “The Boy Inventors’ Vanishing Gun.” - -The third volume has already been referred to. It told how the boys -had many exciting times under the ocean and on the surface. The -_Peacemaker_ was a wonderful craft and proved of material aid to some -Americans beleaguered by blood-thirsty negro revolutionists in Cuba. -Through the experiences related in this book both the boys increased -their mechanical ability and learned self-reliance and manliness in -many a hard test of both those sterling qualities. Had this not been -so, it is doubtful if they would ever have had the grit to bring to a -triumphant conclusion the construction of the _Wondership_, beset as -their way was oftentimes by apparently insurmountable difficulties. But -now, as we know, the _Wondership_ lay finished before them. Already -they had tested her in flight to ascertain how she bore the added -weight. It was this trial, on which she carried side lights, like a -ship, that had caused the flurry in the city papers. It had been a -complete success, and only the trial by water remained. - -Although Mr. Chadwick and Mr. Jesson knew that the boys were engaged -on a supreme task, neither had interfered or asked questions. Jack’s -father believed in letting his son solve his own problems. He knew that -if occasion arose his advice would be called for. But the boys meant to -fight out their battle alone. Even the test to take place that evening -was to be unwitnessed, or so they hoped. Not till all was an assured -success did they intend to invite their parents to inspect their work. - -As the term at the Technical College was over, both boys had full time -to devote to their work. All day they labored with paint brush and -wrench, testing and finishing. They gave themselves little time for -lunch, eating with one hand and working with the other. So engrossed -were they on their tasks that they did not notice that the brightness -of the day outside was being dimmed rapidly. A spring storm was rolling -up from seaward. - -Neither did they know that their work was going forward with attention -other than their own concentrated upon it. The unseen observer had -alighted from a car at its terminal some miles away and tramped across -the sand dunes toward the big shed. Keeping warily out of sight he -made his way up to the structure and, boring a hole in the planking, -watched with burning interest all that was going on within. He was an -odd-looking figure, dressed in a loud checked suit and sporting a gaudy -necktie and a hat cocked to one side. But his youthful face bore an -inquiring, good-humored expression that belied his aggressive way of -dressing. Over one shoulder was slung a camera. As he watched the boys -through the small hole he had bored with a gimlet that he carried in -his pocket, the unseen observer muttered strangely to himself. - -“By the double-jointed hoorah of the Sahara Desert!” he exclaimed from -time to time. “Dick, my boy, you’ve struck it! Instead of being fired -for incompetency, you’ll be the biggest reporter in Boston to-morrow. -You’ve run the Mystery of the Skies to its roost,—by the long-legged -Llama of Thibet, you have!” - -All day he watched, his joints stiff and aching from holding the one -position, but he never budged. It was growing toward dusk before he -observed the change in the weather that had come with startling -suddenness. The sea, calm before, was now roaring angrily on the beach -beyond the dunes. The sky was covered with scurrying clouds. The wind -moaned ominously. - -The unseen watcher made a grimace. - -“In for a wetting and three miles to that car,” he muttered, “but by -the crooked cantelope of Cambodia, it’s worth it! Hullo! What’s that?” - -From seaward there had come the heavy boom of a gun. About four miles -off shore, dangerously close for that coast, there lay a white, -yacht-like craft. Clearly she had fired the gun. Now she ran up some -sort of signal. - -“By the scampering snakes of Senegambia, there’s another story!” gasped -the watcher. “I’ll be made a managing editor at least, by the time I -get through.” - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -A SIGNAL OF DISTRESS. - - -“Hullo! What’s that?” - -Tom set down his paint pot and listened intently. Jack crawled out from -under the bottom of the _Wondership_ which he had been coating with an -extra application of waterproof bronze. - -“Sounded like a gun,” he said after a second. - -“It did, for a fact. Jove! Hark at the wind.” - -As he spoke a gust shook the rather lightly-built shed. - -“Must have come on a bit rough while we were at work,” commented Jack. -“I hope it isn’t too squally for our trial trip.” - -Whatever Tom might have responded to this speech will never be known, -for at that instant came another report. - -“B-o-o-m!” The echoes came dully shoreward, borne on a flaw of squally -wind. - -“It _is_ a gun,” cried Tom, “but what in the world——” - -“Let’s duck out and see. Hurry up!” - -Jack made off and Tom followed. They did not go out of the front end -of the shed, though big doors running on rollers opened to seaward. -Instead they made for a small “accommodation” door in the rear of the -shed. It was alongside this that the watcher had bored his observation -hole. He had just time to slip around a corner and fling himself face -downward in a patch of spiky sea-grass before the boys ran out. - -“Lucky those kids didn’t see me,” he muttered. “I feel half ashamed -of spying on them like this. But it’s all in the game, I suppose. If I -don’t run down this assignment it means hunting another job, and I’ve -worked on every paper in Boston but the one I’m on now; and I haven’t -got the fare to go anywhere else job hunting.” - -He watched the two boys run up to the summit of a big dune which -commanded a broad view to seaward. - -“By the horntoads of Herrington,” he exclaimed under his breath, “now’s -my chance! I’ll get a few snaps while they’re out of the shed and then -dig back. It’s taking a long chance and may be a rotten sort of thing -to do, but I’ve simply got to make good.” - -He rose from his place of hiding and, dexterously dodging among dunes -and sand hummocks, made his way to the shed and darted inside by the -small door from which the boys had just emerged. If he was surprised, -he counted on managing to hide in some place of security till he got -a chance to escape. Dick Donovan, cub reporter on the _Boston Evening -Eagle_, was a young man of much resource, though at present hardly -an example to be emulated. Still, as he owned to himself and as his -editor had informed him that morning, it was a case of “making good” -or getting what the editor termed the “G. B.”—which being interpreted, -meant, as poor Dick knew only too well, the “Grand Bounce.” - -As is the habit in newspaper offices, such a seemingly hopeless -assignment as running down “The Mystery of the Skies” had been given to -the cub reporter, the reason being that he might just as well waste his -time on that apparently forlorn hope as on anything more promising. But -Dick, who was by no means the “bone-head” his indignant editor mentally -termed him, worked on the assignment like a beaver. He recalled hearing -of the Boy Inventors and their various contrivances, and he formed a -conviction that if he could run them down he would arrive at a point -near to the solution of the mystery of the flying lights. It had been -a matter of some difficulty to find out the present whereabouts of the -boys, but the indomitable Dick had finally done it. His inquiries had -led him to the lonely shed amidst the wind-driven dunes, and to the -beginning of what he would have called “a galloping grasshopper of a -yarn.” - -As the boys gained the top of the dune they saw the yacht, standing -out in white relief against the slaty background of cloud that rolled -up from the east. She rose and fell slowly on the sullen sea, and they -could see that a vagrant cloud of bluish smoke was rolling away from -her. No doubt, then, that it was she that had fired the guns. - -By some instinct Jack had snatched up a pair of glasses as they ran -out of the shed. They were instruments used by the boys to scan anyone -approaching their shed from a distance. He now turned these on the -distant yacht. The next instant he uttered an exclamation: - -“There’s trouble aboard out there as sure as you’re a foot high!” - -“Can you make out what it is? They’re pretty close in, and those Baking -Pan Shoals run out quite a way. Maybe they’re aground,” ventured Tom. - -“No; it’s not that; at least, I don’t think so. There appears to be -trouble on the yacht itself. She’s flying an ensign, Jack down, in her -after rigging. Wow!” - -“What’s up now?” - -“There’s a chap trying to pull the ensign down!” cried Jack, with the -glasses still to his eyes. - -“Jove!” he rushed on, “there’s another chap pulling him away from the -halliards. Now there’s a regular fight on! Say, Tom, that yacht’s just -sizzling right now!” - -“They need help.” - -“Well, it sure looks so! Hullo, some men on the stern appear to have -driven back the others, among them the chap who tried to pull down the -flag.” - -“It’s a sure thing, then, that there is some sort of mutiny on board.” - -“Looks that way,” admitted Jack; “they fired those guns for help. I -wonder——” - -“I have it,” broke in Tom. “There used to be a life-saving station -right here because of the shoals. It’s marked on the charts. Although -it was abandoned two years ago, those fellows saw our shed ashore and -they think it’s the life-saving station. It’s to us they’re signalling!” - -“Christmas! I’ll bet you’re right. There’s nothing else in the shape of -a house up and down the beach for miles, and the summer cottagers have -not arrived yet. Yes, they’re appealing to us, Tom; but I don’t see -what we’re going to do about it.” - -“You don’t?” - -There was an odd look in Tom’s eyes as he spoke. - -The next instant there was a flash and a puff of smoke from the stern -of the yacht, where Jack had made out some figures standing in a little -group. The others had retreated forward. The report of the signal gun -was borne to their ears a few seconds later. - -“If only we had a boat,” burst out Jack. “I just hate to think of those -fellows out there in trouble, and we not able to raise a finger to -help!” - -“Oh, but we are,” spoke Tom quietly. Jack looked at him swiftly and -then almost involuntarily both boys’ eyes rested on the shed behind -them. - -“Jove, Tom! Have you got the nerve to try it?” - -“Sure thing. We planned to make the test anyhow to-day. What better -opportunity?” - -“It’s blowing up for bad weather, Tom,” remonstrated Jack, who was far -less impetuous than his cousin. - -“Well, we’ve got to expect to get caught in that sometime. Besides, I -don’t think it will blow very hard.” - -Like many other people, men as well as boys, Tom had a way of -minimizing obstacles when he wanted to do anything very much, and -the scene on the yacht had aroused his curiosity to the utmost. Jack -thought a minute and then scanned the sky carefully. Dark clouds were -piling up and the sea looked leaden and ugly. The wind was not steady -but came in sharp gusts and flaws. - -“Maybe we’ve got time to get out there and back before it comes on real -bad,” he admitted. - -“Of course we have. Come on.” - -Tom started on a run for the shed that housed the _Wondership_. As he -went, he flung back word to Jack to “hustle.” From the ship came a -fourth booming report. - -“They’re watching us through glasses,” said Jack, as they ploughed -through the sand. “They’ve guessed that we are going to help them -somehow.” - -“That means that we’ve _got_ to make good,” was Tom’s comment. - -They had almost gained the shed door when they saw coming toward them -across the dunes a solitary figure, making its way with difficulty over -the heavy sand. - -“It’s dad!” cried Jack. “He has come to make us a visit, and left the -machine back there on the road.” - -“That’s so. It is Uncle Chester, sure enough,” assented Tom rather -gloomily. “I guess our trial trip is off right now.” - -“Yes; I don’t think he’d allow us to take out the _Wondership_ in such -weather as this promises to be,” agreed Jack with equal ruefulness. -“Still, something should be done to aid those poor people out there.” - -“Hullo! What’s the matter with him?” cried Tom in an astonished voice -the next instant, for, on seeing the boys, the usually dignified -Professor Chadwick had broken into a run. As he floundered along he -was shouting excitedly words that they could not catch, and waving -something in his hand. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -AN AERIAL STOWAWAY. - - -Mr. Chadwick, breathless from his scramble across the dunes, met -the boys in the shelter of the shed. They now saw that what he held -in his hand was a despatch of some sort. He soon explained that -it was a wireless message, relayed from the yacht _Valkyrie_,—via -Sciuticut,—stating that his friend Professor Bismarck Von Dinkelspeil, -on board the _Valkyrie_, was bound for South America on a scientific -search of some sort, and intended to pay him a call at High Towers -regarding the practicability of devising some sort of a novel boat. -Details were not given. - -“I hastened over here as soon as I got the despatch,” he said, “as I -knew that you boys were transforming the _Road Racer_ into some novel -form. The Professor may be here to-morrow, and if you wish me to I’ll -present you to him and you may be able to meet his demands. I’m too -busy at present on that new steel reducing furnace to spare any time.” - -“He gives no details?” asked Jack. - -“No, as you see, it’s just a hurried despatch dated from his yacht. -He is a celebrated man and has been all over the world on various -scientific quests, in the interests of zoölogy mainly. But you boys -look excited. What’s the matter?” - -Jack speedily placed his parent in possession of the situation -confronting them. - -“The yacht is in need of aid, you think?” he asked when Jack completed -a hurried and breathless recital. - -“Without doubt. Hark! There’s another gun,” cried the boy. “I wish we -could go to their help.” - -“If we had a boat——” began Jack’s father. But the boy cut him -short. Without further delay he plunged into an explanation of the -_Wondership_. Mr. Chadwick looked amazed for an instant, but then his -face resumed its customary air of studious calm. - -“You think your device will work?” he asked, regarding Jack keenly. - -“I’m sure of it. In fact, we have buoyancy to spare. On paper——” - -“Paper and practice are different things, my boy.” - -“I know, sir, but——” - -“You see, there are human lives at stake out there. It’s worth -risking,” broke in Tom, unable to keep silence any longer. “Can’t we -go?” - -Mr. Chadwick considered an instant. - -“Let me take a look at your ‘_Wondership_,’ as you call it,” he said. - -With what rapidity Jack exhibited the craft and showed off her good -points may be imagined. While they were thus engaged there came the -sound of another gun. Then Mr. Chadwick spoke. - -“Is everything ready?” - -“Down to the last nut on the ultimate bolt,” declared Jack. - -“Plenty of gas?” - -“A reservoir full and more gas-making stuff in the reserve chamber.” - -“Very well, then. I’m ready when you are.” - -And without any more words Mr. Chadwick climbed into the machine, -using in his ascent a small ladder set against the gleaming metallic -sides. The boys exchanged glances. But they didn’t make any comment. -It was not a time for words. While they waited even, events might be -transpiring aboard the strange yacht of an unknown, possibly tragic, -nature. - -“Open the doors, Tom,” ordered Jack, in a voice that sounded like -anybody else’s rather than his own. - -Tom hastened to obey. The big panels in front of the shed rolled back. -The opening thus revealed framed a wild sea-scape of rising waves, -overcast sky and, in the center, the yacht, her reversed ensign making -a bright splotch of color against the leaden background. But as yet the -wind was merely puffy, and not blowing with dangerous strength. - -Having opened the doors, Tom hastened back. He climbed in by Jack’s -side. - -“Are we all ready?” he asked, with a gulp. In his excitement his heart -was bounding with sufficient velocity to be uncomfortably evident. But -he managed, by an effort, to keep calm, or rather to appear so. - -“As ready as we’ll ever be, I guess. Be ready to lower those -hydroplanes when I give the word.” - -Tom nodded. The hydroplanes worked on toggle-joints and could be -lowered and locked when required. This was a part of his duty that the -boys had already rehearsed. Jack’s hand sought a lever. A hissing -sound followed. The gas was beginning to rush into the big gas-bag. Its -folds began to puff out and writhe as if some living thing was within -it. - -“I’ll start when it is half full,” announced Jack in a sober voice. - -“How’s the pressure?” inquired Tom, whose face was pale. - -“Fine; a trifle over five hundred pounds. We’ll fill quickly on that.” - -In the rear seat, which might be likened to the tonneau of an auto, -sat Mr. Chadwick. Not a trace of emotion was visible on his strong -features. Through his spectacles he eyed the boys’ preparations with -interest. It was by no means his first trip in the _Flying Road Racer_, -as he still called it, and he knew that the boys thoroughly understood -her management. Therefore he did not embarrass them with questions or -suggestions. - -“That’s enough,” announced Jack presently, when the bag was almost -full, “that will lift us and I’ll fill out the wrinkles while we are in -the air.” - -“You’re going up first, then?” - -“Of course. That will give you a chance to get over your ‘rattles’ -before we drop.” - -“Rot!” vociferated Tom indignantly. “I’m not rattled a bit.” - -But his shaking hands and shining eyes belied his words. If not -“rattled,” Tom was considerably excited. Jack, on the other hand, -although his pulses were throbbing uncomfortably fast and a large -lump appeared to have clambered into his throat and stuck there, was -outwardly as cool as ice. - -“Ready, Dad! I’m going to start! Hold tight!” - -“All right, my boy. Go ahead as soon as you’re ready.” - -Jack pressed a button on the steering pillar. The self-starting -mechanism, operated by the same storage batteries that ran the lights -and the ventilating fans, whirred loudly in response. An instant later -he applied the gas. A volley of explosions followed. The shed was -filled with an odd, sickly odor. - -Again Jack’s hands flew, and with a jolt the _Wondership_ leaped -forward, rumbling over the wooden floor. - -Straight out toward the sand dunes she rolled, her engine pulsing like -a throbbing human heart. The light but strong framework vibrated under -the strain. The great propeller of magnesium-vanadium metal became a -mere shadowy blur. - -Outside the shed a sort of runway had been built leading down to high -water mark. As the odd craft rushed toward the waves Tom was conscious -of a queer feeling, centering at the pit of his stomach. - -“Guess I must be scared,” he snorted indignantly to himself, and then -broke off with a sudden exclamation. - -“What’s that?” - -“What’s _what_?” came from Jack, who was busy adjusting levers and -buttons. - -“Why, _that_.” - -As he spoke, both boys became aware of an odd sort of muffled sound, -coming seemingly from under the seat on which they were stationed. - -“Something’s wrong with the machinery,” cried Tom, as the odd sound -came again. - -“Can’t be. She’s working like a clock,” rejoined Jack. “Hold -tight,—we’re going up.” - -As Jack spoke, he applied a full stream of gas to the limp bag, and the -_Wondership_ shot upward with the swiftness of a rocket. A gust of wind -struck them and sang weirdly through the rigging and supports. But the -craft never wavered on her course. As she shot upward, though, from the -yacht, heard above the hum and buzz of the machinery, came the sound of -another gun. - -“They’re wishing us luck!” cried Jack. - -“We’ll need all we can get,” came a voice. “By the bounding brown -buffaloes of Brunswick, this is the limit!” - -“Hullo! What’s the matter with you, Tom?” cried Jack looking around in -astonishment, as he manipulated the craft with a skill born of long -practice. - -“I didn’t speak, Jack. It was that same mysterious voice. This craft is -haunted, I believe.” - -“Nonsense. We must be imagining things,” declared Jack; “but I’m almost -sure I heard a voice.” - -“So am I. How is she working, Jack?” asked Tom, dismissing the subject. -He thought that his overwrought nerves were at work. - -“Finely. I’m heading straight for the yacht. I mean to circle her and -then,” he paused an instant and added, “drop!” - -Jack now pushed the craft ahead at full speed. Faster and faster she -went. Far below them lay the sullenly heaving ocean. Beyond, but very -close now, was the yacht. - -“All right, Tom. Get ready now.” - -Tom jumped to his work. In a few seconds the novel aluminum hydroplanes -were adjusted and fixed in place. The yacht was right below them now, -but the figures on her deck were dwarfed to pigmies. Jack set the -suction pump to work, reducing the gas supply in the bag. - -Slowly at first, and then faster, the great air craft began to fall -toward the gray sea. The propeller ceased revolving. In almost total -silence, except for the boys’ quick breathing, the descent continued. -Suddenly a wild cry split the air. It appeared to come from the -_Wondership_ itself. - -“Let me out! Put me ashore! By the buck-jumping broncos of Butte, I -wasn’t born for a watery grave!” - -“Gracious!” cried Jack, in a startled tone, as a head of red hair poked -itself out from under the seat, “we’ve got an aerial stowaway aboard!” - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -INTO THE THICK OF IT. - - -For the moment, the affairs of Dick Donovan,—our readers will have -guessed that this first aerial stowaway on record was the young -reporter,—had to wait. This drop through space was too thrilling, -daring, dangerous for anyone on board to pay Dick more than passing -attention. There was not even time to ask him who he was. - -Indeed, at the instant that Dick, who had hidden in the machine without -any idea that immediate flight was to be undertaken, made himself -known, peril loomed swiftly and ominously before them. - -As they swooped downward, like a giant fishhawk diving after its finny -prey, there was a sudden shout of alarm from Tom. The great airbag -swung to one side, dragging the carriage of the flying machine with it -in a dizzying swerve. - -“Look out!” shouted Tom excitedly. - -There was no need to ask him the cause of his sudden alarm. The -_Wondership_, yawing before a sharp flaw of wind which came too -suddenly for Jack to counter it, was being driven straight for one of -the slender, sharp-topped masts of the yacht. - -“Keep her off!” shouted Mr. Chadwick, half rising, “we’ll rip the bag -open if you don’t look out.” - -Jack’s lips set grimly, determinedly. With a swift motion of his hand -he applied power. The propeller began to whirl, forcing the wind-driven -craft away from the peril of the mast. Dick Donovan, in frank terror, -shouted aloud. - -“Gracious! We’ll strike!” was the cry forced from Tom’s lips. - -The next instant, despite Jack’s prompt action, the _Wondership_, -deliriously sagging and swaying, crashed against the tip of the yacht’s -after mast. - -Ri-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-p! - -The steel tipped weather-vane that was fixed on the top of the spar had -penetrated the midship section of the bag and inflicted a bad tear in -it before Jack had had time to hold the big craft off. The propeller -had been set in motion an instant too late. With a vicious hissing -sound the gas rushed from the rent as the _Wondership_, the mischief -done, careened drunkenly away from the mast that had inflicted the -wound. - -There was a sudden, appalling dash downward. A stone from a roof could -not have fallen much faster. Amidst a shout of alarm from the yacht’s -decks, which was echoed by those on the _Wondership_, she struck the -sea with a force that sent spray and foam half way as high as the -vessel’s mast heads. - -In the dreadful moment that succeeded, it seemed as if the craft must -go crashing down to the very floor of the ocean. But a fraction of a -second later those on board both _Wondership_ and yacht knew that this -was not to be the case. - -Having struck the water, the hollow hydroplanes and the water-tight -body of the craft fulfilled their purposes right nobly. Buoyed on the -crest of a big swell, the _Wondership_ floated, and the next instant, -amidst a cheer of more than ordinary fervor, Jack started her for the -yacht’s side. - -“Hurrah! She floats!” yelled Tom. - -“By the galumping galleons of Gaul, she does that!” agreed Dick -Donovan, against whose pale face the freckles stood out like spots on -the sun. - -“But will she move?” cried Mr. Chadwick, as the propeller began to -churn the water. - -“We’ll soon see,” answered Jack over his shoulder. - -As the blades bit into the water the _Wondership_ was drawn forward, -slowly at first and then, gathering speed as she crossed the space -intervening between herself and the yacht’s side, the _Wondership_ was -seen to adapt herself to the water as well as she had to the earth -or the air. A moment later, skillfully manipulating his rudder, Jack -brought the strange craft alongside the yacht’s lowered companionway -with as much skill as any veteran mariner making a familiar landing. - -To reach the gangway from the spot at which the _Wondership_ had struck -the water, they had to pass her stern. On the graceful, narrow counter -of the craft was much gilt scroll-work and ornamentation. Amidst all -this “flummery,” as sailors call it, they made out a name and hailing -port. - -“_Valkyrie-of-Bremen_,” was what they read. - -As his eyes encountered the name, Mr. Chadwick gave a gasp. - -“Why,—why! This is most extraordinary!” he cried in frank amazement. -“This is the very yacht from which my wireless message was relayed from -Sciuticut!” - -“They must have been trying to make for the mouth of the Nestorville -River when whatever is the matter on board, came up,” commented Jack. - -But by this time they were at the gangway and conversation ceased for -the time being. They could see several heads poked over the side, eying -them curiously. As they came alongside, a stockily built man with a -bristling straw-colored moustache descended the gangway stairs. - -He wore a blue coat with brass buttons and appeared to be in authority. - -“What’s the trouble?” demanded Jack eagerly, as the man came nearer. - -“Good. You saw our signal for aid, then?” he said with an odd sort of -hesitation. “You come near wrecking that contraption, just the same,” -he added. “What kind of a craft is it?” - -“Never mind that now,” exclaimed Mr. Chadwick impatiently. “The -question is, do you need help? Are you aground, or what?” - -“No, it ain’t that exactly,” said the man slowly; “it’s trouble of -another sort.” - -“Is this Professor Von Dinkelspeil’s yacht?” asked Jack quickly. - -“Sure. Yes, it’s his yacht, all right,” was the odd reply. - -“Is the Professor on board?” asked Mr. Chadwick. “He’s a friend of -mine, and if he is in any difficulty we shall be glad to do anything in -our power to help him out.” - -Again the man hesitated. While they had been flinging questions at him -he had been joined by another man, a rough looking specimen, clad in -a semi-nautical costume. He now turned to this man and they whispered -together for an instant. Then the bristly-moustached man turned to our -party. - -“The Professor is on board,” he said, “but I don’t know if you can see -him.” - -“Why not?” demanded Mr. Chadwick crisply, with rising irritation. “You -signalled us for aid, we came out here at considerable risk and, in -fact, have seriously damaged our craft. If the Professor is on board, I -think he owes us an explanation.” - -Once more there was a whispered conversation. - -“There’s something extremely odd about all this,” said Mr. Chadwick to -Jack in an undertone. “I can’t understand it at all. I——” - -“The fact is,” broke in the bristly-moustached man, “the Professor has -met with an accident. But perhaps you had better come on board and see -him for yourselves.” - -“I guess that would be the best plan,” said Mr. Chadwick. “Boys, you -wait here. I’ll be back before long.” - -“I don’t half like the look of this,” muttered Jack. “There’s -something here that isn’t all right. Let me go with you.” - -“No, my boy. You stay where you are. I’ll be back before long. I can’t -imagine what can be the matter; but whatever it is, I can take good -care of myself.” - -With these words Mr. Chadwick sprang to the platform of the gangway, -and under the guidance of the two men he made his way up the steps. An -instant later he was gone from view. - -The boys exchanged glances. - -“Well,” blurted out Tom, “if this doesn’t beat the band! These fellows -waste powder enough for a Fourth of July celebration to summon aid, and -when it comes they don’t appear to know whether they want it or not.” - -“Looks mighty fishy,” admitted Jack. “I wish Dad had let me go with -him. But see here, Tom, we’re forgetting all about our stowaway. -Say, who are you, anyhow?” he demanded, turning to Dick Donovan and -scrutinizing him sharply. Dick looked considerably abashed. - -“I guess it’s up to me to make explanations,” he said. “My name is Dick -Donovan. I’m a reporter. I was told to run down the ‘Mystery of the -Skies’ or get fired. I sneaked into your shed when you went out to take -a look at this yacht, and then when you came back unexpectedly while -I was snapping your machine, I got rattled and hid under the seat. -Wow! By the sky-scraping sultans of Syria, but you gave me a royal old -scare!” - -“That is nothing to what you are going to get if you write a line about -all this in your paper,” snapped Tom. “What do you mean by playing the -sneak about our work-shed and spying on us,—eh? What do you mean by it?” - -He doubled up his fists threateningly; but Dick Donovan only smiled. - -“Don’t get mad,” he said. “I’ll admit it wasn’t the right thing to do, -and you chaps appear to be pretty white and I’m ashamed of myself for -spotting you.” - -“You ought to be,” growled Tom. - -“Wait a minute,” put in Jack soothingly. “Go on,” he remarked to Dick -Donovan. - -“Oh, well, all I wanted to say was this,” said the reporter, getting -very red. “You needn’t be afraid that I’ll write a line about this -thing, because I won’t. I can get another job somehow, I guess, and -anyhow I’ve had enough experience crammed into this last half hour to -be able to sit down and write a novel.” - -The impulsive Tom’s manner changed in a jiffy. - -“Say, you’re all right, Donovan,” he exclaimed, “and—and I tell you -what, when we get this thing perfected we’ll give you the first news -about it,—a scoop, don’t you call it?” - -Dick’s amiable face beamed broadly as Jack nodded his assent to Tom’s -promise. - -“Say, that’s bully of you!” he cried boyishly, extending his hand. -“I don’t want you to think I’m a bounder just because I came peeping -and peering about your shack back there. I didn’t look at it from your -point of view. I——” - -He broke off abruptly. His lower jaw remained dropped just as it had -been as he was about to continue speaking. At the same instant both the -Boy Inventors sprang to their feet. - -It was a startling enough interruption that had occurred to cut short -Dick Donovan’s contrite speech. - -From the decks of the _Valkyrie_ there had come the sharp, ringing -report of a pistol. - -It was followed by shouts and a loud tramping of feet on the planks -above them. Jack paused a second for thought and then, grabbing up a -monkey wrench and calling to the others to do the same, he jumped for -the companionway. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -MUTINY. - - -As the three boys, for Dick Donovan brought up the rear, sprang up the -gangway steps the burly figure of a sailor suddenly blocked their way. - -“You kids keep out of this,” he admonished, and tried to push Jack back. - -The boy’s fist shot out and the sailor, caught fairly on the point of -the chin, fell in a sprawling heap. Jumping over his prostrate form, -as he lay there swearing and trying to regain his feet. Jack and his -companions gained the deck. - -The first thing their eyes fell upon was Mr. Chadwick struggling in the -arms of several sailors. Jack reached the deck just in time to see a -noose thrown over his father’s head, making him a helpless captive as -it was swiftly drawn down and pulled tight about his arms. - -“Let my father go!” shouted Jack angrily, springing forward. - -The bristly-moustached man stood in his way. As the boy rushed forward -the man thrust out his foot and Jack fell in a heap. In an instant -the sailor pounced on him. But Tom, with a shout, pitched upon Jack’s -captor. In a flash they were rolling all over the deck. - -Jack regained his feet as the heavy form of his captor was removed. -Dick Donovan was at his side. - -“I’m with you, by Barataria,—I’m with you!” he cried, throwing himself -into an attitude of defense as several men ran toward them. Tom had -by this time managed to throw off the man whom he had attacked and, -springing to his feet, he joined his comrades. The three boys, their -backs to a deck house, faced the crew of the yacht without flinching; -but their faces had grown deadly pale. Mr. Chadwick had been dragged -off and was not to be seen. - -The bristly-moustached man got to his feet and glowered at the boys -menacingly. Under one of his eyes, so Jack noted with satisfaction, was -a rapidly-spreading, plum-colored bruise. - -“Now see here, you kids,” he barked out, “it ain’t a bit of good, your -putting up a scrap. Your dad tried it and it took a bullet to stop him.” - -“You rascal! You wounded my father?” shouted Jack, rushing at him, -completely carried away by anger. - -But he had not advanced a foot before he was seized by a dozen of the -crew who, despite all his struggles, held him fast. - -“You see it ain’t a bit of use, your kicking,” went on the man, -vindictively. “This yacht carries a crew of twenty men and they’ll all -do just as I tell ‘em to. Now that you know what you’re up against, -I’ll explain a few things to you just to show you that there’s nothing -you can do against my wishes.” - -Despite their indignation, the boys listened eagerly for what was to -come. Tom and Dick still held their attitudes of defense. Poor Jack -was too effectively held to do anything but submit, with what grace he -could. - -“Them guns you heard was fired by the Professor’s orders. He figured -there was a bunch of life savers ashore who’d come out and clap us all -in irons for mutiny. We rushed him and finally he saw it was no go and -gave in. He’s a prisoner in his cabin now. - -“If you and your dad hadn’t come butting in in that contraption of -yours we’d have gone on our voyage all peaceable; but you interfered, -and now you’ve got to pay for it. If we let you go ashore you’d get the -gov’ment after us and we’d get in hot water. As it is, we’ll just lock -you up till we make up our minds what to do with you, and then we’ll -dispense with you someway.” - -“Is my father hurt?” demanded Jack. - -“No, he’s all right and will be all right as long as he keeps quiet. I -fired a shot at him to keep him quiet, scare him like. That’s all. You -can take ‘em below, men, an’ then we’ll keep on our course.” - -“But our ship!” cried Jack, anxiously. “What’s going to become of that?” - -“Oh, that blamed contraption? Well, that can just as well go to the -bottom as not, I guess. Take ‘em away, you fellows.” - -Jack, half crazed at the last words of the rascal, was dragged -helplessly off. Tom and Dick made a feeble show of resistance, but -they, too, were speedily captured and hauled across the deck after -him. Unarmed as they were, they had no chance of putting up any fight. -And so, within an hour after they had set out to answer the call for -assistance, they found themselves prisoners and their _Wondership_ -doomed to destruction. No wonder that their hearts felt like lead as -their captors roughly shoved and pulled them along. - -In this way they were propelled down a flight of steps leading, as soon -became apparent, into the saloon of the yacht. From this chamber there -opened off several smaller doors. One of these was open and through -this and into a small cabin the boys were roughly thrust. Then the men -who had made them captive went off without a word, first locking the -door behind them on the outside. - -The boys looked miserably at each other as the door clicked. - -“Prisoners!” exclaimed Jack. - -“And the _Wondership_ to be cast away,” cried Tom despairingly, sinking -down on the edge of a bunk. “There’s all our work and money gone for -nothing,” he added bitterly. - -Dick Donovan said nothing. He felt that of them all he was the only one -who had no right to say anything. He was there by his own fault solely, -and the freckle-faced boy felt that it would have been an impertinence -on his part to have made any complaint. - -“Well, this _is_ a fine fix,” exclaimed Tom at length, after a long -silence, during which they had heard a trampling of feet on deck but -had noticed no vibration to show that the yacht was in motion. - -“Yes; and that there is so far no explanation for our treatment doesn’t -make it any better,” spoke up Jack wretchedly. “It’s the thought of the -_Wondership_ being cast loose that makes me feel worst, though.” - -“Same here,” muttered Tom dismally; “but can you form any idea as to -why we’re being treated in this way?” - -Jack shook his head. - -“It’s all a Chinese puzzle to me,” he said. “Of course, that ruffian -on deck hinted that there had been a mutiny of some sort, and that -between the time that we answered the signal guns and the moment we -reached the ship the Professor had been made prisoner.” - -“Didn’t you see a struggle to pull down the flag when you looked -through the glasses?” asked Tom. - -“Yes, two or three men on the stern deck appeared to be battling with -some others whom they finally drove off.” - -“Then depend upon it, the whole crew has not mutinied. Probably the -men you saw were the Professor and the Captain or some other officer -who had remained loyal,” struck in Dick Donovan. “Come to think of it, -I believe I saw a despatch in the paper some time ago about this very -yacht,” he went on. “The cable came from the Canary Islands and said -that the _Valkyrie_ had put in there with a mutinous crew and shipped -another one. She then proceeded on her voyage across the Atlantic. -There was some mystery about her destination, but it was generally -supposed that she had on board a party of treasure hunters bound to -recover lost treasure somewhere in South America.” - -“From what I’ve heard dad say about Professor Von Dinkelspeil,” said -Jack, “I don’t think the professor is much of a chap for that sort of -thing. Dad said that he was a famous naturalist.” - -“Maybe he was going to combine natural history and treasure hunting -in South America,” suggested Dick. “Anyhow, one thing is sure; for -some reason this new crew has mutinied like the old one. They now have -possession of the ship and we are their prisoners. The question is, -what are they going to do with us?” - -Dick’s clear way of putting it made them all look serious. It was plain -enough that, after treating them in the manner that they had, the -mutinous crew could not afford to chance setting them ashore. In that -case their ultimate fate remained a mystery. - -“What do you think about it?” asked Tom, turning to Dick. In some -way he felt that this bright-eyed, alert lad was more likely to have -the key to the situation than any of them. But Dick shook his head -perplexedly. - -“What they mean to do with us depends a heap on what they intend to do -themselves,” he said dubiously. “It’s my idea that, right or wrong, the -rascals now in control of this craft must have had some sort of idea -that she was on a treasure hunt. In that case, I think it’s likely that -they may have secured in some way information as to where the treasure -is, and are going after it themselves.” - -“Then I wonder what they will do with us?” insisted Tom. - -“By the grinning gondoliers of Granada, you’ve got me stuck. Maroon us, -maybe, on some island, or——” - -“Hullo! We’re moving!” cried Jack suddenly. - -A perceptible vibration and hum ran through the yacht’s frame as her -engines began to revolve. There was a port-hole in the cabin in which -the boys were confined and Jack thrust his head out. But he could see -no signs of the _Wondership_. Instead, through the rain which was now -falling fast on a sullen, heaving sea, he could perceive, dimly, the -distant coast line slipping by. - -It was at this juncture that an odd sound came on the wall of the cabin. - -“Somebody’s tapping!” exclaimed Tom, the first to solve the mystery. - -“Sure enough,” rejoined Dick; “maybe it is your father. They may have -put him in next door.” - -“Hark!” exclaimed Jack suddenly. “Listen to those taps. Don’t you -notice something odd about them?” - -They listened in silence for a few minutes. Above the throbbing of the -screw and the rush of water along the moving vessel’s side they could -catch the odd rhythm of the taps being delivered on the cabin wall. - -“By the ticker-tapes of Tripoli,” cried Dick suddenly, “somebody’s -telegraphing us!” - -“Yes; it’s the Morse code!” almost shouted Jack, and leaning against -the wooden wall of the cabin he energetically rapped out a reply. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -A STORM AT SEA. - - -In fifteen minutes or so the boys learned, by means of this novel -method of telegraphy, that in the next cabin to them were imprisoned -Mr. Chadwick, Professor Von Dinkelspeil and Captain Abe Sprowl, the -skipper of the yacht. As we already know, both our lads were experts at -the key, as was their father, and Dick Donovan had picked up enough of -the art in newspaper offices to be able to understand at least part of -what Mr. Chadwick was signaling. - -It naturally took some time to place them in full possession of all the -facts pertaining to their uncomfortable position, but by degrees they -were told all that Mr. Chadwick knew of the case. The crew of rascals -at present in possession of the yacht was the same outfit that had -been shipped hurriedly at Madeira. Either out of maliciousness, or -because they really believed it, certain members of the old crew had -told the new hands that the professor was off on a hunt for fabulous -treasure on the Spanish Main. - -Trouble had broken out in mid-ocean. The crew had sent a committee to -the professor formally to demand a share in the treasure. This, of -course, had been denied for the very excellent reason that the trip -was not making a treasure hunt. Its object was purely scientific, its -destination, that naturalists’ paradise, the Upper Amazon. But the -crew, their minds inflated by hopes of gold and jewels, professed to -believe that they were being tricked. No words of Captain Sprowl, -an old Yankee mariner, could convince them to the contrary. Under -the leadership of Mart. Medway, the bristly-moustached man, and Luke -Hemming, his lieutenant in mischief, they had been ugly for weeks. - -This led to Captain Sprowl’s bluntly telling them that on arrival in -America, to which he was shaping his course for that purpose, they -would all be discharged and new men taken on in their places. This did -not suit the men at all. Driven wild by dreams of wealth they broke -into open mutiny a short time after the professor had sent his wireless -despatch to Mr. Chadwick. Led by Medway and Luke Hemming, they insisted -that the yacht be held on her course for South America. A refusal to -do so resulted in so much trouble that the yacht had been navigated as -close to the shore as was safe, and the guns fired for aid when they -saw in the distance what they thought was the Baking Pan Life Saving -Station. What followed then, we already know. - -Of course it took a long time to explain this with the primitive means -at the command of those who had so unexpectedly got into communication. -It was a matter of vast joy to Jack, though, to know that his father -was uninjured and in good spirits, although, so Mr. Chadwick had -tapped out, those on the other side of the partition were as much in -doubt as to their ultimate fate as were the boys themselves. - -By the time it was deemed prudent to cease communication for the time -being, there was an angry sea running outside. Once a big green wave -climbed the yacht’s side and swept in a torrent into the boys’ cabin. -They had to close the port-hole and this made the tiny place almost -insufferably stuffy. The motion, too, of the yacht as she plowed -through the rising sea made Dick feel uncomfortably squeamish. Luckily, -both Jack and Tom were good sailors and felt no inconvenience. - -Night had fallen and the cabin was plunged in darkness, but nobody -came near them. There was an electric globe in the cabin, but when -Jack tried to turn it on he found that the current had been cut off. -From outside the door they could hear the buzz of voices, but were -not able to distinguish words. Presumably Medway and Hemming were -in consultation. But even though the boys tried their utmost to hear -something, hoping that it might shed some light on their ultimate -destiny, the complaining of the laboring ship and the low tone in which -the men’s voices were pitched, prevented any eavesdropping. - -And so the hours wore on, the prisoners from time to time communicating -by tapping in the Morse code. This, in itself, made the dreary, dark -hours more endurable for the boys. As it grew later it was evident by -the frantic pitching of the yacht that a tremendous sea must be running -outside. - -From time to time they could hear the rush of heavy feet on the deck -overhead and thought they could catch the sound of hoarse shouts. - -“Gracious!” exclaimed Tom, after an unusually heavy lurch had sent -him staggering across the cabin, “there must be a whopper of a storm -outside.” - -“Yes, indeed,” agreed Jack, “she’s pitching like a bucking bronco. Wow! -Feel that!” - -The _Valkyrie_ appeared to climb heavenward, pause for a thrilling -instant, and then rush down—down—down as if she would never stop. - -“Oh-h-h-h-h-h!” groaned Dick in an agony of sea-sickness, “is she going -to the bottom?” - -“No danger of that,” responded Jack with a confidence he was far from -feeling, “this old tub has been around the world before now, and an -off-shore gale isn’t going to finish her.” - -“Wo-o-f!” groaned Dick, “I wish it would. This is what I get for -snoopin’ around where I have no business to be. Oh-o-o-o-o!” - -All at once there came to them, above the uproar and confusion of the -storm, the sound of the “telegraph” at work. Jack was alert in an -instant. - -“What is it?” he tapped back. - -“The professor says,” came the reply, “that the cabin next to you on -the other side and the one you are now in used to be all one stateroom. -A partition was put in some time ago of which the new crew knows -nothing. It was so fitted that it could be moved out if necessary. -Maybe if you can find out how it works,—he has forgotten,—you can get -out when the time arrives.” - -This was news indeed. There was, then, a way of escape out of their -prison if they could find it. But with a moment’s reflection came -another thought. - -Even if they did get out, they could do nothing against twenty men -and two officers. But, just the same, Jack made a mental note of the -information, resolving to investigate. A time might come, as his father -had suggested, when they could put it to practical use. That day was to -come sooner than any of them expected. - -But until dawn brought light it was useless to think of examining -their prison. The darkness that enveloped them was velvety in its -denseness. Only by a sense of touch could they find their way about. -And so, tossed and tumbled by the violent motion of the yacht, faint -and heart-sick from want of food and doubt as to what was to become -of them, the boys passed the night as best they could. At times they -slept fitfully, only to waken to hear the shrieking of the wind and -experience the sickening plunges of the buffeted yacht. - -The first chilly gray light that preceded the dawn was stealing into -the cabin when, without warning, the motion of the engine suddenly -stopped. They felt the yacht struggle like a wounded thing as the seas -broke over her. Then her motion changed. Like a water-logged craft she -began to tumble and roll in the trough of the waves. - -“Are we sinking?” cried Tom, wakening from a doze with a start. - -“I don’t know what’s happened,” rejoined Jack, “but it looks to me as -if the machinery had broken down.” - -“In that case we’re in a mighty bad fix?” - -“About as bad as we can be. A few hours longer in the trough of this -sea will break us up and send us to the bottom.” - -The boys regarded each other with white, frightened faces. There was -something terrifying in the realization that the yacht had ceased to -struggle with the waves. It was as if, despairing of weathering the -storm, she had given up the struggle. - -Suddenly the door was flung open. The form of Medway, shrouded in -dripping oil-skins, stood framed in the doorway. He looked haggard and -worn and, at least so Jack thought, not a little frightened. - -“You kids understand machinery?” he asked roughly, holding on to the -door-frame to steady himself against the yacht’s crazy rolls. - -“A little,” responded Jack. - -“Then come with me, and no monkey tricks if you want to get out of this -alive,” he shot out, brusquely. - -“Only you two. Not that red-headed kid,” he added, as all three of the -boys arose to follow him. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -THE BOYS FIND NEW JOBS. - - -Wonderment was the feeling uppermost in the minds of both Jack and Tom -as, clutching at hand-holds and rails, they followed their conductor. -He led the way up the companionway and to the deck, with a gruff -caution to “hang on” when they came into the open. - -The warning was necessary. A wind that seemed to force their breath -back down their throats was sweeping across the sea, which, running -mountain high, looked grim and pitiless, under the pallid gray dawn. -No land was in sight, nothing but giant combers amidst which the yacht -seemed no more than a helpless chip. Looking at the sea the boys found -themselves wondering how the craft had kept above water as long as she -had. But almost immediately when they emerged on deck their attention -was distracted from the sea and from every other impression but one. - -Lashed firmly to the boat deck on top of the main cabin house, was an -object that made their hearts give a glad bound. - -The _Wondership_, securely lashed, had been hoisted there and, so far -as they could make out, no damage had been done her. - -Jack gripped Tom’s arm. - -“She’s all right, after all,” he exclaimed hoarsely, as if that was the -only thing that really mattered. - -Tom decided to venture on a question. - -“You hoisted her on board?” he half shouted above the screeching wind -to Medway. - -“Yep,” was the brief reply. “Thought we might use her someway, so we -made a tackle fast under her and hauled her aboard by the main cargo -derrick.” - -“That was mighty decent of you,” cried Jack warmly. - -“Don’t fuss yourself,” was the rough rejoinder, “it warn’t done to -please you.” - -As Medway spoke, he turned into a doorway in the after part of the -cabin house. From the hot smell of grease and oily machinery that arose -from it, the boys knew that it led to the engine-room. They climbed -down a steel-runged ladder and soon found themselves amidst a maze of -polished rods, cams and levers. But the triple expansion engine was -idle. - -Hardly had they had time to notice this, when they saw that on a -leather-covered bench set against the steel wall a man was reclining. -His face was white and covered with sweat. His hand was bandaged and -one of his legs was doubled up. From his expression of mute agony it -was plain that he had been painfully injured. - -“Judkins, the engineer,” explained Medway, with a sidewise jerk of -his head. “Condenser went out of business a while ago. He got busted -tryin’ to fix it. Think you boys can run this engine?” - -Jack looked dubious. Tom said nothing. - -“I can give ‘em a hand,” said Judkins in a weak voice. - -“That’s enough then,” said Medway briskly, as if it was all settled. -“Understand,” he said, turning to the boys, “it’s a case of life or -death. The sea is increasing. If we don’t get going pretty soon, it’s -down to Davy Jones for all of us.” - -“But we don’t know anything about steam engines; very little, that -is,” protested Jack, although both boys had, in addition to their -other studies gone in for a course of steam engineering at the “Tech.” -But that course, a sketchy one at best, had only comprised stationary -engines. - -“Well, Judkins can tell you what you want to know. The first thing to -do, I guess, is to get that condenser going.” - -“I had her going when I slipped and fell under the crank shaft,” said -Judkins weakly. “All she needs is a union on that copper piping and -she’ll be all right.” - -He indicated the condenser and the place where the union would have to -be attached. - -“There’s a tool kit and fittings yonder,” he said, pointing to a bench -affixed to the bulkhead that divided the engine-room from the stoke -hold. A glance at the gauges affixed to this showed Jack that, at any -rate, they had a good head of steam. The high-pressure boilers of the -_Valkyrie_ were carrying one hundred and seventy-five pounds. - -Medway saw his glance. - -“Lots of steam,” he vouchsafed; “only thing to do is to get her going. -Remember, it’s that or the bottom of the deep blue sea.” - -For reasons that the boys did not learn till later, the _Valkyrie_ -did not carry an assistant engineer. When the old crew had been set -ashore at Madeira there was no chance to secure such an officer, and -so she had proceeded to sea with Judkins as the only skilled man in -her engine-room. No doubt it was the severe strain he had been under -that had caused him to become careless and receive the injury which had -disabled him. - -Jack’s natural quickness at mechanics enabled him to see what was -required on the condenser after a few words of explanation. This done -he and Tom ascended to the starting bridge and applied steam to the -engines. It was no easy task to carry out these operations on the -rolling, wallowing yacht. But at last, as Jack turned on the steam and -Tom applied the starting power, they were rewarded by the sight of the -cranks slowly revolving. - -Suddenly a loud clang close by his head startled Jack. - -“All right, come ahead!” hailed Judkins, “Easy now!” - -Medway in the pilot house had felt the quiver of the started engines -and had given the signal. Jack allowed the engine to pick up -revolutions gradually until, at half speed, they were heading into -the big seas with the screw turning regularly and powerfully. When -this was done Judkins closed his eyes, lay back, and slipped off into -unconsciousness. Tom, alarmed, ran through the bulkhead door into the -fire-room. Here he found the stokers at work. There were three of them -and he sent one on deck after Medway. It was plain that something would -have to be done for Judkins at once. Medway soon appeared. It seemed -that the man, in a rough way, was a bit of a surgeon. At any rate he -declared that he could care for the injured man and had him carried -above by two of the crew. - -Not long after, the same two men appeared with food for the boys. They -did full justice to the meal, unembarrassed by their queer situation. -After it had been despatched, Jack noticed Tom’s sleepy looks. In fact -the younger of the two lads could hardly keep his eyes open. - -“You lie down on that bench and take a nap,” ordered Jack, “I’ll stand -watch.” - -“But what about you?” inquired Tom drowsily. - -“Oh, I’ll be all right. Just you lie down now and I’ll wake you in a -couple of hours. I guess we’ll have to hold down this job for some time -and we might as well go at it scientifically,” was Jack’s rejoinder. - -Five minutes later Tom’s snoring was keeping time with the rhythmic -pulsing of the engine as the _Valkyrie_ battled with the storm. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -“THIS IS THE FINISH.” - - -As Jack had prophesied, they did have to “hold down the job for some -time.” In fact, dating from the morning on which Medway escorted them -to the engine-room of the _Valkyrie_, the two boys entered on what was -perhaps the strangest period of their lives in many respects. Virtually -prisoners, they yet found a certain pleasure in oiling, running and -ministering to the big engine. Their innate love of machinery found -full play during the following days and nights. - -The gale blew itself out after two days, but they still were kept at -their posts. Medway had ordered two cots provided for them, and their -meals were served below. On trying to reach the deck for a breath of -air, after a long vigil at the engine, Jack found that the engine-room -was well guarded. At the door was stationed a husky sailor who roughly -told the boy to “get back where he belonged.” He had no choice but to -obey. - -In this way the days went by, the boys taking watch and watch, four -hours on and four off. Medway or Hemming visited them regularly, -but made no comments, nor did they vouchsafe any information as to -the whereabouts of the yacht. Had the boys only known how the other -prisoners were faring, and what was ultimately to become of them all, -they might have been almost happy in their jobs as young engineers. But -as things were, their constant anxiety on these scores outweighed any -pleasure they found in running the machinery of the yacht. - -Judkins evidently was still confined to his bunk. At least he did not -put in an appearance. And so, day after day went by and the yacht -forged steadily on, and the boys, working in the engine-room, had no -means of knowing her course or destination; for, unlike some craft, the -_Valkyrie_ carried no “tell-tale” compass in her engine-room. - -Thus two weeks passed. Two weeks of absolute calm, so far as the boys -could judge, during which the yacht was forced forward at her full -speed capacity, which was eighteen knots. It was one day toward the end -of Jack’s watch when the thing happened which was to lead them all into -the jaws of disaster. - -During the time that he had been on duty the boy had noticed that the -engine kept slowing down. Impatient janglings from the pilot house he -met as best he could with more steam. But at length even this resource -failed. It was plain enough that the _Valkyrie_ was losing speed -rapidly. - -Jack went over the engine with zealous care, but so far as he could see -the fault did not lie there. On the contrary, every rod, crank and -bolt appeared in good order. Suddenly a thought struck him. He hastened -across the steel floor to the gauge on the bulkhead. What it told him -caused the boy to emit a whistle of dismay. - -The steam pressure had fallen to seventy-five pounds. While he watched, -it dropped two pounds more, and the engine slowed down more and more -perceptibly. - -He threw open the door leading to the fire-room. In that black hole he -saw the dim forms of the stokers on duty flitting about like gnomes in -the dust-laden darkness. He hailed the nearest of them. - -“What’s the trouble?” - -The answer came with a grumbling rumble from the half-naked fireman as -he threw open a furnace door and stood in the glare of the fire. - -“S’ help me bob, kid, there ain’t more’n three tons of coal in the -bunkers an’ the boss tole us to keep steam down.” - -“Three tons!” echoed Jack. “How long will that run us?” - -“Not h’enuff so’s you could nowtice it,” rejoined the Britisher. - -“Have you any idea where we are?” - -“Yus. Leastways, I ‘eard ‘em torkin’ erbout h’it ‘fore I come on watch.” - -“Where are we, then?” - -“H’about ten north, fifty west, I ‘eard ‘em a sayin’.” - -“That’s where?” asked Jack anxiously. He knew that ten north meant -somewhere pretty close to the equator. In fact, for days past he and -Tom had discarded all the clothing they could dispense with, for it had -grown insufferably hot in the engine-room. - -“H’off the cowst h’of South Ameriky somewheres; bloaw me h’if h’I knows -where,” was the vague response. “H’all h’I knows h’is that h’if we -doan’t get no cowl, we doan’t get no steam.” - -A quick step sounded behind Jack. As the footsteps rang out on the -metal floor the boy turned swiftly. Medway confronted him. - -“What you doing here?” - -“Finding out how much coal we had,” responded Jack. “There’s hardly -enough steam to run the engines.” - -“You get back where you belong,” roared Medway, “and you, you -salt-horse-eating Britisher, you get back to your work. D’ye hear me? -I’ll have stuff enough down here before long to get us as far as we -want to go.” - -As Jack once more entered the engine-room these words stuck in his -mind. “As far as we want to go.” They must, then, be nearing their -destination. And what was to follow? When he awakened Tom the two had -a long talk about it without coming to any definite conclusion on the -matter. - -One thing was positive, steam had been raised again. By what means was -evident when the British stoker, who appeared inclined to be friendly, -stuck his head through the bulkhead door. - -“They’re a-tearing the bloomin’ ship to pieces,” he confided, and then -withdrew as Medway’s step sounded on the ladder. - -“How’s she workin’?” he asked briefly. - -“All right,” replied Jack; “plenty of steam now.” - -“Yes; and we’ll have plenty if we tear everything out of the old hooker -and leave nothing but the shell,” ground out Medway fiercely. - -“Gracious, Tom,” remarked Jack a few minutes later, before he turned -in, “I guess they’re stripping the ship of everything that’ll burn. -Hark at that?” - -Above the rumble of the engines they could hear plainly through the -ventilators the crashing of axes on deck, as the vandals in charge of -the yacht hacked down anything that would burn, in their mad desire -to reach whatever haven they were aiming for. But if the boys could -have been on deck they would have perceived a strong reason for these -desperate efforts to keep the yacht moving. Out of the south there was -coming toward them a dread harbinger of the terror of those waters. - -A sickly-looking yellow halo around the sun, a sullen heaving of -the sea, which was of an odd, metallic hue, and a queer odor in the -atmosphere, which was still as death,—all these signs, coupled with an -alarming drop in the barometer, showed those in charge of this ominous -voyage that a tropical hurricane was fast approaching, and that for the -second time since the boys had come on board her the _Valkyrie_ was in -for a battle for existence. - -But of all this, of course, they knew nothing. All they realized was -that it was insufferably hot in their oily, murky engine-room. From -time to time they were compelled to go to the funnel-shaped bottom of -one of the ventilators to get even a breath of air. Medway or Hemming -kept dodging up and down all day, and each time they appeared their -faces were furrowed more deeply with anxiety. - -It was about the middle of Tom’s watch, namely five-thirty in the -afternoon, that the boy, without the slightest warning, was lifted -almost off his feet by a heavy lurch of the ship. He saved himself from -slipping into the revolving machinery only by clutching at an upright -stanchion. At the same instant his ears were assailed by a diabolical -screeching, as a wind, like the blast from a furnace mouth, was forced -down the ventilators. It was an unearthly sound; a bedlam like that -which might have been the fitting accompaniment of a witches’ frolic. - -Jack, fast asleep on the couch, was rolled violently off it and grabbed -by Tom in time to save him from tumbling into the crank-pit. - -“W-w-w-what is it?” gasped the newly awakened boy, his eyes wide with -amazement at the inferno of noises. - -“I guess it’s a hurricane,” came Tom’s response, “and we’re running the -engines on furniture!” - -As he spoke, the _Valkyrie_ appeared to be lifted skyward by a giant -hand and then pushed violently down again to an abysmal depth. - -“A few more of those and—good-night,” spoke Jack, whose face had grown -pale as ashes. - -The next few hours were filled with terror. Medway, revolver in -hand, stationed himself in the fire-room, keeping the terrified -stokers at work on pain of instant death. Into the furnaces of the -hurricane-driven ship was piled everything aboard that would burn. -Boats were ruthlessly smashed, costly mahogany and ebony trim and -panelling, chairs, tables, anything, everything that was combustible. - -The boys toiled as if in a nightmare. Half stunned by the violence of -the vessel’s movements, sick, dizzy and aching in every limb, they kept -at their tasks. But not long before midnight the end came with the -suddenness of a thunder-clap. No time was left for thought even, much -less preparation. - -They felt the _Valkyrie_ lifted bodily upward and then rushed downward -again with appalling force. There followed a crash that seemed to be -sufficient to smash the stout structure of steel and iron into a mass -of junk. The boys felt themselves hurled bodily across the engine-room -by some unseen force. - -Then came a shout. It was Medway’s voice. - -“Everyone for himself!” - -The boys rushed on deck, not knowing what to expect. After that -appalling crash they hardly knew if the _Valkyrie_ was yet actually -under their feet. - -“Whatever has happened, this is the finish!” gasped Jack as they went. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -ASHORE. - - -Arrived on deck it did not take the boys long to realize what had -happened. The yacht was aground, but whether on a reef of rocks or -on the shore was not at first plain. Suddenly a blinding flash of -lightning showed them the true situation. The _Valkyrie_ lay with her -bow ashore amidst what appeared to be a confused tangle of roots and -low growing shrubs. More than this it was impossible to make out. One -thing alone was clear—only too clear,—the voyage of the yacht was over. -She lay canted far over to one side, making it a difficult matter to -stand steadily on her sloping deck. - -The crew were running about as if possessed. Any slight amount of -discipline that Medway and Hemming might have exercised over them -had vanished in this emergency. Some of them were actually trying -to get one of the two remaining boats over the side regardless of -the mountainous sea that was running. The play of the lightning was -incessant. The whole sky appeared to be ablaze with livid fire. In the -blue glare the figures on deck were outlined as plainly as if on the -screen of a moving picture theatre. But it was grim, real-life drama -that was being enacted. - -The boys saw Medway and Hemming, with revolvers in their hands, go -slipping and sliding across the inclined deck and rush into the midst -of the group of seamen about the boat. - -“Drop those falls, you fools!” they heard Hemming shout above the -tempest. “It’s death to launch a boat in this!” - -But the panic-stricken sailors appeared not to notice the two mates. -They struggled with the boat and, finally, actually succeeded in -getting it overboard. Then they piled into it helter skelter. Some -of them fell overboard in their eagerness, but by the glare of the -lightning the boys could see that those in the boat dragged them on -board again before they were sent to the bottom. - -A huge wave came bearing down on them and lifted the boat high in the -air. The boys uttered a shout of alarm. It looked inevitable that the -boat would be smashed to bits against the yacht’s side. But those on -board her managed to stave the frail craft off, and in a minute another -big sea swept the little boat with her load of human beings off into -the darkness beyond their ken. - -Medway and Hemming stood leaning out over the bulwarks peering into the -night. They were shouting something, but the boys could not hear what. - -The furious wind caught their words and hurled them broadcast before -they had properly left their lips. - -“Is she breaking up?” - -Tom shouted the words into Jack’s ear as the two boys, clinging to the -shrouds, stood on the inclined deck. - -“I don’t think so,” was Jack’s reply, yelled with his hands to his -mouth, funnel-wise, “she’s grounded so far on shore that she’s safe for -the time being, anyway.” - -“We’d better go below and see how the others are getting on,” came from -Tom the next minute. - -In their excitement and fright the boys had utterly forgotten for the -time being their companions. The thought of the plight that they might -be in now recurred to them with redoubled force. Slipping along the -precipitous deck they made their way to the cabin companionway. As they -went they noticed the marks of the relentless axes of the crew. Except -the main cabin house amidship, the yacht had been practically stripped -of every bit of available timber. She looked, as indeed she was, a -sorry derelict. - -It is now necessary to turn back a little and discover how the -prisoners in the adjoining cabin had been faring. It will be recalled -that when Jack and Tom had been summarily taken from the cabin they -shared with Dick Donovan, the next stateroom was occupied by Mr. -Chadwick, Professor Von Dinkelspeil and Captain Sprowl. - -The two weeks that had been spent by the boys in the engine-room had -passed like eternity to those locked in the cabins. Of course, they had -been able to communicate by means of the “Morse” tappings. But Dick’s -knowledge of telegraphy was so limited that he had not been able to -understand much of what was communicated to him. Nor had he been able, -except after a long interval, to explain to the others that Jack and -Tom had been taken from the cabin for some unknown reason connected -with the machinery of the yacht. - -Food had been served to the prisoners regularly, but from the sailors -who brought it they had received no word of the fate of the two boys, -nor could even the promise of bribes elicit a word from the men. Under -the strain of their captivity and their uncertainty concerning Jack -and Tom, Mr. Chadwick’s health had suffered seriously. Dick, too, had -suffered from a kind of tropical fever, and lay in a semi-conscious -condition in his cabin for days. This was the more unfortunate as -Professor Dinkelspeil had given, through Mr. Chadwick’s telegraphy, -full instructions to the young reporter concerning the movable -partition. - -It had been agreed by the prisoners that Dick should remove the -partition and get into the next cabin. There was a chance that the -door would be open, in which case Dick might make his way into the -main cabin and unlock their door in which they knew the key was kept. -What they would do after this was not arranged; but they all felt -that if they could get out they might find some way of bettering their -situation. - -Dick’s illness interfered with these plans; but the night that the -storm broke he had forced himself to rise from his bunk, and despite -his weakness he determined to try to remove the partition separating -him from the next room. It was in panels, as he knew, and with the aid -of his knife, which, luckily, the men in possession of the yacht had -not thought worth taking from him, he succeeded in removing the screws -that held one of the panels in place. - -He lifted the panel out and found himself looking into the next cabin. - -It was brilliantly lighted and, to his astonishment, the walls were -lined with racks in which were rifles and pistols. It was, in fact, -Medway’s cabin, to which he had removed the yacht’s armory so as to -have it out of the way of any of the crew who might take it into their -heads to form a second mutiny. - -While the yacht rolled and plunged in the hurricane, Dick climbed -through the hole made by removing the panel. Once in the cabin he stood -stock still, undetermined what to do. After a minute’s reflection he -decided to see if the door would open. But he had hardly taken a step -with this intention in view when the door was flung violently open and -Hemming stood before him. - -For one instant both stood perfectly still. Dick’s knees shook under -him. Even in his usual health he would have been no match for the burly -Hemming, but as it was he felt incapable of putting up even the most -feeble resistance. - -“You young imp of Satan, what are you doing in here?” bellowed Hemming, -with a snarl like an angry tiger. - -He raised his fist and sprang forward. Dick, more by instinct than -anything else, seized one of the pistols hanging on the wall. Hemming -paused as the boy leveled the weapon at him. But the next instant he -sprang forward as if to fell the boy to the ground. Dick jumped back to -avoid a heavy blow and his finger involuntarily pressed the trigger. - -A click resulted, but there was no explosion. - -The weapon was unloaded. With a shout of triumph Hemming rushed him, -but just as his hands were on Dick’s throat there came a stunning crash -that hurled them both to the floor. - -When Dick, who had rolled under a bunk with the force of the upheaval, -regained his feet, he was alone in the cabin. Dazed and half stunned, -he stood still trying to collect his thoughts. Suddenly there came a -mighty pounding on the wall of the cabin he had just left. This was -accompanied by muffled shouts. - -“Help!” was what Dick made out above the uproar about him. - -He rushed to the door which Hemming had left open behind him. The -lights in the main cabin were still on and showed him that the lower -part of the place was awash with water. He had hardly time to realize -this discovery when the lights went out and the place was plunged in -total darkness. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -THE CASTAWAYS. - - -Dick had a mind that worked quickly. It did not take him long to arrive -at an approximately correct idea of what had happened. The yacht was -ashore; and the water lapping about the lower part of the cabin showed -that she had stove a hole in her bottom or else strained her plates so -badly that the water was rushing in. - -Suddenly the frantic pounding on the wall of the cabin which held Mr. -Chadwick and his fellow prisoners recommenced. The shouting, too, was -now plainly audible, for above the door opening into the main cabin was -a small grating for purposes of ventilation. - -“Help! help! The cabin is half full of water,” cried the imprisoned -men. - -“Gracious! They’ll drown if I don’t do something and do it quickly!” -flashed through Dick’s mind. - -All at once he felt his feet grow wet; the water already had reached -half way up the steeply inclined cabin floor. There was not a minute -to lose. He started for the cabin door, hoping to find a key in the -outside of it, when footsteps sounded on the companionway stairs. - -“Who’s there?” he yelled. - -The response that came back through the darkness caused his heart to -give a bound of delight. - -“Jack Chadwick and Tom Jesson. That you, Dick?” - -“Yes, yes, yes! Hurry up, fellows! Your dad and the rest of them are -in that cabin, Jack, and the place is awash. The water’s gaining every -minute.” - -The boys groped their way to his side in a jiffy. There was no time for -greetings just then. The three lads rushed for the door of the cabin -in which Jack’s father and the others were imprisoned. But a shock -awaited them. There was no key in the outside of the door. Nor did it -yield to Jack’s furious poundings. - -“Dad! dad! are you all right?” cried the boy. - -“Thank Heaven it’s you, Jack!” came from within. “Get this door open -somehow, will you? The water in here is rising all the time.” - -“Yes,—yes,” responded Jack, feeling about desperately for some means of -opening that door. - -While he did so, the three boys were almost thrown off their feet by -the sudden settling of the yacht as she subsided more deeply into the -land which she had struck. - -In the darkness some object came rolling across the cabin floor. It -struck Jack’s knees, inflicting a painful blow. But the boy gave a -simultaneous exclamation of delight. - -“Hurrah! Here’s just the thing!” he cried, “one of the cabin chairs. -They must have unscrewed it to feed the furnaces with.” - -He stooped and picked it up. - -“Stand back from the door inside there!” he shouted as he swung it over -his head and brought it smashingly against the wood. Again and again -his strong arms brought the heavy iron support of the swivel chair -against the cabin door. At the fourth stroke the wood splintered, and -in a few seconds the door was fairly burst from its hinges and three -men rushed out from within, followed by a gush of water. The break in -the yacht’s side had occurred in the plates outside the cabin in which -Mr. Chadwick and his companions were confined. When Jack released them -the water had already risen above the lower berth and was pouring in -in an ever increasing stream. Fifteen minutes later and the boys might -have been too late. - -It was no time for explanations. The cabin floor was more steeply -inclined than ever since the fresh subsidence of the stranded craft, -and they made for the companionway stairs. As they reached the deck, -Jack noticed that even in the brief space of time that they had been -below, the wind had perceptibly decreased in violence. - -But the lightning still played vividly, and in its glare they saw two -figures advancing toward them. They were Medway and Hemming. Both had -revolvers in their hands. - -“Get back down below!” shouted Medway, as he drew near. - -“But the whole place is awash!” cried Jack indignantly. “The deck is -the only safe place.” - -“I don’t care. You get below or——” - -A sailor, one of the few left on board since the dereliction of the -rest of the crew, approached Medway, and pulling his arm to attract -attention, said something to him. - -“Keep back there, you,” cried Medway with a threatening flourish of his -pistol. - -Then he and Hemming turned and followed the sailor to the stern of the -boat. The group of rescued prisoners remained where they were. In the -mood Medway was in, it didn’t appear safe to interfere with his wishes, -and as they could not have bettered their condition by following the -man, they made no move to do so. - -While they stood there, talking in low tones and discussing their -perilous situation, the storm perceptibly weakened in force. Like most -tropical hurricanes it had spent its fury in a few hours and was now -sweeping north, having inflicted irreparable damage to the once staunch -yacht. In another hour’s time the wind had died down to a stiff breeze, -and the sea was no longer raging as it had when the _Valkyrie_ struck. - -“I vunder vot has become of dot feller Medvay?” said the professor -presently. “Ach! dot rascal, he has broken my beautiful yachts und -ruined mein expedition.” - -“It is odd that he doesn’t show up,” said Mr. Chadwick. - -“I haven’t noticed anyone about for some time,” declared Tom. “I -wonder what has become of him. Maybe he is up to some fresh mischief.” - -“Dunno as there’s much more the pesky varmit kin do,” commented Captain -Sprowl, a down-easter from Maine, and the veteran of many tempestuous -voyages. “Consarn him,” he went on angrily, “he’d look uncommon well -decorating the end of a yard arm, according to my way of thinking.” - -“I know a few that ought to keep him company,” declared Jack, the way -in which they had been treated rankling within him. “Tell you what,” he -continued presently, “I’m going to have a look about the deck.” - -“Be careful,” warned his father, “those rascals are capable of any -mischief.” - -“As if Tom and I didn’t know that!” responded Jack. “But I’ll be on the -lookout, dad. Don’t worry. Come on, Tom.” - -The two boys made off into the darkness which was now illumined only -by an occasional fitful flash from the departing storm. It was some -little time before they returned. When they did the news they brought -gave the little party a galvanic shock. - -“They’ve gone! Deserted! Left us cold!” cried Tom. - -“What!” cried his uncle. - -“That’s right,” confirmed Jack. “The stern boat, the only one that was -left, is missing from the davits. They must have waited for the sea to -go down and then made off, leaving us to our fate.” - -“Wa’al, cuss their blue-nosed pelts!” roared Captain Sprowl. “I’d give -all I have to get my hands on ‘em for jus’ erbout ten seconds.” - -But neither the captain’s righteous wrath nor the just indignation of -the rest of the deserted party could disguise the fact that they were -left, boatless and marooned on a craft leaking like a sieve, castaways -on an unknown coast. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -ABOARD THE WRECK. - - -The morning dawned as only a perfect tropic morning can. The sea was -as smooth as glass. Not a cloud was to be seen as a reminder of the -elemental fury of the preceding night. The sun, as it rose, a huge red -ball above the rim of the sea, showed them some things about their -situation that were calculated to give them good cause for worry. - -In the first place, it must be said that there was not a sign of the -two boats to be seen. For anything that appeared of them, they might -never have existed. Indeed, on that calm, serene dawn the fantastic -events of the wild night that lay behind them did seem very much like -the distorted experiences of a nightmare. But their haggard, anxious -faces, and the pitiable condition of the _Valkyrie_, bore eloquent -testimony to the fact that all that had passed was only too true. - -As a matter of fact, the night’s incidents proved to be only minor -matters for consideration in view of one greater fact that now -confronted them. The _Valkyrie_ lay with her bow well up amidst a -tangled mass of low-growing jungle. Her stern, from just forward of -midships, was almost under water. Even a casual inspection showed that -if the sea should rise again it was not all unlikely that she might -slide off into deep water and sink. - -But the most astonishing thing about this land which they had struck -was that they could see across it and to either of its limitations. It -was, in fact, an island, stranded there out of sight of all other land. -In shape it might have been likened to a splash of gravy on a plate, so -irregular in form was it. As to dimensions, it was probably a quarter -of a mile across, and perhaps twice that in length. - -“This explains something that has been puzzling me,” exclaimed Mr. -Chadwick, as they made this discovery. “It’s plain enough now that the -crew knew there was no land to be expected in this part of the ocean, -and when we struck they at once assumed that we had encountered some -uncharted rock and so took to the boats.” - -This explanation threw some light on the desertion of the yacht by -means of the boats, for it had occurred to all of them that if the -yacht had struck on the coast of the mainland there would not have been -such a precipitate rush to leave her. - -“My idea is to look in the pilot house and overhaul the charts,” said -Captain Sprowl, after some discussion had ensued as to the best course -to follow. “Our course must be marked till noon yesterday, anyhow, and -we can find out about where we are.” - -Whatever may have been Medway’s other faults, he could not have been -called a slovenly navigator. The course of the yacht was plainly marked -up till eight bells of the day preceding, and showed that they were -then off the coast of Brazil. Captain Sprowl “overhauled” the pilot -house some more, and at noon made an observation with a sextant he had -unearthed. After making some calculations, the results of which were -awaited with an eagerness that may be imagined, he announced that the -position of the yacht was about one hundred and fifty miles from shore, -and a little to the south of the mouth of the Amazon River. - -“Himmel,” cried Professor Von Dinkelspeil, his frog-like eyes gleaming -through a huge pair of horn-rimmed spectacles, “dey vos bringing us -rightd vere I vanted to go!” - -“Yes,” said Mr. Chadwick, “the professor’s destination was the Amazon -River, but I must await his leave before telling you what his exact -object was in coming to this part of the world.” - -“Treasure, wasn’t it?” hazarded Dick Donovan. - -“I’m afraid you have a reporter’s love of the picturesque,” smiled Mr. -Chadwick. “Yet I suppose it was treasure of a kind; but not of the sort -that the misguided crew imagined.” - -“It’s this pesky island that puzzles me,” grunted Captain Sprowl, -bending over the chart and knitting his brows. “There isn’t anything -like it marked here, and this chart is based on the very latest survey -made by the British cruiser, _Charybdis_.” - -“Maybe it was too small to mark down,” suggested Jack. - -“That shows all you know about navigation, my boy,” rejoined the blunt -old sailor. “An island like this, stuck right bang out in the track of -ships, wouldn’t be left uncharted.” - -“And yet it was solid enough to knock a hole in us,” said Tom. “It must -have been here right along.” - -Captain Sprowl’s rejoinder was an astonishing one. - -“Now d’ye know, I ain’t so all-fired sure of that,” said he. - -“You think it is of volcanic origin?” asked Mr. Chadwick. - -“No sir-ee, not by a jugful. You see, we are somewhere’s off the mouth -of the Amazon River. A bit to the south maybe, but the drift sets -south. Did you ever hear of the floating islands of the Amazon?” - -“Yes,” rejoined Mr. Chadwick, while the others said nothing, “but I -always thought that they were more or less of a myth.” - -“Not so’s you could notice it,” was the reply. “I’ve heard tell of -bigger ones than this. They get detached from the upper reaches of -the river during floods and are carried out to sea. They’ve been met -with much further out than this, and a dern sight bigger, too. They’re -perfectly good islands, they say, except for one thing.” - -“What’s that?” asked Jack, for the captain had paused as if he expected -someone to put a question. - -“Why, they’ve got a mighty oncomfortable habit of sinking. You see, -they ain’t much more than a sort of big door mat held together -by twisted roots and so forth, and when they get good and soaked -through—down they go.” - -“Blitzen! Den you dink dot dis island may go py der bottom?” gasped the -little professor. - -“Wa-al, it wouldn’t surprise me,” rejoined the captain, producing -a pipe and filling it leisurely. When it was lit and drawing, he -supplemented this remark: - -“We’ve got to get ashore, gents.” - -“That’s plain enough,” said Mr. Chadwick, “but unless some ship picks -us up, how are we going to do it?” - -“Why, as I onderstand, these boys here have a sort of -fly-with-me-swim-with-me boat, ain’t they?” asked the captain. “What’s -the matter with our using that?” - -It was odd, and goes to show how confused the average human mind may -become in a big emergency, but up to that moment not one of them had -thought of the _Wondership_. Her awkward bulk was still secured on the -top of the midship cabin house, and as far as could be seen she was -undamaged. - -“But the rent in the gas bag?” objected Mr. Chadwick. - -“I guess we can fix that,” volunteered Jack. “Some canvas and pitch -will make a patch that will hold.” - -“Plenty of those aboard,” said the captain. “Now, I tell you what -we’ll do. We didn’t have much of a breakfast, and we’re all as empty -as a whale that ain’t struck no fish. Hungry folks can’t do good work. -Give me a crew with full stomachs and I’ll take a lumber raft across -the ocean. I’ll turn to with Dick here, and cook up a good meal. The -boys kin overhaul their Johnny-jump-up, yonder, and the professor and -Mr. Chadwick can get to work selecting supplies and so on to stock the -thing with. For we may land, if we land at all, in some place where -they ain’t got no hotels to welcome shipwrecked strangers.” - -The captain’s suggestions met with unanimous approval, and while Jack -and Tom clambered up to inspect the _Wondership_, the others scattered -on their various tasks. As they worked, Jack and Tom from time to time -took a look at the island on which the yacht rested. It might have -been that their imaginations were quickened by what the captain had -said, but it appeared to them that the bushes at the water’s edge were -gradually subsiding into the sea. - -If this actually were the case, there was need for quick work, for the -floating island was all that was keeping the _Valkyrie_ above water. -If, as the captain feared, the island subsided, the yacht would go with -it to the bottom beyond the shadow of a doubt. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -IN DIRE PERIL. - - -It was mid-afternoon by the time that the ripped bag had been patched -with canvas, carefully sewn with stout waxed thread and then pitched -with a resinous mixture compounded by the captain. By this time, too, -the lockers had been filled with provisions from the yacht’s pantry, -many of them in concentrated form especially selected by the professor -for his projected expedition, the object of which still remained a -mystery. - -When this had been done, there was nothing left to be accomplished but -the launching of the _Wondership_. The sea remained smooth, but without -question the island was sinking rapidly. This made the need for haste -imperative. Yet Captain Sprowl allowed nothing to be slighted. Maps of -the district where they expected to land, navigating instruments and -the ship’s chronometers were placed on board. The professor’s papers -were found to have been stolen from his cabin, which had been ransacked -from floor to roof; but, luckily, his most important documents he -carried on his person. - -As for clothes, they could take only what they had on; for when the -work of loading was complete, the _Wondership_ carried a pretty heavy -cargo, besides the six persons who were to travel in her. This number, -too, was augmented by a seventh in the person of Judkins. Feeble groans -from his cabin had led to the discovery that the injured man had been -left behind by his companions. He was carried out and placed in the -machine before it was launched so as to lose no time later in hoisting -his helpless form over the side. - -The tackles by which the craft had been hauled on board luckily -remained intact, and by passing the ropes around a hand winch they -found that they could hoist her into the air and drop her gently upon -the water. The list of the ship aided the transfer materially, and the -work of immediate preparation for their adventurous trip occupied but a -small portion of an hour. - -When all was in readiness and the _Wondership_ floated alongside, they -descended by the companionway, and a few minutes later the engine was -started. As they glided off to the westward, they noticed that the -island was almost awash. Before they had gone five miles, nothing -was visible but the masts of the yacht and her yellow funnel. Within -ten minutes more these, too, had vanished, and they knew that the -_Valkyrie_ had ended her last cruise. They were alone on the ocean. - -Their plan was to keep on a due westerly course, which would bring them -in time to land, without fail. Once landed, the proposal was for a part -of the castaways to strike off and seek out a town or village where -aid might be procured. Aside from this, their plans had been left to -such circumstances as might confront them on the Brazilian shore. - -The bulky machine did not draw as much water as might have been -anticipated, owing to its broad displacement and the lightness of the -metal of which it was built. In fact, under different circumstances, -the voyagers would have enjoyed the novel experience. Except for the -hum of the propeller at the fore-end of the craft she moved noiselessly -through the water. All vibration and jar were absent, and the motion -could only be compared to that of some gracefully gliding water bird. - -“What speed are we makin’?” asked Captain Sprowl, who was leaning back -in his cushioned seat smoking luxuriously like a magnate in his motor -car. - -“About twenty miles an hour,” was Jack’s reply after a glance at the -speed-registering device, which formed one of numerous dials and -instruments attached to the dash-board. As Tom had once remarked, -the dash-board of the _Wondership_ looked “like the bridge of a -battleship,” what with its compasses, registers and meters of various -kinds. - -“That ought to bring us in sight of shore before very long,” commented -the captain, “I’d like to land before dark. This coast ain’t very -thickly inhabited, so far as I know, and them as do live there may not -have a very hearty ‘welcome’ on their door mat for us.” - -“We’ve got plenty of rifles and ammunition,” declared Tom boldly, “in -case anyone attacks us.” - -“A good way to keep out of trouble, son, is not to go lookin’ for it,” -was the captain’s response, “and anyhow, what good ‘ud your rifles be -in a thick forest of trees with some sort of a savage behind each of -‘em?” - -Tom looked abashed and said nothing. But Dick struck in with a question. - -“There are savages ashore, then?” he asked. - -“Wa’al, I ain’t sayin’ no and I ain’t sayin’ yes,” said the captain -evasively; “but Brazil is full of river Indians, and at certain times -of the year they come down to the coast to get turtles’ eggs and fish -and so forth; and I’ve got a notion in the back of my head that they -ain’t just as gentle and refined as they ought to be, ‘specially where -they see a chance to get a little loot.” - -Nothing more was said for some time, and the _Wondership_ forged -smoothly and steadily ahead. Suddenly the captain, who had been looking -over the side, drew their attention to the water. - -“Look down there,” he said, “if you boys want to see a rare sight.” - -They all peered over and saw, swimming slowly along in the translucent -water, a large, whitish-colored fish with a huge protuberance of some -kind sticking out from its head. - -“By the plunging porpoises of Portugal,” exclaimed Dick Donovan, “what -under the sun is it?” - -“A sword-fish?” hazarded Jack. - -“That’s right, lad, and an old slapper, too. My! That sword of his must -be five feet long if it’s an inch. Look at the spikes sticking out from -it!” - -“Jimminy! I’d hate to get rammed by that,” cried Tom, gazing down at -the great fish with its odd, bony sword. - -“Gracious! If he ever took it into his head to attack us, he’d soon -make a hole in the bottom,” cried Jack the next moment, as the -sword-fish gave a quick twist of its tail and darted ahead. - -“Plenty of cases have been known of sword-fish attacking ships,” -declared the captain. “In 1894, the whale ship _Mary Ambree_ came into -New Bedford with a big sword from a sword-fish stuck into her port -quarter. It had broken off and was rammed about six inches into the -wood. The fish that owned it must have died on the voyage up and rotted -from its weapon.” - -“That’s a peril we didn’t count on,” said Mr. Chadwick. “It would be a -mighty serious matter for us all if that fish was to ram us, either by -intent or mistake.” - -“Maybe so vee bedder go py de air up,” said the professor, a trifle -nervously. - -“It might be a good time to test that patch, anyhow,” declared Jack. - -He turned on the gas inlet, and with a rush and hiss the bag began to -fill. But he shut it off before sufficient buoyancy was obtained to -lift them. He did not wish to waste gas unnecessarily, for although an -extra supply of the gas-making material was on board, still there was -not any too much of it. - -The patch appeared to hold perfectly. So interested were they all in -seeing if this vital part of the craft was to prove efficient, that -none of them paid any attention to what was going on about them. - -It was Dick Donovan who excitedly called their attention at length to -a great commotion on the water ahead of them. The sea was boiling up -almost as if a volcano had suddenly opened beneath it. Then from the -midst of the confusion, a great spout of water shot heavenward as if it -had been projected from some mighty fountain. - -“It’s a whale!” shouted Captain Sprowl, who had served his time in the -“fishery,” as it is called. - -“Himmel! So idt is!” cried the German naturalist. “Ach! A big vun, too! -Blitzen, see him!” - -As he uttered these excited cries the whale leaped from the -water,—“breached,” as it is called by whale-men. High into the air -the huge form, fully eighty feet in length, rose much as though the -colossal fish were imitating a leaping salmon. As it settled back with -a mighty crash that sounded like the report of a cannon, a second and -much smaller whale leaped from the water. - -“It’s an old whale and her calf!” shouted the captain. “Oh! if I had a -harpoon!” - -“Poys, dot is a sight vot iss not possible to be seen efery day,” -exclaimed the professor enthusiastically. - -“Well, I hope they don’t decide to investigate us,” spoke Dick Donovan, -“I’d as soon have the Flatiron Building coming alongside.” - -“They’d make mincemeat of us sure enough,” declared the captain, “but -I guess they won’t make trouble for us. It’s mostly the old bulls that -attack boats. Cows is peaceable enough if you leave ‘em alone.” - -“Be very sure that we’ll leave her ladyship yonder alone,” laughed Mr. -Chadwick. - -As he spoke there was a sudden swirl in the water ahead of them where -the two whales were swimming side by side, the young one close to its -mother. Then came a smother of foam and then the water alongside the -swimming mammoth was dyed crimson. - -“It’s the sword-fish!” cried Mr. Chadwick. “He’s attacked the whale!” - -“No, it’s the calf he’s after!” shouted the captain. “Hail Columbia! -Now look out fer squalls!” - -“Say!” cried Tom, “we’d better get away from here. Look, the big whale -is turning on the sword-fish! There’ll be some waves here in a jiffy -that will swamp us, if we don’t look out.” - -“That’s right,” agreed the captain, “get this craft up in the air if -you can, Jack. There’s nothing worse on land or sea than an old cow -whale whose calf has been injured.” - -As he spoke, the big whale rushed at the sword-fish whose ivory weapon -had impaled her young one. Her great flukes struck the water with -resounding crashes, making waves that threatened to swamp their craft. - -“Get up! Get up!” roared Tom. “We’ll be swamped!” - -Jack turned on the gas full power, but the ship did not rise. Her heavy -load made her sluggish. - -“Start her!” bellowed the captain. “Start her for your life!” - -“I can’t! She won’t rise!” cried Jack despairingly. - -“Then we are lost. Look there!” - -Coming toward them at the speed of an express train was the huge whale. -On she drove, making straight for the stranded motor ship. - -“She’s going to attack us! She thinks that we killed her young one!” -cried Mr. Chadwick. - -The motor ship lay straight in the path of the maddened whale. As they -regarded the fury of the oncoming creature with apprehensive eyes, they -could almost feel the terrible impact and the struggle for life that -must ensue when the leviathan struck their frail craft. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -ATTACKED BY A WHALE. - - -On came the whale. She was a huge, humpbacked monster, with a gigantic -square head that looked as solid as the prow of a battleship. Every -instant appeared to increase the speed at which she traveled. -Fascinated by terror they could not take their eyes off the onrushing -peril,—with the exception, that is, of Jack. - -The boy was struggling with an auxiliary valve for gas supply which had -been installed with the idea of quick-filling the bag. But the ordinary -valve had worked so well alone that the auxiliary had not been used, -and it was jammed and corroded. - -“Hurry! hurry!” shouted Tom. “She’ll ram us in another second!” - -But still the ship would not rise. The bag was swelling every instant, -though, and it seemed that if they were granted only a molecule more -of time there might be a possibility of rising before the whale struck -them. - -Among other things, the _Wondership_ had been provided with -conveniently placed life preservers. Jack now shouted to the others to -put these on. - -“When she hits, jump outwards!” he yelled. - -They began to adjust the life saving contrivances, which laced on like -jackets. But before they had them half ready the whale was within a few -feet of the craft. Such was her speed that in front of her there was -a mighty mass of blue water piled up. Her blunt, square forehead had -raised the billow just as a round-bowed ship will “push the river in -front of it,” to use a graphic sailor phrase. - -And now an astonishing thing happened. The wave struck the frail motor -ship a few seconds before the impact of the whale’s head. The great -sea gave the craft just the impetus that was required. Buoyed up by the -inflated gas-bag the wonder craft rose into the air as the wave rolled -under her, and hung suspended in that element for some minutes. She did -not rise far above the water, but the five or six feet that she reached -was sufficient to clear the onrushing whale. - -As the huge, humped back with its ugly rough hide passed under them -Captain Sprowl picked up a rifle and pumped an unmerciful stream of -lead into the monster. - -Instantly she spouted, and the boys and their companions found -themselves in the midst of a downpour of water and vapor. But the -main danger had almost miraculously been avoided. As the _Wondership_ -settled down to the water once more, the whale could be seen rushing -blindly on. A cheer went up from the boys. - -“That’s the time we fooled her!” cried Tom exultantly. - -But Captain Sprowl urged Jack to get the bag fully inflated as quickly -as possible. - -“She’ll be back afore long,” he prophesied. “She’s as mad as Pharaoh’s -sow right now, and she won’t give up as easy as all that.” - -Sure enough, in a few minutes the mound of water that marked the -whale’s progress could be seen returning toward them at the same rapid -speed. But by this time, Jack had secured a wrench and had managed to -turn the stubborn auxiliary valve. As the whale neared them, he set the -rising planes and started up the propeller. - -The motor craft hesitated, and then like a wind-driven leaf she shot -upward. It was not an instant too soon. As her rudder rose drippingly -from the sea, the whale rushed viciously under her. Another fraction of -a second and there would have been a different ending to this story. - -“Saved, by the great horn spoon!” roared out Captain Sprowl. “Lad, -that gas-meter thing of yours worked just in time.” - -“It certainly did,” agreed Jack, ordering Tom to set the rising planes -at a sharper angle. - -“Look!” shouted Tom suddenly as they shot upward, soaring above the -smooth surface of the ocean. “The sword-fish is going to attack the -whale herself, now.” - -They saw, far below them, the sword-fish’s ivory blade, stained red -from its attack on the baby whale, rushing at the old cow. She gave -battle bravely. In an instant the waters were lashed into such a fury -that they could see nothing of the details of the battle. - -But Professor Von Dinkelspeil, who had brought his binoculars with him -from the wreck, determined, in the interests of science, to see all he -could of the battle. He leaned far over the side. - -“Ach! vot a sight! I nezzer saw such a dings!” he cried. “Oh! I vish I -hadt a camera!” - -“I’ve got mine,” cried Dick. “I’ll take a picture!” - -The red-headed young journalist leaned out over the edge of the -_Wondership_ and tried to get a focus on the furious battle beneath. - -“Look out, you’ll overbalance!” called Tom. - -But the good advice came too late. - -Without the slightest warning to give them a chance to save him, Dick -Donovan’s body pitched over the side of the craft and fell like a stone -downward through space. - -For an instant the shock of the occurrence held them all spellbound. -Then they woke into action with a series of shouts and cries that made -inextricable confusion. - -“Send us down! Send us down!” cried Mr. Chadwick. - -“I daren’t,” declared Jack, “those creatures would certainly ram us.” - -“Quick! Help him!” cried Tom, who had been leaning over watching the -spot where Dick had vanished. It was not far from the place where the -two monsters of the sea were battling, some two hundred feet beneath -the flying ship. - -Jack’s face was pale, but his manner was determined as he shut off -the engine and ordered Tom to get out the grapnel rope. This was a -rope some five hundred feet in length, of light but exceedingly strong -fiber. At its end was a grapnel, a sort of four-forked anchor. The idea -of it was to anchor the _Wondership_ in case of a high wind or other -emergency. - -Tom produced the rope and Jack flung off his garments down to his -underclothes. While he did this Tom had, in obedience to his chum’s -orders, made the rope fast to an interior stanchion of the ship. - -“See if you can spot him,” Jack said to Tom when the rope had been made -fast. - -“Yes! Yes! I see him!” cried Tom excitedly, as he looked over the -side. “The life-jacket is floating him but he looks half drowned. He -can’t strike out to save himself.” - -“The fall must have stunned him,” cried Mr. Chadwick; “it’s a good -thing he had that life-jacket on!” - -Jack began climbing over the side, holding on to the rope that now -dangled from the floating air craft. - -“What are you going to do?” demanded Tom, who up to this moment had -imagined that Jack meant to catch Dick by the grapnel. - -“I’m going down after Dick,” was the quiet response as the boy shot -down the rope toward the sea beneath. “Keep an eye on that rope, Tom, -and haul up when I tell you!” - -“Ach! dey vill both be killed!” cried the professor frenziedly. “Dis -iss madtness!” - -But Jack Chadwick was not a boy who did things without having first -figured them out. As he slid down the rope he knew just what he meant -to do when he touched the water. - -In the meantime Dick’s body, buoyed up by the life-belt he had so -luckily neglected to remove, was floating on the surface. About an -hundred feet off, the whale and the sword-fish were battling furiously. - -In mid-air the _Wondership_ hung suspended, her white-faced, frightened -passengers peering over the side, while between the air-buoyed craft -and the sea Jack Chadwick’s body swung on the thin rope like a -pendulum. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -THE SEA-COW’S LULLABY. - - -It was an anxious moment, or rather succession of moments, for those in -the _Wondership_. Luckily there was but little air stirring, and that -little was blowing from a direction which brought the big craft down -over the floating boy. - -Jack watched his opportunity like a mousing cat. As the grapnel in -which he was standing, holding with one hand to the rope, swung above -Dick, he leaned out and with a swift, sure grasp drew the lad up. They -saw him disengage the life-jacket from the unconscious young reporter -and envelop his own body in it. - -[Illustration: He leaned out and with a swift, sure grasp drew the lad -up.—_Page_ 144.] - -This done, he deliberately secured Dick to the grapnel by looping the -rope around the boy’s body and fastening it with one of the forked -ends. Then he slipped off into the water and shouted to Tom, to “call -all hands” to haul Dick up to safety. - -“But what about you?” cried Tom in an agony of distress. - -“I’ll get along till you lower the rope again. Haul up now and be -quick!” - -There was nothing to be done but to obey the gritty lad’s order. Inch -by inch they hauled on the rope till at last Dick could be reached and -pulled on board. No time was then lost in lowering the rope to Jack. -It was not any too soon. Attracted no doubt by the furious flurry of -the battle between the whale and the sword-fish, several fish with -triangular fins were to be seen cruising about in the vicinity. - -“Sharks!” cried Captain Sprowl; but it hardly needed his warning cry to -apprise the boys of the nature of this new peril. - -Fortunately, Jack kept his head and made a prodigious splashing in the -water whenever a fin came close. This had the effect of scaring off -the sharks for the time being, although had Jack delayed an instant in -grasping the rope, securing himself, and giving the word to haul up -quickly, there is little doubt that they would have rushed at him _en -masse_ and made escape impossible. As it was, Captain Sprowl had his -rifle ready to shoot the first one that drew near the boy, but luckily -there was no need of his shooting. - -By the time the sharks had rallied from their temporary alarm Jack was -being hoisted upward, and within a few minutes was once more on board. -Congratulations on his daring act were loud and hearty and, as may be -imagined, when Dick came to himself his thanks were not rendered the -less sincere by the knowledge that the plucky young inventor had risked -his life to save him. - -When all was in readiness the engine was set in motion once more, and -the machine shot ahead still on a due westerly course. Before long -there was visible, on the western horizon, a dim blue line that at -first looked like a bank of low-lying clouds. - -It was Tom who first proclaimed it for what it was: - -“Land ho!” he sung out in nautical fashion, and a ringing cheer was the -response. - -“What part of the country is it, I wonder?” exclaimed Jack. “I hope we -will land near a town or settlement of some sort.” - -Captain Sprowl looked dubious. - -“Hard telling what we’ll strike,” he said, “but we’d best be prepared -not to find any hotels or _tably de hoteys_ around, unless the ‘gators -and sea-cows have started one since I was on this coast last.” - -“Ever here before?” asked Dick, who by this time had fully recovered. - -“Shipwrecked off this coast in the _Mary Anne McKim_ of Baltimore in -‘86,” was the brief reply. - -As they drew nearer to land they saw that the coast which faced them -was apparently well-wooded. The towering forms of palms and other -large trees could be made out some time before any other details were -distinguishable. - -On closer view, however, they saw that the country was undulating and -hilly. A long line of dense forest rose, seemingly, directly from the -water. It stretched north and south as far as the eye could reach. It -was, in fact, the great primeval forest that clothes this part of South -America from the seacoast to the foothills of the Andes, two thousand -miles to the west. - -“Just as I thought,” grunted Captain Sprowl, laying aside the -binoculars with which he had been scrutinizing the coast; “it’s a -limber-go-shiftless sort of a place; but at any rate it’s better than -nothing. It’s dry land, anyhow.” - -They all concurred in this view. It was something to look forward to -after their buffeting at the hands of the ocean,—this prospect of -setting foot on what the captain called “terrier firmer” once more. - -As the _Wondership_ winged its way closer to the coast, Jack began -to look about for a place to land. At first sight there was none -visible. The massive dark crowns of shady mangoes, the towering forms -of the palms and certain stately dome-like and somber trees, shot up -everywhere above the surrounding forest, which grew as densely as weeds -in a neglected pasture. - -On a white strip of beach the surf hurled itself thunderously, spuming -and foaming up to the very roots of the trees. - -“Doesn’t look very promising for a landing,” remarked Tom, gazing about -quite as anxiously as Jack for a landing place. - -“I should say not,” was the reply of the boy at the steering wheel. - -“Maybe the woods will open out more when we get over them,” rejoined -Tom. - -“I hope so.” - -“Can’t we land on the beach?” asked Mr. Chadwick. - -“Not a chance,” rejoined Jack. “I wouldn’t dare to come down on that -tiny strip of sand. A slight miscalculation would put us in the surf. -The ship would be ruined and we might be drowned.” - -“Well, as the poet said, ‘all as goes up must come down,’” remarked the -captain sententiously, “so I s’pose we’ll find some place to drop.” - -“No bird ever flew so high it didn’t have to light,” put in Dick -whimsically, whereat they all had a laugh. - -“Well, at all events, it looks as if we were destined to have the place -to ourselves,” remarked Mr. Chadwick. - -“I wouldn’t be too sure,” responded Captain Sprowl, pessimistically. - -For some reason or other the old mariner did not look entirely at ease. -He scanned the tree-grown coast anxiously with his binoculars. - -They were just about over the crashing surf when above its roar a most -peculiar sound fell upon their ears. - -It came swelling over the woods and was startlingly like the cry of -someone shouting out in agony. - -“What in the name of time is that?” cried Tom, turning a rather alarmed -face on the others. - -“Indians!” shouted Dick. “We’d better steer clear of here.” - -“Idt vos somevuns in pain,” declared the German savant nervously. - -Again came the cry. A long shuddering wail that fairly made their flesh -creep. They no longer tried to disguise their alarm, but exchanged -disquieted looks. - -“It is someone suffering pain,” declared Mr. Chadwick. “Better look to -your rifles, boys.” - -But Captain Sprowl held up his hand to command silence. The grizzled -old sailor listened intently for a minute. He was waiting for a -repetition of the cry that had so disturbed them. - -All at once it came once more,—a moaning, long-drawn sigh this time. It -was like the cry of a suffering sinner on his death-bed. - -“It’s an awful sound!” shuddered Tom nervously. - -“Awful, but blamed human,” put in Captain Sprowl with a sigh of relief, -like a gust of wind. “That’s nothin’ more alarmin’ than a sea-cow -singin’ her evenin’ song.” - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -THE PROFESSOR IN TROUBLE. - - -“Dancing dairy farms of Delaware!” gasped Dick. “What on earth is a -sea-cow?” - -“Gives salt-water milk, I guess,” grinned Tom, greatly relieved, -however, to find that the blood-curdling noise was of animal and not -human origin. - -“That shows that you young chaps have a heap to learn,” chuckled -Captain Sprowl. “The sea-cow don’t look no more like a cow than I do.” - -“Ach, no! Der zee-cow iss der manatee,” put in the professor. - -“That’s right, professor, and I guess we ain’t the first that’s been -scared by their unholy howlings,” said the captain. - -“Idt pelongs py der family Manitidæ,” went on the professor, “undt is -vun of der Herbiverous Cetacea.” - -“In plain United States, it’s a sort of grass-eating fish,” explained -the captain, “although it looks something like a big, clumsy seal. -There must be a river some place about here, for they always live near -the mouth of streams. I’ve seen ’em twenty feet long; but, in general, -they run about twelve feet. Had one upset a canoe under me in Florida -once; but there ain’t many left there now.” - -“A river!” exclaimed Jack. “Well, then, that unearthly racket means -that we’ve found a place to land on, for a river will do just as well -as dry land so far as we are concerned.” - -“By the holy poker! You’re right, lad,” declared the captain; “bear -off a few points to the north there. That’s where that sea-going dairy -ranch is located, to judge by the racket.” - -Jack swung the air craft, as she now was, in the direction indicated. -They flew above the densely growing tree tops for a short distance, -and then they suddenly found themselves above the estuary of a -fair-sized river. Sand-bars and small, marshy islands lay in every -direction in the delta, and as the shadow of the _Wondership_ fell upon -the land below, numerous large, dark-colored animals, looking like -gigantic slugs, slipped off into the water with alarmed grunts and -cries. - -“There’s your sea-cows,” said the captain, waving an explanatory hand -downward toward the vanishing forms. - -Jack swung the _Wondership_ in a long semi-circle, and then began to -glide earthwards. The descending planes were set and the ship shot -downward with great rapidity. They all clung on tightly, and in a few -minutes, with a mighty splash, the _Wondership_ was resting on the -surface of the river, hemmed in by the dark tangle of jungle that -grew down to the water’s edge on both sides. They could see the river -winding its way seaward for some distance till a bend hid its further -course. - -On the bar outside the surf thundered and roared unceasingly. But on -the shadowy river all was silent as a country graveyard. A moist, -steamy atmosphere enveloped them, strongly impregnated with the smell -of rank vegetation and rotting timber. - -The sun was getting low, and in the shadow of the great trees it was -already twilight. - -As the _Wondership_ alighted, Jack was compelled to start the propeller -once more, for the current ran so swiftly that otherwise the craft -would have been borne down stream upon one of the sandy islets from -which the sea-cows had vanished. - -The whirr of the great screw sounded oddly amidst the solemn hush of -the evening, and the _Wondership_ began to forge ahead. It glided -slowly up stream against the muddy-colored torrent that was sweeping -down. The travelers’ eyes were busy in the meantime, taking in every -detail of the strange scene into which they had, literally, dropped. - -All at once the craft rose as though lifted from beneath and lurched so -that Tom, who was standing up, was almost thrown out. - -“Goodness! What’s that, an earthquake?” he gasped, gripping one of the -stanchions that supported the gas-bag part of the craft. - -“No, only one of those sea-cows that wished to pay his respects,” -laughed Jack, as a blunt nose appeared for an instant above the turgid -waters and gave a mighty grunt. - -“I hope the others will be less strenuous in their attentions,” -declared Mr. Chadwick. “I think that fellow must have dented his nose.” - -“I don’t care about his nose so long as he hasn’t damaged us,” declared -Tom. “I’m going to shoot one of those fellows if I get a chance.” - -“Are they good to eat?” Jack inquired of Captain Sprowl. - -“Yes, the natives like ‘em,” was the reply. “I’ve eaten Maneater steaks -myself, but they’re as tough as all Billy-get-up; however, as a novelty -I suppose they’re all right, as the fellow said when they asked him to -eat a dish of French snails.” - -Several bends of the river were made in this leisurely fashion. They -had proceeded some five miles when Captain Sprowl drew attention to a -lawn-like patch of ground sloping down to the river, which was hemmed -in by dark-foliaged mahogany trees. - -“Looks to me like that would make a pretty fair camping ground,” he -said. “I don’t know how you all feel, but I know that, personally, some -supper would go about as good as anything I can think of.” - -This appealed to all of them, and Jack ran the craft in alongshore. -The water was quite deep, even at the edge of the little natural -clearing, due to the rapid course of the river which had eaten the -bank away into a steep, precipitous ridge. The craft was made fast, bow -and stern, to two tree trunks, and they disembarked, carrying Judkins -ashore, despite his protests that he was quite able to walk. - -Mr. Chadwick, who was somewhat of a doctor among his other -accomplishments, took a good look at the man’s injuries. He found that -his ankle was badly crushed but not broken, and with care would get all -right again. His wrist was more badly hurt, but with the help of the -medicine chest which they had brought along, that, too, ought to yield -to good treatment. - -“Now there ain’t much more of daylight,” said Captain Sprowl, when they -had disembarked, “and we want to get grub as soon as possible. I’ll fix -up the camp while you boys scatter and get some wood.” - -The boys hailed this opportunity to explore the forest about them with -a whoop of joy. But as they were starting off, Captain Sprowl hailed -them sharply. - -“Take your rifles along.” - -“What for? We can’t shoot down firewood, and we’ve got our pocket -axes,” declared Tom. - -“You take your rifles,” repeated the captain. “It’s not a good plan to -go snooping about in this neck of the woods without firearms.” - -“We might get some game anyhow,” said Jack, as he got his weapon out of -the boat; and the others did the same, Dick helping himself to one of -the spare stock, for they had brought several from the yacht. - -This done, the lads set off into the jungle, promising to keep within -call and come back as quickly as possible. - -They struck off into the closely growing vegetation and almost -immediately found use for their axes. Great lianas or creepers, as -thick as a man’s thigh, hung down like serpents from the taller trees, -and numerous flowering shrubs and heavily scented bushes barred the -way. It was hard work to find any growth that appeared suitable for -firewood. Everything was too rank and green for the purpose; but at -length they came to a clump of small trees that looked suitable. - -“Now watch the Boy Lumberman!” cried Dick, swinging his axe with a -vicious swoop at the trunk of one of the smaller ones. - -The next minute he uttered an eloquent cry of “Ouch!” - -The sharp steel had rebounded from the wood, hardly leaving a notch on -it to show where it had struck. The axe handle, too, had “stung” Dick’s -hands sharply. - -“Well, by the tall timbers of Texas,” he exclaimed amazedly, “what do -you know about that? Not a mark on this fellow, and I swung with all my -might! They must be made of steel.” - -“Something like it, I guess,” said Jack. “I wouldn’t be surprised if -this was a clump of young iron-wood trees. I’ve read about them. The -wood is so heavy that it won’t float, and too tough to cut.” - -“No doubt of that,” said Dick with conviction. - -Leaving the iron-wood trees, they made their way a little further into -the twilight jungle, and before long found some trees that looked more -promising. On testing, these were found to cut easily and soon all -three axes were busy felling them and cutting them into lengths easy -for transportation. - -Jack, too, discovered some dead timber that would make good kindling -wood. It was not long before each boy had a good pile of fuel at his -feet. - -“I guess that’s enough,” said Jack, calling a halt. “We’ll be getting -back to camp. Hullo! what’s the trouble now?” - -Through the woods had come a loud shout in a frightened, agitated -voice. - -“Another of those sea-cows,” ventured Dick, “or maybe a sea-bull.” - -“No! Hark! It’s the professor!” shouted Jack, as another cry came to -them. - -“Ach du lieber! Help! Blitzen! Help!” - -“Gracious, the professor is in serious trouble of some kind! Come on, -boys, this way!” cried Jack, and he dashed off in the direction from -which the frantic appeals had come, followed by the other two lads. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -THE CAMP IN THE FOREST. - - -The lads hastened through the forest with what speed may be imagined. -All the time the yells grew louder, showing them that they were -proceeding in the right direction. - -“Himmel! Ach donnerblitzen! Ouch!” they could hear as they raced along, -tumbling over roots and getting entangled in long, serpent-like lianas. - -“What do you suppose can have happened?” panted Tom as they ran. - -“Don’t know. The professor must have been attacked by some kind of -venomous beast or other,” declared Jack. “Hurry up, boys!” - -“Better get your rifles ready,” warned Dick, seeing that his weapon was -in order as best he could in his haste. - -Suddenly they dashed into a small open space at the foot of a big -tree. Half way up this tree was an odd sight. The professor, who had -evidently climbed up by the aid of some small branches which grew -almost down to the ground, was clinging to the trunk with one arm while -the other appeared to be thrust into a hole in the tree. - -As the boys came to a momentary halt his yells redoubled, and from the -interlacing boughs above, a gorgeous bird swooped down and flew at the -professor’s head, screeching and flapping its wings and snapping its -big beak in a very menacing manner. - -“It’s a macaw! A giant macaw!” cried Jack, as he noticed its gaudy, -red, green and blue plumage. - -“Ach! Take der bird avay! He bite me pretty soon alretty!” shouted the -professor. - -“Does that mean that he’s bitten him already, or that he’s going to?” -asked Dick, laughing at the odd figure the professor cut. - -Jack raised his rifle and took careful aim as the macaw hovered about -the professor’s head. The next minute his weapon flashed and cracked -sharply. There was a shout from the professor and a screech from the -bird and it fell dead almost at their feet. - -“Good shooting!” approved Tom, picking it up. - -“You’re all right now, professor,” hailed Jack; “I’ve killed the bird.” - -“Himmel! I vish you could kill its mate!” cried the Teuton piercingly. - -“Why? What’s the trouble? Why don’t you come down?” demanded Jack, who -noticed that the professor’s arm was still thrust within the tree. - -“I can’t. Annuder macaw in der nest inside der tree has mein fingers -be-grabbed.” - -What was the matter now became plain enough. The professor must have -wandered off in search of specimens while supper was getting ready. -Seeing a macaw fly into a nest he had climbed the tree and imprudently -thrust in his hand to obtain some eggs. Instantly his fingers had -been gripped by the bird’s powerful beak, and he was held prisoner. -To add to his troubles, the big bird that Jack had just shot had been -harassing the disturber of its home in the tree trunk. - -Jack felt more inclined to laugh than anything else at the little -naturalist’s plight. But he stifled his mirth and hailed the spectacled -German again. - -“Hold on, professor. We’ll climb up there and kill it.” - -“Blitzen, nein! Not for de vurld vould I haf you kill idt!” was the -excited response. - -“But it’s holding your hand! It will hurt you! You may get blood -poisoning!” - -“Nein, I haf on a gluff. Idt cannot hurdt me. Idt is a fine spezimen. -Can’t you preak indo der tree midt your axes undt dig him out?” - -“We might try,” said Jack rather dubiously, “but I should think it -would be better to pull your hand out of your glove.” - -But by no persuasion would the professor consent to do this. He -declared that he was willing to stand on the tree all night if the -boys would only do him a favor and dig through the bark and give him a -chance to seize the macaw within. Jack clambered up to the professor’s -side and tapping the wood with his axe soon saw that it was a mere -shell. - -“I’ll soon chop you out of that,” he said, giving the wood a hard whack. - -“Chently! chently! I peg off you,” urged the professor; “he is a fine -spezimen. Nodt for vurlds vould I haf him ge-hurt.” - -“The bird isn’t as considerate toward you,” thought Jack as the -professor broke off with a cry of pain caused by an extra hard tweak -that the bird had given his imprisoned hand. - -A few blows smashed the rotten wood away and as it crashed inward, -releasing the professor, he lost his balance and slid down the trunk -to the ground, landing with a hard bump. The macaw, on the other hand, -let go of his fingers the instant Jack smashed the tree open, and with -a loud shriek, as if in contempt of the fallen scientist, it flew off -through the wood. Nothing about the professor had suffered any injury -but his feelings, and he was soon up. But to his disappointment, no -eggs were found in the nest within the tree. Apparently it was only -used for a roosting place, or else it was not the season for the birds -to mate. - -They made their way back to camp, laughing heartily over this -adventure, and stopping by the way to pick up the wood they had -chopped. They found Captain Sprowl all ready for them and a bit alarmed -over the shot he had heard, but matters were soon explained. Mr. -Chadwick had bandaged and dressed the injured engineer’s foot while -they were gone, and he declared that it felt better already. - -Not long after their return the call to supper was given, a summons for -which all hands were quite ready. It was a novel experience this, of -eating in the depths of the dense tropical forest on the banks of an -unknown river. The fire blazed up brightly and cheerfully, however, and -spread a ruddy glow about the little clearing that chased the dreary -forest shadows into the background. After all, their position might -have been much worse than it was. - -Captain Sprowl was a good rough-and-ready cook, and he had concocted a -supper that, while rather mixed as to courses, was heartily enjoyed by -them all. - -“Well, we won’t starve, anyhow,” declared Dick Donovan, leaning back -against a tree trunk after partaking of pea soup and hot crackers, hot -pork and beans, jam and two cups of steaming hot coffee. - -“No, and to-morrow if we’re lucky, we’ll have turtle eggs for -breakfast,” declared Captain Sprowl. - -“Turtle eggs,” cried Tom. - -“Yes. I saw some turtles crawling out of the water on to that sandy -beach above us a while back. I guess they’ll lay their eggs to-night, -and in the morning we’ll make a round of the nests.” - -“Wonder how some broiled macaw would go?” said Jack, mischievously -eying the German savant who was busy skinning the specimen the boy had -shot. - -“There are many mac-causes why it wouldn’t be good,” quoth Dick -solemnly, for which offense he was threatened by the boys with a -ducking in the river if it was repeated. - - “A macaw,—have you heard this before?— - At a German professor got sore; - It grabbed at his finger, - The prof he did linger, - And now he won’t do so no more,” - -chanted Dick, who had a weakness for making up limericks. - -“Stow that,” growled Captain Sprowl with mock indignation. “Now then,” -he went on, “when you young fellers have quite digested your supper, -we’ll set about fixin’ up for the night. You said there was a tent in -the ship, Jack?” - -“Yes, a light one of balloon silk. It’s seven by nine feet. Is it big -enough?” - -“Crullers, yes! Big enough for the crew of a down-east whaler, boy. We -won’t all sleep in it at once, anyhow. I’ve been thinking that as we’re -in a strange place and don’t know just what may be lurking about, we’d -better keep watch two and two.” - -“An excellent idea,” said Mr. Chadwick. - -“Why can’t we sleep in the open?” asked Dick. “It’s plenty warm enough.” - -“It’s warm enough, all right,” agreed the skipper, “but if you’d -ever had black water fever, you’d know better than to sleep without -protection alongside a tropical river.” - -“Yes,” agreed Mr. Chadwick, “there is nothing more unhealthy than -sleeping out of doors in the tropics,—that is, without any protection. -We would better keep up the fire all night, too,” he added. - -By the time the tent was up and their scant supply of bedding spread, -the boys were quite ready to turn in. But Captain Sprowl had divided -the night off into watches, each watch to be taken by one boy and one -adult. The first watch from nine to twelve was to be taken by Dick and -Mr. Chadwick. The second fell to the lot of Tom and the professor, and -lasted from midnight till three a. m. The third watch from that hour -until six was to be that of Jack and Captain Sprowl. These matters -being adjusted, some green wood was piled on the fire for back logs and -in half an hour, with the exception of those on watch, the occupants of -the camp were sound asleep. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -THE GIANT SLOTH. - - -The night passed without incident. It was true that Tom, and the -others, too, when their turns came to go on watch, did receive a slight -start as an occasional loud scream or cry rang through the forest. But -they knew that the outcry was that of some small animal seized by a -night-prowling beast, and did not worry about their personal safety -so long as nothing approached the camp fire, which was kept brightly -blazing. - -In the morning, as soon as it began to grow light, Captain Sprowl and -Jack, who were on sentry duty, went down to the sandy beach where they -expected to find the turtles’ eggs. The captain’s previous experiences -in the tropics had instructed him how to look for these delicacies. -Nothing about the smooth sand showed where the eggs had been buried; -that is, at first glance, but after a close scrutiny the captain found -various places where the beach appeared to have been freshly disturbed. -Digging into these areas with sharpened sticks, he and Jack soon -uncovered numerous deposits of eggs; for the turtles of Brazil lay -their eggs in big holes,—each one common to several of them,—filling -them to within a short space of the top. The sand is carefully pushed -back and the eggs left to hatch by the heat of the beach. - -Returning to camp, they awakened the others. The boys would have -liked to indulge in a swim in the river, but the captain warned them -against doing any such thing as most of the Brazilian streams swarm -with alligators and a kind of leech, that when once affixed to the skin -is very difficult to remove. So they all contented themselves with -a good wash in the not over-clear water. The turtles’ eggs did not -prove quite such a treat as the boys had been looking forward to. From -reading books of adventure they had the idea that the eggs were great -delicacies; but after trying them, they came to the conclusion that the -authors who wrote of them with such enthusiasm could never have tasted -them. They were strong, fishy-tasting and oily, although, no doubt, in -a pinch they would have tasted well enough. Captain Sprowl told them -that the natives did not eat them but utilized them in another way. - -At certain times a whole tribe would repair to an island known to be -used by the turtles for egg-depositing. The caches of eggs were then -robbed and the entire mess dumped into a canoe. The mass was then -trampled upon, and after a while an oil arose to the surface, which was -skimmed off and placed in jars and used for cooking and other purposes. - -After the morning meal they naturally fell to discussing plans. Judkins -declared himself better; but it was still painful for him to move -about. Captain Sprowl could not take an observation till noon, but by a -rough calculation he reckoned that they were cast away on the Brazilian -coast some five hundred miles to the south of civilization. - -It was in the midst of the discussion of ways and means that the -professor electrified them all by a sudden proposition. He had been -silent for a long time, buried, apparently, in deep thought. Mr. -Chadwick had been asking Jack about how long it would be possible for -them to fly on the gas-making supply they had on hand. The boy had -replied that he figured they had enough on hand to carry them at least -two weeks, allowing for evaporation and occasional intervals of land or -water travel. Then it was that the professor spoke. - -“For how much vill you charter me your machine?” he asked. - -They stared at him for a moment. The question appeared so utterly -irrelevant to what they had been discussing. - -“Ach! I mean vat I say,” repeated the savant. “Are you villing to hire -your machine oudt for a trip of say ten days?” - -“Why, I—I beg your pardon, but I don’t exactly understand,” said Jack, -acting as spokesman for the rest. - -“Zo! Perhaps I should ought to haf madt meinself more clear, hein?” - -“Well, you did give us a bit of a jump,” declared Jack. “The idea of -chartering a machine in the midst of a Brazilian jungle is rather -startling when you spring it as quickly as all that.” - -“Dot is mein vay,” said the professor quietly, “budt ledt me make -meinself plain. You know der object off mein trip down here?” - -“In a general way you have already explained it,” said Mr. Chadwick. -“You are to collect specimens for a zoölogical society of Germany, -and also to bring home a complete account of your exploration of the -country.” - -“Dot is righdt. Idt vos for dot I vos hoping to gedt you to make me -some sordt of a ship dot vould navigate dese vaters. Budt now dings haf -fallen oudt differently. Dose foolish mens on der yacht dink dot I come -after treasure. Budt neverdeless dey bring der ship chust aboudt vere I -vant to go pefore she is ge-wrecked. I suppose dot dey think dot after -a vile dey make me tell vere der treasure iss,—hein?” - -“I suppose they had some such plan,” rejoined Mr. Chadwick. “You told -us that your papers had been ransacked soon after leaving Madeira -and that in that way the men discovered your destination. After the -mutiny, I suppose they decided to navigate the yacht to her original -destination and then, by some means, make you guide them to the -treasure. But of course the wreck changed all that.” - -“Egzacly, mein friends. Now der point iss dis: I am here, chust aboudt -vere I vant to be. I may neffer haf such a chance again to obtain vot I -am in search of.” - -“Treasure?” asked Dick, his eyes wide open. - -The professor gave a sort of laugh, with a note of scorn in it. - -“Nodt your idea of treasure,” he said; and then, becoming very serious, -he pushed back his spectacles and poised a finger. - -“You haf heardt of der mammoths,” he asked, “of der huge beasts dot -roamed der earth when it vos young?” - -They nodded and looked at him with interest. What could be coming next? -That the professor was in deadly earnest, there was no doubt. His -leathery cheeks were flushed with enthusiasm. - -“Undt you dink dot de mammoths is all perished from der face of der -eardt?” he went on catechisingly. - -“Well, such is the general opinion of scientific men,” rejoined Mr. -Chadwick. - -“Den dey are wrong. Dot is, I hope to prove dot dey are wrong,” -declared the professor. “I pelieve, undt der are many dot agree mit -me, dot in parts of de globe der mammoth still exists. Dot is, certain -forms of him. You haf ever heard of der Spanish naturalist Moreno?” - -They shook their heads. - -“Vell, Moreno heldt der same pelifs dot I undt many savants do. He -fitted oudt an expedition in 1900 undt sought der mammoth in Patagonia.” - -“Did he find it?” asked Jack breathlessly, prepared for anything. - -“Nein. Budt he did findt, in a cave, a skull undt der skin off a -mammoth. Der hair on dot skull vos fresh undt dere vos bloodt und skin -on idt, showing dot idt hadt been freshly killed.” - -They fairly gasped as they looked at the little German. There was no -questioning the fact that he was quoting scientific facts. In his -precise mind imagination had no place. - -“Undt dot skin hadt been removed py human handts, not more dan a day -pefore he foundt idt,” went on the professor. “How did he know? _Dot -skin vos turned insidt oudt undt rolled up!_” - -“Well?” said Mr. Chadwick. - -“Vell, chentlemen, dot skin vos der skin of der chiant sloth, der -Megatherium. In past ages dey roamed the South American continent from -end to end. Dey vos like der small sloths dot abound here; budt dey vos -as big as elefants! Undt,” he paused impressively, “_such creatures -still exist_.” - -“Impossible!” declared Mr. Chadwick. - -“Nodt at all, mein friendt. To show you how impossible der savants -of Europe dink such a ding mighdt be, dey haf sendt me to find such -a creature or proof positive dot dey still are living members of der -animal kingdom. Dot vos de treasure I vos sendt to findt! A treasure -dot dwarfs into insicnificance any mere tiamonts or goldt!” - -“And you think that in some remote part of Brazil a living specimen -of such an animal may be found?” demanded Mr. Chadwick, the only one -of the party able to find words at the moment in the face of the -professor’s astounding statements. - -“I do not _dink idt_, I know idt,” declared the little man earnestly. -“I do nodt know if I can secure a specimen. Even proof vill be pedder -dan nuddings. But dot der Megatherium still lives undt roams der -forest, I pelief as I pelief dot vee are here.” - -“And where do you expect to find such an animal?” inquired Mr. Chadwick. - -“Anyvere towardt der headvaters of der Amazon among der foothills off -der Andes. If idt exists idt exists somevere in dot locality.” - -“But the specimen you spoke of was found in Patagonia,” objected Jack. - - -“Egzacly. Undt following Moreno’s death a secredt expedition vos sendt -to obtain, if possible, a living specimen or proof dot der Megatherium -existed. Dey were absent two years. Dere fundts hadt giffen oudt. Budt -dey brought back data undt accounts giffen by Indians dot showed dot if -der Megatherium existed, idt vos somevere in der solitudes of der upper -Amazon. Undt now you know my mission undt vy I vant to charter your -ship. Vot do you say?” - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -IN THE JUNGLE. - - -From the first mention of the Megatherium, the party had become -inoculated with a feverish desire to plunge into the adventurous -channels the professor’s narrative appeared to open. But the matter -involved was far too weighty to be decided in a moment. An hour or more -of earnest discussion followed, until at last Captain Sprowl, throwing -off all pretense of reserve, said: - -“I’m frank to say that I’m for it. It’s two thousand miles from here to -the foothills of the Andes on a rough calculation. You kin fly fifty -miles an hour, kain’t you?” - -“Easily,” was Jack’s reply, “but we can do better if the wind is with -us and we develop full power,—say sixty-five.” - -“Good enough. Then flying day and night, that brings us to the region -we want to go to in about thirty-five hours.” - -“That’s right,” nodded Mr. Chadwick, “but there are other things to be -considered,—Indians, for instance.” - -“Vee vouldt nodt vant to go vere human beings existed,” said the -professor. “Der Megatherium, if he exists, vill be foundt far from any -place vere peoples of any kindt lif.” - -Mr. Chadwick interposed one or two more objections and then was silent -for a minute. Finally he turned to the boys. - -“Well,” he said, “what do you lads think of it?” - -“I think that we could make the trip, sir,” rejoined Jack. “We are -well armed. We have some trinkets that we could trade off to any -hostile tribe we encountered and gain their good will, and then, too, -the very sight of our flying-ship would overawe them if we managed -things right. But from what the professor says, we are not likely even -to encounter that danger. All we are required to do, as I understand -it, is to fly our ship to a region he selects, and from that point -organize a search for the Mega—mega——” - -“Megaphone,” suggested Dick. - -“Well, for the giant sloth. If you ask me, I say—yes!” - -“Same here,” declared Tom, promptly, who had been waiting eagerly for a -chance to announce himself. - -“Yes,” thundered Captain Sprowl, “and we’ll bring that -Meggy-meggy-fear-none home again, lashed to the mast.” - -“Well, as I would only be in the minority, I suppose I may as well vote -in the affirmative,” said Mr. Chadwick. - -“I’m only an outsider,” piped Dick, “and as I’ve got no business here -anyhow, I don’t suppose you’ll take me. But I say, yes; because if we -do get this Mega-what-you-may-call-um and the professor lets me take -pictures and write a story, it’ll be the biggest newspaper stunt pulled -off for a long time.” - -“You’re appointed special correspondent of the expedition, then,” -laughed Jack. - -“I don’t know how to dank you,” declared the professor fervently. “You -haf done a service to science dot cannot be paidt in money, even if ve -don’t get der Megatherium. Budt now ve gedt down to business. If vee -gedt der Megatherium or proof dot he exists, I agree to pay you fifteen -thousand dollars for der use of der _Vundership_. If ve don’t gedt him, -I pay you half dot sum undt five tousandt additional for your services. -Does dot suit you?” - -“Suits me,” said Jack, almost at once, after a glance had passed -between himself and Tom. - -“Very vell, den. Dot is arranged mitout fuss or fedders. I gif you an -agreement.” - -“Oh, that’s all right,” said the elder of the two owners of the -_Wondership_, but the professor tore out of his pocket-book a leaf of -paper and with his fountain pen rapidly scribbled and signed a contract. - -“If I die, der people for whom I am doing dis vurk vill see dot you -gedt der sum agreed upon,” he said, as he handed the paper to Jack, who -took it under protest. - -The preparations for the trip into the unknown regions to the west of -them occupied most of the rest of that day. It was decided to leave -Judkins in the camp with a supply of provisions, as no more weight than -was necessary was wanted in the air craft,—for that they would have to -make much of their voyage by the “air route” there was no question. -The engineer appeared quite agreeable to this plan and apprehended no -danger. In a week at the outside they were to fly back and see how he -was faring. - -They decided to make the start the next morning, which would bring them -into the region the professor wished to reach about daybreak of the -day following. This would give them an opportunity to scour the country -and fix a permanent camp. - -That evening while the supper was cooking, with the addition of some -turtle steaks and fish which had been caught during the afternoon by -Dick, they were startled at a crashing and scrambling in one of the -tree tops not far off. - -Grasping their rifles, the boys started off in pursuit of the animal -that was causing the disturbance. They soon arrived under the tree -in which it was concealed, but owing to the dense foliage could see -nothing but the shaking of leaves and branches as some heavy body moved -about. - -“Maybe it’s a leopard!” exclaimed Dick. “The captain says there are -lots of ‘em about here and we heard some howling last night.” - -“No, it’s making too much noise for a leopard,” declared Jack; -“besides, I don’t believe that they ever go so high up.” - -“Maybe it’s a monkey of some kind,” suggested Tom. - -“That’s a heap more likely,” agreed Jack. - -“Hullo! It’s moving again!” cried Tom. - -“It’s swinging into the next tree. Look!” cried Dick excitedly. - -“If you saw it, why didn’t you shoot?” demanded Tom. - -“Got buck fever, I guess. Say, fellows, by the meandering monkeys of -Moravia, that was the funniest looking thing I ever saw.” - -“Why, what did it look like?” asked Jack. - -Dick thought earnestly for a minute. Then he looked up brightly as if -he had hit on a clever definition. - -“Like nothing that I can think of,” he remarked with a grin. Tom aimed -a swinging blow at the jester, which Dick dodged easily. - -While they were thus engaged, Jack’s rifle spoke sharply. He had -caught sight of the odd animal swinging to the tree beyond that to -which it had already transferred itself. - -There was a great threshing among the branches and an odd sort of -squealing cry. - -“You hit it, all right,” declared Tom. - -“Yes; but I’m afraid it’s got entangled in the branches and we’ll lose -it after all.” - -“I’ll climb up and get it,” volunteered Dick. - -But there was no necessity for this. After a minute’s interval a hairy -body came crashing and toppling down, landing with a thud at their -feet. As Dick had said, the animal was certainly unlike anything the -boys had seen up to that time. - -It was a hairy creature, about the size of a large monkey. Its nose -was snub, its eyes large and round, and it apparently had no ears. But -strangest of all, in among its coarse hairs grew a sort of moss of -almost the exact hue of the vegetation adhering to the tree trunks. - -The legs were long and powerful, and each foot bore three strong, -curved claws, like meat-hooks. It was not until the professor saw the -creature that they knew what it was. - -The animal was the three-toed sloth, which travels upside down among -the tree tops of tropical Brazil like a fly hanging to the ceiling. -The moss-like growth amidst its coarse hair was real moss, declared -the professor, and was one of those inscrutable devices of nature -for protection purposes, rendering the animal almost invisible when -swinging against a tree trunk. - -“And the Meggy-thing-um-a-jig is the big cousin of this fellow?” asked -Tom. - -“He is radder de greadt, greadt, greadt gross fader,” responded the -German with a smile. - -“But surely the giant sloth doesn’t swing from trees?” asked Jack. - -“Nein. Idt is peliefed dot he lifs in swampy places undt has a foodt -broadt undt flat. Idt is only his grandchildren dot took to der trees.” - -“Well, boys,” declared Captain Sprowl, when they exhibited Jack’s -trophy to him, “that’s a sign of good luck. We’ve only got to find a -critter like that, only forty times as big, and resemblin’ him ‘cos -he’s so different, and you get fifteen thousand dollars. It’s jes’ as -easy as rollin’ off’n a log—I don’t think.” - -With which profound speech the captain continued his culinary tasks -with vehemence. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -INDIANS OF THE AMAZON. - - -The sun was hardly an hour high the following morning before all was -in readiness for the start. In fact, the party waited only to despatch -breakfast and make a last thorough inspection of the flying auto. All -other details had been attended to the night before. - -Hearty good-byes were said to Judkins, who had proved himself a decent -sort of fellow, and who had had but little part in the schemes of the -rascally crew of the _Valkyrie_. This done, the party got on board and -the lines were cast off. - -It had been decided to follow the river for some distance further, as -the professor and Captain Sprowl had an idea that it might prove to be -an arm of one of the larger tributaries of the Amazon. At five-thirty -that morning Jack set the propeller in motion and the machine glided -off up the river without a hitch. - -With rapidly throbbing engines she negotiated bend after bend, and at -last reached a spot where the stream appeared to be growing rapidly -narrower. As a consequence of this, the current increased in velocity -till navigation was difficult. - -“This won’t do,” declared Jack, glancing at his instruments; “we have -only made fifteen miles in the last hour. If you are agreeable we will -go up now. We’ve come as far as we can profitably go on this stream.” - -They all agreed with him, and presently a hissing sound told that gas -was rushing into the big bag, inflating it for flight. Tom adjusted the -hydroplanes to a position fit for aerial use, for they had found that, -except on rough water, the _Wondership_ would float as well without her -hydroplanes as with them. This was doubtless due to her broad beam and -general boat-like proportions. - -In the midst of their preparations, or rather just as the _Wondership_ -was ready to take wing, there was a rustling sound in the bushes, and -without warning a score of savage forms burst through the jungle. -It was evident at a glance that they formed a portion of a hunting -party, for some of them carried the carcass of a deer. The others, -coppery-colored specimens, carried bows, long slender spears and -another weapon that looked as if it was formed out of a long tube of -bamboo. - -For an instant they appeared as much astonished at the sight of the -adventurers as the white men were at their sudden apparitions. They -stood stock still, staring at the huge swelling gas-bag, the gleaming -metal car of the _Wondership_ and the occupants of the craft, as if -they had been graven out of stone. This afforded a good opportunity -for the astonished party to survey these children of the forest. - -Some of them, leaders or head men, apparently, wore ornaments, collars -and waist bands decorated with macaw feathers and bits of bone. Others -were attired simply in sandals made of bark, and wore a sort of loin -cloth made of snake skin. Their hair was thick, fairly long and inky -black, their skins, as has been said, of a coppery hue. As to their -general build, they were decidedly undersized, almost dwarfs, judged -by Caucasian standards. They were, in fact, a hunting party of the -war-like Tupi-Guaranian race which roams the forests of Brazil. - -All at once, and without giving the party of travelers any opportunity -for parley, several of the Indians raised the long pipes to their lips -and a rain of tiny darts came about those in the craft. One of these -darts struck Dick in the hand and inflicted a painful wound. - -“Up, get up! Those blow pipe things may be poisoned!” cried Captain -Sprowl. - -He snatched up a rifle and in a minute some of the Indians would have -paid the penalty of their attack, but that Mr. Chadwick caught the -irate mariner’s arm. - -“Don’t shoot. They know no better,” he exclaimed. - -“Then they ought to be taught,” grunted the angry captain. “Look there, -will you? That’s all the harm they mean!” - -As he spoke, the Indians retired behind the trees and began to pour in -a rain of arrows. - -But luckily, Tom and the rest had by this time recovered their wits. -The metal panels used to make the _Wondership_ a water-tight craft were -slid into place and locked, making the craft a cigar-shaped stronghold -which no arrow could pierce. - -In the sides of the rounded panels were portholes of thick glass -through which they could witness the amazement of the Indians at this -move. The darts and arrows, and now and then a spear, pattered and -rattled against the metal like hail, but for all the damage they did -they might as well not have been thrown. The tough metal turned their -points like armored steel. - -“Talk about bein’ snug!” cried the skipper admiringly. “Why this craft -could go any place without gettin’ harmed.” - -“We meant these panels to keep out water in rough weather,” said Jack, -“but they do just as well as a protection against Indians. I never -thought they’d be put to this use, though.” - -“All ready to go up,” he said presently. - -“Then let her go!” cried Mr. Chadwick. - -The great craft quivered and swayed and then rose straight up from the -river while the astonished Indians yelled and then threw themselves on -their faces in terror. Up like a bullet from a rifle the graceful craft -shot, until it was soaring high above the tree tops. Then the panels -were slid back and the passenger part of the machine was once more open -to the air. - -They looked down at the Indians. Dwarfed to mere specks they could see -the Tupi-Guaranians gazing upward and shooting their bows and arrows -and their blow-pipes,—the latter form of weapon believed to be peculiar -to the Amazonian tribes. - -“Well, that shows us what sort of a reception the Indians of this -country are inclined to give us,” commented Mr. Chadwick. - -“But consarn the pesky skunks, I reckon that this sky clipper can -give ‘em all the go-by if it comes to that,” declared Captain Sprowl -belligerently. “That way you boys have of turning it into a fort is -certainly the greatest wrinkle I’ve struck in a long time.” - -“And it’s a use for those panels of which we never dreamed,” cried Tom -with enthusiasm. - -“What’s the matter?” he asked the next minute, as Jack struggled with -the steering wheel. - -“I don’t know, the rudder appears to be jammed. Climb out astern there -and take a look, will you? Or let Dick do it, he’s sitting behind.” - -But Dick was having his hand bandaged, so the task fell to Tom. -The young reporter’s dart wound was hurting considerably, and as a -precaution against poison Mr. Chadwick, before he dressed the inflamed -place, had ordered the boy to suck it so as to extract what poison -was in it, in case the dart had been “doctored.” As an additional -precaution he tied the boy’s arm above the wound with a handkerchief, -twisting it till circulation was cut off. - -Tom lifted the movable seat and made his way back to where the rudder -frames and braces extended behind the craft like the tail of a bird. He -leaned over to ascertain the cause of the trouble Jack had complained -about. - -As he shoved his face over the back of the craft, something whizzed -viciously past his ear, and with a yell Tom tumbled backward, almost -on top of Mr. Chadwick. - -“What’s up?” exclaimed Dick. - -“Th-th-there’s a man out there!” stuttered the astonished Tom. “He’s -clinging to the rudder. It’s one of those Indians and he threw a spear -at me!” - -“Gracious! He must have climbed on to attack us before we went up!” -cried Jack. - -“Get him inside the ship,” said Mr. Chadwick. “He’ll be killed if he -lets go!” - -“Let somebody else get him in,” declared Tom. “He nearly took my head -off with that spear. It’s not my fault he didn’t, either.” - -[Illustration: With a yell Tom tumbled backward.—_Page_ 204.] - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - -AN “EEL-ECTRIC” DISCOVERY. - - -Under other circumstances, the situation might have been almost -ludicrous. The Indian, who had so manfully charged upon the impregnable -fortress of the _Wondership_ was, almost literally, hoisted with his -own petard. Two thousand feet above the earth he was clinging with grim -tenacity to the slender framework supporting the rudder. To his simple -mind the occupants of the air-borne machine must have appeared as some -sort of demons from another world, but he had still retained presence -of mind enough to hurl a spear at the first one that approached him, -although there was nothing very demoniacal about Tom’s fat and roseate -face. - -The problem now confronting them was to coax this redoubtable savage -to relinquish his position on the rudder frames where he was jamming -the steering wires. Captain Sprowl undertook this task. Taking Tom’s -place he put on as winsome an expression of countenance as his grim -features were capable of assuming. - -“Now see here, you benighted son of a sea cook,” he premised, “ain’t -you got sense enough to come in out of the rain?” - -Although of course the Indian had no idea of what the valiant skipper -was saying, he regarded him with some interest. Much encouraged, the -captain resumed: “There ain’t no manner of sense in your sitting out -there, my man. In the fust place, you’ve got a long way to drop if -you get chucked off, and in the next you’re jamming our rudder wires. -Savvy?” - -The Indian, crouching among the wires and braces, merely stared, not -without awe, at the redoubtable Yankee, who, for his part, was glad to -see that the Amazonian carried no weapons. The spear he had fired at -Tom had apparently exhausted his arsenal. - -“That’s my bucko,” went on the skipper coaxingly, “you look almost -human already. Now come home to tea like a good lad. Do you hear me, -you wooden-faced effigy of a cigar store Injun?” he went on in stern -tones. “Come in off that jib-boom, or whatever in thunder it’s called, -or by the piper that played afore Moses, I’ll yank you in.” - -The Indian didn’t utter a word. - -“Better hurry up!” warned Jack. “We’re going down and I can’t do a -thing with the machine till that rudder wire is free.” - -“There, d’ye hear that, you rubber-snouted kanaka?” roared the skipper, -growing purple with rage, his fringe of gray whisker actually appearing -to bristle as he spoke. “D’ye hear that, you tree-climbing lubber you? -We’re going down! down! down! The next stop’ll be the main floor,—the -earth,—and you’ll get a bump that’ll jar the grin off your ugly mug.” - -Still the Indian crouched stolidly amidst his “squirrel-cage” of wires -and braces. The captain was exasperated beyond measure. - -“You putty mugged Yahoo!” he bawled out in a quarter-deck voice. “For -the third and last time of askin’:—air you a-comin’ aboard? Speak now -or remain forever silent.” - -Not a word uttered the quiet, copper-colored figure amid the stern -rigging. - -“Ve-ry well, then,” growled the captain, and a muscular arm shot out -and grabbed the astonished Indian by the scruff of the neck, “I’ll have -to get you, my lad.” - -With a strength which none of them had guessed the peppery little New -Englander possessed, the captain fairly hove the uninvited passenger -into the machine. The Indian offered no resistance. He appeared to -think that he was irrevocably doomed to death, and that nothing he -could do would save him from his fate. - -When the captain had hauled him on board, he lay flat on his face in -the bottom of the tonneau and uttered not a word. - -“Get up thar, and act like a Christian,” exclaimed the captain angrily. -“We ain’t goin’ to hurt you, you benighted monkey.” - -“I’ll go down,” said Jack presently. “There’s a patch of swamp land -yonder that will make a good landing place. We’ll put him ‘ashore’ -there. I guess he can find his way home.” - -“The only thing to do with him,” declared the captain. “Of all the -ongrateful scaramouches ever I seed, he’s the wustest.” - -Jack set the craft on a downward glide and came to earth on the edge of -a patch of swampy land of some extent. The spot that he had selected -for a landing was slightly higher than the rest and was comparatively -dry. The big craft came down without a bump, and the pumps began -sucking gas from the bag to render the machine less buoyant. - -“Now then, you imp of the woods, git up on your hind legs and -skeedaddle,” advised the captain, yanking the Indian to his feet. - -The fellow uttered a cry of amazement as he saw that he was once more -on the earth. He looked wildly around him for an instant. - -“Go on. Be off with you!” admonished the captain. “You’ve made us -trouble enough.” - -Without a word the Indian made a rush for the side of the machine. With -one bound he was over it and in another minute the forest had swallowed -up his rapidly retreating form. Naturally this incident, which had -its serious as well as its ludicrous side, came in for a good deal of -discussion by the adventurers, while the bag was being refilled. - -In the midst of their talk, Tom noticed some odd-looking holes which -were distributed at fairly regular intervals all over the swamp. -Motioning to Dick, he slipped out of the machine and proceeded to -investigate. The holes were all about seven or eight feet in diameter -and filled almost to the top with muddy water. They had every -appearance of having been made by man. - -Considerably puzzled, the boys examined several of the holes carefully, -and by the motion of the water in one of them judged that they might -contain fish. - -They hastened back to the ship and told the professor the result of -their investigations. The little man at once became interested. - -“Maybe dey vos spezimens of some kindt,” he declared eagerly. “Ve catch -some, hein?” - -“Don’t be too long,” warned Jack; “we’re ready to start now, but we can -wait a while if you don’t take too much time.” - -The professor assured him that they would hurry their investigations, -and in company with Tom and Dick he moved off, armed with a big landing -net which formed a part of his paraphernalia. He commenced dabbling -with this in the hole where the boys had noticed the commotion. -Suddenly he gave a shout. - -“I godt idt! I godt idt! Himmel! Idt vos a big vun, too. Ach! mein -leiber, I got you, ain’d idt?” - -As he uttered the last words, the professor, with an adroit twist of -his net, drew it out of the water, and the boys saw that it was filled -with struggling, snake-like looking creatures of a steely blue hue. - -“Eels!” yelled Tom. “We’ll help you, professor.” - -As the net was hauled in both boys rushed forward and seized it. -Through the interstices of the netting their fingers encountered -writhing, slimy bodies. - -“Ow! Ouch!” screeched Dick, dropping the net with a yell. - -“Wow! They bit me!” howled Tom, shaking his fingers vigorously. - -“Nonsense!” exclaimed the professor, cautiously approaching the net and -poking it with his fingers. Suddenly he gave a bound backward and gave -vent to a yell. - -“Himmel! Dey gif me a shock!” he exclaimed dancing about, while his -spectacles bobbed up and down on his nose. - -“A shock!” exclaimed Tom incredulously. “They bit _me_.” - -“No, idt vos a shock you godt. I ought to haf known bedder. Dese must -be electric eels!” cried the professor. - -“Electric eels!” cried Dick. “What, really electric?” - -“By all means,” was the professor’s reply. “Dey is fulled mit -electricidy. Nobody hass ever explained chust how idt is, budt such is -der fact. Try dem again undt maype you get annuder shock.” - -But Tom wouldn’t. Dick, however, was game, and touched the wriggling -mass in the net gingerly with his finger tips. - -“Wow! I got another shock!” he yelled. “Say, by the arc-lights of -antique Arabia, these eels ought to organize an electric railroad -through the jungle.” - -He broke out into rhyme at the thought: - - “Some electric eels feeling quite jolly, - Said, ‘Let’s run a tropical trolley; - With a motorman monkey, - A sloth for his bunkie, - The eel-lectric trolley is jolly, - By golly!” - -“Say, if you do that again, I’ll chuck you into one of these holes,” -declared Tom, laughing in spite of himself. - -“It’s a wonder that you inventive young geniuses wouldn’t hitch a tank -full of electric eels on to your ship,” continued the irrepressible -Dick, dancing about at a safe distance. “You would be able to carry -food and power then in the same box. When the batteries, or whatever -the eels make their current with gave out, you could fry ‘em.” - -The professor insisted on taking his electric eels back to the ship, -where all on board took turns at “getting shocks.” But it was found -that after a few shocks had been delivered the power of the electricity -died out. Finally the professor threw the eels back into one of the odd -pools that they had made, as it was impossible to carry them with them. - -“I had an eel-lusive idea that we might have some for dinner,” said -Dick, who was fond of fried eels. - -“Shucks,” declared Tom, “I’d just as soon swallow a dynamo as tackle -those fellows. You would just about get a dish of them down when you’d -start a storage battery in your tummy. Not for me, thanks!” - -After the episode of the electric eels Jack lost no time in rising -once more. Again they found themselves winging their way above the -mighty forest. From time to time silvery streams could be seen flashing -among the trees, and here and there were patches of open swamp where -tail jungle brush grew rankly, above which they could catch the hot -breath of miasmatic vapors. In some of the swamps were big pools, and -as the shadow of the flying ship swept over them they could see big -alligators flopping off logs in alarm. - -At noon, being over an open spot which appeared to be dry and fairly -free from brush or obstructions, they decided to descend for lunch. Of -course, cooking was out of the question in the air, the boys not daring -to risk having a lighted stove under such a volume of inflammable gas -as was contained in the big lifting bag. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - -THE MARCHING ANTS. - - -As usual, Captain Sprowl was the cook, with Dick as first aide, -otherwise deputy assistant and bottle-washer in ordinary. - -“What’s the matter with our strolling off and seeing if we can’t get a -shot at something?” suggested Jack to Tom. - -“Suits me first rate,” was the response. “Come on.” - -The two lads shouldered their rifles and made off into the woods, which -were not particularly thick in the vicinity of the open space where -they had alighted. As they had not much time at their disposal the boys -were ready to fire at the first thing they saw that looked edible. -Peering intently about they made their way forward. - -Suddenly there was a rush and scramble in a thicket ahead of them and -some small creatures rushed out, snorting and grunting. - -Jack’s rifle was at his shoulder like a flash. He fired two shots and -Tom followed with another. - -Having fired, they ran forward quickly, and found that two small -animals that looked like miniature pigs had fallen before their -rifles. They were indeed a variety of wild swine common enough in that -district, and weighed about forty or fifty pounds apiece. - -Highly delighted with the results of their marksmanship, the boys set -out to return to camp. Tom carried one of the slain porkers while Jack -shouldered the other. - -“Pork chops for dinner, all right,” chuckled Tom, who was slightly in -advance. “I guess——” - -Jack, who was a few paces behind, and from whom Tom was temporarily -hidden, noticed the abrupt breaking off of Tom’s speech. - -“Well, go on,” he admonished. “I’m listening. I——” - -“Jack! Jack! Come quick!” - -The cry rang through the trees sharply. Jack’s heart gave a mighty -bound. Tom’s shout was vibrant with terror. Could he have encountered a -band of Indians? Some wild beast? - -Dropping his pig, Jack saw to the mechanism of his rifle and plunged -forward. The next instant he came to a standstill, literally petrified -with horror. - -Tom had stumbled over a root and had fallen prone. That much was -evident. He was just scrambling to his feet as Jack came on the scene, -but already he had perceived the same object that had caused Jack to -stop short in his tracks with a sharp intake of his breath and a face -that was white as ashes. - -Looking upward the boy saw what at first appeared to be a supple -highly-colored liana swinging and swaying from the upper branches of -a fair-sized mango tree. But this “liana” as Jack had for an instant -deemed it, he saw, at almost the same instant, was instinct with life! - -Instead of the moving object being part of the tree, or a creeper -dependent from it, its supple, cylindrical body and glittering scales -showed it to be a monster serpent. - -It was an anaconda, the giant boa-constrictor of the Brazilian forests, -which has been known to attain the enormous length of forty feet. The -monster hanging above Tom was of huge dimensions. At least fifteen feet -of its scaly body hung from the tree. How much more was wrapped about -the upper branches in sinuous coils, Jack could only guess. - -As he gazed on Tom’s predicament his blood fairly congealed in his -veins. He felt incapable of action. As if in a dream he saw Tom -struggling to rise from the ground and escape the pendent terror above -him. But as he moved Jack saw, to his horror, that the anaconda slowly -loosened its upper coils and hung lower. - -So swiftly, yet so insensibly did it manage its gliding movements, that -Jack had hardly taken in the details of the alarming scene before him -when the monstrous creature’s head had reached the level of the ground. - -With its jaws agape and forked tongue darting, the reptile began slowly -oscillating as if trying its range. - -“Run, Tom! Run!” screamed Jack, aroused to life at last. - -But Tom appeared to be incapable of motion. He paused on his hands -and knees as he struggled to his feet and remained in this posture. -The horror of his situation appeared to deprive him of the power of -locomotion. - -Determined to make an effort to save Tom even though he risked his -comrade’s life in so doing, Jack raised his rifle and fired. But his -hands shook so that his aim was faulty and the bullet flew wide. - -But the bullet had one effect, and that the one that Jack least -desired. It appeared to arouse the great snake from its deliberate -movements. - -With a swift, almost imperceptible motion, its head swept forward, -and several feet of its coils loosened simultaneously from above. In -another instant Jack, almost fainting from terror, saw Tom in the folds -of the gigantic reptile. His comrade’s screams of deadly fear rang in -Jack’s ears as he gazed on the dreadful drama being enacted before his -eyes. - -But this inertness only lasted for an instant. Suddenly his mind seemed -to clear and he saw with startling distinctness what he must do. -Rushing forward he held the rifle as close to the serpent as he dared, -and fired. - -The bullet took effect in the creature’s body just behind the head and -caused it to loosen its folds for an instant with a furious hiss. Its -hideous head lunged forward at this new enemy. - -Hardly knowing what he did, Jack fired again and again. The automatic -spat bullets in a continuous stream. After the magazine was exhausted, -the frenzied boy still pressed the trigger. But there was no need for -further shooting. The bullets had wiped out all semblance to a head, -and the decapitated monster was lashing and writhing its entire length -on the ground, for with Jack’s first bullet it had relinquished its -grip on the boughs above. - -Tom retained his senses long enough to scramble out of the deadly folds -of the reptile, and then, staggering a few paces, he toppled over. As -for Jack, shouting excitedly, he set upon the body of the great snake -and in a frenzy beat it with all his might with the butt of his rifle. - -He was conscious of a fierce desire to wipe the creature’s carcass from -the face of the earth. It was at this juncture that Captain Sprowl, -the professor and Mr. Chadwick came running up, much alarmed over the -furious shooting they had heard. - -A glance showed what had occurred, and Jack, half sobbing, told the -story while Mr. Chadwick brought Tom back to consciousness. After -an examination it proved that there was not much harm done beyond a -terrible fright. Tom’s body was bruised and sore, however, for the big -snake, as is the manner of his species, had begun to crush the boy -preparatory to swallowing him, when Jack’s lucky shot turned the tables. - -When Tom was somewhat recovered, Professor Von Dinkelspeil drew out a -pocket tape measure and began to measure the great carcass which now -lay still and cold. He found that the anaconda that had come so near to -proving Tom’s end was thirty-two feet in length. - -“Vun of der piggest I ever heardt of,” he declared, “although Bates, -der English naturalist, says dot he heard of anacondas forty feet long, -in der stomach of vun of vich de men who killed idt found a horse de -snake hadt ge-swallowed.” - -“Well, ‘all’s well that ends well,’ as the poet says,” quoth Captain -Sprowl, “but the ugly customer yonder might have made an end of Tom, if -it hadn’t been for Jack here. Shake, boy, I’m proud of you. You didn’t -lose your nerve for a minute.” - -“Didn’t I?” rejoined Jack with an odd smile. - -At this juncture, a sudden cry from Dick made them all look round. - -“The ants! Millions of ‘em!” he cried. “They’re coming this way!” - -“Marching ants!” exclaimed the professor. “Annudder of der vunders -of de Prazilian forests. Dey must be coming after de carcass off der -snake.” - -“Say, they’re covering the whole earth!” roared Dick. “Creeping -carnations of Connecticut, I never saw such a sight!” - -“Look!” cried Jack suddenly pointing in the other direction from that -to which Dick was excitedly drawing attention. “There come some more of -them!” - -Advancing toward them was what at first sight appeared like a vast -undulating carpet of dark brown color. It was about five feet in width -and came onward through the forest like a coffee-colored river. - -“Sacred cod-fish!” exclaimed Captain Sprowl. “I’ve got a notion that -we’d better be doing something pretty quick.” - -“What do you mean?” asked Jack, for there was an odd intonation in the -captain’s voice. - -“Getting out of here, for instance,” exclaimed the captain. “Each of -them marching ants is two inches long and is armed with nippers like -a pair of pincers. They are coming after the dead body of that snake, -I guess, or they may only be out on the war-path as their custom is -sometimes. But in any case, we’d better go away from this part of the -woods, for if we don’t they’ll overflow us like Noah’s flood.” - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. - -“UP A TREE.” - - -The Ecitons, or foraging ants of Brazil are the terrors of the forests. -Cases have been known in which these marching armies of myriads of the -creatures have caused the desertion of entire villages. Animals, even -the ferocious jaguar, flee before them, and birds and the minor forms -of animal life give them a wide berth. They overwhelm by sheer force -of numbers. One of their columns is like a stream of water. When it -strikes an obstruction it spreads out till it has covered it. Then the -relentless march goes on, leaving behind it devastation and death. - -All these facts were known to Captain Sprowl from hear-say, and to -Professor Von Dinkelspeil from his books. Yet neither of them had ever -actually beheld one of the great movements of these creatures. - -But Captain Sprowl’s warning to get out of the way came too late. The -jungle on each side of the clearing was thick and too densely grown -with thorn bushes and spined plants to permit escape in that direction. - -Both paths out of the place were now blocked by the approaching armies -advancing from opposite directions. To have attempted to pass by them -would have been madness. In an instant anyone rash enough to face the -columns would have been overwhelmed from head to foot by a tidal wave -of Ecitons. - -It was an awkward predicament. The armies approached closer every -minute and it speedily became a matter of importance to secure some -place of refuge. - -The only one that offered was the mango tree from which the anaconda, -whose carcass had attracted the foraging bodies, had made its last -attack. Luckily, the branches grew close to the ground and it was an -easy matter to clamber up into safety. - -“Up with you all!” cried the skipper and then bent with a cry of pain. - -One of the forerunners of the ant battalions had climbed up his leg and -bitten him painfully on the calf. - -“Consarn the critter!” roared the skipper, as he slapped his leg and -killed his tormentor, “it stings like all Billy-go-long. I wouldn’t -care to be sot on by a thousand on ‘em.” - -This incident served to hasten their climb into the tree. Thanks to -the low-hanging branches already mentioned, they were soon ensconced -therein, and, as they thought, out of danger. From their different -perches they eyed the scene below with interest. - -As far as the eye could reach the ant columns extended. It was, of -course, impossible to estimate the numbers in each advancing file, but -there must have been millions upon millions of the tiny creatures. -Insignificant enough in themselves as individuals, yet in this -multiplicity of numbers they were calculated to inspire respect, even -fear. - -The forerunners reached the body of the snake a short time after the -party had clambered into the tree. Within a few minutes the whole -serpentine body of the reptile with its brilliant coloring was obscured -by the moving mass of ants. They literally covered it from tip to tip -and still fresh numbers appeared, till the ground seemed to heave with -them, like a carpet placed on a draughty floor. - -It was a fascinating sight, and the boys watched it with a deep -interest not unmixed with awe. So densely were the tiny creatures -packed that they appeared as one solid body rather than an enormous -collection of individual Ecitons. - -“Gracious!” exclaimed Tom, as they watched. “I hope none of them take -a notion to come up here! They could make it mighty unpleasant for us -if they did.” - -“Onpleasant!” exclaimed Captain Sprowl, “that’s the word and then some, -my lad. They’d drive us out of the tree and then——” - -He waved his hand at the surging brown mass below in eloquent silence. - -“’And the little ‘uns picked the bones—o-h-h-h!’” he sang dismally. - -The professor, who was seated astride one of the lower limbs, -interrupted at this juncture. - -“Here iss luck!” he exclaimed. “Look, mein friends! I catch a fine -spezimen!” - -He held up in triumph the body of an ant that he had caught climbing -up the trunk. It was fully two inches long and armed with a pair of -immense forceps as related to the rest of its structure. - -“Did that ant climb up the tree?” demanded the captain sharply. - -“Ches! You didn’t dink dot it flewed up, hein?” asked the professor, -popping the dead ant into his specimen box. - -The boys laughed at this example of Teutonic wit. But Captain Sprowl -did not appear amused. Instead he gave vent to a low whistle that -sounded somehow indicative of dismay. - -“What’s the matter?” asked Jack. - -The captain, who sat next him on a bough above that occupied by the -professor, placed his mouth close to Jack’s ear. - -“Don’t say anything or scare the others,” he said earnestly in a hoarse -whisper, “but if many of them takes a notion to climb this tree our -name is D-E-N-N-I-S, Dennis.” - -There came a sudden cry from the professor. - -“Ach! here come some more. See, dey chase dot lizard oop der tree. -Vunderful! If I haf not see it, I not belief idt!” - -He drew out a fair-sized flask and dropped some liquid on the two ants -he had just succeeded in capturing. - -The ants shriveled up instantly. The touch of the stuff had killed them. - -“What’s that stuff?” asked Captain Sprowl sharply. - -“Ah! Idt iss a new sordt of insect killer,” cried the professor -triumphantly; “der invention of a Cherman. Idt iss too powerful for -ortinary use. Idt is only soldt to naturalists.” - -“Say, let me have that bottle a minute, will you?” exclaimed the -captain quickly. - -“Der boddle? Vot for?” - -“’Cause in about ten minutes, if we don’t do something to keep ‘em off, -the ants is going to be as thick in this tree as they are below,” was -the sharp reply. “Look down there now. They’re coming already. Jack, -get down below and lend the professor a hand to keep them off.” - -Jack did as he was told. He saw that the captain had conceived some -plan of using the insect killer in case of an attack by the ants; and -he soon realized that the situation called for quick and decisive -action. Within a few minutes of his joining the professor, it was all -he could do to brush back the invaders. His hands were stung fearfully; -but both he and the professor kept bravely at their task. - -“Keep ‘em back! I’ll be thar in a minute,” hailed Captain Sprowl, while -a strong smell of chemicals filled the air. - -With hands that bled from the tiny, powerful forceps of the invading -ants, Jack and the savant kept at their task. But it was growing too -much for them. In overwhelming numbers the tiny creatures were swamping -them like an approaching tide. - -“Hurry up!” cried Jack, “we can’t do much more.” - -“Himmel! Dey are gedding vurse undt vurse!” roared the professor. “Ach! -mein poor handts!” - -“Never mind your hands,” admonished Jack, “we must keep them back.” - -But every second the tree trunk grew more thickly covered with the -ferocious little creatures. Beneath the circle that Jack and the -professor managed to keep clear, they swarmed and surged furiously. -Escape was out of the question. The travelers were going through an -experience that has befallen many a castaway of the jungle. Bones have -been found by searching parties, picked clean of flesh and bleaching, -after the passing of an army of the marching ants. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. - -THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CAPTAIN. - - -In the meantime Captain Sprowl had obtained the loan of their -handkerchiefs from Mr. Chadwick and Dick Donovan. He knotted his own -ample bandana to the others and then saturated them with liquid from -the professor’s bottle. This done, he lowered the dripping, reeking -string of handkerchiefs to Jack. - -“Tie this around the trunk of the tree,” he said. “When the ants hit -it, it’ll keep ‘em back. It was like this that they used to put wool -round trees to keep the caterpillars off, back home.” - -“Do you think it will work?” asked Jack anxiously, for the situation -was becoming critical. It seemed almost unthinkable that they could be -in actual peril of their lives from creatures not much bigger than -a good-sized bluebottle fly. And yet a jaguar would have been a less -dangerous foe than these myriads of tiny creatures, with ten times a -jaguar’s ferocity in their minute make-ups. - -“Well, boy, if it don’t work, it’s all up with us,” declared the -captain solemnly. - -Aided by the professor, who at once saw the utility of the contrivance, -Jack managed to tie the bandage of handkerchiefs around the tree-trunk. - -“When it gets dry, douse it with some more of this stuff,” said the -captain, handing down the bottle of chemicals. - -With an eagerness that may be imagined Jack and the professor watched -the first ants that swarmed up the barricade of handkerchiefs. They -dropped like files of soldiers storming a fortress wall that bristles -with machine guns. Thousands and thousands of them fell from the tree -as they encountered the poison-soaked bandage; but still the swelling -ranks behind pushed the vanguard on. - -From time to time Jack moistened the bandage afresh, and after what -appeared to be an eternity of waiting the ants began to slacken in -their attack. By slow degrees they retreated till only the masses on -the ground were left. - -“Scatter some of the stuff among ‘em!” called Captain Sprowl. - -Jack spattered the rest of the contents of the bottle over the still -swarming myriads on the ground. Wherever it fell an immense patch of -dead ants instantly appeared. But at last it was exhausted. Luckily -the ants appeared to be reforming for another march, and yet it was a -long time before it was deemed safe to descend. When they did so, a -strange sight met their eyes. They had been imprisoned in the tree for -not much more than two hours. Yet in that space of time the ants had -literally cleaned the bones of the dead snake and wrought havoc with -the carcasses of the pigs. - -“Lucky thing you had that bottle along, professor,” remarked Captain -Sprowl, soberly. He added nothing more. He did not need to. They could -all supply the alternative for themselves. - -A hasty return was made to the _Wondership_ where they found everything -as they had left it. A hurried meal was then eaten, and within half an -hour they were once more on the wing. - -All the afternoon they maintained steady flight toward the westward, -and that evening beheld a magnificent sunset. Great masses of gold, -purple and scarlet cloud were piled up like dream palaces in the west. -Beneath this _Fata Morgana_ of surpassing brilliancy, lay a line of -deeper purple, like the crest of an advancing billow. - -“See that?” asked Mr. Chadwick, pointing out this darker line. - -They all nodded. - -“Well, take good notice of it, for that is our first sight of the -Andes,” responded Jack’s father. - -The words held a thrill. Somewhere in the foothills of that vast and -historic range, if the professor’s theories were not all at fault, -roamed a beast that had somehow survived the march of the ages. -Over toward that sunset, too, had they but known it, strange, wild -adventures awaited them. But no idea of what the future held was in the -minds of Jack and Tom as they tramped off in search of wood for the -evening fire, after the machine had been brought to earth in a stretch -of rocky ground, bordered by a river on one side. On the other fell the -sombre shades of the melancholy forests. - -The boys made for the edge of the river where patches of small trees -grew. Here they were more likely to find the firewood for which they -were searching than amongst the towering forest giants. - -The stream was a melancholy, slow-flowing, muddy water course. On -the opposite bank grew mighty trees with a tangle of jungle about -their roots, and with long pendant creepers trailing down into the -chocolate-colored river. In the evening air a dank, unwholesome smell -pervaded the atmosphere. Some gray herons flapped heavily up from the -muddy banks as they approached, and an alligator slipped off a log and -glided into the water. - -What was their surprise, then, in this desolate spot, which they -had good reason to suppose they were the first to invade since the -beginning of time, when on the bank they perceived a large canoe. It -was a clumsily-built dug-out of unusual size, and as the boys got -closer to it they soon saw that it was long since it had been used. One -side was rotted away and green slimy ooze, gendered by the rank mud, -had overgrown it from stem to stern. - -Inside it was a big earthen jar, which might at one time have contained -water or food, more probably the latter. A broken paddle was near it -and another object which the boys did not investigate just then. For -something else had attracted their attention. - -This latter was the sight of several bones, undoubtedly human, that lay -by the side of the mouldering canoe. Evidently the bones were all that -remained of the navigators of the ill-fated craft; but whether they had -met their death at the hands of a human enemy, or had fallen prey to a -jaguar or alligator the boys were, of course, unable to decide. - -“Ugh! This place gives me the shudders,” exclaimed Jack, turning away. -“Let’s get busy over that wood and go back.” - -“Right you are; but let’s have a look at what else there is in the -canoe first,” rejoined Tom. - -“That’s so. We might as well look. After all, it may afford us a clew -to the fate of the poor devils whose bones lie yonder,” replied Jack. - -The bottom of the canoe was inch deep in slimy ooze, and out of the -stuff the boys excavated a skin bag containing some hard objects and an -odd little figure of a squatting man, with a hideously deformed face, -fixed in a perpetual laugh. This little idol, for such unquestionably -the thing was, was about as ingenious a bit of hideousness as could -be imagined. It was not more than a foot high, and was wrought out of -greenish stone. It was carved in a squatting position with the legs -tucked under a fat body, tailor-fashion. - -But it was the face, tiny as it was, that sent a chill through the -boys’ veins. There was something diabolical in that frozen laugh. It -was as if the miniature god was mocking all mankind with a grin of -bitter irony. - -“Nice little thing to have about the house on the long winter -evenings,” chuckled Tom. “Cheer a fellow up when he felt blue, wouldn’t -it—not?” - -“I suppose the folks it belonged to held it in enough veneration,” -rejoined Jack, holding the hideous little figure up in the dying light. -“Anyhow, the fact that it was in the canoe shows that those chaps must -have been killed by an animal or a ‘gator. If natives had finished them -off, they wouldn’t have left this thing in the canoe.” - -“Unless they were scared of it,” commented Tom; “it’s enough to give -anyone the shudders.” - -“It’s not ornamental certainly; but it’ll make a bully souvenir of the -trip. What’s in the bag, I wonder?” - -“Don’t know, I’ve put it in my pocket. We’ll take a look at it when -we get back to camp. Right now our job is to get busy with the axes. -They’ll think we’ve run into more trouble if we don’t hurry up.” - -Acting on Tom’s suggestion, they were soon making chips fly, and in a -short time had wood enough for a cooking fire. The night was too warm -for there to be any necessity of a bigger blaze; especially as they -meant to resume their journey immediately after the evening meal. - -There was so much to be discussed at supper that the boys did not have -an opportunity to bring up the subject of their finds till afterward. -Then they told of their discoveries, and Jack proudly exhibited his -idol. The professor pronounced it to be of ancient workmanship, perhaps -the handiwork of some vanished race. Some hieroglyphics were inscribed -on its base, but what they stood for the professor, although a man -learned in such matters, was unable to decipher. He declared that the -characters did not even approximate any known form of hieroglyphics. - -“Well, anyhow, he’ll make a fine mascot,” declared Jack; “we’ll call -him Billikin and hang him in the front of the flying auto for good -luck.” - -This was hailed as a good idea, and amidst much laughter Mr. Billikin -was secured to one of the forward stanchions of the _Wondership_. - -“But say, how about that bag of yours?” demanded Jack of Tom as soon -as the mascot had been triced up. - -“Let’s have a look at it right now,” said Tom, pulling it from his -pocket. - -The pouch was made of some sort of skin. Mildew had all but obscured -some markings on it that had apparently once stood out in brilliant -colors. It was fringed and evidently had been wrought with much care. -Tom shook it and the contents rattled. - -“Give you three guesses,” he cried. - -“Bullets,” came from Dick. - -“Reckon that’s right,” grunted the captain; “some of those chaps may -have had an old muzzle loader.” - -“Sounds like rocks,” was Jack’s guess, “roll them out, Tom.” - -Standing close to the firelight, Tom opened the bag and shook its -contents into his open palm. Six octagonal objects rolled out. - -The next instant there was a simultaneous gasp from every member of the -party. - -“Diamonds!” shouted Captain Sprowl, the first to recover his breath. - -“Yes, and such diamonds as are rarely seen,” cried Mr. Chadwick. “Why, -Tom, lad, you’ve found a fortune!” - -“Supposin’ they’re fakes like those colored gems we got in Yucatan?” -said the practical Tom, holding up one of the stones so that the -firelight was reflected from it in a myriad prismatic tints. Its -brilliance was fairly dazzling. - -“If they’re fakes,” declared the captain solemnly, “I’ll tell you what -I’ll do.” - -“Well?” said Jack. - -“I’ll eat ‘em without sass, by ginger!” exploded the mariner. “Boys, if -them ain’t ‘gems of purest ray serene,’ as the poet says, you may call -me a double, doll-goshed, Sauerkrauter!” - -“Rather than call you any such names,” laughed Mr. Chadwick, “we’ll -assume that they are veritable diamonds. Tom, congratulations; you’re a -millionaire.” - -“You mean _we’re_ millionaires—or at any rate thousandaires,” retorted -Tom. “You don’t suppose I’m going to hog them all, do you?” - -“Vell, for my pardt, if I can findt idt a Megatherium, I vouldn’t -exchange him for a bucketful of diamonts,” declared the professor. - -“Well, at any rate, the stones will do us no good till we can return to -civilization,” said Mr. Chadwick, decisively. “They’re of not so much -good here as a tin of corned beef. And so, gentlemen, if you are ready -we may as well be pressing on.” - -“Suits me,” declared the captain, “but I’d suggest that one of us takes -care of them gems. Mr. Chadwick, you take ‘em. If that boy keeps ‘em, -he’ll be giving ‘em to an anaconda or something before we get through.” - -“I guess you can take better care of them than I can at that, uncle,” -said Tom, willingly handing over the bag to Mr. Chadwick, “although I -don’t think there’s any chance of my getting mixed up with any more big -snakes. I’ll keep too bright a lookout in future for that to happen.” - -Mr. Chadwick placed the gems in a pocketed belt that he wore under his -other garments and which he used for the safekeeping of his money and -other valuables. - -As the flying auto shot up from the ground and continued on its -westerly course, there arose above the steady drone of the engine an -odd, screaming sort of sound. At first the boys thought it proceeded -from some defective bit of machinery or some part of the motor that was -out of order. It was Dick’s sharp ears that traced the sound to its -true source. - -“It’s the wind rushing into old Billikin’s mouth,” he exclaimed. - -“Hoo-oo-oo-oo-oo!” responded the idol, the purpose of whose open jaws -now became apparent. Possibly the priests of the ancient idol used to -swing him through the air, thus producing the queer sound that held a -note of menace in its dreary wail. As the ship rushed on faster through -the night the voice of the idol became louder and more strident. - -“Whoo-oo-oo-oo-oo?” it seemed to demand. - -“Who, you grinning old Billikin?” cried Tom, gleefully. “Why, _us_, you -howling monstrosity. You’re going to bring us luck, do you hear?” - -The only reply to his outburst was the melancholy, banshee-like wail of -the queer image. - -“I dunno know about luck,” muttered the captain to himself; “all I -know is that that blamed thing gives me the shivers.” - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. - -THE LION’S MOUTH. - - -The travelers took turns at brief snatches of sleep during the night. -The course was due west and there was nothing to be done but to keep -the flying craft on its track. Above them the soft tropic stars shone -brilliantly. Beneath the flying car was immeasurable blackness. The -altitude set by Jack when Tom relieved him at the wheel at midnight -was twenty-five hundred feet. This height was maintained throughout -the hours of darkness, Tom gauging his height by the barograph, which -was, like the other instruments, illumined by a shaded electric light. -The side lights or the blindingly bright electric searchlight were not -used, as it was not deemed advisable to attract any attention to the -flying craft needlessly, and for all they knew they might be flying -into the country of hostile tribes. - -At last the dawn began to flush redly behind Tom’s back. In less -than half an hour it was broad day. What a sight met their eyes! For -sublimity and beauty it was the most powerfully impressive any of -them had ever beheld. Possibly the height from which they surveyed it -lent it additional charm; but even the stolid captain was moved to -exclamations of admiration. - -Before them were wooded slopes covered with verdure of the most -brilliant green. Amidst this verdant carpet were patches of cleared -land on which grew what resembled corn. In other cleared patches other -crops were flourishing. Directly under their keel was the mighty -forest, stretching, as they knew, without interruption to the coast, -two thousand miles away. - -Beyond the wooded slopes the ground rose abruptly upward, piling -skyward in ever increasing majesty and ruggedness to where, sharply -outlined against the flawless blue sky, were the sharp peaks of -the mighty Andes. The foothills beyond the fruitful slopes already -mentioned were, curiously enough, almost bare of vegetation, save for -here and there an isolated clump of trees. - -Their slopes were cut up and criss-crossed by gullies of unknown depth, -and bore the scars of what appeared to be volcanic action. From a small -peak not far off, and glaringly conspicuous by its height amidst the -other slowly rising foothills, smoke was curling upward in a yellowish -column. - -But it was the country below them that occupied their immediate -attention. From the cultivated patches it was evident that they were -flying above a region inhabited by a thrifty race of Indians. The point -was, were the inhabitants friendly, or were they like many tribes of -the upper basin of the Amazon, possessed of an unalterable hatred of -the white man? Much hinged on the answer to these questions. - -As they flew along, the question of descending was discussed at length, -and they finally, on motion of Captain Sprowl, reached the conclusion -that they would descend. But the gas was not to be exhausted from the -bag, and in case of attack they were to be ready for instant flight. To -attempt to oppose the Indians in their own territory would be folly of -the worst sort. It was, therefore, agreed that in case they encountered -hostility they were to make discretion the better part of valor and -seek safety in the upper air. - -They had hardly concluded their consultation before, below them, they -saw a large village. It was arranged in the form of a circle, the huts, -mostly thatched with palm leaves, with walls of the same material, -converging to a common centre. It was, in fact, much as if the huts -had been the spokes of a wheel, the hub of which was formed by a more -pretentious structure, built, apparently, of blocks of rough stone, -probably quarried in the volcanic-looking foothills. - -From the village, roads and paths could be seen through the forest in -every direction, leading to the fields. As the ship flew, droning like -a giant beetle, above the village, its inhabitants were thrown into -much the same flurry as possesses a chicken yard when the shadow of a -hawk floats across it. - -Men, women and children could be seen running from the huts and -standing with upturned faces gazing at the monstrous creature of the -skies. They could see that most of the men carried spears and bows, and -through the glasses they also made out that many of them were armed -with bamboo blow-pipes peculiar to the Amazonian tribes. - -“Well, what do you think of the prospects?” asked Mr. Chadwick, turning -to the skipper, who had been using the binoculars. - -“I reckon it’ll be all right to go down,” rejoined the captain slowly, -“but have Tom and Dick get the rifles ready first. Have them out of -sight but handy and ready for instant use. We may have a tussle; but -if we want to get any reliable information about them elephant sloths -we’ve got to get it from Injuns. Otherwise, we might hunt about here -for twenty years without getting any closer to the critter.” - -Jack swung the flying craft in big, lazy circles, while Tom and Dick -slipped magazines into the automatics and placed fresh ones ready to -use in case there was any necessity. The weapons were then laid out -of sight, as they had no wish to antagonize the Indians by a show of -force. When all these preparations were concluded Captain Sprowl, who, -by common consent, was leader of the adventurers at this stage of their -travels, gave the word to descend. - -There was a patch of cleared ground outside the village and Jack -aimed the great flying auto toward this. By this time the crowd had -increased till the village was swarming with humanity. Suddenly, as -they shot downward, they saw an odd procession emerge from the central -building. Several men in scarlet robes appeared, escorting a tall man -dressed entirely in white. - -“That’s the king, or chief, or whatever they call him, I reckon,” -remarked Captain Sprowl. “If we can make a hit with his nibs, we’re all -right.” - -“Wonder what those red fellows that look like bottles of chili-sauce, -are?” asked Dick, the inquisitive. - -“Priests, I guess, or suthin of that nature,” was the reply of the -captain, “and say, young fellow, you don’t want to get disrespectful -among these folks. They might resent it and their resentment takes the -form of a spear in the ribs.” - -The flying auto came to the ground as easily as usual; but Jack -experienced some difficulty in clearing a path for his landing. Far -from running from the machine, which must have been the strangest they -had ever seen, the natives appeared to be more curious than alarmed. -They crowded about it and several narrowly escaped being run over. - -“I don’t much like the look of this,” muttered the captain to Mr. -Chadwick. “They don’t scare worth a cent, and that’s a bad sign. Look -at ‘em size us up, too. Don’t a soul of you leave the machine whatever -happens, till I give the word,” he added. - -“Hullo! Here comes his nibs,” said the irreverent Dick, as the crowd -gave way respectfully and the tall man in white, with his scarlet-robed -retainers, advanced. - -As he drew nearer, they saw that although he appeared to be tall, the -white-robed man was only altitudinous by comparison with his subjects, -as they guessed them to be. These latter were much like the Indians -they had encountered the day before, only a trifle more intelligent -looking. They had the same small stature, copper-colored skins, -straight black hair and sloe eyes. Several of the younger ones bore a -striking resemblance to dark-colored Japanese. - -The red-robed men, surrounding the chief, wore circles of feathers like -coronets around their heads, and several of the villagers sported the -same decoration. As only those so decorated were armed with spears, or -bows or blow-pipes, the travelers assumed that they formed the warrior -or hunter class. In this they were correct. - -“Anybody speak English?—United States?” asked the captain, as the -white-robed chieftain approached. He was anxious to remove any -impression that they were Spaniards or Portuguese, two races that the -Indians hate with an undying resentment for their past cruelties. The -captain bowed low to the ruler as he spoke and the others followed his -example. - -“Spanish, then? Anybody speak Spanish?” asked the captain in that -language. - -One of the red-robed men stepped forward. He was a fine-looking man -with an expression almost of intellect which the others, even the -chief, notably lacked. - -“I speak Spanish,” he replied in that language, which they learned -later he spoke with a most barbaric accent, “but you are not Spaniards?” - -“No, we come from the north, from America,” rejoined the captain, with -a sweep of his hand toward that point of the compass. - -The red-robed man turned to the chief and spoke rapidly in a not -unmusical tongue. The white-robed man nodded comprehendingly and then -the inquisitor turned to the captain again. Of course the conversation -was not understood by the boys but the captain gave them the details -afterward. - -“You come in that flying canoe?” was the next question. - -The captain deemed it wise to reply in the affirmative. He added that -having heard wonderful things of the country they had come to pay it a -friendly visit. - -He said nothing just then of the real object of their journey, thinking -it more prudent to leave this till later on. - -This reply being translated to the chief, that dignitary himself -appeared to suggest a question. It was one that was to the point, too. - -“What do you want in this country?” asked Red-robe. - -The captain dared not hesitate, and under the circumstances concluded -that the truth was the best thing to tell. - -“To hunt, to study your customs and to take back to our people the -friendship of this great tribe,” he replied with a touch of diplomacy. - -The red-robed man appeared satisfied. He turned to his chief and spoke -rapidly. The chief also appeared gratified, and the captain began to -think that all was to go as smoothly as they could have desired. But -suddenly their hopes were dashed, and that in an entirely unexpected -way. - -While the red-robed interpreter was talking to the chief and the -villagers stood gaping around the flying craft, a murmur ran through -the assemblage of red-robed men. One of them, a powerfully built fellow -with a villainous squint, was pointing out something to the others -which appeared to cause them the greatest excitement. - -Suddenly the one who squinted bounded over toward the chief and tugged -violently at his sleeve. He spoke rapidly, excitedly pointing at the -air craft. The chief frowned and a murmur that had an unmistakable -intonation of anger buzzed among the central group. - -“What’s up?” asked Jack anxiously. “They’re mad about something, -aren’t they?” - -“Wait a bit, here comes our friend,” was the reply. “Hold your horses, -now.” - -The interpreter stepped straight up to the captain and spoke swiftly -in his imperfect Spanish, while the others pressed closely about the -machine. It was clear that a crisis of some sort was pending. But what, -they could not imagine. - -“Chekla, our king, wants to know, why, if you come from the far -northland, you carry on your ship the god of the Iribis that was -stolen from us ten years ago?” demanded the interpreter in tones that -unmistakably called for a satisfactory explanation. - -The captain explained that they had found the idol and that they were -glad to be the means of restoring it to the tribe. It was partly for -that purpose, he added tactfully, that they had made their long journey -through the air. - -Chekla impatiently desired to have the captain’s explanation translated -to him at once. When this had been done, his brow clouded and he shot -out some angry words. The red-robed man turned to the captain. - -“Chekla says that the white men are liars and sons of liars,” he said -in a clear, ringing tone. - -At the same instant the red-robed man with the hideous squint uttered -a loud yell. It appeared to be a signal of some kind, for almost -simultaneously the air was filled with flying spears and darts. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. - -THE TRIBE OF CHEKLA. - - -“Up with the panels! For your lives!” shouted Captain Sprowl, who had -guessed what was about to happen the minute the interpreter opened his -mouth. - -It was this that saved them from the flying hail of spears and -darts. As the grizzled seaman shouted his warning, they ducked down -simultaneously and Tom pulled the levers that ought to have sent -the panels into place, instantly converting the flying auto into an -impregnable fortress. But it was just at this critical moment that an -unexpected hitch occurred. - -The panels refused to move! - -“Up with them, quick!” roared the captain. - -“Hurry!” cried Mr. Chadwick. - -“I—I can’t make them work!” panted Tom, struggling with the levers, -“they’re stuck or something.” - -“Great dolphins!” groaned the captain. “It’s all up with us then.” - -Before Jack had time to inflate the already well-filled gas-bag -sufficiently to rise, a wave of humanity broke over the side of the -machine. There was no time to snatch up the rifles, hardly an instant -in which even to raise their hands. Within ten seconds from the -time the first spear whizzed through the air above the adventurers, -crouching low in their craft, they were prisoners of Chekla’s tribe. - -Here was a fine ending to all their hopes! From the yells and shouts -that rose about them they guessed that they might look for scant mercy -at the hands of the Indians, who evidently thought that they had had -something to do with the stealing of the idol. - -They were hustled out of the machine by a score of hands and marched -none too gently toward the central building. As they went, they had the -satisfaction of seeing the little stone god that was to have brought -them good luck, stripped from the stanchions by some of the red-robed -men. - -It was held aloft while a low, dismal sort of chant filled the air. -Many of the Indians prostrated themselves before the upheld image. -Evidently its return was regarded as being a momentous occasion. - -“What is going to be done with us?” Captain Sprowl demanded of the -red-robed Indian who had acted as interpreter and who, with two of his -companions, accompanied the boys and their friends to the central house. - -But the interpreter affected not to hear. - -“Looks mighty bad,” muttered the captain to Jack, who was alongside -him; “in fact, I don’t see how it could be much worse. These fellows -were inclined to think that we were all right and some sort of little -tin gods ourselves, till they saw that pesky idol. Then it was all off.” - -“It was all my fault for putting it there,” lamented Jack bitterly. -“Well, it’s proved a fine mascot—I don’t think.” - -Nothing more was said, and the prisoners trudged along in silence in -the midst of the throng that enveloped them. No attempt was made to -offer them any violence, but somehow the very apathy of the crowd -appeared more ominous than if they had resorted to active resentment. -As Jack thought to himself: “It looks as if they had our fate all cut -and dried.” - -As if in answer to his unspoken thought were the next words of Captain -Sprowl: - -“Whatever is going to happen to us, these fellows know before it comes -off. But we’ve got to put the best face we can on the matter and show -them that Americans ain’t going to be scared out of their seven senses -by a bunch of image worshippers.” - -Insensibly the doughty little captain threw out his chest and glared -about him at the capering Indians that surrounded them. - -“I wish I had my hands free; I’d spoil some of your ugly mugs for you,” -he grunted. - -Suddenly the throng broke into a measured chant. It rose and swelled -with hideous lack of harmony to the white men’s ears. But nevertheless -the chorused burden of the thing was unpleasantly suggestive. The -prisoners found themselves actually glad when they reached the central -stone house and were escorted inside by the two red-robed priests and -six of the feather-ornamented natives. - -Once inside the place, the great doors by which they had entered -were closed on the mob outside, shutting off their depressing chant. -They noticed that the doors were formed of a sort of white stone of -immense thickness but beautifully carved, although what the carvings -represented they could not make out. They were hurried along too fast -for that. - -It was evident, however, that the stone structure was, in part at -any rate, a royal residence. Within the stone doors was a circular -chamber capped with a dome of really beautiful proportions, considering -the fact that the Indians must be ignorant of even the fundamental -principles of architecture or geometrical design. In fact, they learned -afterward that the stone palace was of extremely ancient origin, the -work of some forgotten and highly civilized race, possibly allied to -the intellectual Aztecs. Chekla’s tribe had simply found the place -there and built up a village around it. - -The domed central chamber was furnished with mats and hung with skins -and spears, and the walls were ornamented with crude carvings. It was -without windows, being lighted by means of openings in the stones -set in regular rotation around the base of the dome. At each side, -however, was a low doorway, hung with curtains of some sort of plaited -grass. Through one of these they were escorted and found themselves in -a passage, at the other end of which was another door. - -They passed through this and entered a rock-walled chamber absolutely -bare of any sort of furniture or fittings. It had a damp, musty sort of -odor attaching to it and this, together with the fact that the passage -had inclined downward rather steeply, led them to believe that they -must be underground. - -But wherever they were, it was evident that they had reached their -destination. The red-robe who had acted as interpreter spoke to his -assistants and they released the captives. Then they backed out slowly, -menacing the white men with their spears in case they might attempt to -“rush” them. - -They reached the doorway, and still holding their spears in threatening -postures, backed out. The red-robed man was the last to go. As he -vanished a stone door poised on unseen hinges swung noiselessly -into place. The prisoners exchanged despairing glances. Under what -conditions would that door be reopened? Would it be when they were led -forth to death or torture? - -A search of the rocky chamber, made as a forlorn hope, without any idea -of finding a place by which an escape might be effected, showed that, -with the exception of the door and a sort of lattice-work opening in -the ceiling through which light and air came, the place was solidly -walled in. - -“Well, I don’t see what we can do except possess our souls in patience -and sit down and wait for what’s to come,” declared Captain Sprowl, -when the examination had been concluded. - -“There’s nothing else to be done,” agreed Mr. Chadwick despondently. - -“Chentlemen,” spoke up Professor Von Dinkelspeil, “dis is mein fauldt. -I cannodt ask you to forgive me, budt I vould radder haf nefer seen der -country dan dat dis shouldt have happened.” - -“It’s not your fault, professor,” declared Mr. Chadwick warmly; “we -undertook this expedition knowing what risks we were facing, and we -must meet our fates like men.” - -“What do you think will become of us?” asked Tom in a doleful tone. - -“I can form no idea,” rejoined his uncle. “I hardly think that -they will dare to proceed too far. This country is not absolutely -inaccessible and Judkins, in the event of the worst happening, would -take the news to the outer world and we should be avenged.” - -“A lot of good that would do us,” snorted Dick Donovan. - -“It’s your own fault that you’re here, anyhow,” snapped Tom irritably. - -“True enough,” admitted Dick, “I didn’t mean to complain. I can face -anything we’ve got to go through as an American should. At least, I -hope so.” - -Conversation languished after this. They sat leaning against the walls -of the place, each busied with his own thoughts. But the undaunted -professor was busy examining the walls. In his scientific ardor in -gazing at the many queer scrawlings with which they were covered, he -appeared to have forgotten everything. Suddenly he gave utterance to a -sharp exclamation. - -“Himmel! Vos is dis?” - -And then the next minute his voice rang out sharply, trembling with -suppressed excitement: - -“Chentlemen! Look! I haf foundt idt!” - -For one joyous instant they thought that he had discovered a way of -escape. But they soon saw that it was one of the wall carvings that had -attracted his attention and caused his outburst. - -“What is it? Nothing but a hunting scene, ain’t it?” asked the captain, -who was nearest to the excitable German. - -“Precious badly done, too,” he added. “I know kids at home in Maine, -eleven-year-old kids, that could do better than that.” - -“Ach! Dot is nodt idt!” exclaimed the professor impatiently. “Idt is -nodt a vurk of arts dot I know. Budt idt iss something bedder—idt iss -_a picture of der hunting of der Megatherium_!” - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. - -DIAMONDS VS. FREEDOM. - - -“If you could show us a picture of how to get out of here, I’d a heap -rather see it,” snorted the captain indignantly. “What good does that -critter with the merry-go-round name do us, when we’re penned up in -here? Can you tell me that?” - -But the professor was deaf to the New Englander’s scornful remarks. -With a sheet of paper and a pencil he was busy taking a rubbing of the -scrawled picture on the wall. - -“Idt gorresponds in efery impordandt detail midt der pictures in der -files of der society in Ber-r-r-lin,” he declared. - -“Yes, and a fat chance your drawing has of ever sharing a bunk with it, -if we don’t sight a change in the weather pretty soon,” growled the old -sailor. - -But the professor was deaf to these remarks. He worked painstakingly -till he had reduced to paper a complete rubbing of the wall picture. -Then he drew out a sketch book and made a carefully detailed drawing -of it. As he worked, he actually hummed an odd little tune to himself. -For the time being, in the glory of his discovery, he had completely -forgotten in what grave danger he, and all of them, stood. - -It was about mid-afternoon that the lattice-work at the top of the -chamber was removed and some food, in stone jars, was lowered to them. -With it came a jar of water and some coarse kind of bread made out -of corn. The stuff in the jars proved to be some sort of stew, with -peppers and other vegetables in it. It was not at all bad and they made -a hearty meal, using a small cup in turns by way of a spoon. - -They felt somewhat better after the meal, such as it was, and while the -professor continued his scrutiny of the walls, the others discussed -their situation in all its bearings. The captain gazed longingly up -toward the lattice which had been replaced after the food had been -lowered. - -“If only we had some way of climbing up there,” he said, “we’d at least -have a fighting chance. That is, pervidin’ these varmints ain’t bust up -the flying ship by this time.” - -This last was not a thought to ease their anxiety. If they were to -escape at all, they knew that it must be by means of the flying -auto-ship. If the Indians had demolished it, they would not be much -better off even if they did escape from their prison. In that trackless -jungle they could hardly go a league without getting into difficulties. -It would be a simple matter for the Indians to overtake them and effect -their re-capture, in which case they would be even worse off. - -“I wonder if it wouldn’t be possible to bribe one of them to give us -our freedom,” said Mr. Chadwick, after a long silence, during which he -had been absorbed in deep thought. - -“How do you mean?” asked the captain. “These chaps have no use for -money, and what else could you offer ‘em?” - -“The diamonds,” rejoined Mr. Chadwick quietly. - -“By the Flying Dutchman, I’d clean forgotten all about ‘em! Maybe we -could buy one of ‘em in that way. It’s worth trying, anyhow. Are you -sure you’ve got ‘em safe?” - -“Here they are,” said Mr. Chadwick, diving into his garments and -producing from his belt the six glistening stones. - -The captain selected the largest and balanced it in his hand, toying -with it as if he found a delight in its flashing, pellucid beauty. Mr. -Chadwick had slipped the others back into his belt. - -“Cracky, what a stone!” muttered the captain, as he examined the -diamond. “It’s a king’s ransom, that’s what it is, and here we are -sitting around like bumps on a log and might as well be at the North -Pole for all the good it is. Hullo! What’s that?” - -A shadow had suddenly cut off the flood of afternoon sunlight that was -pouring into their place of captivity through the lattice work grating. -They all looked up swiftly and beheld the face of the red-robed -interpreter. At once Captain Sprowl made a rapid movement to conceal -the stone, but he was too late. The Indian, as had been noticed by -them, had a remarkably expressive face. They could read on it as plain -as print, as they looked up at him, that he had seen the diamond. - -At almost the same instant his countenance vanished. - -“There! Consarn it all!” grumbled the captain. “Now the fat’s in the -fire for fair. He’s off to see the rest of the bunch and tell ‘em about -the diamond. It’s all off now.” - -“Do you think he will do that?” asked Mr. Chadwick. - -“I do. Don’t you?” asked the skipper with some surprise. - -“No, I don’t.” - -“Why not?” - -“For one reason, it wouldn’t be human nature. That fellow, if he covets -the stone at all, will want it for himself. If he makes public what he -knows, the stone will go to the chief. He has every reason for saying -nothing.” - -“Humph! I dunno but what that’s so. I reckon Injuns ain’t a heap -different from other folks when it comes down to diamonds.” - -“Especially in this case. I imagine from the fact that these stones -were found in the canoe with the idol that they have some special -significance. The thieves who took the idol must have found the stones -not far from it, for it is not reasonable to suppose that having -attempted such a daring feat they would waste much time in hunting for -other booty.” - -“Wa’al, that does sound reasonable,” admitted the captain. “I wish -that chap would come back. I’d like to ‘_parlez-vous_’ a bit with him, -or rather ‘_habla Espanol_,’ although it does puzzle a Christian to -make out whether he’s talking Spanish or Chinee.” - -Darkness came on and there was no sign of the reappearance of the -interpreter. But nobody else had disturbed them, which appeared to -confirm Mr. Chadwick’s theory that the man would keep his discovery to -himself. It was probably some four hours after darkness had fallen that -a whisper was borne to them from above. - -“Señor Capitan!” came the voice in low, cautious tones. - -“That’s red-jacket for a million,” declared the skipper. - -“Hullo,” he responded, “what do you want?” - -From this point on, the conversation was in Spanish. But the captain’s -frequent asides enabled the listeners to keep track of what was said. -Not to detail the worthy skipper’s remarks, he informed his companions -that “red-jacket,” as he called the interpreter, was prepared to lower -a rope ladder and escort them to their machine, which he declared to be -uninjured, if they on their part would give him the diamond. - -As Mr. Chadwick had guessed, the stone had a religious significance. -From what “red-jacket” said, it was one of six such stones, the -possession of which proclaimed their owners the high-priests of the -ugly idol. The state of Chekla’s kingdom was restless. There was a sort -of movement against the priests; but the interpreter thought that if -he could get possession of the diamond he would be able to gain great -ascendency in his country, and possibly become the next ruler in case -Chekla was overthrown. At any rate, they didn’t bother much over his -reasons for wanting the diamond. All they knew was that he was willing -to barter their liberty for it, and that he appeared to have no idea -that they still retained the other five stones. - -“He says that if we’ll give him the stone, he’ll be here some time -during the night with a rope ladder,” said the captain. - -“Do you think he’s to be trusted?” asked Mr. Chadwick. - -“Well, it’s just this way,” was the response. “If we give him the -diamond and he doesn’t make good, we are no worse off than we were -before. On the other hand, I think we can trust him. For one thing, -he’s convinced that the diamond has something to do with that idol, -and probably figures that the idol would fix him if he tried any funny -business.” - -“That sounds reasonable,” said Mr. Chadwick. “What do you think, boys?” - -“I’d give him a peck of ‘em to get out of here,” declared Tom—a -sentiment which the others heartily endorsed. The diamonds were as so -much dross to them beside their liberty. - -The captain spoke a few words rapidly to the unseen figure at the -lattice and soon a long string made of a grape vine came snaking down. -It had a lump of pitch or rubber at the end, and in this the captain -embedded what was, without doubt, one of the finest diamonds in the -world. - -“Talk about castin’ pearls before swine,” he growled as the rope was -drawn upward. “But then it’s worth it. Yes, by Jim Hill, if he makes -good, it’s worth it.” - -The next few hours were passed in what can only be described as an -agony of suspense. The chances that “red-jacket” would play them false -seemed to overwhelmingly outweigh the possibilities of his making good -on his word. As the time dragged slowly by, they declared again and -again that they had been fooled into giving up the stone, and despair -came near overmastering the younger members of the party. - -But just when it appeared impossible that they could endure the -suspense a minute longer, they heard the lattice-work grating being -moved. Through the opening they could see the stars, and then came -a rustling, grating sound and the lower end of a ladder, formed from -twisted creepers, with iron-wood rungs dropped amongst them. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. - -THE PROFESSOR TRIUMPHS. - - -Within ten minutes the last of them had mounted the ladder and gained -the open night. All about them the huts of the village showed blackly -in the starlight. They soon perceived that they stood at some distance -from the central stone building, and that their place of captivity had -been underground as they had surmised. - -But although they had escaped from their prison they were still in -fearful danger. Even as they waited there, a tall form, that of a -sentry, strode around the corner of the building. In two bounds -“red-jacket” was on him. He must have been possessed of huge strength, -for the fellow went down like a nine-pin with the interpreter on top of -him. When the latter arose the sentry lay quite still. - -“You ain’t killed him, have you?” asked the captain as the interpreter -rejoined the group. - -“He says that if he has, it’ll be blamed on us,” the captain translated -to his companions when the interpreter had whispered his reply. - -“That’s fine,” muttered Tom; “a good beginning I must say.” - -But their guardian was motioning to them to follow him. He had replaced -the grating and concealed the rope ladder in some brush and rocks that -grew near by. As they silently crept after their guide down a street of -huts, they were all conscious of choking heart-beats and pulses that -throbbed with uncomfortable rapidity. The slightest false step might -bring the whole village down on them. - -In this way they reached the end of the street and saw before them -something that made them choke with delight. It was the huge, bulking -outline of the _Wondership_. There she stood, seemingly as safe and -sound as when they had left her. - -With a whispered word to the captain that he had done all he dared, -their guide left them here and slipped off among the shadows. - -“The game is in our own hands now,” whispered the captain as they crept -forward. “Go as silent as cats and we’re all right.” - -On tip-toe, hardly daring to draw breath, they crept on toward the -_Wondership_. It was like carrying a lighted torch above a pit full of -dynamite. At any instant an explosion that would prove fatal to them -all was liable to happen. - -And suddenly it did. - -As ill-luck would have it, one of Chekla’s subjects, either for -hygienic or other reasons, had chosen to sleep out of doors that night. -Tom’s foot struck him in the ribs, and with a yell that might have been -heard a mile off the man sprang to his feet. Shouting at the top of his -voice, he made for the village. - -“Wow-ow! Now the fat’s in the fire!” gasped the skipper aghast at this -unforeseen calamity. “Jack, if you can’t git that craft inter the air -in five seconds or less, we’re gone coons!” - -They set off on a run for the craft. All attempt at secrecy was useless -now. It was simply a race against time. From the aroused village came a -perfect babel of yells and shouts. Lights flashed. Savage imprecations -resounded. The whole place was astir like a disturbed bee-hive. - -Into the machine they tumbled helter-skelter. Jack switched on one of -the shaded lights, pulled a lever and the welcome chug-chug of the gas -pump responded. The _Wondership_ swayed and pitched. - -“Let ‘er go!” shouted the captain as from the village a mass of yelling -savages came rushing down on them. - -“Hold on!” shouted the young commander of the flying auto. “Where’s -Tom?” - -“Great Scott! Ain’t he here?” - -“No!” - -“Good Lord!” groaned the captain. “It’s all off now!” - -But out of the darkness came a shout. It was Tom. - -“Hold on. I’ll be with you.” - -Then came the sounds of a struggle and the next instant they heard the -impact of a crunching blow, a yell of pain and a savage shout, “Take -that!” - -“That’s Tom in action,” shouted the captain. “Come on, Tom!” - -There was a rush of feet and the boy came bounding out of the darkness. - -“Got lost in the shuffle!” he gasped. - -“That’s all right,” shouted Mr. Chadwick, grabbing him; “in with you, -boy, quick!” - -In tumbled Tom, half climbing and half-dragged. He lay on the floor in -a panting heap, while Jack swiftly raised the panels. This time they -worked, and they found out afterward that the temporary sticking that -had proved so disastrous was caused by the expansion of the metal in -the hot sun. - -He was not an instant too soon. Hardly had the plates clanged together -with a metallic clash before the savages were on them. Captain Sprowl -opened a port in the “whaleback” superstructure and poured out a -murderous fire on the Indians before he could be checked. - -“Warm work!” he cried, pumping away at the mechanism of the rifle. - -From without, came yells and screams. Spears, darts and stones crashed -against the machine as if they would smash it to atoms. But in the -midst of the turmoil the fugitives felt a sudden upward lurch. So -sudden was it that they were all hurled into a heap. But they cared but -little for that. The _Wondership_ was going up, bearing them aloft to -safety! - -As she shot upward, her machinery whirring bravely above the yells and -confusion below, Captain Sprowl turned to the others. - -“A good Yankee cheer, boys!” he said. - -In the deafening din that followed, the professor’s voice was heard -ringing out as loudly as any of them. It was the professor, too, who -cried out at the conclusion: - -“Undt ein Tiger!” - - * * * * * - -But perhaps the cheers had been a little premature. It was getting -toward dawn when it became apparent to all on board that the -_Wondership_ was not behaving properly. Her engines revolved more and -more slowly. She began to make long swoops and dips. - -“What in the world ails her?” demanded the captain. - -“Don’t know,” rejoined Jack; “might be any one of a dozen things. -We’ll have to go down to fix her.” - -“But it’s dark. You can’t land in the tree tops,” expostulated Mr. -Chadwick. - -“I know that. I think I can manage to keep her going till daylight. If -not, we must take our chances.” - -Soon after, the first pale light of dawn dimmed the stars. Beneath -them—they were heading due east—showed a river. By this time the craft -was almost without motion, although, of course, there was no fear of -her dropping, for her gas-bag supported her. But the wind was east, and -every minute that the engine remained idle, they were being carried -back toward the land of the tribe from which they had effected their -escape. - -With what power remained, Jack brought the _Wondership_ to rest on the -surface of the river. She was at once made fast to the bank and the two -boys set to work on the engines. It did not take long to locate the -trouble. The air intake, by which a certain amount of air was mixed -with the explosive gas, had become clogged. To clean it out and put it -in good shape would have taken quite a time. Under the circumstances -they decided to have breakfast first and then get to work. During the -meal a bright lookout was kept and they ate cold stuff, not knowing -what hostile tribes might be about and not daring to light a fire. - -It was toward the close of the meal that they were considerably -startled by loud shouts from a point not far distant. They came rapidly -nearer. - -“Indians!” gasped Tom. - -The rifles were brought from the machine and they awaited the oncoming -of the natives with grim determination. But the yells were soon -perceived to be those of terror rather than ferocity. As they came -closer, Captain Sprowl spoke with an air of authority. - -“Those fellows, whoever they are, are running away from something or -somebody,” he said. - -“May be a tribal war,” suggested Mr. Chadwick. - -“Maybe. But hark, what in the ‘Tarnal is that?” - -Upon the wind there came, loud above the Indians’ shrieks and cries, a -long-drawn noise like a yapping bark. - -“Sounds like wolves!” cried Jack. - -He had hardly spoken before through the woods, a short distance below -them, a number of Indians burst upon the river bank. They piled into -some canoes that the adventurers had not perceived hitherto but which -had been lying on the bank. Entering them they paddled off down the -stream in mad haste, as if in mortal fear of whatever was pursuing them. - -The party were still watching them when again that queer bark -resounded, and from the forest, at just the point where the canoes had -lain, there burst an enormous animal, the like of which none of them -had ever beheld. - -[Illustration: At the same instant, Jack’s rifle cracked.—_Page 297._] - -It was larger than a big cow and ran with a queer, romping sort of -gait, suggestive of a rocking horse. Its head was flat and hideous. Its -color a dirty brownish white. A more repulsive looking creature could -hardly be imagined. - -As his eyes fell on it, the professor gave a gasp. He shook from head -to foot as if he had been suddenly taken with a fit of the ague. - -“Mein Gott in Himmel!” he gasped, and there was no irreverence in his -tone, “Der Megatherium!” - -At the same instant, Jack’s rifle cracked. The creature gave a loud, -terribly human scream and swung toward them. Tom’s rifle barked and -with a crash the huge animal sank down in a heap on the river bank. -They rushed pell-mell upon it. The professor was yelling like a wild -man. The others were hardly less excited. - -“Be careful,” warned Mr. Chadwick, as they approached, but the animal -was quite dead. - -It lay on its side with its legs outstretched. On its feet were large -curved claws and its hair was as rough and coarse as that of the small -sloth they had shot some days before. As they stood by it, gazing with -a wonder in which there was something reverential at this survivor of -the age of the mammoth, the professor spoke. - -“Chentlemen, ve are der only living beings besides de savages dot haf -efer seen such a sighdt. Poys! Der contracdt is ge-fulfilled!” - -“Mumping mammoths of Mauretania, I’ll take a picture!” shouted Dick -Donovan by a happy inspiration. And there, by the side of that lonely -river, was taken the photo that has since been reproduced in countless -periodicals throughout the world. - - * * * * * - -And here, as you may easily guess, the adventures of the Boy Inventors -in Brazil practically came to an end. Soon after the discovery of -the giant sloth—which was a young and not fully grown specimen—the -engine was put in order and the trip to the coast resumed. Of course -the entire carcass was taken, in spite of the extra weight which the -_Wondership_ bore bravely. Every hair of the beast was precious in the -professor’s estimation. When the camp was reached (where they found -Judkins peaceably awaiting their return, and very much better) the -carcass was skinned, and the flesh boiled from the bones, which were -later articulated. - -After a day or two in the camp, to allow the professor time to complete -his work, they all set sail for the nearest town, Bahia de Santos, five -hundred miles to the north. With the discovery of the giant sloth, even -though it was not an adult specimen, the professor’s task of proving -that such creatures still roam the earth, was completed. - -In Bahia de Santos they found a small fruit steamer bound for New -Orleans. An arrangement was soon made by which they were accepted as -passengers and the _Wondership_, that had done them such good service, -traveled as freight on the steamer’s deck. - -There was a wireless telegraph at Bahia, and this was kept hot for a -time conveying to friends news of their safety and of the professor’s -great discovery. At Bahia, too, they learned that both the boat-loads -of mutineers had been picked up a short way down the coast, and, -with a luck they ill deserved, they had all managed to find berths -on different ships and were scattered far beyond the reach of the -authorities. As the _Valkyrie_ was amply insured, the professor had no -desire to pursue them and there the matter rested. - -As to the diamonds, they fetched a surprising price in the States, -and the boys decided to employ their share of them in constructing a -new invention with which they seem destined to have some astonishing -adventures. What this new invention of the ingenious lads proved to be, -and how they used it, must be saved for the telling in another volume. - -Judkins was suitably recompensed and a good job was found for him on a -steamship line in which Mr. Chadwick happened to be interested. Captain -Sprowl was made independent by his share of the diamonds. As for Dick -Donovan, his story of the finding of the Giant Sloth made him famous -overnight. He now commands a big salary, but nothing so exciting as his -trip to the Amazon country has engaged his attentions since. He and -the boys have become fast friends and he is a frequent visitor to High -Towers. - -And now we will say “Good-bye” to the Boy Inventors, wishing them well -till we meet them again in the next book to be devoted to their doings. - - -THE END. - - - - -HURST & COMPANY’S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE - -_A Volume of Cheerfulness in Rhyme and Picture_ - -KINDERGARTEN LIMERICKS - -By FLORENCE E. SCOTT - -_Pictures by Arthur O. Scott with a Foreword by Lucy Wheelock_ - -[Illustration: Book] - -The book contains a rhyme for every letter of the alphabet, each -illustrated by a full page picture in colors. The verses appeal to -the child’s sense of humor without being foolish or sensational, and -will be welcomed by kindergartners for teaching rhythm in a most -entertaining manner. - -_Beautifully printed and bound. In attractive box. Price, Postpaid One -Dollar._ - - - - -FRANK ARMSTRONG SERIES - -By MATTHEW M. COLTON - -Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 75_c._ per vol., postpaid - -[Illustration: Book] - - -_Frank Armstrong’s Vacation_ - -How Frank’s summer experiences with his boy friends make him into a -sturdy young athlete through swimming, boating and baseball contests, -and a tramp through the Everglades, is the subject of this splendid -story. - - -_Frank Armstrong at Queen’s_ - -We find among the jolly boys at Queen’s School, Frank, the -student-athlete, Jimmy, the baseball enthusiast, and Lewis, the -unconsciously-funny youth who furnishes comedy for every page that -bears his name. Fall and winter sports between intensely rival school -teams are expertly described. - - -_Frank Armstrong’s Second Term_ - -The gymnasium, the track and the field make the background for the -stirring events of this volume, in which David, Jimmy, Lewis, the “Wee -One” and the “Codfish” figure, while Frank “saves the day.” - - -_Frank Armstrong, Drop Kicker_ - -With the same persistent determination that won him success in -swimming, running and baseball playing, Frank Armstrong acquired the -art of “drop-kicking,” and the Queen’s football team profits thereby. - - -_Frank Armstrong, Captain of the Nine_ - -Exciting contests, unexpected emergencies, interesting incidents by -land and water make this story of Frank Armstrong a strong tale of -school-life, athletic success, and loyal friendships. - - -_Frank Armstrong at College_ - -With the development of this series, the boy characters have developed -until in this, the best story of all, they appear as typical college -students, giving to each page the life and vigor of the true college -spirit. - -Six of the best books of College Life Stories published. 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The story is the answer. - - -_Rex Kingdon in the North Woods_ - -Rex and some of his Ridgewood friends establish a camp fire in the -North Woods, and there mystery, jealousy, and rivalry enter to menace -their safety, fire their interest and finally cement their friendship. - - -_Rex Kingdon at Walcott Hall_ - -Lively boarding school experiences make this the “best yet” of the Rex -Kingdon series. - - -_Rex Kingdon Behind the Bat_ - -The title tells you what this story is; it is a rattling good story -about baseball. Boys will like it. - - * * * * * - -Gordon Braddock knows what Boys want and how to write it. These stories -make the best reading you can procure. - -_Any book sent upon receipt of 60 cents each, or we will send all four -of them for $2.30._ - - - - -BOY SCOUT SERIES - -_ENDORSED BY BOY SCOUT ORGANIZATIONS_ - -By LIEUT. HOWARD PAYSON - -Cloth. Illustrated. Price 50c. Each - -[Illustration] - - -BOY SCOUTS OF THE EAGLE PATROL - -In this story, self-reliance and self-defense through organized -athletics are emphasized. - - -BOY SCOUTS ON THE RANGE - -Cow-punchers, Indians, the Arizona desert and the Harkness ranch figure -in this tale of the Boy Scouts. - - -BOY SCOUTS AND THE ARMY AIRSHIP - -The cleverness of one of the Scouts as an amateur inventor and the -intrigues of his enemies to secure his inventions make a subject of -breathless interest. - - -BOY SCOUTS’ MOUNTAIN CAMP - -Just so often as the reader draws a relieved breath at the escape of -the Scouts from imminent danger, he loses it again in the instinctive -impression, which he shares with the boys, of impending peril. - - -BOY SCOUTS FOR UNCLE SAM - -Patriotism is a vital principle in every Boy Scout organization, but -few there are who have such an opportunity for its practical expression -as comes to the members of the Eagle Patrol. - - -BOY SCOUTS AT THE PANAMA CANAL - -Most timely is this authentic story of the “great ditch.” It is -illustrated by photographs of the Canal in process of Building. - - -BOY SCOUTS UNDER FIRE IN MEXICO - -Another tale appropriate to the unsettled conditions of the present is -this account of recent conflict. - - -BOY SCOUTS ON BELGIAN BATTLEFIELDS - -Wonderfully interesting is the story of Belgium as it figures in this -tale of the Great War. - - -BOY SCOUTS WITH THE ALLIES IN FRANCE - -On the firing line—or very near—we find the Scouts in France. - - -BOY SCOUTS _at_ THE PANAMA-PACIFIC EXPOSITION - -If you couldn’t attend the Exposition yourself, you can go even now in -imagination with the Boy Scouts. - - -BOY SCOUTS UNDER SEALED ORDERS - -Here the Boy Scouts have a secret mission to perform for the -Government. What is the nature of it? Keen boys will find that out by -reading the book. It’s a dandy story. - - -BOY SCOUTS’ CAMPAIGN FOR PREPAREDNESS - -Just as the Scouts’ motto is “Be Prepared,” just for these reasons that -they prepare for the country’s defense. What they do and how they do it -makes a volume well worth reading. - -You do not have to be a Boy Scout to enjoy these fascinating and -well-written stories. Any boy has the chance. Next to the Manual -itself, the books give an accurate description of Boy Scout activities, -for they are educational and instructive. - -_Price postpaid, 50 cents per volume, or we will send any six titles -you select for $2.50._ - - -HURST & COMPANY, Publishers, NEW YORK - - - * * * * * - - -Transcriber's Notes - -Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations -in hyphenation have been standardised but all other spelling and -punctuation remains unchanged. - -Italics are represented thus _italic_. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Boy Inventors' Flying Ship, by Richard Bonner - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY INVENTORS' FLYING SHIP *** - -***** This file should be named 53712-0.txt or 53712-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/3/7/1/53712/ - -Produced by Roger Frank, Les Galloway 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 print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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