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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6908-0.txt b/6908-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..029aaa5 --- /dev/null +++ b/6908-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7208 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Air Ship Boys, by H.L. Sayler + +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 Air Ship Boys + or The Quest of the Aztec Treasure + +Author: H.L. Sayler + +Posting Date: November 1, 2014 [EBook #6908] +Release Date: November, 2004 +First Posted: February 10, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AIR SHIP BOYS *** + + + + +Produced by Sean Pobuda + + + + + + + + + +The Air Ship Boys + +or + +The Quest of the Aztec Treasure + + +By H. L. Sayler + + + + +CONTENTS + + I THE DEPARTURE OF THE OVERLAND LIMITED + II NED'S MEETING WITH MAJOR BALDWIN HONEYWELL + III THE RELATION OF MIGUEL VASQUEZ + IV THE CONTRACT, AND LIQUID HYDROGEN + V A DINNER PARTY ON THE PLACIDA + VI BOB RUSSELL OF THE KANSAS CITY COMET + VII THE MAKING OF A NEWSPAPER STORY + VIII THE HOSPITALITY OF NEW MEXICO + IX "CALIFORNY KID" GETS A JOB + X AN ERROR IN CALCULATION + XI A DISGUISE PENETRATED + XII NED TO BOB RUSSELL'S RESCUE + XIII QUICK JUSTICE IN THE WEST + XIV BUILDING AN AIR SHIP + XV HOW JACK JELLUP LOST AN ARM + XVI READY TO "LET GO ALL" + XVII AN INTERRUPTED FLIGHT + XVIII FREE AND AFLOAT AT LAST + XIX THE FIRST FLIGHT + XX FIGHTING INDIANS WITH A SEARCHLIGHT + XXI A CORDITE BOMB AND ITS WORK + XXII A THRILLING RESCUE IN MID-AIR + XXIII CAMP EAGLE IN THE MOUNTAINS + XXIV A GRAVE IN THE DESERT + XXV BARTERING STORES A MILE IN THE AIR + XXVI THE SECRET TUNNEL IN THE MESA + XXVII THE TURQUOISE TEMPLE DISCOVERED + XXVIII THE COLLAPSE OF THE CIBOLA + XXIX THE GOLDEN EAGLE OF THE AZTECS + XXX A QUARTER OF A TON OF TREASURE + XXXI AN ADVENTURE WITH THE NAVAJOS + XXXII ALAN SUCCUMBS TO EXHAUSTION + XXXIII A FORLORN DASH FOR HELP + XXXIV THE RESCUE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE DEPARTURE OF THE OVERLAND LIMITED + + +The Overland Limited, aglow with lights, stood in the Dearborn +Street station in Chicago waiting for eight o'clock and the last of +its fortunate passengers. Near the entrance gates, through which +perspiring men and women were hurrying, stood the rear cars of the +train. Within these could be seen joyous passengers locating +themselves and arranging bags and parcels. + +In fifteen minutes the long journey of Ned Napier and his chum Alan +Hope to the far southwest was to begin. + +At the other end of the big shed, where the cars of the long train +seemed to fade almost out of sight, four persons were anxiously +awaiting the approach of the hour of departure. One of these, the +conductor of the train, consulted his watch, as he had done several +times already, holding it close within the glow of his green-shaded +lantern. + +"It's getting pretty close to time, Major Honeywell," he said with +some concern. "You're sure he'll be here?" + +The man addressed, who stood leaning lightly on a cane and whose +soft dark hat and clothes indicated his military calling, showed +similar concern, but replied confidently: + +"We have nearly fifteen minutes. Young Napier has a reputation for +never failing. I'm sure he'll be here in time." + +"Here's the telegram," interrupted young Alan Hope, as he drew a +yellow sheet from his pocket. "It is from Youngstown, Ohio, and +says Ned's train is on time. He left Washington yesterday and if +everything is all right he reached the Union Depot a half hour ago. +He'll be here." + +"Well, you know we can't wait, much as I'd like to," replied the +conductor. "You'd better have everything ready." + +"She's dat, sah," interrupted the fourth person of the group, a +young negro, who, as he spoke, placed his hand on the side door of +the car, and moved it on its easy running bearings. + +"You see, there isn't much time left," continued the sympathetic +train official. "We're coupling up." And he nodded toward the +gloom beyond the train shed out of which the big compound locomotive +was already emerging. The military man with the cane became more +apprehensive. + +"What shall we do if Ned fails to get here?" he said suddenly after +peering down the long platform toward the busy end of the station. + +"Oh, we didn't go into this to fail," cheerily responded the youth +by his side. "If we 'fall down' it won't be on a simple thing like +this. He'll be here. It won't take us but three minutes to +transfer the stuff when it gets here. Never fear. I'll just take +another look in the car to make sure." + +As he did so the colored boy exclaimed: + +"It's all right. Here's de screws as he done tole us to git and +here's de screw-driver outen de box as he done writ us to have ready +and dar's de door all ready fur to fly open." + +To prove it the lad gave the wide door in the side of the car a +shove, and as it ran back on its track a portion of the inside of +the car was exposed. It was a peculiar car and worth description, +for in it, next to the big engine and ahead of all the other cars of +the almost endless train, Ned Napier, his friend Alan Hope, and +their servant, Elmer Grissom, were to be the sole passengers on a +most mysterious and, as it proved, most eventful journey. In +railroad parlance the car was what is known as a "club" car. Half +of the interior was bare and unfinished, like the compartment in +which, on special and limited trains, baggage is carried. This part +of the car, now exposed to view, was dimly lighted with one +incandescent bulb. In the half-light it could be seen that the +space was almost wholly filled with tanks, boxes, casks, crates and +bundles, all systematically braced to prevent jarring or smashing. +It was plainly not the luggage of ordinary travelers. Except for a +narrow passageway in the center of the car and a space about five +square next the open door, every inch, to the very ventilators of +the car, was crowded with bound or crated, numbered and tagged +packages. In the open space next the door Alan Hope now appeared. + +"Coming yet?" he asked with apparent confidence as he peered +outside. + +The colored boy Elmer shook his head. + +Just then the conductor returned and again his watch. + +"Eight minutes," he said; "time's getting along and I've got to go +back and see about my train. I don't want to make you nervous, but +do you want us to take this car if fails to get here with the +stuff?" + +"I suppose there's no need," replied the military man, beginning to +show irritation. "But there's eight minutes yet." + +"I know," replied the conductor, "but after we are coupled up and it +is time to leave we can't stop to cut this car out. We've got to +have five minutes for that. At five minutes of eight you'll have to +decide whether it is go or stay. I'm sorry--but you'll have to +decide in a minute or two." + +"Decide it now," interrupted Alan from the open car door. "We're +going and he'll be here." + +The Major appeared to be in doubt as to the wisdom of this, but +before he could say anything Alan continued: + +"Couple up whenever you want to, Mr. Conductor, we'll be ready," and +he sprang out of the car, his face set with determination. + +By that time the throbbing engine had silently moved up next the car +and two grimy depot men with smoky torches had swung off the +footboard to make the connections. + +"Got to know," repeated the sympathetic conductor. "Only five +minutes." He looked at the Major for the final word. + +The latter peered down the long almost vacant platform. There was +no one in sight but the late arrivals being helped aboard the cars +in the far end of the station. Then he gave another look of appeal +at his own watch as if in doubt what to say. To send a special car +half way across the continent was no inexpensive project. And to +send it without the person or the precious material that it was +intended seemed not only a waste of money but foolish. Although the +anxious man had both confidence and nerve it could be seen that he +was in a quandary. + +"Five minutes," exclaimed the railway official. "Does she go or +stay?" + +Before the man could answer, Alan faced him and with a hand on the +Major's arm exclaimed: + +"Ned will be here, he can't fail; tell him we're going." + +The Major smiled. "That's it," he exclaimed suddenly. "Take her +along. It's up to us to take care of ourselves." + +"Good," said the conductor, "I hope he'll make it." + +With a signal to couple on the engine he hurried away for a final +inspection of his train. + +For a moment the three persons left behind stood in silence. There +was a hiss of the engine as it pushed the connecting blocks together +and then those waiting so anxiously could hear the jar of connecting +valves as the brake hose were snapped. Confident as Alan was, it +gave him a sinking feeling. Then, as the swish of tests sounded and +the gnome-like figures of the depot men crawled from under the car, +the Major looked again at his watch in despair. + +"Four minutes--" + +Before he could say more Alan caught sight of a movement among those +gathered around the last car at the far end of the depot. + +"There he is!" he shouted and darted forward. + +"He sho'ly is," exclaimed Elmer, his white teeth showing, "and Yar's +de screw driver and yar's de screws all ready." + +A slowly moving truck had carefully turned the end of the waiting +train and, drawn by two baggage-room employees, was making its way +along the platform. By its side walked a boy--a lad of about +seventeen. One of his hands rested on the truck and his eyes were +carefully fixed on the load it bore. This was a black, iron-bound +case about four feet long, three feet deep and perhaps a yard in +height. On each side in red letters were the words: + +"Explosive; no fire." Beneath this ominous legend were two large +iron handles. + +When the men drawing the truck quickened their pace the boy spoke to +them sharply and they fell again into a steady walk. For the +curious onlookers through whom the strange little caravan passed the +lad by the side of the truck seemed to have no concern. A traveling +cap was pushed back from his young face and his keen and alert eyes +and the tone of his voice indicated a quality that goes with those +born to command. + +"Hello, Ned," came a ringing greeting from Alan as he ran forward. +"They were afraid you wouldn't get here. But I knew you would. +It's only a minute or two. Hurry." + +"Four," said the new arrival cheerfully and confidently. + +He gave his left hand to Alan and a better welcome in a cheery word +of greeting, but his right hand did not leave the truck. Nor did +his eyes leave it except for a moment. + +"And the Major?" asked the new arrival as the truck rumbled on. + +"Waiting to bid us good-bye." + +"Everything aboard and shipshape?" + +"Everything but this," and Alan glanced at the black case on the +truck. + +"I've carried it a thousand miles like a baby," laughed Ned. "Rode +with it all the way in the express car." + +"Then you didn't sleep last night?" + +Ned laughed. "It was too interesting," he answered, "and I can +sleep to-night. But I'm glad it's here with no one killed and not a +drop spilled." + +Advancing leaning heavily on his cane, the military man had hurried +forward, his face radiant. + +"Welcome, my boy, and congratulations. But for goodness' sake +hurry," he began hastily. + +Ned smiled again. "I think we had better not hurry this," and he +pointed to the truck load. "That's the reason I'm late. I walked +the horses from the Union Depot. You see we can't afford to spill +our supplies. It was too hard to make and cost too much." + +In another moment the truck was abreast of the open car door. + +"Back her up," exclaimed Ned giving a hand himself to the tongue of +the truck. Then, as the top of the truck came up flush with the car +door and floor he sprang lightly on the truck and motioned the men +to do likewise. For a moment they hesitated, but being reassured, +Ned and Alan and the truck men lined up on either side of the big +case. Slowly and carefully, with a brawny truck man on each side to +help the less stoutly muscled lads, the case slid forward and with a +"yeo-ho" or two from Ned it was soon in the car. Without a pause it +was pushed at once into a space outlined on the floor. + +"And about two minutes to spare,"' cried the Major from the platform +jubilantly and thankfully. + +"Not quite," laughed Ned, "but it'll be a half a minute and that's +as good as an hour. The screws, Elmer." + +The colored boy, who had been busy keeping out of the way, sprang +forward to perform his part of the apparently ticklish job. It was +then seen that each bottom corner of the mysterious box had an iron +flange. In the center of' each of these was a small hole. + +"Major," called out Ned as the truck men climbed out of the car, +"these men were very obliging and careful." + +The Major understood him, and as he began searching his pockets for +a bill Ned quickly inserted four screws in the waiting holes and +with a few sharp turns of the screw driver made the case hard and +fast to the floor of the car. Almost as quickly he threw the door +into place and bolted it, and then with Alan hurried out for a last +word to the friend who was so much interested in his success. + +"Was I right?" he exclaimed. "Half a minute?" + +"To the dot," enthusiastically answered the Major. "Now, boys, +good-bye. Everything in that car is exactly as you planned and +asked. From now on it is subject to your orders alone. What mine +are you know. God bless you both and good luck to you!" + +As the boys took his hand Ned handed him a letter. "I'm sorry I +couldn't have seen my mother again, but please send her this. I +wrote it to-day on the train." + +Far down the line of cars came the words, "all aboard," and Elmer, +cap in hand, sprang onto the steps. + +"Good-bye," exclaimed Alan, "and thank you for the great chance +you're giving us." + +"Good-bye," said Ned, "if we fail in our work it won't be your +fault, Major." + +And then, as the train began to move, the boys stepped aboard, off +at last, after six weeks preparation, in search of the lost Cibola +and the treasure of the Turquoise Temple. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +NED'S MEETING WITH MAJOR BALDWIN HONEYWELL + + +Six weeks before Ned Napier and Alan Hope had set out on this trip +Ned had been the surprised recipient of a mysterious note. In this +message, written on the stationery of the Annex Hotel, he was urged +to call on the writer the next morning at ten o'clock. With his +mother's approval he had kept the engagement. The events which +followed will explain how Ned came to take his momentous journey to +the far southwest. + +Promptly on the hour Ned presented himself at the office desk. A +clerk with a handful of letters gave him a half glance and turned +away. + +"I say," began Ned in a voice that made the clerk turn quickly, "I +want some information." + +The man stepped forward, leaned over the counter far enough to get a +full view of his questioner, and answered: + +"All right, sonny. What can I do for you?" + +"You can tell me if Major Baldwin Honeywell is staying here." + +"Friend of Major Baldwin's?" asked the clerk, his smile broadening. + +"If Major Honeywell is stopping here I suppose he is paying well for +his entertainment," replied Ned after a moment's pause. + +"Sure," answered the facetious clerk, "regular rates." + +"Perhaps that ought to include civil attention to those he has +business with. I have an appointment with him at ten o'clock. I +wish you would see at once that he knows I am here." + +The clerk's smile was not quite so broad now but he was still +amused. + +"What name shall I give, son?" He was about to repeat the "sonny" +that had grated a little on Ned's sense of the proprieties but he +stopped short--and added: "Have you a card, Mr.--?" + +"I have no card and I don't call myself 'Mr.'," answered Ned, "but +you can say that Ned Napier is here and will be glad to see Major +Honeywell whenever it is convenient." + +At the mention of "Ned Napier" the clerk's airiness disappeared. A +certain respect seemed to take its place. Then he leaned forward +and said a good deal more politely: "You are not the Ned Napier?" + +"I never heard of any other one of that name," answered the boy. +"But I think we are losing time. Please say I'm here." + +A moment later a page announced that Major Honeywell, in suite 8 A, +desired Mr. Napier to be shown up at once. Reaching the apartment +the page knocked and there was a quick "Come in." + +Hat in hand, and with all the manliness and dignity his seventeen +years afforded, Ned stepped into the room. At a table a man had +just risen as if from work on some papers. As the man turned to +come forward and his eyes fell upon the lad he paused as if +surprised. Ned Napier was neither large nor small for his age. But +his circumstances had been such, financially, that his attire was +plain and perhaps old fashioned--much of it the handiwork of his +frugal and fond mother; and the absence of smart and up-to-date +ideas in clothes and shoes made him look, perhaps, even younger than +his years. Other lads of his acquaintance--those in his classes in +high school--aped their elders. Ned's time and interests were too +much given up to his boyish ambition to permit this. + +Ned saw a man of about sixty years, with snow-white moustache, +dressed in blue. The man had every appearance of being both a +soldier and an officer. His face was tanned as if by much exposure +to the sun, but the line of white at the top of his forehead, where +his hat gave protection, suggested that the color was both recent +and transitory. Major Honeywell's hair, which was yet dark and only +slightly streaked with gray, was too long to suggest present active +service, as Ned at once concluded. His face, too, had something of +the student in it, and this effect was increased by a pair of large +gold spectacles with double lenses. The man's contracted eyes gave +the youth the uncomfortable feeling of being microscopically +examined, and Ned was for a moment ill at ease. The manner of the +scrutiny was that of a scholar who had before him a strange new +specimen. Ned, still with hat in hand, felt more like a dead bug +than a very live boy. Then the white-mustached man smiled, took +off his heavy-lensed glasses, and stepped forward with his hand +extended. + +"I am Major Honeywell," he began in a low voice, "formerly of the +regular army and later detailed on ethnological work for the +Government. You are--" + +"Ned Napier," responded his youthful caller. + +"You must take no offense if I am a little surprised," exclaimed +Major Honeywell; "I had supposed you would be older. Perhaps your +surprise came first on receiving my note?" + +"It did," replied Ned; "I was surprised and so was my mother. But +she thought I ought to come, although we could not imagine what you +wanted." + +Major Honeywell smiled and motioned Ned to a chair with a +graciousness that made the lad more comfortable. It had taken but a +passing glance to reveal to the boy that he was in the presence of +no ordinary man. The articles scattered about the room, which +apparently were part of his host's traveling outfit, confirmed this. +Of three leather cases or trunks in front of the mantel and within +Ned's view, one was open. On the extended top of this, still partly +covered with the folds of a light Indian blanket, were several flat +and dull plates or dishes of Indian design, more or less broken and +chipped. From the case came a pungent aromatic smell such as Ned +had noticed in the "Early American" room of the museum. He was not +quite sure what "ethno" meant, but he made a guess that it related +to old Indian things, and this theory he confirmed to himself when +he noticed on the table that Major Honeywell had just left another +piece of pottery and by its side a large reading or magnifying +glass. + +"A collector," thought Ned, more puzzled than ever. + +"I thank you for coming," said Major Honeywell finally. "It was +good of you to do so. But I had supposed you were older--at least a +young man," and he smiled again as if in some doubt. + +"Perhaps," replied Ned with just a shadow of resentment in his +voice, "if you will tell me why you sent for me I can help you in +making up your mind as to whether you were wrong in doing so. I'm +seventeen." + +Major Honeywell arose, took off his glasses again and walked to +where Ned was sitting. + +"I hope you'll not take offense, my boy. But my business with you +is most important. It is possibly the most important thing that has +ever come to me. Fate, or chance more properly, of course, seems to +have brought us together. If what I have in mind and have partly +hoped could be brought about, is brought about, you will have no +reason to regret my sending for you. We must be sure of ourselves. +So far we know almost nothing about each other. Since our +acquaintance may mean a great deal to us let us be sure of +ourselves. Therefore, you will pardon me if I ask you if you are +the Ned Napier?" + +Ned laughed good-naturedly. + +"That's what the clerk down stairs asked me few moments ago--if I +were the Ned Napier. Well, I never heard of any other Ned Napier. +But boys don't carry credentials, you know, Major Honeywell. I'll +take your word for it that you are Major Baldwin Honeywell, formerly +of the United States Army, and now of the--what do you call +it--ethno--?" + +"Ethnological survey," laughed the Major. "Then, since we know each +other, I want to congratulate you, my young friend, on being one of +the brightest, nerviest, and most promising young men of America. +I've read about you and that's why I sent for you." + +Ned could only conclude one thing and it made him blush. "You mean +my dirigible balloon experience last summer?" he asked with growing +embarrassment. + +"I do," replied Major Honeywell with what Ned thought was wholly +unnecessary warmth and enthusiasm, "and I want to shake the hand and +congratulate the youngest, most daring and most promising balloon +navigator in the world." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE RELATION OF MIGUEL VASQUEZ + + +It may be well to recount how such a young lad as Ned had become so +famous. + +Ned's father had been a consulting engineer with a fondness for +aeronautics. When Mr. Napier died, a year before Ned's meeting with +the Major, it was discovered that he was making in his little shop a +small dirigible balloon to be used at an amusement park. Mr. +Napier's death was sudden. Manufacturer's bills for the balloon bag +and engine came due and Ned, young as he was, knew that he must pay +them. Putting on all the dignity that his sixteen years would +permit he called on the manager of the amusement park. + +"I hear your father is dead," said the manager. "I suppose we have +lost the twenty-five per cent we advanced on the air ship." + +"Why do you suppose that?" + +"Because he had complete charge of the work and we have no one to +take his place." + +"I mean to do that myself," said Ned. + +The manager smiled and shook his head. "No doubt you would try--you +look it--but we don't care to experiment." + +"But you want the air ship, don't you? You've advertised it." + +"Yes, it was ordered--through your father. Since he is dead and +cannot contribute his services, our agreement is void." + +"Very well," replied Ned. "Good day." + +"Look here," interrupted the manager, "what do you mean to do?" + +"I'm going out to sell an air ship." + +"You mean our air ship?" + +"You said the contract is void." + +The manager laughed again, but not as jovially. + +"You ought to get on," he exclaimed. + +"I've got to get on, and I'm going to do it by being on the square." + +"I guess you're right. What's your proposition?" + +"Since you've thrown up the contract I'm going to sell the balloon +at a profit. The price is now $3,000. And I want a contract as +operator for six weeks at $100 per week." + +The manager stared at Ned and then exclaimed. "I'll do it. You are +the very youngster we want." + +That was how Ned Napier came to finish the air ship his father had +planned, and how it happened all that summer that the papers printed +news stories and Sunday specials with pictures of his daring +flights, and how Major Baldwin Honeywell and other happened to speak +of him as the Ned Napier. + +To return to the scene of Ned's meeting with the Major-- + +"My name is Ned Napier," the boy began as soon as his host's +cordiality gave him a chance, "and I am the young man the newspapers +wrote about." + +"I certainly made no mistake in sending for you," exclaimed the +soldier. "But, before I say more I want you to realize that this +is, to me, a most important matter." + +"You mean it is--" + +"A solemn secret. I want secure your services in a desperate and +daring adventure that will mean a great deal to me--and a great deal +to you." + +"Certainly," was the boy's response. "I give you my pledge on that." + +A look of relief came into the old soldier's face. + +"If I furnished you the money," went on Major Honeywell suddenly, +"could you produce in a short time a practical and manageable +balloon?" + +Before the boy could answer the old soldier continued: "I don't mean +one of those affairs in which ascensions of an hour or so are made. +I mean one in which you could travel for several days--perhaps a +week?" + +"No," said Ned, "it can't be done. No one has yet remained in the +air in a balloon over fifty-two hours." + +Major Honeywell said nothing, but Ned could see that what he had +told the Major had dashed some budding hope. + +"That is," Ned hastened to explain, "you couldn't do it unless you +periodically renewed your supply of hydrogen. I really believe," +continued Ned, "that I ought to know more about what you are +planning to accomplish." + +Again the white-mustached man was silent a few moments, and then he +told without reserve the great secret. He began with an account of +himself. Until three years before he had been an officer in the +United States cavalry, stationed in the southwest. Then the +President had assigned him to ethnological work. His special work +was in the ruins of the Sedentary Pueblos. While scaling a cliff in +this work he fell and permanently injured his left knee. + +Resigning from the army, he traveled for a year and then went to +visit an old friend, Senor Pedro Oje, whose immense sheep herds in +Southwestern Colorado had made their owner a millionaire. + +While here, hearing of an ancient nearby pueblo, just south of the +Mesa Verde, Major Honeywell and his friend drove to the settlement. +To Major Honeywell's surprise he found an old friend in Totontenac, +the chief. As the two white men were about to leave, old Totontenac +presented to his soldier friend an ancient funeral urn. + +Major Honeywell was almost paralyzed with astonishment when he saw +that the vessel was sealed and that it bore on its side, instead of +the conventional Aztec design, this inscription in black: "Miguel +Vasquez, 1545." + +"What was in it?" asked Ned quickly when the Major came to this part +of his narrative. + +"That man was undoubtedly a soldier who marched out of Mexico in +1539 with Friar Marcos, the great explorer," went on Major +Honeywell, ignoring the question, "and when others gave up the +search for the famed seven cities of Cibola and the wealth of the +Aztecs that every Spaniard believed rivaled the treasure of the +Incas, this man kept on. Either by accident or design Miguel +Vasquez was left by the expedition and six years later he wrote on +cowhide and concealed in that vase one of the most valuable historic +records extant in America to-day--confirmation that there was a real +basis for the tales that lured the Spaniards to this region in quest +of treasure." + +Stepping to a trunk Major Honeywell took from a compartment a tin +tube. From this he extracted a stiff sheet of parchment-like +material. + +"It's writing, isn't it?" exclaimed Ned. + +"Yes, and Spanish. It is Miguel Vasquez's last will and testament, +written over three hundred and fifty years ago. And here is a +translation of it. You may read it yourself. That is my +secret--and yours now!" + +And these are the words that turned the current of Ned Napier's +life: + +"A relation of Miguel Vasquez soldier of Spain made in the year 1546 +concerning the hidden city of Tune Cha. Coming out of Saint Michael +in the Province of Culican I journeyed with Captain Marco de Nica in +1539. At Vacupa I departed from him and remained now six years +among those of this land. Three years I dwelt in the town of Acuco +and heard often of the city of Tune Cha wherein is to be found the +Temple of Turquoise than which none more beautiful is to be found, +not even in Castile itself. Such I have seen with my own eyes. It +standeth within a palace of five hundred rooms or more wherein are +to be found priestly vessels of gold and silver. And this same +palace or City of Priests is compassed about by a massive wall. And +in the center of the palace standeth the Temple, facing the sun +which is the sacred place of al Quivera, Arche and Guyas. And the +walls of this Temple are naught but precious Turquoise even to the +height of forty feet or more, and the pillars thereof are of gold +and silver alternate. Knowledge of this hidden and beautiful city +hath not been reported unto Spain nor even unto Nueva Espana. From +Acuco it lieth thirty day's travel west of north and as I estimate +in 36 degrees latitude in the mountains of Tune Cha. From the Rio +de Chuco it lieth west six days' travel. Nor may it be discovered +but by those who have knowledge of it. + Miguel Vasquez" + +"What I had hoped to do," said Major Honeywell at last, "was to make +the most perfect balloon ever built and discover through you this +hidden temple of turquoise treasure. You say you cannot do it." + +Something he had never felt before shot through Ned's body. His +face flushed and then grew pale under the spell that was on him. + +"Major Honeywell," he said suddenly, "I don't know of a balloon that +can be made to fly for a week. But if it is necessary to have one +to do what you wish I'll make it and I'll find Vasquez's Turquoise +Temple." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE CONTRACT, AND LIQUID HYDROGEN + + +"I knew you'd do it," exclaimed Major Honeywell, beaming. "Now +we'll have my friend Senor Oje up and get right at the details." + +"One moment, Major Honeywell. It is easy to say what I just told +you. But it means I've got to do something no one has ever done. +I've got to take with me--in the balloon, of course--the material to +replace the gas I lose." + +"Well, that's easy, isn't it? For you--" qualified the old soldier. + +"I guess you don't know much about ballooning," laughed Ned. + +"Will money enable you to do it?" + +"I hope so! Other experimenters have tried to carry materials to +make gas. I'm going to take the gas itself in a glass jar." + +"In a glass jar!" + +"Precisely. Liquefied hydrogen gas." + +At that moment Senor Pedro Oje, who had been summoned by Major +Honeywell, entered the room. An almost Indian complexion and cast +of countenance indicated his Mexican origin. What had taken place +was related to Senor Oje, and he left no doubt that he was +thoroughly in sympathy with the project. He soon put matters on a +business basis. + +"We are to share alike in what is found, I understand," he said. +"Major Honeywell will have a third interest because the secret is +his. This young man is to have a third because the risk is his. +And I am to have a similar portion for furnishing the capital. And +that brings us to the real starting point," the Mexican capitalist +continued. "What is it to cost?" + +"Ten thousand dollars at least," answered Ned instantly. + +"Phew!" exclaimed Major Honeywell. + +Senor Oje, not unused to speculative investments, gave no sign of +surprise. + +"How shall it be arranged?" was his only comment. + +"Put that amount to my personal credit in the First National +Bank--if you care to trust me." + +"We are trusting you with more than that," replied Major Honeywell +with earnestness. + +"It will take me six weeks to make my arrangements. In that time, +as I need the money, I will draw on the account," said Ned. + +"Very good," said Senor Oje; "I will draw up the agreement." + +"Now," continued Ned, addressing Major Honeywell, "what is your +interpretation of the message of the Spaniard?" + +"Of course Vasquez's words must be modernized. What he termed the +Tune Cha Mountains begin in New Mexico and extend northwesterly into +Arizona and Utah. In many places their plateaus rise eight thousand +feet above the sea. Their thousands of peaks and canyons are fit +rivals of the wonders of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. Nowadays +they are known by many names--the Sierra Chusca, the Lokaeboka, the +Carrisco. 'Thirty days' travel west of north' is not very definite, +but it certainly locates the palace in the far northwestern part of +these mountains. + +"The Rio de Chuco can only mean the Chusco river. The only place in +its winding course that is six days' journey from the mountains is +where it joins the Amarilla. This is south and east of Wilson's +Peak, which is our landmark." + +"Very good," exclaimed Ned, briskly. "Now, what is the nearest +point in civilization?" + +"Clarkeville, Arizona." + +"Then that is my starting point. This is June twentieth. I shall +be ready by the last day of July. Of course I shall need a special +car." + +"Very well," responded the capitalist. "I see you know what you +want." + +"Incidentally," exclaimed Ned, "I shall, of course, be permitted to +carry my own assistants." + +"Assistants? Yes, of course," replied Major Honeywell, "but they +must be persons of discretion." + +"My chum, Alan Hope, who will make the ascension with me, will be +one, and a colored boy, Elmer Grissom, who has helped me prepare for +all my flights, will be the other." + +There was no dissent. + +"When shall I make my report?" Ned added. + +Major Honeywell and his friend conferred a moment. + +"Will five weeks be enough time for your exploration?" + +"I think so; perhaps less." + +"Then we will meet you at the Coates House in Kansas City on the +first day of August." + +Senor Oje arose and lit a fresh black cigar. + +"It will be well for you and Major Honeywell to talk over these +things while I see my Chicago banker," said he. And with a +good-natured "Adios, Senores," he left the apartment. + +"Now, about this liquid hydrogen?" began Major Honeywell at once. + +"Well," said Ned, "instead of ballast, I'm going to carry reserve +hydrogen with me." + +"And is that so difficult?" asked the Major. + +"Impossible, if you try to carry material to make the gas," answered +the boy. + +"And so you are going to carry it in liquid form?" + +"I'm going to try, although the making of liquid hydrogen is, so +far, pretty much a theory. It has been made only under tremendous +pressure and at minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit." + +The Major whistled. + +"That is so cold that ice is red hot comparatively," explained Ned. +"This work must be done, in Washington." + +They discussed the balloon itself, and the car and the engine for +propelling it; where these were to be made in the East, and how they +were to be forwarded to Chicago as they were completed. Ned himself +was to go East at once and remain there until the last thing was +accomplished. + +Ned's chum, Alan Hope, had just taken employment for the school +vacation in a large sporting goods store not far from the hotel. A +few minutes later Ned walked leisurely into this store and sought +out the fire-arms department, where Alan was on duty. + +"Hello, Ned," exclaimed Alan, "what do you think of this?" And with +a smile he handed him an automatic pistol he was inspecting. + +Restraining himself, Ned looked it over carefully. + +"It holds ten cartridges and it's a beauty," declared Alan. + +Ned weighed it carefully in his hand. "What's it worth?" he asked +with dignity. + +"Eighteen dollars." + +"I think we'll need three of them!" + +Alan laughed. + +"And there are a good many other things I think we shall need," went +on Ned, soberly. + +"This hot weather is pretty bad on some people," laughed Alan. +"But, by the way, who are 'we?"' + +"You and Elmer Grissom and I," answered Ned carelessly. + +"And where are we going?" continued Alan, who was not unused to +Ned's joking. + +"On a little run in a private car down into New Mexico." + +Alan looked at him a moment and then determined to have the joke +out. + +"Then what are we going to do?" he asked, still laughing. + +"Make a trip through an unexplored mountain region in the best +dirigible balloon ever built." + +Alan wondered just where the joke came in. "And then?" he +continued. + +"Discover enough hidden treasure of jewels and silver and gold to +make us rich." + +"Shall I get you a cabbage leaf and some ice water?" asked Alan. + +"Get your father's consent that you can go; that'll be all," +announced Ned and then, breaking into a laugh, he relieved the +perplexed Alan by explaining what had just taken place. In ten +minutes Alan had secured permission to be off for the remainder of +the day and the two boys hurried away for luncheon, to revel in +dreams of their great opportunity. + +By night Mrs. Napier had consented, though with tears, to Ned's +going, and later Alan's father reluctantly did the same. As Ned was +to leave the next afternoon and had to see Major Honeywell and Senor +Oje in the morning it was a busy evening that the two boys spent in +Ned's workshop. + +At one o'clock in the morning Alan's work in Chicago was outlined +and Ned's needs in the East were all listed. + +"And now," exclaimed the tired but exuberant Alan, "it is all +arranged but the name. What are we to call the air ship?" + +"The 'Cibola,'" answered Ned without hesitation, "the dream of the +Spanish invaders and our hope of success." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A DINNER PARTY ON THE PLACIDA + + +The long, heavy, limited train on which the young air ship boys were +at last embarked on their extraordinary mission pulled slowly out of +the station. + +Ned made a quick survey of the Placida. Coming out of the baggage +end he passed first into a drawing room. In this were two sections +that opened up into four berths. Beyond the berths a passageway led +to a private stateroom. When the boys reached the stateroom, Elmer +was standing at the door with a happy smile on his face. + +"Fo' de captain," exclaimed the colored boy. + +"Where are you to bunk, Alan?" Ned asked, quickly. + +"Oh, the crew is in the main room." + +"Not much," exclaimed Ned. "We're partners in this enterprise. I +don't have any better than the rest." + +And in another moment he had dropped his valise alongside Alan's +berth. + +"We'll keep the little room for consultations," he said with a +laugh, "when we don't want Elmer to hear us talking about the +Indians." + +The colored lad grunted. + +"Can't scare me wif no Injun talk," he said. "I specs I ain't half +so 'fraid o' Injuns as I is o' dat stuff in de black box." + +"And it's time to attend to the 'stuff,'" interrupted Ned. + +They returned to the baggage room. + +"Now," Ned began, "the door to this car must be kept locked except +when the train crew are compelled to come through. We, in turn, +must be careful about fire and lights. But, for fear of accident, I +have taken some precautions." + +Alan and Elmer then saw that the top of the case was fitted with a +lid the edges of which were bound with rubber. In the center of the +covering was a short spout. + +"What's the use of an air and gas proof top with a hole in it?" +asked Alan, inspecting it curiously. + +"Maybe dat's to let de air in and de lid's to keep de hydrogum from +gettin' out," volunteered the colored boy. + +Ned was too busy to answer the one or to laugh at the other. He had +unlocked the lid and thrown it back. About six inches beneath the +top of the case stood eight iron boxes--two rows with four boxes in +each. These boxes, six inches square, were each about three feet in +height and in each could be seen the neck of a glass vessel. +Securely packed in their iron jackets to prevent breaking, stood the +glass receptacles, open-mouthed and apparently empty. But down +below the shadowed rims were soft clouds of gaseous vapor, beneath +which reposed the precious contents that had cost Ned over a +thousand dollars--the liquid hydrogen. + +On top of the square iron buckets was coiled eight or ten feet of +rubber hose. Taking it out Ned closed and locked the lid. He then +screwed one end of the hose onto the open spout and, springing to +the top of the case, passed the other end out of the open +ventilator. + +"Now," Ned explained, "we are in less danger. Difficult as it is to +condense hydrogen, it is more difficult to keep it in liquid form. +It constantly seeks to return to gas. In a closed place it might +make trouble." + +Elmer had already disappeared, with popping eyes and mumbles of +protest. Alan proudly exhibited to his friend the results of his +share of the work of preparation. Every crate, box, barrel and +package was numbered and labeled and securely fastened in place. + +On one side of the car stood five large oak tanks, looking like the +famous beer tuns of Germany. + +"I can make more hydrogen in those than you've got in your black +box," Alan exclaimed jokingly. + +"I'll have a better look at them in the daylight," finally said Ned; +"and now those easy chairs in the other car would feel pretty good." + +"Aren't sleepy, are you?" asked Alan, forgetting that his chum had +not slept the night before. + +"No," said Ned, "only happy. But I'd be happier if I had had time +to get a good hot supper." + +"All ready, sah, in de stateroom," announced Elmer's cheerful voice. + +Both boys turned--Ned in surprise. + +"Supper's all ready, sah!" continued the colored boy, "and waiting +fo' you all." + +In the stateroom was a sight to arouse a sleepy boy and to delight a +hungry one. In the middle of a small table was a bunch of pink +roses. On either side, in a dish of cracked ice, was the half of a +luscious cantaloupe. Silver knives, forks and spoons, sparkling +glass-ware and snowy napkins at once revealed the resources of the +Placida's pantry. + +"Well, I'll be jiggered!" exclaimed Ned. + +"Pretty nifty, eh?" laughed Alan. + +"Well, if this isn't the last straw!" exclaimed Ned as they seated +themselves. "But I want to thank you both. I didn't know how +hungry I really was--" + +He was about to plunge a spoon into the fragrant, cool melon when he +saw a folded note by his plate. Opening it he read: + +"Dear Ned: Good luck and good voyage. The roses are from my own +garden. Bring me a turquoise ring. + MARY HOPE." + +It was from Alan's sister. + +"Shall we do it, Alan?" he cried. + +"Shall we?" answered Alan wringing his chum's hand. "We'll do it +or--" + +"Is you all ready for dis?" asked the young chef suddenly appearing +with a smoking broiled steak. "It can't wait no longer." + +And it did not have to. + +An hour later the two happy boys sat on either side of the table in +the drawing room of their car. + +"Are you getting nervous?" began Alan. + +"About what?" asked Ned. + +"Oh, about everything. The responsibility for this car and the +setting up of your balloon, and the trip itself." + +"Are you?" exclaimed Ned. + +"My, no, I'm not. But then I'm not the captain. But I thought you +might be." + +"Aren't we getting along all right?" + +"Perhaps too well," Alan answered. + +"Never talk that way," interrupted Ned decisively. "Everything is +happening as it does because we planned it just that way. Things +can't go too well. That is a foolish idea. The good fortune of +careful preparation should only confirm your judgment." + +This was the sort of advice Alan had to take now and then from his +friend; but it always did him good. + +"Then you don't believe in good luck?" rather sheepishly suggested +Alan. + +"I believe in it, yes," replied Ned, "if it comes--and I never put +it aside. But I never count on it." + +Sleep seemed to have fled from Ned's eyes. Although Alan suggested +that it might be well to turn in early and be up early, Ned insisted +on seeing Major Honeywell's chart of the country they were to +explore, saying that he had another night on the journey in which he +could sleep. + +The chart was really only a rough pencil sketch. The instructions +were more in detail. + +"This country, now a portion of the reservation of the Navajo and +Southern Ute Indians, is a wilderness," Major Honeywell wrote. +"White men do not visit it because the Indians will not permit them. +Mining prospectors who have tried to do so have been murdered." + +"Cheerful, isn't it?" interrupted Alan. + +"This jumble of mountains has no connection with our two great +western mountain ranges. The towering plateaus, cut with yawning +canyons, are plainly the result of some special volcanic action. +This unknown region extends over a hundred miles northwest and +southeast, and on all sides drops suddenly into the sandy deserts. +At Clarkeville the desert begins at once. If you will start a +little east of north and locate the Indian village of Toliatchi, +twenty miles away, you will be on the Arroyo Chusco. Although the +bed of this stream may be dry it can be traced northward sixty-five +miles, where it unites with the Amarilla, eighty-five miles from +Clarkeville. At the juncture of these water courses, if you face +west, the roughest part of the Tunit Chas will confront you. At +your right will be Wilson's Peak. That portion of the Tunit Chas to +the southwest forms the Lu-ka-ch-ka mountains. To the northeast lie +the Charriscos. Somewhere in these mountains lie the temple and the +treasures we seek." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +BOB RUSSELL OF THE KANSAS CITY COMET + + +When the Overland reached Kansas City at nine o'clock the next +morning the air ship boys were just finishing an appetizing +breakfast of fruit, omelet, pancakes and coffee. The Placida, their +special car, came to a stop at the far end of the station train +shed, and, covered with dust as it was, and almost hidden among +hissing engines and baggage and express cars, there seemed little +reason for it to attract attention. Of course it was not ignored by +the railway officials. No sooner was the train at rest than the +depot master and the division superintendent were knocking at the +door. They had special orders concerning the car, and immediately +wheels and brakes were being tested and ice and water were being +taken aboard. + +The railway officials made a quick inspection of the car, asked if +anything was needed, and were soon gone. A few minutes after they +had left a young man suddenly appeared, dodging among the cars. He +sprang on to the rear step of the Placida, but before he could enter +the car, the door of which had been left open by the departing +officials, the vigilant form of Elmer Grissom blocked his way. + +"Who's in charge here?" demanded the stranger. "I'm a reporter and +want to see him in a hurry." + +The railway officials had been admitted through the baggage portion +of the car, but Elmer knew that this way was not open to everyone. +He understood the need of secrecy, and politely forcing the reporter +out of the door on to the platform he led him to the front of the +car. + +"If you'll give me yo' card," he then said with dignity, "I'll take +it in, sah." + +As he was about to do so, Ned and Alan emerged from the car for a +few mouthfuls of fresh air. + +"Hey!" exclaimed the impatient young man, "I'd like to see the man +in charge of this car. It's important and I'm in a hurry. I'm a +reporter for the Comet." + +The boys smiled. + +"We are in charge," answered Ned. "What can we do for you?" + +The reporter seemed taken somewhat aback at seeing two youngsters +directing a special car. His bearing changed at once. + +"I've been sent to get a story about where you are going and what +you are going to do," he said with a little more consideration; +"that is, if you care to tell." + +Ned puckered up his lips and thought. He had met reporters before +and he knew what a "story" meant. + +"I think we don't care to say," he replied in a moment. He did not +even care to say it was a secret. Even that admission, he knew, +would be a basis for something that might interfere with his plans. + +"Our correspondent in Chicago says you left there last evening with +a carload of new and powerful explosives." + +"Was such a story printed this morning?" asked Ned, eyeing the +reporter closely. + +"I think not," said the reporter, "but we are an afternoon paper, +you know. We have a report that you are on your way to Mare Island, +California, and that you have a carload of explosives for the navy." + +"Was such a story printed this morning?" repeated Ned, smiling +again. + +"No, it wasn't. But it will be this afternoon," answered the young +man impatiently. + +"If such a report had been known in Chicago last night," replied Ned +sharply, "it would have been in every newspaper in that city and +this city this morning. No correspondent sent you such a story. +You are a poor guesser." + +The reporter was at least four years older than Ned and Alan. +Therefore, he gave a little start of surprise. He had been trapped +in a trick that he had often worked successfully on many an older +person. For Bob Russell, easily the brightest and quickest-witted +reporter in his city, thus to be turned down by two "kids" would +never do. Without wasting time to deny Ned's charge, he tried a +belligerent role. + +"Do you deny you have newly invented ammunition in that car?" he +exclaimed brusquely. + +"I deny nothing and refuse to be put in the attitude of doing so," +calmly answered Ned. "Although it happens you are wrong again." + +The young man laughed and again changed his tactics. + +"Well, look here, boys, what's the use of getting mad about this? +You're working on something, just as I'm working on a newspaper. +You've got a good story somewhere about you and I'd like to have it. +What's the matter with being good fellows and loosening up?" + +"Because it is purely a business matter in which the public would be +too much concerned if it knew what we were doing." + +"Well, whatever it is, it's good--I know that," replied the young +journalist, laughing, "and I'm sorry I'm not in it with you--special +car--flowers--traveling like railroad presidents. I'm on. But, +say, when this thing breaks I'd like to be in on the yarn. I was +lying. I never heard of you before the train pulled in. But you +know the railroad people are on. They told me you had a black case +marked 'Explosive.' That's all I know. Say, couldn't you tell me +this--are you going through to the coast?" + +Ned relented a little. + +"Perhaps," he said smiling, "we might go to the coast." + +"You might?" interrupted the reporter eagerly. + +"Or we might stop in the mountains." + +The reporter looked perplexed. + +"Then you've got something to do with mining?" interrupted the +impulsive journalist, "and it isn't the navy yard. But you came +from Washington! I know that, you see." + +"Yes," volunteered Ned, "but we might be from the Hydrographic +Office." + +"Cloud breakers," quickly interrupted the reporter again. "How's +that for a guess? Are you rain makers?" + +"What are they?" innocently asked Alan. + +The reporter saw he was wrong. + +"I give it up," he said shrugging his shoulders. "You are two wise +lads." + +"Not wise," suggested Ned, "but attending strictly to our business." + +"Right you are," answered the reporter. + +"I've got to leave you to have a look through the train. Sorry I'm +not in on this. Where ever you're going, it looks good to me. When +you come back, don't forget me. Save the story for me, Bob Russell +of the Comet." + +Handing his card to the boys with a cheery "So long!" he was gone. +The boys felt a little relieved. They had done what they could to +protect the interests of their patrons and themselves by keeping +their mission a strict secret. So far as Ned knew, the only persons +who had knowledge of what they were doing and where they were going +were his mother and sister, Alan's family, and Major Honeywell and +Senor Oje. Not even Elmer Grissom's parents knew where he was +bound--it was sufficient for them to know that he was with Ned. Of +course the railway people knew where the car was to stop. Beyond +these it was necessary for no one else to know what was being +done--not even the manufacturers who made the balloon, the engine and +their precious gas. But what the young air navigators desired and +what Bob Russell wanted were two different things. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE MAKING OF A NEWSPAPER STORY + + +Let us see whether the young reporter was baffled by the reticence +of the secretive boys. + +"Every one to his trade," murmured Bob Russell, as he hastened from +Ned and Alan, "and now, me to mine." + +Bob was what was known on his paper as the "depot reporter." It was +not the most important assignment, for usually his work consisted +only in describing such notable personages as passed through the +city and now and then in interviewing the more important of these. +But this day he was confronted with a mystery and it was his +business to solve it. He acted quickly. + +Hurrying after the depot master, with whom of course he was +friendly, he persuaded that official to go at once to the conductor +of the train and ascertain the names of the boys. This was a simple +thing, done in that manner, for even the passengers in a special or +private car must have regular tickets. The conductor at once +revealed the identity of the three passengers. Although Bob knew +the conductor, he realized that he stood a chance of being refused +even thin information if he asked for it personally. + +While his friend the depot master was getting this information, Bob +quickly, but apparently carelessly, approached the head brakeman who +had helped bring the train from Chicago. It was Tom Smithers--also +a friend of Bob's, who made a point of knowing every employee +running into the station. + +"I see you've got the Placida with you?" began Bob indifferently. + +"Yep," answered Tom, "and loaded to the axles. All except +passengers. She's running light on them. Two boys and a coon." + +"I just had a talk with them," remarked Bob, carelessly offering the +brakeman a cigar. "Pretty dusty, eh?" After a moment's casual talk +Bob returned to the subject. + +"I guess those kids must be next--running a car with locked doors." + +"Locked doors!" snorted Tom, putting his cigar away for a +surreptitious smoke. "Not on your life. Not against me. You bet +she was open whenever I rang." + +"But it might just as well have been locked," said Bob. "The place +is so jammed full of stuff. I couldn't make out what it was, but +there was a wad of it." + +The unsuspecting brakeman then gave Bob what he was hoping to get. + +"Well, I stopped and saw it," he confessed. "I roused up the coon +after midnight to have a look at the ropes and when I came back I +took my time. They got a case of powder or dynamite in there marked +'Explosive.' I didn't bother that but the rest was plain. Half the +boxes in the car were labeled 'balloon works' or 'motor works.' +It's a balloon show--nothing else." + +"Where is the car going?" + +"They ain't consulted me," laughed Tom. + +A few moments later Bob was in the office of the division +superintendent. When he left he knew that the Placida would be +dropped on the only siding at the little town of Clarkeville in New +Mexico. He had also looked over the best map in the offices and +fixed in his mind the topography of the adjacent country. + +Before half past nine Bob had presented these scattered facts to his +city editor. + +"It's a story, all right, Bob, and a good one. Go to it," said the +editor. And Bob did the best he knew how--in a newspaper way. On +the suggestion of the editor he telegraphed to the representative of +the Comet in Chicago: "Who is Ned Napier?" In a little over an hour +he had a hundred and fifty word telegram outlining Ned's aeronautic +career and concluding: "Why? What do you know? Napier not here. +Family won't talk." + +Then Bob began his story. It was, for a reporter of his experience, +brilliant, with good deductions, good guesses and good ambiguous +generalities. It seemed to tell more than it really did. + +At four o'clock that afternoon Ned and Alan were speeding over the +green and fertile prairies of middle Kansas in blissful ignorance of +what Bob Russell had done. Under striking headlines appeared the +following story: + +"Ned Napier, the famous young aeronaut of Chicago, passed through +the city this morning on his way to the southwest to execute the +most daring and important balloon journey ever undertaken in this +country. Accompanied by an assistant, Alan Hope, and on board a +special car packed with $50,000 worth of apparatus he will proceed +to Clarkeville, an insignificant town in New Mexico, from which +place he will make his hazardous flight over the mountains lying to +the north. The aerial journey may possibly extended over the Sierra +Nevadas as far as the Pacific Coast. + +"The details of the expedition are not made public, as young Napier +has been retained by the authorities at Washington and is operating +under a strict pledge of secrecy. The knowledge that such an +expedition is under way was made known for the first time to the +representative of the Comet by Mr. Napier at the Union Station this +morning. While slow to discuss the ultimate object of his trip Mr. +Napier talked of his plans in a general way. + +"'I represent the Hydrographic Department,' he said to the reporter, +'and the journey I am about to make may extend from Clarkeville as +far as the Pacific. I hope it will accomplish what the department +has planned, but you know that we who are in this profession are +always prepared for failure. My assistant and I may easily have our +lives crushed out on the rugged peaks of the mountain chain we are +attempting to cross.' + +"Mr. Napier suggested that some might conclude that he had been sent +out as a 'rain maker,' or 'cloud breaker' in an attempt to secure +rain for the arid plains, but he laughed at this idea. + +"In the government's special car, carefully safeguarded, is carried +a large can of a new and powerful explosive. In exhibiting this to +the reporter Mr. Napier good-naturedly said: + +"'I am sorry I cannot tell the public the exact character of this +new explosive. But the secret belongs to the government.' + +"When it was suggested that the explosive might be destined for +certain elaborate experiments in the unpopulated wilderness of the +region to which the expedition is now hastening on the Limited, Mr. +Napier would only answer; + +"My lips are sealed. I can say no more. But I compliment the +Comet in discovering what all the eastern papers have missed--that a +stupendous thing is projected and that I have the honor, with my +friend, Mr. Hope, to attempt it." + +Then followed an elaborate rewritten version of what had been +telegraphed from Chicago concerning Ned. After this was a detailed +account of the car, not omitting little Mary Hope's bouquet of faded +roses, which in Bob's story became "a wealth of cut blossoms, the +tribute of Mr. Napier's scientific friends." + +What Bob wrote was in type by twelve o'clock. Three hundred words +of it were telegraphed to the Chicago evening newspapers. Sharp at +six o'clock that evening the Chicago correspondent of the New York +World sent advice to his paper that he had a story on the mystery of +what Ned Napier was about to do for the government. Word came back +at once to send on the story. + +At ten o'clock the telegraph editor of the World in New York took +the account just received to the managing editor of the paper. + +There was a minute's consultation, a nod of the head, and at twelve +o'clock that night Bob Russell was awakened to respond to a +telephone call. It was his own managing editor who read him this +telegram: + +Managing Editor, Comet, Kansas City + +Send man at once to follow Chicago balloon man and discover mission. +Advance funds and draw on us. Will share story with you. + +Managing Editor, +New York World. + +It is hardly necessary to say that Bob Russell was a passenger on +the Limited leaving the next morning. He was just twenty-four hours +behind in the race, but he meant, if he could, to execute his +orders, and was already smiling delightedly in anticipation of what +he knew would be a contest of wits. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE HOSPITALITY OF NEW MEXICO + + +Clarkeville was even smaller than the boys had imagined it. The +little depot was far more pretentious than any other building in +sight. Beyond this was a wide and exceedingly dusty street. On the +far side of this unpaved roadway was a row of one- and two-story +frame buildings. Here and there was a cheaper structure of little +else but corrugated iron sheets, while to the left, where a similar +street crossed the railroad at right angles, there was a one-story +cement building proudly labeled "Bank." Both streets suddenly +disappeared in a sandy, treeless plain. + +Wooden awnings in front of the buildings extended over the sidewalk. +At the edge of these awnings were a few teams and many saddled +horses, some of them hitched to posts, and others standing with their +bridle reins dropped to the ground. Not many persons were in sight. +The deep and cloudless blue sky was brilliant with the noonday sun +while a hot breezeless haze hung over all. + +The Limited had made its usual daily pause and then to the surprise +of the agent had run down beyond the water tank with one car, +switched it back onto the one siding until it stood opposite the +musty smelling freight shed, and, quickly coupling up again, had +gone. + +Ned and Alan had alighted when the train stopped. Around them the +boys could detect the first signs of the real West. At one end of +the station a big-hatted Mexican squatted by a hot tamale can. +Among others idling near were some high-heeled and sombrero-topped +cow-boys, whose easy and loose clothing made Alan envious at once. +Even the depot attendants, with their belts and loosely knotted +neckerchiefs, seemed gayer and freer than their brother laborers +back in the East. + +With coats off and collars loosened the two boys filled their lungs +with the tonic air, for, in spite of the heat, a certain dryness +seemed to give life and vigor to the atmosphere. + +"There it is, Alan," exclaimed Ned finally, pointing away to the +north and the distant mountains, "beyond those peaks and somewhere +under that sapphire sky is our land of promise. We'll be in it in a +few days." + +The brilliant sky, the exhilarating air and the new life about them +filled both boys with enthusiasm. + +"Whoopee!" almost shouted Alan finally, throwing out his arms as if +to embrace his friend. "All we need is an Indian or two and I guess +we'd be out West for sure." + +"You may not be so anxious to see them before we start back," +remarked Ned. "Anyway, I promise you enough of them in this +country." + +With the departure of the train, the two boys became the center of +some attention. Strangers were not plentiful in Clarkeville, and +when the news spread that a special car was standing behind the +freight shed on the far side of the tracks there was an instant rush +of idlers in that direction. Ned and Alan returned with them and +smiling good-naturedly right and left took stand at the forward car +steps. + +It was about two o'clock in the afternoon, but so anxious had the +boys become in the last stage of their journey that they had ordered +Elmer to put off the noonday meal until they reached Clarkeville. +The colored boy, troubled over the notion of a good dinner spoiling, +was waiting on the car platform for it chance to get his "bosses," +as he delighted to call them, into the car. + +Before he could do so, and while the two chums were answering idle +questions as to whether they were a "show," Ned's quick eye caught +sight of a more important personage. A middle-aged man, not quite +so western in appearance as the others, but plainly as much at home +in the saddle, rode up with a clatter and sprang from his pony. + +Ned advanced quickly, spurred on by the new arrival's quick "Howdy, +strangers!" + +"My name is Ned Napier," explained the lad, "and this is my friend, +Alan Hope." + +The rider held out his hand. + +"I'm Curt Bradley, and I'm the mayor of this town," he replied by +way of introduction. + +"Glad to meet you," answered Ned. "You've just saved me the trouble +of looking you up, for that would have been my first business." + +"Not to be over cur'ous," laughed the Mayor as his eyes took in the +big expensive car and then returned to the two boys, "might I +inquire the nature o' yer business." + +Ned laughed. + +"Certainly," he answered, "but come aboard first. Elmer," he said +to the waiting cook, waiter and porter, "another plate for Mr. +Bradley." + +And in spite of the wholesome-looking but bronzed Mr. Bradley's +protest that gentleman was soon sitting with the boys before what +was perhaps the most elaborate meal he had ever eaten. His protest +came from the fact that he had already had his dinner, but the fresh +fruit and vegetables and spring chicken were temptations too strong +for him. + +When Ned saw that their new acquaintance was at his ease and rapidly +becoming satisfied he lost no time in coming to the point. + +"Our visit here, Mr. Bradley, is, in part, a secret. I hope you +will accept my assurance, however, that it can in no way operate +against or damage your town or its residents or the country round +about. I want your assistance." + +"Ye can hev that," came the quick answer, "and if your lay is no +one's business, why, it ain't none o' ours." + +"I'm glad to hear that," answered Ned. "But there may be some who +will not be so considerate." + +"When I pass the word I guess they'll all think about like me," +interrupted the Clarkeville official. "Ye jest tell me what it is +you want." + +"First I'll explain to you that in the other part of this car we +have the material to make a dirigible balloon." + +"A what!" exclaimed the Mayor, his mouth full of chicken. + +"A balloon that you can guide through the air." + +Curt Bradley dropped his knife. + +"One o' them flyin' machines?" + +"Exactly." + +"And kin we all see it fly?" + +"Certainly," answered Ned, "if you will just see that no one +interferes with us. I shall be glad in time to show you, I hope, +the most perfect dirigible balloon ever put together and to explain +just how it is to be operated. But in a few days, when it is ready, +we are going to sail away on business that is our own. And when +that time comes curiosity must stop. If anyone attempts to +ascertain where we are going or what we mean to do I sound warning +now that we will do all we can to prove to him that it is none of +his business." + +The Mayor looked at them in surprise. + +"Why," he began, "I suppose ye must be on a mighty partic'lar job. +Are you--?" + +"There!" interrupted Ned. "You see you are beginning to ask +questions. Since we can't answer them we'd rather not hear them." + +"Right," exclaimed the Mayor. "Give me yer word it's all fair and +square and that ye ain't violatin' no laws and I'll give ye my word +they won't be no more questions asked." + +"I'm glad to do that," answered Ned, "we want certain accommodations +for which we are willing to pay. But we want the confidence of +Clarkeville that we are all right, even if we are a little young." + +"Clarkeville is yours," laughed the Mayor, getting up from the +table, "and now what do ye want first?" + +In another hour the two boys, guided by Mayor Bradley, had examined +the entire settlement. A little way down the railroad track they +found a rather ramshackle building, mostly tin roof, and behind it a +large plot of ground surrounded with a high corral or fence. The +sign read "Buck's Corral." In the East it would have been called a +livery stable. The air navigators engaged the place at five dollars +a day for a week or more, and put a half dozen Mexican laborers at +work removing the few horses and cleaning out the building and +corral. The proprietor, who owned one of the few wagons in the +town, they also hired as a drayman at $2.50 a day for himself and +team. + +Work began at once. Through Mayor Bradley three reliable men were +employed as watchmen, and these, in eight-hour shifts, undertook the +duty of seeing that nothing in the corral was molested in the +absence of Ned and Alan. Then the work of transporting material +began, the first task being the removal of the five large generating +tanks. + +Alan had been thoughtful enough to foresee the need of special +clothing, and it was not long before he and Ned and even Elmer +Grissom were enjoying the freedom of wide-brimmed hats, stout +shirts, thick-soled shoes, and belts. Elmer's duty was the constant +care of the Placida, which he only left on special permission. Ned +and Alan were free to devote themselves wholly to the agreeable and +long anticipated task of at last "getting ready." + +Help was easily hired and with Buck's wagon in service the +wide-opened doors of the baggage car seemed to give out more boxes, +crates and bundles than a full freight car. When strangers were on +the car the colored boy stood like a sentinel over the black case +which was made less conspicuous by being covered with a blanket. +And his constant injunction "No smokin', sah," soon won him a +sobriquet, Mexicans and cow-boys alike calling him "Smoky." + +Elmer was relieved from picket duty in time to prepare an extra +supper to which Mayor Bradley, Buck, and Jack Jellup, the town +marshal, were invited. It was extra work for "Smoky," who took his +new name with a mild protest; but when he called the crew to the +meal it was apparent that he harbored no resentment. Jack and Buck +took their seats gingerly, but the boys soon made all at home. + +"There ain't agoin' to be no pay took fur this day's work," suddenly +exclaimed Buck as he finished a generous portion of cold sliced ham +and potato salad. + +The boys laughed in protest. + +"I ain't seen real food in ten years," continued Buck, "and what I +said goes. This meal's worth a week's work to me." + +"All I got to say, young uns," interrupted Jack Jellup, the marshal, +"is that this 'ere town is yours." + +Jack's idea of hospitality was an invitation to the boys to visit +the town saloons as his guest, but Ned arid Alan laughed and thanked +him, pleading weariness as a reason for declining. The final +tribute of the three guests, however, before they left, was to push +the Placida along with crowbars until it was free of the freight +house and stood where the evening breeze could freely find its way +through the windows. Then with hearty "buenos noches," ("Good +night") and promises to see that every one was on hand early in the +morning, they left. + +For some time Ned, Alan and Elmer sat in camp chairs on the car +platform reveling in the glorious starlit night. From somewhere in +the little town came the sound of low singing and a Spanish air +played on the mandolin. It was all so different from the life the +boys had known that it seemed like a dream. And when their real +dreams did come it was of the not far distant Tunit Chas. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +"CALIFORNY KID" GETS A JOB + + +Old Buck's horse-corral had blossomed over night into a modern +balloon factory. And the proprietor, with his bronco team, and the +superintending Ned and Alan made big gaps the next day in the +precious freight of the Placida. By noon the five casks for +generating hydrogen, the cooling and purifying box, and the lead +pipe and other equipment, had been transferred to the old horse +yard. Three tons of iron turnings, forwarded by freight in advance, +were found in the keeping of the railroad agent. It took Buck six +trips to move this, and that consumed the afternoon. + +A special trip was made by the wagon just after luncheon. This was +to transport the tool chest--practically two chests, for it was a +large one containing both wood and iron-working tools. With it rode +the two boys, both in overalls and ready to begin the setting up and +adjustment of the generating tanks. + +After their arrival at the corral, the rest of the afternoon, in +spite of the heat, slipped quickly away. But by night a foundation +had been leveled in a corner of the yard and the five barrel-like +generators were firmly anchored and connected by lead pipes with the +cooling and purifying box. + +"Looks purty much like a distillery," commented Buck, who had just +made his last trip with the iron shavings, which were now piled +close by the casks. + +"And is," laughed Ned, "in a way." + +But he volunteered no more. In fact the whole matter was a mystery +to every one in the town, except Mayor Curt Bradley and Marshal Jack +Jellup. + +In the morning the first work accomplished was the removal, one at a +time, of ten casks of sulphuric acid, each weighing four hundred +pounds. It was a delicate job and not unattended with danger in +case of a cask breaking. The boys began to realize the need of help +of a higher grade than that of the "greasers" who had been thus far +their only assistants except Buck. + +Their usual good luck seemed to be with them, however, for just in +the middle of the work of sliding a heavy carboy of acid from the +wagon a stranger stepped from the group of onlookers, and without +words gave a hand to the job. + +Alan was about to thank him hurriedly, when the stranger said: +"Wot's the game, son? Wot's doin'?" + +Alan was at first inclined to resent this "tough" familiarity. Then +he realized that the language of the man was in his natural manner +of speaking, and he said: + +"Who are you and where are you from?" + +"Give you one guess," laughed the stranger. "No! Can't tell a +'bo'? Well, just tramp. Wot's dew name? I lost me card case. Me +nom de plumb is Kid, Californy Kid. And me address is--well wot's +de name o' dis munificent metropolis?" + +"Clarkeville, New Mexico," answered Alan smiling. + +"Well, den me address is dat. Wot's de nex' inquiry?" + +The man was young. His clothing was worn and greasy, his shoes were +patched, and those parts of his face and hands that could be seen +between smears of coal dust were red from exposure and the sun. + +"How do you happen to be here?" continued Alan. + +"Well, cul--beg pardon, son--de fact is I lost me purse and de +brakeman on de fast freight wouldn't take me check. I was dumped. +And I can't get away exceptin' I walk." + +"Then you wouldn't care to work?" + +"Will dis beautiful city give me coin and chuck widout work?" + +"I'm afraid not," laughed Alan. + +"Den' it's work for yours truly," answered the tramp with a sort of +cheery humor. "But, say, boss, ye couldn't stake me to a drink and +some chuck afore I loosen up me muscles?" + +"Your pay will be two dollars a day," said Alan, "but no drinking +goes. Here's a note that will get you something to eat." And +writing a message to Elmer the tramp was soon hurrying to the car +for a meal. A half hour later, with his sleeves rolled up, he +returned, riding alongside Buck on the wagon. + +Ned had given the new hand little attention. + +Now he looked him over and asked: + +"What's your real name?" + +"Gus, boss; or, spellin' it out, Gustave Lippe. How's dat for a +handle--Lippe?" + +Ned looked at the young man long and sharply. + +"One name, they say, is as good as another out here. But I didn't +know tramps got this far west." + +"Sure," answered the tramp, "It's long jumps and hard ones. It's me +last excursion dis way." + +"Well," said Ned slowly, "you can work for us as long as you are not +too inquisitive." + +"Dat's me, boss. I'm de clam till me two dollars per will git me to +de next whistle." + +"Then you'd better arrange to board with Buck." + +"Dat's me lay, boss, already booked. Now show me some work. Me +trunk was checked t'roo and I ain't nuttin' on me mind but me job." + +"Well, you had better spend the rest of the afternoon in cleaning up +a bit," suggested Ned. "Here's five dollars in advance. Report +early in the morning." + +"Tank's, boss," said Gus, the tramp. But he took the bill slowly. + +"But, you can't spend it on beer and whisky and work for us," added +Ned. + +Gus shifted uneasily. + +"You'd better have a bath and a shave. And if you need clothes and +can get them here," continued Ned, "I'll advance more to-morrow--if +you show up all right." + +"I kin work widdout a shave," the man said, "ain't der nuttin' doin' +to-day?" + +Assured that to-morrow was when he was wanted the tramp slowly and +apparently reluctantly turned and slouched away toward the stores. + +"What do you make of him, Ned?" asked Alan as the two toys resumed +work. + +"Too slangy, I think," commented Ned. + +But the final stowing of the acid soon drove the tramp from the +minds of the boys. + +When the young aeronauts finally closed the corral and returned to +the car, the sun a great red ball, was just dropping behind the +serrated mountains of the western horizon. On the car steps, Ned +turned and pointed to the north. Far away the dusky gray of the +plains deepened into darker and darker shadows that ended in a low +black mass. But here and there from the black wall rose irregular +spires, their tops pink-tipped by the red sun. + +"Yes," exclaimed Alan, "the Tunit Chas--our mountains." + +And even though the vigilant Elmer called from within, the boys +stood and gazed in silence until the last glow had died away and the +land of their hopes was lost under the stars. + +Important as was the work to be done in Buck's corral, there was +another vital thing to be accomplished while this progressed. That +was the creation of a base of supplies near the navigator's field of +work. This was preferably to be at the junction of the Amarilla and +Chusco rivers, and that point lay just eighty-five miles to the +north. Between Clarkeville and that spot there were no roads and, +at this time of the year, perhaps, no water. With the best wagon +and team they might be able to get, this trip over the desert would +require not less than five days. + +It was impossible for either of the boys to go on this important +errand, as both were needed on the spot to set up the balloon. So +it had long since been decided that Elmer was to have charge of this +secondary expedition. And since it was Elmer who would have to +conduct the expedition safely to its destination and establish a +relief camp, the colored boy had been thoroughly coached in his +coming task. + +"Kin I?" the boy had said more than once. "When de Cibola gits dar +I'll be dar. And ain't no Indians nor rattlesnakes nor hot weather +goin' to break up dat camp." + +And the camp meant gasoline, water, food and a stepping stone back +to civilization, whether the expedition ended in failure or success. +As the boys had already planned that Buck should furnish the wagon +and horses and guide Elmer's caravan, they had asked him to call +that evening to talk it over. + +"I'm ready to start, yes, right now," Elmer had said as he served +the good supper over which he had been laboring, "but I does jes +nach'elly hate to turn you young gemmen over to dese greaser cooks." + +The boys laughed. "You don't think we can keep this up all summer, +do you?" exclaimed, Ned. "Even 'greaser' cooks are better than +having nothing to eat. And up there," nodding toward the north, +"there won't be any cooks." + +"Don't forget," interrupted Elmer, "camp--camp--well, my camp. When +you get dar dar'll be a good meal waitin' you and when you git outen +de mountains I'll still be dar waitin' wid eatin's." + +The boys laughed again. + +"Like as not," suggested Alan, "if you get all that truck up there. +You'll certainly have enough. But don't you bother about the eating. +You just watch the water and the gasoline." + +"Till de snow flies," exclaimed Elmer with emphasis. + +"Which, right there," dryly remarked Ned as he disposed of the last +of a generous slice of melon, "is rather indefinite." + +When Buck, whose real name they had discovered to be William +Bourke--easily corrupted into "Buck"--appeared, the boys had a delicate +job before them. Inquiry had quickly shown them that Buck's twenty-five +years on the old Santa Fe trail as guide and an active service in the +army as scout easily made him the man to conduct Elmer to the north. + +To all their long explanations and reasons Buck listened in silence. +When there seemed nothing more to be said, Buck smothered the still +glowing end of a cigarette between his dark weather-beaten fingers +and said slowly: + +"When do we start?" + +It was arranged that on the second morning Buck should be ready for +a journey of uncertain length; that the general direction should be +north; that the final destination should be revealed by Elmer on the +second morning out. + +"Soldier-like," Buck had commented, "and that's the way I like it." + +Buck and an assistant were to take an outfit of two wagons, each +drawn by four horses. In the lighter wagon six barrels of water +were to be carried for use in case the usual "water holes" were dry. +In case of an accident, the lighter wagon and horses were to be sent +south by the second man and Elmer and Buck were to make a quick dash +forward with what water and supplies could be carried on the other +wagon. + +Old Buck made rather light of the matter. + +"Injuns ain't nothin' nowadays," he had explained, shrugging his +shoulders, "ye jest want to keep yer bearin's and git used to +drinkin' atmosphere and ye'r all right." + +The contract with Buck called for thirty dollars a day in money and +food for himself and a helper. Both parties to the contract were +satisfied and after Buck's fresh cigarette disappeared in the +direction of the town the boys lost no time in turning in for a good +night's rest. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +AN ERROR IN CALCULATION + + +While Buck was busy getting his wagons and horses and water casks +ready the next morning the boys were not surprised to see Gus, the +tramp, drive up just after breakfast with the moving team. + +"Have you had breakfast?" asked Alan by way of a greeting. + +"Have," retorted Gus, pulling up his team awkwardly. "It's me +wrappin' meself around tortillas till I feel like a bag o' corn +meal." + +"I can't see that you've spent any great amount of that five dollars +on yourself," interrupted Ned, noticing the tramp's unshaven face +and the still visible traces of coal smoke. + +"Well, boss, ye'r right. Dead right. But, ye see, de barber o' dis +growin' city only works on Saturday and me friend Buck's bat' tub +has a leak. Anyhow, de ladies hereabouts is scarce and few. Think +wot a swell I'll be when Sunday comes." + +"Come in the car. We've plenty of water, and soap too," suggested +Alan, smiling. + +'"Well, boss, don't tempt me. I'm working. I can't soldier away no +time dudin' meself up on do bosses' time." + +"All right," replied Ned, laughing, "every one to his taste." + +There was plenty of work to be done, and in a few minutes all were +at it. The chief task this day was the unloading of the materials +yet on the car. That had to be done by night, except in the case of +the boxes marked "Overland," all of which had been carefully and +specially crated for wagon transportation. Of these there seemed a +great many, and they were all put in one pile in the space made +vacant by the removal of the gas generators. The hydrogen case, +covered with a blanket, stood always under Elmer's watchful eye. +This was to be removed last. + +As the boys meant to stay close by their valuable outfit, they +planned to load Elmer's caravan early the next morning and to see it +start on its trying and dangerous trip. Then they intended to +remove the hydrogen cask to the corral and take up their own abode +in the same place. The Placida--with no little regret--was to be +surrendered to the railroad and returned to Chicago. + +For that reason this was a busy day. Load after load of crates, +boxes, and bundles were carried to the big corral, the teams +stirring up the dust of Clarkeville's main street on their way. It +was heavy work, and required care. Smoky-faced Gus was earning his +pay. So skilful and adroit was he in executing tasks assigned him +that Ned commented on it to Alan. + +While the boys were at their noonday lunch Buck appeared to report +progress. The big wagon was to come from a sheep ranch, ten miles +to the south. A man had gone for it and would arrive with it that +night. The wheels of the smaller wagon were being soaked in water +and the axles had been greased. + +Ned could not resist asking: + +"How's your new boarder, Buck?" + +"Ain't seen much o' him. Purty poor feeder fur a tramp. Can't get +a tortilla down him nohow." + +Ned looked at Alan significantly. + +"Hasn't any baggage, has he?" continued Ned. + +"Not a stitch. Lessen you allow fur a extra suit o' underclothes." + +"Under clothing?" exclaimed Ned. "Two suits?" + +"Yep. And fine, too. My old woman washed a suit to-day and she +'lows as how it cost more than the rest o' his outfit." + +"Don't you think that funny?" + +"'What?" responded Alan sleepily. + +"Why, a tramp with two suits of fine underwear?" + +"Probably he stole them." + +"And probably he didn't. A real tramp might steal them, but he +wouldn't wear them." + +"Well, what do you care," laughed Alan, "whether he's a tramp or not +so long as he's useful?" + +Ned was silent a few moments. + +"Tramp or not, that fellow will bear watching." + +"All right," conceded Alan, "I guess we can do that." + +By night the barn and horse yard of the corral looked like a +combination manufactory and hardware store. The seven sections of +the skeleton-like car stretched across the old horse yard like a +disjointed snake; crated aeroplane guides, and the propeller and the +rudder leaned against the fence, looking like the frame work of a +house; the more compact engine, motor, radiator and fan stood ready +for unpacking under the shelter shed, while shafts, connections and +boxes of small parts filled a large part of the empty stalls. The +tins of gasoline for experimental flights and the first trip to +Elmer's camp were in a far corner of the yard, and in the wagon shed +stood the two immense special trunks containing the gas bag and the +Italian hemp netting. + +The evening meal was not as cheery and chatty an affair as the +preceding ones had been, although Elmer had done his best in honor +of their farewell. And the boys insisted that at this last meal the +waiter should be dispensed with, and Elmer was put at the head of +the table. + +"Yo' make me feel as if I was a startin' fo' do norf pole," +exclaimed Elmer. "I don't see what's de use of so much fussin'." + +"Well, anyway," exclaimed Ned, holding up a glass of iced tea, +"here's luck to you, Elmer." + +"And de same to you," answered Elmer. "And to all of us." + +Rising bell was to ring at four o'clock the next morning; so the +boys all turned in at once after they had cleaned up the kitchen. + +It was about twelve o'clock when a sudden call sounded through the +car. + +"Alan!". + +It was Ned, who, clad in pajamas, was shaking his chum. The latter, +dazed for a moment, sprang upright, soundly whacking his head on the +upper berth, in which Elmer was snoring loudly. + +"What is it?" he exclaimed, rolling out on the floor. "Who hit me? +Indians?" + +"Not yet," laughed Ned, shaking his "pal" into wakefulness. +"Listen!" + +He struck a match, lit a candle and sat down on the edge of the +berth. + +"You're a bum calculator," he began, eyeing Alan. + +"I didn't calculate where that berth was," answered Alan ruefully, +rubbing a lump on the top of his head. + +"And you didn't calculate where we are now," somewhat excitedly +added Ned. "And I didn't think of it until just now." + +"Go on," interrupted the still sleepy Alan. "If it's a riddle I +give it up." + +"I suppose you know what the air pressure is to a square inch," +answered Ned, like a school teacher rebuking a slow scholar. + +"Why, 14.7 pounds, of course." + +"Where?" exclaimed Ned again, sharply. + +"Where?" echoed Alan. + +"Why, at the sea level-that's where. Not out here. Do you know how +high we are above sea level right here?" + +Alan began to see the point and a smile came over his face. He had +no chance to answer: + +"We're a little short of seven thousand feet up in the air right +here in Clarkeville," continued Ned in about the same tone of +exultation he might have used had he found a gold mine. "Now, +listen. How many cubic feet of gas does our balloon hold?" + +That question was easy. The boys knew that as well as the +multiplication table. + +"Sixty-five thousand, four hundred and ninety-three feet." + +"And how much weight is it going to carry?" + +"Three thousand nine hundred and thirty-five and a half pounds." + +"Exactly," went on Ned. "That's the weight we are going to carry +figured at sea level. Did it ever occur to you that our sixty-five +hundred feet of hydrogen can lift more way up here seven thousand +feet in the air, than it can at sea level? Did it ever occur to my +special engineer and calculator that as the weight and pressure of +the air grows less our hydrogen will lift just that much more +weight. + +"By the great horn spoon!" exclaimed Alan. "Give me that candle." + +In another moment he was at the drawing room table with a pencil in +his hand. It did not take him long to make his calculations. + +"Live and learn," he exclaimed finally. "I'm certainly all you said +was a 'bum calculator.' Our altitude here is 6,875 feet, for I took +it to-day just for practice. And we can carry in our balloon just +exactly 693.6 pounds more than we figured." + +"I thought so," laughed Ned. "It came to me in a dream, I guess. +But you don't need to feel badly. You say I'm the boss, yet I never +thought of it. You see, the trouble is that all the balloon +ascensions ordinarily are made from the large cities of America or +Europe. Who ever thought of ascending a mountain to get a start? +But since we have done so we must figure accordingly." + +"And what is the first thing you are going to add?" asked Alan. + +"First thing?" exclaimed Ned. "First and last and in the middle, +gasoline. We may find water in the mountains and we might even find +food, but we're not going to find gasoline. Now we'll do part of +our work whether Elmer meets us or fails." + +The incident showed the essential difference between Ned's mind and +Alan's. Alan was careful, precise, and adept in detail. Ned had +the "dreams" and inspirations of an inventor. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A DISGUISE PENETRATED + + +The boys, in spite of their broken slumbers, all turned out promptly +at four o'clock the next morning. They found this hour the +pleasantest of the day in this hot and dry region. The late moon +was just disappearing, and over the plains swept a breeze that +hinted of snow on some mountain peak not far away. Not a sound +broke the stillness but the occasional cry of a skulking coyote. + +"Hear it, Elmer," said Alan, as the boys got busy in the baggage +car. "You want to look out for those fellows." + +"I ain't feared o' no cutes and I ain't feared of no Injun," +solemnly answered Elmer, "jist so dem rattlers gives me de go-by. +Dat's all I ast." + +Buck's big wagon had arrived and was backed up to the car and now, +by the light of a lantern hanging above the door, the work of +loading began. + +With their improved gas bag the boys had figured on a record flight +without renewing the gas supply. They had hoped to be able to stay +at least seventy-two hours in the air. But during a large part of +this time they expected to drift without the engines, for they could +not carry enough gasoline to last for more than twenty-four hours of +engine work. By their new calculations they had more than enough +gasoline, and according to Ned it seemed probable that the decreased +air pressure on the bag might extend the period of flight another +twenty-four hours, or to four days. + +After that all would depend on the liquid hydrogen. The remarkable +qualities of this unique product were to be tested for the first +time in the history of ballooning. When the gas in the bag had +diminished by leakage through the valves and elsewhere so that it +was no longer sufficient to carry the car, the liquid hydrogen was +to be turned into gas which was to take the place of that lost. Ned +had left Washington with sixteen cubic feet of the liquid in eight +delicate Dewar bulbs, or casks. He figured that one-quarter of it +would be lost by evaporation, leaving twelve cubic feet. This seems +a small supply until one understands that the hydrogen increases in +volume 880 times as it returns into gas from the liquid form. The +twelve cubic feet of liquid, therefore, would give them a little +over ten thousand cubic feet of new gas. And this, with the loss of +ballast and provisions in three or four days, Ned calculated, would +give the balloon a new life of a day or so. + +Therefore, the secret plan was a direct journey to Elmer's camp, a +flight of eighty-five miles, which would bring the Cibola near to +the foot of the mountains of mystery. After this camp had been +located and more gasoline taken aboard the boys were to head their +craft toward the Tunit Chas mountains. What would follow they could +not foresee. With good luck they might be able to hover birdlike +over the peaks, canyons and plateaus for five days. With bad luck +they might have to come down sooner or fall. Then, if the Cibola +failed them, they would have to find their way to the treasure +temple and the ruined palace on foot in a rugged wilderness, +infested with unfriendly Indians and reptiles, or struggle back, in +some manner, if they could, to Elmer's relief station, and thus to +civilization. + +Should the worst happen and the balloon fail them, the boys might be +lost in a desolate region that is even now uncharted by the +government. The only resources they would have would be the Cibola +equipment and their own ability to take care of themselves. In any +event, the knowledge that Elmer and Buck were in camp ready to +succor them meant a good deal. And that was why the loading of the +overland outfit had so much interest for the boys. + +Of tins of provisions there were many: condensed foods--German +erbswurst, or army rations of ground peas and meat; dried potatoes; +eggs in powdered form; preserved and salt meats; hard tack; tea and +coffee; flour; and evaporated fruits. The water was already +arranged for and the wagon containing the casks was at Buck's adobe +house. + +On the floor of the wagon, packed in bunch grass, were the precious +gasoline casks. On top of all came the silk waterproof tent and the +camp equipage. Stowed under the seat was the box containing spare +flags, a heliograph, part of a wireless telephone outfit (the other +part was to be carried in the balloon) and compass. Two magazine +rifles and ammunition were included in the outfit, and Elmer donned +for the first time in his life a belt and holster to carry one of +the magazine revolvers that Ned had bought on the day when he first +told Alan what he had undertaken to do. + +By the time this work was done it was day. Then came breakfast, +which Elmer insisted on preparing. He even demanded that he be +given time to make hot biscuits. These, with thick slices of +broiled ham, the last of their oranges, and hot fragrant coffee +constituted the last meal on the Placida. + +As the meal came to an end the clump, clump of horses' feet in the +sand announced that Buck had arrived and that it was time for +breaking the "special car" camp. Alan and Elmer hastened to clean +up the little kitchen that had given the boys so many savory meals +and to pack up the remaining provisions, and Ned jumped off the car +to see Buck. + +To the lad's surprise he found Gus, the tramp, just as dirty and +just as cheerful as ever, proudly mounted on one of the newly +arrived horses. Buck noticed the surprise in Ned's face and +explained: + +"The helper I thought I could get fell down on me. My boarder's +goin' with us. I guess he'll do." + +"You understand you don't know where you're going," said Ned, +approaching Gus as he rolled off his horse, "nor when you're coming +back?" + +"I knows dat we ride and dat dere's chuck a-plenty," smiled Gus, +"and whichever way it is," he added lowering his voice and +chuckling, "can't be no worse dan Buck's place--fur me." + +"Do you want to go?" + +"Well, I ain't a settin' up nights a longin' to, but to oblige a +friend, Mr. Buck, I allowed meself to be persuaded." + +"Well, we'll see," said Ned. + +Ned rather wanted to watch this young man. Something suggested that +the tramp was too quick witted to be made a party to their plans. +Ned didn't exactly know what harm the stranger could do them, but he +decided to talk it over with Alan. While Buck was hitching up the +horses Ned turned to go into the car. + +They were loading from the far side opposite the hydrogen cask and +as Ned passed the corner of the car he almost ran into the station +agent. The agent, who was also the telegraph operator, had a +telegram for Ned, which the boy took eagerly. Ned had sent a +message to Major Honeywell, telling of their safe arrival, and did +not doubt that this was some important afterthought of the Major's. +The address ran: "Mr. Ned Napier, Private car Placida, Clarkeville, +New Mexico." Tearing open the envelope Ned read: + +"Just learned Kansas City Comet has story mysterious trip for +government starting Clarkeville. Real object not known. Look out +not followed. + +"Baldwin Honeywell." + +With three jumps Ned was in the car and had pull Alan into the +drawing room portion. The telegram was read again and the two boys +looked at each other in astonishment. + +"How could they?" began Alan. + +"No matter how," answered Ned, almost out of breath. "They did and +that's enough. Now I know!" + +"Know what?" + +Ned pushed his chum to the side of the car and pointed outside where +Buck and his helper were at work. + +"Look at him," he exclaimed. + +"At Buck?" + +"No. At the tramp who won't wash his face, who has a gentleman's +underclothes and who is so anxious to work for us!" + +"Well, I see him. But--" + +"Haven't you ever seen those sharp eyes before?" + +"You don't mean--?" + +"I do. If that isn't Bob Russell, the Comet reporter, I'm a goat." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +NED TO BOB RUSSELL'S RESCUE + + +It was a time for quick and fast thinking, and Ned and Alan did it. +Alan's instant suggestion that they denounce the disguised tramp was +almost as quickly voted down. + +"So long as we didn't know who he was he had the advantage of us. +Now that we know--" and neither of them now doubted the fact for an +instant. "We have the advantage of him," argued Ned. "Let's turn +that knowledge to profit. We can easily guess what he is trying to +do. Major Honeywell's message says our real object is not known. +This reporter has learned something, and I suspect he could have +found quite a lot from the train crew. On that he has written a +good enough story to attract attention. That shows he is no fool. +And he wouldn't come out here unless he had been sent. Who would +send him? Why, his paper, of course, to discover our real mission." + +"What can we do to head him off?" mused Alan. + +"There are two ways," suggested Ned, "and we've got to make one of +them effective. I don't know how he has guessed but he must not +have another guess. And he's seen a good deal." + +"We might have him arrested," suggested Alan. + +Ned thought awhile. + +"I'll tell you, Alan," he said finally. "The young men of the press +to-day may write fanciful stories, and they may even 'fake' where it +injures no one, but personally they won't lie. Let's call our tramp +in here, confront him with his imposture and give him his choice of +writing nothing or of being drummed out of town." + +"Who'll make him leave town?" + +"Marshal Jack Jellup wouldn't need two suggestions on that score. +And more, he'd see that the order was obeyed. I don't like to do +it, but I think we're justified. He's taking that chance." + +Again the thing was gone over, with arguments for and against, and +then Elmer was hastily dispatched to find Jellup and bring him to +the car. + +"And Buck will lose his helper," laughed Alan. + +"Better that than a second expedition on our heels," answered Ned + +"Gus!" he called, throwing open a window. "Come in here!" + +The tramp soon stood before them. + +"Geel Dis is a swell joint," were the tramp's first words as with +apparent awkwardness he entered the car. + +Ned acted as spokesman. + +"You say you've promised Buck to go with him without knowing where +you are going?" + +"Dat's about de cheese." + +"Well, we are willing. But I may as well tell you that this is a +secret expedition. If you go you must promise that you will not +tell anyone what you see or hear." + +The tramp's face suddenly took on a peculiar look, but it was gone +as quickly. + +"I gives me woid. I won't open me trap to no one." + +"Meaning you won't say anything about it?" smiled Ned inquiringly. + +"Dat's it. Mum's de woid. I won't open me trap." + +"Nor write anything?" + +The furtive look came back, this time more pronounced. + +"Me to write! Wit wot? Me new typewriter?" + +"That isn't an answer. Do you promise, if we send you with Buck, +that you'll neither tell nor write nor make known in any way what +you learn about what we are doing?" + +"Say, look here, boss. Quit yer kiddin'. Me name is Lippe and +mebbe I shoot it off a bit too frequent now and then, but you don't +need to be afeered o' me peachin' to de udder'Bos.'" + +"I'm not afraid of that," continued Ned. "We don't care what you +tell all the tramps this side of Kansas City. But we don't want you +to print anything more about us in the Comet." + +Hardly a flush came on the tramp's face. There was a quick movement +of the lips as if he were about to make protest and then he laughed +outright. + +"Bob Russell," said Ned, also laughing, "would you like the use of +our bath tub for a few moments?" + +"Would I!" laughed the young reporter rubbing his tinted and smoke +begrimed hands together as if to wash them. "Well, I guess I would. +My hands are up. What's next?" + +"Wash up and we'll see," exclaimed Ned. + +The young reporter was still laughing. "And if it isn't too much +trouble," he asked, "would you mind if Buck took his check over to +the depot and got the suit case that it calls for? Then we'll talk +business." + +In less than twenty minutes the sun burnt, dirty Gus Lippe had been +transformed into the dapper Bob Russell. When he reappeared in +fresh linen, outing clothes and a natty straw hat, he was still +laughing. Approaching the group in the drawing room, where Marshal +Jack Jellup had now arrived, the young reporter took out his pocket +book and a five dollar bill. + +"I'll pay that back first," he began; and then noticing one of his +cards he politely handed it to the marshal. It read: + +ROBERT RUSSELL +KANSAS CITY COMET + +"Ye'r a purty fresh kid," sneered Jellup. + +"At your service, Mr. Officer." + +Jellup had already received an explanation of the whole affair and +was aching to exercise his authority. + +"Ye'r an impostor," he began, "and ef ye hadn't been caught, ye'd +have taken money on false pretenses. I was onto ye." + +"Oh, now," interrupted Bob, "at two dollars Mex per day I'd have +given good value." + +"Mebbe," retorted the marshal, "but these gentlemen hev come here on +particular business and they came like gentlemen. The officials o' +this city hev give their word that there shouldn't be no interferin' +with their plans. And thet's what you're a-doin'. Now git!" + +Ned broke in: + +"One moment, Mr. Marshall" + +"Oh, that's all right, Mr. Napier," exclaimed the reporter, "he +doesn't mean just that. He knows I don't have to leave here so long +as I obey the law." + +"Ye don't, don't ye?" retorted the marshal. "Well, there ain't no +back east law down here. Our law books mebbe got all burnt up. And +mebbe I happen to be purty much o' the law myself. Ye'll git and +git quick." + +Again Ned interfered. + +"I suppose if we ask you to permit Mr. Russell to stay here he can," +he asked. + +"Well, I reckon that would be so. Ef ye ask it I reckon I'll have +to," he replied surlily. + +Ned and Alan held a brief consultation. + +"We have decided to ask the authorities to permit you to remain here +on one condition." + +The intelligent face of Bob took on a quizzical air as he waited to +hear the condition. + +"That is," went on Ned, "that you give us your word that you will +not make known anything you have seen here, or of our plans so far +as you may know them." + +Bob's answer was immediate. + +"I can't do that," he said, "I was sent here to do just that thing, +and as quickly and as fully as I can. You ought to understand, and +do, I think, that I have a duty to perform. I've taken the trouble +to come all the way out here to get a story. I've got it and of +course I'm going to use it. I should be false to my duty, to my +employers and to myself if I promised not to do this." + +"But you don't know our story." + +"And I'm sorry. But I should have known it all if I had had a +little better luck." + +"Then you won't promise?" + +"Decidedly not." + +The boys showed that they were as stubborn as he. + +"Then we'll see that you learn no more," Alan exclaimed angrily. + +Bob smiled. "You can't take away what I already know, and it will +take a pretty long story to tell all I am going to guess from what I +have seen." + +As he spoke his eyes were on Major Honeywell's chart of the Tunit +Chas Mountains, which had carelessly been left lying on the table +where it had been in use during breakfast in the last explanations +to Elmer. + +Ned's face reddened in new anger. He did not resent what the young +reporter was doing; he even realized that he might do the same thing +himself; but he was chagrined to find himself caught in such a +simple manner. That was a big piece of additional information for +Russell to have, and Ned knew it. Hard as the thing was to do he +would at least put the young man out of the way of further +discoveries. + +"All right," he exclaimed, "we've tried to do the fair and decent +thing, and if you want to be stubborn Marshal Jellup can do as he +likes." + +"Git!" + +It was the marshal who spoke and he did so as if it were a pleasure. + +"I'll take the Limited west to Gallup at noon," said Russell, "if I +can stop it and catch the eastbound train there to-night." + +"Then ye'll flag it along the road," shouted Jellup, "fur ye'll get +out o' here on foot and in a hurry." + +"On foot?" exclaimed Russell in surprise. + +"That's what I said an' ye heerd me." + +Russell looked in appeal at the two boys. + +Ned was mad, and mad all over. + +"You are so quick to have your own way," he said, "you can't blame +us." + +"All right," was the cheery response, "it'll lend a bit of local +color to the story. Goodbye, boys. And good luck to you. I'll see +you when you come back." + +"Remember," said Alan relenting a trifle, "we'll let you stay until +we leave if you'll promise to write nothing." + +Bob laughed again. + +"What good would that do me? No experience means anything to me +that I can't turn into copy. And as for walking--I'd walk from here +to Kansas City or crawl before I'd lie down on my shop like that." + +"Come on, kid, get busy," exclaimed Jellup again. "An' when ye +start, don't bother about lingerin', because I'll be hangin' around +and I'm good with this at some distance." + +As he spoke he drew a Colt 44 and tapped it. + +"Never fear, Mr. Jellup," laughed Bob. "I suppose I can express my +suit case to the next town?" + +"Ye can't do no business in this city, d'ye hear? Now, come on." + +"Say, partner," interrupted Bob with his usual good humor, "if you +will let me take a snap of you I'll make you celebrated. 'Famous +gun man' of New Mexico. It'll be great." + +In another moment the nettled marshal had Bob by the shoulder and +was whirling him out of the car. On the steps he threw the suit +case onto the sandy plain and then pushed the reporter roughly down +the steps. Ned and Alan stood, with flushed faces, watching the +reporter pick up his hat and suit case. Then young Russell made a +remark they could not hear and the marshal's revolver flashed in the +air. They could see the boy's face grow pale at last, but as he +straightened up the two men disappeared around the freight house. + +Like a flash Ned was on the ground and after the marshal and his +victim. Alan and Buck came running in the rear, for the alert Buck +saw that something was in the air. It was early day and only a +straggler or two was in sight at the depot. The sun, already +mounting high, foretold a day of depressing heat. The steel lines +of the railway stretched interminably eastward toward the first stop +forty miles away. + +Bob Russell, pale but defiant, stood in the middle of the track, his +heavy suit case in his hand. + +Suddenly there was the crack of a revolver and the dust flew about +the young reporter's feet. + +"Jist as a sample!" roared the angered Jellup. "The next one'll be +higher up." And his trembling finger pointed down the hot sandy +track. + +There was nothing more to be done. The pale-faced but nervy +reporter turned toward the east and started slowly down the track. + +Ned ran forward. + +"Russell!" he shouted, "Russell!" + +As the reporter paused and turned, hearing his name, there was a +second report of the marshal's revolver and Russell's suit case flew +from his hand, ripped and torn ragged by a forty-four bullet. + +The smoke of the explosion puffed upward and, where it had been, the +marshal saw Ned Napier's automatic magazine revolver under his nose. + +The boy was white with indignation. The possible serious results +that might come to him and his plans meant nothing in his anger at +such a dastardly act. + +"It isn't a Colt," he said with dry lips, "but, if you make another +move like that it's got ten shots and they come out all together." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +QUICK JUSTICE IN THE WEST + + +Jack Jellup, marshal and "bad man," was never more surprised in his +life. But Jack was no fool, and something in Ned Napier's eyes made +the westerner conclude instantly that he had unexpectedly and +unquestionably "barked up the wrong tree." For a few moments the +marshal and the young aeronaut stood facing each other and then +Jellup sneered: + +"Do you reckon you'd better run this town?" + +"No, nor you," quietly answered Ned, "and if that's the way you are +going to do it you can settle with me right now. I'm going to stand +on my rights." + +He was conscious that Russell had hurried back and was behind him. +Another second and there was a sharp click. Both Jellup and Ned +turned to see the nervy young reporter with the torn suit case open +on the ground at his feet. A snap shot camera was in his hand. His +face was white, but there was a trace of his usual smile on it. Ned +wanted to laugh too, but the situation was too serious. + +"I've got you both," said Bob, a little nervously, "and if it's a +good one I've got a dandy--'shooting up the town or the bad man +covered'--" + +Had it not been for Ned's lightning-like action these might have +been Bob's last words. Jellup's pistol had flashed once more, but +as it dew into position Ned's own weapon rose with it under Jellup's +right hand and the marshal's shot passed over Bob's head. Before +Jellup and Ned could recover themselves Bob's camera was on the +ground and the reporter had his own revolver, which he had grabbed +quickly from the suit case. + +In the center of this group now stood, unarmed, Alan Hope and old +Buck. Almost at the same time a dozen men, attracted by the melee, +had also intervened and had taken charge of the three excited +combatants. + +Pushing the crowd right and left appeared the stalwart form of Mayor +Curt Bradley, weaponless, but with the stem face of one who gives +orders that cannot be ignored. + +"Put 'em up, every one of you," he exclaimed; "do ye hear? Put 'em +up." + +"Ye'r both under arrest," shouted Jellup to Ned and Bob. + +There was a quick explanation and then Mayor Bradley, still very +stem of face, ordered everybody across the street to his office +above the drug store. Men seemed to spring out of the ground, and +the room was instantly packed to suffocation. Marshal Jellup made a +formal charge against the two boys of "resisting and interfering +with an officer" and then each told his story. The decision was +immediate. Mayor Bradley ordered that both boys be released and the +court be instantly cleared. + +Jellup made his way noisily toward the door, his face white with +rage. Apparently a number present were his friends and cronies, for +the looks of sympathy that he got turned into open murmurs of +dissent. + +Mayor Bradley was on his feet at once. + +"What's the matter?" he began incisively. "Is there some one here +who wants to appeal from my decision?" + +The hubbub subsided but there wag no response. + +"The time to make any complaint about my decision is right now and +to me," went on the tall Bradley, looking over those in the room. + +But no one apparently cared to take up Jellup's cause. When the +spectators had gone the Mayor, who had sternly watched the slow exit +of the last loiterer, turned to the boys. + +"I thank you, Mr. Bradley," exclaimed Ned earnestly. + +"And I want to thank both of you," quickly added Bob Russell, taking +the hand of each. "I'm the cause of this and I'm sorry. I guess +you saved my life twice," he added, wringing Ned's hand. "If it +hadn't been for you the Comet certainly would never have heard from +me again. I guess that, puts all my obligation up to you." + +"No," said Ned, "I can't let you say that. You have your own duty +just as I have mine. We'll go over to the car and wait for the two +o'clock Limited. Then you are at liberty to go and write your story +and do its you like." + +"He don't have to leave," interrupted the Mayor; "this is a free +town and it's going to be an orderly one." + +"And I'm not going to," broke in Bob. "You've got yourself in a +muss over me and some of these soreheads may try to make you more +trouble. If you'll let me, I'll stay to the end and if it comes to +a mix-up I'm going to be right there with you." + +Mayor Bradley smiled and old Buck slapped the reporter on the back. + +"But how about the story you say you are going to write about us," +asked Alan. + +"There wouldn't have been any story if it hadn't been for Mr. +Napier," replied Bob. "And there isn't going to be one until he +tells me to write it. It's up to him." + +Ned was looking out of the window at the curious loungers standing +in the street. He was thinking of the work yet to be done and of +all the difficulties that the discomfited marshal might put in his +way. It wasn't a "picnic proposition." He didn't fear for himself, +but the thought of his expensive and delicate outfit and of how +easily it might be irreparably injured was not reassuring. + +"Russell," he said finally, "I think we need you. If you care to +stay with us we'll be glad to have you. It isn't because I don't +want to be bluffed by Jellup, but because you are game. If you'll +go with Buck and Elmer, I'll try to make it worth your while--some +time--and you shall be the historian of this expedition--when the +time comes to write its story." + +Am hour later the delayed overland expedition was on its way toward +the desert. There had been a quick shopping expedition in the +stores of Clarkeville and Bob Russell, in a new hat and boots and +various other articles of clothing, most of them too large for him, +sat proudly on the driver's seat of the second wagon. Around his +waist was a new cartridge belt and holster carrying Ned's gift, a 44 +revolver--"for game or rattlesnakes," as the boys expressed it, but +the weapon was not concealed when the little cavalcade traversed the +main street of the town, and if Jellup was an onlooker Ned felt sure +that the outwitted marshal would think twice before again molesting +the expedition. + +"All set," laughed Bob, as the final farewells had been said, and he +held up his camera, "now for the real thing." + +Ned and Alan were now alone. To tell the truth, the excitement of +the morning had been rather trying for them, but if it left them a +trifle nervous they soon forgot their apprehension in making the +last of the transfer. There was now another reason for abandoning +the car. With headquarters established in the corral they would be +near the balloon and its equipment, and if Jellup should permit his +ill will to develop into some overt act, they would be in a position +more easily to protect themselves. For that reason a number of +their "greaser" assistants were taken to the car before noon and the +hydrogen cask was loaded on the small wagon and carefully freighted +to the corral. Then followed the remainder of the provisions and +the personal belongings of the boys. Early in the afternoon the +Placida was closed and turned over to the railway agent. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +BUILDING AN AIR SHIP + + +When Ned announced to Alan that they would at once unpack and test +the motor--"for we might as well stop if the engine isn't right," as +he put it--all thoughts of the troubles of the early day vanished. +And the motor certainly was a beauty. Though some expert had +recommended the French motor, Ned had preferred to use one made in +America, not only because he had been able to get it quicker but +because he believed it as good as the foreign make. + +The engine had eight air-cooled cylinders, in two sets of four, +placed at an angle of ninety degrees to each other. The crank case +was of aluminum and the shaft of vanadium steel, hollow, and +specially treated to insure toughness. All the studs or bolts were +of the same steel. Complete, with balance wheel, it weighed two +hundred pounds. The ignition was accomplished by six dry batteries +and a single-wire vibrating coil. It was rated at fifty horsepower. + +So exactly had the preliminary work been done at the factory that in +two hours the boys were able to have the engine bolted to the +section of the car where it was to be used, and before evening the +radiator tubes and pump of the cooling system were also in place. +Temporary connections were set up and the sparking wires attached, +and then the reservoir was filled with gasoline. A little jar as +the wheel was turned, then a couple of sharp explosions, and the +engine fell to its work as if it had been running for weeks. + +Ned shut it off after a moment's critical inspection. + +"Let her flicker!" pleaded Alan. "We've waited so long for a real +one that I like to hear her buzz." + +"We'll let her buzz when we can use the buzz," laughed Ned. +"Gasoline is gasoline, you know." + +Night did not stop the work of the eager lads. As soon as they had +eaten a light meal, Ned and Alan, with a couple of lanterns and a +half dozen of candles, began to adjust the sections of the car. +These, seven in number, when joined, were 54.12 feet in length. The +American spruce frame and the aluminum joints were all intact. This +work finished the day. + +Blankets on the rough floor were good enough for the explorers that +night. The luxury of the Placida's mattresses and fresh sheets was +missed, as was Elmer's skill as a chef when it was time for +breakfast the next morning. The boys were not so indifferent about +this meal as they had been about that of the evening before. They +had no stove, but they took the time to arrange a regular camp in a +comer of the corral. A little fire was soon burning, at which they +made coffee and toasted some bacon. This, with hardtack and some +preserved fruit, they thought was enough, for they were determined +not to disturb the carefully packed provisions that were to be +carried in the balloon. + +"Have you had enough?" asked Ned as the last piece of scorched bacon +disappeared. + +"Enough?" answered Alan. "A regular banquet!" + +Just then there was a loud thump on the closed door of the barn. + +"The hands are arriving," explained Ned, and he hastened to open the +door. + +A few of the workmen were there, but the knocking had been done by a +pleasant faced woman--apparently a Mexican. A black shawl covered +her head and one arm. It was Mrs. Bourke, Buck's wife. + +"I thought," she said smiling, "hungry." + +Without further words she threw back the shawl and revealed a small +tin pail. The appetizing odor made Ned's mouth water. In the +bottom of the bucket were frijoles, or boiled and fried Mexican +black beans cooked in pepper, and on top of these were a half dozen +smoking hot tortillas or corn cakes. + +"Mrs. Buck," exclaimed Alan, "you have saved our lives!" + +All recollection of his recent banquet seemed to have disappeared, +and so did Mrs. Bourke's bucket of beans and cakes, in double-quick +order. The reward was a bright silver dollar for the thoughtful +woman and a contract that she should come three times a day and +prepare the boys' meals. It would have been easier to have gone to +Buck's home, only a short distance away, but the boys were now +determined to stay in the corral, or leave it only one at a time. +However, they soon developed a taste for Mrs. Bourke's peculiar hot +wholesome dishes and these, with what provisions they had on hand, +were a fair substitute for Elmer's cooking. + +The frijoles having been disposed of, Ned at once went out, and was +fortunate in finding a load of rough lumber and a sort of +jack-carpenter. With the help of the boys a four foot-high series of +"horses" or frames was set up in the center of the corral. This was +for the car to rest on while it was being assembled. It was +elevated so that the propeller and aeroplanes and rudder could all +be tested after being set up. The propeller, 11.48 feet in length, +revolved in bearings four feet above the bottom of the car. + +After noonday refreshment the middle section of the car, to which +the engine was already attached, was carefully lifted into place +with the aid of the workmen, and then the laborers were paid off and +dismissed--all except the watchmen. From now on there was nothing +that the boys could not do themselves, and they wanted to be +undisturbed and alone. The putting together of the car was a treat +of which they had long dreamed and they were happy in their work. + +The remaining sections were easily laid on 'the "horses" and then +came the bolts and the bracing with piano wire. When brought +together the fifty-four foot long skeleton was in shape much like a +cigar. The main frame was six feet high, tapering to five feet at +each end. In depth the dimensions were the same. The engine rested +on the floor of the middle section and was accessible in all its +parts from that compartment. An elevation of the floor in the +forward part of this section made it possible for one to stand high +enough to have an outlook in all directions through openings in a +hooded elevation that projected above the top of the section. + +This hood was of a waterproof silk, coated with powdered aluminum, +that metal being used because of its semi-incombustibility. This +silk also covered the sides of the central compartment, making a +wind-, rain- and waterproof cabin. The lookout windows on all four +sides were covered with isinglass. The bottom of the framework of +the car forward and aft of the engine compartment had a ladder-like +flooring of spruce, inserted more for strengthening the car than for +service. But on top of the car, reaching from end to end, was a +continuous runway two feet wide which could be used in hurriedly +visiting either propeller or rudder. This runway was protected by +guide ropes of Italian hemp running through posts extended upward +from the sides of the car. The top of the engine compartment was +completely floored, making a platform 6 x 6.12 feet square. This +was surrounded by a protecting network, and Alan named it the +"bridge." + +A light rope-ladder extended into the engine cabin from an opening +in the roof, making the top floor space or bridge and the upper +runways quickly accessible. The gasoline reservoir, just forward of +the engine, was connected with the bridge by a copper supply pipe. +The extra supply of gasoline was to be carried on the bridge in the +open air, and lashed to the netting instead of being stored in +permanent reservoirs as is the usual practice. This was in order +that the empty vessels might be thrown overboard when it was +necessary to lighten the balloon. + +The other sections of the car were each 8 feet long and decreasing +in height from 6 feet next the cabin to 5 feet at the end of the +car. In the two sections just forward of the cabin and in the two +just aft provision had been made for attaching the eight liquid +hydrogen casks--four at each end. As this liquid was reconverted +into gas the light sheet-iron casings might likewise be cast +overboard to lighten the balloon. As needed, the liquid hydrogen +jars, coated with mercury, were to be taken from their casings and +carried to the bridge where the reconverter was located. + +Aft of the engine cabin was the store room for water and provisions. +The grooves and rods for the counterweights and equilibrium adjuster +ran in the middle of the upper footway and the propeller shaft +rested on the bottom of the forward section of the car. + +At ten o'clock that evening all the work on the car was finished +except the buckling on of the aluminum silk sides and the hanging of +the propeller, the rudder and the aeroplane sides. It was as long +and as hard a day's work as either of the boys had ever done. They +were dead tired, but happy, and after a sousing wash-up they got +into their pajamas and, throwing their blankets on the floor of the +little office, were soon fast asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +HOW JACK JELLUP LOST AN ARM + + +In spite of his fatigue Ned did not sleep soundly. It had been +threatening a thunder storm all evening and the increasing +oppressiveness of the air made the young, aeronaut wakeful. The +long whistle and jarring stop of the midnight local train finally +fully aroused him. In the west the thunder was rumbling and great +sheets of heat lightning promised a storm in a short time. After +slipping out into the corral and seeing that the waterproof silk +sides of the car were securely buttoned around the engine Ned +returned and again tried to go to sleep. + +But his restlessness continued. In his early sleep he had had a +vivid dream about the wagon expedition. In this he thought that +Marshal Jack Jellup had followed Elmer, Bob and Buck and set fire to +the wagons while his friends were asleep in camp. It was a relief +to awaken and find that the flash of light was lightning and not, as +he had imagined in his dream, an explosion of the gasoline carried +in Buck's big wagon. He lay awake awhile regretting the quarrel +with Jellup, and then he sank into a doze again. + +But his active brain would not rest. Again he fell into a dream. +This time the picture was very real. The big balloon had been +finished and launched. A thrill ran through him as he felt the +monster craft poise and waver and then slowly rise above the corral. +He could hear the cheers of those gathered about. But in the midst +of them he heard the sudden crack of a revolver. Jack Jellup had +put a bullet through the silken bulk of the bag. The cold +perspiration broke out on Ned's forehead. + +The dream was so real that he thought he could hear the taunting +voice of Jellup. In feverish excitement Ned sprang upright, to find +a pair of strong arms clasped about him. He did not cry out. A +wave of cold fear seemed to benumb his tongue and brain. He knew +this was no dream. + +Forced onto his back, his face and eyes partly covered by the +shoulders of his sudden captor, Ned's returning consciousness made +him aware that there was a dim light in the office. + +"It's Jellup, Ned," exclaimed in a whisper a sudden voice which Ned +instantly recognized as Alan's. + +"No more from you," exclaimed a rough voice in quick reply. "Here's +the rope, Domingo." + +The man on top of Ned knew his business. Almost before the boy +realized what was being done his hands and feet were caught in +dexterous knots and he was helpless. + +"Now," continued the other voice, "let's have a few minutes' talk." + +Ned's assailant had arisen, and for the first time the boy could +look about. In the center of the room, with a sputtering candle in +his hand, stood the revengeful Jellup. His companion Ned at once +remembered as one of the noisy court room spectators of the day +before. Between the two, clad in his pajamas and similarly bound, +was poor Alan. + +"Ye can stand or set, jist as ye like," began Jellup. "Me and me +deputy hev made this little visit to ye fur a purpose. The citizens +of this town is tired of yer carryin's on and they've just delegated +me to ascertain what it all means. We got a purty good idee." + +"Well, what is your idea?" interrupted Ned, slowly regaining his +composure and his natural defiance. + +"My idee is that ye don't need no flyin' machine anywhar except to +git away quick and what we want to know is what air ye goin' to take +with you when ye fly away?" + +"Nothing that doesn't belong to us," answered Ned, "if that is what +you mean." + +"Ye ain't, eh? I suppose ye don't know that thar's enough cow money +in our bank to be worth stealin'?" + +Both Ned and Alan looked at each other astounded. + +"You don't think we look like safe robbers, do you?" began Alan. + +"Ye look just slick enough fur that and more," retorted the marshal +who had placed the candle on the table and roughly pulled Ned to his +feet. "But I didn't come here to argy. Ye began by vilatin' the +law and ye didn't come the way down here for no fun. Ef that ain't +yer game, and we don't put it above ye, what's yer lay?" + +"There's only one answer," said Ned. "None of your business." + +The marshal shoved Ned nearer the table. + +"Mebbe ye want to apologize fur that little bluff of yers +yesterday--" + +"No," said Ned, "but I'll accept yours." + +Jellup's right hand was on his revolver. + +"I ain't hyar to make no threats," he exclaimed, "and ye don't need +to be afeered that I'm going to shoot ye. But I've got just one +other little proposition. Ef ye don't cotton to that, why, thar +ain't agoin' to be no Fourth o' July balloon ascension around hyar." + +Ned straightened up. + +"Your proposition can't be a fair one or you wouldn't come like a +thief at this time of night--" + +Jellup's pistol flashed in the air but fell back again as the +marshal's left hand shot upward and struck Ned full in the face. +Even as the tears sprang into the bound boys eyes and pain and anger +flushed his pallid face, the cowardly Jellup fell backward and +stumbled to the floor. Alan, standing just behind the man, had shot +his knees forward, striking Jellup's legs in the hollow of his +knees, and, thrown off his balance, the westerner lay sprawling on +the floor. Before the marshal's confederate could interfere, Alan, +tightly as he was bound, had flung himself on top of Jellup and with +all the power he could throw into the act had butted his head into +the marshal's face. + +Am oath and a cry of pain indicated how true the stroke had been. +Both Ned and the companion of Jellup sprang forward at the same time +and the four fell in a silent distorted heap. But the encounter was +unequal. In another moment both boys were lying side by side on the +floor and their captors stood over them. Even in the half light of +the little room both boys could see the blood-smeared cheek of the +marshal. + +Jellup's hand was on Domingo's arm holding him back from further +attack on the helpless boys and the marshal was restraining his +anger as a snake withholds its venom until it strikes. + +"Purty good," sneered the marshal, "and the funny thing is ye hain't +got a bullet through ye fur it. But my business ain't with dead +ones. Onct more, air ye goin' to say what ye'r a plannin' to do?" + +"Since it doesn't concern you in the least," said Ned, slowly, "no." + +Jellup was silent a moment. + +"Fur kids ye seem to have plenty o' money. Ye'r purty free +spenders. I'll give ye one more chance. Ef ye've got a thousand +dollars handy fur a kind of a bond as it were I guess that'll sort +o' protect us." + +"You mean for bribery?" exclaimed Alan. + +"No, just instead of stealing," angrily added Ned. "We haven't a +thousand dollars and if we had you couldn't get a cent of it. And +to save you some trouble I'll say that what we have is in your +bank." + +Another half-uttered oath sounded on Jellup's lips. + +"In thet case," retorted the marshal, "we'll jest show you that we +mean business. That's a lie about the bank. Produce or take the +consequences." + +"Help yourself," replied Ned, "if you think we are lying." + +"I ain't no pickpocket," retorted Jellup, "this is official. I tell +ye it's a bond and this is yer last chanct to make good." + +The boys remained silent. + +But Jellup's companion was already busy. Leaving the marshal to +stand guard over the boys he made a quick search of their clothing. +But Ned was not so used to money as to be careless in the handling +of it and the six hundred dollars that he had in gold was in a belt +carefully concealed in the top of the liquid hydrogen crate, which, +for safety, had been stored in a corner of the room. + +When the silent Domingo threw down the working garments of the boys +he took up the candle and began a tour of the room. The big black +liquid hydrogen crate attracted his attention and he approached it. +The red "Explosive--no fire" letters of warning apparently meant +nothing to him, but Jellup halted him with a sharp warning, followed +by a few words in Mexican. Domingo handed the candle to Jellup and +the latter stepped toward the box. + +"That means what it says," exclaimed Ned quickly and sharply. + +The crate stood as it had been carried from Washington with the top +on and the connecting hose extended upward through a hole made in +the low roof in order that the slowly accumulating reconverted gas +might escape in safety. + +"Mebbe," said Jellup, "mebbe yes and mebbe no. I guess they ain't +nothin' agoin' to explode that ain't set afire." + +Ned noticed with satisfaction that the lid was properly locked. +Jellup noticed it too. Without a word, he turned and easily found +Ned's keys. Again he approached the crate, looking over the keys. + +"Jellup," exclaimed Ned in alarm, "there's gas in that box, and if +you go near it with a light you'll blow us all up." + +"Gas, eh?" answered the eager Jellup. "Don't run no sich bluffs on +me." + +"I warn you," cried Ned as the man approached the box, "it's taking +your life in your hands." + +Something in the tone of Ned's voice must have alarmed Jellup, for +he paused. Then he retreated a few steps and handed the almost +burned out candle to the vigilant Domingo. + +"I allow I kin jest hev a look without no light to oblige you. I've +been purty curious about this precious package ever since I see it. +And ye'r a sight too anxious consarnin' my safety." + +What might really happen Ned did not exactly know. The gas +generated from the liquid hydrogen was highly inflammable and +explosive when confined. But the evaporation was exceedingly slow +and the exhaust hose should easily carry the forming gas in safety +to the air. But even a small accumulation might be in the partly +depleted bulbs or the top of the crate and a fire would certainly +ensue even if there was no violent explosion. And besides, just +beneath the lid was their money--the cash Ned had secured for their +further expenses and the return home. + +"We are anxious for all of us," explained Alan. + +"And mebbe anxious fur something else," sneered the marshal. "I +reckon a peek in the dark ain't agoin' to hurt no one--an' it may +help some." + +"Drop on your face, Alan," whispered Ned, "and lie flat." + +It was the only precaution they could take. Both felt that all +their plans might end in a moment. But Ned could not resist +watching--even though his face was close to the floor. He saw +Jellup examine each key, guess the right one at once and then insert +it in the lock. Yet, despite his assumed bravado, it was apparent +that the man had considerable apprehension. For, before he turned +the lock, he motioned to Domingo to retire further with the candle. + +Finally, as if summoning his courage, the avaricious marshal snapped +the key, threw back the catches on each end of the crate and then +slowly and gingerly and at arm's length began to lift the lid. With +the top an inch ajar he paused, waited a moment or two, and then +began sniffing as if searching for an odor. + +Ned saw him. + +"It doesn't smell," he explained quickly, "but it's there. Look +out!" + +"Don't smell!" retorted Jellup. "Gas as don't smell? Well, that's +agoin' some, I guess." + +Nevertheless, he had dropped the lid. + +But as quickly recovering himself he reached forward again and with +a quick motion threw the top up and sprang back. + +To Ned's relief nothing happened. Either the light was too far away +or the gas had all been removed by the hose. But this relief was +quickly succeeded by another alarm. There had been no explosion, +but their financial means were now at the mercy of two thieves, and +he and his churn, bound and helpless, were powerless to protect +either themselves or their funds. There was nothing to be done but +to grin and bear it. For Ned's new leather money belt, containing +six hundred dollars in gold was stretched out conspicuously and at +full length on top of one of the two rows of glass bulbs in the +case. + +"Lyin', as I thought," exclaimed Jellup. "Gimme' the light, +Domingo." And the chuckle that followed almost instantly was +indication enough that he had discovered the boys' small fortune. + +"Dangerous, eh!" he laughed. "Now, we'll see if the city gits its +bond." + +Then he paused as if a thought had entered his head. + +"But, jest to keep the record clean, I reckon ye'd better give it to +me yerself, young 'un. Jack Jellup ain't no burglar. Loosen him +up, Domingo. And fur fear ye might need persuadin' jest take a peek +at this," and he drew his revolver. + +When Ned had been liberated, Jellup pointed to the money belt. + +"Jest be good enough to hand me whatever's in that," he exclaimed, +"without no hesitation. Then we'll have a little talk about what +else is agoin' to happen." + +It was hard to surrender so easily but the risk of attacking two +armed men single-handed was great. Ned walked slowly toward the +crate. + +"Get busy," ordered Jellup; "we've got other business yit to talk +of." + +Ned had a sudden impulse. The thing flashed on him and taking hold +of the belt in the middle he lifted it until the two ends were just +over an open-mouthed bulb of hydrogen, and then as if by accident +dropped the belt into the jar. The clear, watery liquid splashed +and the belt disappeared. + +"Water," shouted the eager Jellup, "Jist plain water." And as Ned +sprang back the gold-fevered marshal sprang forward and plunged his +hand into the liquid. + +He did not immediately know that his hand was in the depth of a +liquid whose temperature was 423 degrees below zero. But the thin +film of gas that instantly formed and protected his naked flesh +dissipated in a moment and then one benumbing, paralyzing shock +swept over Jack Jellup's body. + +With a cry wrung from him by pain such as few mortals have ever +experienced and survived, the stricken man fell unconscious to the +floor--his arm frozen as solid as crystallized steel. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +READY TO "LET GO ALL" + + +In the confusion that followed the sudden extinction of the candle, +while Ned was freeing Alan and Jack Jellup was uttering heartrending +groans, the marshal's confederate lost his nerve and made his +escape. When a lantern had been procured, immediate attention was +given to the stricken man. + +Ned hastened to secure a bucket of water. Wrapping the corner of a +blanket about the handle of a tin dipper he ladled out a spoonful of +the liquid hydrogen and, although the numbing chill ran through his +fingers and up his arm, he managed to pour the hydrogen into the +contents of the bucket. + +The pail of lukewarm water became almost instantly a cake of solid +ice. As Ned dropped the tin dipper to the hard adobe floor it flew +into a hundred pieces. The inconceivable cold had crystallized the +metal until the slightest shock was sufficient to break it into +pieces. + +At the sound of the crashing tin Ned instantly thought of the belt +of gold yet in the hydrogen jar. But a human being was in pain, and +he gave his first attention to the suffering marshal. He had made +the ice to use in drawing the frost out of Jellup's frozen arm. In +a few moments he had mashed a portion of the ice into small bits, +and using a blanket to make a pack, he soon had Jellup's rigid arm +encased in the fine ice. This he applied for the same reason that +snow and ice water are applied to frozen ears and noses. But his +treatment was of no avail. + +The rain was now falling steadily and it was dark, but Ned found +that it was nearly day--a little after four o'clock. Jellup's +suffering was so extreme that the boys had given him a hypodermic +insertion of morphine, using their "snake-bite" outfit, and in a few +minutes the man's ravings ceased and he quieted into a deep sleep. + +While awaiting this, attention was given the gold. Feeling free to +approach the now open jars with a light it was seen that a portion +of, the belt protruded above the liquid. A cord with a sailor slip +knot was lowered over the extended bit of leather, drawn taut with a +jerk and the belt was slowly lifted out. A folded blanket had been +placed on the floor to receive it. As Ned expected, the leather +crumbled and broke like glass as the belt fell on the soft blanket. + +"If you want change for a twenty-dollar gold piece just tap one of +those with a stick." said Ned, laughing and pointing to the gold +pieces scattered among the broken fragments of the belt. + +"Not I," exclaimed Alan, "not after what happened to the tin +dipper." + +Leaving Alan to watch over the unconscious Jellup and the frozen +gold, Ned dressed himself, and in spite of the rain hastened out in +the just perceptible dawn to carry out a plan he and Alan had agreed +upon. An hour later, with the assistance of Mayor Bradley, the +marshal, now somewhat easier, was placed in a bed in his own home. +Unless the silent Mexican told it no soul in all Clarkeville other +than Mayor Bradley and the air ship boys knew why Jellup was absent +from his haunts and his post of duty that day. Nor did many of them +ever know, when Jellup reappeared on the streets after weeks of +suffering, how he had been injured. They only knew that his right +arm was gone and that he was no longer marshal. + +The rain ceased with the coming of the day. + +"If we don't get away pretty soon," suggested Alan, as Ned was +getting into dry clothing preparatory to tackling another of Mrs. +Buck's meals, "this thing will be getting on my nerves." + +"Well," answered Ned philosophically, "there is mighty little worth +having in this world that isn't hard to get." + +If all went well that day the boys hoped to be ready to make their +departure that night or the next morning. Therefore they went to +work with a vim. Both felt more comfortable when, after finding +that the gold coins had returned to their normal condition, they had +again concealed them. The propeller, rudder and aeroplane guides +were now put in place and tested. + +As the engine, with a speed of 1,400 revolutions but geared down to +800, began to turn the shaft and the twelve-foot propeller began to +revolve, Ned swung his hat in the air. Without a break the speed +increased to 500, 600, and then 700 revolutions a minute. + +"Shut her off," exclaimed Alan joyously, as the white arms flew +round and round and the air shot backwards on both sides of the long +car. At 750 revolutions the car was rocking and lurching as if it +would soar birdlike into the air. At 800 the powerful pulling +propeller began to overcome the rigidity of the framework on which +the car rested and as Alan caught and held the car, fearful that it +was about to fly away under the propeller power alone, Ned shut off +the engine. + +The next instant the two boys, with clasped hands, were doing an +Indian war dance in their glee. + +It was not long until the rudder wires and the aeroplane shafts had +been attached to their proper guide wheels in the lookout or pilot +portion of the engine cabin. Then came the preparation of the +balloon bag itself. Here again Ned showed what he had accomplished +in the six weeks he had spent in the East. + +Clearing a space near the generating tanks, they placed the one +hundred sand bags, weighing forty pounds each, in parallel rows. +These sacks, with convenient loops on each for attaching the rigging +of the bag as it was being filled, had already been prepared by the +"greaser" laborers, but the placing of the two tons of dead weight +was not a joke, and the boys regretted that they had not kept a few +men around. But by noon this was done, and then the great +waterproof fiber trunk containing the silk bag was rolled out +between the retaining bags. The boys could not carry it, as the +balloon itself weighed seven hundred and twenty pounds, but they +improvised rollers and with many a laughing "yo he ho" finally +accomplished the task. + +The bag had been made by one of the leading aeronautical engineers +of America, whose factory, strangely enough, was in one of the small +inland towns of New York State. In a spirit of humor the +manufactory had been termed the "Balloon Farm," and so famous was it +that Ned had even planned to spend a part of his summer vacation +visiting it. When Major Honeywell gave him the opportunity, Ned was +at once determined to utilize every advanced idea of the skilled +owner, whatever the cost. + +The result was a machine-varnished and, as nearly as such a thing +was possible, hydrogen gas-proof bag. In the construction of this +the experienced manufacturer and engineer, who was no other than +Professor Carl E. Meyers, the hero of hundreds of ascents, had used +a new machine which applied simultaneously to both sides of the bag +fabric several thin films of elastic varnish. The bag itself +consisted of two layers of Japan silk between which was a layer of +rubber, all being sewed together and then vulcanized. + +But the balloon trunk was not opened at once. The pipe to convey +the gas from the cooler and purifying tank had been brought in +four-foot lengths of light wood, cemented and shellacked. Eight +lengths of these were laid to the center of the cleared place and +then the joints were wound with binding cement tape. When these +things had been satisfactorily adjusted it was mid-afternoon. +Everything now seemed ready for the filling up of the generating +tanks, the inflation, the flight, and "good-bye." + +Therefore, a final consultation was held. Wind tests conducted each +day had shown the prevailing breezes favorable, or at least not +against the aeronauts. The inflation would require approximately +ten hours. If begun at once this would make the departure possible +about midnight. This was not undesirable as the absence of the hot +southwestern sun would make the gas easier to control. But another +thing had to be taken into consideration. Only four days had +elapsed since Elmer and Bob and Buck had started. Were they yet at +the rendezvous? + +"I don't see what difference that makes," said Alan. "We expect to +sail directly north and east of the foothills. If they have not +reached their camp they must be nearly there and on the way. We've +got to locate them with our glasses anyway. Let's start and pick +them up where we find them." + +"True enough," answered Ned. "The way the engine is working, in +this light favoring wind, we ought to make eighteen miles an hour +anyway. If we leave at midnight, by five o'clock in the morning we +can be ninety miles north. The only trouble is in the handling of +the bag. It's going to take at least twenty men to move the +inflated bag from the retaining weights to the car and we can't make +the rigging fast in the dark. We'd better begin work at four +o'clock to-morrow morning, as soon as it begins to be light, and get +away about two in the afternoon. I think we'll see our friends +about seven or just at dark, if we do." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +AN INTERRUPTED FLIGHT + + +And so it was arranged. The young aeronauts thus had all afternoon +to store provisions, water, gasoline and the instruments. The +altitude barometer, the recording thermometer, the statoscope and +recording hygrometer, together with the telescopic camera were each +given a place on the bridge and lashed to the netting. The +twenty-five-foot rope-ladder, strong but light, that was to hang +below the car, and the anchor and drag rope, were attached, the name +pennant of white with the word "Cibola" resplendent in blue, "turquoise +blue," explained Ned--was unfurled on its little staff just abaft the +big propeller, and a new silk American flag was laid out it the stern +of the car to be run up on its halyards as soon as the bag was attached. + +Then came the careful transfer of the liquid hydrogen. One at a +time the cast iron eases were carried from the building, hoisted +aboard the car and lashed in place. Before supper Ned had time to +go to the depot and send a telegram to Major Honeywell, who was yet +in Chicago. It read: + +"Ready for inflation. All O. K. Sail at 2 P. M. to-morrow, August +11." + +He then visited "Saloon Row" and arranged for twenty men to report +at four o'clock the next morning. No chances were to be taken that +night. Dividing the hours up to four A. M. into two watches, the +two boys had supper and Ned was soon fast asleep on the floor of the +car "trying it out." + +At the first blush of dawn the corral gates were thrown open and in +a short time all the men engaged reported. Some of them were put to +work dumping the heavy iron filings into the big oak gas generators +and Ned and Alan began the delicate work of laying out the bag, +bottom side up the thin silken folds of the golden shell were slowly +lifted and laid on the ground. When the bottom filling valve had +been attached to the wooden gas conduits the mammoth sections of the +long gas receptacle were stretched out on top and then carefully +smoothed until an even inflation was assured. + +This done, the rigging trunk was opened and the seine-like mass of +delicate hemp cords laid over the bag. No "greasers" were permitted +to assist in this. Ned and Alan, in bare feet, laboriously but +carefully drew the silk folds of the bag into the net. When this +was completed the suspension cords reached out in all directions +like skeleton fingers. In a quarter of an hour these had been +attached to the retaining bags with slip knots and then the boys +were surprised to find that it was already after six o'clock. At +their best they could not now hope to reach the relief camp before +nine o'clock and after dark. + +Mrs. Buck came with a huge pot of coffee for all, and then followed +the last step. One by one, borne on the shoulders of the curious +workmen, the dangerous carboys of sulphuric acid were emptied into +the generating tanks. The boys guided each step of the men, +explaining the danger, and the work was finally completed without +hitch or accident. + +At the first bubble of gas the boys felt like doing another war +dance. But they were "business men" now and had to put on dignity +in the face of their employees. In two hours the reaction of the +bubbling acid had sent enough hydrogen through the purifier to raise +the bag shoulder-high and everything was going splendidly. The boys +had removed their working clothes and were now in the light but warm +canvas suits and caps they meant to wear in their flight. + +Ned stole away a few minutes and at the bank secured bills to pay +off the men. On his way back he stopped to invite Mayor Bradley to +lunch with them on the Cibola and to be present at the "let go." By +noon the men had been paid and the articles of baggage and tools +that were to be left behind had been packed, tagged with shipping +directions and turned over to Buck's wife. + +The cigar-like bag, 98.4 feet long and 17.4 feet in diameter, which +was to hold over 65,000 feet of gas, was now so far inflated that it +was nearly off the ground. Then Mayor Bradley came. With pride the +boys bade him climb into the cabin of the Cibola. + +"You won't find anything hot in a balloon, Mr. Mayor," laughed Ned, +"except the reception. Make yourself at home." + +On the bridge of the craft the two boys and their guest had +luncheon. Cold potted chicken and baked beans served on wooden +plates with hardtack and water, and sweet chocolate for dessert, was +the simple meal, but it tasted like a feast. + +"Have you christened the craft yet?" finally asked the Mayor who had +absorbed some of the enthusiasm of the young aeronauts. + +"That's for you to do," politely answered Ned. + +The luncheon was hurried to a finish, for the boys could see that +the bag needed final attention. It had risen higher and higher and +was now swaying and tugging at the suspension ropes. Both boys +alighted and at once began straightening the extension ropes. Here +and there where the cordage net was out of place they pulled down +the bag and adjusted the rigging. Finally a little after three +o'clock, the great case had filled out until its smooth glistening +sides resembled the skin of a fat sausage. + +"All ready!" ordered Ned as he shut of the valve of the cooling and +purifying box. "Now, every man bear a hand." + +One at a time the extension cords were untied from the retaining +bags, and each of the workmen was given four of the light but strong +lines. The Mayor himself passed among the men with stern +injunctions to hold fast. As the last cord was loosed the great +tugging bag was held wholly by the scared men. Then, with slow and +measured steps, the double line of assistants advanced to the car +and along each side of it. + +"All steady," commanded Ned when each man had been placed; "now hang +onto her." + +Then he and Alan, springing into the car, began the work of making +it fast to the bag. There was a place marked for each of the +extension ropes, and the air ship builders, beginning at each end of +the car, carefully adjusted and tied the end of each rope to the +frame of the ship. As the cords were taken from the attendants the +men took hold of the lower framework of the car, and to make doubly +sure each man was cautioned to throw his entire weight into the +work. + +At last the final rope was made fast, and three thousand pounds of +human flesh and muscle were holding the tugging balloon. Ned, +covered with perspiration, and nervous but happy, was hastily +connecting the compensating balloon tube with the hand blower on the +bridge, and Alan had run astern to tie the new national colors to +the halyards swinging from the end of the bag. + +"Hold on," cried Ned seeing that Alan was ready to run up the stars +and stripes. "Just a moment. Are you all ready, Mr. Mayor?" + +"All ready," came the answer from the town official, as he stood on +a box, his hat off and a revolver in his hand. + +"With a western salute I christen this balloon the 'Cibola,'" he +exclaimed, and a shot punctuated his speech. "Good luck and +goodbye!" + +As the shot sounded Alan's flag ran fluttering upwards. Ned's eyes +took one final look fore and aft and then he leaned over the car for +the last words for which all were waiting. + +They were on his lips and the eyes of twenty straining men were +fixed on him to hear the command, "Let go." One nervous attendant, +apparently thinking the order had been given, threw up his arms with +a shout. + +At that instant there was a second sharp pistol shot, and a quick +cry from the street outside the corral. + +"Hold on there, all of you!" shouted Ned. His dream had rushed back +to him with a sickening chill. Had some one shot at the towering +bag? "Hold on!" he yelled. + +At that moment there was another shout and Bob Russell, his face red +with the sun and his shirt wet with perspiration, walked into the +corral. In his right hand was gripped a revolver and in his left a +repeating rifle. In front of him, and prodded on by Bob's pistol, +was the Mexican, Domingo, Jack Jellup's tool and fellow thief. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +FREE AND AFLOAT AT LAST + + +This is what had happened. + +At the time of the rain storm, two days before, Buck and his +cavalcade were in camp on the bank of the dry Chusco, sixty miles +north of Clarkeville. The experienced scout knew that a water +supply was now assured, and he at once followed prearranged orders +by instructing Bob to return with the smaller wagon. This was a sad +blow to the young reporter, but it was a part of his contract and he +knew that it was his duty to obey. And with necessity before him, +he acted promptly. Emptying the heavy casks, Bob started on the +back trail at five the following morning, and by night had made +thirty miles with the light wagon. All day he wondered if it might +not be possible to reach Clarkeville again before the Cibola sailed. + +The next morning, spurred on by the hope that he might do this, he +started at daybreak. By the middle of the morning he was on the old +wagon trail and making better time. Some time after two o'clock he +came up over the rise of the last foothills and saw, eight miles +away, the glistening shape which he at once knew was the inflated +balloon. He hesitated a moment and then, unhitching the horses, +mounted one bareback and began a dash for the town. The animals +were tired and worn, and progress was slow, but it beat walking, and +Bob urged them on. + +As the young reporter came nearer and the balloon grew more distinct +he knew that it would be a close call. From time to time as the +winded horses dropped into a walk Bob wondered why he was making +such a race. "I can't go with them," he argued. But, like the +trained reporter, he decided that no effort was wasted that gave him +new information. And it was something out of the ordinary to see +the most complete balloon ever made start on a mysterious flight +into the wilderness. + +So he spurred up the horses anew. The hot sun reflected from the +yellow sands burnt his face and his muscles were sore, but he stuck +to it. When half a mile from the town he could see the boys on the +bridge of the Cibola. When a quarter of a mile away he decided that +he could beat the horses by going afoot, and, throwing himself to +the ground, he ran onward, knowing that the tired animals would +follow. Out of breath he reached the edge of the town and stumbled +on toward the corral. + +With head down he plunged forward. Almost at his goal he threw his +head up for breath just in time to notice a kneeling man with a +rifle at his shoulder. + +"Hey!" yelled Bob with what breath he had. + +Then he saw that the man was aiming directly at the balloon swaying +above the nearby corral fence. He also recognized the man instantly +as one of the sullen court spectators, and Jellup's crony. The +rifleman dropped the muzzle of his gun and turned. + +"I guess I am something of a gun man," explained Bob later to the +boys, "for I had that new revolver of mine on the 'greaser' before I +knew what I was doing myself. I didn't even then realize what he +was about to do. But I had the drop on him and when I figured out +that he meant to put a hole in the balloon, why, I just had him +right. And here he is." + +Alan looked at Ned. Both boys were puzzled. A few moment's talk +with Russell explained the whole situation. The balloon was ready +and the relief expedition was undoubtedly now in camp awaiting them. +It needed only the words and they would be off with the inquisitive +reporter left safely behind. And yet the word did not come. Ned +and Alan stood looking at Bob, and the reporter gazed in turn at the +beautiful straining car. Bob's face was a study. He had now made +some return to Ned for possibly saving his own life, but none of the +boys was thinking of that. In Bob's fine young face was the longing +of a child. In Ned's and Alan's faces were the traces of boyish +sympathy. + +The young aeronauts were very close to each other and all were +silent. Then Alan turned slowly to Ned and with a little quaver in +his voice whispered, "Shall we?" + +Ned made no answer. A smile lit up his face and he sprang down the +little ladder into the engine cabin followed by his chum. Almost +instantly the trap door in the floor of the car dropped down. A +moment later three fifty-pound sacks of ballast tumbled through the +door to the ground beneath. The bag tugged and strained as Ned +reappeared above. + +"Hurry up, Bob, if you're going with us," he said quietly, leaning +over the net of the bridge, "and close the door as you come up." + +Bob hesitated, as if he had not heard aright, but then he +understood, and with tears in his eyes be sprang forward. There was +a jar and Ned knew the new passenger was aboard. + +"All ready?" he called sharply from the bridge. + +"Aye, aye, captain," came in a choking but jubilant voice from the +inside of the cabin. + +"Stand by, everybody," sharply ordered Ned. And then, as Bob's +shoulders appeared through the hatchway, the commander of the air +ship gave a final look about. + +"Let go all," he cried sharply. "Everybody!" + +For a moment only one clinging workman careened the buoyant craft +and then, straight up, the Cibola bounded like a rubber ball. + +"Good-bye, all," came from Ned, cap in hand, as he leaned from the +bridge. + +There were cheers from below and the Cibola was at last free and +afloat. + +"Sit down here and keep quiet," sharply ordered Ned as Bob crawled +out on deck. Then the commander of the balloon disappeared below. + +There were almost immediately several sharp, muffled explosions, and +then the white propeller began to turn. The balloon was drifting +quickly toward the northwest and rising--Bob could see its shadow +following on the sandy plain. Then the arms of the propeller turned +faster and faster and a velvet whirr in the cabin showed that the +engine was falling to work. As the propeller blades settled into a +steady hum the vibration of the car indicated increased speed. This +Bob could also detect from the more swiftly flying shadow. + +The shadow was also growing smaller, and this meant that the Cibola +was still ascending. Now the shadow paused and turned. Alan had +thrown the rudder over and the balloon had responded instantly. The +aeroplane arms stretched out horizontally on each side of the car. +Ned, reappearing, took a quick look at the altitude gauge and again +disappeared. The aeroplane arms dipped in front almost forty-five +degrees and the current, blown back by the propeller, struck them +with a jar. The craft again responded and slowly took a downward +slant. + +Propeller, rudder and aeroplane being at work, Ned again appeared. + +"Go below," he ordered sharply, "and bear a hand when needed." + +Bob did so. Alan was on the pilot platform with his hands on the +wheel controlling the rudder wires. His eyes were fixed straight +ahead. + +"See that lever," he said, jerking his head to the left. + +Bob quickly discovered the aeroplane guider control and sprang to +it. + +"Wait for orders," added Alan. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE FIRST FLIGHT + + +The balloon was still sliding downwards and swiftly forward. For +several minutes the three boys stood in silence. Only the steady +whirr of the engine and a musical humming of vibrating wires could +be heard. Bob wondered if they were headed earthward again, for he +could see the approaching foothills widening out beneath. At last, +when they could not have been over five hundred feet from the +ground, came the quick order: + +"Right the planes." + +Bob was almost caught napping, for he was busy looking through the +window. But his hands responded instantly, and he almost choked +with chagrin to find that he had started to throw the lever the +wrong way. But his recovery of himself was instant and with a +desperate pull he forced the guiding planes back horizontally. The +glide downward stopped and the Cibola shot forward with renewed +speed. + +On the bridge Ned held a fluttering chart before him. + +"How is she heading?" he called to Pilot Alan at the wheel. With a +glance at the compass before him Alan promptly responded: + +"Nor'nor'east." + +"Make it north by east." + +A quick slight movement and a strain told that the alteration had +been made. + +"North by east it is," sang out Alan. + +"Keep her there," was the echoing response. + +Bob was thrilled. Every word was to him a joy. Everything had +happened so quickly that he hardly knew what it all meant, but he +was happy. Even the sudden discipline pleased him and he was glad +to be a part of it. The knowledge that a younger boy was giving him +orders did not bother him. He had skill in his own line, but he saw +and realized that in the Cibola Ned Napier was in charge and meant +business. + +For some time then no word was heard. The Cibola, speeding, swiftly +onward, had crossed the low foothills and was pulling herself +through the almost breezeless air like a modern liner, five hundred +feet above the ground. She was holding her course beautifully. +Then Ned appeared and tested the gas exhaust and oil feed of the +engine. + +"Were you ever in a balloon before?" he said when he had finished, +turning sharply towards Bob. + +"Never," answered Bob, glad enough for a chance to say something. + +"Have you any matches?" somewhat sternly asked the commander of the +Cibola. + +"Sure," replied Bob reaching in his pocket and finding one. + +"Any more? All of them." + +Surprised, Bob searched his clothes and discovered a few more which +he obediently handed over to his superior officer. Noting the look +of surprise in the reporter's face Ned laughed. + +"The first rule in a balloon is 'No fire.' But beginners forget, +sometimes; we can't take this chance with you." + +"Take anything I have got," answered Bob with his old smile, which +had now been in eclipse for some time, "and if I can speak at last I +want to say that you boys are white, clean white, through and +through. Didn't you need that ballast?" + +"We may need it badly," said Ned, laughing. "If it should become +necessary I suppose you won't mind if we throw you overboard." + +"No," retorted Bob, "not if it is a little at, a time. But you're +bricks--both of you--if I thank you I'll cry." The tears were again +in his eyes. + +"Well, it wasn't the thing to do, I suppose," said Ned turning away, +"but you looked so hungry to go, and I knew what it meant. So I +thought we'd just give you a little ride up to the camp." + +"Yes, of course," answered Bob slowly as his hopes fell. "Put me +out wherever you like," he added. + +"You can go up now and have a look around," said Ned at last, "both +of you. I'll take the wheel." + +The relieved boys scrambled onto the bridge deck. Night was coming +on and the mountains to the west were already black. Evening +shadows were lengthening on the sloping plains beneath and a gentle, +rising breeze flapped the flag and pennant and swayed the bag above +them. Beneath, the Chusco wound its half dry course and off to the +east a blue haze, melting into the unending sand, told of a treeless +and waterless waste. + +"And there," exclaimed Alan at last, pointing off to the northwest +where snow-capped, ragged peaks rose out of a black jumble of +mountains, "are the Tunit Chas and the land of our dreams. +To-morrow--" + +"One moment," interrupted Bob quickly. "I think you are forgetting. +That is your secret and not mine." + +Alan flushed. "I forgot," he said with a stammer, "and I thank +you." + +"I can't afford to make you sorry you brought me," added Bob, "and +you are not going to be." + +There was a little jar. The propeller slackened a trifle, and Alan +explained that Ned had headed the Cibola another point into the +freshening breeze. + +"Steward," said Ned from below, "it's seven o'clock and I'm hungry. +Besides, it's getting pretty dark down here." + +Alan and Bob looked at each other and laughed. + +"That certainly means me," exclaimed Bob, and both boys clambered +below. With Alan's help Bob made his first examination of the store +room. + +The meal was rather haphazard, as the boys, carried away by the +excitement of their new flight, had neglected to eat when it was +light. But water and hardtack were easily accessible, and Alan, +taking the first two cans at hand, found happily that they contained +sardines and veal loaf. + +"We'll eat on deck," suggested Ned, as he set the wheel and had +another look at the engine, which had not missed a revolution. + +The night that greeted them was magnificent. The moon was not yet +up, but the stars were scintillating in the inky sky and the deep +silence of the clouds and desert was about them. Bob gazed as if +spellbound. The charm of the night appealed to him as it did to Ned +and Alan; but with it his brain formed phrases--"cloudland by +night," "a dash to the stars." The reporter in him was thinking +"copy." + +"Hey, there, wake up!" cried practical Ned. + +Bob flew to his task; with a turn he had the veal loaf can open and +had dumped its contents in the wooden plate held by Alan. + +In another moment he would have thrown the empty can overboard but +the watchful Ned, ready for another lesson in aeronautics, caught +his hand. + +"Don't you like the route we are taking?" laughed Ned. + +Bob's face showed he did not understand. + +"The loss of the weight of that can might send us sparing upward a +thousand feet," explained Ned dryly, "so don't cast over ballast +until you get orders." + +Bob shook his head. "Well doesn't that beat all," he exclaimed. + +As night fell and the air grew heavier, the barometer showed that +the Cibola had a tendency to rise. The aeroplanes were readjusted +and then for an hour the craft sped on untouched. At eight o'clock +Ned said: + +"We haven't traveled over eighteen miles in an hour and we've been +afloat four hours. If we are still over the Chusco and Elmer and +Buck are at the appointed place we may be within ten or twelve miles +of them." + +"They are going to burn three small camp fires set in a triangle, +you remember," remarked Bob. + +"Therefore," suggested. Ned, "all keep a sharp lookout." + +At half past eight Ned showed some concern. No lights had been +sighted and the reckoning showed that they must be within two or +three miles of the probable location of the camp. Another fifteen +minutes went by, and yet no signal fires were seen. They had now +passed over the junction of the two rivers, if their calculations +were right, and Ned and Alan were in a quandary. + +"It's no use to go on," commented Ned; "so we'll just make a wide +circle and see what we can find." + +It was also useless to look below. In the darkness there was no +sight of either river or desert. + +"It we don't pick them up in that way," continued Ned, "we'll +descend and tie up for the night." + +Both Ned and Alan went below, and with the engine shut down to half +speed the Cibola was turned on her course in a wide sweep. Bob +alone watched with anxious eyes, until he was joined in a short time +by Ned. There was no sound but the soft chug-chug of the engine, +and for some time neither spoke. The breeze of the early evening +had died and there was not a breath of air. Alan in the dark cabin +below held the wheel and Ned and Bob alone, hanging over the side +net, watched and listened in vain. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +FIGHTING INDIANS WITH A SEARCHLIGHT + + +"Stop her!" It was Ned's voice in quick command. The young +aeronaut, peering over the side of the car of the Cibola into the +black night, had suddenly seen something that prompted the order. +It was a distant flash of light. This was followed by an echoing +explosion. The other boys heard the explosion and all instantly +knew that it was a shot from a firearm. Almost before Alan could +shut off the power Ned had disappeared into the cabin to help head +the balloon in the direction of the spurt of fire. The Cibola +slackened speed and they waited, drifting slowly toward the east. +Then, suddenly, and almost together came two streaks of fire and two +more explosions. + +"One of them might mean a signal," said Ned gravely, "but they were +not from the same spot. If it were Elmer he would have the three +fires. If it is Elmer and Buck and they can't make a fire and are +shooting I am afraid it means trouble." + +"It may mean Indians," suggested Bob, "and they may have put out +their fires for safety." + +"They might even be holding off an attack of some kind," added Alan +anxiously. + +Just then there was another crack of a firearm now a little nearer. +The Cibola was drifting directly toward the sound, but very slowly, +and would soon have lost all headway. + +"I don't want to be presumptuous," said Bob in a low voice, "but +can't we land and find out what the trouble is?" + +"We can find out without landing," replied Alan. + +It was so dark in the cabin that the boys could only dimly see each +other, but Ned was groping about near the silent engine. In a +moment he had secured from the ammunition case a storage electric +light, and cautiously shading the lens with his cap he asked Bob to +hold it. Then he turned to his chum. + +"I didn't know just how we would use our little drop light," he +began; "but it seems that the idea wasn't half bad. There is a +tribe of Indians not far from here that would steal a horse or cut a +man's throat quickly enough--the renegade or Southern Utes." As he +spoke he was digging in a chest extracting various small parcels. +"Not even the other Indians have any use for the Utes. And there is +only one thing to do. We must first find out if our friends are +below." + +With the help of the flashlight Bob could we that Ned held in his +hand a large, high candle-power incandescent bulb and was adjusting +it in a silver reflector. + +"With an electric light?" exclaimed Bob. + +"Why not?" replied Ned. "And the help of our little dynamo." + +Ned took the flashlight, held it under his coat, and crawled around +in front of the silent engine. "It's here," he explained for Bob's +benefit, "and I am just throwing the gear onto the propeller shaft." + +"Well, if you are afraid to show this little light why aren't you +afraid to show a brighter light?" asked the observing reporter. + +Alan answered him. + +"We are only afraid because it might draw an attack from some +observer. Balloonists are never safe from meddlesome persons or +worse. But there isn't the same danger if the light isn't on the +balloon." + +"Sure," said Bob. "I understand that. But you can't hold it very +far away." + +"No," answered Ned, "that's why we braided two good copper wires in +our drag rope." As he said this he opened the trap door in the +floor of the cabin and feeling about in the dark soon had hold of +the coiled drag. + +"I guess I'm dull," began Bob. + +"No," interrupted Alan, "only you haven't given two or three years +to figuring out the possibilities of an air ship." + +Ned was attaching the bulb, reflector down, to the end of the rope. + +"That rope is three hundred feet long. A light at the end of it is +quite a way from our bag. + +"Oh, I see," exclaimed Bob at last. "If we find Indians and they +shoot at our searchlight they are pretty sure to miss us." + +"That is the theory," answered Ned. + +And then the plan in Ned's mind was explained. The engine was to be +started at quarter speed, which meant that the sound would be +imperceptible; and, lying on the floor of the cabin, Ned was to +direct the movements of the ship, with Alan at the rudder wheel and +Bob at the aeroplane guider. + +"A quarter to ten o'clock," said Ned glancing at his watch as he +shut off the concealed flashlight, "and now start her up." + +As Alan started the engine and it began to turn the propeller they +could tell by the light breeze that the car was moving again, but +very slowly. The other boys could also hear Ned delicately paying +out the long drag rope. At last it was all out. Then Ned crawled +forward again to the dynamo and up to the partly open floor of the +car and whispered that he was ready. The multiple gear was already +speeding the little generator swiftly. + +"Lie down on the floor and watch," murmured Ned softly, "I'm going +to turn her on." + +Alan and Bob did so. As their two heads filled the open trap in the +cabin floor there was a click and then, as if some necromancy had +focused the sun on a part of the darkened world, a circle of light +seemed to spring out of the desert beneath. Yellow, with here and +there a ragged rock and a sage brush or two, the shadows of the +rocks and brush black like spilled ink, and the sand glaring back at +them with almost quivering brightness, the circle shot back and +forth as the light followed the swinging rope. But no living thing +was in sight. A click and all was black again. + +"Nothing doing," exclaimed Bob. + +"Wait," suggested Ned, "persons we couldn't see may have seen them." + +Almost as he spoke there was another quick report. + +"Did you see the flash, Alan?" asked Ned eagerly, for he had been +busy with the dynamo. + +But Alan was already at the wheel, and again the car swung from its +course. + +"Wait," he exclaimed, "turn it on again when I give the word." + +After perhaps two minutes he gave the signal and again Ned flashed +the gleaming bulb. Again the circle sprang apparently out of the +black ground. As the car drifted forward the black blotched golden +sand ran the opposite way like a whirling panorama. A coyote +sprang, dazed, from a clump of bushes and back again, but that was +all. + +"Give him another chance," whispered Alan, and the light flashed +out. + +"Listen," exclaimed Bob breathlessly, "wasn't that a cry?" + +Another moment and the sound came again. + +"Elmer!" exclaimed the two air ship boys together. + +The Cibola swung instantly at Alan's quick touch. Again the light +flashed. Sand and rock and brush. The brilliant circle of light +shot here and there, but the anxious watchers saw sign of neither +friend nor foe. Then like a flash the level plain dropped into the +sudden slope of a coulee and the darker shadow of water blotted out +the glare of sand. + +"The river," whispered Ned. "Now watch sharp." + +As the light was blotted out this time Alan swung the wheel again. +He knew instantly that they were on the wrong track, as they were +going east and crossing the Chusco. Elmer and Buck would not cross +the river. The camp was to be on the west side. + +"Follow the river," ordered Ned quickly; "the west shore." + +In order that the Cibola might be laid on the new course Ned threw +on the light switch again. As he did so and the light flashed there +was the sharp crack of a rifle and the light was gone. + +"Turn her on," exclaimed Alan; "I want to get a line on the river +bed." + +Ned laughed. "I'll need a new bulb first. Some one down below +turned it off." + +"What?" exclaimed the other boys together. + +"Shot out," calmly retorted Ned. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +A CORDITE BOMB AND ITS WORK + + +In a moment the boys were hauling in the rope and Ned was back in +the cabin after a new bulb which he secured and attached in the +dark. + +"Now give her a swing," he said as Bob again lowered the rope. "It +will make it harder to hit." + +When Bob announced that all the rope was paid out Ned snapped the +switch again. In spite of the gravity of the situation all the boys +were tempted to laugh. A brilliant green glow shot down. An +emerald circle of light flooded the ground beneath. + +"If anyone sees that they'll sure think it's a drug store," +suggested Bob. + +"'Or a sign of the Great Spirit, perhaps," added Ned soberly, "it +may help us in more ways than one, if Indians are--" + +"Look," hoarsely shouted Alan, "there, over there!" + +But his words were superfluous. The three boys saw the same thing. +And then as the wide swaying of the bulb swept the gnome-like +picture in green from view Ned threw himself over and shut off the +engine. + +Not a hundred feet beneath the brilliant bulb the precipitous bank +of the river had again shot into the circle of light. At the very +edge of the cliff stood the big freight wagon. Behind it, between +the wagon and the steep river bank, stood two horses. At one end +two more lay prostrate on the ground. In front a light barrier of +boxes and barrels rose a few feet from the ground. And there, a +rifle at his shoulder, knelt Elmer Grissom, their friend and +servant. Buck was nowhere in sight. + +Their worst fears were realized. + +As the dramatic picture flashed from view each boy knew that it was +time to act. + +"What's to be done?" exclaimed Alan, his voice choking. + +"There can't be many of them," answered Ned finally, as if thinking, +"or they would pushed their attack. If we could locate them the +rest would be easy. Let Bob take the wheel and try to get over the +wagon again; I have an idea." + +The Cibola again answered the rudder and circled, Ned flashing the +bulb until the river came beneath them. This required but a few +moments, but, before the craft had gathered momentum on the way +back, there were four shots almost together about three hundred +yards to the right of where they supposed the wagon stood, and a +quick reply from the river bank. + +"Our light did it," exclaimed Alan, "they are rushing the +barricade." + +"Indians don't rush together, if it is Indians," replied Ned. "Keep +on up the bank, Bob. It's risky for Elmer," he added with a husky +voice, "but we've got to take chances." + +Again the light flashed. Ned and Alan hurried to the bridge. + +Within its circle and almost together, sealing the seamed and hard +bank of the river, were five dark figures. As the powerful light +encircled them the crouching figures sprang backwards. But they +were not quicker than the alert and prepared Ned Napier. A small +round object shot downward from his hands. The glare of flame as +the missile struck true and the thunderous roar that hurled the big +bag of the Cibola sideways told that the cordite bomb had done its +work well. + +Bob was speechless. Ned and Alan were already in hurried +consultation. They could not count on fortunately finding the other +besiegers all together, "'and there are at least four more," said +Ned. The rescue of the lone besieged lad was not an easy problem. +The boys believed themselves now just above the wagon again, but +they were afraid to draw possible fire to the barricade by showing +another light. + +The hurling of the bomb overboard had shot the Cibola heavenward +like a bird. Before they realized it the aeronauts had mounted up +at least two thousand feet. They then began maneuvering to regain +their position. But this was not so easy. A flash of the suspended +searchlight gave them not a trace of their bearings and it was +plainly apparent they would have to use time and patience in +recovering the location of the besieged wagon. Using their best +judgment, they put the aeroplanes to work, and, circling slowly, the +Cibola gradually came nearer and nearer to the ground. After ten +minutes or more the car gave a sharp bound upward. + +"The drag has touched the ground," exclaimed Ned. + +The aeroplanes were righted, the engine was stopped, and again the +balloon was drifting. There was not a sound to guide the aeronauts. +The contact with the ground had broken the bulb and it was not +replaced. For aught the rescuers knew they might be again directly +over the wagon. Not a shot had been fired since the roar of the +explosion, but there was no reason to believe that the yet living +besiegers had withdrawn. + +"More likely planning a final attack," suggested Alan. + +Again a council was held. + +"We've got to take the risk," said Ned at last in desperation; "we +can't do anything up here." + +And then, with Alan's approval, the propeller was set turning again, +but so slowly that the big balloon was just moving under control. +The aeroplanes were also set to bring the craft nearer the ground +and, as a precaution, Bob was sent onto the bridge with an open +knife to cut away ballast if sudden ascent were needed. The drag +rope had been brought in. There were no means of knowing how near +the car might be to the earth and the suspense was decidedly trying. + +"I guess I can come a little nearer finding out," exclaimed Ned +finally to the others in a whisper. + +Alan did not know what he meant, but he resumed his place at the +wheel. Ned had disappeared in the dark. + +"Where are you, Ned?" asked Alan anxiously at last. + +The answer came from beneath the car. + +"Only down here, but I'm going lower," Ned replied, again in a +whisper. "Be ready with that ballast." + +A perspiration of fear broke out on Alan's body. He sprang to the +open trap door. + +Just discernible in the darkness was Ned's slowly retreating form. + +He was climbing down the twenty-five-foot rope landing ladder with +only his own strong grip and the spruce rungs to save him from +death. + +There was nothing to be said or done. Bob did not know what was +going on below, but he knew that he had a task set for him, and in +the long silence that followed while the Cibola settled lower and +lower and drifted on and on in the dark he stood, knife in hand, at +the ballast bags. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A THRILLING RESCUE IN MID-AIR + + +Buck, the guide, and Elmer Grissom had reached their appointed +rendezvous at two o'clock that afternoon. The hot journey had been +tedious and uneventful. Only at the half-breed settlement twenty +miles north of Clarkeville had they seen a human being. Therefore, +after they had been in camp about an hour, even the vigilant, +experienced Buck was startled to observe suddenly a solitary +Indian--his horse as statuesque as himself--watching them from a +knoll some two hundred yards distant. + +As the old scout raised both hands in signal of peace the Indian +rode forward. The man was not in the Indian panoply of the old +days, except that he wore moccasins and had two bands of red and +yellow paint on his broad, dark face. A black wide-brimmed hat, a +faded blue shirt and trousers completed his outfit. + +"How?" exclaimed the Indian. + +"Navajo?" answered Buck. + +"Ute!" came the answer. "Where go?" + +"Right here," said Buck good-naturedly, pointing to the ground. + +"Ute land!" retorted the Indian without a trace of expression in his +face. + +"No," retorted Buck sharply, "not Ute land. Ute land there," +pointing north, "in Colorado." + +"Ute land!" exclaimed the red man again, this time scowling. + +Buck only shook his head. + +Then the Indian suddenly threw himself from his horse, strode to the +wagon and threw up the tail curtain. Safely stored therein he saw +the protected tins of gasoline. + +"Whisky?" he exclaimed. + +"No," laughed Elmer, "not whisky." + +"Whisky," repeated the stranger turning towards Buck; "drink!" + +But Buck shook his head. + +With out another word the Ute walked haughtily to his horse, threw +himself upon it, and, clasping his heels to its sides, rode quickly +away. + +"I'm sorry," exclaimed the veteran at last. + +"I had no idea that there were Utes around here."' + +"He doesn't seem dangerous," commented Elmer. + +"No," answered Buck, "men who'd cut your throat for a horse never +do. The chances are he isn't alone." + +Elmer looked up in surprise. + +"We'll just make sure," exclaimed Buck, making as light of the +affair as possible. "I don't want to lose my horses and you don't +want to lose your freight. We'll make ourselves ready in case our +friends come back to make us a little visit." + +And as night came on and Elmer helped Buck draw the wagon close to +the river bank, where approach from the rear would be difficult, the +boy began to realize what it meant to get away from the telegraph +and policemen and law and order. And when the experienced scout +unloaded a portion of their heavier freight and began to build a +small barrier Elmer's usual joviality cooled into silence. The +three piles of brush and driftwood from the river were laid out some +distance in front of the camp in preparation for the agreed signal +fires and then, before the sun went down, the scout and his +companion made their camp fire and had supper. + +"What do yo' expec' dey'll do?" asked the colored lad at last. + +"Well, you can't tell. Injuns are puzzles. When they steal they +steal in the dark. When they fight they fight at daybreak." + +"What do yo' suggest?" + +"To tell the truth, son," answered Buck, "there ain't much to do but +keep yer eyes open and pop it to the first red horse thief ye see +crawlin' around in the night." + +"Hadn't we better light our signal fires?" asked Elmer. + +"There won't be any signal fires to-night," replied Buck, slowly, +"if you want my advice. It's one thing for a bluffin' Ute to walk +up in the daylight when you've got a fair chance to give him as good +as he sends, and its another thing for him to get a bead on you a +sittin' in the light o' yer camp fire--him in the dark." + +Elmer saw and understood. + +So night fell in silence with Buck and Elmer keyed up and ready to +meet any possible attack. + +Nothing happened until several hours had passed. Neither Elmer nor +Buck were any the less alert, however. The old scout was pacing up +and down in front of the barricade and perhaps a hundred feet from +it. Elmer could just hear his soft footfalls in the sand. Suddenly +these ceased. Almost at the same moment there was the crack of +Buck's rifle, a groan and a moment later the scout was inside the +barricade. + +"I guess I got him all right," he whispered, "he was makin' too much +noise." + +This was the shot Ned heard miles away in the Cibola. + +Again for some minutes there was no sound and then, suddenly and +from the left, came a spit of flame in the dark. Almost before +Elmer heard the explosion Buck's gun had spoken in reply. Both +bullets went wild, but Buck explained that it was necessary to give +shot for shot, "and right at 'em," said Buck, "as it takes a little +o' the ginger out o' them." + +But the besiegers had undoubtedly widened out. The next signs of +them were two shots, almost together. Elmer's rifle made quick +reply, but, to the boy's surprise, Buck failed to fire in return. +The scout had disappeared from his companion's side. Before Elmer +could call out he heard a rush at the end of the barricade, and then +two explosions almost together and not ten feet away. He could not +describe the sound that followed, but he knew that it meant the +convulsions of human beings in agony. He whispered his companion's +name, but there was no answer--only a gasp. + +In the black darkness the colored boy, revolver in hand, crawled +forward. At the end of the barricade Buck's body was lying. As the +boy's hand fell on the old man's breast he knew that it was blood he +felt. + +"Buck," he whispered, "Buck! Is yo' hurt?" + +He put his arm under his friend's head. For a moment the unconscious +form yielded and then convulsively straightened. Elmer knew that his +companion and protector was dead. + +With strength that he did not know he had Elmer laid Buck's dead +body behind the little wall of freight boxes. + +Then, as if by intuition, he sprang forward and found what he +suspected--the unmoving form of an Indian. Unable to see, Elmer +quickly felt over the adjacent ground with his hands and discovered +the dead Ute's rifle. The revolver was gone. In the same manner he +recovered both Buck's rifle and revolver, and then prepared to do +his duty--to protect his employer's goods so long as he could. + +He was scarcely entrenched again, with the three magazine rifles +laid on the barricade before him, when his straining ears heard a +new sound. Far away and faint, but meaning only one thing, the soft +chugging of a motor. The Cibola! There could be no doubt of it. +The instant feeling of relief was shattered even as it gave Elmer +new courage; to attempt to light the signal fires would probably +mean instant death. And without them how would his friends know his +position or peril? But one thing he could do; and even knowing that +it would mean an answering shot from the skulking horse thieves he +discharged his revolver into the air. + +Then the sound of the motor died away and the long minutes dragged +by. When it began again, and more softly, the sound was nearer. +Nearer, and nearer it came and then the circle of light fell on the +wagon and was gone. "At least they know where I am," thought Elmer +to himself, and settled down courageously for renewed attack, +determined to hold out to the last. At this moment came the shot +that put out the Cibola's light. + +The nervy boy had been tempted to abandon the wagon and follow the +light, but his second judgment was against this. "If they can, the +boys will come back," he argued, "and I'll only get out of this when +I have to." + +To Elmer's surprise the attackers had been strangely silent for some +time. With more experience he would have known that this meant even +greater danger, but he only hoped it was due to the distracting and +mysterious flying light. Then the sepulchral green light burst out +in its funnel-like volume. It was coming back. It flared, went +out, shot over the distant sands again like a searching' eye and +then began moving straight up the river bank towards the wagon. +Then came the earth rending explosion. Nor could the besieged boy +know even then that Ned's well-aimed bomb had sent five Utes to +their last sleep. + +When the sound of the explosion had died away and Elmer had +recovered himself--for the shock had thrown him forward on the +barricade--the whirr of the Cibola's motor was again far away. But +it was directly above him! + +As if the attackers had been paralyzed by the explosion, the long +interval continued without a shot. Then suddenly, from the right +and left and front, the real attack began. One shot sounded as a +signal, and then from a half circle before him half a dozen bullets +tore their way towards the boy and his barricade. Most of them went +wild. Two hit the boxes and half stunned the lone guardian behind +them. The assailants did not know that one of the two white men was +dead, and Elmer, in hopes temporarily to deceive them, fired two of +the rifles at the same moment. + +But his enemies were closing in; the half circle was growing smaller +and the crash of the bullets in the wagon above him and in the +barricade in front told the boy that the end could not be far away. +To the right in the direction of the explosion there was a gap in +the fast closing circle. It was folly to delay longer. If escape +were possible, it was in that direction. He would make one +desperate attempt. One shot remained in his rifles. Putting it +where he thought it would do the most good, and catching up the two +yet full revolvers, the colored boy crawled under the wagon and +crept hastily along the river bank. + +And yet he did not dare to attempt to pass the end of the Indian +semi-circle. It was one chance in a thousand. Throwing himself on +the ground, he waited. "Crack!" It was the rifle of an Indian, not +fifty feet away and coming nearer. The stealthy footfalls told +Elmer that his foe was heading straight for the river bank and that +he was in the Ute's path. Then he could hear the Indian's deep +breathing. Detection was inevitable. + +One last thing remained to be done--to kill the Indian and make a +dash forward down the river bank. And he must act before his foe +discovered him. Elmer's revolver flashed fire and he saw his foe of +the red and yellow face bound into the air and then topple forward +with a cry of anguish. + +The boy turned, but too late. Directly in front he heard the sudden +shouts of other Indians. The river at his back! Flight down its +cement-like bank was impossible. He might plunge forward and pray +that the water was beneath. + +The death cry of the man he had shot and the echoing yells of the +Indians behind him had been taken up by others. He knew the +determined savages were making a final rush. Indian cries seemed to +come from the very ground at his feet. He hesitated no lodger. + +As he turned to the river a sudden and strange wave of cool air +struck down on him from above. Without reasoning he paused. That +pause saved his life. In that swift moment he heard the low creak +of something straining. His eyes pierced the black about him. Was +it a shadow? Something was brushing by him like a great bird asleep +on the wing. Then it was on him. + +"Ned?" It was only a whisper but it was enough. + +"Elmer, here, quick!" + +Even the whisper had brought an instant shot, but the colored boy +had hurled himself toward the voice and an instant later a strong +young arm was about the besieged lad. + +It was Ned Napier on the swaying ladder of the Cibola. + +"Cut away," came the low quick order and before even the nearby +besiegers could locate the sound Bob Russell, high above, had +slashed the lashings of a bag of ballast. The big balloon sprang +forward, Elmer dangling in the air, and then settled again to the +earth as the desperate colored boy found the last rung of the ladder +and clung fast opposite his rescuer. + +"Another, another," called Ned springing up the fragile length of +the doubly laden ladder. + +A thud on the ground told where another bag of ballast had fallen. +The crash of the fallen fifty-pound bag of sand probably saved the +Cibola. Shot after shot poured in the direction of the sound, +although the Cibola, dragging forward, yet refused to rise. Elmer, +at the bottom of the ladder, was helping the car onward in low +bounds by touching the ground with one foot. + +Then the air craft settled again. Elmer's weight was too much. A +mad thought came into the boy's brain. The Indians had located the +new invader and yells nearby told that hot pursuit was already being +made. Then the spit, spit, of new shots showed the risk the boys +had taken. Elmer realized it. Should he hang on and endanger the +lives of his friends, or should he let go? + +There seemed no time to think, but the boy's hand had already +loosened when out of the black came the hot breath of the foremost +pursuer. As the savage sprang forward Elmer's free arm gave him a +blow full in the face. At the same instant the Cibola sprang upward +like a bullet. A volley of shots rang out below, but they were too +late. The balloon had saved Elmer's life, and even before the lad +had made his way up the swaying ladder into the cabin it was a +thousand feet in the air. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +CAMP EAGLE IN THE MOUNTAINS + + +It seemed too wonderful to be true. But words were proof enough +that Ned Napier and Alan Hope had found a new use for dirigible +balloons. Faithful Buck's death was more than the loss of a +companion. In the short time the boys had known him he had shown +that under his rough frontier bearing he was a brave and honest man. + +"We can't go back now," explained Ned, "and we can't afford to land +and wait for day. We can't all stay in the Cibola, and those of us +who are landed must be left in a safe place. Our work," he +continued turning to Bob, "is in the Tunit Chas Mountains, thirty +miles west of here. It seems as if you had to know it. We'll go +there to-night and land, if we can, on some isolated and inaccessible +plateau. We'll make that our new relief camp and you and Elmer must +take charge of it. To-morrow Alan and I will return in the Cibola to +our abandoned wagon, bury Buck and bring away such of our stores as +may be left. It's going to be a great loss, for I suppose the +Indians have stolen everything. If the gasoline is gone it will cut +short our work in the mountains." + +"I don't think it will be lost," said Elmer, quietly. "We tried to +save it. We rolled it into the river." + +"But it will float away," exclaimed Alan. + +"Unless de tins caught on in de drift in de bend jes' below," +answered Elmer. "I seen four ob de eight tins dar befo' dark." + +"That's what I call genius," exclaimed Ned. "Elmer, you're a brick! +And now our course is due east at half speed. By daybreak we'll be +over the Tunit Chas. Until then, the rest of you turn in. I'll run +the ship." + +Fifteen minutes later, despite the nerve-racking experiences of the +momentous day, Alan, Bob and Elmer were wrapped in their blankets +and sound asleep on the bridge deck of the Cibola. + +The night passed slowly, but Captain Ned stood the long trick at the +wheel, happy and content. To feel the Cibola, the product of his +youthful genius, at last moving forward in obedience to his +slightest touch drove all thought of fatigue and sleep from him. + +But, above all, the early light of the coming day was to reveal to +him a sight of the land of his hopes. There, before him, were the +Tunit Chas; peaks and chasms of unsolved mystery wherein the +centuries had held close their secret. Many trials had blocked his +way. Was he now about to reap the reward of his labors? Did the +hidden city of Cibola lie somewhere below him? Or were the Palace +of the Pueblos and the Turquoise Temple but empty myths? + +The young aeronaut's present plans were simple enough. The Cibola +had now been afloat twelve hours and nearly half her gasoline was +exhausted. More than once in the night Ned had noticed that the +balloon was settling lower and he had been forced to maintain his +level by casting over ballast. It was apparent that they were +already losing gas. + +In boyish impulse and sympathy they had made Bob Russell, the young +reporter, a third and unexpected passenger, and accident had forced +them to add Elmer Grissom, their colored friend and servant. And +these extra occupants of the car must be landed at the earliest +opportunity. + +This became imperative now because, the relief and supply station on +the Chusco river having been destroyed, the Cibola must add enough +ballast and gasoline to make its exploring tour in the mountains in +one journey. The original plan had been to make quick dashes to +the camp on the Chusco for gasoline and then return to the +mountains. To provide for this new weight the two new passengers +and a good portion of the air ship's stores must be landed. And the +most feasible plan seemed to be to set up a new emergency camp in +the heart of the mountains. + +Many things might happen to the now perfectly working balloon. And, +even if cast away in the mountains, it was no part of Ned and Alan's +plan to cease searching for the temple of treasure until dire +necessity drove them from it. In case wreck and privation came it +would be comforting to know that somewhere in the same wilderness +food and friends awaited them. + +The first glow of the sun painted for the ever watchful pilot a +picture beyond the possibilities of brush and canvas. Here and +there out of the blackness below sprang rosy points, the sun-tinted +peaks of the Tunit Chas. Down the mountain sides, like rivers of +silver pink, fell the sun's light. Then the valleys began to open +out of the chasm of night-dark canyons wrought in the wilderness of +the mountain sides. Here and there, oases left by the devastating +hand of time, rose high plateaus, tree-crowned and verdant. And +then, higher up among the white peaks, sentinel-like, stood giant +tables whose brown tops and precipitous sides told of inaccessible +and arid wastes. "And somewhere," said Ned to himself, "in this +Titanic chaos lies the object of our search." + +Starting at half speed, Ned had soon reduced the engine to quarter +speed. When he aroused his sleeping companions Wilson's peak, their +chief landmark, was just in sight far behind. His calculations +placed the present location of the Cibola thirty miles from the +Chusco river and just over the eastern Tunit Chas Mountains. + +"All hands turn to," shouted Ned cheerily, "and stand by to make a +landing." + +There was a scramble, a rubbing of yet sleepy eyes and then an +outburst of admiring wonder. The Cibola had sailed over two broken +ridges enclosing an irregular, broken valley and was now looking +down on a shelf-like plateau abutting on the second ridge and west +of it. On three sides the plateau dropped precipitately into a +lower rock-strewn, valley. On its eastern side it joined the still +higher ridge. A pine forest crowned the top of the shelf-like +mountain side and then ran up to the higher slopes until the carpet +of green faded into the brown wastes of the timber line. In the +very center of the wilderness of trees glistened a little lake of +mountain water. From it the silver thread of a rivulet wormed its +way for a mile or more among the trees and then trickled over the +side of the cliff in a vapory waterfall. + +Ned had swung the Cibola into a wide curve and the balloon and car +were soon directly over the mountain creek. He threw the aeroplane +guides downward and the slowly moving car drifted lower until it was +but four hundred feet above the water and the overhanging pines. +Then, following the water course beneath, the air ship floated back +into the woods and the little lake widened out beneath them. Two +deer, at the water's edge, stood unalarmed. On the south of the +lake a grassy opening indicated Ned's destination. + +"Here," he explained, "we can make a safe landing. It is an ideal +place for a camp, with plenty of firewood and water." + +"And meat, too," interrupted Alan, pointing to the deer. + +"Venison and bear meat too, no doubt," laughed Ned. + +From the top of a dead pine tree an eagle rose and soared lazily +away. + +"It's like the camping out places you read about," exclaimed Bob. +"That eagle nest completes the picture." + +"It does," interrupted Ned, "and I hope you won't forget the +picture. That high, barren tree is your landmark. Some day you may +need it. Remember; from the valley below your camp can be found by +locating the little waterfall on the cliff. From the timber line +above you will know it when you see the eagle's nest. And now let +go the anchor. We have no gas to spare, and can't afford to open +the valve." + +To make a landing in a balloon without throwing open a valve and +wasting precious gas is almost impossible. The craft could only be +kept near the ground by keeping it in motion or by causing the +propeller fans to depress currents of air on the aeroplanes. +Therefore, as soon as the engine stopped, the Cibola would mount +higher. But resourceful Ned had long since thought out this +problem. + +The engine's speed was reduced and the anchor was quickly lowered +until it caught hard and fast in a strong pine tree. The contact +shook the fragile car and sent the bag bounding, but when it was +seen that the iron had fixed itself firmly three of the boys, +pulling on the anchor rope, gradually drew the great buoyant car +down until it floated just above the tree top. To drag it lower +was, impossible, for one sharp branch might injure the bag beyond +repair. + +When the ship was safely anchored just above the tree, the +twenty-five foot landing ladder was lowered and Ned himself made his +way down its fragile rungs into the tree. . + +"Hold on tight," he continued, "I'm getting off." + +As he did so and found footing in the tree branches the Cibola +tugged to free itself, as if, overjoyed to be rid of Ned's one +hundred and forty-five pounds of weight. As soon as the young +commander was safely on the ground he ordered the other boys to pay +out the anchor rope and again the Cibola rose in the air. + +"Now," ordered Ned, "start your engine and head the car over the +opening." + +While Ned stood below directing, with hands to his mouth, +trumpet-wise, the Cibola strained at her anchor rope and then, +obeying her rudder, moved directly over the open space, her nose +pointing skyward at an angle of forty-five degrees. + +"Hold her," yelled Ned, "and haul back." + +The boys again strained at the taut anchor rope until the car stood +just clear of the trees and some two hundred feet in the air. + +"Now lower your drag rope and an empty ballast bag," called Ned. + +While this was being done the navigator of the Cibola was busy +carrying chunks of broken rock from the margin of the little lake, +and in a short time the boys above were hauling away on the rope and +lifting aboard new ballast. With each bag of it the Cibola sank +lower and lower, until finally, when it was almost balanced in the +air, Ned easily drew the balloon to the ground. + +But the landing was not yet finished. Not a passenger in the craft +could step ashore until Ned had added more stone. But when enough +of this had been lifted up to the hands above, and Elmer could +alight, the two willing workers on the ground soon made it possible +for the other boys to spring overboard. Then the four of them +loaded enough more rock on the bridge to take the place of the +stores to be landed. + +There were not many things that could be left: water, and half the +provisions and, preserved goods; a few cooking utensils; blankets, +an extra compass, two revolvers, a hatchet and saw; a light silk +tent; matches and candles, a medicine case, ammunition, and, to make +way for the gasoline that it was hoped might be recovered, all the +extra oil on board--for the reservoirs yet contained an ample supply +to make the trip back to the scene of Elmer's attack. + +At a safe distance from the balloon Elmer had returned to his +favorite occupation. He got a fire going and while the other boys +replaced the rocks on board with bags of sand from the margin of the +lake the colored lad made hot coffee and broiled some bacon. It was +a luxury after the cold, dry food of the long night. + +"When you come back this evening," exclaimed Bob jovially, "I'll try +to have a juicy venison steak." + +"An' hot biscuits," chimed in Elmer. + +"And a good bed of balsam boughs," added Bob, "and a fine camp fire, +and we can sit wound it and talk it all over." + +"And if we don't get back to-night you'd better have your camp fire +anyway," said Ned. + +"Ain't you goin' to git back to-night?" ruefully interrupted Elmer, +as he poured the smoking coffee. + +"You never know what you are going to do in a balloon," answered Ned. +"If we can we will. If we can't we won't. If we are not back +to-night we may not be here for several days. We've got work ahead +now, and plenty of it." + +"We'll be here when you come," replied Bob earnestly, with a smoking +bit of bacon in his fingers, "whenever that is." + +"No," replied Ned, "if we are not here in six days you must make +your way out to civilization. You have food enough but you can't +wait longer than that. As for directions, all I can say is that +from this ridge back of us you can see across the half desert valley +to the higher range of mountains. Should you cross the valley +bearing almost due east and be able to get over or through that +second ridge you will be able to see the top of Mount Wilson, thirty +miles further east. From Mount Wilson it is fifteen miles southeast +to the camp Elmer made. There you should pick up the trail of +Buck's wagon back to the railroad eighty-five miles south." + +Bob's eyes opened. + +"Is it as bad as that?" he said half laughing. "We'll certainly +have to get busy if the Cibola breaks down." + +"Or," went on Ned, "any strewn in the valley below here flows +finally into the San Juan River to the north. If you can make your +way to this river and then succeed in following its banks eastward +until you reach the plains, some time or other you'll find a +frontier settlement." + +"Or Utes," interrupted Alan. + +"Gib me de mountain road," exclaimed Elmer quickly. +"Nomo'Utesfo'me!" + +"Yes," added Ned, "that's the trouble. The route to the San Juan is +not only through a barren, broken mountain region, but it gets you +finally right into the Southern Ute reservation. And, remember, +too, that this is Navajo land. Your safety with them, should you be +discovered, will be in diplomacy. And now good-bye--until we meet +again." + +"And if we don't," replied Bob, huskily, taking the hands of the two +boys in turn, "I just want to say again that you boys have done for +me what I can't forget and what I can't repay. I don't know why you +are here, and I don't want to know. What I've seen will never be +revealed, when I get back to Kansas City and the Comet, until you +tell me I am free to tell it. And you'd know what that means to me +if you knew what a cracking good yarn my experience has given me +already. Good-bye and good luck!" + +Ned and Alan clambered aboard; the rocks were cast overboard, and as +the Cibola shot skyward the boys could hear Elmer calling: + +"Member, boys--we all'll be at Camp Eagle an' supper will be +awaitin'." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +A GRAVE IN THE DESERT + + +But Ned and Alan did not eat with their friends that night, nor for +some days to come. And when they saw each other again one of +Elmer's juicy venison steaks would have seemed to all of them the +sweetest morsel ever eaten by man. + +Ned only waited to help inflate the balloonet in the big balloon +with the little hand blower for the Cibola showed quite perceptibly +the loss of gas after her twenty hours of inflation. Then, the +course having been laid, he left the wheel and engine to Alan's care +and turned in for his long needed rest. + +Alan had determined on a record flight. He allowed the Cibola to +rise higher than it had yet flown, about 5,000 feet, and then +setting the aeroplanes on a slight incline he headed the car on a +down slant for Mount Wilson's just visible peak, thirty miles away. + +There was no economy in half speed, for time and the utilization of +their gas were more precious than gasoline. "We can always float +without gasoline," the boys had said to themselves, "but we can't +move without gas." Therefore the Cibola was soon at its maximum and +the enthusiastic Alan knew that Ned would have a short sleep. + +In an hour and twenty-one minutes the swift dirigible was abreast of +the peak of Mount Wilson, and then, without slackening speed, Alan +altered her course southeast toward the scene of the previous +night's hair-raising experience. Long before he reached the place +he was able to make the juncture of the two rivers his landmark, and +the ship pointed her course as straight as a railroad train. After +thirty minutes sailing from Mount Wilson, Buck's rendezvous could be +made out, three miles beyond. + +One glance told the whole sad story. Two dead horses alone marked +the spot where their freight wagon had stood. Alan aroused Ned, and +as the Cibola sailed low over the place the boys saw that the +thieving Utes had gone--with the wagon, horses, freight and their +dead companions. + +Poor Buck's body was lying where the brave escort had fallen. + +"We can't make two landings," suggested Ned. "We'll find the +gasoline and then come back and bury our friend." + +Disappointed, although they had really in their hearts expected +nothing less, the young navigators turned the Cibola and sailed +slowly down the river in the hope that the gasoline would be found +where Elmer had described it as lying. + +They were as richly rewarded here as they had been previously +disappointed. The drift, a tangled jumble of small mountain wood, +had caught and preserved seven of their eight tins of gasoline. + +It was now noon, and broiling hot, but luncheon was not thought of +and the difficult work of recovering the heavy packages was begun. +This presented a new difficulty, for again the boys were determined +not to lose any gas in making a landing. + +The drift was too light to hold their anchor although two trials at +this were made. Not a bush or tree was to be found nearby. In +despair at last, Alan was about to suggest opening the valve--for it +was imperative that they secure the gasoline--when Ned turned the +bow of the craft down stream. + +"Perhaps we can find anchorage further down," he explained. + +"But if will be pretty hard work carrying these tins," Alan began. + +"They floated where they are, didn't they?" smiled Ned. "What's the +matter with letting them float a little further?" + +His hope was realized. But the solution was fully a mile away. On +a sandy bar, half buried in the sand, the stout end of a cottonwood +trunk, the flotsam of some extraordinary freshet, had come into +view. The experience of the morning was repeated, but on a smaller +scale, for here were no dangerous tree limbs to threaten their +delicate silken bag. After two trials and much pulling and hauling +the car of the Cibola was tied fast to the snag, half over the +shallow water and half over the sand. + +Then, naked as when they were born, and suffering not a little from +the pitiless sun, the boys started afresh. Alan made his way back +up the river and began to prod out the stranded tin casks. All were +soon bobbing along in the slow current, with Alan behind them like a +lumber driver of the northwest dislodging logs left in the shallows. +Ned below soon had all of them in shallow water. + +By means of a coil of the drag rope, looped in turn about the tins +of recovered fuel, Ned lifting below and Alan pulling above soon +transferred the gasoline to the bobbing Cibola. As each cask +ascended, a portion of the extra ballast was dumped overboard. + +Then, dressing themselves and improvising what tools they could, the +boys made their way sorrowfully to the scene of the previous night's +tragedy. Buck's body was carefully removed and decently buried. A +mound of boulders was made over the grave to designate the spot, and +with the hope that some day they might return and suitably mark the +desert tomb the boys took a mournful farewell. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +BARTERING STORES A MILE IN THE AIR + + +"And now," said Alan, "it's ho, for Camp Eagle and our search at +last." + +"I don't know about all that sentiment," answered Ned, thoughtfully. +"I've been--" + +But he was interrupted. The boys, aboard the Cibola again, were +just about to cast off when Alan cut short Ned's remark with an +exclamation. + +"Isn't that a balloon?" he exclaimed pointing to an orange-like +object high in the heavens toward the west. + +Ned caught up the binoculars and had a quick look at the rapidly +moving ball which was rushing toward them from over the distant +Tunit Chas Mountains. + +"No question about it," answered Ned, handing Alan the glasses; "a +balloon, and a big one." + +"And out here, too!" commented Alan in surprise. "I guess the world +is pretty small after all." + +"Everything ready?" asked Ned eagerly. And then as the retaining +rope was untied from the frame of the car and slipped down and out +from under the cottonwood snag the Cibola shot upward. + +"I have an idea," continued Ned, "and please don't object until you +think it over. Let's make a little social call on the stranger!" + +"A call!" exclaimed Alan, plainly showing his astonishment; "a call +on a balloon five thousand feet in the air?" + +"Certainly. We are going that high anyway. And we have the means +of going where we like. If we go up until we strike the same, +stratum of air the stranger is moving in we have our propeller and +aeroplanes to check and guide ourselves. When it passes we can +easily run alongside!" + +"Well, if that isn't the limit!" laughed Alan. "And I suppose we'll +exchange greetings and messages like ships long at sea." + +"And," added Ned, "we can send some word to Major Honeywell. You +can see our fast flying friend isn't going to stop around here." + +The Cibola was rising fast and the two air craft were coming closer +and closer. As the dirigible reached the altitude at which the free +balloon was sailing Ned put the aeroplane in operation, stopped the +ascent of the Cibola and then, sweeping his own car into the same +direction with the other balloon he reversed the propeller and held +his own craft against the breeze until the stranger swept by. + +Then, throwing on the propeller again at full speed, Ned made the +Cibola bound after the other craft, and in a few minutes, aided by +the favoring wind, they were within hailing distance. + +Ned was on the bridge, his face flushed with the novelty of the +race. A mile above the earth, the two air ships came closer until, +as if running on parallel tracks, they were nearly together and +abreast. + +"Balloon ahoy!" exclaimed Ned at last and in true maritime style. + +"The Arrow of Los Angeles, bound across the continent," came the +sharp answer. + +"The Cibola from Clarkeville, New Mexico," called Ned in reply, +"exploring. Please report us over Mount Wilson." + +Then the two ships of the sky came closer. The boys could see that +the Arrow was well equipped for its purpose. Two determined looking +aeronauts were leaning from the heavily laden car. + +"Need anything?" shouted the Arrow cordially. + +"In good shape," answered Ned, "but a little short on provisions." + +"Plenty here," came quickly from the Arrow, "glad to exchange +fifty-pound emergency rations for ballast." + +"All right," responded Ned, "stand by to make a line fast." + +Alan, at the engine, brought the air ship up as skillfully as a +pilot might a vessel, and as the two cars almost touched Ned passed +the end of his drag rope, and the occupants of the Arrow with a +quick turn made her basket fast to the bridge of the Cibola. There +were handshakes, mutual congratulations and quick explanations. The +Arrow, the property of a wealthy amateur balloonist, was attempting +to sail, from the Pacific to the Atlantic and was, so far, beating +the best calculation of her owner. In reaching the desired height +that morning, however, much ballast had been used and the +possibility of a renewed supply was jumped at. + +"These extra provisions were packed with the idea of possibly using +them as ballast and we don't really need them. And, so," they +explained to the boys, "if you do you had better take them and give +us sand." + +The exchange was quickly made, and then, having stored their new +food supply safely on the bridge, they said hasty farewells. + +Ned had scribbled this note on a page from his note book: "Major +Baldwin Honeywell, Annex, Chicago. By courtesy of Balloon Arrow. +Bourke, escort, killed by Indians. Search begins at once. Camp +established on plateau, second range Tunit Chas Mountains, thirty +miles due east Wilson's Peak. Greetings. Written 5,600 feet above +San Juan River, New Mexico. Ned Napier and Alan Hope." + +The case of provisions weighed a trifle more than the ballast given +in exchange, and as the line holding the two cars together was cast +off the Cibola sank slowly below the level of the Arrow. Then, as +the Cibola's engines began to push the car ahead in a wide turning +circle, Ned called up to the disappearing Arrow: + +"Great country, this New Mexico, where you can buy food with sand. +Good-bye and success to you!" + +The answer was lost in space as the ships parted. + +"And now," said Ned, after lashing the now case of provisions to the +bridge netting, "we've wasted some more precious time. Do you still +think we had better lose a night at Camp Eagle? We have all the +fuel we can carry." + +Alan saw what was in the wind. + +"We have extra provisions, water and gasoline. My own judgment is +we had better make at once for our starting point." + +"I guess you are right," answered Alan after long thought; "I don't +know what is to be gained by the trouble of a landing at the camp by +the lake." + +"Nothing but that hot supper," smiled Ned, "and we'll have to put +that off a few days, I think." + +"All right," agreed Alan, "set your course and with luck we'll do a +little treasure hunting before dark." + +This being settled, the prow of the Cibola was pointed a little west +of northwest, and, dropping to a lower stratum to escape the lively +eastern breeze at the higher altitude, the boys started at last +directly for the and arid broken mountains of Northwestern Arizona. + +This region, bordering on the great sand dunes lying beyond the +Chelly River, was to be the beginning point of their arduous and +momentous search. From that place to a point nearly one hundred +miles to the southeast lay the secret fastnesses of mountain, canyon +and mesa wherein, somewhere, according to the Spanish soldier's +record, was the secret city of a dead race and the treasure that had +brought Ned and Alan half way across a continent. + +What such a search meant one glance at the monotonous and unending +rock easily told. On foot, only the compass could lead a man +forward in such wilderness of abrupt heights and winding chasms. As +the boys meant to manage it, the attempt had possibilities, but it +might mean days of drifting, of watching, of doubling back and forth +over every possible site. And that was now their task. + +So far as they could, Ned and Alan meant to begin at the extreme +northern end of this unknown land and, sailing back and forth from +east to west, cover every foot of exposed ground with their powerful +glasses. + +Both boys had long since agreed in this conclusion: the "city" meant +no more than one large structure similar to but on a larger scale +than those found in the Chaco Canyon at the extreme southern end of +the Tunit Chas Mountains. This would be indicated now by nothing +more than rectangular lines of wall stones, probably in piles, +outlining the shape of the "city" or palace. Prominent among these +ruins should be the more elevated temple, the object of their +search. And beneath this should be found the underground "khivas" +or religious chambers. + +That this "city" was secret or hidden was proof to Ned and Alan and +Major Honeywell that it would not occupy a prominent place such as +an exposed plateau or a high level mesa. Only one other location +was left, the abutting shelf of some canyon. And the young +navigators had pictured to themselves that, if this should prove to +be the location, the shelf would be so elevated as not to be visible +from the front or below and that it would be concealed from above by +an extended and overhanging cliff. + +"Look for it as you would look for a bird's nest in the cliff," +suggested Ned. And that was the plan of search. + +It was nearly three o'clock when the boys had bade farewell to the +Arrow and about half past five when the Cibola sailed over the +second ridge of the Tunit Chas. But the course was far to the north +and there was naturally no sign of the waterfall plateau or Camp +Eagle. For a time they thought of passing over the camp and +dropping a message, but this pleasant idea was given up. + +"Although," as Alan expressed it, "one of Elmer's hot suppers and a +soft bed of balsam boughs to-night wouldn't be bad." + +Ned thought of the four nights of hard floor and agreed, but he +said: + +"You'll have to forget soft beds if we're ever going to find Cibola. +We'll come down to-night, though, and make a camp of our own with a +fire and a pot of coffee, and at daybreak we'll be off." + +The boys had taken a light luncheon just after starting on the +return trip, and now, soaring over the Tunit Chas again, they began +to be anxious for night and supper. + +At seven o'clock the peaks and ridges below them had begun to drop +into foothills and as the great sandy deserts of distant Utah and +nearer by Arizona came before their eyes the boys decided that it +was time to anchor for the night. They were sailing over the +eastern slope of the last low ranges of hills, barren of trees or +vegetation. The aeroplanes being given the proper depression, the +Cibola shot earthward and then, the propeller coming to a pause, +floated gently along above the jumble of rocks. Making fast the +anchor in a ragged pile of these the boys soon drew the Cibola to +the ground and lashed her fore and aft to heavy boulders. + +The firm ground felt delicious to the tired boys and they refreshed +themselves with a brisk race over the open space between the rock +piles. Then came Alan's camp fire, a hot supper and preparations +for a good night's rest. There were no pine needles of balsam +boughs, but fatigue made a fine mattress, and it was not long before +the tired boys, rolled up in their blankets, were fast asleep on the +soft sand. + +"I hope," said Ned drowsily as they were dropping off to sleep, +"that we won't have any Jack Jellups or thieving Utes to-night. My +nerves need rest." + +Then the boys got eight good hours of health and strength giving +sleep in the tonic air of the Arizona Mountains. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE SECRET TUNNEL IN THE MESA + + +At five o'clock Ned and Alan were astir. With regrets that they +were not at Camp Eagle for a plunge in the cool mountain lake, they +prepared another hot meal, ate it, and boarded the Cibola. + +The balloon had now been inflated thirty-eight hours and was +noticeably showing the loss of its gas. While the top of the bag +was yet round and firm in the heat of the sun the lower sides had +become a trifle flabby as the cool evening had come on. Up to this +time all records for balloon flight had been broken a fact due to +the renewed buoyancy caused each day by the hot, Southwestern Sun. +And, exploration in and quick ascent from the canyons before them +would before long call for the use of ballast. The boys agreed that +the time had arrived to utilize their liquid hydrogen. The +shrinkage that night had been quite perceptible. + +They regretted that but two-thirds of this remained--about eleven +cubic feet. This when reconverted meant nearly twelve thousand +cubic feet of new gas at their present altitude. As the work of +converting the gas involved care, preparation for it was made before +the Cibola was cut loose. + +The reconverter, a reduced inversion of the apparatus used in making +liquid air, was made ready. When the muffled explosions and the +heat of the tubes told the boys that the reconverter was working +perfectly and pumping new and needed gas into the shrunken Cibola's +long bag, the lashings were loosed and once more the faithful +dirigible mounted skyward. + +With Major Honeywell's map of the region spread out on the deck of +the bridge and the binoculars in hand Ned began the long anticipated +search for the lost city. + +All day the process of turning the liquid hydrogen back into buoyant +gas went on. And all day the Cibola wound her devious course over +the peaks and chasms beneath. By night half the hydrogen jars were +empty and Ned and Alan saw the evening close in on them without a +sign of the object of their search. When darkness stopped further +work the balloon was brought to earth and camp made again. + +The following day, as uneventful as the first, gave no indication of +the secret city. The rest of the liquid hydrogen was transformed +into gas. The sun seemed to enfold the craft in a fiery embrace. +When camp was made again that night the Cibola had been afloat +eighty hours. + +"I think she is good for another forty-eight hours," said Ned that +night. "If we find nothing in two more days we'll have our choice +of going out on foot or of quitting in time to pick up Elmer and Bob +and make a dash to civilization. What do you say?" + +"I don't know," replied Alan, "I'd hate to give up as long as we can +fly. I think the boys can care for themselves. Let's stick to it. +We have provisions and there is water in some places." + +"Well," answered Ned, "we'll have two more days time in which to +decide." + +The next morning the Cibola showed plainly that her gas was rapidly +escaping. New life was given to the balloon by casting overboard +some empty hydrogen casks. The fourth day broke hotter than ever. +In all the wilderness examined by the tired and strained eyes of the +searchers, not a human being had been seen--not even a wandering +Navajo. This day they began the search with renewed vigor, but with +the same monotonous result--miles of hopelessly desert rock and sand +beneath them, with a little vegetation now and then, but so sign of +Indian remains. + +At noon Ned said: + +"If we were not in a balloon with a compass and sextant I should say +we were lost. And if Indians ever lived and died hereabouts they +certainly left so signs of their bones." + +By six O'clock, with the sun gratefully low, Alan expressed +discouragement. + +"To-morrow at this time," he said, "if we see no indication of the +old palace or city or whatever it was--if it ever was--I think I'll +vote to try to find Camp Eagle and get out." + +"We'll see to-morrow," answered Ned stoutly. + +That night at dark, a landing was made on the ledge of a point of +land ending in a rounded cliff pointing south, selected because the +place was open to the breeze and cool. The Cibola had approached +the height from the west, and the boys believed that the promontory +projected from yet higher ground beyond. On those portions of the +cliff that they could see there was neither shelf nor projection of +any kind. The walls rose almost like cut stone and were apparently +about three hundred feet high. As the Cibola was about to descend, +Alan, who was taking a last survey from the bridge, called Ned's +attention to the fact that even the far side of the supposed +promontory was separated from the mountains beyond, and that a chasm +at least a half mile wide separated the two heights. + +"It's a mesa," replied Ned with renewed enthusiasm, "and it will be +a good thing to look over it to-morrow. These high and almost +unapproachable islands of rock were favorite dwelling places for the +Indians." + +"But a temple up here wouldn't be a secret very long," replied Alan. +"We've seen this point all afternoon. It's prominent enough." + +"That's so," answered Ned, "but we are here, so let's make a landing +and eat, and dream over it." + +The balloon had now lost so much gas that a landing was easy, and, +tired with four days' profitless search and its strain, the young +aeronauts were soon beyond even dreams. + +It was with no small alarm that the boys saw, when they awoke with +the first rays of the sun, that the car of the Cibola, which had +been anchored fore and aft to heaped up rocks during the night, was +now resting on the ground. Gas, was rapidly escaping. But fortunately +the aeroplanes and propeller had been left properly in a horizontal +position and no damage had been done. + +The boys knew that by throwing over enough ballast and stores the +Cibola could be made good for one more flight, but that probably it +would be the last. Therefore, the inevitable seemed forced upon +them. They would fortify themselves with a good breakfast, look +over the mesa, make one more circling flight and then attempt to +find Camp Eagle. While Alan made haste to prepare breakfast, Ned +determined first on an examination of the mesa point by daylight. + +The rock had a top area of perhaps forty or fifty acres. It had a +rolling surface and was coated with a carpet of dusty sand, except +in the northwest corner. The northern end of the mesa, Ned could +see, widened and ended in a sharp rise almost wall-like in form. At +the western end this wall-like elevation turned the corner and +extended south a short distance, finally dropping down to the +general level of the mesa. In this protected comer grew a strange +grove of gnarled and twisted pines, ill nourished and apparently +very old. Between this comer of the mesa and the sharper promontory +whereon the Cibola had come to anchor, was a wide, sandy, barren +depression. + +The narrow portion of the rocky island where the boys had made camp +drew in abruptly to make the point that marked the southern end of +the mesa. Ned turned first toward the point. + +When he had advanced, making his way slightly upward all the time, +to where the narrow mesa was not over four hundred feet wide, the +lad was astounded to suddenly discover a deep and narrow fissure or +chasm. It was dark, with sides as abrupt as the cliffs of the mesa, +and too wide to jump across. A cold air was already rising from the +opening into the warmer atmosphere above. + +In his astonishment Ned called to his chum. + +"What surprises me," exclaimed Ned, "is the character of the +opening. If it extended from cliff to cliff I should say that the +same freak of nature that made this solitary island of rock also +split off this end at some time. But it is closed at each end." + +Alan hastened to the end of the fissure, near the side of the mesa. + +"It looks to me," he said, "as if it had extended entirely across at +some time and the ends walled up later." + +The boys made a closer examination. + +"You're right," said Ned when he discovered that each end of the +rift had been filled with closely fitted rock, "and human hands did +it." + +Alan sprang up in excitement. + +"That's the first sign we've had," he exclaimed. "Do you suppose it +means anything?" + +The edge of the cliff was so abrupt that the boys had to lie down to +look over in safety. + +"It does," Ned answered. "The reason you can't see that chasm from +below or from in front is because the face of it is walled up. And +it is walled so skillfully that you can't detect it from even a +short distance." + +"That's to hide something," quickly replied Alan, "but I don't see--" + +Ned was standing on top of the short filled-in portion of the chasm. + +"Look!" he exclaimed, suddenly interrupting his friend. "These +stones are steps, and, they are worn!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE TURQUOISE TEMPLE DISCOVERED + + +In another moment he had sprung forward and was quickly descending +into the narrow, dark pit, with Alan close behind. A cave-like +smell and a rapidly, cooling air greeted them. They were soon in +almost complete darkness. When the walls had narrowed to but a few +feet, a thin ribbon of blue sky was all that could be seen above. + +The steps had come to an end. An ascending elevation began just in +front of them. This they made out by the light of a match, which +flickered uncertainly in the bad air. Bats dashed against the walls +and every movement was followed by a cloud of dust. + +"Do you feel anything?" suddenly exclaimed Alan. "Seems to me like +a current of air on my feet." + +Ned lit another match. + +Before them they again made out an ascending slant such as they had +come down. But the base of it was hollowed out in the form of a +small cave. As the light went out both boys stooped to look further +into this opening. + +"Light!" they exclaimed almost together. + +They were looking through a tunnel made, as they afterward found, in +the base of the filled-in portion of the chasm. Reptiles, bats and +dust were forgotten now. Plunging forward on their hands and knees, +the two boys advanced without difficulty to the distant mouth of the +tunnel. + +It ended abruptly in the face of the mesa cliff, one hundred feet +above the valley below. There was not the slightest ledge below it +and the side of the mesa dropped so precipitately that access to the +tunnel mouth from without seemed impossible. The possibility of a +climb to that entrance to reach the mesa above was out of the +question. + +The boys, panting for breath, lay on the floor of the tunnel with +their heads just out of the opening. + +"Some one has used this place, but how did they ever get up here?" +asked Alan. + +"I don't know and I don't care," said Ned with excitement. "But I +do know that this entrance is concealed. Why, you couldn't even see +it from below--it's so small. And it was made that way for a +purpose. That must mean Cibola. Let's get busy." + +There were one hundred and thirty-five steps to mount, and each was +about a foot and a half high. When Ned and Alan were on top of the +mesa again they were out of breath and their clothes were white with +dust. They were also choked, thirsty and hungry. + +"Eat heartily," laughed Ned, when they began breakfast over again; +"we are going to have a busy day, I hope." + +"What is your theory?" + +"That our treasure is right here if it is anywhere," exclaimed Ned. + +Alan laughed. "The place is barren as a barn floor," he said; "I +don't see any very large palace or temple hereabouts." + +"I don't either. That's why I'm going to look for it--and look +hard." + +"And our gas slipping away at a lively rate!" interrupted Alan +again. + +"Let it all go," said Ned. "We know how we can get down within a +hundred feet of the ground, anyway. That's some consolation."' + +"First we will make a circuit of the north end," continued Ned, +after breakfast, "and if nothing comes of that--no unseen hollows or +new crevices--we'll try this sandy hollow, even if it is smooth as a +plain." + +The circuit of a fifty-acre area requires time and it was an hour +before the boys had traversed the edge of the precipitous cliff. At +every few yards they examined the face of the mesa for gaps or shelves, +but there seemed hardly a resting place for a bird. + +Tired and hot, the sun being now high above them, the young +aeronauts finally reached the north-eastern corner of the mesa +without finding a sign or suggestion of Indians, or even of animal +remains. + +Alan had thrown himself on the ground at this point for a rest, when +with an exclamation Ned darted from his side. As Alan's eyes +followed him he saw the cause of the exclamation. From where they +stood--directly east from the ancient grove--they could see for the +first time that the trees stood in a wide double semi-circle, and, +directly in the center, perhaps fifteen feet in height, arose a +column of masonry. It was snow white in color and glistened like +glass. + +There was no question about it. + +The fabled Temple of Turquoise, its deep blue glaze lost in the +whitening sun of three centuries, stood before them. Almost +overcome with the emotion of success the two boys stood as if +transfixed. Then cautiously, as if afraid the wonderful pile might +dissolve itself into a dream, they moved forward. + +In this protected corner of the mesa where the winds of ages had +gradually deposited a thin sandy soil, the hand of man had planted +two almost complete circles of trees. Therein, and generally +agreeing with the record of the long dead Vasquez, were the plain +outlines of a stone structure. At places, where the walls crossed, +and at some of the corners, the masonry yet rose to the height of a +man. And again, it fell into long irregular piles of jumbled +blocks. Sifted sand filled each corner and crevice. + +In the center of the ruins rose the turquoise column. From this, +and in a line with the true east to where the boys stood, extended +an open approach. Almost reverently Ned and Alan advanced up this +walk. + +It was easily seen that the structure had contained a maze of +rooms--over three hundred, they afterwards discovered--and that the +white column stood in a hollow square. + +"It's white," almost whispered Alan. + +"Yes," answered Ned; "it ought to be blue." + +They were now at the foot of the column. Directly in front stood an +opening or door. Bordering this was a framework of brick-like +squares or tiles, black, and ornamented with white figures. + +"Just like pottery," said Alan, noticing the true geometrical design +and the still cruder outlines of animals. + +"Look," exclaimed Ned, pointing to the top of the door. + +Here, the small tiles were replaced with a large square of black +tile, in the center of which shone a dull yellow radiating design. + +"A symbol of the sun," explained Alan, "and of gold!" he added +excitedly. + +"Then it certainly is our secret city," said Ned. + +As he said this he was busy with his knife, digging at the +glistening white bits with which the column was coated. Finally one +came off. It fell into his hand and the back of it came into view. + +The two boys broke out in an exclamation of delight. The protected +portion of the piece was a deep sky blue. + +"The Turquoise Temple!" they both cried together. "Hurrah!" + +When night came again Ned and Alan were almost too excited for rest +or sleep. Nor did they taste food again until the dust of the ruins +warned them temporarily to abandon their search. To walk into a +treasure house that the daring adventurers of two races had +overlooked for three hundred years was enough to turn the heads of +any two boys. + +The "Doorway of the Sun" as Alan called it, led into a chamber about +fifteen feet square. The walls of this were lined with smooth clay +squares of black tile, undecorated. Eight feet above the floor, +which was also of clay tile and half buried under sand, rose a +ceiling of arched stones. There was no opening in this, but steps +on the outside of the temple and in the rear led to a chamber above, +in the front of which, and also facing the sun, was another opening +about two feet from the floor. In front of this window was a stone +bench or altar. The meaning of it the boys did not know. This room +was barren of either decoration or utensil and it was half full of +the debris of what had apparently been another arched stone roof. +Only the front or eastern side of the structure was coated with the +precious turquoise; the other sides of the column were of plain, +fairly well fitted, mortarless stone blocks. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE COLLAPSE OF THE CIBOLA + + +An opening in the paved court in the rear of the Temple, half filled +with drifted sand, led into a "khiva" or secret religious council +chamber beneath. Herein the young adventurers discovered their +wonderland and the reward for all their labors. + +Hastily returning to the balloon, they procured candles and +improvised scoops out of the sides of the tin emergency ration case +obtained from the Arrow. Major Honeywell had warned the boys that +the floors of all closed chambers of this sort were covered with the +accumulated dust of ages. + +The first examination of the "khiva" resulted in disappointment. +The immediate impression that the boys received was one of cave-like +barrenness. In the half-light only a gray monotony met the eye. +Yet under this ghostlike pall, forms soon began to appear. In the +center of the chamber stood what was apparently an altar. In spite +of its burden of dust an elevation could be seen about eight inches +high and seven feet in diameter, on which was a boxlike structure +about three feet square and four feet high. On top of this was a +dust-covered figure. Beyond, in the deepest gloom, the mouths of +four radiating tunnels leading still further into the ground could +be seen. The roof was supported by irregular round columns, +apparently of wood, arranged in two circles. + +Before beginning an exploration of the chamber the boys decided to +ascertain the depth of the dust covering the floor, into which they +had already sunk over their shoe tops. This was stifling work, for +the soft powder ran back as fast as it was dug away. A half hour at +least was consumed in reaching the bard surface beneath. The +coating of dust was nearly three feet deep. + +As Ned climbed out of the little excavation Alan held the candle +down. To the astonishment of the boys a beautiful blue sheen met +their gaze. + +"Turquoise flooring!" shouted Ned. + +It was true. The entire "khiva," so far as the boys subsequently +uncovered its floor, was a crude mosaic of the most perfect +turquoise, the pieces, varying in size, being laid in a lime-like +cement. + +A general survey of the room and its connecting tunnels showed that +each radiating arm led, with about twenty feet of passageway, into a +smaller room. In each of these rooms were nine column placed in a +rectangle. The main chamber was circular in form, forty-eight feet +in diameter, and the smaller apartments were twenty-four feet +square. + +Ned while at work examining the floor, suddenly ceased and rushed to +one of the columns. + +"You remember," he exclaimed, "the Spaniard said these columns were +of gold and silver." + +But in this the ancient record was wrong. The inner six supports +were painted a faded yellow and the second row, twelve in number, +was colored red, as the boys discovered later when they brushed and +cleaned some of them. Around each of the inner columns, however, +there were two metal bands about two inches wide and thirty inches +apart. The lower ones were six feet from the floor. They were of +heavy gold with loops or hooks extending from each side, as if +festoons or connecting bands had once extended from pillar to +pillar. + +"Not a bad substitute!" exclaimed Ned. + +The second line of twelve columns had similar rings of silver, as +the boys discovered in good time. The movable contents of the room +were not easily examined, as each object on the floor was buried +under a mound of heavy, suffocating dust. Bats had made the place +an undisturbed refuge, and the repulsive flutter of these creatures +was disconcerting. + +A preliminary examination of the four lateral passages and the rooms +at their far end showed that these were probably store rooms, +excepting the one on the east side. Here, on shelves, fixed on +columns or posts similar to the colored supports in the principal +chamber, were eight oblong forms. Even the dust and refuse could +not disguise the nature of these--they were unmistakably mummies, +the embalmed bodies of either chiefs or priests. At the head and +foot of each were various dust covered receptacles and utensils. + +The afternoon was too short for the boys to accomplish the removal +of anything. + +"I feel like a grave robber," panted Alan, soberly, as the two boys +clambered out into the fresh air, finding, to their surprise, that +it was already night. + +"Well, I don't," said Ned. "These things are so old that they seem +to belong to Time itself. I feel more like a gold miner who has at +last struck a rich vein--and it's our vein." + +But, as so often happens, ill luck came close on good fortune. The +first glance of the young aeronauts at the camp and the Cibola was +enough to chill their new happiness. The big gas bag had settled so +low that it half concealed the car, which was resting flat on the +ground. The buoyancy of the air ship was gone. Without more gas +the Cibola could not make another flight. It was a severe blow to +Ned and Alan; but they met the issue squarely. + +"There is no use in worrying," said Ned, finally, when they realized +the exact situation, "and we've got to make the best of it. +Besides," he said, laughing, "we are not ready to go." + +"That's right," replied Alan, thinking of the yet unexamined +contents of the Treasure Temple, "and when we are ready I guess +we'll be no worse off than Bob and Elmer. I suppose we can manage +the one hundred foot descent some way." + +Ned pointed to the hundreds of yards of net cordage. + +"Right," exclaimed Alan, "that'll be easy--a rope ladder." + +It was almost dark and the boys were covered with the penetrating +grime of the long undisturbed "khiva." A meager wash up and supper +and rest were in order. But Ned said: + +"By morning the Cibola will be in collapse. It is a valuable +machine, and it ought not be left out here on this point unprotected +from the seasons. We shall probably never see it again, but while +we can move it let's tow it over in front of the temple and put the +bag and engine and instruments in the protected room." + +It was not a difficult task. With no great effort the car was half +carried and half dragged down the slope and then to the clearing in +the pine grove where the boys soon made a new camp. To complete +their work the big bag of the balloon was untied from the car and +drawn, half inflated, into the pathway leading to the temple door. +Then, with no small regret, the boys opened the escape valve, and in +a few minutes the collapsed Cibola was stretched like the cast off +skin of a snake along the sandy pathway, ready to be rolled up and +compactly stored away. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE GOLDEN EAGLE OF THE AZTECS + + +In the morning the boys went at their task with renewed vigor. +Inventory was first taken of the stores and provisions. There was +enough food for about six days, if used with care. Of water there +was a supply apparently for a little longer period. But the choking +dust of the "khiva" made bathing almost a necessity, and, used in +this way, even sparingly, the supply would not last over two days. + +"No more baths until we go down into the valley," ordered Ned. +"Cleanliness would be a comfort, but we'll have to be uncomfortable." + +Permanent camp was made in the cabin of the dirigible. In arranging +this all the machinery, the engine, the blower, the dynamo, the +reconverter and the aeroplanes, the rudder and the propeller were +unmounted, and the smaller articles made ready for storing in the +temple entrance. There were four casks of gasoline left unused. As +these were being carried to the temple Ned suddenly exclaimed: + +"Why not rig up the engine and dynamo and use an electric light down +in our cave of Mystery." + +"Good," answered Alan, "and while we are at it, why not hook up the +balloonet blower with the engine and get fresh air?" + +The stowing away of the machinery, the packing of the gas bag and +the setting up of the engine and dynamo and blower afforded plenty +of work until noon; and then, while the trusty little engine was +pumping volumes of good sweet air into the hot, almost suffocating +chamber below ground, the boys had luncheon. + +Then began the real exhumation of the long buried articles in the +secret religious chamber of the almost forgotten race. As +revelation succeeded revelation in the next two days the paralyzing +wonder that first came to Ned and Alan was succeeded by the dullness +of fatigue. At intervals of not more than an hour they came above +ground for fresh air. The absence of water soon converted them into +bronze-like human statues. They could feel that their lungs were +becoming clogged with the almost impalpable dust. But they +persevered. The prize was too rich to be abandoned because of mere +physical discomfort. + +By means of the wired drag rope the powerful incandescent light was +carried to all the chambers. And one after another, as the blower +gave the boys air and helped sweep away the clouds of dust, the +remains which had lain buried for over three centuries were +uncovered and brought above ground. + +Of the pottery itself, vases, jars, and religious ceremonial +utensils, perfect in shape and displaying ornamentation that would +have delighted Major Honeywell, the excavators could take little +note. After removing the twelve gold hoops or bands from the +supporting columns and twenty similar silver rings from the second +row of pillars, the boys penetrated the elevation in the center of +the "khiva." + +As the end of the blower pipe was directed against this square +column, the sediment of centuries disappeared. Then the brilliantly +penetrating glare of the reflected electric light fell on the +elevation and both boys burst out in an exclamation of amazement. + + +On what had been a ceremonial dais stood the treasure of the secret +city of Cibola--an image of the sacred Golden Eagle of the Aztecs. +The revered bird of the Aztecs stood upright, its extended head +peering east. The body of this aboriginal work of art, crude in +form, was of massive silver. And to it were attached overlapping +plates of gold in the similitude of feathers. The unfolded wings +were also of gold. The head, beak and talons were of gold, and the +eyes were two polished bits of quartz. The idol, for such no doubt +it was, stood forty inches in height and weighed about three hundred +pounds. + +The base on which the precious eagle stood was completely covered +with the deepest blue turquoise. At its foot and covering the dais +were the crumbled traces of many articles of cloth, feathers, bits +of wood and pottery, and the like, all, no doubt, fragments of +priestly utensils of worship. The most ornate and best preserved of +these was a large flat bowl covered on the inside with skillfully +cut mother-of-pearl. This was still iridescently beautiful, and the +more striking because its milk white exterior was unmarked by +decoration. + +Each mummy, when hauled into the open air and examined, gave more +positive proof of the riches that had been collected in this sacred +retreat. The funeral bowls placed at the feet of the bodies varied +in form and material. Some of these were of plain black and white +pottery, others were coated with gold, silver, or mother-of-pearl. +The bowls apparently had once contained food. In all there were +two golden bowls, four of silver, one of pearl and one of pottery. + +Each mummy was wound with as much care as was ever bestowed on the +Egyptian royal dead. The woven wrappings were coated with pitch and +beneath them were colored cotton cloths, affording proof of a high +civilization. The richest treasures of the dead were the +breastplates and necklaces found on each. These astounded the young +investigators. + +These plates and beads had been strung on deer sinews, which, not +having been protected by pitch, were now only lines of dust. But, +lying on the breast of each there was invariably a "body scraper," +(as Major Honeywell afterwards termed them) of gold, silver or +mother-of-pearl. Mother-of-pearl discs were the commonest neck +decoration. Of these the boys discovered four. + +On three of the bodies were pierced pearl bead necklaces. On the +most elaborately wrapped figure, that of a head priest or high +chief, came the crowning discovery. This was a necklace of pierced +amethysts. And on the breast of this figure was a flat plate of +gold with sixteen radiating points, each of these terminating in a +large luminous unpierced and polished amethyst. + +About the waist of this shriveled figure were the remains of a +jeweled belt. The foundation or back of this had dissolved into +dust, but careful unwrapping of the cerements revealed the priceless +ornamentation. This decoration was of alternating squares of +mother-of-pearl, in each of which glistened a perfect amethyst, and +of matchless turquoise squares set with great pearls. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +A QUARTER OF A TON OF TREASURE + + +It was impossible for the boys even to venture an estimate on the +value of the immense mine of turquoise, although they realized that +the increasing scarcity of the jewel made the beautiful and unique +specimens everywhere about them worth a great deal of money. Nor +had they any idea of the value of the mother-of-pearl bowls, nor of +the hundreds of beautiful and unique ceremonial and funeral urns and +vases. Least of all, could they put even an approximate price on +the amethyst and pearl necklaces. Even their most sanguine hopes of +discovering the hidden city of Cibola had not led the adventurers to +investigate the current prices of precious stones. + +Knowing, however, what the prices of gold and silver were, they +could form some estimate of the worth of this part of the treasure. + +By comparison with the known weights of certain articles in the car +the two boys made the following list of metal pieces discovered: + + GOLD POUNDS + + Twelve bands. Weight each 2 lbs. 1 oz. 26 + Two bowls. Weight each 6 lbs 12 + Two "body-scrapers." Weight each 9 oz 1 1/2 + Wings, head and talons of Sacred Eagle 82 + Breastplate 3 + Radiating sun over entrance 12 + + Total, 136 1/2, or 1,638 ounces. + + SILVER POUNDS + + Twenty-four bands. Weight each 1 lb. 8 oz 40 + Four bowls. Weight each 5 lbs 20 + Four "body-scrapers." Weight 10 oz.. 3 1/3 + Body of Sacred Eagle. Weight 218 + Ninety-six miscellaneous rings, bands, + anklets and wristlets, many set with + mother-of-pearl and turquoise 16 1/3 + + Total, 297 2/3, or 3,580 ounces. + + +The market value of these precious metals was easily computed. The +silver at sixty cents an ounce was worth $2,148. The more valuable +gold, at twenty dollars an ounce, was worth $32,760. Together, the +484 pounds were worth $34,908. + +"And one-third of that," said Ned with a smile--almost discernible +beneath his dust--begrimed face, "is nearly $12,000. And that is +$6,000 for each of us." + +"But how about the amethysts and pearls?" said Alan. + +"I suppose," answered Ned, "that they are worth a great deal more, +but I don't know. I should think that those that have no holes in +them would be very valuable." + +All this figuring was intensely interesting, but the boys, as the +revelation progressed, knew that they were now facing a new problem. +They could not possibly carry that gold and silver, to say nothing +of even a portion of the exquisite mother-of-pearl bowls or the +finest samples of the turquoise. When, in the end, nearly a quarter +of a ton of the metal treasure alone lay in a heap in the corner of +the temple vestibule they could come to but one conclusion. + +This portion of the treasure would have to be removed at another +time. + +"It has lain here undisturbed for over three hundred years," said +Ned hopefully, though sadly, "and we'll have to take a chance that +it can be left a while longer." + +Sorrowfully enough Alan agreed. It was to be no easy work getting +out of the wilderness, and food must be carried. That might be more +precious to them than gold before they saw a railroad again. The +boys agreed to take at noon the next day the exact latitude and +longitude of the mesa. The latitude, on one slip of paper, was to +be carried by one boy and the longitude, on another piece, was to be +in the possession of the other. This was a precaution against +accidental revelation of the treasure mesa. + +The set jewels were removed. There were two hundred and ninety-four +pierced pearls and ninety-eight pierced amethysts. Among the whole +gems, eighteen magnificent pearls were extracted from the jeweled +belt. Eighteen unpierced amethysts were also taken from the +alternating turquoise squares of the belt and sixteen magnificent +amethysts from the gold breastplate. + +It was then that the sewing kit supplied by Alan's sister Mary came +into service. A small piece of aluminum waterproof silk cabin +covering was converted into two flat bags and in these the stones, +equally divided, were enclosed and concealed under the clothing and +beneath the right arm of each lad. In addition, each boy took half +of the mother-of-pearl and turquoise belt plates as the finest +specimens of each material. + +"And to show that there is gold too," suggested Alan, "we might as +well take along, these gold 'scrapers,' which won't bother us much," +So these two pieces were strung on cords and suspended about the +necks of the young treasure seekers. + +"And to-morrow," exclaimed Ned joyfully when all this was done, +"we'll get down from here and get a bath." + +"Amen," added Alan earnestly. + +Until it was twelve o'clock, the time to take their observation, the +boys spent the next morning in last preparations and making +everything shipshape. The framework of the car was left intact, but +weighted by stones to prevent injury by the wind. Everything +movable was stored in the entrance room of the temple, including +three and one-half cans of gasoline. The engine was oiled and +covered with blankets. Underneath the smoothly folded balloon, in +the folds of which dry sand had been liberally sprinkled to prevent +possible adhesions of the varnish, lay nearly thirty-five thousand +dollars' worth of curiously wrought gold and silver. This was first +completely covered with sand. + +The two provision packs for the retreat to civilization had been +carefully arranged. How long the journey might take they could not +estimate. They had decided to their way east, in hope of falling in +with Elmer and Bob, and this meant the crossing of at least two +mountain ranges and thirty miles of barren foothills to Mount +Wilson. Then, if they turned south, they would traverse eighty-five +miles of sandy plain in which water was infrequent. + +Their own provisions were exhausted. What they now depended on was +the emergency case secured from the Arrow. This supply was intended +to be enough for two men for two weeks. + +"It certainly ought not take us that long,"' complained Alan. "Why +not leave half the supply and take a little gold?" + +But Ned was obdurate. He explained that they might fall in with the +other boys, and that if they did Elmer and Bob might be wholly out +of supplies. + +"We can come back if we get out in good shape," explained Ned, "and +if we don't get out what'll be the use of a back load of gold?" + +That settled it. The food packs were made up of the following +supplies: Flour, 12 lbs; corn meal, 5 lbs; beans, 5 lbs; bacon, 7 1/2 +lbs; rice, 5 lbs; oatmeal, 2 lbs; baking powder, 1/2 lb; coffee, I +lb; tea, 1/2 lb; sugar, 5 lbs; lard, 2 1/2 lbs; salt, 1/2 lb; pepper, +1/8 lb. Each provision pack weighed twenty-one pounds. In addition +there was an aluminum frying pan, a coffee pot and two aluminum +plates. A water canteen, a blanket, a revolver and belt of +ammunition and a knife apiece completed the equipment. Alan carried +in addition the "snake bite" case, the compass and small hatchet, +and Ned the money belt containing over five hundred dollars in gold. + +The sealed glass tubes of matches were divided between the two boys +and then, as it was noon, the sextant that Ned had been so careful +to bring with them was used for the first and last time. The +observation made and noted, and the record of it divided as planned, +Ned and Alan were ready to begin their attempt to make their way out +of the rock-bound wilderness. With provisions, water, blanket and +arms each lad was carrying about thirty-five pounds. + +"Would you still like a few pounds of Aztec treasure?" laughed Ned +as they stood with packs adjusted. + +"I should say not," retorted Alan; "I'm satisfied." + +The method of lowering themselves from the hole in the face of the +cliff to the ground, one hundred feet beneath, had been worked out +in detail and the apparatus made in the evenings by the light of +their camp fire. And early that morning Alan had carried the long +rope ladder down the chasm and to the mouth of the tunnel. Now, in +addition to their packs, the two boys carried between them a section +of one of the pine trees, about six feet long. + +As they stood, ready to leave, Ned raised his cap. + +"Good bye, old Cibola," he said with moisture in his eyes, "until we +meet again, if ever." + +"If ever?" added Alan quickly with as much gaiety as he could +summon. "You don't think we'll ever let anyone else lift that +little pile?" and he pointed to the well filled entrance room of the +temple. + +"No," answered Ned, soberly, "if we have as good luck on the land as +we had in the air." + +Ned and Alan meant to reach the earth by means of a rope ladder. +This they had constructed from the stout Italian hemp suspension +cords of the Cibola. These ropes, each thirty feet in length, were +knotted and then doubled to insure strength. For the last +twenty-five feet at the bottom the landing ladder of the balloon was +used. The rungs, two feet apart, were of pine from a felled tree, +and were thirty-eight in number. + +For anchorage, the six-foot length of tree was dragged to the mouth +of the tunnel and, five feet from the opening, wedged between the +floor and roof of the tunnel, slightly inclined forward. The strain +on the bottom would thus only fix the supporting section more firmly +in place. From the bottom of the pine shaft a loop of four of the +suspension cords reached just out of the tunnel opening. To this +loop the top rang of the ladder was tied, with a separate +hundred-foot length of cord. After the ladder had been made firm +with a running slip knot the hundred-foot length of cord was dropped +to the ground. + +This arrangement had been provided in order that the rope ladder +might be removed after the descent. By a jerk of the cord the slip +knot would be loosened and the ladder, released, would fall of its +own weight. Another length of rope had been prepared, this one +somewhat over a hundred feet long and also doubled for strength. +This was for the lowering of the packs and other articles by one of +the boys after the other had descended. To insure its free running +and to prevent its wearing through on the edge of the cliff, a six +inch section of the pine tree had been prepared, flattened on one +side and having a wide smooth groove in the top. This, attached to +a short length of rope, which was made fast with the ladder loop to +the upright shaft in the tunnel, was fixed on the verge of the +opening. + +Finally everything had been arranged and made fast. Each of the two +boys insisted that he should go down first. To solve the dispute, +they cast lots and the risk of testing the rope fell to Ned. +Slipping off his shoes and socks, which he hung about his neck, he +sprang to the ladder. Alan hung over the edge and watched him with +apprehension, but Ned, feeling his way carefully, was soon on the +ground. + +His shout was the signal to begin the work of lowering the packs. +And down they came, one after another; provisions, revolvers, +blankets, water bottles, and even the money belt, for Ned had made +himself as light as possible for his descent. + +At last it was Alan's turn. The last load had descended, the +lowering line had been released, drawn up and stowed away. The slip +knot was examined anew and then Alan followed Ned down the slender, +fragile swaying rope ladder. When he had reached the ground by +Ned's side and the strain was over, the boys shook hands jubilantly. + +"--And now," shouted Ned with a laugh, "last chance! If you want to +go back for a new load say so before it is too late." + +Alan, exhausted with the climb, shook his head. + +"Then stand from under," cried Ned. + +As he jerked the slip knot cord the boys sprang aside and the long +ladder, wriggling, crashed at their feet. + +The only means of reaching the towering elevation had been removed +and the only visible sign of their brief occupancy of the secret +mesa had been destroyed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +AN ADVENTURE WITH THE NAVAJOS + + +Three days later, Ned Napier and Alan Hope, worn and almost +exhausted with the steady climb and descent of countless rocky +heights, made their camp for the night at the foot of a rugged +slope. Their shoes were torn so that a protection of rags was +necessary. The hot and pitiless sun had seemingly dried up their +boyish spirits. Silent with fatigue, having plodded steadily +forward since sunrise, they threw themselves on the sand. + +The young adventurers were headed straight for the east. And still +the last range of mountains was beyond them. Led by the compass, +they held to their course, sometimes passing miles out of their path +to avoid some inaccessible mesa, but more often scaling ragged and +tiresome heights. + +Eating had now become a matter of form and necessity. There was no +longer the keen joy in making camp. During the three days the boys +had seen no living object except birds, rabbits, many deer and two +bears, all of which they had left unmolested in their eagerness to +press forward. But at noon on this day Alan, having occasion to +glance backwards, was positive that he saw a human head. Whether +white man or Indian he could not determine. The incident gave the +lads no little, concern, but as no further sign of a human being was +seen that day they finally forgot the matter. + +That night, after making tea and taking a little more pains than +usual with their supper in an effort to revive their spirits as well +as their tired bodies, Ned and Alan spread their blankets at the +edge of a pine grove. Almost before it was dark they were both +sound asleep. + +Some hours later Alan awoke with the instant consciousness of an +unusual sound. Motionless and straining his ears, he heard deep +breathing just behind him. A new moon was just sinking below the +buttes on the far side of the little valley in which they had +stopped for rest, but under the pines the shadows were deep. He +knew that danger was near and he did not move. In another moment he +felt a soft hand on his waist, as swift and as silent as a snake, +and he knew that the hand was extracting his revolver. + +Then, from his half-opened eyes, he saw a figure crouching over his +chum just opposite. Some one no doubt was also removing Ned's +weapon. Then there was the pressure of stealthy footsteps on the +pine needles and Alan moved his head until he could see two +indistinct forms moving from the shadows of the timber across the +open space to the dying embers of their little fire. There he could +easily discern five or six figures. He was about to put his hand on +Ned's face to awaken him gently when he saw the entire group coming +directly toward their sleeping place. Their movements now revealed +plainly that they were Indians. + +With cold beads of perspiration covering his body Alan again +pretended sleep. It was now apparent that they had been followed, +and, no doubt, by Navajos. Perhaps this was the end of their +toilsome retreat. With visions of death presenting themselves, he +wondered again whether he ought to arouse Ned. Then he realized the +futility of such action. As the moccasined feet drew near Alan +could read death in each approaching sound. But at the edge of the +trees there was another pause, and then he knew that the Indians had +scattered. + +Straining every muscle in an effort to breathe naturally, like one +asleep, the boy counted the seconds while he waited for the clutch +of a savage hand. And as the moment passed and the attack did not +come he tried to speculate on what the strangers were doing. A +guttural half exclamation soon allowed him a quick breath of +temporary relief. The Indians were only after their supplies. + +The savages had found the half-concealed packs of the two boys. +Alan knew this by the location of the sounds that now came to him, +and then, as the prowlers withdrew again into the open and the faint +moonlight, it could be seen that they were bearing all the +belongings of the two lads. For perhaps ten minutes Alan lay +without moving and watched the Indians. He could make out that they +were hastily looking over the packs and dividing what yet remained +among themselves. Then ponies were led to the place of the camp +fire and the members of the band quickly threw themselves on their +animals and disappeared into the night. + +Almost paralyzed with the knowledge of what this meant Alan now +softly put his hand on Ned's face: + +"Are you awake?" came instantly from Ned. + +"Are you?" retorted Alan in surprise. + +"Yes," whispered Ned, "I saw it all. But I didn't move, because I +was afraid of arousing you." + +"Here, too," exclaimed Alan. "Did you feel them take your +revolver?" + +Ned's band flew to his belt. + +"Is yours gone too? I saw them when they came up from the fire. +But you did right to keep still. If we had moved I expect we'd have +had our throats cut." + +"That was one of them I saw to-day," added Alan, "and I guess we're +lucky to be alive." + +"Yes," added Ned rising to his feet, "we are. They are satisfied, I +suppose, to let us starve." + +The prospect was a trying one. If the range behind them was the one +they hoped it was, there was only one more valley between its summit +and the outer ridge of the Tunit Chas. If they could reach this +ridge they believed they might see Mount Wilson's peak. But even +that meant another thirty miles to the scene of the attack on Buck's +camp on the banks of the Chusco. And from that place it was +eighty-five miles to a railroad and help! + +The boys sat in the edge of the pines as the new moon disappeared, +leaving them in utter darkness, and tried desperately to encourage +each other. Both had the grit to set themselves stoutly to the +apparently hopeless task. Without food or firearms and possibly +without water, they knew they would find the task gigantic. But +nothing was to be gained by waiting for starvation and death in the +wilderness, and their decision was to do what they could, to try the +almost impossible, and if they failed to fail with their faces +toward the east. + +"Why not start now?" urged Alan. "Let's use what strength we have." + +But Ned showed him the folly of this. + +"A night's rest will enable us to make better time to-morrow. And +besides, we can't make headway when we can't follow the compass." + +Retiring a little further into the woods the boys composed +themselves again and before long were once more fast asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +ALAN SUCCUMBS TO EXHAUSTION + + +The boys were up at dawn. Not an article had the marauders left but +the two water canteens which had fortunately been left hanging from +the low branches of a pine. It was useless to look for more--there +was nothing more to be found. + +"Anyway," laughed Ned, "it leaves us in light marching order and we +can make better time. I'm glad we had a good supper." + +As no breakfast was in sight the two boys filled the water bottles +at the creek in the valley, and at five o'clock, taking their +bearings due east, Ned and Alan struck upwards through the pine +woods. It was a not unpleasant climb while the boys were fresh, but +as the slope grew more precipitous the work began to tell. At one +o'clock the crest was reached. + +"How would you like a piece of broiled bacon, some pancakes and a +cup of coffee, Ned?" asked Alan as they paused to rest. + +"In the middle of the day and on the top of a mountain I always +prefer plain water," laughed Ned in reply. "Here's to you!" + +With a big drink from the lukewarm canteens the boys did not pause +long. + +"To-night," continued Ned, "we ought to sleep high up in the +foothills over there." + +With that inspiration the sore-footed and jaded lads made good time +going down the slope. Then another rivulet was encountered, in +which they bathed and by which they rested a spell. Alan would have +been glad to pass the night here, but Ned urged him on, and as night +fell again the hungry, exhausted boys found themselves far up on the +new slope. Then they slept again, restlessly and on the rocky +ground, for they had abandoned their blankets. + +The boys did not wait for daylight. In the half dawn they were +afoot. + +"Take another hitch in your belt, chum, and don't think of the +Placida." laughed Ned. "We'll make it all right, somehow." + +Stiff in limb, their feet twitching with the pain of blisters, Ned +and Alan toiled slowly through the last of the pines and out into +the rocky higher slopes of the range. It was like climbing an +upright wall, Alan said, but the pain of going on was less than the +despair of giving up. A little after six o'clock Ned, ahead, pulled +himself breathless to the highest point. + +Alan stopped a little below and waited in anxiety. Before he could +ask whether it was the last ridge, Ned's voice broke out into a +shout. + +"Come on, old man, we're all right. There's old Wilson, the +grandest mountain peak in the world. Hurrah for Mount Wilson!" + +But there was no echo to his exclamation. Poor Alan, succumbing to +pain and exhaustion, had sunk insensible to the ground. In another +moment Ned was at his chum's side. Forcing some water between +Alan's lips and bathing his face with some more of the precious +liquid, Ned soon brought him back to consciousness. Alan sprang up +in chagrin, and with tears in his eyes insisted that he had only +stumbled and fallen. But Ned knew the truth. His friend's bright +eyes and feverish skin told that his condition was grave. + +The unseen tears came to Ned's eyes, for it was at least thirty +miles to more water and the plains. And should they even reach the +Chusco, he could see only death in the desert. + +"You'll feel better in the cool of the woods down there," said Ned +gently, "and maybe we can kill a rabbit. Hurrah, come on, Alan! +Brace up. It's all down hill, now. Here's for the woods and +broiled rabbit!" + +In a new spurt of life another start was made and the two chums set +out down the slope. In one of Ned's hands was a rock. It was to be +the death warrant of any small animal, and his eyes were busy +examining each sheltered rocky nook and bush. Suddenly a feverish +hand caught his. + +"Look," whispered Alan. + +Ned's eyes followed his chum's gaze. + +It was a spiral of thin smoke in the trees below. + +With a shout, Ned sprang forward. Then he turned. Alan was +standing still. Ned's heart grew cold: + +"See the smoke," Alan was repeating, "see the nice smoke. Maybe +it's a house on fire." + +His friend was delirious. Ned flew to his side once more and again +his touch revived the exhausted boy. Almost five days of wandering +and the exhausting toil on the mesa had proved too much for the more +delicate Alan, and Ned realized with sickening horror that the +situation was critical. + +"I'm all right, Ned," answered Alan when his chum was once more with +him; "just a little lightheaded. But that's all." + +What was to be done? The smoke might be that of a forest fire. And +it might mean Indians. But even an enemy is welcome when starvation +and death confronts one. Almost at the end of his own resources, +the determined Ned forced himself into a last effort. He used no +words of persuasion, for Alan allowed Ned to take his hand, and +thus, silently and slowly, the two moved forward again. Perhaps +another half mile was made between rocks and down gullies and then +Alan exclaimed pitifully: + +"It's no use, Ned, I can't, I can't. My feet." Burying his +fevered face in his hands, the boy wept, partly in pain and partly +because he knew that he was holding back his chum. + +At such periods Ned Napier was at his best. With kind words he +sought to encourage his friend. He used the little water left to +bathe Alan's face, and the last of his shirt in binding anew his +friend's bleeding feet. He tried to joke and speculated on the +possibilities of the smoke beyond them, but it was without avail. +Poor Alan could not rise again. The fever of exhaustion was on him +and with a last appeal to Ned to leave him the boy threw himself on +the ground and fainted away. + +There was no doubt now as to what was to be done. Unless he could +bring help to his friend in a short time Ned knew it would mean +death. And that meant death for both, for young Napier would never +abandon his friend. Like a drunken man Ned turned and stumbled +forward. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +A FORLORN DASH FOR HELP + + +Am hour later Alan Hope, carried by the faithful Elmer Grissom and +the jovial Bob Russell, was laid gently on a blanket by the fire +whose smoke had attracted the attention of the ragged, worn +wanderers. Not until the sun had set did the exhausted lad open his +eyes again. But water and food had been forced through his lips and +when reason came back strength was not far behind. + +Ned sat by his chum's side all day, bathing his face and making him +as comfortable as possible; from Elmer's medicine packet. A few +mouthfuls of food had sufficed Ned. But that night, when Alan came +again to his senses, the four boys held a thanksgiving about a +cheerful fire and ate together. But it was no banquet. + +What had happened was soon repeated to the weak but happy Alan. +Elmer and Bob had waited and watched for ten days, using their +stores sparingly and ready always for the return of Ned and Alan. +Two days they had seen the Cibola a speck in the sky far to the +west, and had watched it from the little waterfall on the edge of +the plateau. Then it disappeared and they never saw it again. This +was three days after the boys departed from Camp Eagle. + +Husbanding their provisions as well as they could, they at last +decided to start on their return to the outside world. + +This was two days before. The tent and the heavier articles were +hidden in a cache. Their food had been reduced to a meager +quantity. They had two pounds of bacon, six pounds of flour, two +ounces of tea and a little over a pound of beans. In addition they +had a half dozen bouillon tablets, a little salt, pepper and sugar, +and a complete and unopened medicine packet in which were quinine, +adhesive plaster, cotton, bandages, morphine, and other needed and +compact drugs. With this light pack each boy had a rifle and a +revolver, a few cooking utensils and a blanket. + +Elmer had his own water bottle, and Bob improvised two out of the +empty baking powder can and a lard pail. + +Thus equipped, Camp Eagle was abandoned, and led by their compass +Elmer and Bob had set out bravely for Mount Wilson and the Chusco. +But it was with no small regret that they made their way up the long +slope behind them and then across the valley beyond. But, fresh and +strong of limb, they pushed forward and with Mount Wilson as a +landmark made camp on the second night in the timber on the slope of +the outer range. + +Never wholly despairing of meeting Ned and Alan again, the two boys +were frugal both of their strength and their stores. The food they +carried would have been sufficient for a healthy man for perhaps a +week. They could not count on reaching civilization again within +that time, even with good luck. That meant half rations at the +best. But if accidents came and delay even half rations would be +cut down. So, that night, in camp, there was no feasting. A little +tea, and a cake of dough apiece made their supper; and then they +slept. + +In the morning as they were about to breakfast and be off again Bob +caught sight of a deer. A little jerked venison would not come +amiss, he thought, and as the ammunition was plentiful he darted +through the woods in pursuit. The fact that Bob was a poor hunter +probably saved Alan's life. He was gone an hour and a half and when +he returned it was after seven o'clock. + +The two boys had just extinguished their fire and were about to +shoulder their packs when a well-known but strained call arrested +them. + +"Camp ahoy?" + +It was their leader, Ned Napier, his cheeks sunken, and his body +swaying from weakness, but cheery as of old, advancing slowly +through the trees. + +Food and a night's rest restored Ned's strength. "And now, my +friends," said he in the morning, "these bandages and a little food +and good companionship have worked wonders. We are all ourselves +again. But we can't stay here, pleasant--as it is. Alan ought not +to travel for another day and then he ought to have some husky +attendant. Bob, you are nominated for that job. Elmer and I will +take a few pinches of tea, the soup tablets, one revolver and a +rifle and--" + +"And what?" exclaimed Alan, suspicious of Ned's suggestion. + +"And," continued Ned, "We'll just dash on ahead and bring you some +help." + +"No, siree," shouted Alan. "Do you think get back to Clarkeville, +one hundred and fifteen miles or more, on six soup tablets? And for +me? If you think you ought to go, all right. But you'll take half +of the food." + +"Or more," interrupted Bob, "give us a little flour and salt and +some matches. I reckon I can get a deer before night." + +But Ned convinced them in the end that he was right. He argued that +each mile he and Elmer made in advance was nearer help. Alan must +advance slowly. + +"All you've got to do," he explained to Bob and Alan, "is to reach +the Chusco, where Elmer camped, and take care of yourselves for +seven or eight days. And we'll be there to help you, unless +something happens. You won't have much to eat but you'll have water +and you have ammunition." + +And at seven o'clock that morning they parted. Just before the +farewells Alan called Ned to one side and said: + +"Hadn't you better take my bag?" indicating the jewel case under his +arm. + +"Why?" answered Ned. + +"Well, you know we may never see each other again." + +Ned took his chum's hand. + +"Alan," he said, "we were not born to lose ourselves in the woods, +much less to die there. We'll meet again all right. Don't you have +any fears on that point. But if we shouldn't, I won't care for +amethysts or pearls. If I don't see you again it'll be because I'm +beyond the need of those things." + +There were handshakes and cheering, good wishes, and the relief +section was off. + +"Elmer," said Alan, after the two had been trailing through the +trees Indian fashion some time, "it is daylight at four o'clock and +dark at seven--that's fifteen hours. Can you walk two miles an +hour?" + +"Sho'ly," smiled Elmer, showing his white teeth. + +"Well, that's thirty miles a day. If we could do that for four days +we'd be in Clarkeville!" + +"Clarkeville in fo' days it am den," echoed Elmer, "or bust." + +"We've got six soup tablets. If we dine on one at ten o'clock in +the morning and one at seven o'clock in the evening we'll have +regular meals for three days." + +"And de las' day we won't need none, we'll be in such a hurry," +added the colored boy, happy again in Ned's company. + +That was the spirit in which the expedition started. Late that +afternoon they emerged from the timber and were on the sandy +foothills where progress was faster. Ned's feet bothered him and he +was in constant pain, but the adhesive plaster and cotton had been +of the greatest help. There was no pause. The first day's schedule +he was determined to make and at about eight o'clock the relief +expedition gave a shout. The Chusco lay before them. + +A little fire, some tea and bouillon--made in the pan after the tea +was consumed--and the two boys found a bed on the soft sand with no +covering but the deep Mexican sky. At dawn they were up and away +after a bath in the muddy river. Elmer was now the guide and he +readily picked up Buck's old wagon trail. Sharp at ten o'clock a +halt was made for breakfast, bouillon now without tea. Ned, his +face a little more sunken and his legs a little more unsteady than +the day before, was sitting on the ground resting his burning feet, +when Elmer suddenly touched him on the shoulder, set the soup pan +quickly on the sand and drew his revolver. + +Far down the trail a horseman was approaching. Behind him in the +distance followed a wagon. What did this mean? + +"Well, whoever it is, we'll have the soup," said Ned. + +This consumed, Ned and his friend started forward. + +"If it's good luck we'll meet it sooner this way," said Ned, "if +it's bad we'll know the worst quicker." + +But it was good luck. The rider soon galloped up and swung his wide +hat in the air. It was Curt Bradley, the mayor of Clarkeville. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +THE RESCUE + + +They told Ned afterwards that he keeled over in the sand and fainted +dead away, but he always insisted that he didn't faint, that he knew +everything that was going on. Yet he did not hear a word of the +long story told by Elmer. When he roused himself he was lying in +the shade of the big freight wagon and a couple of cowboys were +getting breakfast ready. + +Then Mayor Bradley explained his presence in that mysterious way in +which bad news always travels friendly Indians had sent him word of +the attack on Buck's outfit and of the death of the veteran +plainsman. This news had just reached Clarkeville and Mayor Bradley +had at once set out to find the body if possible, and assist those +who escaped. + +Of course all speed was made toward the foothills and that evening +Alan and Bob, the former only a shadow of the lively youngster who +had left Clarkeville but two weeks before, were found and rescued. +That night there was a new camp on the Chusco and meat and hot +bread. The only shadow to dim the happiness of the rescued boys was +the recollection of the murdered Buck. + +The return to Clarkeville was made by easy stages in four days, and +even Alan was nearly his old self when that town was reached. One +night's rest in real beds, with fresh linen from the baggage they +had left behind them, and baths, removed the traces of privation and +suffering. There was little more to detain Ned and Alan. + +A telegram was dispatched to Major Honeywell at Kansas City, where +the boys and their patrons had agreed to meet. Then Ned's tool +chest was forwarded by freight to Chicago. In company with Mayor +Bradley Ned and Alan visited Mrs. Bourke, Buck's widow. Retaining +enough to cover the costs of transportation to Kansas City he gave +the widow what remained of his funds, nearly five hundred dollars, +and all the heavy stores remaining in the corral. + +At midnight of that day four wide-awake and alert boys, neatly clad +in summer suits, boarded the local train bound east for Albuquerque. +The last hand they shook was that of Mayor Bradley. + +"Mr. Mayor," said Ned as he parted from his friend, "I'm sorry I +can't tell you why we were here, or what we were doing. But you +were our friend and we'll never forget you. Some day I'm going to +show you how highly we regard you. And some day I hope I'll be able +to tell you what our mission was." + +Three days later the quartette of boys sprang from the Limited in +the Union depot at Kansas City. The parting had come. None of the +boys knew what that meant until the last moment. + +"'Ned," said Bob Russell, once again in the field of his profession, +"I've had many a strange assignment in my work and I expect to have +many another, but I'll never have one like this. I've got the story +of my life, but I haven't got yours. If the time ever comes when I +can write it, when you are free to tell it, just remember your best +friend, Bob Russell, reporter, Kansas City Comet." + +"Bob," answered Ned wringing his hand, "you have missed a good +story. I'm sorry. It wasn't because you were not a good reporter. +It was just our good luck. But if things work out the way I hope, +I'm going to give you something better than a good story." + +"And," broke in Alan, "just want to say this: if chance ever throws +adventures my way again I hope that the companions I share it with +will always include Bob Russell." + +The details of how Ned and Alan, just one day late, kept their +engagement with major Honeywell and Senor' Oje in the Coates House, +and of the almost unbelievable report they made and the rich +evidence of its genuineness that they submitted do not really belong +in an account of the flight of the Cibola. Two things were done at +once, however. A handsome gold watch was purchased and sent to +Mayor Bradley with the compliments of Ned and Alan, and Senor Oje +forwarded an additional check for a thousand dollars to Buck's +widow. + +The report on the value of the stones carried from the treasure +temple by the two boys was such that Senor Oje gave them his check +for $25,000. Out of this each boy contributed part of his share +toward a sum sufficient to give Elmer a business education. Finally +the two boys bought a draft for a thousand dollars, payable to +Robert Russell. With it went this note: "Please accept this as some +slight compensation for the story you did not get." + +But in good time Bob Russell did get his story. For, otherwise, +this narrative would never have been written. + +How it came about that Bob got his story; how the treasure left in +the Turquoise Temple was finally lifted; how the young aeronauts in +doing it battled successfully with a maelstrom in the clouds, were +driven far out over the Pacific, cast away on a derelict and finally +made an escape with their "sneering idol" by aeroplane into the +wilds of Mexico, is a later and more remarkable chapter in the +adventures of Ned Napier and Alan Hope, to be told in "The Air-Ship +Boys Adrift, or Saved by an Aeroplane." + +THE END + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Air Ship Boys, by H.L. 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L. Sayler +</title> + +<style type="text/css"> +body { color: black; + background: white; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +p {text-indent: 4% } + +p.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +p.t1 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 200%; + text-align: center } + +p.t2 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 150%; + text-align: center } + +p.t3 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 100%; + text-align: center } + +p.t3b {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 100%; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center } + +p.t4 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + text-align: center } + +p.t4b {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center } + +p.t5 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 60%; + text-align: center } + +h1 { text-align: center } +h2 { text-align: center } +h3 { text-align: center } +h4 { text-align: center } +h5 { text-align: center } + +p.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; } + +p.contents {text-indent: -3%; + margin-left: 5% } + +p.thought {text-indent: 0% ; + letter-spacing: 4em ; + text-align: center } + +p.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +p.footnote {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +p.transnote {text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +p.intro {font-size: 90% ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +p.quote {text-indent: 4% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +p.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Air Ship Boys, by H.L. Sayler + +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 Air Ship Boys + or The Quest of the Aztec Treasure + +Author: H.L. Sayler + +Posting Date: November 1, 2014 [EBook #6908] +Release Date: November, 2004 +First Posted: February 10, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AIR SHIP BOYS *** + + + + +Produced by Sean Pobuda + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1> +<br /><br /><br /> +The Air Ship Boys +</h1> + +<p class="t3"> +or +</p> + +<p class="t3b"> +The Quest of the Aztec Treasure +</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p class="t2"> +By H. L. Sayler +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t3b"> +CONTENTS +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + I <a href="#chap01">THE DEPARTURE OF THE OVERLAND LIMITED</a><br /> + II <a href="#chap02">NED'S MEETING WITH MAJOR BALDWIN HONEYWELL</a><br /> + III <a href="#chap03">THE RELATION OF MIGUEL VASQUEZ</a><br /> + IV <a href="#chap04">THE CONTRACT, AND LIQUID HYDROGEN</a><br /> + V <a href="#chap05">A DINNER PARTY ON THE PLACIDA</a><br /> + VI <a href="#chap06">BOB RUSSELL OF THE KANSAS CITY COMET</a><br /> + VII <a href="#chap07">THE MAKING OF A NEWSPAPER STORY</a><br /> + VIII <a href="#chap08">THE HOSPITALITY OF NEW MEXICO</a><br /> + IX <a href="#chap09">"CALIFORNY KID" GETS A JOB</a><br /> + X <a href="#chap10">AN ERROR IN CALCULATION</a><br /> + XI <a href="#chap11">A DISGUISE PENETRATED</a><br /> + XII <a href="#chap12">NED TO BOB RUSSELL'S RESCUE</a><br /> + XIII <a href="#chap13">QUICK JUSTICE IN THE WEST</a><br /> + XIV <a href="#chap14">BUILDING AN AIR SHIP</a><br /> + XV <a href="#chap15">HOW JACK JELLUP LOST AN ARM</a><br /> + XVI <a href="#chap16">READY TO "LET GO ALL"</a><br /> + XVII <a href="#chap17">AN INTERRUPTED FLIGHT</a><br /> + XVIII <a href="#chap18">FREE AND AFLOAT AT LAST</a><br /> + XIX <a href="#chap19">THE FIRST FLIGHT</a><br /> + XX <a href="#chap20">FIGHTING INDIANS WITH A SEARCHLIGHT</a><br /> + XXI <a href="#chap21">A CORDITE BOMB AND ITS WORK</a><br /> + XXII <a href="#chap22">A THRILLING RESCUE IN MID-AIR</a><br /> + XXIII <a href="#chap23">CAMP EAGLE IN THE MOUNTAINS</a><br /> + XXIV <a href="#chap24">A GRAVE IN THE DESERT</a><br /> + XXV <a href="#chap25">BARTERING STORES A MILE IN THE AIR</a><br /> + XXVI <a href="#chap26">THE SECRET TUNNEL IN THE MESA</a><br /> + XXVII <a href="#chap27">THE TURQUOISE TEMPLE DISCOVERED</a><br /> + XXVIII <a href="#chap28">THE COLLAPSE OF THE CIBOLA</a><br /> + XXIX <a href="#chap29">THE GOLDEN EAGLE OF THE AZTECS</a><br /> + XXX <a href="#chap30">A QUARTER OF A TON OF TREASURE</a><br /> + XXXI <a href="#chap31">AN ADVENTURE WITH THE NAVAJOS</a><br /> + XXXII <a href="#chap32">ALAN SUCCUMBS TO EXHAUSTION</a><br /> + XXXIII <a href="#chap33">A FORLORN DASH FOR HELP</a><br /> + XXXIV <a href="#chap34">THE RESCUE</a><br /> +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap01"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER I +</h3> + +<h3> +THE DEPARTURE OF THE OVERLAND LIMITED +</h3> + +<p> +The Overland Limited, aglow with lights, stood in the Dearborn +Street station in Chicago waiting for eight o'clock and the last of +its fortunate passengers. Near the entrance gates, through which +perspiring men and women were hurrying, stood the rear cars of the +train. Within these could be seen joyous passengers locating +themselves and arranging bags and parcels. +</p> + +<p> +In fifteen minutes the long journey of Ned Napier and his chum Alan +Hope to the far southwest was to begin. +</p> + +<p> +At the other end of the big shed, where the cars of the long train +seemed to fade almost out of sight, four persons were anxiously +awaiting the approach of the hour of departure. One of these, the +conductor of the train, consulted his watch, as he had done several +times already, holding it close within the glow of his green-shaded +lantern. +</p> + +<p> +"It's getting pretty close to time, Major Honeywell," he said with +some concern. "You're sure he'll be here?" +</p> + +<p> +The man addressed, who stood leaning lightly on a cane and whose +soft dark hat and clothes indicated his military calling, showed +similar concern, but replied confidently: +</p> + +<p> +"We have nearly fifteen minutes. Young Napier has a reputation for +never failing. I'm sure he'll be here in time." +</p> + +<p> +"Here's the telegram," interrupted young Alan Hope, as he drew a +yellow sheet from his pocket. "It is from Youngstown, Ohio, and +says Ned's train is on time. He left Washington yesterday and if +everything is all right he reached the Union Depot a half hour ago. +He'll be here." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, you know we can't wait, much as I'd like to," replied the +conductor. "You'd better have everything ready." +</p> + +<p> +"She's dat, sah," interrupted the fourth person of the group, a +young negro, who, as he spoke, placed his hand on the side door of +the car, and moved it on its easy running bearings. +</p> + +<p> +"You see, there isn't much time left," continued the sympathetic +train official. "We're coupling up." And he nodded toward the +gloom beyond the train shed out of which the big compound locomotive +was already emerging. The military man with the cane became more +apprehensive. +</p> + +<p> +"What shall we do if Ned fails to get here?" he said suddenly after +peering down the long platform toward the busy end of the station. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, we didn't go into this to fail," cheerily responded the youth +by his side. "If we 'fall down' it won't be on a simple thing like +this. He'll be here. It won't take us but three minutes to +transfer the stuff when it gets here. Never fear. I'll just take +another look in the car to make sure." +</p> + +<p> +As he did so the colored boy exclaimed: +</p> + +<p> +"It's all right. Here's de screws as he done tole us to git and +here's de screw-driver outen de box as he done writ us to have ready +and dar's de door all ready fur to fly open." +</p> + +<p> +To prove it the lad gave the wide door in the side of the car a +shove, and as it ran back on its track a portion of the inside of +the car was exposed. It was a peculiar car and worth description, +for in it, next to the big engine and ahead of all the other cars of +the almost endless train, Ned Napier, his friend Alan Hope, and +their servant, Elmer Grissom, were to be the sole passengers on a +most mysterious and, as it proved, most eventful journey. In +railroad parlance the car was what is known as a "club" car. Half +of the interior was bare and unfinished, like the compartment in +which, on special and limited trains, baggage is carried. This part +of the car, now exposed to view, was dimly lighted with one +incandescent bulb. In the half-light it could be seen that the +space was almost wholly filled with tanks, boxes, casks, crates and +bundles, all systematically braced to prevent jarring or smashing. +It was plainly not the luggage of ordinary travelers. Except for a +narrow passageway in the center of the car and a space about five +square next the open door, every inch, to the very ventilators of +the car, was crowded with bound or crated, numbered and tagged +packages. In the open space next the door Alan Hope now appeared. +</p> + +<p> +"Coming yet?" he asked with apparent confidence as he peered +outside. +</p> + +<p> +The colored boy Elmer shook his head. +</p> + +<p> +Just then the conductor returned and again his watch. +</p> + +<p> +"Eight minutes," he said; "time's getting along and I've got to go +back and see about my train. I don't want to make you nervous, but +do you want us to take this car if fails to get here with the +stuff?" +</p> + +<p> +"I suppose there's no need," replied the military man, beginning to +show irritation. "But there's eight minutes yet." +</p> + +<p> +"I know," replied the conductor, "but after we are coupled up and it +is time to leave we can't stop to cut this car out. We've got to +have five minutes for that. At five minutes of eight you'll have to +decide whether it is go or stay. I'm sorry—but you'll have to +decide in a minute or two." +</p> + +<p> +"Decide it now," interrupted Alan from the open car door. "We're +going and he'll be here." +</p> + +<p> +The Major appeared to be in doubt as to the wisdom of this, but +before he could say anything Alan continued: +</p> + +<p> +"Couple up whenever you want to, Mr. Conductor, we'll be ready," and +he sprang out of the car, his face set with determination. +</p> + +<p> +By that time the throbbing engine had silently moved up next the car +and two grimy depot men with smoky torches had swung off the +footboard to make the connections. +</p> + +<p> +"Got to know," repeated the sympathetic conductor. "Only five +minutes." He looked at the Major for the final word. +</p> + +<p> +The latter peered down the long almost vacant platform. There was +no one in sight but the late arrivals being helped aboard the cars +in the far end of the station. Then he gave another look of appeal +at his own watch as if in doubt what to say. To send a special car +half way across the continent was no inexpensive project. And to +send it without the person or the precious material that it was +intended seemed not only a waste of money but foolish. Although the +anxious man had both confidence and nerve it could be seen that he +was in a quandary. +</p> + +<p> +"Five minutes," exclaimed the railway official. "Does she go or +stay?" +</p> + +<p> +Before the man could answer, Alan faced him and with a hand on the +Major's arm exclaimed: +</p> + +<p> +"Ned will be here, he can't fail; tell him we're going." +</p> + +<p> +The Major smiled. "That's it," he exclaimed suddenly. "Take her +along. It's up to us to take care of ourselves." +</p> + +<p> +"Good," said the conductor, "I hope he'll make it." +</p> + +<p> +With a signal to couple on the engine he hurried away for a final +inspection of his train. +</p> + +<p> +For a moment the three persons left behind stood in silence. There +was a hiss of the engine as it pushed the connecting blocks together +and then those waiting so anxiously could hear the jar of connecting +valves as the brake hose were snapped. Confident as Alan was, it +gave him a sinking feeling. Then, as the swish of tests sounded and +the gnome-like figures of the depot men crawled from under the car, +the Major looked again at his watch in despair. +</p> + +<p> +"Four minutes—" +</p> + +<p> +Before he could say more Alan caught sight of a movement among those +gathered around the last car at the far end of the depot. +</p> + +<p> +"There he is!" he shouted and darted forward. +</p> + +<p> +"He sho'ly is," exclaimed Elmer, his white teeth showing, "and Yar's +de screw driver and yar's de screws all ready." +</p> + +<p> +A slowly moving truck had carefully turned the end of the waiting +train and, drawn by two baggage-room employees, was making its way +along the platform. By its side walked a boy—a lad of about +seventeen. One of his hands rested on the truck and his eyes were +carefully fixed on the load it bore. This was a black, iron-bound +case about four feet long, three feet deep and perhaps a yard in +height. On each side in red letters were the words: +</p> + +<p> +"Explosive; no fire." Beneath this ominous legend were two large +iron handles. +</p> + +<p> +When the men drawing the truck quickened their pace the boy spoke to +them sharply and they fell again into a steady walk. For the +curious onlookers through whom the strange little caravan passed the +lad by the side of the truck seemed to have no concern. A traveling +cap was pushed back from his young face and his keen and alert eyes +and the tone of his voice indicated a quality that goes with those +born to command. +</p> + +<p> +"Hello, Ned," came a ringing greeting from Alan as he ran forward. +"They were afraid you wouldn't get here. But I knew you would. +It's only a minute or two. Hurry." +</p> + +<p> +"Four," said the new arrival cheerfully and confidently. +</p> + +<p> +He gave his left hand to Alan and a better welcome in a cheery word +of greeting, but his right hand did not leave the truck. Nor did +his eyes leave it except for a moment. +</p> + +<p> +"And the Major?" asked the new arrival as the truck rumbled on. +</p> + +<p> +"Waiting to bid us good-bye." +</p> + +<p> +"Everything aboard and shipshape?" +</p> + +<p> +"Everything but this," and Alan glanced at the black case on the +truck. +</p> + +<p> +"I've carried it a thousand miles like a baby," laughed Ned. "Rode +with it all the way in the express car." +</p> + +<p> +"Then you didn't sleep last night?" +</p> + +<p> +Ned laughed. "It was too interesting," he answered, "and I can +sleep to-night. But I'm glad it's here with no one killed and not a +drop spilled." +</p> + +<p> +Advancing leaning heavily on his cane, the military man had hurried +forward, his face radiant. +</p> + +<p> +"Welcome, my boy, and congratulations. But for goodness' sake +hurry," he began hastily. +</p> + +<p> +Ned smiled again. "I think we had better not hurry this," and he +pointed to the truck load. "That's the reason I'm late. I walked +the horses from the Union Depot. You see we can't afford to spill +our supplies. It was too hard to make and cost too much." +</p> + +<p> +In another moment the truck was abreast of the open car door. +</p> + +<p> +"Back her up," exclaimed Ned giving a hand himself to the tongue of +the truck. Then, as the top of the truck came up flush with the car +door and floor he sprang lightly on the truck and motioned the men +to do likewise. For a moment they hesitated, but being reassured, +Ned and Alan and the truck men lined up on either side of the big +case. Slowly and carefully, with a brawny truck man on each side to +help the less stoutly muscled lads, the case slid forward and with a +"yeo-ho" or two from Ned it was soon in the car. Without a pause it +was pushed at once into a space outlined on the floor. +</p> + +<p> +"And about two minutes to spare,"' cried the Major from the platform +jubilantly and thankfully. +</p> + +<p> +"Not quite," laughed Ned, "but it'll be a half a minute and that's +as good as an hour. The screws, Elmer." +</p> + +<p> +The colored boy, who had been busy keeping out of the way, sprang +forward to perform his part of the apparently ticklish job. It was +then seen that each bottom corner of the mysterious box had an iron +flange. In the center of' each of these was a small hole. +</p> + +<p> +"Major," called out Ned as the truck men climbed out of the car, +"these men were very obliging and careful." +</p> + +<p> +The Major understood him, and as he began searching his pockets for +a bill Ned quickly inserted four screws in the waiting holes and +with a few sharp turns of the screw driver made the case hard and +fast to the floor of the car. Almost as quickly he threw the door +into place and bolted it, and then with Alan hurried out for a last +word to the friend who was so much interested in his success. +</p> + +<p> +"Was I right?" he exclaimed. "Half a minute?" +</p> + +<p> +"To the dot," enthusiastically answered the Major. "Now, boys, +good-bye. Everything in that car is exactly as you planned and +asked. From now on it is subject to your orders alone. What mine +are you know. God bless you both and good luck to you!" +</p> + +<p> +As the boys took his hand Ned handed him a letter. "I'm sorry I +couldn't have seen my mother again, but please send her this. I +wrote it to-day on the train." +</p> + +<p> +Far down the line of cars came the words, "all aboard," and Elmer, +cap in hand, sprang onto the steps. +</p> + +<p> +"Good-bye," exclaimed Alan, "and thank you for the great chance +you're giving us." +</p> + +<p> +"Good-bye," said Ned, "if we fail in our work it won't be your +fault, Major." +</p> + +<p> +And then, as the train began to move, the boys stepped aboard, off +at last, after six weeks preparation, in search of the lost Cibola +and the treasure of the Turquoise Temple. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap02"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER II +</h3> + +<h3> +NED'S MEETING WITH MAJOR BALDWIN HONEYWELL +</h3> + +<p> +Six weeks before Ned Napier and Alan Hope had set out on this trip +Ned had been the surprised recipient of a mysterious note. In this +message, written on the stationery of the Annex Hotel, he was urged +to call on the writer the next morning at ten o'clock. With his +mother's approval he had kept the engagement. The events which +followed will explain how Ned came to take his momentous journey to +the far southwest. +</p> + +<p> +Promptly on the hour Ned presented himself at the office desk. A +clerk with a handful of letters gave him a half glance and turned +away. +</p> + +<p> +"I say," began Ned in a voice that made the clerk turn quickly, "I +want some information." +</p> + +<p> +The man stepped forward, leaned over the counter far enough to get a +full view of his questioner, and answered: +</p> + +<p> +"All right, sonny. What can I do for you?" +</p> + +<p> +"You can tell me if Major Baldwin Honeywell is staying here." +</p> + +<p> +"Friend of Major Baldwin's?" asked the clerk, his smile broadening. +</p> + +<p> +"If Major Honeywell is stopping here I suppose he is paying well for +his entertainment," replied Ned after a moment's pause. +</p> + +<p> +"Sure," answered the facetious clerk, "regular rates." +</p> + +<p> +"Perhaps that ought to include civil attention to those he has +business with. I have an appointment with him at ten o'clock. I +wish you would see at once that he knows I am here." +</p> + +<p> +The clerk's smile was not quite so broad now but he was still +amused. +</p> + +<p> +"What name shall I give, son?" He was about to repeat the "sonny" +that had grated a little on Ned's sense of the proprieties but he +stopped short—and added: "Have you a card, Mr.—?" +</p> + +<p> +"I have no card and I don't call myself 'Mr.'," answered Ned, "but +you can say that Ned Napier is here and will be glad to see Major +Honeywell whenever it is convenient." +</p> + +<p> +At the mention of "Ned Napier" the clerk's airiness disappeared. A +certain respect seemed to take its place. Then he leaned forward +and said a good deal more politely: "You are not the Ned Napier?" +</p> + +<p> +"I never heard of any other one of that name," answered the boy. +"But I think we are losing time. Please say I'm here." +</p> + +<p> +A moment later a page announced that Major Honeywell, in suite 8 A, +desired Mr. Napier to be shown up at once. Reaching the apartment +the page knocked and there was a quick "Come in." +</p> + +<p> +Hat in hand, and with all the manliness and dignity his seventeen +years afforded, Ned stepped into the room. At a table a man had +just risen as if from work on some papers. As the man turned to +come forward and his eyes fell upon the lad he paused as if +surprised. Ned Napier was neither large nor small for his age. But +his circumstances had been such, financially, that his attire was +plain and perhaps old fashioned—much of it the handiwork of his +frugal and fond mother; and the absence of smart and up-to-date +ideas in clothes and shoes made him look, perhaps, even younger than +his years. Other lads of his acquaintance—those in his classes in +high school—aped their elders. Ned's time and interests were too +much given up to his boyish ambition to permit this. +</p> + +<p> +Ned saw a man of about sixty years, with snow-white moustache, +dressed in blue. The man had every appearance of being both a +soldier and an officer. His face was tanned as if by much exposure +to the sun, but the line of white at the top of his forehead, where +his hat gave protection, suggested that the color was both recent +and transitory. Major Honeywell's hair, which was yet dark and only +slightly streaked with gray, was too long to suggest present active +service, as Ned at once concluded. His face, too, had something of +the student in it, and this effect was increased by a pair of large +gold spectacles with double lenses. The man's contracted eyes gave +the youth the uncomfortable feeling of being microscopically +examined, and Ned was for a moment ill at ease. The manner of the +scrutiny was that of a scholar who had before him a strange new +specimen. Ned, still with hat in hand, felt more like a dead bug +than a very live boy. Then the white-mustached man smiled, took +off his heavy-lensed glasses, and stepped forward with his hand +extended. +</p> + +<p> +"I am Major Honeywell," he began in a low voice, "formerly of the +regular army and later detailed on ethnological work for the +Government. You are—" +</p> + +<p> +"Ned Napier," responded his youthful caller. +</p> + +<p> +"You must take no offense if I am a little surprised," exclaimed +Major Honeywell; "I had supposed you would be older. Perhaps your +surprise came first on receiving my note?" +</p> + +<p> +"It did," replied Ned; "I was surprised and so was my mother. But +she thought I ought to come, although we could not imagine what you +wanted." +</p> + +<p> +Major Honeywell smiled and motioned Ned to a chair with a +graciousness that made the lad more comfortable. It had taken but a +passing glance to reveal to the boy that he was in the presence of +no ordinary man. The articles scattered about the room, which +apparently were part of his host's traveling outfit, confirmed this. +Of three leather cases or trunks in front of the mantel and within +Ned's view, one was open. On the extended top of this, still partly +covered with the folds of a light Indian blanket, were several flat +and dull plates or dishes of Indian design, more or less broken and +chipped. From the case came a pungent aromatic smell such as Ned +had noticed in the "Early American" room of the museum. He was not +quite sure what "ethno" meant, but he made a guess that it related +to old Indian things, and this theory he confirmed to himself when +he noticed on the table that Major Honeywell had just left another +piece of pottery and by its side a large reading or magnifying +glass. +</p> + +<p> +"A collector," thought Ned, more puzzled than ever. +</p> + +<p> +"I thank you for coming," said Major Honeywell finally. "It was +good of you to do so. But I had supposed you were older—at least a +young man," and he smiled again as if in some doubt. +</p> + +<p> +"Perhaps," replied Ned with just a shadow of resentment in his +voice, "if you will tell me why you sent for me I can help you in +making up your mind as to whether you were wrong in doing so. I'm +seventeen." +</p> + +<p> +Major Honeywell arose, took off his glasses again and walked to +where Ned was sitting. +</p> + +<p> +"I hope you'll not take offense, my boy. But my business with you +is most important. It is possibly the most important thing that has +ever come to me. Fate, or chance more properly, of course, seems to +have brought us together. If what I have in mind and have partly +hoped could be brought about, is brought about, you will have no +reason to regret my sending for you. We must be sure of ourselves. +So far we know almost nothing about each other. Since our +acquaintance may mean a great deal to us let us be sure of +ourselves. Therefore, you will pardon me if I ask you if you are +the Ned Napier?" +</p> + +<p> +Ned laughed good-naturedly. +</p> + +<p> +"That's what the clerk down stairs asked me few moments ago—if I +were the Ned Napier. Well, I never heard of any other Ned Napier. +But boys don't carry credentials, you know, Major Honeywell. I'll +take your word for it that you are Major Baldwin Honeywell, formerly +of the United States Army, and now of the—what do you call +it—ethno—?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ethnological survey," laughed the Major. "Then, since we know each +other, I want to congratulate you, my young friend, on being one of +the brightest, nerviest, and most promising young men of America. +I've read about you and that's why I sent for you." +</p> + +<p> +Ned could only conclude one thing and it made him blush. "You mean +my dirigible balloon experience last summer?" he asked with growing +embarrassment. +</p> + +<p> +"I do," replied Major Honeywell with what Ned thought was wholly +unnecessary warmth and enthusiasm, "and I want to shake the hand and +congratulate the youngest, most daring and most promising balloon +navigator in the world." +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap03"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER III +</h3> + +<h3> +THE RELATION OF MIGUEL VASQUEZ +</h3> + +<p> +It may be well to recount how such a young lad as Ned had become so +famous. +</p> + +<p> +Ned's father had been a consulting engineer with a fondness for +aeronautics. When Mr. Napier died, a year before Ned's meeting with +the Major, it was discovered that he was making in his little shop a +small dirigible balloon to be used at an amusement park. Mr. +Napier's death was sudden. Manufacturer's bills for the balloon bag +and engine came due and Ned, young as he was, knew that he must pay +them. Putting on all the dignity that his sixteen years would +permit he called on the manager of the amusement park. +</p> + +<p> +"I hear your father is dead," said the manager. "I suppose we have +lost the twenty-five per cent we advanced on the air ship." +</p> + +<p> +"Why do you suppose that?" +</p> + +<p> +"Because he had complete charge of the work and we have no one to +take his place." +</p> + +<p> +"I mean to do that myself," said Ned. +</p> + +<p> +The manager smiled and shook his head. "No doubt you would try—you +look it—but we don't care to experiment." +</p> + +<p> +"But you want the air ship, don't you? You've advertised it." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, it was ordered—through your father. Since he is dead and +cannot contribute his services, our agreement is void." +</p> + +<p> +"Very well," replied Ned. "Good day." +</p> + +<p> +"Look here," interrupted the manager, "what do you mean to do?" +</p> + +<p> +"I'm going out to sell an air ship." +</p> + +<p> +"You mean our air ship?" +</p> + +<p> +"You said the contract is void." +</p> + +<p> +The manager laughed again, but not as jovially. +</p> + +<p> +"You ought to get on," he exclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +"I've got to get on, and I'm going to do it by being on the square." +</p> + +<p> +"I guess you're right. What's your proposition?" +</p> + +<p> +"Since you've thrown up the contract I'm going to sell the balloon +at a profit. The price is now $3,000. And I want a contract as +operator for six weeks at $100 per week." +</p> + +<p> +The manager stared at Ned and then exclaimed. "I'll do it. You are +the very youngster we want." +</p> + +<p> +That was how Ned Napier came to finish the air ship his father had +planned, and how it happened all that summer that the papers printed +news stories and Sunday specials with pictures of his daring +flights, and how Major Baldwin Honeywell and other happened to speak +of him as the Ned Napier. +</p> + +<p> +To return to the scene of Ned's meeting with the Major— +</p> + +<p> +"My name is Ned Napier," the boy began as soon as his host's +cordiality gave him a chance, "and I am the young man the newspapers +wrote about." +</p> + +<p> +"I certainly made no mistake in sending for you," exclaimed the +soldier. "But, before I say more I want you to realize that this +is, to me, a most important matter." +</p> + +<p> +"You mean it is—" +</p> + +<p> +"A solemn secret. I want secure your services in a desperate and +daring adventure that will mean a great deal to me—and a great deal +to you." +</p> + +<p> +"Certainly," was the boy's response. "I give you my pledge on that." +</p> + +<p> +A look of relief came into the old soldier's face. +</p> + +<p> +"If I furnished you the money," went on Major Honeywell suddenly, +"could you produce in a short time a practical and manageable +balloon?" +</p> + +<p> +Before the boy could answer the old soldier continued: "I don't mean +one of those affairs in which ascensions of an hour or so are made. +I mean one in which you could travel for several days—perhaps a +week?" +</p> + +<p> +"No," said Ned, "it can't be done. No one has yet remained in the +air in a balloon over fifty-two hours." +</p> + +<p> +Major Honeywell said nothing, but Ned could see that what he had +told the Major had dashed some budding hope. +</p> + +<p> +"That is," Ned hastened to explain, "you couldn't do it unless you +periodically renewed your supply of hydrogen. I really believe," +continued Ned, "that I ought to know more about what you are +planning to accomplish." +</p> + +<p> +Again the white-mustached man was silent a few moments, and then he +told without reserve the great secret. He began with an account of +himself. Until three years before he had been an officer in the +United States cavalry, stationed in the southwest. Then the +President had assigned him to ethnological work. His special work +was in the ruins of the Sedentary Pueblos. While scaling a cliff in +this work he fell and permanently injured his left knee. +</p> + +<p> +Resigning from the army, he traveled for a year and then went to +visit an old friend, Senor Pedro Oje, whose immense sheep herds in +Southwestern Colorado had made their owner a millionaire. +</p> + +<p> +While here, hearing of an ancient nearby pueblo, just south of the +Mesa Verde, Major Honeywell and his friend drove to the settlement. +To Major Honeywell's surprise he found an old friend in Totontenac, +the chief. As the two white men were about to leave, old Totontenac +presented to his soldier friend an ancient funeral urn. +</p> + +<p> +Major Honeywell was almost paralyzed with astonishment when he saw +that the vessel was sealed and that it bore on its side, instead of +the conventional Aztec design, this inscription in black: "Miguel +Vasquez, 1545." +</p> + +<p> +"What was in it?" asked Ned quickly when the Major came to this part +of his narrative. +</p> + +<p> +"That man was undoubtedly a soldier who marched out of Mexico in +1539 with Friar Marcos, the great explorer," went on Major +Honeywell, ignoring the question, "and when others gave up the +search for the famed seven cities of Cibola and the wealth of the +Aztecs that every Spaniard believed rivaled the treasure of the +Incas, this man kept on. Either by accident or design Miguel +Vasquez was left by the expedition and six years later he wrote on +cowhide and concealed in that vase one of the most valuable historic +records extant in America to-day—confirmation that there was a real +basis for the tales that lured the Spaniards to this region in quest +of treasure." +</p> + +<p> +Stepping to a trunk Major Honeywell took from a compartment a tin +tube. From this he extracted a stiff sheet of parchment-like +material. +</p> + +<p> +"It's writing, isn't it?" exclaimed Ned. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, and Spanish. It is Miguel Vasquez's last will and testament, +written over three hundred and fifty years ago. And here is a +translation of it. You may read it yourself. That is my +secret—and yours now!" +</p> + +<p> +And these are the words that turned the current of Ned Napier's +life: +</p> + +<p> +"A relation of Miguel Vasquez soldier of Spain made in the year 1546 +concerning the hidden city of Tune Cha. Coming out of Saint Michael +in the Province of Culican I journeyed with Captain Marco de Nica in +1539. At Vacupa I departed from him and remained now six years +among those of this land. Three years I dwelt in the town of Acuco +and heard often of the city of Tune Cha wherein is to be found the +Temple of Turquoise than which none more beautiful is to be found, +not even in Castile itself. Such I have seen with my own eyes. It +standeth within a palace of five hundred rooms or more wherein are +to be found priestly vessels of gold and silver. And this same +palace or City of Priests is compassed about by a massive wall. And +in the center of the palace standeth the Temple, facing the sun +which is the sacred place of al Quivera, Arche and Guyas. And the +walls of this Temple are naught but precious Turquoise even to the +height of forty feet or more, and the pillars thereof are of gold +and silver alternate. Knowledge of this hidden and beautiful city +hath not been reported unto Spain nor even unto Nueva Espana. From +Acuco it lieth thirty day's travel west of north and as I estimate +in 36 degrees latitude in the mountains of Tune Cha. From the Rio +de Chuco it lieth west six days' travel. Nor may it be discovered +but by those who have knowledge of it. + Miguel Vasquez"<br /> +</p> + +<p> +"What I had hoped to do," said Major Honeywell at last, "was to make +the most perfect balloon ever built and discover through you this +hidden temple of turquoise treasure. You say you cannot do it." +</p> + +<p> +Something he had never felt before shot through Ned's body. His +face flushed and then grew pale under the spell that was on him. +</p> + +<p> +"Major Honeywell," he said suddenly, "I don't know of a balloon that +can be made to fly for a week. But if it is necessary to have one +to do what you wish I'll make it and I'll find Vasquez's Turquoise +Temple." +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap04"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER IV +</h3> + +<h3> +THE CONTRACT, AND LIQUID HYDROGEN +</h3> + +<p> +"I knew you'd do it," exclaimed Major Honeywell, beaming. "Now +we'll have my friend Senor Oje up and get right at the details." +</p> + +<p> +"One moment, Major Honeywell. It is easy to say what I just told +you. But it means I've got to do something no one has ever done. +I've got to take with me—in the balloon, of course—the material to +replace the gas I lose." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, that's easy, isn't it? For you—" qualified the old soldier. +</p> + +<p> +"I guess you don't know much about ballooning," laughed Ned. +</p> + +<p> +"Will money enable you to do it?" +</p> + +<p> +"I hope so! Other experimenters have tried to carry materials to +make gas. I'm going to take the gas itself in a glass jar." +</p> + +<p> +"In a glass jar!" +</p> + +<p> +"Precisely. Liquefied hydrogen gas." +</p> + +<p> +At that moment Senor Pedro Oje, who had been summoned by Major +Honeywell, entered the room. An almost Indian complexion and cast +of countenance indicated his Mexican origin. What had taken place +was related to Senor Oje, and he left no doubt that he was +thoroughly in sympathy with the project. He soon put matters on a +business basis. +</p> + +<p> +"We are to share alike in what is found, I understand," he said. +"Major Honeywell will have a third interest because the secret is +his. This young man is to have a third because the risk is his. +And I am to have a similar portion for furnishing the capital. And +that brings us to the real starting point," the Mexican capitalist +continued. "What is it to cost?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ten thousand dollars at least," answered Ned instantly. +</p> + +<p> +"Phew!" exclaimed Major Honeywell. +</p> + +<p> +Senor Oje, not unused to speculative investments, gave no sign of +surprise. +</p> + +<p> +"How shall it be arranged?" was his only comment. +</p> + +<p> +"Put that amount to my personal credit in the First National +Bank—if you care to trust me." +</p> + +<p> +"We are trusting you with more than that," replied Major Honeywell +with earnestness. +</p> + +<p> +"It will take me six weeks to make my arrangements. In that time, +as I need the money, I will draw on the account," said Ned. +</p> + +<p> +"Very good," said Senor Oje; "I will draw up the agreement." +</p> + +<p> +"Now," continued Ned, addressing Major Honeywell, "what is your +interpretation of the message of the Spaniard?" +</p> + +<p> +"Of course Vasquez's words must be modernized. What he termed the +Tune Cha Mountains begin in New Mexico and extend northwesterly into +Arizona and Utah. In many places their plateaus rise eight thousand +feet above the sea. Their thousands of peaks and canyons are fit +rivals of the wonders of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. Nowadays +they are known by many names—the Sierra Chusca, the Lokaeboka, the +Carrisco. 'Thirty days' travel west of north' is not very definite, +but it certainly locates the palace in the far northwestern part of +these mountains. +</p> + +<p> +"The Rio de Chuco can only mean the Chusco river. The only place in +its winding course that is six days' journey from the mountains is +where it joins the Amarilla. This is south and east of Wilson's +Peak, which is our landmark." +</p> + +<p> +"Very good," exclaimed Ned, briskly. "Now, what is the nearest +point in civilization?" +</p> + +<p> +"Clarkeville, Arizona." +</p> + +<p> +"Then that is my starting point. This is June twentieth. I shall +be ready by the last day of July. Of course I shall need a special +car." +</p> + +<p> +"Very well," responded the capitalist. "I see you know what you +want." +</p> + +<p> +"Incidentally," exclaimed Ned, "I shall, of course, be permitted to +carry my own assistants." +</p> + +<p> +"Assistants? Yes, of course," replied Major Honeywell, "but they +must be persons of discretion." +</p> + +<p> +"My chum, Alan Hope, who will make the ascension with me, will be +one, and a colored boy, Elmer Grissom, who has helped me prepare for +all my flights, will be the other." +</p> + +<p> +There was no dissent. +</p> + +<p> +"When shall I make my report?" Ned added. +</p> + +<p> +Major Honeywell and his friend conferred a moment. +</p> + +<p> +"Will five weeks be enough time for your exploration?" +</p> + +<p> +"I think so; perhaps less." +</p> + +<p> +"Then we will meet you at the Coates House in Kansas City on the +first day of August." +</p> + +<p> +Senor Oje arose and lit a fresh black cigar. +</p> + +<p> +"It will be well for you and Major Honeywell to talk over these +things while I see my Chicago banker," said he. And with a +good-natured "Adios, Senores," he left the apartment. +</p> + +<p> +"Now, about this liquid hydrogen?" began Major Honeywell at once. +</p> + +<p> +"Well," said Ned, "instead of ballast, I'm going to carry reserve +hydrogen with me." +</p> + +<p> +"And is that so difficult?" asked the Major. +</p> + +<p> +"Impossible, if you try to carry material to make the gas," answered +the boy. +</p> + +<p> +"And so you are going to carry it in liquid form?" +</p> + +<p> +"I'm going to try, although the making of liquid hydrogen is, so +far, pretty much a theory. It has been made only under tremendous +pressure and at minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit." +</p> + +<p> +The Major whistled. +</p> + +<p> +"That is so cold that ice is red hot comparatively," explained Ned. +"This work must be done, in Washington." +</p> + +<p> +They discussed the balloon itself, and the car and the engine for +propelling it; where these were to be made in the East, and how they +were to be forwarded to Chicago as they were completed. Ned himself +was to go East at once and remain there until the last thing was +accomplished. +</p> + +<p> +Ned's chum, Alan Hope, had just taken employment for the school +vacation in a large sporting goods store not far from the hotel. A +few minutes later Ned walked leisurely into this store and sought +out the fire-arms department, where Alan was on duty. +</p> + +<p> +"Hello, Ned," exclaimed Alan, "what do you think of this?" And with +a smile he handed him an automatic pistol he was inspecting. +</p> + +<p> +Restraining himself, Ned looked it over carefully. +</p> + +<p> +"It holds ten cartridges and it's a beauty," declared Alan. +</p> + +<p> +Ned weighed it carefully in his hand. "What's it worth?" he asked +with dignity. +</p> + +<p> +"Eighteen dollars." +</p> + +<p> +"I think we'll need three of them!" +</p> + +<p> +Alan laughed. +</p> + +<p> +"And there are a good many other things I think we shall need," went +on Ned, soberly. +</p> + +<p> +"This hot weather is pretty bad on some people," laughed Alan. +"But, by the way, who are 'we?"' +</p> + +<p> +"You and Elmer Grissom and I," answered Ned carelessly. +</p> + +<p> +"And where are we going?" continued Alan, who was not unused to +Ned's joking. +</p> + +<p> +"On a little run in a private car down into New Mexico." +</p> + +<p> +Alan looked at him a moment and then determined to have the joke +out. +</p> + +<p> +"Then what are we going to do?" he asked, still laughing. +</p> + +<p> +"Make a trip through an unexplored mountain region in the best +dirigible balloon ever built." +</p> + +<p> +Alan wondered just where the joke came in. "And then?" he +continued. +</p> + +<p> +"Discover enough hidden treasure of jewels and silver and gold to +make us rich." +</p> + +<p> +"Shall I get you a cabbage leaf and some ice water?" asked Alan. +</p> + +<p> +"Get your father's consent that you can go; that'll be all," +announced Ned and then, breaking into a laugh, he relieved the +perplexed Alan by explaining what had just taken place. In ten +minutes Alan had secured permission to be off for the remainder of +the day and the two boys hurried away for luncheon, to revel in +dreams of their great opportunity. +</p> + +<p> +By night Mrs. Napier had consented, though with tears, to Ned's +going, and later Alan's father reluctantly did the same. As Ned was +to leave the next afternoon and had to see Major Honeywell and Senor +Oje in the morning it was a busy evening that the two boys spent in +Ned's workshop. +</p> + +<p> +At one o'clock in the morning Alan's work in Chicago was outlined +and Ned's needs in the East were all listed. +</p> + +<p> +"And now," exclaimed the tired but exuberant Alan, "it is all +arranged but the name. What are we to call the air ship?" +</p> + +<p> +"The 'Cibola,'" answered Ned without hesitation, "the dream of the +Spanish invaders and our hope of success." +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap05"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER V +</h3> + +<h3> +A DINNER PARTY ON THE PLACIDA +</h3> + +<p> +The long, heavy, limited train on which the young air ship boys were +at last embarked on their extraordinary mission pulled slowly out of +the station. +</p> + +<p> +Ned made a quick survey of the Placida. Coming out of the baggage +end he passed first into a drawing room. In this were two sections +that opened up into four berths. Beyond the berths a passageway led +to a private stateroom. When the boys reached the stateroom, Elmer +was standing at the door with a happy smile on his face. +</p> + +<p> +"Fo' de captain," exclaimed the colored boy. +</p> + +<p> +"Where are you to bunk, Alan?" Ned asked, quickly. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, the crew is in the main room." +</p> + +<p> +"Not much," exclaimed Ned. "We're partners in this enterprise. I +don't have any better than the rest." +</p> + +<p> +And in another moment he had dropped his valise alongside Alan's +berth. +</p> + +<p> +"We'll keep the little room for consultations," he said with a +laugh, "when we don't want Elmer to hear us talking about the +Indians." +</p> + +<p> +The colored lad grunted. +</p> + +<p> +"Can't scare me wif no Injun talk," he said. "I specs I ain't half +so 'fraid o' Injuns as I is o' dat stuff in de black box." +</p> + +<p> +"And it's time to attend to the 'stuff,'" interrupted Ned. +</p> + +<p> +They returned to the baggage room. +</p> + +<p> +"Now," Ned began, "the door to this car must be kept locked except +when the train crew are compelled to come through. We, in turn, +must be careful about fire and lights. But, for fear of accident, I +have taken some precautions." +</p> + +<p> +Alan and Elmer then saw that the top of the case was fitted with a +lid the edges of which were bound with rubber. In the center of the +covering was a short spout. +</p> + +<p> +"What's the use of an air and gas proof top with a hole in it?" +asked Alan, inspecting it curiously. +</p> + +<p> +"Maybe dat's to let de air in and de lid's to keep de hydrogum from +gettin' out," volunteered the colored boy. +</p> + +<p> +Ned was too busy to answer the one or to laugh at the other. He had +unlocked the lid and thrown it back. About six inches beneath the +top of the case stood eight iron boxes—two rows with four boxes in +each. These boxes, six inches square, were each about three feet in +height and in each could be seen the neck of a glass vessel. +Securely packed in their iron jackets to prevent breaking, stood the +glass receptacles, open-mouthed and apparently empty. But down +below the shadowed rims were soft clouds of gaseous vapor, beneath +which reposed the precious contents that had cost Ned over a +thousand dollars—the liquid hydrogen. +</p> + +<p> +On top of the square iron buckets was coiled eight or ten feet of +rubber hose. Taking it out Ned closed and locked the lid. He then +screwed one end of the hose onto the open spout and, springing to +the top of the case, passed the other end out of the open +ventilator. +</p> + +<p> +"Now," Ned explained, "we are in less danger. Difficult as it is to +condense hydrogen, it is more difficult to keep it in liquid form. +It constantly seeks to return to gas. In a closed place it might +make trouble." +</p> + +<p> +Elmer had already disappeared, with popping eyes and mumbles of +protest. Alan proudly exhibited to his friend the results of his +share of the work of preparation. Every crate, box, barrel and +package was numbered and labeled and securely fastened in place. +</p> + +<p> +On one side of the car stood five large oak tanks, looking like the +famous beer tuns of Germany. +</p> + +<p> +"I can make more hydrogen in those than you've got in your black +box," Alan exclaimed jokingly. +</p> + +<p> +"I'll have a better look at them in the daylight," finally said Ned; +"and now those easy chairs in the other car would feel pretty good." +</p> + +<p> +"Aren't sleepy, are you?" asked Alan, forgetting that his chum had +not slept the night before. +</p> + +<p> +"No," said Ned, "only happy. But I'd be happier if I had had time +to get a good hot supper." +</p> + +<p> +"All ready, sah, in de stateroom," announced Elmer's cheerful voice. +</p> + +<p> +Both boys turned—Ned in surprise. +</p> + +<p> +"Supper's all ready, sah!" continued the colored boy, "and waiting +fo' you all." +</p> + +<p> +In the stateroom was a sight to arouse a sleepy boy and to delight a +hungry one. In the middle of a small table was a bunch of pink +roses. On either side, in a dish of cracked ice, was the half of a +luscious cantaloupe. Silver knives, forks and spoons, sparkling +glass-ware and snowy napkins at once revealed the resources of the +Placida's pantry. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, I'll be jiggered!" exclaimed Ned. +</p> + +<p> +"Pretty nifty, eh?" laughed Alan. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, if this isn't the last straw!" exclaimed Ned as they seated +themselves. "But I want to thank you both. I didn't know how +hungry I really was—" +</p> + +<p> +He was about to plunge a spoon into the fragrant, cool melon when he +saw a folded note by his plate. Opening it he read: +</p> + +<p> +"Dear Ned: Good luck and good voyage. The roses are from my own +garden. Bring me a turquoise ring. + MARY HOPE."<br /> +</p> + +<p> +It was from Alan's sister. +</p> + +<p> +"Shall we do it, Alan?" he cried. +</p> + +<p> +"Shall we?" answered Alan wringing his chum's hand. "We'll do it +or—" +</p> + +<p> +"Is you all ready for dis?" asked the young chef suddenly appearing +with a smoking broiled steak. "It can't wait no longer." +</p> + +<p> +And it did not have to. +</p> + +<p> +An hour later the two happy boys sat on either side of the table in +the drawing room of their car. +</p> + +<p> +"Are you getting nervous?" began Alan. +</p> + +<p> +"About what?" asked Ned. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, about everything. The responsibility for this car and the +setting up of your balloon, and the trip itself." +</p> + +<p> +"Are you?" exclaimed Ned. +</p> + +<p> +"My, no, I'm not. But then I'm not the captain. But I thought you +might be." +</p> + +<p> +"Aren't we getting along all right?" +</p> + +<p> +"Perhaps too well," Alan answered. +</p> + +<p> +"Never talk that way," interrupted Ned decisively. "Everything is +happening as it does because we planned it just that way. Things +can't go too well. That is a foolish idea. The good fortune of +careful preparation should only confirm your judgment." +</p> + +<p> +This was the sort of advice Alan had to take now and then from his +friend; but it always did him good. +</p> + +<p> +"Then you don't believe in good luck?" rather sheepishly suggested +Alan. +</p> + +<p> +"I believe in it, yes," replied Ned, "if it comes—and I never put +it aside. But I never count on it." +</p> + +<p> +Sleep seemed to have fled from Ned's eyes. Although Alan suggested +that it might be well to turn in early and be up early, Ned insisted +on seeing Major Honeywell's chart of the country they were to +explore, saying that he had another night on the journey in which he +could sleep. +</p> + +<p> +The chart was really only a rough pencil sketch. The instructions +were more in detail. +</p> + +<p> +"This country, now a portion of the reservation of the Navajo and +Southern Ute Indians, is a wilderness," Major Honeywell wrote. +"White men do not visit it because the Indians will not permit them. +Mining prospectors who have tried to do so have been murdered." +</p> + +<p> +"Cheerful, isn't it?" interrupted Alan. +</p> + +<p> +"This jumble of mountains has no connection with our two great +western mountain ranges. The towering plateaus, cut with yawning +canyons, are plainly the result of some special volcanic action. +This unknown region extends over a hundred miles northwest and +southeast, and on all sides drops suddenly into the sandy deserts. +At Clarkeville the desert begins at once. If you will start a +little east of north and locate the Indian village of Toliatchi, +twenty miles away, you will be on the Arroyo Chusco. Although the +bed of this stream may be dry it can be traced northward sixty-five +miles, where it unites with the Amarilla, eighty-five miles from +Clarkeville. At the juncture of these water courses, if you face +west, the roughest part of the Tunit Chas will confront you. At +your right will be Wilson's Peak. That portion of the Tunit Chas to +the southwest forms the Lu-ka-ch-ka mountains. To the northeast lie +the Charriscos. Somewhere in these mountains lie the temple and the +treasures we seek." +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap06"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER VI +</h3> + +<h3> +BOB RUSSELL OF THE KANSAS CITY COMET +</h3> + +<p> +When the Overland reached Kansas City at nine o'clock the next +morning the air ship boys were just finishing an appetizing +breakfast of fruit, omelet, pancakes and coffee. The Placida, their +special car, came to a stop at the far end of the station train +shed, and, covered with dust as it was, and almost hidden among +hissing engines and baggage and express cars, there seemed little +reason for it to attract attention. Of course it was not ignored by +the railway officials. No sooner was the train at rest than the +depot master and the division superintendent were knocking at the +door. They had special orders concerning the car, and immediately +wheels and brakes were being tested and ice and water were being +taken aboard. +</p> + +<p> +The railway officials made a quick inspection of the car, asked if +anything was needed, and were soon gone. A few minutes after they +had left a young man suddenly appeared, dodging among the cars. He +sprang on to the rear step of the Placida, but before he could enter +the car, the door of which had been left open by the departing +officials, the vigilant form of Elmer Grissom blocked his way. +</p> + +<p> +"Who's in charge here?" demanded the stranger. "I'm a reporter and +want to see him in a hurry." +</p> + +<p> +The railway officials had been admitted through the baggage portion +of the car, but Elmer knew that this way was not open to everyone. +He understood the need of secrecy, and politely forcing the reporter +out of the door on to the platform he led him to the front of the +car. +</p> + +<p> +"If you'll give me yo' card," he then said with dignity, "I'll take +it in, sah." +</p> + +<p> +As he was about to do so, Ned and Alan emerged from the car for a +few mouthfuls of fresh air. +</p> + +<p> +"Hey!" exclaimed the impatient young man, "I'd like to see the man +in charge of this car. It's important and I'm in a hurry. I'm a +reporter for the Comet." +</p> + +<p> +The boys smiled. +</p> + +<p> +"We are in charge," answered Ned. "What can we do for you?" +</p> + +<p> +The reporter seemed taken somewhat aback at seeing two youngsters +directing a special car. His bearing changed at once. +</p> + +<p> +"I've been sent to get a story about where you are going and what +you are going to do," he said with a little more consideration; +"that is, if you care to tell." +</p> + +<p> +Ned puckered up his lips and thought. He had met reporters before +and he knew what a "story" meant. +</p> + +<p> +"I think we don't care to say," he replied in a moment. He did not +even care to say it was a secret. Even that admission, he knew, +would be a basis for something that might interfere with his plans. +</p> + +<p> +"Our correspondent in Chicago says you left there last evening with +a carload of new and powerful explosives." +</p> + +<p> +"Was such a story printed this morning?" asked Ned, eyeing the +reporter closely. +</p> + +<p> +"I think not," said the reporter, "but we are an afternoon paper, +you know. We have a report that you are on your way to Mare Island, +California, and that you have a carload of explosives for the navy." +</p> + +<p> +"Was such a story printed this morning?" repeated Ned, smiling +again. +</p> + +<p> +"No, it wasn't. But it will be this afternoon," answered the young +man impatiently. +</p> + +<p> +"If such a report had been known in Chicago last night," replied Ned +sharply, "it would have been in every newspaper in that city and +this city this morning. No correspondent sent you such a story. +You are a poor guesser." +</p> + +<p> +The reporter was at least four years older than Ned and Alan. +Therefore, he gave a little start of surprise. He had been trapped +in a trick that he had often worked successfully on many an older +person. For Bob Russell, easily the brightest and quickest-witted +reporter in his city, thus to be turned down by two "kids" would +never do. Without wasting time to deny Ned's charge, he tried a +belligerent role. +</p> + +<p> +"Do you deny you have newly invented ammunition in that car?" he +exclaimed brusquely. +</p> + +<p> +"I deny nothing and refuse to be put in the attitude of doing so," +calmly answered Ned. "Although it happens you are wrong again." +</p> + +<p> +The young man laughed and again changed his tactics. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, look here, boys, what's the use of getting mad about this? +You're working on something, just as I'm working on a newspaper. +You've got a good story somewhere about you and I'd like to have it. +What's the matter with being good fellows and loosening up?" +</p> + +<p> +"Because it is purely a business matter in which the public would be +too much concerned if it knew what we were doing." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, whatever it is, it's good—I know that," replied the young +journalist, laughing, "and I'm sorry I'm not in it with you—special +car—flowers—traveling like railroad presidents. I'm on. But, +say, when this thing breaks I'd like to be in on the yarn. I was +lying. I never heard of you before the train pulled in. But you +know the railroad people are on. They told me you had a black case +marked 'Explosive.' That's all I know. Say, couldn't you tell me +this—are you going through to the coast?" +</p> + +<p> +Ned relented a little. +</p> + +<p> +"Perhaps," he said smiling, "we might go to the coast." +</p> + +<p> +"You might?" interrupted the reporter eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +"Or we might stop in the mountains." +</p> + +<p> +The reporter looked perplexed. +</p> + +<p> +"Then you've got something to do with mining?" interrupted the +impulsive journalist, "and it isn't the navy yard. But you came +from Washington! I know that, you see." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes," volunteered Ned, "but we might be from the Hydrographic +Office." +</p> + +<p> +"Cloud breakers," quickly interrupted the reporter again. "How's +that for a guess? Are you rain makers?" +</p> + +<p> +"What are they?" innocently asked Alan. +</p> + +<p> +The reporter saw he was wrong. +</p> + +<p> +"I give it up," he said shrugging his shoulders. "You are two wise +lads." +</p> + +<p> +"Not wise," suggested Ned, "but attending strictly to our business." +</p> + +<p> +"Right you are," answered the reporter. +</p> + +<p> +"I've got to leave you to have a look through the train. Sorry I'm +not in on this. Where ever you're going, it looks good to me. When +you come back, don't forget me. Save the story for me, Bob Russell +of the Comet." +</p> + +<p> +Handing his card to the boys with a cheery "So long!" he was gone. +The boys felt a little relieved. They had done what they could to +protect the interests of their patrons and themselves by keeping +their mission a strict secret. So far as Ned knew, the only persons +who had knowledge of what they were doing and where they were going +were his mother and sister, Alan's family, and Major Honeywell and +Senor Oje. Not even Elmer Grissom's parents knew where he was +bound—it was sufficient for them to know that he was with Ned. Of +course the railway people knew where the car was to stop. Beyond +these it was necessary for no one else to know what was being +done—not even the manufacturers who made the balloon, the engine and +their precious gas. But what the young air navigators desired and +what Bob Russell wanted were two different things. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap07"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER VII +</h3> + +<h3> +THE MAKING OF A NEWSPAPER STORY +</h3> + +<p> +Let us see whether the young reporter was baffled by the reticence +of the secretive boys. +</p> + +<p> +"Every one to his trade," murmured Bob Russell, as he hastened from +Ned and Alan, "and now, me to mine." +</p> + +<p> +Bob was what was known on his paper as the "depot reporter." It was +not the most important assignment, for usually his work consisted +only in describing such notable personages as passed through the +city and now and then in interviewing the more important of these. +But this day he was confronted with a mystery and it was his +business to solve it. He acted quickly. +</p> + +<p> +Hurrying after the depot master, with whom of course he was +friendly, he persuaded that official to go at once to the conductor +of the train and ascertain the names of the boys. This was a simple +thing, done in that manner, for even the passengers in a special or +private car must have regular tickets. The conductor at once +revealed the identity of the three passengers. Although Bob knew +the conductor, he realized that he stood a chance of being refused +even thin information if he asked for it personally. +</p> + +<p> +While his friend the depot master was getting this information, Bob +quickly, but apparently carelessly, approached the head brakeman who +had helped bring the train from Chicago. It was Tom Smithers—also +a friend of Bob's, who made a point of knowing every employee +running into the station. +</p> + +<p> +"I see you've got the Placida with you?" began Bob indifferently. +</p> + +<p> +"Yep," answered Tom, "and loaded to the axles. All except +passengers. She's running light on them. Two boys and a coon." +</p> + +<p> +"I just had a talk with them," remarked Bob, carelessly offering the +brakeman a cigar. "Pretty dusty, eh?" After a moment's casual talk +Bob returned to the subject. +</p> + +<p> +"I guess those kids must be next—running a car with locked doors." +</p> + +<p> +"Locked doors!" snorted Tom, putting his cigar away for a +surreptitious smoke. "Not on your life. Not against me. You bet +she was open whenever I rang." +</p> + +<p> +"But it might just as well have been locked," said Bob. "The place +is so jammed full of stuff. I couldn't make out what it was, but +there was a wad of it." +</p> + +<p> +The unsuspecting brakeman then gave Bob what he was hoping to get. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, I stopped and saw it," he confessed. "I roused up the coon +after midnight to have a look at the ropes and when I came back I +took my time. They got a case of powder or dynamite in there marked +'Explosive.' I didn't bother that but the rest was plain. Half the +boxes in the car were labeled 'balloon works' or 'motor works.' +It's a balloon show—nothing else." +</p> + +<p> +"Where is the car going?" +</p> + +<p> +"They ain't consulted me," laughed Tom. +</p> + +<p> +A few moments later Bob was in the office of the division +superintendent. When he left he knew that the Placida would be +dropped on the only siding at the little town of Clarkeville in New +Mexico. He had also looked over the best map in the offices and +fixed in his mind the topography of the adjacent country. +</p> + +<p> +Before half past nine Bob had presented these scattered facts to his +city editor. +</p> + +<p> +"It's a story, all right, Bob, and a good one. Go to it," said the +editor. And Bob did the best he knew how—in a newspaper way. On +the suggestion of the editor he telegraphed to the representative of +the Comet in Chicago: "Who is Ned Napier?" In a little over an hour +he had a hundred and fifty word telegram outlining Ned's aeronautic +career and concluding: "Why? What do you know? Napier not here. +Family won't talk." +</p> + +<p> +Then Bob began his story. It was, for a reporter of his experience, +brilliant, with good deductions, good guesses and good ambiguous +generalities. It seemed to tell more than it really did. +</p> + +<p> +At four o'clock that afternoon Ned and Alan were speeding over the +green and fertile prairies of middle Kansas in blissful ignorance of +what Bob Russell had done. Under striking headlines appeared the +following story: +</p> + +<p> +"Ned Napier, the famous young aeronaut of Chicago, passed through +the city this morning on his way to the southwest to execute the +most daring and important balloon journey ever undertaken in this +country. Accompanied by an assistant, Alan Hope, and on board a +special car packed with $50,000 worth of apparatus he will proceed +to Clarkeville, an insignificant town in New Mexico, from which +place he will make his hazardous flight over the mountains lying to +the north. The aerial journey may possibly extended over the Sierra +Nevadas as far as the Pacific Coast. +</p> + +<p> +"The details of the expedition are not made public, as young Napier +has been retained by the authorities at Washington and is operating +under a strict pledge of secrecy. The knowledge that such an +expedition is under way was made known for the first time to the +representative of the Comet by Mr. Napier at the Union Station this +morning. While slow to discuss the ultimate object of his trip Mr. +Napier talked of his plans in a general way. +</p> + +<p> +"'I represent the Hydrographic Department,' he said to the reporter, +'and the journey I am about to make may extend from Clarkeville as +far as the Pacific. I hope it will accomplish what the department +has planned, but you know that we who are in this profession are +always prepared for failure. My assistant and I may easily have our +lives crushed out on the rugged peaks of the mountain chain we are +attempting to cross.' +</p> + +<p> +"Mr. Napier suggested that some might conclude that he had been sent +out as a 'rain maker,' or 'cloud breaker' in an attempt to secure +rain for the arid plains, but he laughed at this idea. +</p> + +<p> +"In the government's special car, carefully safeguarded, is carried +a large can of a new and powerful explosive. In exhibiting this to +the reporter Mr. Napier good-naturedly said: +</p> + +<p> +"'I am sorry I cannot tell the public the exact character of this +new explosive. But the secret belongs to the government.' +</p> + +<p> +"When it was suggested that the explosive might be destined for +certain elaborate experiments in the unpopulated wilderness of the +region to which the expedition is now hastening on the Limited, Mr. +Napier would only answer; +</p> + +<p> +"My lips are sealed. I can say no more. But I compliment the +Comet in discovering what all the eastern papers have missed—that a +stupendous thing is projected and that I have the honor, with my +friend, Mr. Hope, to attempt it." +</p> + +<p> +Then followed an elaborate rewritten version of what had been +telegraphed from Chicago concerning Ned. After this was a detailed +account of the car, not omitting little Mary Hope's bouquet of faded +roses, which in Bob's story became "a wealth of cut blossoms, the +tribute of Mr. Napier's scientific friends." +</p> + +<p> +What Bob wrote was in type by twelve o'clock. Three hundred words +of it were telegraphed to the Chicago evening newspapers. Sharp at +six o'clock that evening the Chicago correspondent of the New York +World sent advice to his paper that he had a story on the mystery of +what Ned Napier was about to do for the government. Word came back +at once to send on the story. +</p> + +<p> +At ten o'clock the telegraph editor of the World in New York took +the account just received to the managing editor of the paper. +</p> + +<p> +There was a minute's consultation, a nod of the head, and at twelve +o'clock that night Bob Russell was awakened to respond to a +telephone call. It was his own managing editor who read him this +telegram: +</p> + +<p> +Managing Editor, Comet, Kansas City +</p> + +<p> +Send man at once to follow Chicago balloon man and discover mission. +Advance funds and draw on us. Will share story with you. +</p> + +<p> +Managing Editor, +New York World. +</p> + +<p> +It is hardly necessary to say that Bob Russell was a passenger on +the Limited leaving the next morning. He was just twenty-four hours +behind in the race, but he meant, if he could, to execute his +orders, and was already smiling delightedly in anticipation of what +he knew would be a contest of wits. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap08"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER VIII +</h3> + +<h3> +THE HOSPITALITY OF NEW MEXICO +</h3> + +<p> +Clarkeville was even smaller than the boys had imagined it. The +little depot was far more pretentious than any other building in +sight. Beyond this was a wide and exceedingly dusty street. On the +far side of this unpaved roadway was a row of one- and two-story +frame buildings. Here and there was a cheaper structure of little +else but corrugated iron sheets, while to the left, where a similar +street crossed the railroad at right angles, there was a one-story +cement building proudly labeled "Bank." Both streets suddenly +disappeared in a sandy, treeless plain. +</p> + +<p> +Wooden awnings in front of the buildings extended over the sidewalk. +At the edge of these awnings were a few teams and many saddled +horses, some of them hitched to posts, and others standing with their +bridle reins dropped to the ground. Not many persons were in sight. +The deep and cloudless blue sky was brilliant with the noonday sun +while a hot breezeless haze hung over all. +</p> + +<p> +The Limited had made its usual daily pause and then to the surprise +of the agent had run down beyond the water tank with one car, +switched it back onto the one siding until it stood opposite the +musty smelling freight shed, and, quickly coupling up again, had +gone. +</p> + +<p> +Ned and Alan had alighted when the train stopped. Around them the +boys could detect the first signs of the real West. At one end of +the station a big-hatted Mexican squatted by a hot tamale can. +Among others idling near were some high-heeled and sombrero-topped +cow-boys, whose easy and loose clothing made Alan envious at once. +Even the depot attendants, with their belts and loosely knotted +neckerchiefs, seemed gayer and freer than their brother laborers +back in the East. +</p> + +<p> +With coats off and collars loosened the two boys filled their lungs +with the tonic air, for, in spite of the heat, a certain dryness +seemed to give life and vigor to the atmosphere. +</p> + +<p> +"There it is, Alan," exclaimed Ned finally, pointing away to the +north and the distant mountains, "beyond those peaks and somewhere +under that sapphire sky is our land of promise. We'll be in it in a +few days." +</p> + +<p> +The brilliant sky, the exhilarating air and the new life about them +filled both boys with enthusiasm. +</p> + +<p> +"Whoopee!" almost shouted Alan finally, throwing out his arms as if +to embrace his friend. "All we need is an Indian or two and I guess +we'd be out West for sure." +</p> + +<p> +"You may not be so anxious to see them before we start back," +remarked Ned. "Anyway, I promise you enough of them in this +country." +</p> + +<p> +With the departure of the train, the two boys became the center of +some attention. Strangers were not plentiful in Clarkeville, and +when the news spread that a special car was standing behind the +freight shed on the far side of the tracks there was an instant rush +of idlers in that direction. Ned and Alan returned with them and +smiling good-naturedly right and left took stand at the forward car +steps. +</p> + +<p> +It was about two o'clock in the afternoon, but so anxious had the +boys become in the last stage of their journey that they had ordered +Elmer to put off the noonday meal until they reached Clarkeville. +The colored boy, troubled over the notion of a good dinner spoiling, +was waiting on the car platform for it chance to get his "bosses," +as he delighted to call them, into the car. +</p> + +<p> +Before he could do so, and while the two chums were answering idle +questions as to whether they were a "show," Ned's quick eye caught +sight of a more important personage. A middle-aged man, not quite +so western in appearance as the others, but plainly as much at home +in the saddle, rode up with a clatter and sprang from his pony. +</p> + +<p> +Ned advanced quickly, spurred on by the new arrival's quick "Howdy, +strangers!" +</p> + +<p> +"My name is Ned Napier," explained the lad, "and this is my friend, +Alan Hope." +</p> + +<p> +The rider held out his hand. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm Curt Bradley, and I'm the mayor of this town," he replied by +way of introduction. +</p> + +<p> +"Glad to meet you," answered Ned. "You've just saved me the trouble +of looking you up, for that would have been my first business." +</p> + +<p> +"Not to be over cur'ous," laughed the Mayor as his eyes took in the +big expensive car and then returned to the two boys, "might I +inquire the nature o' yer business." +</p> + +<p> +Ned laughed. +</p> + +<p> +"Certainly," he answered, "but come aboard first. Elmer," he said +to the waiting cook, waiter and porter, "another plate for Mr. +Bradley." +</p> + +<p> +And in spite of the wholesome-looking but bronzed Mr. Bradley's +protest that gentleman was soon sitting with the boys before what +was perhaps the most elaborate meal he had ever eaten. His protest +came from the fact that he had already had his dinner, but the fresh +fruit and vegetables and spring chicken were temptations too strong +for him. +</p> + +<p> +When Ned saw that their new acquaintance was at his ease and rapidly +becoming satisfied he lost no time in coming to the point. +</p> + +<p> +"Our visit here, Mr. Bradley, is, in part, a secret. I hope you +will accept my assurance, however, that it can in no way operate +against or damage your town or its residents or the country round +about. I want your assistance." +</p> + +<p> +"Ye can hev that," came the quick answer, "and if your lay is no +one's business, why, it ain't none o' ours." +</p> + +<p> +"I'm glad to hear that," answered Ned. "But there may be some who +will not be so considerate." +</p> + +<p> +"When I pass the word I guess they'll all think about like me," +interrupted the Clarkeville official. "Ye jest tell me what it is +you want." +</p> + +<p> +"First I'll explain to you that in the other part of this car we +have the material to make a dirigible balloon." +</p> + +<p> +"A what!" exclaimed the Mayor, his mouth full of chicken. +</p> + +<p> +"A balloon that you can guide through the air." +</p> + +<p> +Curt Bradley dropped his knife. +</p> + +<p> +"One o' them flyin' machines?" +</p> + +<p> +"Exactly." +</p> + +<p> +"And kin we all see it fly?" +</p> + +<p> +"Certainly," answered Ned, "if you will just see that no one +interferes with us. I shall be glad in time to show you, I hope, +the most perfect dirigible balloon ever put together and to explain +just how it is to be operated. But in a few days, when it is ready, +we are going to sail away on business that is our own. And when +that time comes curiosity must stop. If anyone attempts to +ascertain where we are going or what we mean to do I sound warning +now that we will do all we can to prove to him that it is none of +his business." +</p> + +<p> +The Mayor looked at them in surprise. +</p> + +<p> +"Why," he began, "I suppose ye must be on a mighty partic'lar job. +Are you—?" +</p> + +<p> +"There!" interrupted Ned. "You see you are beginning to ask +questions. Since we can't answer them we'd rather not hear them." +</p> + +<p> +"Right," exclaimed the Mayor. "Give me yer word it's all fair and +square and that ye ain't violatin' no laws and I'll give ye my word +they won't be no more questions asked." +</p> + +<p> +"I'm glad to do that," answered Ned, "we want certain accommodations +for which we are willing to pay. But we want the confidence of +Clarkeville that we are all right, even if we are a little young." +</p> + +<p> +"Clarkeville is yours," laughed the Mayor, getting up from the +table, "and now what do ye want first?" +</p> + +<p> +In another hour the two boys, guided by Mayor Bradley, had examined +the entire settlement. A little way down the railroad track they +found a rather ramshackle building, mostly tin roof, and behind it a +large plot of ground surrounded with a high corral or fence. The +sign read "Buck's Corral." In the East it would have been called a +livery stable. The air navigators engaged the place at five dollars +a day for a week or more, and put a half dozen Mexican laborers at +work removing the few horses and cleaning out the building and +corral. The proprietor, who owned one of the few wagons in the +town, they also hired as a drayman at $2.50 a day for himself and +team. +</p> + +<p> +Work began at once. Through Mayor Bradley three reliable men were +employed as watchmen, and these, in eight-hour shifts, undertook the +duty of seeing that nothing in the corral was molested in the +absence of Ned and Alan. Then the work of transporting material +began, the first task being the removal of the five large generating +tanks. +</p> + +<p> +Alan had been thoughtful enough to foresee the need of special +clothing, and it was not long before he and Ned and even Elmer +Grissom were enjoying the freedom of wide-brimmed hats, stout +shirts, thick-soled shoes, and belts. Elmer's duty was the constant +care of the Placida, which he only left on special permission. Ned +and Alan were free to devote themselves wholly to the agreeable and +long anticipated task of at last "getting ready." +</p> + +<p> +Help was easily hired and with Buck's wagon in service the +wide-opened doors of the baggage car seemed to give out more boxes, +crates and bundles than a full freight car. When strangers were on +the car the colored boy stood like a sentinel over the black case +which was made less conspicuous by being covered with a blanket. +And his constant injunction "No smokin', sah," soon won him a +sobriquet, Mexicans and cow-boys alike calling him "Smoky." +</p> + +<p> +Elmer was relieved from picket duty in time to prepare an extra +supper to which Mayor Bradley, Buck, and Jack Jellup, the town +marshal, were invited. It was extra work for "Smoky," who took his +new name with a mild protest; but when he called the crew to the +meal it was apparent that he harbored no resentment. Jack and Buck +took their seats gingerly, but the boys soon made all at home. +</p> + +<p> +"There ain't agoin' to be no pay took fur this day's work," suddenly +exclaimed Buck as he finished a generous portion of cold sliced ham +and potato salad. +</p> + +<p> +The boys laughed in protest. +</p> + +<p> +"I ain't seen real food in ten years," continued Buck, "and what I +said goes. This meal's worth a week's work to me." +</p> + +<p> +"All I got to say, young uns," interrupted Jack Jellup, the marshal, +"is that this 'ere town is yours." +</p> + +<p> +Jack's idea of hospitality was an invitation to the boys to visit +the town saloons as his guest, but Ned arid Alan laughed and thanked +him, pleading weariness as a reason for declining. The final +tribute of the three guests, however, before they left, was to push +the Placida along with crowbars until it was free of the freight +house and stood where the evening breeze could freely find its way +through the windows. Then with hearty "buenos noches," ("Good +night") and promises to see that every one was on hand early in the +morning, they left. +</p> + +<p> +For some time Ned, Alan and Elmer sat in camp chairs on the car +platform reveling in the glorious starlit night. From somewhere in +the little town came the sound of low singing and a Spanish air +played on the mandolin. It was all so different from the life the +boys had known that it seemed like a dream. And when their real +dreams did come it was of the not far distant Tunit Chas. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap09"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER IX +</h3> + +<h3> +"CALIFORNY KID" GETS A JOB +</h3> + +<p> +Old Buck's horse-corral had blossomed over night into a modern +balloon factory. And the proprietor, with his bronco team, and the +superintending Ned and Alan made big gaps the next day in the +precious freight of the Placida. By noon the five casks for +generating hydrogen, the cooling and purifying box, and the lead +pipe and other equipment, had been transferred to the old horse +yard. Three tons of iron turnings, forwarded by freight in advance, +were found in the keeping of the railroad agent. It took Buck six +trips to move this, and that consumed the afternoon. +</p> + +<p> +A special trip was made by the wagon just after luncheon. This was +to transport the tool chest—practically two chests, for it was a +large one containing both wood and iron-working tools. With it rode +the two boys, both in overalls and ready to begin the setting up and +adjustment of the generating tanks. +</p> + +<p> +After their arrival at the corral, the rest of the afternoon, in +spite of the heat, slipped quickly away. But by night a foundation +had been leveled in a corner of the yard and the five barrel-like +generators were firmly anchored and connected by lead pipes with the +cooling and purifying box. +</p> + +<p> +"Looks purty much like a distillery," commented Buck, who had just +made his last trip with the iron shavings, which were now piled +close by the casks. +</p> + +<p> +"And is," laughed Ned, "in a way." +</p> + +<p> +But he volunteered no more. In fact the whole matter was a mystery +to every one in the town, except Mayor Curt Bradley and Marshal Jack +Jellup. +</p> + +<p> +In the morning the first work accomplished was the removal, one at a +time, of ten casks of sulphuric acid, each weighing four hundred +pounds. It was a delicate job and not unattended with danger in +case of a cask breaking. The boys began to realize the need of help +of a higher grade than that of the "greasers" who had been thus far +their only assistants except Buck. +</p> + +<p> +Their usual good luck seemed to be with them, however, for just in +the middle of the work of sliding a heavy carboy of acid from the +wagon a stranger stepped from the group of onlookers, and without +words gave a hand to the job. +</p> + +<p> +Alan was about to thank him hurriedly, when the stranger said: +"Wot's the game, son? Wot's doin'?" +</p> + +<p> +Alan was at first inclined to resent this "tough" familiarity. Then +he realized that the language of the man was in his natural manner +of speaking, and he said: +</p> + +<p> +"Who are you and where are you from?" +</p> + +<p> +"Give you one guess," laughed the stranger. "No! Can't tell a +'bo'? Well, just tramp. Wot's dew name? I lost me card case. Me +nom de plumb is Kid, Californy Kid. And me address is—well wot's +de name o' dis munificent metropolis?" +</p> + +<p> +"Clarkeville, New Mexico," answered Alan smiling. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, den me address is dat. Wot's de nex' inquiry?" +</p> + +<p> +The man was young. His clothing was worn and greasy, his shoes were +patched, and those parts of his face and hands that could be seen +between smears of coal dust were red from exposure and the sun. +</p> + +<p> +"How do you happen to be here?" continued Alan. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, cul—beg pardon, son—de fact is I lost me purse and de +brakeman on de fast freight wouldn't take me check. I was dumped. +And I can't get away exceptin' I walk." +</p> + +<p> +"Then you wouldn't care to work?" +</p> + +<p> +"Will dis beautiful city give me coin and chuck widout work?" +</p> + +<p> +"I'm afraid not," laughed Alan. +</p> + +<p> +"Den' it's work for yours truly," answered the tramp with a sort of +cheery humor. "But, say, boss, ye couldn't stake me to a drink and +some chuck afore I loosen up me muscles?" +</p> + +<p> +"Your pay will be two dollars a day," said Alan, "but no drinking +goes. Here's a note that will get you something to eat." And +writing a message to Elmer the tramp was soon hurrying to the car +for a meal. A half hour later, with his sleeves rolled up, he +returned, riding alongside Buck on the wagon. +</p> + +<p> +Ned had given the new hand little attention. +</p> + +<p> +Now he looked him over and asked: +</p> + +<p> +"What's your real name?" +</p> + +<p> +"Gus, boss; or, spellin' it out, Gustave Lippe. How's dat for a +handle—Lippe?" +</p> + +<p> +Ned looked at the young man long and sharply. +</p> + +<p> +"One name, they say, is as good as another out here. But I didn't +know tramps got this far west." +</p> + +<p> +"Sure," answered the tramp, "It's long jumps and hard ones. It's me +last excursion dis way." +</p> + +<p> +"Well," said Ned slowly, "you can work for us as long as you are not +too inquisitive." +</p> + +<p> +"Dat's me, boss. I'm de clam till me two dollars per will git me to +de next whistle." +</p> + +<p> +"Then you'd better arrange to board with Buck." +</p> + +<p> +"Dat's me lay, boss, already booked. Now show me some work. Me +trunk was checked t'roo and I ain't nuttin' on me mind but me job." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, you had better spend the rest of the afternoon in cleaning up +a bit," suggested Ned. "Here's five dollars in advance. Report +early in the morning." +</p> + +<p> +"Tank's, boss," said Gus, the tramp. But he took the bill slowly. +</p> + +<p> +"But, you can't spend it on beer and whisky and work for us," added +Ned. +</p> + +<p> +Gus shifted uneasily. +</p> + +<p> +"You'd better have a bath and a shave. And if you need clothes and +can get them here," continued Ned, "I'll advance more to-morrow—if +you show up all right." +</p> + +<p> +"I kin work widdout a shave," the man said, "ain't der nuttin' doin' +to-day?" +</p> + +<p> +Assured that to-morrow was when he was wanted the tramp slowly and +apparently reluctantly turned and slouched away toward the stores. +</p> + +<p> +"What do you make of him, Ned?" asked Alan as the two toys resumed +work. +</p> + +<p> +"Too slangy, I think," commented Ned. +</p> + +<p> +But the final stowing of the acid soon drove the tramp from the +minds of the boys. +</p> + +<p> +When the young aeronauts finally closed the corral and returned to +the car, the sun a great red ball, was just dropping behind the +serrated mountains of the western horizon. On the car steps, Ned +turned and pointed to the north. Far away the dusky gray of the +plains deepened into darker and darker shadows that ended in a low +black mass. But here and there from the black wall rose irregular +spires, their tops pink-tipped by the red sun. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes," exclaimed Alan, "the Tunit Chas—our mountains." +</p> + +<p> +And even though the vigilant Elmer called from within, the boys +stood and gazed in silence until the last glow had died away and the +land of their hopes was lost under the stars. +</p> + +<p> +Important as was the work to be done in Buck's corral, there was +another vital thing to be accomplished while this progressed. That +was the creation of a base of supplies near the navigator's field of +work. This was preferably to be at the junction of the Amarilla and +Chusco rivers, and that point lay just eighty-five miles to the +north. Between Clarkeville and that spot there were no roads and, +at this time of the year, perhaps, no water. With the best wagon +and team they might be able to get, this trip over the desert would +require not less than five days. +</p> + +<p> +It was impossible for either of the boys to go on this important +errand, as both were needed on the spot to set up the balloon. So +it had long since been decided that Elmer was to have charge of this +secondary expedition. And since it was Elmer who would have to +conduct the expedition safely to its destination and establish a +relief camp, the colored boy had been thoroughly coached in his +coming task. +</p> + +<p> +"Kin I?" the boy had said more than once. "When de Cibola gits dar +I'll be dar. And ain't no Indians nor rattlesnakes nor hot weather +goin' to break up dat camp." +</p> + +<p> +And the camp meant gasoline, water, food and a stepping stone back +to civilization, whether the expedition ended in failure or success. +As the boys had already planned that Buck should furnish the wagon +and horses and guide Elmer's caravan, they had asked him to call +that evening to talk it over. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm ready to start, yes, right now," Elmer had said as he served +the good supper over which he had been laboring, "but I does jes +nach'elly hate to turn you young gemmen over to dese greaser cooks." +</p> + +<p> +The boys laughed. "You don't think we can keep this up all summer, +do you?" exclaimed, Ned. "Even 'greaser' cooks are better than +having nothing to eat. And up there," nodding toward the north, +"there won't be any cooks." +</p> + +<p> +"Don't forget," interrupted Elmer, "camp—camp—well, my camp. When +you get dar dar'll be a good meal waitin' you and when you git outen +de mountains I'll still be dar waitin' wid eatin's." +</p> + +<p> +The boys laughed again. +</p> + +<p> +"Like as not," suggested Alan, "if you get all that truck up there. +You'll certainly have enough. But don't you bother about the eating. +You just watch the water and the gasoline." +</p> + +<p> +"Till de snow flies," exclaimed Elmer with emphasis. +</p> + +<p> +"Which, right there," dryly remarked Ned as he disposed of the last +of a generous slice of melon, "is rather indefinite." +</p> + +<p> +When Buck, whose real name they had discovered to be William +Bourke—easily corrupted into "Buck"—appeared, the boys had a delicate +job before them. Inquiry had quickly shown them that Buck's twenty-five +years on the old Santa Fe trail as guide and an active service in the +army as scout easily made him the man to conduct Elmer to the north. +</p> + +<p> +To all their long explanations and reasons Buck listened in silence. +When there seemed nothing more to be said, Buck smothered the still +glowing end of a cigarette between his dark weather-beaten fingers +and said slowly: +</p> + +<p> +"When do we start?" +</p> + +<p> +It was arranged that on the second morning Buck should be ready for +a journey of uncertain length; that the general direction should be +north; that the final destination should be revealed by Elmer on the +second morning out. +</p> + +<p> +"Soldier-like," Buck had commented, "and that's the way I like it." +</p> + +<p> +Buck and an assistant were to take an outfit of two wagons, each +drawn by four horses. In the lighter wagon six barrels of water +were to be carried for use in case the usual "water holes" were dry. +In case of an accident, the lighter wagon and horses were to be sent +south by the second man and Elmer and Buck were to make a quick dash +forward with what water and supplies could be carried on the other +wagon. +</p> + +<p> +Old Buck made rather light of the matter. +</p> + +<p> +"Injuns ain't nothin' nowadays," he had explained, shrugging his +shoulders, "ye jest want to keep yer bearin's and git used to +drinkin' atmosphere and ye'r all right." +</p> + +<p> +The contract with Buck called for thirty dollars a day in money and +food for himself and a helper. Both parties to the contract were +satisfied and after Buck's fresh cigarette disappeared in the +direction of the town the boys lost no time in turning in for a good +night's rest. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap10"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER X +</h3> + +<h3> +AN ERROR IN CALCULATION +</h3> + +<p> +While Buck was busy getting his wagons and horses and water casks +ready the next morning the boys were not surprised to see Gus, the +tramp, drive up just after breakfast with the moving team. +</p> + +<p> +"Have you had breakfast?" asked Alan by way of a greeting. +</p> + +<p> +"Have," retorted Gus, pulling up his team awkwardly. "It's me +wrappin' meself around tortillas till I feel like a bag o' corn +meal." +</p> + +<p> +"I can't see that you've spent any great amount of that five dollars +on yourself," interrupted Ned, noticing the tramp's unshaven face +and the still visible traces of coal smoke. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, boss, ye'r right. Dead right. But, ye see, de barber o' dis +growin' city only works on Saturday and me friend Buck's bat' tub +has a leak. Anyhow, de ladies hereabouts is scarce and few. Think +wot a swell I'll be when Sunday comes." +</p> + +<p> +"Come in the car. We've plenty of water, and soap too," suggested +Alan, smiling. +</p> + +<p> +'"Well, boss, don't tempt me. I'm working. I can't soldier away no +time dudin' meself up on do bosses' time." +</p> + +<p> +"All right," replied Ned, laughing, "every one to his taste." +</p> + +<p> +There was plenty of work to be done, and in a few minutes all were +at it. The chief task this day was the unloading of the materials +yet on the car. That had to be done by night, except in the case of +the boxes marked "Overland," all of which had been carefully and +specially crated for wagon transportation. Of these there seemed a +great many, and they were all put in one pile in the space made +vacant by the removal of the gas generators. The hydrogen case, +covered with a blanket, stood always under Elmer's watchful eye. +This was to be removed last. +</p> + +<p> +As the boys meant to stay close by their valuable outfit, they +planned to load Elmer's caravan early the next morning and to see it +start on its trying and dangerous trip. Then they intended to +remove the hydrogen cask to the corral and take up their own abode +in the same place. The Placida—with no little regret—was to be +surrendered to the railroad and returned to Chicago. +</p> + +<p> +For that reason this was a busy day. Load after load of crates, +boxes, and bundles were carried to the big corral, the teams +stirring up the dust of Clarkeville's main street on their way. It +was heavy work, and required care. Smoky-faced Gus was earning his +pay. So skilful and adroit was he in executing tasks assigned him +that Ned commented on it to Alan. +</p> + +<p> +While the boys were at their noonday lunch Buck appeared to report +progress. The big wagon was to come from a sheep ranch, ten miles +to the south. A man had gone for it and would arrive with it that +night. The wheels of the smaller wagon were being soaked in water +and the axles had been greased. +</p> + +<p> +Ned could not resist asking: +</p> + +<p> +"How's your new boarder, Buck?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ain't seen much o' him. Purty poor feeder fur a tramp. Can't get +a tortilla down him nohow." +</p> + +<p> +Ned looked at Alan significantly. +</p> + +<p> +"Hasn't any baggage, has he?" continued Ned. +</p> + +<p> +"Not a stitch. Lessen you allow fur a extra suit o' underclothes." +</p> + +<p> +"Under clothing?" exclaimed Ned. "Two suits?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yep. And fine, too. My old woman washed a suit to-day and she +'lows as how it cost more than the rest o' his outfit." +</p> + +<p> +"Don't you think that funny?" +</p> + +<p> +"'What?" responded Alan sleepily. +</p> + +<p> +"Why, a tramp with two suits of fine underwear?" +</p> + +<p> +"Probably he stole them." +</p> + +<p> +"And probably he didn't. A real tramp might steal them, but he +wouldn't wear them." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, what do you care," laughed Alan, "whether he's a tramp or not +so long as he's useful?" +</p> + +<p> +Ned was silent a few moments. +</p> + +<p> +"Tramp or not, that fellow will bear watching." +</p> + +<p> +"All right," conceded Alan, "I guess we can do that." +</p> + +<p> +By night the barn and horse yard of the corral looked like a +combination manufactory and hardware store. The seven sections of +the skeleton-like car stretched across the old horse yard like a +disjointed snake; crated aeroplane guides, and the propeller and the +rudder leaned against the fence, looking like the frame work of a +house; the more compact engine, motor, radiator and fan stood ready +for unpacking under the shelter shed, while shafts, connections and +boxes of small parts filled a large part of the empty stalls. The +tins of gasoline for experimental flights and the first trip to +Elmer's camp were in a far corner of the yard, and in the wagon shed +stood the two immense special trunks containing the gas bag and the +Italian hemp netting. +</p> + +<p> +The evening meal was not as cheery and chatty an affair as the +preceding ones had been, although Elmer had done his best in honor +of their farewell. And the boys insisted that at this last meal the +waiter should be dispensed with, and Elmer was put at the head of +the table. +</p> + +<p> +"Yo' make me feel as if I was a startin' fo' do norf pole," +exclaimed Elmer. "I don't see what's de use of so much fussin'." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, anyway," exclaimed Ned, holding up a glass of iced tea, +"here's luck to you, Elmer." +</p> + +<p> +"And de same to you," answered Elmer. "And to all of us." +</p> + +<p> +Rising bell was to ring at four o'clock the next morning; so the +boys all turned in at once after they had cleaned up the kitchen. +</p> + +<p> +It was about twelve o'clock when a sudden call sounded through the +car. +</p> + +<p> +"Alan!". +</p> + +<p> +It was Ned, who, clad in pajamas, was shaking his chum. The latter, +dazed for a moment, sprang upright, soundly whacking his head on the +upper berth, in which Elmer was snoring loudly. +</p> + +<p> +"What is it?" he exclaimed, rolling out on the floor. "Who hit me? +Indians?" +</p> + +<p> +"Not yet," laughed Ned, shaking his "pal" into wakefulness. +"Listen!" +</p> + +<p> +He struck a match, lit a candle and sat down on the edge of the +berth. +</p> + +<p> +"You're a bum calculator," he began, eyeing Alan. +</p> + +<p> +"I didn't calculate where that berth was," answered Alan ruefully, +rubbing a lump on the top of his head. +</p> + +<p> +"And you didn't calculate where we are now," somewhat excitedly +added Ned. "And I didn't think of it until just now." +</p> + +<p> +"Go on," interrupted the still sleepy Alan. "If it's a riddle I +give it up." +</p> + +<p> +"I suppose you know what the air pressure is to a square inch," +answered Ned, like a school teacher rebuking a slow scholar. +</p> + +<p> +"Why, 14.7 pounds, of course." +</p> + +<p> +"Where?" exclaimed Ned again, sharply. +</p> + +<p> +"Where?" echoed Alan. +</p> + +<p> +"Why, at the sea level-that's where. Not out here. Do you know how +high we are above sea level right here?" +</p> + +<p> +Alan began to see the point and a smile came over his face. He had +no chance to answer: +</p> + +<p> +"We're a little short of seven thousand feet up in the air right +here in Clarkeville," continued Ned in about the same tone of +exultation he might have used had he found a gold mine. "Now, +listen. How many cubic feet of gas does our balloon hold?" +</p> + +<p> +That question was easy. The boys knew that as well as the +multiplication table. +</p> + +<p> +"Sixty-five thousand, four hundred and ninety-three feet." +</p> + +<p> +"And how much weight is it going to carry?" +</p> + +<p> +"Three thousand nine hundred and thirty-five and a half pounds." +</p> + +<p> +"Exactly," went on Ned. "That's the weight we are going to carry +figured at sea level. Did it ever occur to you that our sixty-five +hundred feet of hydrogen can lift more way up here seven thousand +feet in the air, than it can at sea level? Did it ever occur to my +special engineer and calculator that as the weight and pressure of +the air grows less our hydrogen will lift just that much more +weight. +</p> + +<p> +"By the great horn spoon!" exclaimed Alan. "Give me that candle." +</p> + +<p> +In another moment he was at the drawing room table with a pencil in +his hand. It did not take him long to make his calculations. +</p> + +<p> +"Live and learn," he exclaimed finally. "I'm certainly all you said +was a 'bum calculator.' Our altitude here is 6,875 feet, for I took +it to-day just for practice. And we can carry in our balloon just +exactly 693.6 pounds more than we figured." +</p> + +<p> +"I thought so," laughed Ned. "It came to me in a dream, I guess. +But you don't need to feel badly. You say I'm the boss, yet I never +thought of it. You see, the trouble is that all the balloon +ascensions ordinarily are made from the large cities of America or +Europe. Who ever thought of ascending a mountain to get a start? +But since we have done so we must figure accordingly." +</p> + +<p> +"And what is the first thing you are going to add?" asked Alan. +</p> + +<p> +"First thing?" exclaimed Ned. "First and last and in the middle, +gasoline. We may find water in the mountains and we might even find +food, but we're not going to find gasoline. Now we'll do part of +our work whether Elmer meets us or fails." +</p> + +<p> +The incident showed the essential difference between Ned's mind and +Alan's. Alan was careful, precise, and adept in detail. Ned had +the "dreams" and inspirations of an inventor. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap11"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XI +</h3> + +<h3> +A DISGUISE PENETRATED +</h3> + +<p> +The boys, in spite of their broken slumbers, all turned out promptly +at four o'clock the next morning. They found this hour the +pleasantest of the day in this hot and dry region. The late moon +was just disappearing, and over the plains swept a breeze that +hinted of snow on some mountain peak not far away. Not a sound +broke the stillness but the occasional cry of a skulking coyote. +</p> + +<p> +"Hear it, Elmer," said Alan, as the boys got busy in the baggage +car. "You want to look out for those fellows." +</p> + +<p> +"I ain't feared o' no cutes and I ain't feared of no Injun," +solemnly answered Elmer, "jist so dem rattlers gives me de go-by. +Dat's all I ast." +</p> + +<p> +Buck's big wagon had arrived and was backed up to the car and now, +by the light of a lantern hanging above the door, the work of +loading began. +</p> + +<p> +With their improved gas bag the boys had figured on a record flight +without renewing the gas supply. They had hoped to be able to stay +at least seventy-two hours in the air. But during a large part of +this time they expected to drift without the engines, for they could +not carry enough gasoline to last for more than twenty-four hours of +engine work. By their new calculations they had more than enough +gasoline, and according to Ned it seemed probable that the decreased +air pressure on the bag might extend the period of flight another +twenty-four hours, or to four days. +</p> + +<p> +After that all would depend on the liquid hydrogen. The remarkable +qualities of this unique product were to be tested for the first +time in the history of ballooning. When the gas in the bag had +diminished by leakage through the valves and elsewhere so that it +was no longer sufficient to carry the car, the liquid hydrogen was +to be turned into gas which was to take the place of that lost. Ned +had left Washington with sixteen cubic feet of the liquid in eight +delicate Dewar bulbs, or casks. He figured that one-quarter of it +would be lost by evaporation, leaving twelve cubic feet. This seems +a small supply until one understands that the hydrogen increases in +volume 880 times as it returns into gas from the liquid form. The +twelve cubic feet of liquid, therefore, would give them a little +over ten thousand cubic feet of new gas. And this, with the loss of +ballast and provisions in three or four days, Ned calculated, would +give the balloon a new life of a day or so. +</p> + +<p> +Therefore, the secret plan was a direct journey to Elmer's camp, a +flight of eighty-five miles, which would bring the Cibola near to +the foot of the mountains of mystery. After this camp had been +located and more gasoline taken aboard the boys were to head their +craft toward the Tunit Chas mountains. What would follow they could +not foresee. With good luck they might be able to hover birdlike +over the peaks, canyons and plateaus for five days. With bad luck +they might have to come down sooner or fall. Then, if the Cibola +failed them, they would have to find their way to the treasure +temple and the ruined palace on foot in a rugged wilderness, +infested with unfriendly Indians and reptiles, or struggle back, in +some manner, if they could, to Elmer's relief station, and thus to +civilization. +</p> + +<p> +Should the worst happen and the balloon fail them, the boys might be +lost in a desolate region that is even now uncharted by the +government. The only resources they would have would be the Cibola +equipment and their own ability to take care of themselves. In any +event, the knowledge that Elmer and Buck were in camp ready to +succor them meant a good deal. And that was why the loading of the +overland outfit had so much interest for the boys. +</p> + +<p> +Of tins of provisions there were many: condensed foods—German +erbswurst, or army rations of ground peas and meat; dried potatoes; +eggs in powdered form; preserved and salt meats; hard tack; tea and +coffee; flour; and evaporated fruits. The water was already +arranged for and the wagon containing the casks was at Buck's adobe +house. +</p> + +<p> +On the floor of the wagon, packed in bunch grass, were the precious +gasoline casks. On top of all came the silk waterproof tent and the +camp equipage. Stowed under the seat was the box containing spare +flags, a heliograph, part of a wireless telephone outfit (the other +part was to be carried in the balloon) and compass. Two magazine +rifles and ammunition were included in the outfit, and Elmer donned +for the first time in his life a belt and holster to carry one of +the magazine revolvers that Ned had bought on the day when he first +told Alan what he had undertaken to do. +</p> + +<p> +By the time this work was done it was day. Then came breakfast, +which Elmer insisted on preparing. He even demanded that he be +given time to make hot biscuits. These, with thick slices of +broiled ham, the last of their oranges, and hot fragrant coffee +constituted the last meal on the Placida. +</p> + +<p> +As the meal came to an end the clump, clump of horses' feet in the +sand announced that Buck had arrived and that it was time for +breaking the "special car" camp. Alan and Elmer hastened to clean +up the little kitchen that had given the boys so many savory meals +and to pack up the remaining provisions, and Ned jumped off the car +to see Buck. +</p> + +<p> +To the lad's surprise he found Gus, the tramp, just as dirty and +just as cheerful as ever, proudly mounted on one of the newly +arrived horses. Buck noticed the surprise in Ned's face and +explained: +</p> + +<p> +"The helper I thought I could get fell down on me. My boarder's +goin' with us. I guess he'll do." +</p> + +<p> +"You understand you don't know where you're going," said Ned, +approaching Gus as he rolled off his horse, "nor when you're coming +back?" +</p> + +<p> +"I knows dat we ride and dat dere's chuck a-plenty," smiled Gus, +"and whichever way it is," he added lowering his voice and +chuckling, "can't be no worse dan Buck's place—fur me." +</p> + +<p> +"Do you want to go?" +</p> + +<p> +"Well, I ain't a settin' up nights a longin' to, but to oblige a +friend, Mr. Buck, I allowed meself to be persuaded." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, we'll see," said Ned. +</p> + +<p> +Ned rather wanted to watch this young man. Something suggested that +the tramp was too quick witted to be made a party to their plans. +Ned didn't exactly know what harm the stranger could do them, but he +decided to talk it over with Alan. While Buck was hitching up the +horses Ned turned to go into the car. +</p> + +<p> +They were loading from the far side opposite the hydrogen cask and +as Ned passed the corner of the car he almost ran into the station +agent. The agent, who was also the telegraph operator, had a +telegram for Ned, which the boy took eagerly. Ned had sent a +message to Major Honeywell, telling of their safe arrival, and did +not doubt that this was some important afterthought of the Major's. +The address ran: "Mr. Ned Napier, Private car Placida, Clarkeville, +New Mexico." Tearing open the envelope Ned read: +</p> + +<p> +"Just learned Kansas City Comet has story mysterious trip for +government starting Clarkeville. Real object not known. Look out +not followed. +</p> + +<p> +"Baldwin Honeywell." +</p> + +<p> +With three jumps Ned was in the car and had pull Alan into the +drawing room portion. The telegram was read again and the two boys +looked at each other in astonishment. +</p> + +<p> +"How could they?" began Alan. +</p> + +<p> +"No matter how," answered Ned, almost out of breath. "They did and +that's enough. Now I know!" +</p> + +<p> +"Know what?" +</p> + +<p> +Ned pushed his chum to the side of the car and pointed outside where +Buck and his helper were at work. +</p> + +<p> +"Look at him," he exclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +"At Buck?" +</p> + +<p> +"No. At the tramp who won't wash his face, who has a gentleman's +underclothes and who is so anxious to work for us!" +</p> + +<p> +"Well, I see him. But—" +</p> + +<p> +"Haven't you ever seen those sharp eyes before?" +</p> + +<p> +"You don't mean—?" +</p> + +<p> +"I do. If that isn't Bob Russell, the Comet reporter, I'm a goat." +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap12"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XII +</h3> + +<h3> +NED TO BOB RUSSELL'S RESCUE +</h3> + +<p> +It was a time for quick and fast thinking, and Ned and Alan did it. +Alan's instant suggestion that they denounce the disguised tramp was +almost as quickly voted down. +</p> + +<p> +"So long as we didn't know who he was he had the advantage of us. +Now that we know—" and neither of them now doubted the fact for an +instant. "We have the advantage of him," argued Ned. "Let's turn +that knowledge to profit. We can easily guess what he is trying to +do. Major Honeywell's message says our real object is not known. +This reporter has learned something, and I suspect he could have +found quite a lot from the train crew. On that he has written a +good enough story to attract attention. That shows he is no fool. +And he wouldn't come out here unless he had been sent. Who would +send him? Why, his paper, of course, to discover our real mission." +</p> + +<p> +"What can we do to head him off?" mused Alan. +</p> + +<p> +"There are two ways," suggested Ned, "and we've got to make one of +them effective. I don't know how he has guessed but he must not +have another guess. And he's seen a good deal." +</p> + +<p> +"We might have him arrested," suggested Alan. +</p> + +<p> +Ned thought awhile. +</p> + +<p> +"I'll tell you, Alan," he said finally. "The young men of the press +to-day may write fanciful stories, and they may even 'fake' where it +injures no one, but personally they won't lie. Let's call our tramp +in here, confront him with his imposture and give him his choice of +writing nothing or of being drummed out of town." +</p> + +<p> +"Who'll make him leave town?" +</p> + +<p> +"Marshal Jack Jellup wouldn't need two suggestions on that score. +And more, he'd see that the order was obeyed. I don't like to do +it, but I think we're justified. He's taking that chance." +</p> + +<p> +Again the thing was gone over, with arguments for and against, and +then Elmer was hastily dispatched to find Jellup and bring him to +the car. +</p> + +<p> +"And Buck will lose his helper," laughed Alan. +</p> + +<p> +"Better that than a second expedition on our heels," answered Ned +</p> + +<p> +"Gus!" he called, throwing open a window. "Come in here!" +</p> + +<p> +The tramp soon stood before them. +</p> + +<p> +"Geel Dis is a swell joint," were the tramp's first words as with +apparent awkwardness he entered the car. +</p> + +<p> +Ned acted as spokesman. +</p> + +<p> +"You say you've promised Buck to go with him without knowing where +you are going?" +</p> + +<p> +"Dat's about de cheese." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, we are willing. But I may as well tell you that this is a +secret expedition. If you go you must promise that you will not +tell anyone what you see or hear." +</p> + +<p> +The tramp's face suddenly took on a peculiar look, but it was gone +as quickly. +</p> + +<p> +"I gives me woid. I won't open me trap to no one." +</p> + +<p> +"Meaning you won't say anything about it?" smiled Ned inquiringly. +</p> + +<p> +"Dat's it. Mum's de woid. I won't open me trap." +</p> + +<p> +"Nor write anything?" +</p> + +<p> +The furtive look came back, this time more pronounced. +</p> + +<p> +"Me to write! Wit wot? Me new typewriter?" +</p> + +<p> +"That isn't an answer. Do you promise, if we send you with Buck, +that you'll neither tell nor write nor make known in any way what +you learn about what we are doing?" +</p> + +<p> +"Say, look here, boss. Quit yer kiddin'. Me name is Lippe and +mebbe I shoot it off a bit too frequent now and then, but you don't +need to be afeered o' me peachin' to de udder'Bos.'" +</p> + +<p> +"I'm not afraid of that," continued Ned. "We don't care what you +tell all the tramps this side of Kansas City. But we don't want you +to print anything more about us in the Comet." +</p> + +<p> +Hardly a flush came on the tramp's face. There was a quick movement +of the lips as if he were about to make protest and then he laughed +outright. +</p> + +<p> +"Bob Russell," said Ned, also laughing, "would you like the use of +our bath tub for a few moments?" +</p> + +<p> +"Would I!" laughed the young reporter rubbing his tinted and smoke +begrimed hands together as if to wash them. "Well, I guess I would. +My hands are up. What's next?" +</p> + +<p> +"Wash up and we'll see," exclaimed Ned. +</p> + +<p> +The young reporter was still laughing. "And if it isn't too much +trouble," he asked, "would you mind if Buck took his check over to +the depot and got the suit case that it calls for? Then we'll talk +business." +</p> + +<p> +In less than twenty minutes the sun burnt, dirty Gus Lippe had been +transformed into the dapper Bob Russell. When he reappeared in +fresh linen, outing clothes and a natty straw hat, he was still +laughing. Approaching the group in the drawing room, where Marshal +Jack Jellup had now arrived, the young reporter took out his pocket +book and a five dollar bill. +</p> + +<p> +"I'll pay that back first," he began; and then noticing one of his +cards he politely handed it to the marshal. It read: +</p> + +<p> +ROBERT RUSSELL +KANSAS CITY COMET +</p> + +<p> +"Ye'r a purty fresh kid," sneered Jellup. +</p> + +<p> +"At your service, Mr. Officer." +</p> + +<p> +Jellup had already received an explanation of the whole affair and +was aching to exercise his authority. +</p> + +<p> +"Ye'r an impostor," he began, "and ef ye hadn't been caught, ye'd +have taken money on false pretenses. I was onto ye." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, now," interrupted Bob, "at two dollars Mex per day I'd have +given good value." +</p> + +<p> +"Mebbe," retorted the marshal, "but these gentlemen hev come here on +particular business and they came like gentlemen. The officials o' +this city hev give their word that there shouldn't be no interferin' +with their plans. And thet's what you're a-doin'. Now git!" +</p> + +<p> +Ned broke in: +</p> + +<p> +"One moment, Mr. Marshall" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, that's all right, Mr. Napier," exclaimed the reporter, "he +doesn't mean just that. He knows I don't have to leave here so long +as I obey the law." +</p> + +<p> +"Ye don't, don't ye?" retorted the marshal. "Well, there ain't no +back east law down here. Our law books mebbe got all burnt up. And +mebbe I happen to be purty much o' the law myself. Ye'll git and +git quick." +</p> + +<p> +Again Ned interfered. +</p> + +<p> +"I suppose if we ask you to permit Mr. Russell to stay here he can," +he asked. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, I reckon that would be so. Ef ye ask it I reckon I'll have +to," he replied surlily. +</p> + +<p> +Ned and Alan held a brief consultation. +</p> + +<p> +"We have decided to ask the authorities to permit you to remain here +on one condition." +</p> + +<p> +The intelligent face of Bob took on a quizzical air as he waited to +hear the condition. +</p> + +<p> +"That is," went on Ned, "that you give us your word that you will +not make known anything you have seen here, or of our plans so far +as you may know them." +</p> + +<p> +Bob's answer was immediate. +</p> + +<p> +"I can't do that," he said, "I was sent here to do just that thing, +and as quickly and as fully as I can. You ought to understand, and +do, I think, that I have a duty to perform. I've taken the trouble +to come all the way out here to get a story. I've got it and of +course I'm going to use it. I should be false to my duty, to my +employers and to myself if I promised not to do this." +</p> + +<p> +"But you don't know our story." +</p> + +<p> +"And I'm sorry. But I should have known it all if I had had a +little better luck." +</p> + +<p> +"Then you won't promise?" +</p> + +<p> +"Decidedly not." +</p> + +<p> +The boys showed that they were as stubborn as he. +</p> + +<p> +"Then we'll see that you learn no more," Alan exclaimed angrily. +</p> + +<p> +Bob smiled. "You can't take away what I already know, and it will +take a pretty long story to tell all I am going to guess from what I +have seen." +</p> + +<p> +As he spoke his eyes were on Major Honeywell's chart of the Tunit +Chas Mountains, which had carelessly been left lying on the table +where it had been in use during breakfast in the last explanations +to Elmer. +</p> + +<p> +Ned's face reddened in new anger. He did not resent what the young +reporter was doing; he even realized that he might do the same thing +himself; but he was chagrined to find himself caught in such a +simple manner. That was a big piece of additional information for +Russell to have, and Ned knew it. Hard as the thing was to do he +would at least put the young man out of the way of further +discoveries. +</p> + +<p> +"All right," he exclaimed, "we've tried to do the fair and decent +thing, and if you want to be stubborn Marshal Jellup can do as he +likes." +</p> + +<p> +"Git!" +</p> + +<p> +It was the marshal who spoke and he did so as if it were a pleasure. +</p> + +<p> +"I'll take the Limited west to Gallup at noon," said Russell, "if I +can stop it and catch the eastbound train there to-night." +</p> + +<p> +"Then ye'll flag it along the road," shouted Jellup, "fur ye'll get +out o' here on foot and in a hurry." +</p> + +<p> +"On foot?" exclaimed Russell in surprise. +</p> + +<p> +"That's what I said an' ye heerd me." +</p> + +<p> +Russell looked in appeal at the two boys. +</p> + +<p> +Ned was mad, and mad all over. +</p> + +<p> +"You are so quick to have your own way," he said, "you can't blame +us." +</p> + +<p> +"All right," was the cheery response, "it'll lend a bit of local +color to the story. Goodbye, boys. And good luck to you. I'll see +you when you come back." +</p> + +<p> +"Remember," said Alan relenting a trifle, "we'll let you stay until +we leave if you'll promise to write nothing." +</p> + +<p> +Bob laughed again. +</p> + +<p> +"What good would that do me? No experience means anything to me +that I can't turn into copy. And as for walking—I'd walk from here +to Kansas City or crawl before I'd lie down on my shop like that." +</p> + +<p> +"Come on, kid, get busy," exclaimed Jellup again. "An' when ye +start, don't bother about lingerin', because I'll be hangin' around +and I'm good with this at some distance." +</p> + +<p> +As he spoke he drew a Colt 44 and tapped it. +</p> + +<p> +"Never fear, Mr. Jellup," laughed Bob. "I suppose I can express my +suit case to the next town?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ye can't do no business in this city, d'ye hear? Now, come on." +</p> + +<p> +"Say, partner," interrupted Bob with his usual good humor, "if you +will let me take a snap of you I'll make you celebrated. 'Famous +gun man' of New Mexico. It'll be great." +</p> + +<p> +In another moment the nettled marshal had Bob by the shoulder and +was whirling him out of the car. On the steps he threw the suit +case onto the sandy plain and then pushed the reporter roughly down +the steps. Ned and Alan stood, with flushed faces, watching the +reporter pick up his hat and suit case. Then young Russell made a +remark they could not hear and the marshal's revolver flashed in the +air. They could see the boy's face grow pale at last, but as he +straightened up the two men disappeared around the freight house. +</p> + +<p> +Like a flash Ned was on the ground and after the marshal and his +victim. Alan and Buck came running in the rear, for the alert Buck +saw that something was in the air. It was early day and only a +straggler or two was in sight at the depot. The sun, already +mounting high, foretold a day of depressing heat. The steel lines +of the railway stretched interminably eastward toward the first stop +forty miles away. +</p> + +<p> +Bob Russell, pale but defiant, stood in the middle of the track, his +heavy suit case in his hand. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly there was the crack of a revolver and the dust flew about +the young reporter's feet. +</p> + +<p> +"Jist as a sample!" roared the angered Jellup. "The next one'll be +higher up." And his trembling finger pointed down the hot sandy +track. +</p> + +<p> +There was nothing more to be done. The pale-faced but nervy +reporter turned toward the east and started slowly down the track. +</p> + +<p> +Ned ran forward. +</p> + +<p> +"Russell!" he shouted, "Russell!" +</p> + +<p> +As the reporter paused and turned, hearing his name, there was a +second report of the marshal's revolver and Russell's suit case flew +from his hand, ripped and torn ragged by a forty-four bullet. +</p> + +<p> +The smoke of the explosion puffed upward and, where it had been, the +marshal saw Ned Napier's automatic magazine revolver under his nose. +</p> + +<p> +The boy was white with indignation. The possible serious results +that might come to him and his plans meant nothing in his anger at +such a dastardly act. +</p> + +<p> +"It isn't a Colt," he said with dry lips, "but, if you make another +move like that it's got ten shots and they come out all together." +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap13"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XIII +</h3> + +<h3> +QUICK JUSTICE IN THE WEST +</h3> + +<p> +Jack Jellup, marshal and "bad man," was never more surprised in his +life. But Jack was no fool, and something in Ned Napier's eyes made +the westerner conclude instantly that he had unexpectedly and +unquestionably "barked up the wrong tree." For a few moments the +marshal and the young aeronaut stood facing each other and then +Jellup sneered: +</p> + +<p> +"Do you reckon you'd better run this town?" +</p> + +<p> +"No, nor you," quietly answered Ned, "and if that's the way you are +going to do it you can settle with me right now. I'm going to stand +on my rights." +</p> + +<p> +He was conscious that Russell had hurried back and was behind him. +Another second and there was a sharp click. Both Jellup and Ned +turned to see the nervy young reporter with the torn suit case open +on the ground at his feet. A snap shot camera was in his hand. His +face was white, but there was a trace of his usual smile on it. Ned +wanted to laugh too, but the situation was too serious. +</p> + +<p> +"I've got you both," said Bob, a little nervously, "and if it's a +good one I've got a dandy—'shooting up the town or the bad man +covered'—" +</p> + +<p> +Had it not been for Ned's lightning-like action these might have +been Bob's last words. Jellup's pistol had flashed once more, but +as it dew into position Ned's own weapon rose with it under Jellup's +right hand and the marshal's shot passed over Bob's head. Before +Jellup and Ned could recover themselves Bob's camera was on the +ground and the reporter had his own revolver, which he had grabbed +quickly from the suit case. +</p> + +<p> +In the center of this group now stood, unarmed, Alan Hope and old +Buck. Almost at the same time a dozen men, attracted by the melee, +had also intervened and had taken charge of the three excited +combatants. +</p> + +<p> +Pushing the crowd right and left appeared the stalwart form of Mayor +Curt Bradley, weaponless, but with the stem face of one who gives +orders that cannot be ignored. +</p> + +<p> +"Put 'em up, every one of you," he exclaimed; "do ye hear? Put 'em +up." +</p> + +<p> +"Ye'r both under arrest," shouted Jellup to Ned and Bob. +</p> + +<p> +There was a quick explanation and then Mayor Bradley, still very +stem of face, ordered everybody across the street to his office +above the drug store. Men seemed to spring out of the ground, and +the room was instantly packed to suffocation. Marshal Jellup made a +formal charge against the two boys of "resisting and interfering +with an officer" and then each told his story. The decision was +immediate. Mayor Bradley ordered that both boys be released and the +court be instantly cleared. +</p> + +<p> +Jellup made his way noisily toward the door, his face white with +rage. Apparently a number present were his friends and cronies, for +the looks of sympathy that he got turned into open murmurs of +dissent. +</p> + +<p> +Mayor Bradley was on his feet at once. +</p> + +<p> +"What's the matter?" he began incisively. "Is there some one here +who wants to appeal from my decision?" +</p> + +<p> +The hubbub subsided but there wag no response. +</p> + +<p> +"The time to make any complaint about my decision is right now and +to me," went on the tall Bradley, looking over those in the room. +</p> + +<p> +But no one apparently cared to take up Jellup's cause. When the +spectators had gone the Mayor, who had sternly watched the slow exit +of the last loiterer, turned to the boys. +</p> + +<p> +"I thank you, Mr. Bradley," exclaimed Ned earnestly. +</p> + +<p> +"And I want to thank both of you," quickly added Bob Russell, taking +the hand of each. "I'm the cause of this and I'm sorry. I guess +you saved my life twice," he added, wringing Ned's hand. "If it +hadn't been for you the Comet certainly would never have heard from +me again. I guess that, puts all my obligation up to you." +</p> + +<p> +"No," said Ned, "I can't let you say that. You have your own duty +just as I have mine. We'll go over to the car and wait for the two +o'clock Limited. Then you are at liberty to go and write your story +and do its you like." +</p> + +<p> +"He don't have to leave," interrupted the Mayor; "this is a free +town and it's going to be an orderly one." +</p> + +<p> +"And I'm not going to," broke in Bob. "You've got yourself in a +muss over me and some of these soreheads may try to make you more +trouble. If you'll let me, I'll stay to the end and if it comes to +a mix-up I'm going to be right there with you." +</p> + +<p> +Mayor Bradley smiled and old Buck slapped the reporter on the back. +</p> + +<p> +"But how about the story you say you are going to write about us," +asked Alan. +</p> + +<p> +"There wouldn't have been any story if it hadn't been for Mr. +Napier," replied Bob. "And there isn't going to be one until he +tells me to write it. It's up to him." +</p> + +<p> +Ned was looking out of the window at the curious loungers standing +in the street. He was thinking of the work yet to be done and of +all the difficulties that the discomfited marshal might put in his +way. It wasn't a "picnic proposition." He didn't fear for himself, +but the thought of his expensive and delicate outfit and of how +easily it might be irreparably injured was not reassuring. +</p> + +<p> +"Russell," he said finally, "I think we need you. If you care to +stay with us we'll be glad to have you. It isn't because I don't +want to be bluffed by Jellup, but because you are game. If you'll +go with Buck and Elmer, I'll try to make it worth your while—some +time—and you shall be the historian of this expedition—when the +time comes to write its story." +</p> + +<p> +Am hour later the delayed overland expedition was on its way toward +the desert. There had been a quick shopping expedition in the +stores of Clarkeville and Bob Russell, in a new hat and boots and +various other articles of clothing, most of them too large for him, +sat proudly on the driver's seat of the second wagon. Around his +waist was a new cartridge belt and holster carrying Ned's gift, a 44 +revolver—"for game or rattlesnakes," as the boys expressed it, but +the weapon was not concealed when the little cavalcade traversed the +main street of the town, and if Jellup was an onlooker Ned felt sure +that the outwitted marshal would think twice before again molesting +the expedition. +</p> + +<p> +"All set," laughed Bob, as the final farewells had been said, and he +held up his camera, "now for the real thing." +</p> + +<p> +Ned and Alan were now alone. To tell the truth, the excitement of +the morning had been rather trying for them, but if it left them a +trifle nervous they soon forgot their apprehension in making the +last of the transfer. There was now another reason for abandoning +the car. With headquarters established in the corral they would be +near the balloon and its equipment, and if Jellup should permit his +ill will to develop into some overt act, they would be in a position +more easily to protect themselves. For that reason a number of +their "greaser" assistants were taken to the car before noon and the +hydrogen cask was loaded on the small wagon and carefully freighted +to the corral. Then followed the remainder of the provisions and +the personal belongings of the boys. Early in the afternoon the +Placida was closed and turned over to the railway agent. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap14"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XIV +</h3> + +<h3> +BUILDING AN AIR SHIP +</h3> + +<p> +When Ned announced to Alan that they would at once unpack and test +the motor—"for we might as well stop if the engine isn't right," as +he put it—all thoughts of the troubles of the early day vanished. +And the motor certainly was a beauty. Though some expert had +recommended the French motor, Ned had preferred to use one made in +America, not only because he had been able to get it quicker but +because he believed it as good as the foreign make. +</p> + +<p> +The engine had eight air-cooled cylinders, in two sets of four, +placed at an angle of ninety degrees to each other. The crank case +was of aluminum and the shaft of vanadium steel, hollow, and +specially treated to insure toughness. All the studs or bolts were +of the same steel. Complete, with balance wheel, it weighed two +hundred pounds. The ignition was accomplished by six dry batteries +and a single-wire vibrating coil. It was rated at fifty horsepower. +</p> + +<p> +So exactly had the preliminary work been done at the factory that in +two hours the boys were able to have the engine bolted to the +section of the car where it was to be used, and before evening the +radiator tubes and pump of the cooling system were also in place. +Temporary connections were set up and the sparking wires attached, +and then the reservoir was filled with gasoline. A little jar as +the wheel was turned, then a couple of sharp explosions, and the +engine fell to its work as if it had been running for weeks. +</p> + +<p> +Ned shut it off after a moment's critical inspection. +</p> + +<p> +"Let her flicker!" pleaded Alan. "We've waited so long for a real +one that I like to hear her buzz." +</p> + +<p> +"We'll let her buzz when we can use the buzz," laughed Ned. +"Gasoline is gasoline, you know." +</p> + +<p> +Night did not stop the work of the eager lads. As soon as they had +eaten a light meal, Ned and Alan, with a couple of lanterns and a +half dozen of candles, began to adjust the sections of the car. +These, seven in number, when joined, were 54.12 feet in length. The +American spruce frame and the aluminum joints were all intact. This +work finished the day. +</p> + +<p> +Blankets on the rough floor were good enough for the explorers that +night. The luxury of the Placida's mattresses and fresh sheets was +missed, as was Elmer's skill as a chef when it was time for +breakfast the next morning. The boys were not so indifferent about +this meal as they had been about that of the evening before. They +had no stove, but they took the time to arrange a regular camp in a +comer of the corral. A little fire was soon burning, at which they +made coffee and toasted some bacon. This, with hardtack and some +preserved fruit, they thought was enough, for they were determined +not to disturb the carefully packed provisions that were to be +carried in the balloon. +</p> + +<p> +"Have you had enough?" asked Ned as the last piece of scorched bacon +disappeared. +</p> + +<p> +"Enough?" answered Alan. "A regular banquet!" +</p> + +<p> +Just then there was a loud thump on the closed door of the barn. +</p> + +<p> +"The hands are arriving," explained Ned, and he hastened to open the +door. +</p> + +<p> +A few of the workmen were there, but the knocking had been done by a +pleasant faced woman—apparently a Mexican. A black shawl covered +her head and one arm. It was Mrs. Bourke, Buck's wife. +</p> + +<p> +"I thought," she said smiling, "hungry." +</p> + +<p> +Without further words she threw back the shawl and revealed a small +tin pail. The appetizing odor made Ned's mouth water. In the +bottom of the bucket were frijoles, or boiled and fried Mexican +black beans cooked in pepper, and on top of these were a half dozen +smoking hot tortillas or corn cakes. +</p> + +<p> +"Mrs. Buck," exclaimed Alan, "you have saved our lives!" +</p> + +<p> +All recollection of his recent banquet seemed to have disappeared, +and so did Mrs. Bourke's bucket of beans and cakes, in double-quick +order. The reward was a bright silver dollar for the thoughtful +woman and a contract that she should come three times a day and +prepare the boys' meals. It would have been easier to have gone to +Buck's home, only a short distance away, but the boys were now +determined to stay in the corral, or leave it only one at a time. +However, they soon developed a taste for Mrs. Bourke's peculiar hot +wholesome dishes and these, with what provisions they had on hand, +were a fair substitute for Elmer's cooking. +</p> + +<p> +The frijoles having been disposed of, Ned at once went out, and was +fortunate in finding a load of rough lumber and a sort of +jack-carpenter. With the help of the boys a four foot-high series of +"horses" or frames was set up in the center of the corral. This was +for the car to rest on while it was being assembled. It was +elevated so that the propeller and aeroplanes and rudder could all +be tested after being set up. The propeller, 11.48 feet in length, +revolved in bearings four feet above the bottom of the car. +</p> + +<p> +After noonday refreshment the middle section of the car, to which +the engine was already attached, was carefully lifted into place +with the aid of the workmen, and then the laborers were paid off and +dismissed—all except the watchmen. From now on there was nothing +that the boys could not do themselves, and they wanted to be +undisturbed and alone. The putting together of the car was a treat +of which they had long dreamed and they were happy in their work. +</p> + +<p> +The remaining sections were easily laid on 'the "horses" and then +came the bolts and the bracing with piano wire. When brought +together the fifty-four foot long skeleton was in shape much like a +cigar. The main frame was six feet high, tapering to five feet at +each end. In depth the dimensions were the same. The engine rested +on the floor of the middle section and was accessible in all its +parts from that compartment. An elevation of the floor in the +forward part of this section made it possible for one to stand high +enough to have an outlook in all directions through openings in a +hooded elevation that projected above the top of the section. +</p> + +<p> +This hood was of a waterproof silk, coated with powdered aluminum, +that metal being used because of its semi-incombustibility. This +silk also covered the sides of the central compartment, making a +wind-, rain- and waterproof cabin. The lookout windows on all four +sides were covered with isinglass. The bottom of the framework of +the car forward and aft of the engine compartment had a ladder-like +flooring of spruce, inserted more for strengthening the car than for +service. But on top of the car, reaching from end to end, was a +continuous runway two feet wide which could be used in hurriedly +visiting either propeller or rudder. This runway was protected by +guide ropes of Italian hemp running through posts extended upward +from the sides of the car. The top of the engine compartment was +completely floored, making a platform 6 x 6.12 feet square. This +was surrounded by a protecting network, and Alan named it the +"bridge." +</p> + +<p> +A light rope-ladder extended into the engine cabin from an opening +in the roof, making the top floor space or bridge and the upper +runways quickly accessible. The gasoline reservoir, just forward of +the engine, was connected with the bridge by a copper supply pipe. +The extra supply of gasoline was to be carried on the bridge in the +open air, and lashed to the netting instead of being stored in +permanent reservoirs as is the usual practice. This was in order +that the empty vessels might be thrown overboard when it was +necessary to lighten the balloon. +</p> + +<p> +The other sections of the car were each 8 feet long and decreasing +in height from 6 feet next the cabin to 5 feet at the end of the +car. In the two sections just forward of the cabin and in the two +just aft provision had been made for attaching the eight liquid +hydrogen casks—four at each end. As this liquid was reconverted +into gas the light sheet-iron casings might likewise be cast +overboard to lighten the balloon. As needed, the liquid hydrogen +jars, coated with mercury, were to be taken from their casings and +carried to the bridge where the reconverter was located. +</p> + +<p> +Aft of the engine cabin was the store room for water and provisions. +The grooves and rods for the counterweights and equilibrium adjuster +ran in the middle of the upper footway and the propeller shaft +rested on the bottom of the forward section of the car. +</p> + +<p> +At ten o'clock that evening all the work on the car was finished +except the buckling on of the aluminum silk sides and the hanging of +the propeller, the rudder and the aeroplane sides. It was as long +and as hard a day's work as either of the boys had ever done. They +were dead tired, but happy, and after a sousing wash-up they got +into their pajamas and, throwing their blankets on the floor of the +little office, were soon fast asleep. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap15"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XV +</h3> + +<h3> +HOW JACK JELLUP LOST AN ARM +</h3> + +<p> +In spite of his fatigue Ned did not sleep soundly. It had been +threatening a thunder storm all evening and the increasing +oppressiveness of the air made the young, aeronaut wakeful. The +long whistle and jarring stop of the midnight local train finally +fully aroused him. In the west the thunder was rumbling and great +sheets of heat lightning promised a storm in a short time. After +slipping out into the corral and seeing that the waterproof silk +sides of the car were securely buttoned around the engine Ned +returned and again tried to go to sleep. +</p> + +<p> +But his restlessness continued. In his early sleep he had had a +vivid dream about the wagon expedition. In this he thought that +Marshal Jack Jellup had followed Elmer, Bob and Buck and set fire to +the wagons while his friends were asleep in camp. It was a relief +to awaken and find that the flash of light was lightning and not, as +he had imagined in his dream, an explosion of the gasoline carried +in Buck's big wagon. He lay awake awhile regretting the quarrel +with Jellup, and then he sank into a doze again. +</p> + +<p> +But his active brain would not rest. Again he fell into a dream. +This time the picture was very real. The big balloon had been +finished and launched. A thrill ran through him as he felt the +monster craft poise and waver and then slowly rise above the corral. +He could hear the cheers of those gathered about. But in the midst +of them he heard the sudden crack of a revolver. Jack Jellup had +put a bullet through the silken bulk of the bag. The cold +perspiration broke out on Ned's forehead. +</p> + +<p> +The dream was so real that he thought he could hear the taunting +voice of Jellup. In feverish excitement Ned sprang upright, to find +a pair of strong arms clasped about him. He did not cry out. A +wave of cold fear seemed to benumb his tongue and brain. He knew +this was no dream. +</p> + +<p> +Forced onto his back, his face and eyes partly covered by the +shoulders of his sudden captor, Ned's returning consciousness made +him aware that there was a dim light in the office. +</p> + +<p> +"It's Jellup, Ned," exclaimed in a whisper a sudden voice which Ned +instantly recognized as Alan's. +</p> + +<p> +"No more from you," exclaimed a rough voice in quick reply. "Here's +the rope, Domingo." +</p> + +<p> +The man on top of Ned knew his business. Almost before the boy +realized what was being done his hands and feet were caught in +dexterous knots and he was helpless. +</p> + +<p> +"Now," continued the other voice, "let's have a few minutes' talk." +</p> + +<p> +Ned's assailant had arisen, and for the first time the boy could +look about. In the center of the room, with a sputtering candle in +his hand, stood the revengeful Jellup. His companion Ned at once +remembered as one of the noisy court room spectators of the day +before. Between the two, clad in his pajamas and similarly bound, +was poor Alan. +</p> + +<p> +"Ye can stand or set, jist as ye like," began Jellup. "Me and me +deputy hev made this little visit to ye fur a purpose. The citizens +of this town is tired of yer carryin's on and they've just delegated +me to ascertain what it all means. We got a purty good idee." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, what is your idea?" interrupted Ned, slowly regaining his +composure and his natural defiance. +</p> + +<p> +"My idee is that ye don't need no flyin' machine anywhar except to +git away quick and what we want to know is what air ye goin' to take +with you when ye fly away?" +</p> + +<p> +"Nothing that doesn't belong to us," answered Ned, "if that is what +you mean." +</p> + +<p> +"Ye ain't, eh? I suppose ye don't know that thar's enough cow money +in our bank to be worth stealin'?" +</p> + +<p> +Both Ned and Alan looked at each other astounded. +</p> + +<p> +"You don't think we look like safe robbers, do you?" began Alan. +</p> + +<p> +"Ye look just slick enough fur that and more," retorted the marshal +who had placed the candle on the table and roughly pulled Ned to his +feet. "But I didn't come here to argy. Ye began by vilatin' the +law and ye didn't come the way down here for no fun. Ef that ain't +yer game, and we don't put it above ye, what's yer lay?" +</p> + +<p> +"There's only one answer," said Ned. "None of your business." +</p> + +<p> +The marshal shoved Ned nearer the table. +</p> + +<p> +"Mebbe ye want to apologize fur that little bluff of yers +yesterday—" +</p> + +<p> +"No," said Ned, "but I'll accept yours." +</p> + +<p> +Jellup's right hand was on his revolver. +</p> + +<p> +"I ain't hyar to make no threats," he exclaimed, "and ye don't need +to be afeered that I'm going to shoot ye. But I've got just one +other little proposition. Ef ye don't cotton to that, why, thar +ain't agoin' to be no Fourth o' July balloon ascension around hyar." +</p> + +<p> +Ned straightened up. +</p> + +<p> +"Your proposition can't be a fair one or you wouldn't come like a +thief at this time of night—" +</p> + +<p> +Jellup's pistol flashed in the air but fell back again as the +marshal's left hand shot upward and struck Ned full in the face. +Even as the tears sprang into the bound boys eyes and pain and anger +flushed his pallid face, the cowardly Jellup fell backward and +stumbled to the floor. Alan, standing just behind the man, had shot +his knees forward, striking Jellup's legs in the hollow of his +knees, and, thrown off his balance, the westerner lay sprawling on +the floor. Before the marshal's confederate could interfere, Alan, +tightly as he was bound, had flung himself on top of Jellup and with +all the power he could throw into the act had butted his head into +the marshal's face. +</p> + +<p> +Am oath and a cry of pain indicated how true the stroke had been. +Both Ned and the companion of Jellup sprang forward at the same time +and the four fell in a silent distorted heap. But the encounter was +unequal. In another moment both boys were lying side by side on the +floor and their captors stood over them. Even in the half light of +the little room both boys could see the blood-smeared cheek of the +marshal. +</p> + +<p> +Jellup's hand was on Domingo's arm holding him back from further +attack on the helpless boys and the marshal was restraining his +anger as a snake withholds its venom until it strikes. +</p> + +<p> +"Purty good," sneered the marshal, "and the funny thing is ye hain't +got a bullet through ye fur it. But my business ain't with dead +ones. Onct more, air ye goin' to say what ye'r a plannin' to do?" +</p> + +<p> +"Since it doesn't concern you in the least," said Ned, slowly, "no." +</p> + +<p> +Jellup was silent a moment. +</p> + +<p> +"Fur kids ye seem to have plenty o' money. Ye'r purty free +spenders. I'll give ye one more chance. Ef ye've got a thousand +dollars handy fur a kind of a bond as it were I guess that'll sort +o' protect us." +</p> + +<p> +"You mean for bribery?" exclaimed Alan. +</p> + +<p> +"No, just instead of stealing," angrily added Ned. "We haven't a +thousand dollars and if we had you couldn't get a cent of it. And +to save you some trouble I'll say that what we have is in your +bank." +</p> + +<p> +Another half-uttered oath sounded on Jellup's lips. +</p> + +<p> +"In thet case," retorted the marshal, "we'll jest show you that we +mean business. That's a lie about the bank. Produce or take the +consequences." +</p> + +<p> +"Help yourself," replied Ned, "if you think we are lying." +</p> + +<p> +"I ain't no pickpocket," retorted Jellup, "this is official. I tell +ye it's a bond and this is yer last chanct to make good." +</p> + +<p> +The boys remained silent. +</p> + +<p> +But Jellup's companion was already busy. Leaving the marshal to +stand guard over the boys he made a quick search of their clothing. +But Ned was not so used to money as to be careless in the handling +of it and the six hundred dollars that he had in gold was in a belt +carefully concealed in the top of the liquid hydrogen crate, which, +for safety, had been stored in a corner of the room. +</p> + +<p> +When the silent Domingo threw down the working garments of the boys +he took up the candle and began a tour of the room. The big black +liquid hydrogen crate attracted his attention and he approached it. +The red "Explosive—no fire" letters of warning apparently meant +nothing to him, but Jellup halted him with a sharp warning, followed +by a few words in Mexican. Domingo handed the candle to Jellup and +the latter stepped toward the box. +</p> + +<p> +"That means what it says," exclaimed Ned quickly and sharply. +</p> + +<p> +The crate stood as it had been carried from Washington with the top +on and the connecting hose extended upward through a hole made in +the low roof in order that the slowly accumulating reconverted gas +might escape in safety. +</p> + +<p> +"Mebbe," said Jellup, "mebbe yes and mebbe no. I guess they ain't +nothin' agoin' to explode that ain't set afire." +</p> + +<p> +Ned noticed with satisfaction that the lid was properly locked. +Jellup noticed it too. Without a word, he turned and easily found +Ned's keys. Again he approached the crate, looking over the keys. +</p> + +<p> +"Jellup," exclaimed Ned in alarm, "there's gas in that box, and if +you go near it with a light you'll blow us all up." +</p> + +<p> +"Gas, eh?" answered the eager Jellup. "Don't run no sich bluffs on +me." +</p> + +<p> +"I warn you," cried Ned as the man approached the box, "it's taking +your life in your hands." +</p> + +<p> +Something in the tone of Ned's voice must have alarmed Jellup, for +he paused. Then he retreated a few steps and handed the almost +burned out candle to the vigilant Domingo. +</p> + +<p> +"I allow I kin jest hev a look without no light to oblige you. I've +been purty curious about this precious package ever since I see it. +And ye'r a sight too anxious consarnin' my safety." +</p> + +<p> +What might really happen Ned did not exactly know. The gas +generated from the liquid hydrogen was highly inflammable and +explosive when confined. But the evaporation was exceedingly slow +and the exhaust hose should easily carry the forming gas in safety +to the air. But even a small accumulation might be in the partly +depleted bulbs or the top of the crate and a fire would certainly +ensue even if there was no violent explosion. And besides, just +beneath the lid was their money—the cash Ned had secured for their +further expenses and the return home. +</p> + +<p> +"We are anxious for all of us," explained Alan. +</p> + +<p> +"And mebbe anxious fur something else," sneered the marshal. "I +reckon a peek in the dark ain't agoin' to hurt no one—an' it may +help some." +</p> + +<p> +"Drop on your face, Alan," whispered Ned, "and lie flat." +</p> + +<p> +It was the only precaution they could take. Both felt that all +their plans might end in a moment. But Ned could not resist +watching—even though his face was close to the floor. He saw +Jellup examine each key, guess the right one at once and then insert +it in the lock. Yet, despite his assumed bravado, it was apparent +that the man had considerable apprehension. For, before he turned +the lock, he motioned to Domingo to retire further with the candle. +</p> + +<p> +Finally, as if summoning his courage, the avaricious marshal snapped +the key, threw back the catches on each end of the crate and then +slowly and gingerly and at arm's length began to lift the lid. With +the top an inch ajar he paused, waited a moment or two, and then +began sniffing as if searching for an odor. +</p> + +<p> +Ned saw him. +</p> + +<p> +"It doesn't smell," he explained quickly, "but it's there. Look +out!" +</p> + +<p> +"Don't smell!" retorted Jellup. "Gas as don't smell? Well, that's +agoin' some, I guess." +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless, he had dropped the lid. +</p> + +<p> +But as quickly recovering himself he reached forward again and with +a quick motion threw the top up and sprang back. +</p> + +<p> +To Ned's relief nothing happened. Either the light was too far away +or the gas had all been removed by the hose. But this relief was +quickly succeeded by another alarm. There had been no explosion, +but their financial means were now at the mercy of two thieves, and +he and his churn, bound and helpless, were powerless to protect +either themselves or their funds. There was nothing to be done but +to grin and bear it. For Ned's new leather money belt, containing +six hundred dollars in gold was stretched out conspicuously and at +full length on top of one of the two rows of glass bulbs in the +case. +</p> + +<p> +"Lyin', as I thought," exclaimed Jellup. "Gimme' the light, +Domingo." And the chuckle that followed almost instantly was +indication enough that he had discovered the boys' small fortune. +</p> + +<p> +"Dangerous, eh!" he laughed. "Now, we'll see if the city gits its +bond." +</p> + +<p> +Then he paused as if a thought had entered his head. +</p> + +<p> +"But, jest to keep the record clean, I reckon ye'd better give it to +me yerself, young 'un. Jack Jellup ain't no burglar. Loosen him +up, Domingo. And fur fear ye might need persuadin' jest take a peek +at this," and he drew his revolver. +</p> + +<p> +When Ned had been liberated, Jellup pointed to the money belt. +</p> + +<p> +"Jest be good enough to hand me whatever's in that," he exclaimed, +"without no hesitation. Then we'll have a little talk about what +else is agoin' to happen." +</p> + +<p> +It was hard to surrender so easily but the risk of attacking two +armed men single-handed was great. Ned walked slowly toward the +crate. +</p> + +<p> +"Get busy," ordered Jellup; "we've got other business yit to talk +of." +</p> + +<p> +Ned had a sudden impulse. The thing flashed on him and taking hold +of the belt in the middle he lifted it until the two ends were just +over an open-mouthed bulb of hydrogen, and then as if by accident +dropped the belt into the jar. The clear, watery liquid splashed +and the belt disappeared. +</p> + +<p> +"Water," shouted the eager Jellup, "Jist plain water." And as Ned +sprang back the gold-fevered marshal sprang forward and plunged his +hand into the liquid. +</p> + +<p> +He did not immediately know that his hand was in the depth of a +liquid whose temperature was 423 degrees below zero. But the thin +film of gas that instantly formed and protected his naked flesh +dissipated in a moment and then one benumbing, paralyzing shock +swept over Jack Jellup's body. +</p> + +<p> +With a cry wrung from him by pain such as few mortals have ever +experienced and survived, the stricken man fell unconscious to the +floor—his arm frozen as solid as crystallized steel. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap16"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XVI +</h3> + +<h3> +READY TO "LET GO ALL" +</h3> + +<p> +In the confusion that followed the sudden extinction of the candle, +while Ned was freeing Alan and Jack Jellup was uttering heartrending +groans, the marshal's confederate lost his nerve and made his +escape. When a lantern had been procured, immediate attention was +given to the stricken man. +</p> + +<p> +Ned hastened to secure a bucket of water. Wrapping the corner of a +blanket about the handle of a tin dipper he ladled out a spoonful of +the liquid hydrogen and, although the numbing chill ran through his +fingers and up his arm, he managed to pour the hydrogen into the +contents of the bucket. +</p> + +<p> +The pail of lukewarm water became almost instantly a cake of solid +ice. As Ned dropped the tin dipper to the hard adobe floor it flew +into a hundred pieces. The inconceivable cold had crystallized the +metal until the slightest shock was sufficient to break it into +pieces. +</p> + +<p> +At the sound of the crashing tin Ned instantly thought of the belt +of gold yet in the hydrogen jar. But a human being was in pain, and +he gave his first attention to the suffering marshal. He had made +the ice to use in drawing the frost out of Jellup's frozen arm. In +a few moments he had mashed a portion of the ice into small bits, +and using a blanket to make a pack, he soon had Jellup's rigid arm +encased in the fine ice. This he applied for the same reason that +snow and ice water are applied to frozen ears and noses. But his +treatment was of no avail. +</p> + +<p> +The rain was now falling steadily and it was dark, but Ned found +that it was nearly day—a little after four o'clock. Jellup's +suffering was so extreme that the boys had given him a hypodermic +insertion of morphine, using their "snake-bite" outfit, and in a few +minutes the man's ravings ceased and he quieted into a deep sleep. +</p> + +<p> +While awaiting this, attention was given the gold. Feeling free to +approach the now open jars with a light it was seen that a portion +of, the belt protruded above the liquid. A cord with a sailor slip +knot was lowered over the extended bit of leather, drawn taut with a +jerk and the belt was slowly lifted out. A folded blanket had been +placed on the floor to receive it. As Ned expected, the leather +crumbled and broke like glass as the belt fell on the soft blanket. +</p> + +<p> +"If you want change for a twenty-dollar gold piece just tap one of +those with a stick." said Ned, laughing and pointing to the gold +pieces scattered among the broken fragments of the belt. +</p> + +<p> +"Not I," exclaimed Alan, "not after what happened to the tin +dipper." +</p> + +<p> +Leaving Alan to watch over the unconscious Jellup and the frozen +gold, Ned dressed himself, and in spite of the rain hastened out in +the just perceptible dawn to carry out a plan he and Alan had agreed +upon. An hour later, with the assistance of Mayor Bradley, the +marshal, now somewhat easier, was placed in a bed in his own home. +Unless the silent Mexican told it no soul in all Clarkeville other +than Mayor Bradley and the air ship boys knew why Jellup was absent +from his haunts and his post of duty that day. Nor did many of them +ever know, when Jellup reappeared on the streets after weeks of +suffering, how he had been injured. They only knew that his right +arm was gone and that he was no longer marshal. +</p> + +<p> +The rain ceased with the coming of the day. +</p> + +<p> +"If we don't get away pretty soon," suggested Alan, as Ned was +getting into dry clothing preparatory to tackling another of Mrs. +Buck's meals, "this thing will be getting on my nerves." +</p> + +<p> +"Well," answered Ned philosophically, "there is mighty little worth +having in this world that isn't hard to get." +</p> + +<p> +If all went well that day the boys hoped to be ready to make their +departure that night or the next morning. Therefore they went to +work with a vim. Both felt more comfortable when, after finding +that the gold coins had returned to their normal condition, they had +again concealed them. The propeller, rudder and aeroplane guides +were now put in place and tested. +</p> + +<p> +As the engine, with a speed of 1,400 revolutions but geared down to +800, began to turn the shaft and the twelve-foot propeller began to +revolve, Ned swung his hat in the air. Without a break the speed +increased to 500, 600, and then 700 revolutions a minute. +</p> + +<p> +"Shut her off," exclaimed Alan joyously, as the white arms flew +round and round and the air shot backwards on both sides of the long +car. At 750 revolutions the car was rocking and lurching as if it +would soar birdlike into the air. At 800 the powerful pulling +propeller began to overcome the rigidity of the framework on which +the car rested and as Alan caught and held the car, fearful that it +was about to fly away under the propeller power alone, Ned shut off +the engine. +</p> + +<p> +The next instant the two boys, with clasped hands, were doing an +Indian war dance in their glee. +</p> + +<p> +It was not long until the rudder wires and the aeroplane shafts had +been attached to their proper guide wheels in the lookout or pilot +portion of the engine cabin. Then came the preparation of the +balloon bag itself. Here again Ned showed what he had accomplished +in the six weeks he had spent in the East. +</p> + +<p> +Clearing a space near the generating tanks, they placed the one +hundred sand bags, weighing forty pounds each, in parallel rows. +These sacks, with convenient loops on each for attaching the rigging +of the bag as it was being filled, had already been prepared by the +"greaser" laborers, but the placing of the two tons of dead weight +was not a joke, and the boys regretted that they had not kept a few +men around. But by noon this was done, and then the great +waterproof fiber trunk containing the silk bag was rolled out +between the retaining bags. The boys could not carry it, as the +balloon itself weighed seven hundred and twenty pounds, but they +improvised rollers and with many a laughing "yo he ho" finally +accomplished the task. +</p> + +<p> +The bag had been made by one of the leading aeronautical engineers +of America, whose factory, strangely enough, was in one of the small +inland towns of New York State. In a spirit of humor the +manufactory had been termed the "Balloon Farm," and so famous was it +that Ned had even planned to spend a part of his summer vacation +visiting it. When Major Honeywell gave him the opportunity, Ned was +at once determined to utilize every advanced idea of the skilled +owner, whatever the cost. +</p> + +<p> +The result was a machine-varnished and, as nearly as such a thing +was possible, hydrogen gas-proof bag. In the construction of this +the experienced manufacturer and engineer, who was no other than +Professor Carl E. Meyers, the hero of hundreds of ascents, had used +a new machine which applied simultaneously to both sides of the bag +fabric several thin films of elastic varnish. The bag itself +consisted of two layers of Japan silk between which was a layer of +rubber, all being sewed together and then vulcanized. +</p> + +<p> +But the balloon trunk was not opened at once. The pipe to convey +the gas from the cooler and purifying tank had been brought in +four-foot lengths of light wood, cemented and shellacked. Eight +lengths of these were laid to the center of the cleared place and +then the joints were wound with binding cement tape. When these +things had been satisfactorily adjusted it was mid-afternoon. +Everything now seemed ready for the filling up of the generating +tanks, the inflation, the flight, and "good-bye." +</p> + +<p> +Therefore, a final consultation was held. Wind tests conducted each +day had shown the prevailing breezes favorable, or at least not +against the aeronauts. The inflation would require approximately +ten hours. If begun at once this would make the departure possible +about midnight. This was not undesirable as the absence of the hot +southwestern sun would make the gas easier to control. But another +thing had to be taken into consideration. Only four days had +elapsed since Elmer and Bob and Buck had started. Were they yet at +the rendezvous? +</p> + +<p> +"I don't see what difference that makes," said Alan. "We expect to +sail directly north and east of the foothills. If they have not +reached their camp they must be nearly there and on the way. We've +got to locate them with our glasses anyway. Let's start and pick +them up where we find them." +</p> + +<p> +"True enough," answered Ned. "The way the engine is working, in +this light favoring wind, we ought to make eighteen miles an hour +anyway. If we leave at midnight, by five o'clock in the morning we +can be ninety miles north. The only trouble is in the handling of +the bag. It's going to take at least twenty men to move the +inflated bag from the retaining weights to the car and we can't make +the rigging fast in the dark. We'd better begin work at four +o'clock to-morrow morning, as soon as it begins to be light, and get +away about two in the afternoon. I think we'll see our friends +about seven or just at dark, if we do." +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap17"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XVII +</h3> + +<h3> +AN INTERRUPTED FLIGHT +</h3> + +<p> +And so it was arranged. The young aeronauts thus had all afternoon +to store provisions, water, gasoline and the instruments. The +altitude barometer, the recording thermometer, the statoscope and +recording hygrometer, together with the telescopic camera were each +given a place on the bridge and lashed to the netting. The +twenty-five-foot rope-ladder, strong but light, that was to hang +below the car, and the anchor and drag rope, were attached, the name +pennant of white with the word "Cibola" resplendent in blue, "turquoise +blue," explained Ned—was unfurled on its little staff just abaft the +big propeller, and a new silk American flag was laid out it the stern +of the car to be run up on its halyards as soon as the bag was attached. +</p> + +<p> +Then came the careful transfer of the liquid hydrogen. One at a +time the cast iron eases were carried from the building, hoisted +aboard the car and lashed in place. Before supper Ned had time to +go to the depot and send a telegram to Major Honeywell, who was yet +in Chicago. It read: +</p> + +<p> +"Ready for inflation. All O. K. Sail at 2 P. M. to-morrow, August +11." +</p> + +<p> +He then visited "Saloon Row" and arranged for twenty men to report +at four o'clock the next morning. No chances were to be taken that +night. Dividing the hours up to four A. M. into two watches, the +two boys had supper and Ned was soon fast asleep on the floor of the +car "trying it out." +</p> + +<p> +At the first blush of dawn the corral gates were thrown open and in +a short time all the men engaged reported. Some of them were put to +work dumping the heavy iron filings into the big oak gas generators +and Ned and Alan began the delicate work of laying out the bag, +bottom side up the thin silken folds of the golden shell were slowly +lifted and laid on the ground. When the bottom filling valve had +been attached to the wooden gas conduits the mammoth sections of the +long gas receptacle were stretched out on top and then carefully +smoothed until an even inflation was assured. +</p> + +<p> +This done, the rigging trunk was opened and the seine-like mass of +delicate hemp cords laid over the bag. No "greasers" were permitted +to assist in this. Ned and Alan, in bare feet, laboriously but +carefully drew the silk folds of the bag into the net. When this +was completed the suspension cords reached out in all directions +like skeleton fingers. In a quarter of an hour these had been +attached to the retaining bags with slip knots and then the boys +were surprised to find that it was already after six o'clock. At +their best they could not now hope to reach the relief camp before +nine o'clock and after dark. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Buck came with a huge pot of coffee for all, and then followed +the last step. One by one, borne on the shoulders of the curious +workmen, the dangerous carboys of sulphuric acid were emptied into +the generating tanks. The boys guided each step of the men, +explaining the danger, and the work was finally completed without +hitch or accident. +</p> + +<p> +At the first bubble of gas the boys felt like doing another war +dance. But they were "business men" now and had to put on dignity +in the face of their employees. In two hours the reaction of the +bubbling acid had sent enough hydrogen through the purifier to raise +the bag shoulder-high and everything was going splendidly. The boys +had removed their working clothes and were now in the light but warm +canvas suits and caps they meant to wear in their flight. +</p> + +<p> +Ned stole away a few minutes and at the bank secured bills to pay +off the men. On his way back he stopped to invite Mayor Bradley to +lunch with them on the Cibola and to be present at the "let go." By +noon the men had been paid and the articles of baggage and tools +that were to be left behind had been packed, tagged with shipping +directions and turned over to Buck's wife. +</p> + +<p> +The cigar-like bag, 98.4 feet long and 17.4 feet in diameter, which +was to hold over 65,000 feet of gas, was now so far inflated that it +was nearly off the ground. Then Mayor Bradley came. With pride the +boys bade him climb into the cabin of the Cibola. +</p> + +<p> +"You won't find anything hot in a balloon, Mr. Mayor," laughed Ned, +"except the reception. Make yourself at home." +</p> + +<p> +On the bridge of the craft the two boys and their guest had +luncheon. Cold potted chicken and baked beans served on wooden +plates with hardtack and water, and sweet chocolate for dessert, was +the simple meal, but it tasted like a feast. +</p> + +<p> +"Have you christened the craft yet?" finally asked the Mayor who had +absorbed some of the enthusiasm of the young aeronauts. +</p> + +<p> +"That's for you to do," politely answered Ned. +</p> + +<p> +The luncheon was hurried to a finish, for the boys could see that +the bag needed final attention. It had risen higher and higher and +was now swaying and tugging at the suspension ropes. Both boys +alighted and at once began straightening the extension ropes. Here +and there where the cordage net was out of place they pulled down +the bag and adjusted the rigging. Finally a little after three +o'clock, the great case had filled out until its smooth glistening +sides resembled the skin of a fat sausage. +</p> + +<p> +"All ready!" ordered Ned as he shut of the valve of the cooling and +purifying box. "Now, every man bear a hand." +</p> + +<p> +One at a time the extension cords were untied from the retaining +bags, and each of the workmen was given four of the light but strong +lines. The Mayor himself passed among the men with stern +injunctions to hold fast. As the last cord was loosed the great +tugging bag was held wholly by the scared men. Then, with slow and +measured steps, the double line of assistants advanced to the car +and along each side of it. +</p> + +<p> +"All steady," commanded Ned when each man had been placed; "now hang +onto her." +</p> + +<p> +Then he and Alan, springing into the car, began the work of making +it fast to the bag. There was a place marked for each of the +extension ropes, and the air ship builders, beginning at each end of +the car, carefully adjusted and tied the end of each rope to the +frame of the ship. As the cords were taken from the attendants the +men took hold of the lower framework of the car, and to make doubly +sure each man was cautioned to throw his entire weight into the +work. +</p> + +<p> +At last the final rope was made fast, and three thousand pounds of +human flesh and muscle were holding the tugging balloon. Ned, +covered with perspiration, and nervous but happy, was hastily +connecting the compensating balloon tube with the hand blower on the +bridge, and Alan had run astern to tie the new national colors to +the halyards swinging from the end of the bag. +</p> + +<p> +"Hold on," cried Ned seeing that Alan was ready to run up the stars +and stripes. "Just a moment. Are you all ready, Mr. Mayor?" +</p> + +<p> +"All ready," came the answer from the town official, as he stood on +a box, his hat off and a revolver in his hand. +</p> + +<p> +"With a western salute I christen this balloon the 'Cibola,'" he +exclaimed, and a shot punctuated his speech. "Good luck and +goodbye!" +</p> + +<p> +As the shot sounded Alan's flag ran fluttering upwards. Ned's eyes +took one final look fore and aft and then he leaned over the car for +the last words for which all were waiting. +</p> + +<p> +They were on his lips and the eyes of twenty straining men were +fixed on him to hear the command, "Let go." One nervous attendant, +apparently thinking the order had been given, threw up his arms with +a shout. +</p> + +<p> +At that instant there was a second sharp pistol shot, and a quick +cry from the street outside the corral. +</p> + +<p> +"Hold on there, all of you!" shouted Ned. His dream had rushed back +to him with a sickening chill. Had some one shot at the towering +bag? "Hold on!" he yelled. +</p> + +<p> +At that moment there was another shout and Bob Russell, his face red +with the sun and his shirt wet with perspiration, walked into the +corral. In his right hand was gripped a revolver and in his left a +repeating rifle. In front of him, and prodded on by Bob's pistol, +was the Mexican, Domingo, Jack Jellup's tool and fellow thief. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap18"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XVIII +</h3> + +<h3> +FREE AND AFLOAT AT LAST +</h3> + +<p> +This is what had happened. +</p> + +<p> +At the time of the rain storm, two days before, Buck and his +cavalcade were in camp on the bank of the dry Chusco, sixty miles +north of Clarkeville. The experienced scout knew that a water +supply was now assured, and he at once followed prearranged orders +by instructing Bob to return with the smaller wagon. This was a sad +blow to the young reporter, but it was a part of his contract and he +knew that it was his duty to obey. And with necessity before him, +he acted promptly. Emptying the heavy casks, Bob started on the +back trail at five the following morning, and by night had made +thirty miles with the light wagon. All day he wondered if it might +not be possible to reach Clarkeville again before the Cibola sailed. +</p> + +<p> +The next morning, spurred on by the hope that he might do this, he +started at daybreak. By the middle of the morning he was on the old +wagon trail and making better time. Some time after two o'clock he +came up over the rise of the last foothills and saw, eight miles +away, the glistening shape which he at once knew was the inflated +balloon. He hesitated a moment and then, unhitching the horses, +mounted one bareback and began a dash for the town. The animals +were tired and worn, and progress was slow, but it beat walking, and +Bob urged them on. +</p> + +<p> +As the young reporter came nearer and the balloon grew more distinct +he knew that it would be a close call. From time to time as the +winded horses dropped into a walk Bob wondered why he was making +such a race. "I can't go with them," he argued. But, like the +trained reporter, he decided that no effort was wasted that gave him +new information. And it was something out of the ordinary to see +the most complete balloon ever made start on a mysterious flight +into the wilderness. +</p> + +<p> +So he spurred up the horses anew. The hot sun reflected from the +yellow sands burnt his face and his muscles were sore, but he stuck +to it. When half a mile from the town he could see the boys on the +bridge of the Cibola. When a quarter of a mile away he decided that +he could beat the horses by going afoot, and, throwing himself to +the ground, he ran onward, knowing that the tired animals would +follow. Out of breath he reached the edge of the town and stumbled +on toward the corral. +</p> + +<p> +With head down he plunged forward. Almost at his goal he threw his +head up for breath just in time to notice a kneeling man with a +rifle at his shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +"Hey!" yelled Bob with what breath he had. +</p> + +<p> +Then he saw that the man was aiming directly at the balloon swaying +above the nearby corral fence. He also recognized the man instantly +as one of the sullen court spectators, and Jellup's crony. The +rifleman dropped the muzzle of his gun and turned. +</p> + +<p> +"I guess I am something of a gun man," explained Bob later to the +boys, "for I had that new revolver of mine on the 'greaser' before I +knew what I was doing myself. I didn't even then realize what he +was about to do. But I had the drop on him and when I figured out +that he meant to put a hole in the balloon, why, I just had him +right. And here he is." +</p> + +<p> +Alan looked at Ned. Both boys were puzzled. A few moment's talk +with Russell explained the whole situation. The balloon was ready +and the relief expedition was undoubtedly now in camp awaiting them. +It needed only the words and they would be off with the inquisitive +reporter left safely behind. And yet the word did not come. Ned +and Alan stood looking at Bob, and the reporter gazed in turn at the +beautiful straining car. Bob's face was a study. He had now made +some return to Ned for possibly saving his own life, but none of the +boys was thinking of that. In Bob's fine young face was the longing +of a child. In Ned's and Alan's faces were the traces of boyish +sympathy. +</p> + +<p> +The young aeronauts were very close to each other and all were +silent. Then Alan turned slowly to Ned and with a little quaver in +his voice whispered, "Shall we?" +</p> + +<p> +Ned made no answer. A smile lit up his face and he sprang down the +little ladder into the engine cabin followed by his chum. Almost +instantly the trap door in the floor of the car dropped down. A +moment later three fifty-pound sacks of ballast tumbled through the +door to the ground beneath. The bag tugged and strained as Ned +reappeared above. +</p> + +<p> +"Hurry up, Bob, if you're going with us," he said quietly, leaning +over the net of the bridge, "and close the door as you come up." +</p> + +<p> +Bob hesitated, as if he had not heard aright, but then he +understood, and with tears in his eyes be sprang forward. There was +a jar and Ned knew the new passenger was aboard. +</p> + +<p> +"All ready?" he called sharply from the bridge. +</p> + +<p> +"Aye, aye, captain," came in a choking but jubilant voice from the +inside of the cabin. +</p> + +<p> +"Stand by, everybody," sharply ordered Ned. And then, as Bob's +shoulders appeared through the hatchway, the commander of the air +ship gave a final look about. +</p> + +<p> +"Let go all," he cried sharply. "Everybody!" +</p> + +<p> +For a moment only one clinging workman careened the buoyant craft +and then, straight up, the Cibola bounded like a rubber ball. +</p> + +<p> +"Good-bye, all," came from Ned, cap in hand, as he leaned from the +bridge. +</p> + +<p> +There were cheers from below and the Cibola was at last free and +afloat. +</p> + +<p> +"Sit down here and keep quiet," sharply ordered Ned as Bob crawled +out on deck. Then the commander of the balloon disappeared below. +</p> + +<p> +There were almost immediately several sharp, muffled explosions, and +then the white propeller began to turn. The balloon was drifting +quickly toward the northwest and rising—Bob could see its shadow +following on the sandy plain. Then the arms of the propeller turned +faster and faster and a velvet whirr in the cabin showed that the +engine was falling to work. As the propeller blades settled into a +steady hum the vibration of the car indicated increased speed. This +Bob could also detect from the more swiftly flying shadow. +</p> + +<p> +The shadow was also growing smaller, and this meant that the Cibola +was still ascending. Now the shadow paused and turned. Alan had +thrown the rudder over and the balloon had responded instantly. The +aeroplane arms stretched out horizontally on each side of the car. +Ned, reappearing, took a quick look at the altitude gauge and again +disappeared. The aeroplane arms dipped in front almost forty-five +degrees and the current, blown back by the propeller, struck them +with a jar. The craft again responded and slowly took a downward +slant. +</p> + +<p> +Propeller, rudder and aeroplane being at work, Ned again appeared. +</p> + +<p> +"Go below," he ordered sharply, "and bear a hand when needed." +</p> + +<p> +Bob did so. Alan was on the pilot platform with his hands on the +wheel controlling the rudder wires. His eyes were fixed straight +ahead. +</p> + +<p> +"See that lever," he said, jerking his head to the left. +</p> + +<p> +Bob quickly discovered the aeroplane guider control and sprang to +it. +</p> + +<p> +"Wait for orders," added Alan. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap19"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XIX +</h3> + +<h3> +THE FIRST FLIGHT +</h3> + +<p> +The balloon was still sliding downwards and swiftly forward. For +several minutes the three boys stood in silence. Only the steady +whirr of the engine and a musical humming of vibrating wires could +be heard. Bob wondered if they were headed earthward again, for he +could see the approaching foothills widening out beneath. At last, +when they could not have been over five hundred feet from the +ground, came the quick order: +</p> + +<p> +"Right the planes." +</p> + +<p> +Bob was almost caught napping, for he was busy looking through the +window. But his hands responded instantly, and he almost choked +with chagrin to find that he had started to throw the lever the +wrong way. But his recovery of himself was instant and with a +desperate pull he forced the guiding planes back horizontally. The +glide downward stopped and the Cibola shot forward with renewed +speed. +</p> + +<p> +On the bridge Ned held a fluttering chart before him. +</p> + +<p> +"How is she heading?" he called to Pilot Alan at the wheel. With a +glance at the compass before him Alan promptly responded: +</p> + +<p> +"Nor'nor'east." +</p> + +<p> +"Make it north by east." +</p> + +<p> +A quick slight movement and a strain told that the alteration had +been made. +</p> + +<p> +"North by east it is," sang out Alan. +</p> + +<p> +"Keep her there," was the echoing response. +</p> + +<p> +Bob was thrilled. Every word was to him a joy. Everything had +happened so quickly that he hardly knew what it all meant, but he +was happy. Even the sudden discipline pleased him and he was glad +to be a part of it. The knowledge that a younger boy was giving him +orders did not bother him. He had skill in his own line, but he saw +and realized that in the Cibola Ned Napier was in charge and meant +business. +</p> + +<p> +For some time then no word was heard. The Cibola, speeding, swiftly +onward, had crossed the low foothills and was pulling herself +through the almost breezeless air like a modern liner, five hundred +feet above the ground. She was holding her course beautifully. +Then Ned appeared and tested the gas exhaust and oil feed of the +engine. +</p> + +<p> +"Were you ever in a balloon before?" he said when he had finished, +turning sharply towards Bob. +</p> + +<p> +"Never," answered Bob, glad enough for a chance to say something. +</p> + +<p> +"Have you any matches?" somewhat sternly asked the commander of the +Cibola. +</p> + +<p> +"Sure," replied Bob reaching in his pocket and finding one. +</p> + +<p> +"Any more? All of them." +</p> + +<p> +Surprised, Bob searched his clothes and discovered a few more which +he obediently handed over to his superior officer. Noting the look +of surprise in the reporter's face Ned laughed. +</p> + +<p> +"The first rule in a balloon is 'No fire.' But beginners forget, +sometimes; we can't take this chance with you." +</p> + +<p> +"Take anything I have got," answered Bob with his old smile, which +had now been in eclipse for some time, "and if I can speak at last I +want to say that you boys are white, clean white, through and +through. Didn't you need that ballast?" +</p> + +<p> +"We may need it badly," said Ned, laughing. "If it should become +necessary I suppose you won't mind if we throw you overboard." +</p> + +<p> +"No," retorted Bob, "not if it is a little at, a time. But you're +bricks—both of you—if I thank you I'll cry." The tears were again +in his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, it wasn't the thing to do, I suppose," said Ned turning away, +"but you looked so hungry to go, and I knew what it meant. So I +thought we'd just give you a little ride up to the camp." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, of course," answered Bob slowly as his hopes fell. "Put me +out wherever you like," he added. +</p> + +<p> +"You can go up now and have a look around," said Ned at last, "both +of you. I'll take the wheel." +</p> + +<p> +The relieved boys scrambled onto the bridge deck. Night was coming +on and the mountains to the west were already black. Evening +shadows were lengthening on the sloping plains beneath and a gentle, +rising breeze flapped the flag and pennant and swayed the bag above +them. Beneath, the Chusco wound its half dry course and off to the +east a blue haze, melting into the unending sand, told of a treeless +and waterless waste. +</p> + +<p> +"And there," exclaimed Alan at last, pointing off to the northwest +where snow-capped, ragged peaks rose out of a black jumble of +mountains, "are the Tunit Chas and the land of our dreams. +To-morrow—" +</p> + +<p> +"One moment," interrupted Bob quickly. "I think you are forgetting. +That is your secret and not mine." +</p> + +<p> +Alan flushed. "I forgot," he said with a stammer, "and I thank +you." +</p> + +<p> +"I can't afford to make you sorry you brought me," added Bob, "and +you are not going to be." +</p> + +<p> +There was a little jar. The propeller slackened a trifle, and Alan +explained that Ned had headed the Cibola another point into the +freshening breeze. +</p> + +<p> +"Steward," said Ned from below, "it's seven o'clock and I'm hungry. +Besides, it's getting pretty dark down here." +</p> + +<p> +Alan and Bob looked at each other and laughed. +</p> + +<p> +"That certainly means me," exclaimed Bob, and both boys clambered +below. With Alan's help Bob made his first examination of the store +room. +</p> + +<p> +The meal was rather haphazard, as the boys, carried away by the +excitement of their new flight, had neglected to eat when it was +light. But water and hardtack were easily accessible, and Alan, +taking the first two cans at hand, found happily that they contained +sardines and veal loaf. +</p> + +<p> +"We'll eat on deck," suggested Ned, as he set the wheel and had +another look at the engine, which had not missed a revolution. +</p> + +<p> +The night that greeted them was magnificent. The moon was not yet +up, but the stars were scintillating in the inky sky and the deep +silence of the clouds and desert was about them. Bob gazed as if +spellbound. The charm of the night appealed to him as it did to Ned +and Alan; but with it his brain formed phrases—"cloudland by +night," "a dash to the stars." The reporter in him was thinking +"copy." +</p> + +<p> +"Hey, there, wake up!" cried practical Ned. +</p> + +<p> +Bob flew to his task; with a turn he had the veal loaf can open and +had dumped its contents in the wooden plate held by Alan. +</p> + +<p> +In another moment he would have thrown the empty can overboard but +the watchful Ned, ready for another lesson in aeronautics, caught +his hand. +</p> + +<p> +"Don't you like the route we are taking?" laughed Ned. +</p> + +<p> +Bob's face showed he did not understand. +</p> + +<p> +"The loss of the weight of that can might send us sparing upward a +thousand feet," explained Ned dryly, "so don't cast over ballast +until you get orders." +</p> + +<p> +Bob shook his head. "Well doesn't that beat all," he exclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +As night fell and the air grew heavier, the barometer showed that +the Cibola had a tendency to rise. The aeroplanes were readjusted +and then for an hour the craft sped on untouched. At eight o'clock +Ned said: +</p> + +<p> +"We haven't traveled over eighteen miles in an hour and we've been +afloat four hours. If we are still over the Chusco and Elmer and +Buck are at the appointed place we may be within ten or twelve miles +of them." +</p> + +<p> +"They are going to burn three small camp fires set in a triangle, +you remember," remarked Bob. +</p> + +<p> +"Therefore," suggested. Ned, "all keep a sharp lookout." +</p> + +<p> +At half past eight Ned showed some concern. No lights had been +sighted and the reckoning showed that they must be within two or +three miles of the probable location of the camp. Another fifteen +minutes went by, and yet no signal fires were seen. They had now +passed over the junction of the two rivers, if their calculations +were right, and Ned and Alan were in a quandary. +</p> + +<p> +"It's no use to go on," commented Ned; "so we'll just make a wide +circle and see what we can find." +</p> + +<p> +It was also useless to look below. In the darkness there was no +sight of either river or desert. +</p> + +<p> +"It we don't pick them up in that way," continued Ned, "we'll +descend and tie up for the night." +</p> + +<p> +Both Ned and Alan went below, and with the engine shut down to half +speed the Cibola was turned on her course in a wide sweep. Bob +alone watched with anxious eyes, until he was joined in a short time +by Ned. There was no sound but the soft chug-chug of the engine, +and for some time neither spoke. The breeze of the early evening +had died and there was not a breath of air. Alan in the dark cabin +below held the wheel and Ned and Bob alone, hanging over the side +net, watched and listened in vain. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap20"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XX +</h3> + +<h3> +FIGHTING INDIANS WITH A SEARCHLIGHT +</h3> + +<p> +"Stop her!" It was Ned's voice in quick command. The young +aeronaut, peering over the side of the car of the Cibola into the +black night, had suddenly seen something that prompted the order. +It was a distant flash of light. This was followed by an echoing +explosion. The other boys heard the explosion and all instantly +knew that it was a shot from a firearm. Almost before Alan could +shut off the power Ned had disappeared into the cabin to help head +the balloon in the direction of the spurt of fire. The Cibola +slackened speed and they waited, drifting slowly toward the east. +Then, suddenly, and almost together came two streaks of fire and two +more explosions. +</p> + +<p> +"One of them might mean a signal," said Ned gravely, "but they were +not from the same spot. If it were Elmer he would have the three +fires. If it is Elmer and Buck and they can't make a fire and are +shooting I am afraid it means trouble." +</p> + +<p> +"It may mean Indians," suggested Bob, "and they may have put out +their fires for safety." +</p> + +<p> +"They might even be holding off an attack of some kind," added Alan +anxiously. +</p> + +<p> +Just then there was another crack of a firearm now a little nearer. +The Cibola was drifting directly toward the sound, but very slowly, +and would soon have lost all headway. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't want to be presumptuous," said Bob in a low voice, "but +can't we land and find out what the trouble is?" +</p> + +<p> +"We can find out without landing," replied Alan. +</p> + +<p> +It was so dark in the cabin that the boys could only dimly see each +other, but Ned was groping about near the silent engine. In a +moment he had secured from the ammunition case a storage electric +light, and cautiously shading the lens with his cap he asked Bob to +hold it. Then he turned to his chum. +</p> + +<p> +"I didn't know just how we would use our little drop light," he +began; "but it seems that the idea wasn't half bad. There is a +tribe of Indians not far from here that would steal a horse or cut a +man's throat quickly enough—the renegade or Southern Utes." As he +spoke he was digging in a chest extracting various small parcels. +"Not even the other Indians have any use for the Utes. And there is +only one thing to do. We must first find out if our friends are +below." +</p> + +<p> +With the help of the flashlight Bob could we that Ned held in his +hand a large, high candle-power incandescent bulb and was adjusting +it in a silver reflector. +</p> + +<p> +"With an electric light?" exclaimed Bob. +</p> + +<p> +"Why not?" replied Ned. "And the help of our little dynamo." +</p> + +<p> +Ned took the flashlight, held it under his coat, and crawled around +in front of the silent engine. "It's here," he explained for Bob's +benefit, "and I am just throwing the gear onto the propeller shaft." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, if you are afraid to show this little light why aren't you +afraid to show a brighter light?" asked the observing reporter. +</p> + +<p> +Alan answered him. +</p> + +<p> +"We are only afraid because it might draw an attack from some +observer. Balloonists are never safe from meddlesome persons or +worse. But there isn't the same danger if the light isn't on the +balloon." +</p> + +<p> +"Sure," said Bob. "I understand that. But you can't hold it very +far away." +</p> + +<p> +"No," answered Ned, "that's why we braided two good copper wires in +our drag rope." As he said this he opened the trap door in the +floor of the cabin and feeling about in the dark soon had hold of +the coiled drag. +</p> + +<p> +"I guess I'm dull," began Bob. +</p> + +<p> +"No," interrupted Alan, "only you haven't given two or three years +to figuring out the possibilities of an air ship." +</p> + +<p> +Ned was attaching the bulb, reflector down, to the end of the rope. +</p> + +<p> +"That rope is three hundred feet long. A light at the end of it is +quite a way from our bag. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, I see," exclaimed Bob at last. "If we find Indians and they +shoot at our searchlight they are pretty sure to miss us." +</p> + +<p> +"That is the theory," answered Ned. +</p> + +<p> +And then the plan in Ned's mind was explained. The engine was to be +started at quarter speed, which meant that the sound would be +imperceptible; and, lying on the floor of the cabin, Ned was to +direct the movements of the ship, with Alan at the rudder wheel and +Bob at the aeroplane guider. +</p> + +<p> +"A quarter to ten o'clock," said Ned glancing at his watch as he +shut off the concealed flashlight, "and now start her up." +</p> + +<p> +As Alan started the engine and it began to turn the propeller they +could tell by the light breeze that the car was moving again, but +very slowly. The other boys could also hear Ned delicately paying +out the long drag rope. At last it was all out. Then Ned crawled +forward again to the dynamo and up to the partly open floor of the +car and whispered that he was ready. The multiple gear was already +speeding the little generator swiftly. +</p> + +<p> +"Lie down on the floor and watch," murmured Ned softly, "I'm going +to turn her on." +</p> + +<p> +Alan and Bob did so. As their two heads filled the open trap in the +cabin floor there was a click and then, as if some necromancy had +focused the sun on a part of the darkened world, a circle of light +seemed to spring out of the desert beneath. Yellow, with here and +there a ragged rock and a sage brush or two, the shadows of the +rocks and brush black like spilled ink, and the sand glaring back at +them with almost quivering brightness, the circle shot back and +forth as the light followed the swinging rope. But no living thing +was in sight. A click and all was black again. +</p> + +<p> +"Nothing doing," exclaimed Bob. +</p> + +<p> +"Wait," suggested Ned, "persons we couldn't see may have seen them." +</p> + +<p> +Almost as he spoke there was another quick report. +</p> + +<p> +"Did you see the flash, Alan?" asked Ned eagerly, for he had been +busy with the dynamo. +</p> + +<p> +But Alan was already at the wheel, and again the car swung from its +course. +</p> + +<p> +"Wait," he exclaimed, "turn it on again when I give the word." +</p> + +<p> +After perhaps two minutes he gave the signal and again Ned flashed +the gleaming bulb. Again the circle sprang apparently out of the +black ground. As the car drifted forward the black blotched golden +sand ran the opposite way like a whirling panorama. A coyote +sprang, dazed, from a clump of bushes and back again, but that was +all. +</p> + +<p> +"Give him another chance," whispered Alan, and the light flashed +out. +</p> + +<p> +"Listen," exclaimed Bob breathlessly, "wasn't that a cry?" +</p> + +<p> +Another moment and the sound came again. +</p> + +<p> +"Elmer!" exclaimed the two air ship boys together. +</p> + +<p> +The Cibola swung instantly at Alan's quick touch. Again the light +flashed. Sand and rock and brush. The brilliant circle of light +shot here and there, but the anxious watchers saw sign of neither +friend nor foe. Then like a flash the level plain dropped into the +sudden slope of a coulee and the darker shadow of water blotted out +the glare of sand. +</p> + +<p> +"The river," whispered Ned. "Now watch sharp." +</p> + +<p> +As the light was blotted out this time Alan swung the wheel again. +He knew instantly that they were on the wrong track, as they were +going east and crossing the Chusco. Elmer and Buck would not cross +the river. The camp was to be on the west side. +</p> + +<p> +"Follow the river," ordered Ned quickly; "the west shore." +</p> + +<p> +In order that the Cibola might be laid on the new course Ned threw +on the light switch again. As he did so and the light flashed there +was the sharp crack of a rifle and the light was gone. +</p> + +<p> +"Turn her on," exclaimed Alan; "I want to get a line on the river +bed." +</p> + +<p> +Ned laughed. "I'll need a new bulb first. Some one down below +turned it off." +</p> + +<p> +"What?" exclaimed the other boys together. +</p> + +<p> +"Shot out," calmly retorted Ned. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap21"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XXI +</h3> + +<h3> +A CORDITE BOMB AND ITS WORK +</h3> + +<p> +In a moment the boys were hauling in the rope and Ned was back in +the cabin after a new bulb which he secured and attached in the +dark. +</p> + +<p> +"Now give her a swing," he said as Bob again lowered the rope. "It +will make it harder to hit." +</p> + +<p> +When Bob announced that all the rope was paid out Ned snapped the +switch again. In spite of the gravity of the situation all the boys +were tempted to laugh. A brilliant green glow shot down. An +emerald circle of light flooded the ground beneath. +</p> + +<p> +"If anyone sees that they'll sure think it's a drug store," +suggested Bob. +</p> + +<p> +"'Or a sign of the Great Spirit, perhaps," added Ned soberly, "it +may help us in more ways than one, if Indians are—" +</p> + +<p> +"Look," hoarsely shouted Alan, "there, over there!" +</p> + +<p> +But his words were superfluous. The three boys saw the same thing. +And then as the wide swaying of the bulb swept the gnome-like +picture in green from view Ned threw himself over and shut off the +engine. +</p> + +<p> +Not a hundred feet beneath the brilliant bulb the precipitous bank +of the river had again shot into the circle of light. At the very +edge of the cliff stood the big freight wagon. Behind it, between +the wagon and the steep river bank, stood two horses. At one end +two more lay prostrate on the ground. In front a light barrier of +boxes and barrels rose a few feet from the ground. And there, a +rifle at his shoulder, knelt Elmer Grissom, their friend and +servant. Buck was nowhere in sight. +</p> + +<p> +Their worst fears were realized. +</p> + +<p> +As the dramatic picture flashed from view each boy knew that it was +time to act. +</p> + +<p> +"What's to be done?" exclaimed Alan, his voice choking. +</p> + +<p> +"There can't be many of them," answered Ned finally, as if thinking, +"or they would pushed their attack. If we could locate them the +rest would be easy. Let Bob take the wheel and try to get over the +wagon again; I have an idea." +</p> + +<p> +The Cibola again answered the rudder and circled, Ned flashing the +bulb until the river came beneath them. This required but a few +moments, but, before the craft had gathered momentum on the way +back, there were four shots almost together about three hundred +yards to the right of where they supposed the wagon stood, and a +quick reply from the river bank. +</p> + +<p> +"Our light did it," exclaimed Alan, "they are rushing the +barricade." +</p> + +<p> +"Indians don't rush together, if it is Indians," replied Ned. "Keep +on up the bank, Bob. It's risky for Elmer," he added with a husky +voice, "but we've got to take chances." +</p> + +<p> +Again the light flashed. Ned and Alan hurried to the bridge. +</p> + +<p> +Within its circle and almost together, sealing the seamed and hard +bank of the river, were five dark figures. As the powerful light +encircled them the crouching figures sprang backwards. But they +were not quicker than the alert and prepared Ned Napier. A small +round object shot downward from his hands. The glare of flame as +the missile struck true and the thunderous roar that hurled the big +bag of the Cibola sideways told that the cordite bomb had done its +work well. +</p> + +<p> +Bob was speechless. Ned and Alan were already in hurried +consultation. They could not count on fortunately finding the other +besiegers all together, "'and there are at least four more," said +Ned. The rescue of the lone besieged lad was not an easy problem. +The boys believed themselves now just above the wagon again, but +they were afraid to draw possible fire to the barricade by showing +another light. +</p> + +<p> +The hurling of the bomb overboard had shot the Cibola heavenward +like a bird. Before they realized it the aeronauts had mounted up +at least two thousand feet. They then began maneuvering to regain +their position. But this was not so easy. A flash of the suspended +searchlight gave them not a trace of their bearings and it was +plainly apparent they would have to use time and patience in +recovering the location of the besieged wagon. Using their best +judgment, they put the aeroplanes to work, and, circling slowly, the +Cibola gradually came nearer and nearer to the ground. After ten +minutes or more the car gave a sharp bound upward. +</p> + +<p> +"The drag has touched the ground," exclaimed Ned. +</p> + +<p> +The aeroplanes were righted, the engine was stopped, and again the +balloon was drifting. There was not a sound to guide the aeronauts. +The contact with the ground had broken the bulb and it was not +replaced. For aught the rescuers knew they might be again directly +over the wagon. Not a shot had been fired since the roar of the +explosion, but there was no reason to believe that the yet living +besiegers had withdrawn. +</p> + +<p> +"More likely planning a final attack," suggested Alan. +</p> + +<p> +Again a council was held. +</p> + +<p> +"We've got to take the risk," said Ned at last in desperation; "we +can't do anything up here." +</p> + +<p> +And then, with Alan's approval, the propeller was set turning again, +but so slowly that the big balloon was just moving under control. +The aeroplanes were also set to bring the craft nearer the ground +and, as a precaution, Bob was sent onto the bridge with an open +knife to cut away ballast if sudden ascent were needed. The drag +rope had been brought in. There were no means of knowing how near +the car might be to the earth and the suspense was decidedly trying. +</p> + +<p> +"I guess I can come a little nearer finding out," exclaimed Ned +finally to the others in a whisper. +</p> + +<p> +Alan did not know what he meant, but he resumed his place at the +wheel. Ned had disappeared in the dark. +</p> + +<p> +"Where are you, Ned?" asked Alan anxiously at last. +</p> + +<p> +The answer came from beneath the car. +</p> + +<p> +"Only down here, but I'm going lower," Ned replied, again in a +whisper. "Be ready with that ballast." +</p> + +<p> +A perspiration of fear broke out on Alan's body. He sprang to the +open trap door. +</p> + +<p> +Just discernible in the darkness was Ned's slowly retreating form. +</p> + +<p> +He was climbing down the twenty-five-foot rope landing ladder with +only his own strong grip and the spruce rungs to save him from +death. +</p> + +<p> +There was nothing to be said or done. Bob did not know what was +going on below, but he knew that he had a task set for him, and in +the long silence that followed while the Cibola settled lower and +lower and drifted on and on in the dark he stood, knife in hand, at +the ballast bags. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap22"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XXII +</h3> + +<h3> +A THRILLING RESCUE IN MID-AIR +</h3> + +<p> +Buck, the guide, and Elmer Grissom had reached their appointed +rendezvous at two o'clock that afternoon. The hot journey had been +tedious and uneventful. Only at the half-breed settlement twenty +miles north of Clarkeville had they seen a human being. Therefore, +after they had been in camp about an hour, even the vigilant, +experienced Buck was startled to observe suddenly a solitary +Indian—his horse as statuesque as himself—watching them from a +knoll some two hundred yards distant. +</p> + +<p> +As the old scout raised both hands in signal of peace the Indian +rode forward. The man was not in the Indian panoply of the old +days, except that he wore moccasins and had two bands of red and +yellow paint on his broad, dark face. A black wide-brimmed hat, a +faded blue shirt and trousers completed his outfit. +</p> + +<p> +"How?" exclaimed the Indian. +</p> + +<p> +"Navajo?" answered Buck. +</p> + +<p> +"Ute!" came the answer. "Where go?" +</p> + +<p> +"Right here," said Buck good-naturedly, pointing to the ground. +</p> + +<p> +"Ute land!" retorted the Indian without a trace of expression in his +face. +</p> + +<p> +"No," retorted Buck sharply, "not Ute land. Ute land there," +pointing north, "in Colorado." +</p> + +<p> +"Ute land!" exclaimed the red man again, this time scowling. +</p> + +<p> +Buck only shook his head. +</p> + +<p> +Then the Indian suddenly threw himself from his horse, strode to the +wagon and threw up the tail curtain. Safely stored therein he saw +the protected tins of gasoline. +</p> + +<p> +"Whisky?" he exclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +"No," laughed Elmer, "not whisky." +</p> + +<p> +"Whisky," repeated the stranger turning towards Buck; "drink!" +</p> + +<p> +But Buck shook his head. +</p> + +<p> +With out another word the Ute walked haughtily to his horse, threw +himself upon it, and, clasping his heels to its sides, rode quickly +away. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm sorry," exclaimed the veteran at last. +</p> + +<p> +"I had no idea that there were Utes around here."' +</p> + +<p> +"He doesn't seem dangerous," commented Elmer. +</p> + +<p> +"No," answered Buck, "men who'd cut your throat for a horse never +do. The chances are he isn't alone." +</p> + +<p> +Elmer looked up in surprise. +</p> + +<p> +"We'll just make sure," exclaimed Buck, making as light of the +affair as possible. "I don't want to lose my horses and you don't +want to lose your freight. We'll make ourselves ready in case our +friends come back to make us a little visit." +</p> + +<p> +And as night came on and Elmer helped Buck draw the wagon close to +the river bank, where approach from the rear would be difficult, the +boy began to realize what it meant to get away from the telegraph +and policemen and law and order. And when the experienced scout +unloaded a portion of their heavier freight and began to build a +small barrier Elmer's usual joviality cooled into silence. The +three piles of brush and driftwood from the river were laid out some +distance in front of the camp in preparation for the agreed signal +fires and then, before the sun went down, the scout and his +companion made their camp fire and had supper. +</p> + +<p> +"What do yo' expec' dey'll do?" asked the colored lad at last. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, you can't tell. Injuns are puzzles. When they steal they +steal in the dark. When they fight they fight at daybreak." +</p> + +<p> +"What do yo' suggest?" +</p> + +<p> +"To tell the truth, son," answered Buck, "there ain't much to do but +keep yer eyes open and pop it to the first red horse thief ye see +crawlin' around in the night." +</p> + +<p> +"Hadn't we better light our signal fires?" asked Elmer. +</p> + +<p> +"There won't be any signal fires to-night," replied Buck, slowly, +"if you want my advice. It's one thing for a bluffin' Ute to walk +up in the daylight when you've got a fair chance to give him as good +as he sends, and its another thing for him to get a bead on you a +sittin' in the light o' yer camp fire—him in the dark." +</p> + +<p> +Elmer saw and understood. +</p> + +<p> +So night fell in silence with Buck and Elmer keyed up and ready to +meet any possible attack. +</p> + +<p> +Nothing happened until several hours had passed. Neither Elmer nor +Buck were any the less alert, however. The old scout was pacing up +and down in front of the barricade and perhaps a hundred feet from +it. Elmer could just hear his soft footfalls in the sand. Suddenly +these ceased. Almost at the same moment there was the crack of +Buck's rifle, a groan and a moment later the scout was inside the +barricade. +</p> + +<p> +"I guess I got him all right," he whispered, "he was makin' too much +noise." +</p> + +<p> +This was the shot Ned heard miles away in the Cibola. +</p> + +<p> +Again for some minutes there was no sound and then, suddenly and +from the left, came a spit of flame in the dark. Almost before +Elmer heard the explosion Buck's gun had spoken in reply. Both +bullets went wild, but Buck explained that it was necessary to give +shot for shot, "and right at 'em," said Buck, "as it takes a little +o' the ginger out o' them." +</p> + +<p> +But the besiegers had undoubtedly widened out. The next signs of +them were two shots, almost together. Elmer's rifle made quick +reply, but, to the boy's surprise, Buck failed to fire in return. +The scout had disappeared from his companion's side. Before Elmer +could call out he heard a rush at the end of the barricade, and then +two explosions almost together and not ten feet away. He could not +describe the sound that followed, but he knew that it meant the +convulsions of human beings in agony. He whispered his companion's +name, but there was no answer—only a gasp. +</p> + +<p> +In the black darkness the colored boy, revolver in hand, crawled +forward. At the end of the barricade Buck's body was lying. As the +boy's hand fell on the old man's breast he knew that it was blood he +felt. +</p> + +<p> +"Buck," he whispered, "Buck! Is yo' hurt?" +</p> + +<p> +He put his arm under his friend's head. For a moment the unconscious +form yielded and then convulsively straightened. Elmer knew that his +companion and protector was dead. +</p> + +<p> +With strength that he did not know he had Elmer laid Buck's dead +body behind the little wall of freight boxes. +</p> + +<p> +Then, as if by intuition, he sprang forward and found what he +suspected—the unmoving form of an Indian. Unable to see, Elmer +quickly felt over the adjacent ground with his hands and discovered +the dead Ute's rifle. The revolver was gone. In the same manner he +recovered both Buck's rifle and revolver, and then prepared to do +his duty—to protect his employer's goods so long as he could. +</p> + +<p> +He was scarcely entrenched again, with the three magazine rifles +laid on the barricade before him, when his straining ears heard a +new sound. Far away and faint, but meaning only one thing, the soft +chugging of a motor. The Cibola! There could be no doubt of it. +The instant feeling of relief was shattered even as it gave Elmer +new courage; to attempt to light the signal fires would probably +mean instant death. And without them how would his friends know his +position or peril? But one thing he could do; and even knowing that +it would mean an answering shot from the skulking horse thieves he +discharged his revolver into the air. +</p> + +<p> +Then the sound of the motor died away and the long minutes dragged +by. When it began again, and more softly, the sound was nearer. +Nearer, and nearer it came and then the circle of light fell on the +wagon and was gone. "At least they know where I am," thought Elmer +to himself, and settled down courageously for renewed attack, +determined to hold out to the last. At this moment came the shot +that put out the Cibola's light. +</p> + +<p> +The nervy boy had been tempted to abandon the wagon and follow the +light, but his second judgment was against this. "If they can, the +boys will come back," he argued, "and I'll only get out of this when +I have to." +</p> + +<p> +To Elmer's surprise the attackers had been strangely silent for some +time. With more experience he would have known that this meant even +greater danger, but he only hoped it was due to the distracting and +mysterious flying light. Then the sepulchral green light burst out +in its funnel-like volume. It was coming back. It flared, went +out, shot over the distant sands again like a searching' eye and +then began moving straight up the river bank towards the wagon. +Then came the earth rending explosion. Nor could the besieged boy +know even then that Ned's well-aimed bomb had sent five Utes to +their last sleep. +</p> + +<p> +When the sound of the explosion had died away and Elmer had +recovered himself—for the shock had thrown him forward on the +barricade—the whirr of the Cibola's motor was again far away. But +it was directly above him! +</p> + +<p> +As if the attackers had been paralyzed by the explosion, the long +interval continued without a shot. Then suddenly, from the right +and left and front, the real attack began. One shot sounded as a +signal, and then from a half circle before him half a dozen bullets +tore their way towards the boy and his barricade. Most of them went +wild. Two hit the boxes and half stunned the lone guardian behind +them. The assailants did not know that one of the two white men was +dead, and Elmer, in hopes temporarily to deceive them, fired two of +the rifles at the same moment. +</p> + +<p> +But his enemies were closing in; the half circle was growing smaller +and the crash of the bullets in the wagon above him and in the +barricade in front told the boy that the end could not be far away. +To the right in the direction of the explosion there was a gap in +the fast closing circle. It was folly to delay longer. If escape +were possible, it was in that direction. He would make one +desperate attempt. One shot remained in his rifles. Putting it +where he thought it would do the most good, and catching up the two +yet full revolvers, the colored boy crawled under the wagon and +crept hastily along the river bank. +</p> + +<p> +And yet he did not dare to attempt to pass the end of the Indian +semi-circle. It was one chance in a thousand. Throwing himself on +the ground, he waited. "Crack!" It was the rifle of an Indian, not +fifty feet away and coming nearer. The stealthy footfalls told +Elmer that his foe was heading straight for the river bank and that +he was in the Ute's path. Then he could hear the Indian's deep +breathing. Detection was inevitable. +</p> + +<p> +One last thing remained to be done—to kill the Indian and make a +dash forward down the river bank. And he must act before his foe +discovered him. Elmer's revolver flashed fire and he saw his foe of +the red and yellow face bound into the air and then topple forward +with a cry of anguish. +</p> + +<p> +The boy turned, but too late. Directly in front he heard the sudden +shouts of other Indians. The river at his back! Flight down its +cement-like bank was impossible. He might plunge forward and pray +that the water was beneath. +</p> + +<p> +The death cry of the man he had shot and the echoing yells of the +Indians behind him had been taken up by others. He knew the +determined savages were making a final rush. Indian cries seemed to +come from the very ground at his feet. He hesitated no lodger. +</p> + +<p> +As he turned to the river a sudden and strange wave of cool air +struck down on him from above. Without reasoning he paused. That +pause saved his life. In that swift moment he heard the low creak +of something straining. His eyes pierced the black about him. Was +it a shadow? Something was brushing by him like a great bird asleep +on the wing. Then it was on him. +</p> + +<p> +"Ned?" It was only a whisper but it was enough. +</p> + +<p> +"Elmer, here, quick!" +</p> + +<p> +Even the whisper had brought an instant shot, but the colored boy +had hurled himself toward the voice and an instant later a strong +young arm was about the besieged lad. +</p> + +<p> +It was Ned Napier on the swaying ladder of the Cibola. +</p> + +<p> +"Cut away," came the low quick order and before even the nearby +besiegers could locate the sound Bob Russell, high above, had +slashed the lashings of a bag of ballast. The big balloon sprang +forward, Elmer dangling in the air, and then settled again to the +earth as the desperate colored boy found the last rung of the ladder +and clung fast opposite his rescuer. +</p> + +<p> +"Another, another," called Ned springing up the fragile length of +the doubly laden ladder. +</p> + +<p> +A thud on the ground told where another bag of ballast had fallen. +The crash of the fallen fifty-pound bag of sand probably saved the +Cibola. Shot after shot poured in the direction of the sound, +although the Cibola, dragging forward, yet refused to rise. Elmer, +at the bottom of the ladder, was helping the car onward in low +bounds by touching the ground with one foot. +</p> + +<p> +Then the air craft settled again. Elmer's weight was too much. A +mad thought came into the boy's brain. The Indians had located the +new invader and yells nearby told that hot pursuit was already being +made. Then the spit, spit, of new shots showed the risk the boys +had taken. Elmer realized it. Should he hang on and endanger the +lives of his friends, or should he let go? +</p> + +<p> +There seemed no time to think, but the boy's hand had already +loosened when out of the black came the hot breath of the foremost +pursuer. As the savage sprang forward Elmer's free arm gave him a +blow full in the face. At the same instant the Cibola sprang upward +like a bullet. A volley of shots rang out below, but they were too +late. The balloon had saved Elmer's life, and even before the lad +had made his way up the swaying ladder into the cabin it was a +thousand feet in the air. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap23"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XXIII +</h3> + +<h3> +CAMP EAGLE IN THE MOUNTAINS +</h3> + +<p> +It seemed too wonderful to be true. But words were proof enough +that Ned Napier and Alan Hope had found a new use for dirigible +balloons. Faithful Buck's death was more than the loss of a +companion. In the short time the boys had known him he had shown +that under his rough frontier bearing he was a brave and honest man. +</p> + +<p> +"We can't go back now," explained Ned, "and we can't afford to land +and wait for day. We can't all stay in the Cibola, and those of us +who are landed must be left in a safe place. Our work," he +continued turning to Bob, "is in the Tunit Chas Mountains, thirty +miles west of here. It seems as if you had to know it. We'll go +there to-night and land, if we can, on some isolated and inaccessible +plateau. We'll make that our new relief camp and you and Elmer must +take charge of it. To-morrow Alan and I will return in the Cibola to +our abandoned wagon, bury Buck and bring away such of our stores as +may be left. It's going to be a great loss, for I suppose the +Indians have stolen everything. If the gasoline is gone it will cut +short our work in the mountains." +</p> + +<p> +"I don't think it will be lost," said Elmer, quietly. "We tried to +save it. We rolled it into the river." +</p> + +<p> +"But it will float away," exclaimed Alan. +</p> + +<p> +"Unless de tins caught on in de drift in de bend jes' below," +answered Elmer. "I seen four ob de eight tins dar befo' dark." +</p> + +<p> +"That's what I call genius," exclaimed Ned. "Elmer, you're a brick! +And now our course is due east at half speed. By daybreak we'll be +over the Tunit Chas. Until then, the rest of you turn in. I'll run +the ship." +</p> + +<p> +Fifteen minutes later, despite the nerve-racking experiences of the +momentous day, Alan, Bob and Elmer were wrapped in their blankets +and sound asleep on the bridge deck of the Cibola. +</p> + +<p> +The night passed slowly, but Captain Ned stood the long trick at the +wheel, happy and content. To feel the Cibola, the product of his +youthful genius, at last moving forward in obedience to his +slightest touch drove all thought of fatigue and sleep from him. +</p> + +<p> +But, above all, the early light of the coming day was to reveal to +him a sight of the land of his hopes. There, before him, were the +Tunit Chas; peaks and chasms of unsolved mystery wherein the +centuries had held close their secret. Many trials had blocked his +way. Was he now about to reap the reward of his labors? Did the +hidden city of Cibola lie somewhere below him? Or were the Palace +of the Pueblos and the Turquoise Temple but empty myths? +</p> + +<p> +The young aeronaut's present plans were simple enough. The Cibola +had now been afloat twelve hours and nearly half her gasoline was +exhausted. More than once in the night Ned had noticed that the +balloon was settling lower and he had been forced to maintain his +level by casting over ballast. It was apparent that they were +already losing gas. +</p> + +<p> +In boyish impulse and sympathy they had made Bob Russell, the young +reporter, a third and unexpected passenger, and accident had forced +them to add Elmer Grissom, their colored friend and servant. And +these extra occupants of the car must be landed at the earliest +opportunity. +</p> + +<p> +This became imperative now because, the relief and supply station on +the Chusco river having been destroyed, the Cibola must add enough +ballast and gasoline to make its exploring tour in the mountains in +one journey. The original plan had been to make quick dashes to +the camp on the Chusco for gasoline and then return to the +mountains. To provide for this new weight the two new passengers +and a good portion of the air ship's stores must be landed. And the +most feasible plan seemed to be to set up a new emergency camp in +the heart of the mountains. +</p> + +<p> +Many things might happen to the now perfectly working balloon. And, +even if cast away in the mountains, it was no part of Ned and Alan's +plan to cease searching for the temple of treasure until dire +necessity drove them from it. In case wreck and privation came it +would be comforting to know that somewhere in the same wilderness +food and friends awaited them. +</p> + +<p> +The first glow of the sun painted for the ever watchful pilot a +picture beyond the possibilities of brush and canvas. Here and +there out of the blackness below sprang rosy points, the sun-tinted +peaks of the Tunit Chas. Down the mountain sides, like rivers of +silver pink, fell the sun's light. Then the valleys began to open +out of the chasm of night-dark canyons wrought in the wilderness of +the mountain sides. Here and there, oases left by the devastating +hand of time, rose high plateaus, tree-crowned and verdant. And +then, higher up among the white peaks, sentinel-like, stood giant +tables whose brown tops and precipitous sides told of inaccessible +and arid wastes. "And somewhere," said Ned to himself, "in this +Titanic chaos lies the object of our search." +</p> + +<p> +Starting at half speed, Ned had soon reduced the engine to quarter +speed. When he aroused his sleeping companions Wilson's peak, their +chief landmark, was just in sight far behind. His calculations +placed the present location of the Cibola thirty miles from the +Chusco river and just over the eastern Tunit Chas Mountains. +</p> + +<p> +"All hands turn to," shouted Ned cheerily, "and stand by to make a +landing." +</p> + +<p> +There was a scramble, a rubbing of yet sleepy eyes and then an +outburst of admiring wonder. The Cibola had sailed over two broken +ridges enclosing an irregular, broken valley and was now looking +down on a shelf-like plateau abutting on the second ridge and west +of it. On three sides the plateau dropped precipitately into a +lower rock-strewn, valley. On its eastern side it joined the still +higher ridge. A pine forest crowned the top of the shelf-like +mountain side and then ran up to the higher slopes until the carpet +of green faded into the brown wastes of the timber line. In the +very center of the wilderness of trees glistened a little lake of +mountain water. From it the silver thread of a rivulet wormed its +way for a mile or more among the trees and then trickled over the +side of the cliff in a vapory waterfall. +</p> + +<p> +Ned had swung the Cibola into a wide curve and the balloon and car +were soon directly over the mountain creek. He threw the aeroplane +guides downward and the slowly moving car drifted lower until it was +but four hundred feet above the water and the overhanging pines. +Then, following the water course beneath, the air ship floated back +into the woods and the little lake widened out beneath them. Two +deer, at the water's edge, stood unalarmed. On the south of the +lake a grassy opening indicated Ned's destination. +</p> + +<p> +"Here," he explained, "we can make a safe landing. It is an ideal +place for a camp, with plenty of firewood and water." +</p> + +<p> +"And meat, too," interrupted Alan, pointing to the deer. +</p> + +<p> +"Venison and bear meat too, no doubt," laughed Ned. +</p> + +<p> +From the top of a dead pine tree an eagle rose and soared lazily +away. +</p> + +<p> +"It's like the camping out places you read about," exclaimed Bob. +"That eagle nest completes the picture." +</p> + +<p> +"It does," interrupted Ned, "and I hope you won't forget the +picture. That high, barren tree is your landmark. Some day you may +need it. Remember; from the valley below your camp can be found by +locating the little waterfall on the cliff. From the timber line +above you will know it when you see the eagle's nest. And now let +go the anchor. We have no gas to spare, and can't afford to open +the valve." +</p> + +<p> +To make a landing in a balloon without throwing open a valve and +wasting precious gas is almost impossible. The craft could only be +kept near the ground by keeping it in motion or by causing the +propeller fans to depress currents of air on the aeroplanes. +Therefore, as soon as the engine stopped, the Cibola would mount +higher. But resourceful Ned had long since thought out this +problem. +</p> + +<p> +The engine's speed was reduced and the anchor was quickly lowered +until it caught hard and fast in a strong pine tree. The contact +shook the fragile car and sent the bag bounding, but when it was +seen that the iron had fixed itself firmly three of the boys, +pulling on the anchor rope, gradually drew the great buoyant car +down until it floated just above the tree top. To drag it lower +was, impossible, for one sharp branch might injure the bag beyond +repair. +</p> + +<p> +When the ship was safely anchored just above the tree, the +twenty-five foot landing ladder was lowered and Ned himself made his +way down its fragile rungs into the tree. . +</p> + +<p> +"Hold on tight," he continued, "I'm getting off." +</p> + +<p> +As he did so and found footing in the tree branches the Cibola +tugged to free itself, as if, overjoyed to be rid of Ned's one +hundred and forty-five pounds of weight. As soon as the young +commander was safely on the ground he ordered the other boys to pay +out the anchor rope and again the Cibola rose in the air. +</p> + +<p> +"Now," ordered Ned, "start your engine and head the car over the +opening." +</p> + +<p> +While Ned stood below directing, with hands to his mouth, +trumpet-wise, the Cibola strained at her anchor rope and then, +obeying her rudder, moved directly over the open space, her nose +pointing skyward at an angle of forty-five degrees. +</p> + +<p> +"Hold her," yelled Ned, "and haul back." +</p> + +<p> +The boys again strained at the taut anchor rope until the car stood +just clear of the trees and some two hundred feet in the air. +</p> + +<p> +"Now lower your drag rope and an empty ballast bag," called Ned. +</p> + +<p> +While this was being done the navigator of the Cibola was busy +carrying chunks of broken rock from the margin of the little lake, +and in a short time the boys above were hauling away on the rope and +lifting aboard new ballast. With each bag of it the Cibola sank +lower and lower, until finally, when it was almost balanced in the +air, Ned easily drew the balloon to the ground. +</p> + +<p> +But the landing was not yet finished. Not a passenger in the craft +could step ashore until Ned had added more stone. But when enough +of this had been lifted up to the hands above, and Elmer could +alight, the two willing workers on the ground soon made it possible +for the other boys to spring overboard. Then the four of them +loaded enough more rock on the bridge to take the place of the +stores to be landed. +</p> + +<p> +There were not many things that could be left: water, and half the +provisions and, preserved goods; a few cooking utensils; blankets, +an extra compass, two revolvers, a hatchet and saw; a light silk +tent; matches and candles, a medicine case, ammunition, and, to make +way for the gasoline that it was hoped might be recovered, all the +extra oil on board—for the reservoirs yet contained an ample supply +to make the trip back to the scene of Elmer's attack. +</p> + +<p> +At a safe distance from the balloon Elmer had returned to his +favorite occupation. He got a fire going and while the other boys +replaced the rocks on board with bags of sand from the margin of the +lake the colored lad made hot coffee and broiled some bacon. It was +a luxury after the cold, dry food of the long night. +</p> + +<p> +"When you come back this evening," exclaimed Bob jovially, "I'll try +to have a juicy venison steak." +</p> + +<p> +"An' hot biscuits," chimed in Elmer. +</p> + +<p> +"And a good bed of balsam boughs," added Bob, "and a fine camp fire, +and we can sit wound it and talk it all over." +</p> + +<p> +"And if we don't get back to-night you'd better have your camp fire +anyway," said Ned. +</p> + +<p> +"Ain't you goin' to git back to-night?" ruefully interrupted Elmer, +as he poured the smoking coffee. +</p> + +<p> +"You never know what you are going to do in a balloon," answered Ned. +"If we can we will. If we can't we won't. If we are not back +to-night we may not be here for several days. We've got work ahead +now, and plenty of it." +</p> + +<p> +"We'll be here when you come," replied Bob earnestly, with a smoking +bit of bacon in his fingers, "whenever that is." +</p> + +<p> +"No," replied Ned, "if we are not here in six days you must make +your way out to civilization. You have food enough but you can't +wait longer than that. As for directions, all I can say is that +from this ridge back of us you can see across the half desert valley +to the higher range of mountains. Should you cross the valley +bearing almost due east and be able to get over or through that +second ridge you will be able to see the top of Mount Wilson, thirty +miles further east. From Mount Wilson it is fifteen miles southeast +to the camp Elmer made. There you should pick up the trail of +Buck's wagon back to the railroad eighty-five miles south." +</p> + +<p> +Bob's eyes opened. +</p> + +<p> +"Is it as bad as that?" he said half laughing. "We'll certainly +have to get busy if the Cibola breaks down." +</p> + +<p> +"Or," went on Ned, "any strewn in the valley below here flows +finally into the San Juan River to the north. If you can make your +way to this river and then succeed in following its banks eastward +until you reach the plains, some time or other you'll find a +frontier settlement." +</p> + +<p> +"Or Utes," interrupted Alan. +</p> + +<p> +"Gib me de mountain road," exclaimed Elmer quickly. +"Nomo'Utesfo'me!" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes," added Ned, "that's the trouble. The route to the San Juan is +not only through a barren, broken mountain region, but it gets you +finally right into the Southern Ute reservation. And, remember, +too, that this is Navajo land. Your safety with them, should you be +discovered, will be in diplomacy. And now good-bye—until we meet +again." +</p> + +<p> +"And if we don't," replied Bob, huskily, taking the hands of the two +boys in turn, "I just want to say again that you boys have done for +me what I can't forget and what I can't repay. I don't know why you +are here, and I don't want to know. What I've seen will never be +revealed, when I get back to Kansas City and the Comet, until you +tell me I am free to tell it. And you'd know what that means to me +if you knew what a cracking good yarn my experience has given me +already. Good-bye and good luck!" +</p> + +<p> +Ned and Alan clambered aboard; the rocks were cast overboard, and as +the Cibola shot skyward the boys could hear Elmer calling: +</p> + +<p> +"Member, boys—we all'll be at Camp Eagle an' supper will be +awaitin'." +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap24"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XXIV +</h3> + +<h3> +A GRAVE IN THE DESERT +</h3> + +<p> +But Ned and Alan did not eat with their friends that night, nor for +some days to come. And when they saw each other again one of +Elmer's juicy venison steaks would have seemed to all of them the +sweetest morsel ever eaten by man. +</p> + +<p> +Ned only waited to help inflate the balloonet in the big balloon +with the little hand blower for the Cibola showed quite perceptibly +the loss of gas after her twenty hours of inflation. Then, the +course having been laid, he left the wheel and engine to Alan's care +and turned in for his long needed rest. +</p> + +<p> +Alan had determined on a record flight. He allowed the Cibola to +rise higher than it had yet flown, about 5,000 feet, and then +setting the aeroplanes on a slight incline he headed the car on a +down slant for Mount Wilson's just visible peak, thirty miles away. +</p> + +<p> +There was no economy in half speed, for time and the utilization of +their gas were more precious than gasoline. "We can always float +without gasoline," the boys had said to themselves, "but we can't +move without gas." Therefore the Cibola was soon at its maximum and +the enthusiastic Alan knew that Ned would have a short sleep. +</p> + +<p> +In an hour and twenty-one minutes the swift dirigible was abreast of +the peak of Mount Wilson, and then, without slackening speed, Alan +altered her course southeast toward the scene of the previous +night's hair-raising experience. Long before he reached the place +he was able to make the juncture of the two rivers his landmark, and +the ship pointed her course as straight as a railroad train. After +thirty minutes sailing from Mount Wilson, Buck's rendezvous could be +made out, three miles beyond. +</p> + +<p> +One glance told the whole sad story. Two dead horses alone marked +the spot where their freight wagon had stood. Alan aroused Ned, and +as the Cibola sailed low over the place the boys saw that the +thieving Utes had gone—with the wagon, horses, freight and their +dead companions. +</p> + +<p> +Poor Buck's body was lying where the brave escort had fallen. +</p> + +<p> +"We can't make two landings," suggested Ned. "We'll find the +gasoline and then come back and bury our friend." +</p> + +<p> +Disappointed, although they had really in their hearts expected +nothing less, the young navigators turned the Cibola and sailed +slowly down the river in the hope that the gasoline would be found +where Elmer had described it as lying. +</p> + +<p> +They were as richly rewarded here as they had been previously +disappointed. The drift, a tangled jumble of small mountain wood, +had caught and preserved seven of their eight tins of gasoline. +</p> + +<p> +It was now noon, and broiling hot, but luncheon was not thought of +and the difficult work of recovering the heavy packages was begun. +This presented a new difficulty, for again the boys were determined +not to lose any gas in making a landing. +</p> + +<p> +The drift was too light to hold their anchor although two trials at +this were made. Not a bush or tree was to be found nearby. In +despair at last, Alan was about to suggest opening the valve—for it +was imperative that they secure the gasoline—when Ned turned the +bow of the craft down stream. +</p> + +<p> +"Perhaps we can find anchorage further down," he explained. +</p> + +<p> +"But if will be pretty hard work carrying these tins," Alan began. +</p> + +<p> +"They floated where they are, didn't they?" smiled Ned. "What's the +matter with letting them float a little further?" +</p> + +<p> +His hope was realized. But the solution was fully a mile away. On +a sandy bar, half buried in the sand, the stout end of a cottonwood +trunk, the flotsam of some extraordinary freshet, had come into +view. The experience of the morning was repeated, but on a smaller +scale, for here were no dangerous tree limbs to threaten their +delicate silken bag. After two trials and much pulling and hauling +the car of the Cibola was tied fast to the snag, half over the +shallow water and half over the sand. +</p> + +<p> +Then, naked as when they were born, and suffering not a little from +the pitiless sun, the boys started afresh. Alan made his way back +up the river and began to prod out the stranded tin casks. All were +soon bobbing along in the slow current, with Alan behind them like a +lumber driver of the northwest dislodging logs left in the shallows. +Ned below soon had all of them in shallow water. +</p> + +<p> +By means of a coil of the drag rope, looped in turn about the tins +of recovered fuel, Ned lifting below and Alan pulling above soon +transferred the gasoline to the bobbing Cibola. As each cask +ascended, a portion of the extra ballast was dumped overboard. +</p> + +<p> +Then, dressing themselves and improvising what tools they could, the +boys made their way sorrowfully to the scene of the previous night's +tragedy. Buck's body was carefully removed and decently buried. A +mound of boulders was made over the grave to designate the spot, and +with the hope that some day they might return and suitably mark the +desert tomb the boys took a mournful farewell. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap25"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XXV +</h3> + +<h3> +BARTERING STORES A MILE IN THE AIR +</h3> + +<p> +"And now," said Alan, "it's ho, for Camp Eagle and our search at +last." +</p> + +<p> +"I don't know about all that sentiment," answered Ned, thoughtfully. +"I've been—" +</p> + +<p> +But he was interrupted. The boys, aboard the Cibola again, were +just about to cast off when Alan cut short Ned's remark with an +exclamation. +</p> + +<p> +"Isn't that a balloon?" he exclaimed pointing to an orange-like +object high in the heavens toward the west. +</p> + +<p> +Ned caught up the binoculars and had a quick look at the rapidly +moving ball which was rushing toward them from over the distant +Tunit Chas Mountains. +</p> + +<p> +"No question about it," answered Ned, handing Alan the glasses; "a +balloon, and a big one." +</p> + +<p> +"And out here, too!" commented Alan in surprise. "I guess the world +is pretty small after all." +</p> + +<p> +"Everything ready?" asked Ned eagerly. And then as the retaining +rope was untied from the frame of the car and slipped down and out +from under the cottonwood snag the Cibola shot upward. +</p> + +<p> +"I have an idea," continued Ned, "and please don't object until you +think it over. Let's make a little social call on the stranger!" +</p> + +<p> +"A call!" exclaimed Alan, plainly showing his astonishment; "a call +on a balloon five thousand feet in the air?" +</p> + +<p> +"Certainly. We are going that high anyway. And we have the means +of going where we like. If we go up until we strike the same, +stratum of air the stranger is moving in we have our propeller and +aeroplanes to check and guide ourselves. When it passes we can +easily run alongside!" +</p> + +<p> +"Well, if that isn't the limit!" laughed Alan. "And I suppose we'll +exchange greetings and messages like ships long at sea." +</p> + +<p> +"And," added Ned, "we can send some word to Major Honeywell. You +can see our fast flying friend isn't going to stop around here." +</p> + +<p> +The Cibola was rising fast and the two air craft were coming closer +and closer. As the dirigible reached the altitude at which the free +balloon was sailing Ned put the aeroplane in operation, stopped the +ascent of the Cibola and then, sweeping his own car into the same +direction with the other balloon he reversed the propeller and held +his own craft against the breeze until the stranger swept by. +</p> + +<p> +Then, throwing on the propeller again at full speed, Ned made the +Cibola bound after the other craft, and in a few minutes, aided by +the favoring wind, they were within hailing distance. +</p> + +<p> +Ned was on the bridge, his face flushed with the novelty of the +race. A mile above the earth, the two air ships came closer until, +as if running on parallel tracks, they were nearly together and +abreast. +</p> + +<p> +"Balloon ahoy!" exclaimed Ned at last and in true maritime style. +</p> + +<p> +"The Arrow of Los Angeles, bound across the continent," came the +sharp answer. +</p> + +<p> +"The Cibola from Clarkeville, New Mexico," called Ned in reply, +"exploring. Please report us over Mount Wilson." +</p> + +<p> +Then the two ships of the sky came closer. The boys could see that +the Arrow was well equipped for its purpose. Two determined looking +aeronauts were leaning from the heavily laden car. +</p> + +<p> +"Need anything?" shouted the Arrow cordially. +</p> + +<p> +"In good shape," answered Ned, "but a little short on provisions." +</p> + +<p> +"Plenty here," came quickly from the Arrow, "glad to exchange +fifty-pound emergency rations for ballast." +</p> + +<p> +"All right," responded Ned, "stand by to make a line fast." +</p> + +<p> +Alan, at the engine, brought the air ship up as skillfully as a +pilot might a vessel, and as the two cars almost touched Ned passed +the end of his drag rope, and the occupants of the Arrow with a +quick turn made her basket fast to the bridge of the Cibola. There +were handshakes, mutual congratulations and quick explanations. The +Arrow, the property of a wealthy amateur balloonist, was attempting +to sail, from the Pacific to the Atlantic and was, so far, beating +the best calculation of her owner. In reaching the desired height +that morning, however, much ballast had been used and the +possibility of a renewed supply was jumped at. +</p> + +<p> +"These extra provisions were packed with the idea of possibly using +them as ballast and we don't really need them. And, so," they +explained to the boys, "if you do you had better take them and give +us sand." +</p> + +<p> +The exchange was quickly made, and then, having stored their new +food supply safely on the bridge, they said hasty farewells. +</p> + +<p> +Ned had scribbled this note on a page from his note book: "Major +Baldwin Honeywell, Annex, Chicago. By courtesy of Balloon Arrow. +Bourke, escort, killed by Indians. Search begins at once. Camp +established on plateau, second range Tunit Chas Mountains, thirty +miles due east Wilson's Peak. Greetings. Written 5,600 feet above +San Juan River, New Mexico. Ned Napier and Alan Hope." +</p> + +<p> +The case of provisions weighed a trifle more than the ballast given +in exchange, and as the line holding the two cars together was cast +off the Cibola sank slowly below the level of the Arrow. Then, as +the Cibola's engines began to push the car ahead in a wide turning +circle, Ned called up to the disappearing Arrow: +</p> + +<p> +"Great country, this New Mexico, where you can buy food with sand. +Good-bye and success to you!" +</p> + +<p> +The answer was lost in space as the ships parted. +</p> + +<p> +"And now," said Ned, after lashing the now case of provisions to the +bridge netting, "we've wasted some more precious time. Do you still +think we had better lose a night at Camp Eagle? We have all the +fuel we can carry." +</p> + +<p> +Alan saw what was in the wind. +</p> + +<p> +"We have extra provisions, water and gasoline. My own judgment is +we had better make at once for our starting point." +</p> + +<p> +"I guess you are right," answered Alan after long thought; "I don't +know what is to be gained by the trouble of a landing at the camp by +the lake." +</p> + +<p> +"Nothing but that hot supper," smiled Ned, "and we'll have to put +that off a few days, I think." +</p> + +<p> +"All right," agreed Alan, "set your course and with luck we'll do a +little treasure hunting before dark." +</p> + +<p> +This being settled, the prow of the Cibola was pointed a little west +of northwest, and, dropping to a lower stratum to escape the lively +eastern breeze at the higher altitude, the boys started at last +directly for the and arid broken mountains of Northwestern Arizona. +</p> + +<p> +This region, bordering on the great sand dunes lying beyond the +Chelly River, was to be the beginning point of their arduous and +momentous search. From that place to a point nearly one hundred +miles to the southeast lay the secret fastnesses of mountain, canyon +and mesa wherein, somewhere, according to the Spanish soldier's +record, was the secret city of a dead race and the treasure that had +brought Ned and Alan half way across a continent. +</p> + +<p> +What such a search meant one glance at the monotonous and unending +rock easily told. On foot, only the compass could lead a man +forward in such wilderness of abrupt heights and winding chasms. As +the boys meant to manage it, the attempt had possibilities, but it +might mean days of drifting, of watching, of doubling back and forth +over every possible site. And that was now their task. +</p> + +<p> +So far as they could, Ned and Alan meant to begin at the extreme +northern end of this unknown land and, sailing back and forth from +east to west, cover every foot of exposed ground with their powerful +glasses. +</p> + +<p> +Both boys had long since agreed in this conclusion: the "city" meant +no more than one large structure similar to but on a larger scale +than those found in the Chaco Canyon at the extreme southern end of +the Tunit Chas Mountains. This would be indicated now by nothing +more than rectangular lines of wall stones, probably in piles, +outlining the shape of the "city" or palace. Prominent among these +ruins should be the more elevated temple, the object of their +search. And beneath this should be found the underground "khivas" +or religious chambers. +</p> + +<p> +That this "city" was secret or hidden was proof to Ned and Alan and +Major Honeywell that it would not occupy a prominent place such as +an exposed plateau or a high level mesa. Only one other location +was left, the abutting shelf of some canyon. And the young +navigators had pictured to themselves that, if this should prove to +be the location, the shelf would be so elevated as not to be visible +from the front or below and that it would be concealed from above by +an extended and overhanging cliff. +</p> + +<p> +"Look for it as you would look for a bird's nest in the cliff," +suggested Ned. And that was the plan of search. +</p> + +<p> +It was nearly three o'clock when the boys had bade farewell to the +Arrow and about half past five when the Cibola sailed over the +second ridge of the Tunit Chas. But the course was far to the north +and there was naturally no sign of the waterfall plateau or Camp +Eagle. For a time they thought of passing over the camp and +dropping a message, but this pleasant idea was given up. +</p> + +<p> +"Although," as Alan expressed it, "one of Elmer's hot suppers and a +soft bed of balsam boughs to-night wouldn't be bad." +</p> + +<p> +Ned thought of the four nights of hard floor and agreed, but he +said: +</p> + +<p> +"You'll have to forget soft beds if we're ever going to find Cibola. +We'll come down to-night, though, and make a camp of our own with a +fire and a pot of coffee, and at daybreak we'll be off." +</p> + +<p> +The boys had taken a light luncheon just after starting on the +return trip, and now, soaring over the Tunit Chas again, they began +to be anxious for night and supper. +</p> + +<p> +At seven o'clock the peaks and ridges below them had begun to drop +into foothills and as the great sandy deserts of distant Utah and +nearer by Arizona came before their eyes the boys decided that it +was time to anchor for the night. They were sailing over the +eastern slope of the last low ranges of hills, barren of trees or +vegetation. The aeroplanes being given the proper depression, the +Cibola shot earthward and then, the propeller coming to a pause, +floated gently along above the jumble of rocks. Making fast the +anchor in a ragged pile of these the boys soon drew the Cibola to +the ground and lashed her fore and aft to heavy boulders. +</p> + +<p> +The firm ground felt delicious to the tired boys and they refreshed +themselves with a brisk race over the open space between the rock +piles. Then came Alan's camp fire, a hot supper and preparations +for a good night's rest. There were no pine needles of balsam +boughs, but fatigue made a fine mattress, and it was not long before +the tired boys, rolled up in their blankets, were fast asleep on the +soft sand. +</p> + +<p> +"I hope," said Ned drowsily as they were dropping off to sleep, +"that we won't have any Jack Jellups or thieving Utes to-night. My +nerves need rest." +</p> + +<p> +Then the boys got eight good hours of health and strength giving +sleep in the tonic air of the Arizona Mountains. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap26"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XXVI +</h3> + +<h3> +THE SECRET TUNNEL IN THE MESA +</h3> + +<p> +At five o'clock Ned and Alan were astir. With regrets that they +were not at Camp Eagle for a plunge in the cool mountain lake, they +prepared another hot meal, ate it, and boarded the Cibola. +</p> + +<p> +The balloon had now been inflated thirty-eight hours and was +noticeably showing the loss of its gas. While the top of the bag +was yet round and firm in the heat of the sun the lower sides had +become a trifle flabby as the cool evening had come on. Up to this +time all records for balloon flight had been broken a fact due to +the renewed buoyancy caused each day by the hot, Southwestern Sun. +And, exploration in and quick ascent from the canyons before them +would before long call for the use of ballast. The boys agreed that +the time had arrived to utilize their liquid hydrogen. The +shrinkage that night had been quite perceptible. +</p> + +<p> +They regretted that but two-thirds of this remained—about eleven +cubic feet. This when reconverted meant nearly twelve thousand +cubic feet of new gas at their present altitude. As the work of +converting the gas involved care, preparation for it was made before +the Cibola was cut loose. +</p> + +<p> +The reconverter, a reduced inversion of the apparatus used in making +liquid air, was made ready. When the muffled explosions and the +heat of the tubes told the boys that the reconverter was working +perfectly and pumping new and needed gas into the shrunken Cibola's +long bag, the lashings were loosed and once more the faithful +dirigible mounted skyward. +</p> + +<p> +With Major Honeywell's map of the region spread out on the deck of +the bridge and the binoculars in hand Ned began the long anticipated +search for the lost city. +</p> + +<p> +All day the process of turning the liquid hydrogen back into buoyant +gas went on. And all day the Cibola wound her devious course over +the peaks and chasms beneath. By night half the hydrogen jars were +empty and Ned and Alan saw the evening close in on them without a +sign of the object of their search. When darkness stopped further +work the balloon was brought to earth and camp made again. +</p> + +<p> +The following day, as uneventful as the first, gave no indication of +the secret city. The rest of the liquid hydrogen was transformed +into gas. The sun seemed to enfold the craft in a fiery embrace. +When camp was made again that night the Cibola had been afloat +eighty hours. +</p> + +<p> +"I think she is good for another forty-eight hours," said Ned that +night. "If we find nothing in two more days we'll have our choice +of going out on foot or of quitting in time to pick up Elmer and Bob +and make a dash to civilization. What do you say?" +</p> + +<p> +"I don't know," replied Alan, "I'd hate to give up as long as we can +fly. I think the boys can care for themselves. Let's stick to it. +We have provisions and there is water in some places." +</p> + +<p> +"Well," answered Ned, "we'll have two more days time in which to +decide." +</p> + +<p> +The next morning the Cibola showed plainly that her gas was rapidly +escaping. New life was given to the balloon by casting overboard +some empty hydrogen casks. The fourth day broke hotter than ever. +In all the wilderness examined by the tired and strained eyes of the +searchers, not a human being had been seen—not even a wandering +Navajo. This day they began the search with renewed vigor, but with +the same monotonous result—miles of hopelessly desert rock and sand +beneath them, with a little vegetation now and then, but so sign of +Indian remains. +</p> + +<p> +At noon Ned said: +</p> + +<p> +"If we were not in a balloon with a compass and sextant I should say +we were lost. And if Indians ever lived and died hereabouts they +certainly left so signs of their bones." +</p> + +<p> +By six O'clock, with the sun gratefully low, Alan expressed +discouragement. +</p> + +<p> +"To-morrow at this time," he said, "if we see no indication of the +old palace or city or whatever it was—if it ever was—I think I'll +vote to try to find Camp Eagle and get out." +</p> + +<p> +"We'll see to-morrow," answered Ned stoutly. +</p> + +<p> +That night at dark, a landing was made on the ledge of a point of +land ending in a rounded cliff pointing south, selected because the +place was open to the breeze and cool. The Cibola had approached +the height from the west, and the boys believed that the promontory +projected from yet higher ground beyond. On those portions of the +cliff that they could see there was neither shelf nor projection of +any kind. The walls rose almost like cut stone and were apparently +about three hundred feet high. As the Cibola was about to descend, +Alan, who was taking a last survey from the bridge, called Ned's +attention to the fact that even the far side of the supposed +promontory was separated from the mountains beyond, and that a chasm +at least a half mile wide separated the two heights. +</p> + +<p> +"It's a mesa," replied Ned with renewed enthusiasm, "and it will be +a good thing to look over it to-morrow. These high and almost +unapproachable islands of rock were favorite dwelling places for the +Indians." +</p> + +<p> +"But a temple up here wouldn't be a secret very long," replied Alan. +"We've seen this point all afternoon. It's prominent enough." +</p> + +<p> +"That's so," answered Ned, "but we are here, so let's make a landing +and eat, and dream over it." +</p> + +<p> +The balloon had now lost so much gas that a landing was easy, and, +tired with four days' profitless search and its strain, the young +aeronauts were soon beyond even dreams. +</p> + +<p> +It was with no small alarm that the boys saw, when they awoke with +the first rays of the sun, that the car of the Cibola, which had +been anchored fore and aft to heaped up rocks during the night, was +now resting on the ground. Gas, was rapidly escaping. But fortunately +the aeroplanes and propeller had been left properly in a horizontal +position and no damage had been done. +</p> + +<p> +The boys knew that by throwing over enough ballast and stores the +Cibola could be made good for one more flight, but that probably it +would be the last. Therefore, the inevitable seemed forced upon +them. They would fortify themselves with a good breakfast, look +over the mesa, make one more circling flight and then attempt to +find Camp Eagle. While Alan made haste to prepare breakfast, Ned +determined first on an examination of the mesa point by daylight. +</p> + +<p> +The rock had a top area of perhaps forty or fifty acres. It had a +rolling surface and was coated with a carpet of dusty sand, except +in the northwest corner. The northern end of the mesa, Ned could +see, widened and ended in a sharp rise almost wall-like in form. At +the western end this wall-like elevation turned the corner and +extended south a short distance, finally dropping down to the +general level of the mesa. In this protected comer grew a strange +grove of gnarled and twisted pines, ill nourished and apparently +very old. Between this comer of the mesa and the sharper promontory +whereon the Cibola had come to anchor, was a wide, sandy, barren +depression. +</p> + +<p> +The narrow portion of the rocky island where the boys had made camp +drew in abruptly to make the point that marked the southern end of +the mesa. Ned turned first toward the point. +</p> + +<p> +When he had advanced, making his way slightly upward all the time, +to where the narrow mesa was not over four hundred feet wide, the +lad was astounded to suddenly discover a deep and narrow fissure or +chasm. It was dark, with sides as abrupt as the cliffs of the mesa, +and too wide to jump across. A cold air was already rising from the +opening into the warmer atmosphere above. +</p> + +<p> +In his astonishment Ned called to his chum. +</p> + +<p> +"What surprises me," exclaimed Ned, "is the character of the +opening. If it extended from cliff to cliff I should say that the +same freak of nature that made this solitary island of rock also +split off this end at some time. But it is closed at each end." +</p> + +<p> +Alan hastened to the end of the fissure, near the side of the mesa. +</p> + +<p> +"It looks to me," he said, "as if it had extended entirely across at +some time and the ends walled up later." +</p> + +<p> +The boys made a closer examination. +</p> + +<p> +"You're right," said Ned when he discovered that each end of the +rift had been filled with closely fitted rock, "and human hands did +it." +</p> + +<p> +Alan sprang up in excitement. +</p> + +<p> +"That's the first sign we've had," he exclaimed. "Do you suppose it +means anything?" +</p> + +<p> +The edge of the cliff was so abrupt that the boys had to lie down to +look over in safety. +</p> + +<p> +"It does," Ned answered. "The reason you can't see that chasm from +below or from in front is because the face of it is walled up. And +it is walled so skillfully that you can't detect it from even a +short distance." +</p> + +<p> +"That's to hide something," quickly replied Alan, "but I don't see—" +</p> + +<p> +Ned was standing on top of the short filled-in portion of the chasm. +</p> + +<p> +"Look!" he exclaimed, suddenly interrupting his friend. "These +stones are steps, and, they are worn!" +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap27"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XXVII +</h3> + +<h3> +THE TURQUOISE TEMPLE DISCOVERED +</h3> + +<p> +In another moment he had sprung forward and was quickly descending +into the narrow, dark pit, with Alan close behind. A cave-like +smell and a rapidly, cooling air greeted them. They were soon in +almost complete darkness. When the walls had narrowed to but a few +feet, a thin ribbon of blue sky was all that could be seen above. +</p> + +<p> +The steps had come to an end. An ascending elevation began just in +front of them. This they made out by the light of a match, which +flickered uncertainly in the bad air. Bats dashed against the walls +and every movement was followed by a cloud of dust. +</p> + +<p> +"Do you feel anything?" suddenly exclaimed Alan. "Seems to me like +a current of air on my feet." +</p> + +<p> +Ned lit another match. +</p> + +<p> +Before them they again made out an ascending slant such as they had +come down. But the base of it was hollowed out in the form of a +small cave. As the light went out both boys stooped to look further +into this opening. +</p> + +<p> +"Light!" they exclaimed almost together. +</p> + +<p> +They were looking through a tunnel made, as they afterward found, in +the base of the filled-in portion of the chasm. Reptiles, bats and +dust were forgotten now. Plunging forward on their hands and knees, +the two boys advanced without difficulty to the distant mouth of the +tunnel. +</p> + +<p> +It ended abruptly in the face of the mesa cliff, one hundred feet +above the valley below. There was not the slightest ledge below it +and the side of the mesa dropped so precipitately that access to the +tunnel mouth from without seemed impossible. The possibility of a +climb to that entrance to reach the mesa above was out of the +question. +</p> + +<p> +The boys, panting for breath, lay on the floor of the tunnel with +their heads just out of the opening. +</p> + +<p> +"Some one has used this place, but how did they ever get up here?" +asked Alan. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't know and I don't care," said Ned with excitement. "But I +do know that this entrance is concealed. Why, you couldn't even see +it from below—it's so small. And it was made that way for a +purpose. That must mean Cibola. Let's get busy." +</p> + +<p> +There were one hundred and thirty-five steps to mount, and each was +about a foot and a half high. When Ned and Alan were on top of the +mesa again they were out of breath and their clothes were white with +dust. They were also choked, thirsty and hungry. +</p> + +<p> +"Eat heartily," laughed Ned, when they began breakfast over again; +"we are going to have a busy day, I hope." +</p> + +<p> +"What is your theory?" +</p> + +<p> +"That our treasure is right here if it is anywhere," exclaimed Ned. +</p> + +<p> +Alan laughed. "The place is barren as a barn floor," he said; "I +don't see any very large palace or temple hereabouts." +</p> + +<p> +"I don't either. That's why I'm going to look for it—and look +hard." +</p> + +<p> +"And our gas slipping away at a lively rate!" interrupted Alan +again. +</p> + +<p> +"Let it all go," said Ned. "We know how we can get down within a +hundred feet of the ground, anyway. That's some consolation."' +</p> + +<p> +"First we will make a circuit of the north end," continued Ned, +after breakfast, "and if nothing comes of that—no unseen hollows or +new crevices—we'll try this sandy hollow, even if it is smooth as a +plain." +</p> + +<p> +The circuit of a fifty-acre area requires time and it was an hour +before the boys had traversed the edge of the precipitous cliff. At +every few yards they examined the face of the mesa for gaps or shelves, +but there seemed hardly a resting place for a bird. +</p> + +<p> +Tired and hot, the sun being now high above them, the young +aeronauts finally reached the north-eastern corner of the mesa +without finding a sign or suggestion of Indians, or even of animal +remains. +</p> + +<p> +Alan had thrown himself on the ground at this point for a rest, when +with an exclamation Ned darted from his side. As Alan's eyes +followed him he saw the cause of the exclamation. From where they +stood—directly east from the ancient grove—they could see for the +first time that the trees stood in a wide double semi-circle, and, +directly in the center, perhaps fifteen feet in height, arose a +column of masonry. It was snow white in color and glistened like +glass. +</p> + +<p> +There was no question about it. +</p> + +<p> +The fabled Temple of Turquoise, its deep blue glaze lost in the +whitening sun of three centuries, stood before them. Almost +overcome with the emotion of success the two boys stood as if +transfixed. Then cautiously, as if afraid the wonderful pile might +dissolve itself into a dream, they moved forward. +</p> + +<p> +In this protected corner of the mesa where the winds of ages had +gradually deposited a thin sandy soil, the hand of man had planted +two almost complete circles of trees. Therein, and generally +agreeing with the record of the long dead Vasquez, were the plain +outlines of a stone structure. At places, where the walls crossed, +and at some of the corners, the masonry yet rose to the height of a +man. And again, it fell into long irregular piles of jumbled +blocks. Sifted sand filled each corner and crevice. +</p> + +<p> +In the center of the ruins rose the turquoise column. From this, +and in a line with the true east to where the boys stood, extended +an open approach. Almost reverently Ned and Alan advanced up this +walk. +</p> + +<p> +It was easily seen that the structure had contained a maze of +rooms—over three hundred, they afterwards discovered—and that the +white column stood in a hollow square. +</p> + +<p> +"It's white," almost whispered Alan. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes," answered Ned; "it ought to be blue." +</p> + +<p> +They were now at the foot of the column. Directly in front stood an +opening or door. Bordering this was a framework of brick-like +squares or tiles, black, and ornamented with white figures. +</p> + +<p> +"Just like pottery," said Alan, noticing the true geometrical design +and the still cruder outlines of animals. +</p> + +<p> +"Look," exclaimed Ned, pointing to the top of the door. +</p> + +<p> +Here, the small tiles were replaced with a large square of black +tile, in the center of which shone a dull yellow radiating design. +</p> + +<p> +"A symbol of the sun," explained Alan, "and of gold!" he added +excitedly. +</p> + +<p> +"Then it certainly is our secret city," said Ned. +</p> + +<p> +As he said this he was busy with his knife, digging at the +glistening white bits with which the column was coated. Finally one +came off. It fell into his hand and the back of it came into view. +</p> + +<p> +The two boys broke out in an exclamation of delight. The protected +portion of the piece was a deep sky blue. +</p> + +<p> +"The Turquoise Temple!" they both cried together. "Hurrah!" +</p> + +<p> +When night came again Ned and Alan were almost too excited for rest +or sleep. Nor did they taste food again until the dust of the ruins +warned them temporarily to abandon their search. To walk into a +treasure house that the daring adventurers of two races had +overlooked for three hundred years was enough to turn the heads of +any two boys. +</p> + +<p> +The "Doorway of the Sun" as Alan called it, led into a chamber about +fifteen feet square. The walls of this were lined with smooth clay +squares of black tile, undecorated. Eight feet above the floor, +which was also of clay tile and half buried under sand, rose a +ceiling of arched stones. There was no opening in this, but steps +on the outside of the temple and in the rear led to a chamber above, +in the front of which, and also facing the sun, was another opening +about two feet from the floor. In front of this window was a stone +bench or altar. The meaning of it the boys did not know. This room +was barren of either decoration or utensil and it was half full of +the debris of what had apparently been another arched stone roof. +Only the front or eastern side of the structure was coated with the +precious turquoise; the other sides of the column were of plain, +fairly well fitted, mortarless stone blocks. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap28"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XXVIII +</h3> + +<h3> +THE COLLAPSE OF THE CIBOLA +</h3> + +<p> +An opening in the paved court in the rear of the Temple, half filled +with drifted sand, led into a "khiva" or secret religious council +chamber beneath. Herein the young adventurers discovered their +wonderland and the reward for all their labors. +</p> + +<p> +Hastily returning to the balloon, they procured candles and +improvised scoops out of the sides of the tin emergency ration case +obtained from the Arrow. Major Honeywell had warned the boys that +the floors of all closed chambers of this sort were covered with the +accumulated dust of ages. +</p> + +<p> +The first examination of the "khiva" resulted in disappointment. +The immediate impression that the boys received was one of cave-like +barrenness. In the half-light only a gray monotony met the eye. +Yet under this ghostlike pall, forms soon began to appear. In the +center of the chamber stood what was apparently an altar. In spite +of its burden of dust an elevation could be seen about eight inches +high and seven feet in diameter, on which was a boxlike structure +about three feet square and four feet high. On top of this was a +dust-covered figure. Beyond, in the deepest gloom, the mouths of +four radiating tunnels leading still further into the ground could +be seen. The roof was supported by irregular round columns, +apparently of wood, arranged in two circles. +</p> + +<p> +Before beginning an exploration of the chamber the boys decided to +ascertain the depth of the dust covering the floor, into which they +had already sunk over their shoe tops. This was stifling work, for +the soft powder ran back as fast as it was dug away. A half hour at +least was consumed in reaching the bard surface beneath. The +coating of dust was nearly three feet deep. +</p> + +<p> +As Ned climbed out of the little excavation Alan held the candle +down. To the astonishment of the boys a beautiful blue sheen met +their gaze. +</p> + +<p> +"Turquoise flooring!" shouted Ned. +</p> + +<p> +It was true. The entire "khiva," so far as the boys subsequently +uncovered its floor, was a crude mosaic of the most perfect +turquoise, the pieces, varying in size, being laid in a lime-like +cement. +</p> + +<p> +A general survey of the room and its connecting tunnels showed that +each radiating arm led, with about twenty feet of passageway, into a +smaller room. In each of these rooms were nine column placed in a +rectangle. The main chamber was circular in form, forty-eight feet +in diameter, and the smaller apartments were twenty-four feet +square. +</p> + +<p> +Ned while at work examining the floor, suddenly ceased and rushed to +one of the columns. +</p> + +<p> +"You remember," he exclaimed, "the Spaniard said these columns were +of gold and silver." +</p> + +<p> +But in this the ancient record was wrong. The inner six supports +were painted a faded yellow and the second row, twelve in number, +was colored red, as the boys discovered later when they brushed and +cleaned some of them. Around each of the inner columns, however, +there were two metal bands about two inches wide and thirty inches +apart. The lower ones were six feet from the floor. They were of +heavy gold with loops or hooks extending from each side, as if +festoons or connecting bands had once extended from pillar to +pillar. +</p> + +<p> +"Not a bad substitute!" exclaimed Ned. +</p> + +<p> +The second line of twelve columns had similar rings of silver, as +the boys discovered in good time. The movable contents of the room +were not easily examined, as each object on the floor was buried +under a mound of heavy, suffocating dust. Bats had made the place +an undisturbed refuge, and the repulsive flutter of these creatures +was disconcerting. +</p> + +<p> +A preliminary examination of the four lateral passages and the rooms +at their far end showed that these were probably store rooms, +excepting the one on the east side. Here, on shelves, fixed on +columns or posts similar to the colored supports in the principal +chamber, were eight oblong forms. Even the dust and refuse could +not disguise the nature of these—they were unmistakably mummies, +the embalmed bodies of either chiefs or priests. At the head and +foot of each were various dust covered receptacles and utensils. +</p> + +<p> +The afternoon was too short for the boys to accomplish the removal +of anything. +</p> + +<p> +"I feel like a grave robber," panted Alan, soberly, as the two boys +clambered out into the fresh air, finding, to their surprise, that +it was already night. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, I don't," said Ned. "These things are so old that they seem +to belong to Time itself. I feel more like a gold miner who has at +last struck a rich vein—and it's our vein." +</p> + +<p> +But, as so often happens, ill luck came close on good fortune. The +first glance of the young aeronauts at the camp and the Cibola was +enough to chill their new happiness. The big gas bag had settled so +low that it half concealed the car, which was resting flat on the +ground. The buoyancy of the air ship was gone. Without more gas +the Cibola could not make another flight. It was a severe blow to +Ned and Alan; but they met the issue squarely. +</p> + +<p> +"There is no use in worrying," said Ned, finally, when they realized +the exact situation, "and we've got to make the best of it. +Besides," he said, laughing, "we are not ready to go." +</p> + +<p> +"That's right," replied Alan, thinking of the yet unexamined +contents of the Treasure Temple, "and when we are ready I guess +we'll be no worse off than Bob and Elmer. I suppose we can manage +the one hundred foot descent some way." +</p> + +<p> +Ned pointed to the hundreds of yards of net cordage. +</p> + +<p> +"Right," exclaimed Alan, "that'll be easy—a rope ladder." +</p> + +<p> +It was almost dark and the boys were covered with the penetrating +grime of the long undisturbed "khiva." A meager wash up and supper +and rest were in order. But Ned said: +</p> + +<p> +"By morning the Cibola will be in collapse. It is a valuable +machine, and it ought not be left out here on this point unprotected +from the seasons. We shall probably never see it again, but while +we can move it let's tow it over in front of the temple and put the +bag and engine and instruments in the protected room." +</p> + +<p> +It was not a difficult task. With no great effort the car was half +carried and half dragged down the slope and then to the clearing in +the pine grove where the boys soon made a new camp. To complete +their work the big bag of the balloon was untied from the car and +drawn, half inflated, into the pathway leading to the temple door. +Then, with no small regret, the boys opened the escape valve, and in +a few minutes the collapsed Cibola was stretched like the cast off +skin of a snake along the sandy pathway, ready to be rolled up and +compactly stored away. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap29"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XXIX +</h3> + +<h3> +THE GOLDEN EAGLE OF THE AZTECS +</h3> + +<p> +In the morning the boys went at their task with renewed vigor. +Inventory was first taken of the stores and provisions. There was +enough food for about six days, if used with care. Of water there +was a supply apparently for a little longer period. But the choking +dust of the "khiva" made bathing almost a necessity, and, used in +this way, even sparingly, the supply would not last over two days. +</p> + +<p> +"No more baths until we go down into the valley," ordered Ned. +"Cleanliness would be a comfort, but we'll have to be uncomfortable." +</p> + +<p> +Permanent camp was made in the cabin of the dirigible. In arranging +this all the machinery, the engine, the blower, the dynamo, the +reconverter and the aeroplanes, the rudder and the propeller were +unmounted, and the smaller articles made ready for storing in the +temple entrance. There were four casks of gasoline left unused. As +these were being carried to the temple Ned suddenly exclaimed: +</p> + +<p> +"Why not rig up the engine and dynamo and use an electric light down +in our cave of Mystery." +</p> + +<p> +"Good," answered Alan, "and while we are at it, why not hook up the +balloonet blower with the engine and get fresh air?" +</p> + +<p> +The stowing away of the machinery, the packing of the gas bag and +the setting up of the engine and dynamo and blower afforded plenty +of work until noon; and then, while the trusty little engine was +pumping volumes of good sweet air into the hot, almost suffocating +chamber below ground, the boys had luncheon. +</p> + +<p> +Then began the real exhumation of the long buried articles in the +secret religious chamber of the almost forgotten race. As +revelation succeeded revelation in the next two days the paralyzing +wonder that first came to Ned and Alan was succeeded by the dullness +of fatigue. At intervals of not more than an hour they came above +ground for fresh air. The absence of water soon converted them into +bronze-like human statues. They could feel that their lungs were +becoming clogged with the almost impalpable dust. But they +persevered. The prize was too rich to be abandoned because of mere +physical discomfort. +</p> + +<p> +By means of the wired drag rope the powerful incandescent light was +carried to all the chambers. And one after another, as the blower +gave the boys air and helped sweep away the clouds of dust, the +remains which had lain buried for over three centuries were +uncovered and brought above ground. +</p> + +<p> +Of the pottery itself, vases, jars, and religious ceremonial +utensils, perfect in shape and displaying ornamentation that would +have delighted Major Honeywell, the excavators could take little +note. After removing the twelve gold hoops or bands from the +supporting columns and twenty similar silver rings from the second +row of pillars, the boys penetrated the elevation in the center of +the "khiva." +</p> + +<p> +As the end of the blower pipe was directed against this square +column, the sediment of centuries disappeared. Then the brilliantly +penetrating glare of the reflected electric light fell on the +elevation and both boys burst out in an exclamation of amazement. +</p> + +<p> +</p> + +<p> +On what had been a ceremonial dais stood the treasure of the secret +city of Cibola—an image of the sacred Golden Eagle of the Aztecs. +The revered bird of the Aztecs stood upright, its extended head +peering east. The body of this aboriginal work of art, crude in +form, was of massive silver. And to it were attached overlapping +plates of gold in the similitude of feathers. The unfolded wings +were also of gold. The head, beak and talons were of gold, and the +eyes were two polished bits of quartz. The idol, for such no doubt +it was, stood forty inches in height and weighed about three hundred +pounds. +</p> + +<p> +The base on which the precious eagle stood was completely covered +with the deepest blue turquoise. At its foot and covering the dais +were the crumbled traces of many articles of cloth, feathers, bits +of wood and pottery, and the like, all, no doubt, fragments of +priestly utensils of worship. The most ornate and best preserved of +these was a large flat bowl covered on the inside with skillfully +cut mother-of-pearl. This was still iridescently beautiful, and the +more striking because its milk white exterior was unmarked by +decoration. +</p> + +<p> +Each mummy, when hauled into the open air and examined, gave more +positive proof of the riches that had been collected in this sacred +retreat. The funeral bowls placed at the feet of the bodies varied +in form and material. Some of these were of plain black and white +pottery, others were coated with gold, silver, or mother-of-pearl. +The bowls apparently had once contained food. In all there were +two golden bowls, four of silver, one of pearl and one of pottery. +</p> + +<p> +Each mummy was wound with as much care as was ever bestowed on the +Egyptian royal dead. The woven wrappings were coated with pitch and +beneath them were colored cotton cloths, affording proof of a high +civilization. The richest treasures of the dead were the +breastplates and necklaces found on each. These astounded the young +investigators. +</p> + +<p> +These plates and beads had been strung on deer sinews, which, not +having been protected by pitch, were now only lines of dust. But, +lying on the breast of each there was invariably a "body scraper," +(as Major Honeywell afterwards termed them) of gold, silver or +mother-of-pearl. Mother-of-pearl discs were the commonest neck +decoration. Of these the boys discovered four. +</p> + +<p> +On three of the bodies were pierced pearl bead necklaces. On the +most elaborately wrapped figure, that of a head priest or high +chief, came the crowning discovery. This was a necklace of pierced +amethysts. And on the breast of this figure was a flat plate of +gold with sixteen radiating points, each of these terminating in a +large luminous unpierced and polished amethyst. +</p> + +<p> +About the waist of this shriveled figure were the remains of a +jeweled belt. The foundation or back of this had dissolved into +dust, but careful unwrapping of the cerements revealed the priceless +ornamentation. This decoration was of alternating squares of +mother-of-pearl, in each of which glistened a perfect amethyst, and +of matchless turquoise squares set with great pearls. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap30"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XXX +</h3> + +<h3> +A QUARTER OF A TON OF TREASURE +</h3> + +<p> +It was impossible for the boys even to venture an estimate on the +value of the immense mine of turquoise, although they realized that +the increasing scarcity of the jewel made the beautiful and unique +specimens everywhere about them worth a great deal of money. Nor +had they any idea of the value of the mother-of-pearl bowls, nor of +the hundreds of beautiful and unique ceremonial and funeral urns and +vases. Least of all, could they put even an approximate price on +the amethyst and pearl necklaces. Even their most sanguine hopes of +discovering the hidden city of Cibola had not led the adventurers to +investigate the current prices of precious stones. +</p> + +<p> +Knowing, however, what the prices of gold and silver were, they +could form some estimate of the worth of this part of the treasure. +</p> + +<p> +By comparison with the known weights of certain articles in the car +the two boys made the following list of metal pieces discovered: +</p> + +<pre> + GOLD POUNDS + + Twelve bands. Weight each 2 lbs. 1 oz. 26 + Two bowls. Weight each 6 lbs 12 + Two "body-scrapers." Weight each 9 oz 1 1/2 + Wings, head and talons of Sacred Eagle 82 + Breastplate 3 + Radiating sun over entrance 12 + + Total, 136 1/2, or 1,638 ounces. + + SILVER POUNDS + + Twenty-four bands. Weight each 1 lb. 8 oz 40 + Four bowls. Weight each 5 lbs 20 + Four "body-scrapers." Weight 10 oz.. 3 1/3 + Body of Sacred Eagle. Weight 218 + Ninety-six miscellaneous rings, bands, + anklets and wristlets, many set with + mother-of-pearl and turquoise 16 1/3 + + Total, 297 2/3, or 3,580 ounces. +</pre> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p> +The market value of these precious metals was easily computed. The +silver at sixty cents an ounce was worth $2,148. The more valuable +gold, at twenty dollars an ounce, was worth $32,760. Together, the +484 pounds were worth $34,908. +</p> + +<p> +"And one-third of that," said Ned with a smile—almost discernible +beneath his dust—begrimed face, "is nearly $12,000. And that is +$6,000 for each of us." +</p> + +<p> +"But how about the amethysts and pearls?" said Alan. +</p> + +<p> +"I suppose," answered Ned, "that they are worth a great deal more, +but I don't know. I should think that those that have no holes in +them would be very valuable." +</p> + +<p> +All this figuring was intensely interesting, but the boys, as the +revelation progressed, knew that they were now facing a new problem. +They could not possibly carry that gold and silver, to say nothing +of even a portion of the exquisite mother-of-pearl bowls or the +finest samples of the turquoise. When, in the end, nearly a quarter +of a ton of the metal treasure alone lay in a heap in the corner of +the temple vestibule they could come to but one conclusion. +</p> + +<p> +This portion of the treasure would have to be removed at another +time. +</p> + +<p> +"It has lain here undisturbed for over three hundred years," said +Ned hopefully, though sadly, "and we'll have to take a chance that +it can be left a while longer." +</p> + +<p> +Sorrowfully enough Alan agreed. It was to be no easy work getting +out of the wilderness, and food must be carried. That might be more +precious to them than gold before they saw a railroad again. The +boys agreed to take at noon the next day the exact latitude and +longitude of the mesa. The latitude, on one slip of paper, was to +be carried by one boy and the longitude, on another piece, was to be +in the possession of the other. This was a precaution against +accidental revelation of the treasure mesa. +</p> + +<p> +The set jewels were removed. There were two hundred and ninety-four +pierced pearls and ninety-eight pierced amethysts. Among the whole +gems, eighteen magnificent pearls were extracted from the jeweled +belt. Eighteen unpierced amethysts were also taken from the +alternating turquoise squares of the belt and sixteen magnificent +amethysts from the gold breastplate. +</p> + +<p> +It was then that the sewing kit supplied by Alan's sister Mary came +into service. A small piece of aluminum waterproof silk cabin +covering was converted into two flat bags and in these the stones, +equally divided, were enclosed and concealed under the clothing and +beneath the right arm of each lad. In addition, each boy took half +of the mother-of-pearl and turquoise belt plates as the finest +specimens of each material. +</p> + +<p> +"And to show that there is gold too," suggested Alan, "we might as +well take along, these gold 'scrapers,' which won't bother us much," +So these two pieces were strung on cords and suspended about the +necks of the young treasure seekers. +</p> + +<p> +"And to-morrow," exclaimed Ned joyfully when all this was done, +"we'll get down from here and get a bath." +</p> + +<p> +"Amen," added Alan earnestly. +</p> + +<p> +Until it was twelve o'clock, the time to take their observation, the +boys spent the next morning in last preparations and making +everything shipshape. The framework of the car was left intact, but +weighted by stones to prevent injury by the wind. Everything +movable was stored in the entrance room of the temple, including +three and one-half cans of gasoline. The engine was oiled and +covered with blankets. Underneath the smoothly folded balloon, in +the folds of which dry sand had been liberally sprinkled to prevent +possible adhesions of the varnish, lay nearly thirty-five thousand +dollars' worth of curiously wrought gold and silver. This was first +completely covered with sand. +</p> + +<p> +The two provision packs for the retreat to civilization had been +carefully arranged. How long the journey might take they could not +estimate. They had decided to their way east, in hope of falling in +with Elmer and Bob, and this meant the crossing of at least two +mountain ranges and thirty miles of barren foothills to Mount +Wilson. Then, if they turned south, they would traverse eighty-five +miles of sandy plain in which water was infrequent. +</p> + +<p> +Their own provisions were exhausted. What they now depended on was +the emergency case secured from the Arrow. This supply was intended +to be enough for two men for two weeks. +</p> + +<p> +"It certainly ought not take us that long,"' complained Alan. "Why +not leave half the supply and take a little gold?" +</p> + +<p> +But Ned was obdurate. He explained that they might fall in with the +other boys, and that if they did Elmer and Bob might be wholly out +of supplies. +</p> + +<p> +"We can come back if we get out in good shape," explained Ned, "and +if we don't get out what'll be the use of a back load of gold?" +</p> + +<p> +That settled it. The food packs were made up of the following +supplies: Flour, 12 lbs; corn meal, 5 lbs; beans, 5 lbs; bacon, 7 1/2 +lbs; rice, 5 lbs; oatmeal, 2 lbs; baking powder, 1/2 lb; coffee, I +lb; tea, 1/2 lb; sugar, 5 lbs; lard, 2 1/2 lbs; salt, 1/2 lb; pepper, +1/8 lb. Each provision pack weighed twenty-one pounds. In addition +there was an aluminum frying pan, a coffee pot and two aluminum +plates. A water canteen, a blanket, a revolver and belt of +ammunition and a knife apiece completed the equipment. Alan carried +in addition the "snake bite" case, the compass and small hatchet, +and Ned the money belt containing over five hundred dollars in gold. +</p> + +<p> +The sealed glass tubes of matches were divided between the two boys +and then, as it was noon, the sextant that Ned had been so careful +to bring with them was used for the first and last time. The +observation made and noted, and the record of it divided as planned, +Ned and Alan were ready to begin their attempt to make their way out +of the rock-bound wilderness. With provisions, water, blanket and +arms each lad was carrying about thirty-five pounds. +</p> + +<p> +"Would you still like a few pounds of Aztec treasure?" laughed Ned +as they stood with packs adjusted. +</p> + +<p> +"I should say not," retorted Alan; "I'm satisfied." +</p> + +<p> +The method of lowering themselves from the hole in the face of the +cliff to the ground, one hundred feet beneath, had been worked out +in detail and the apparatus made in the evenings by the light of +their camp fire. And early that morning Alan had carried the long +rope ladder down the chasm and to the mouth of the tunnel. Now, in +addition to their packs, the two boys carried between them a section +of one of the pine trees, about six feet long. +</p> + +<p> +As they stood, ready to leave, Ned raised his cap. +</p> + +<p> +"Good bye, old Cibola," he said with moisture in his eyes, "until we +meet again, if ever." +</p> + +<p> +"If ever?" added Alan quickly with as much gaiety as he could +summon. "You don't think we'll ever let anyone else lift that +little pile?" and he pointed to the well filled entrance room of the +temple. +</p> + +<p> +"No," answered Ned, soberly, "if we have as good luck on the land as +we had in the air." +</p> + +<p> +Ned and Alan meant to reach the earth by means of a rope ladder. +This they had constructed from the stout Italian hemp suspension +cords of the Cibola. These ropes, each thirty feet in length, were +knotted and then doubled to insure strength. For the last +twenty-five feet at the bottom the landing ladder of the balloon was +used. The rungs, two feet apart, were of pine from a felled tree, +and were thirty-eight in number. +</p> + +<p> +For anchorage, the six-foot length of tree was dragged to the mouth +of the tunnel and, five feet from the opening, wedged between the +floor and roof of the tunnel, slightly inclined forward. The strain +on the bottom would thus only fix the supporting section more firmly +in place. From the bottom of the pine shaft a loop of four of the +suspension cords reached just out of the tunnel opening. To this +loop the top rang of the ladder was tied, with a separate +hundred-foot length of cord. After the ladder had been made firm +with a running slip knot the hundred-foot length of cord was dropped +to the ground. +</p> + +<p> +This arrangement had been provided in order that the rope ladder +might be removed after the descent. By a jerk of the cord the slip +knot would be loosened and the ladder, released, would fall of its +own weight. Another length of rope had been prepared, this one +somewhat over a hundred feet long and also doubled for strength. +This was for the lowering of the packs and other articles by one of +the boys after the other had descended. To insure its free running +and to prevent its wearing through on the edge of the cliff, a six +inch section of the pine tree had been prepared, flattened on one +side and having a wide smooth groove in the top. This, attached to +a short length of rope, which was made fast with the ladder loop to +the upright shaft in the tunnel, was fixed on the verge of the +opening. +</p> + +<p> +Finally everything had been arranged and made fast. Each of the two +boys insisted that he should go down first. To solve the dispute, +they cast lots and the risk of testing the rope fell to Ned. +Slipping off his shoes and socks, which he hung about his neck, he +sprang to the ladder. Alan hung over the edge and watched him with +apprehension, but Ned, feeling his way carefully, was soon on the +ground. +</p> + +<p> +His shout was the signal to begin the work of lowering the packs. +And down they came, one after another; provisions, revolvers, +blankets, water bottles, and even the money belt, for Ned had made +himself as light as possible for his descent. +</p> + +<p> +At last it was Alan's turn. The last load had descended, the +lowering line had been released, drawn up and stowed away. The slip +knot was examined anew and then Alan followed Ned down the slender, +fragile swaying rope ladder. When he had reached the ground by +Ned's side and the strain was over, the boys shook hands jubilantly. +</p> + +<p> +"—And now," shouted Ned with a laugh, "last chance! If you want to +go back for a new load say so before it is too late." +</p> + +<p> +Alan, exhausted with the climb, shook his head. +</p> + +<p> +"Then stand from under," cried Ned. +</p> + +<p> +As he jerked the slip knot cord the boys sprang aside and the long +ladder, wriggling, crashed at their feet. +</p> + +<p> +The only means of reaching the towering elevation had been removed +and the only visible sign of their brief occupancy of the secret +mesa had been destroyed. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap31"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XXXI +</h3> + +<h3> +AN ADVENTURE WITH THE NAVAJOS +</h3> + +<p> +Three days later, Ned Napier and Alan Hope, worn and almost +exhausted with the steady climb and descent of countless rocky +heights, made their camp for the night at the foot of a rugged +slope. Their shoes were torn so that a protection of rags was +necessary. The hot and pitiless sun had seemingly dried up their +boyish spirits. Silent with fatigue, having plodded steadily +forward since sunrise, they threw themselves on the sand. +</p> + +<p> +The young adventurers were headed straight for the east. And still +the last range of mountains was beyond them. Led by the compass, +they held to their course, sometimes passing miles out of their path +to avoid some inaccessible mesa, but more often scaling ragged and +tiresome heights. +</p> + +<p> +Eating had now become a matter of form and necessity. There was no +longer the keen joy in making camp. During the three days the boys +had seen no living object except birds, rabbits, many deer and two +bears, all of which they had left unmolested in their eagerness to +press forward. But at noon on this day Alan, having occasion to +glance backwards, was positive that he saw a human head. Whether +white man or Indian he could not determine. The incident gave the +lads no little, concern, but as no further sign of a human being was +seen that day they finally forgot the matter. +</p> + +<p> +That night, after making tea and taking a little more pains than +usual with their supper in an effort to revive their spirits as well +as their tired bodies, Ned and Alan spread their blankets at the +edge of a pine grove. Almost before it was dark they were both +sound asleep. +</p> + +<p> +Some hours later Alan awoke with the instant consciousness of an +unusual sound. Motionless and straining his ears, he heard deep +breathing just behind him. A new moon was just sinking below the +buttes on the far side of the little valley in which they had +stopped for rest, but under the pines the shadows were deep. He +knew that danger was near and he did not move. In another moment he +felt a soft hand on his waist, as swift and as silent as a snake, +and he knew that the hand was extracting his revolver. +</p> + +<p> +Then, from his half-opened eyes, he saw a figure crouching over his +chum just opposite. Some one no doubt was also removing Ned's +weapon. Then there was the pressure of stealthy footsteps on the +pine needles and Alan moved his head until he could see two +indistinct forms moving from the shadows of the timber across the +open space to the dying embers of their little fire. There he could +easily discern five or six figures. He was about to put his hand on +Ned's face to awaken him gently when he saw the entire group coming +directly toward their sleeping place. Their movements now revealed +plainly that they were Indians. +</p> + +<p> +With cold beads of perspiration covering his body Alan again +pretended sleep. It was now apparent that they had been followed, +and, no doubt, by Navajos. Perhaps this was the end of their +toilsome retreat. With visions of death presenting themselves, he +wondered again whether he ought to arouse Ned. Then he realized the +futility of such action. As the moccasined feet drew near Alan +could read death in each approaching sound. But at the edge of the +trees there was another pause, and then he knew that the Indians had +scattered. +</p> + +<p> +Straining every muscle in an effort to breathe naturally, like one +asleep, the boy counted the seconds while he waited for the clutch +of a savage hand. And as the moment passed and the attack did not +come he tried to speculate on what the strangers were doing. A +guttural half exclamation soon allowed him a quick breath of +temporary relief. The Indians were only after their supplies. +</p> + +<p> +The savages had found the half-concealed packs of the two boys. +Alan knew this by the location of the sounds that now came to him, +and then, as the prowlers withdrew again into the open and the faint +moonlight, it could be seen that they were bearing all the +belongings of the two lads. For perhaps ten minutes Alan lay +without moving and watched the Indians. He could make out that they +were hastily looking over the packs and dividing what yet remained +among themselves. Then ponies were led to the place of the camp +fire and the members of the band quickly threw themselves on their +animals and disappeared into the night. +</p> + +<p> +Almost paralyzed with the knowledge of what this meant Alan now +softly put his hand on Ned's face: +</p> + +<p> +"Are you awake?" came instantly from Ned. +</p> + +<p> +"Are you?" retorted Alan in surprise. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes," whispered Ned, "I saw it all. But I didn't move, because I +was afraid of arousing you." +</p> + +<p> +"Here, too," exclaimed Alan. "Did you feel them take your +revolver?" +</p> + +<p> +Ned's band flew to his belt. +</p> + +<p> +"Is yours gone too? I saw them when they came up from the fire. +But you did right to keep still. If we had moved I expect we'd have +had our throats cut." +</p> + +<p> +"That was one of them I saw to-day," added Alan, "and I guess we're +lucky to be alive." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes," added Ned rising to his feet, "we are. They are satisfied, I +suppose, to let us starve." +</p> + +<p> +The prospect was a trying one. If the range behind them was the one +they hoped it was, there was only one more valley between its summit +and the outer ridge of the Tunit Chas. If they could reach this +ridge they believed they might see Mount Wilson's peak. But even +that meant another thirty miles to the scene of the attack on Buck's +camp on the banks of the Chusco. And from that place it was +eighty-five miles to a railroad and help! +</p> + +<p> +The boys sat in the edge of the pines as the new moon disappeared, +leaving them in utter darkness, and tried desperately to encourage +each other. Both had the grit to set themselves stoutly to the +apparently hopeless task. Without food or firearms and possibly +without water, they knew they would find the task gigantic. But +nothing was to be gained by waiting for starvation and death in the +wilderness, and their decision was to do what they could, to try the +almost impossible, and if they failed to fail with their faces +toward the east. +</p> + +<p> +"Why not start now?" urged Alan. "Let's use what strength we have." +</p> + +<p> +But Ned showed him the folly of this. +</p> + +<p> +"A night's rest will enable us to make better time to-morrow. And +besides, we can't make headway when we can't follow the compass." +</p> + +<p> +Retiring a little further into the woods the boys composed +themselves again and before long were once more fast asleep. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap32"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XXXII +</h3> + +<h3> +ALAN SUCCUMBS TO EXHAUSTION +</h3> + +<p> +The boys were up at dawn. Not an article had the marauders left but +the two water canteens which had fortunately been left hanging from +the low branches of a pine. It was useless to look for more—there +was nothing more to be found. +</p> + +<p> +"Anyway," laughed Ned, "it leaves us in light marching order and we +can make better time. I'm glad we had a good supper." +</p> + +<p> +As no breakfast was in sight the two boys filled the water bottles +at the creek in the valley, and at five o'clock, taking their +bearings due east, Ned and Alan struck upwards through the pine +woods. It was a not unpleasant climb while the boys were fresh, but +as the slope grew more precipitous the work began to tell. At one +o'clock the crest was reached. +</p> + +<p> +"How would you like a piece of broiled bacon, some pancakes and a +cup of coffee, Ned?" asked Alan as they paused to rest. +</p> + +<p> +"In the middle of the day and on the top of a mountain I always +prefer plain water," laughed Ned in reply. "Here's to you!" +</p> + +<p> +With a big drink from the lukewarm canteens the boys did not pause +long. +</p> + +<p> +"To-night," continued Ned, "we ought to sleep high up in the +foothills over there." +</p> + +<p> +With that inspiration the sore-footed and jaded lads made good time +going down the slope. Then another rivulet was encountered, in +which they bathed and by which they rested a spell. Alan would have +been glad to pass the night here, but Ned urged him on, and as night +fell again the hungry, exhausted boys found themselves far up on the +new slope. Then they slept again, restlessly and on the rocky +ground, for they had abandoned their blankets. +</p> + +<p> +The boys did not wait for daylight. In the half dawn they were +afoot. +</p> + +<p> +"Take another hitch in your belt, chum, and don't think of the +Placida." laughed Ned. "We'll make it all right, somehow." +</p> + +<p> +Stiff in limb, their feet twitching with the pain of blisters, Ned +and Alan toiled slowly through the last of the pines and out into +the rocky higher slopes of the range. It was like climbing an +upright wall, Alan said, but the pain of going on was less than the +despair of giving up. A little after six o'clock Ned, ahead, pulled +himself breathless to the highest point. +</p> + +<p> +Alan stopped a little below and waited in anxiety. Before he could +ask whether it was the last ridge, Ned's voice broke out into a +shout. +</p> + +<p> +"Come on, old man, we're all right. There's old Wilson, the +grandest mountain peak in the world. Hurrah for Mount Wilson!" +</p> + +<p> +But there was no echo to his exclamation. Poor Alan, succumbing to +pain and exhaustion, had sunk insensible to the ground. In another +moment Ned was at his chum's side. Forcing some water between +Alan's lips and bathing his face with some more of the precious +liquid, Ned soon brought him back to consciousness. Alan sprang up +in chagrin, and with tears in his eyes insisted that he had only +stumbled and fallen. But Ned knew the truth. His friend's bright +eyes and feverish skin told that his condition was grave. +</p> + +<p> +The unseen tears came to Ned's eyes, for it was at least thirty +miles to more water and the plains. And should they even reach the +Chusco, he could see only death in the desert. +</p> + +<p> +"You'll feel better in the cool of the woods down there," said Ned +gently, "and maybe we can kill a rabbit. Hurrah, come on, Alan! +Brace up. It's all down hill, now. Here's for the woods and +broiled rabbit!" +</p> + +<p> +In a new spurt of life another start was made and the two chums set +out down the slope. In one of Ned's hands was a rock. It was to be +the death warrant of any small animal, and his eyes were busy +examining each sheltered rocky nook and bush. Suddenly a feverish +hand caught his. +</p> + +<p> +"Look," whispered Alan. +</p> + +<p> +Ned's eyes followed his chum's gaze. +</p> + +<p> +It was a spiral of thin smoke in the trees below. +</p> + +<p> +With a shout, Ned sprang forward. Then he turned. Alan was +standing still. Ned's heart grew cold: +</p> + +<p> +"See the smoke," Alan was repeating, "see the nice smoke. Maybe +it's a house on fire." +</p> + +<p> +His friend was delirious. Ned flew to his side once more and again +his touch revived the exhausted boy. Almost five days of wandering +and the exhausting toil on the mesa had proved too much for the more +delicate Alan, and Ned realized with sickening horror that the +situation was critical. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm all right, Ned," answered Alan when his chum was once more with +him; "just a little lightheaded. But that's all." +</p> + +<p> +What was to be done? The smoke might be that of a forest fire. And +it might mean Indians. But even an enemy is welcome when starvation +and death confronts one. Almost at the end of his own resources, +the determined Ned forced himself into a last effort. He used no +words of persuasion, for Alan allowed Ned to take his hand, and +thus, silently and slowly, the two moved forward again. Perhaps +another half mile was made between rocks and down gullies and then +Alan exclaimed pitifully: +</p> + +<p> +"It's no use, Ned, I can't, I can't. My feet." Burying his +fevered face in his hands, the boy wept, partly in pain and partly +because he knew that he was holding back his chum. +</p> + +<p> +At such periods Ned Napier was at his best. With kind words he +sought to encourage his friend. He used the little water left to +bathe Alan's face, and the last of his shirt in binding anew his +friend's bleeding feet. He tried to joke and speculated on the +possibilities of the smoke beyond them, but it was without avail. +Poor Alan could not rise again. The fever of exhaustion was on him +and with a last appeal to Ned to leave him the boy threw himself on +the ground and fainted away. +</p> + +<p> +There was no doubt now as to what was to be done. Unless he could +bring help to his friend in a short time Ned knew it would mean +death. And that meant death for both, for young Napier would never +abandon his friend. Like a drunken man Ned turned and stumbled +forward. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap33"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XXXIII +</h3> + +<h3> +A FORLORN DASH FOR HELP +</h3> + +<p> +Am hour later Alan Hope, carried by the faithful Elmer Grissom and +the jovial Bob Russell, was laid gently on a blanket by the fire +whose smoke had attracted the attention of the ragged, worn +wanderers. Not until the sun had set did the exhausted lad open his +eyes again. But water and food had been forced through his lips and +when reason came back strength was not far behind. +</p> + +<p> +Ned sat by his chum's side all day, bathing his face and making him +as comfortable as possible; from Elmer's medicine packet. A few +mouthfuls of food had sufficed Ned. But that night, when Alan came +again to his senses, the four boys held a thanksgiving about a +cheerful fire and ate together. But it was no banquet. +</p> + +<p> +What had happened was soon repeated to the weak but happy Alan. +Elmer and Bob had waited and watched for ten days, using their +stores sparingly and ready always for the return of Ned and Alan. +Two days they had seen the Cibola a speck in the sky far to the +west, and had watched it from the little waterfall on the edge of +the plateau. Then it disappeared and they never saw it again. This +was three days after the boys departed from Camp Eagle. +</p> + +<p> +Husbanding their provisions as well as they could, they at last +decided to start on their return to the outside world. +</p> + +<p> +This was two days before. The tent and the heavier articles were +hidden in a cache. Their food had been reduced to a meager +quantity. They had two pounds of bacon, six pounds of flour, two +ounces of tea and a little over a pound of beans. In addition they +had a half dozen bouillon tablets, a little salt, pepper and sugar, +and a complete and unopened medicine packet in which were quinine, +adhesive plaster, cotton, bandages, morphine, and other needed and +compact drugs. With this light pack each boy had a rifle and a +revolver, a few cooking utensils and a blanket. +</p> + +<p> +Elmer had his own water bottle, and Bob improvised two out of the +empty baking powder can and a lard pail. +</p> + +<p> +Thus equipped, Camp Eagle was abandoned, and led by their compass +Elmer and Bob had set out bravely for Mount Wilson and the Chusco. +But it was with no small regret that they made their way up the long +slope behind them and then across the valley beyond. But, fresh and +strong of limb, they pushed forward and with Mount Wilson as a +landmark made camp on the second night in the timber on the slope of +the outer range. +</p> + +<p> +Never wholly despairing of meeting Ned and Alan again, the two boys +were frugal both of their strength and their stores. The food they +carried would have been sufficient for a healthy man for perhaps a +week. They could not count on reaching civilization again within +that time, even with good luck. That meant half rations at the +best. But if accidents came and delay even half rations would be +cut down. So, that night, in camp, there was no feasting. A little +tea, and a cake of dough apiece made their supper; and then they +slept. +</p> + +<p> +In the morning as they were about to breakfast and be off again Bob +caught sight of a deer. A little jerked venison would not come +amiss, he thought, and as the ammunition was plentiful he darted +through the woods in pursuit. The fact that Bob was a poor hunter +probably saved Alan's life. He was gone an hour and a half and when +he returned it was after seven o'clock. +</p> + +<p> +The two boys had just extinguished their fire and were about to +shoulder their packs when a well-known but strained call arrested +them. +</p> + +<p> +"Camp ahoy?" +</p> + +<p> +It was their leader, Ned Napier, his cheeks sunken, and his body +swaying from weakness, but cheery as of old, advancing slowly +through the trees. +</p> + +<p> +Food and a night's rest restored Ned's strength. "And now, my +friends," said he in the morning, "these bandages and a little food +and good companionship have worked wonders. We are all ourselves +again. But we can't stay here, pleasant—as it is. Alan ought not +to travel for another day and then he ought to have some husky +attendant. Bob, you are nominated for that job. Elmer and I will +take a few pinches of tea, the soup tablets, one revolver and a +rifle and—" +</p> + +<p> +"And what?" exclaimed Alan, suspicious of Ned's suggestion. +</p> + +<p> +"And," continued Ned, "We'll just dash on ahead and bring you some +help." +</p> + +<p> +"No, siree," shouted Alan. "Do you think get back to Clarkeville, +one hundred and fifteen miles or more, on six soup tablets? And for +me? If you think you ought to go, all right. But you'll take half +of the food." +</p> + +<p> +"Or more," interrupted Bob, "give us a little flour and salt and +some matches. I reckon I can get a deer before night." +</p> + +<p> +But Ned convinced them in the end that he was right. He argued that +each mile he and Elmer made in advance was nearer help. Alan must +advance slowly. +</p> + +<p> +"All you've got to do," he explained to Bob and Alan, "is to reach +the Chusco, where Elmer camped, and take care of yourselves for +seven or eight days. And we'll be there to help you, unless +something happens. You won't have much to eat but you'll have water +and you have ammunition." +</p> + +<p> +And at seven o'clock that morning they parted. Just before the +farewells Alan called Ned to one side and said: +</p> + +<p> +"Hadn't you better take my bag?" indicating the jewel case under his +arm. +</p> + +<p> +"Why?" answered Ned. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, you know we may never see each other again." +</p> + +<p> +Ned took his chum's hand. +</p> + +<p> +"Alan," he said, "we were not born to lose ourselves in the woods, +much less to die there. We'll meet again all right. Don't you have +any fears on that point. But if we shouldn't, I won't care for +amethysts or pearls. If I don't see you again it'll be because I'm +beyond the need of those things." +</p> + +<p> +There were handshakes and cheering, good wishes, and the relief +section was off. +</p> + +<p> +"Elmer," said Alan, after the two had been trailing through the +trees Indian fashion some time, "it is daylight at four o'clock and +dark at seven—that's fifteen hours. Can you walk two miles an +hour?" +</p> + +<p> +"Sho'ly," smiled Elmer, showing his white teeth. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, that's thirty miles a day. If we could do that for four days +we'd be in Clarkeville!" +</p> + +<p> +"Clarkeville in fo' days it am den," echoed Elmer, "or bust." +</p> + +<p> +"We've got six soup tablets. If we dine on one at ten o'clock in +the morning and one at seven o'clock in the evening we'll have +regular meals for three days." +</p> + +<p> +"And de las' day we won't need none, we'll be in such a hurry," +added the colored boy, happy again in Ned's company. +</p> + +<p> +That was the spirit in which the expedition started. Late that +afternoon they emerged from the timber and were on the sandy +foothills where progress was faster. Ned's feet bothered him and he +was in constant pain, but the adhesive plaster and cotton had been +of the greatest help. There was no pause. The first day's schedule +he was determined to make and at about eight o'clock the relief +expedition gave a shout. The Chusco lay before them. +</p> + +<p> +A little fire, some tea and bouillon—made in the pan after the tea +was consumed—and the two boys found a bed on the soft sand with no +covering but the deep Mexican sky. At dawn they were up and away +after a bath in the muddy river. Elmer was now the guide and he +readily picked up Buck's old wagon trail. Sharp at ten o'clock a +halt was made for breakfast, bouillon now without tea. Ned, his +face a little more sunken and his legs a little more unsteady than +the day before, was sitting on the ground resting his burning feet, +when Elmer suddenly touched him on the shoulder, set the soup pan +quickly on the sand and drew his revolver. +</p> + +<p> +Far down the trail a horseman was approaching. Behind him in the +distance followed a wagon. What did this mean? +</p> + +<p> +"Well, whoever it is, we'll have the soup," said Ned. +</p> + +<p> +This consumed, Ned and his friend started forward. +</p> + +<p> +"If it's good luck we'll meet it sooner this way," said Ned, "if +it's bad we'll know the worst quicker." +</p> + +<p> +But it was good luck. The rider soon galloped up and swung his wide +hat in the air. It was Curt Bradley, the mayor of Clarkeville. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap34"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XXXIV +</h3> + +<h3> +THE RESCUE +</h3> + +<p> +They told Ned afterwards that he keeled over in the sand and fainted +dead away, but he always insisted that he didn't faint, that he knew +everything that was going on. Yet he did not hear a word of the +long story told by Elmer. When he roused himself he was lying in +the shade of the big freight wagon and a couple of cowboys were +getting breakfast ready. +</p> + +<p> +Then Mayor Bradley explained his presence in that mysterious way in +which bad news always travels friendly Indians had sent him word of +the attack on Buck's outfit and of the death of the veteran +plainsman. This news had just reached Clarkeville and Mayor Bradley +had at once set out to find the body if possible, and assist those +who escaped. +</p> + +<p> +Of course all speed was made toward the foothills and that evening +Alan and Bob, the former only a shadow of the lively youngster who +had left Clarkeville but two weeks before, were found and rescued. +That night there was a new camp on the Chusco and meat and hot +bread. The only shadow to dim the happiness of the rescued boys was +the recollection of the murdered Buck. +</p> + +<p> +The return to Clarkeville was made by easy stages in four days, and +even Alan was nearly his old self when that town was reached. One +night's rest in real beds, with fresh linen from the baggage they +had left behind them, and baths, removed the traces of privation and +suffering. There was little more to detain Ned and Alan. +</p> + +<p> +A telegram was dispatched to Major Honeywell at Kansas City, where +the boys and their patrons had agreed to meet. Then Ned's tool +chest was forwarded by freight to Chicago. In company with Mayor +Bradley Ned and Alan visited Mrs. Bourke, Buck's widow. Retaining +enough to cover the costs of transportation to Kansas City he gave +the widow what remained of his funds, nearly five hundred dollars, +and all the heavy stores remaining in the corral. +</p> + +<p> +At midnight of that day four wide-awake and alert boys, neatly clad +in summer suits, boarded the local train bound east for Albuquerque. +The last hand they shook was that of Mayor Bradley. +</p> + +<p> +"Mr. Mayor," said Ned as he parted from his friend, "I'm sorry I +can't tell you why we were here, or what we were doing. But you +were our friend and we'll never forget you. Some day I'm going to +show you how highly we regard you. And some day I hope I'll be able +to tell you what our mission was." +</p> + +<p> +Three days later the quartette of boys sprang from the Limited in +the Union depot at Kansas City. The parting had come. None of the +boys knew what that meant until the last moment. +</p> + +<p> +"'Ned," said Bob Russell, once again in the field of his profession, +"I've had many a strange assignment in my work and I expect to have +many another, but I'll never have one like this. I've got the story +of my life, but I haven't got yours. If the time ever comes when I +can write it, when you are free to tell it, just remember your best +friend, Bob Russell, reporter, Kansas City Comet." +</p> + +<p> +"Bob," answered Ned wringing his hand, "you have missed a good +story. I'm sorry. It wasn't because you were not a good reporter. +It was just our good luck. But if things work out the way I hope, +I'm going to give you something better than a good story." +</p> + +<p> +"And," broke in Alan, "just want to say this: if chance ever throws +adventures my way again I hope that the companions I share it with +will always include Bob Russell." +</p> + +<p> +The details of how Ned and Alan, just one day late, kept their +engagement with major Honeywell and Senor' Oje in the Coates House, +and of the almost unbelievable report they made and the rich +evidence of its genuineness that they submitted do not really belong +in an account of the flight of the Cibola. Two things were done at +once, however. A handsome gold watch was purchased and sent to +Mayor Bradley with the compliments of Ned and Alan, and Senor Oje +forwarded an additional check for a thousand dollars to Buck's +widow. +</p> + +<p> +The report on the value of the stones carried from the treasure +temple by the two boys was such that Senor Oje gave them his check +for $25,000. Out of this each boy contributed part of his share +toward a sum sufficient to give Elmer a business education. Finally +the two boys bought a draft for a thousand dollars, payable to +Robert Russell. With it went this note: "Please accept this as some +slight compensation for the story you did not get." +</p> + +<p> +But in good time Bob Russell did get his story. For, otherwise, +this narrative would never have been written. +</p> + +<p> +How it came about that Bob got his story; how the treasure left in +the Turquoise Temple was finally lifted; how the young aeronauts in +doing it battled successfully with a maelstrom in the clouds, were +driven far out over the Pacific, cast away on a derelict and finally +made an escape with their "sneering idol" by aeroplane into the +wilds of Mexico, is a later and more remarkable chapter in the +adventures of Ned Napier and Alan Hope, to be told in "The Air-Ship +Boys Adrift, or Saved by an Aeroplane." +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t3"> +THE END +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Air Ship Boys, by H.L. 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Sayler + +Release Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6908] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on February 10, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AIR SHIP BOYS *** + + + + +Produced by Sean Pobuda + + + + +The Air Ship Boys +or +The Quest of the Aztec Treasure + +By H. L. Sayler + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE DEPARTURE OF THE OVERLAND LIMITED + + +The Overland Limited, aglow with lights, stood in the Dearborn +Street station in Chicago waiting for eight o'clock and the last of +its fortunate passengers. Near the entrance gates, through which +perspiring men and women were hurrying, stood the rear cars of the +train. Within these could be seen joyous passengers locating +themselves and arranging bags and parcels. + +In fifteen minutes the long journey of Ned Napier and his chum Alan +Hope to the far southwest was to begin. + +At the other end of the big shed, where the cars of the long train +seemed to fade almost out of sight, four persons were anxiously +awaiting the approach of the hour of departure. One of these, the +conductor of the train, consulted his watch, as he had done several +times already, holding it close within the glow of his green-shaded +lantern. + +"It's getting pretty close to time, Major Honeywell," he said with +some concern. "You're sure he'll be here?" + +The man addressed, who stood leaning lightly on a cane and whose +soft dark hat and clothes indicated his military calling, showed +similar concern, but replied confidently: + +"We have nearly fifteen minutes. Young Napier has a reputation for +never failing. I'm sure he'll be here in time." + +"Here's the telegram," interrupted young Alan Hope, as he drew a +yellow sheet from his pocket. "It is from Youngstown, Ohio, and +says Ned's train is on time. He left Washington yesterday and if +everything is all right he reached the Union Depot a half hour ago. +He'll be here." + +"Well, you know we can't wait, much as I'd like to," replied the +conductor. "You'd better have everything ready." + +"She's dat, sah," interrupted the fourth person of the group, a +young negro, who, as he spoke, placed his hand on the side door of +the car, and moved it on its easy running bearings. + +"You see, there isn't much time left," continued the sympathetic +train official. "We're coupling up." And he nodded toward the +gloom beyond the train shed out of which the big compound locomotive +was already emerging. The military man with the cane became more +apprehensive. + +"What shall we do if Ned fails to get here?" he said suddenly after +peering down the long platform toward the busy end of the station. + +"Oh, we didn't go into this to fail," cheerily responded the youth +by his side. "If we 'fall down' it won't be on a simple thing like +this. He'll be here. It won't take us but three minutes to +transfer the stuff when it gets here. Never fear. I'll just take +another look in the car to make sure." + +As he did so the colored boy exclaimed: + +"It's all right. Here's de screws as he done tole us to git and +here's de screw-driver outen de box as he done writ us to have ready +and dar's de door all ready fur to fly open." + +To prove it the lad gave the wide door in the side of the car a +shove, and as it ran back on its track a portion of the inside of +the car was exposed. It was a peculiar car and worth description, +for in it, next to the big engine and ahead of all the other cars of +the almost endless train, Ned Napier, his friend Alan Hope, and +their servant, Elmer Grissom, were to be the sole passengers on a +most mysterious and, as it proved, most eventful journey. In +railroad parlance the car was what is known as a "club" car. Half +of the interior was bare and unfinished, like the compartment in +which, on special and limited trains, baggage is carried. This part +of the car, now exposed to view, was dimly lighted with one +incandescent bulb. In the half-light it could be seen that the +space was almost wholly filled with tanks, boxes, casks, crates and +bundles, all systematically braced to prevent jarring or smashing. +It was plainly not the luggage of ordinary travelers. Except for a +narrow passageway in the center of the car and a space about five +square next the open door, every inch, to the very ventilators of +the car, was crowded with bound or crated, numbered and tagged +packages. In the open space next the door Alan Hope now appeared. + +"Coming yet?" he asked with apparent confidence as he peered +outside. + +The colored boy Elmer shook his head. + +Just then the conductor returned and again his watch. + +"Eight minutes," he said; "time's getting along and I've got to go +back and see about my train. I don't want to make you nervous, but +do you want us to take this car if fails to get here with the +stuff?" + +"I suppose there's no need," replied the military man, beginning to +show irritation. "But there's eight minutes yet." + +"I know," replied the conductor, "but after we are coupled up and it +is time to leave we can't stop to cut this car out. We've got to +have five minutes for that. At five minutes of eight you'll have to +decide whether it is go or stay. I'm sorry--but you'll have to +decide in a minute or two." + +"Decide it now," interrupted Alan from the open car door. "We're +going and he'll be here." + +The Major appeared to be in doubt as to the wisdom of this, but +before he could say anything Alan continued: + +"Couple up whenever you want to, Mr. Conductor, we'll be ready," and +he sprang out of the car, his face set with determination. + +By that time the throbbing engine had silently moved up next the car +and two grimy depot men with smoky torches had swung off the +footboard to make the connections. + +"Got to know," repeated the sympathetic conductor. "Only five +minutes." He looked at the Major for the final word. + +The latter peered down the long almost vacant platform. There was +no one in sight but the late arrivals being helped aboard the cars +in the far end of the station. Then he gave another look of appeal +at his own watch as if in doubt what to say. To send a special car +half way across the continent was no inexpensive project. And to +send it without the person or the precious material that it was +intended seemed not only a waste of money but foolish. Although the +anxious man had both confidence and nerve it could be seen that he +was in a quandary. + +"Five minutes," exclaimed the railway official. "Does she go or +stay?" + +Before the man could answer, Alan faced him and with a hand on the +Major's arm exclaimed: + +"Ned will be here, he can't fail; tell him we're going." + +The Major smiled. "That's it," he exclaimed suddenly. "Take her +along. It's up to us to take care of ourselves." + +"Good," said the conductor, "I hope he'll make it." + +With a signal to couple on the engine he hurried away for a final +inspection of his train. + +For a moment the three persons left behind stood in silence. There +was a hiss of the engine as it pushed the connecting blocks together +and then those waiting so anxiously could hear the jar of connecting +valves as the brake hose were snapped. Confident as Alan was, it +gave him a sinking feeling. Then, as the swish of tests sounded and +the gnome-like figures of the depot men crawled from under the car, +the Major looked again at his watch in despair. + +"Four minutes--" + +Before he could say more Alan caught sight of a movement among those +gathered around the last car at the far end of the depot. + +"There he is!" he shouted and darted forward. + +"He sho'ly is," exclaimed Elmer, his white teeth showing, "and Yar's +de screw driver and yar's de screws all ready." + +A slowly moving truck had carefully turned the end of the waiting +train and, drawn by two baggage-room employees, was making its way +along the platform. By its side walked a boy--a lad of about +seventeen. One of his hands rested on the truck and his eyes were +carefully fixed on the load it bore. This was a black, iron-bound +case about four feet long, three feet deep and perhaps a yard in +height. On each side in red letters were the words: + +"Explosive; no fire." Beneath this ominous legend were two large +iron handles. + +When the men drawing the truck quickened their pace the boy spoke to +them sharply and they fell again into a steady walk. For the +curious onlookers through whom the strange little caravan passed the +lad by the side of the truck seemed to have no concern. A traveling +cap was pushed back from his young face and his keen and alert eyes +and the tone of his voice indicated a quality that goes with those +born to command. + +"Hello, Ned," came a ringing greeting from Alan as he ran forward. +"They were afraid you wouldn't get here. But I knew you would. +It's only a minute or two. Hurry." + +"Four," said the new arrival cheerfully and confidently. + +He gave his left hand to Alan and a better welcome in a cheery word +of greeting, but his right hand did not leave the truck. Nor did +his eyes leave it except for a moment. + +"And the Major?" asked the new arrival as the truck rumbled on. + +"Waiting to bid us good-bye." + +"Everything aboard and shipshape?" + +"Everything but this," and Alan glanced at the black case on the +truck. + +"I've carried it a thousand miles like a baby," laughed Ned. "Rode +with it all the way in the express car." + +"Then you didn't sleep last night?" + +Ned laughed. "It was too interesting," he answered, "and I can +sleep to-night. But I'm glad it's here with no one killed and not a +drop spilled." + +Advancing leaning heavily on his cane, the military man had hurried +forward, his face radiant. + +"Welcome, my boy, and congratulations. But for goodness' sake +hurry," he began hastily. + +Ned smiled again. "I think we had better not hurry this," and he +pointed to the truck load. "That's the reason I'm late. I walked +the horses from the Union Depot. You see we can't afford to spill +our supplies. It was too hard to make and cost too much." + +In another moment the truck was abreast of the open car door. + +"Back her up," exclaimed Ned giving a hand himself to the tongue of +the truck. Then, as the top of the truck came up flush with the car +door and floor he sprang lightly on the truck and motioned the men +to do likewise. For a moment they hesitated, but being reassured, +Ned and Alan and the truck men lined up on either side of the big +case. Slowly and carefully, with a brawny truck man on each side to +help the less stoutly muscled lads, the case slid forward and with a +"yeo-ho" or two from Ned it was soon in the car. Without a pause it +was pushed at once into a space outlined on the floor. + +"And about two minutes to spare,"' cried the Major from the platform +jubilantly and thankfully. + +"Not quite," laughed Ned, "but it'll be a half a minute and that's +as good as an hour. The screws, Elmer." + +The colored boy, who had been busy keeping out of the way, sprang +forward to perform his part of the apparently ticklish job. It was +then seen that each bottom corner of the mysterious box had an iron +flange. In the center of' each of these was a small hole. + +"Major," called out Ned as the truck men climbed out of the car, +"these men were very obliging and careful." + +The Major understood him, and as he began searching his pockets for +a bill Ned quickly inserted four screws in the waiting holes and +with a few sharp turns of the screw driver made the case hard and +fast to the floor of the car. Almost as quickly he threw the door +into place and bolted it, and then with Alan hurried out for a last +word to the friend who was so much interested in his success. + +"Was I right?" he exclaimed. "Half a minute?" + +"To the dot," enthusiastically answered the Major. "Now, boys, +good-bye. Everything in that car is exactly as you planned and +asked. From now on it is subject to your orders alone. What mine +are you know. God bless you both and good luck to you!" + +As the boys took his hand Ned handed him a letter. "I'm sorry I +couldn't have seen my mother again, but please send her this. I +wrote it to-day on the train." + +Far down the line of cars came the words, "all aboard," and Elmer, +cap in hand, sprang onto the steps. + +"Good-bye," exclaimed Alan, "and thank you for the great chance +you're giving us." + +"Good-bye," said Ned, "if we fail in our work it won't be your +fault, Major." + +And then, as the train began to move, the boys stepped aboard, off +at last, after six weeks preparation, in search of the lost Cibola +and the treasure of the Turquoise Temple. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +NED'S MEETING WITH MAJOR BALDWIN HONEYWELL + + +Six weeks before Ned Napier and Alan Hope had set out on this trip +Ned had been the surprised recipient of a mysterious note. In this +message, written on the stationery of the Annex Hotel, he was urged +to call on the writer the next morning at ten o'clock. With his +mother's approval he had kept the engagement. The events which +followed will explain how Ned came to take his momentous journey to +the far southwest. + +Promptly on the hour Ned presented himself at the office desk. A +clerk with a handful of letters gave him a half glance and turned +away. + +"I say," began Ned in a voice that made the clerk turn quickly, "I +want some information." + +The man stepped forward, leaned over the counter far enough to get a +full view of his questioner, and answered: + +"All right, sonny. What can I do for you?" + +"You can tell me if Major Baldwin Honeywell is staying here." + +"Friend of Major Baldwin's?" asked the clerk, his smile broadening. + +"If Major Honeywell is stopping here I suppose he is paying well for +his entertainment," replied Ned after a moment's pause. + +"Sure," answered the facetious clerk, "regular rates." + +"Perhaps that ought to include civil attention to those he has +business with. I have an appointment with him at ten o'clock. I +wish you would see at once that he knows I am here." + +The clerk's smile was not quite so broad now but he was still +amused. + +"What name shall I give, son?" He was about to repeat the "sonny" +that had grated a little on Ned's sense of the proprieties but he +stopped short--and added: "Have you a card, Mr.--?" + +"I have no card and I don't call myself 'Mr.'," answered Ned, "but +you can say that Ned Napier is here and will be glad to see Major +Honeywell whenever it is convenient." + +At the mention of "Ned Napier" the clerk's airiness disappeared. A +certain respect seemed to take its place. Then he leaned forward +and said a good deal more politely: "You are not the Ned Napier?" + +"I never heard of any other one of that name," answered the boy. +"But I think we are losing time. Please say I'm here." + +A moment later a page announced that Major Honeywell, in suite 8 A, +desired Mr. Napier to be shown up at once. Reaching the apartment +the page knocked and there was a quick "Come in." + +Hat in hand, and with all the manliness and dignity his seventeen +years afforded, Ned stepped into the room. At a table a man had +just risen as if from work on some papers. As the man turned to +come forward and his eyes fell upon the lad he paused as if +surprised. Ned Napier was neither large nor small for his age. But +his circumstances had been such, financially, that his attire was +plain and perhaps old fashioned--much of it the handiwork of his +frugal and fond mother; and the absence of smart and up-to-date +ideas in clothes and shoes made him look, perhaps, even younger than +his years. Other lads of his acquaintance--those in his classes in +high school--aped their elders. Ned's time and interests were too +much given up to his boyish ambition to permit this. + +Ned saw a man of about sixty years, with snow-white moustache, +dressed in blue. The man had every appearance of being both a +soldier and an officer. His face was tanned as if by much exposure +to the sun, but the line of white at the top of his forehead, where +his hat gave protection, suggested that the color was both recent +and transitory. Major Honeywell's hair, which was yet dark and only +slightly streaked with gray, was too long to suggest present active +service, as Ned at once concluded. His face, too, had something of +the student in it, and this effect was increased by a pair of large +gold spectacles with double lenses. The man's contracted eyes gave +the youth the uncomfortable feeling of being microscopically +examined, and Ned was for a moment ill at ease. The manner of the +scrutiny was that of a scholar who had before him a strange new +specimen. Ned, still with hat in hand, felt more like a dead bug +than a very live boy. Then the white-mustached man smiled, took +off his heavy-lensed glasses, and stepped forward with his hand +extended. + +"I am Major Honeywell," he began in a low voice, "formerly of the +regular army and later detailed on ethnological work for the +Government. You are--" + +"Ned Napier," responded his youthful caller. + +"You must take no offense if I am a little surprised," exclaimed +Major Honeywell; "I had supposed you would be older. Perhaps your +surprise came first on receiving my note?" + +"It did," replied Ned; "I was surprised and so was my mother. But +she thought I ought to come, although we could not imagine what you +wanted." + +Major Honeywell smiled and motioned Ned to a chair with a +graciousness that made the lad more comfortable. It had taken but a +passing glance to reveal to the boy that he was in the presence of +no ordinary man. The articles scattered about the room, which +apparently were part of his host's traveling outfit, confirmed this. +Of three leather cases or trunks in front of the mantel and within +Ned's view, one was open. On the extended top of this, still partly +covered with the folds of a light Indian blanket, were several flat +and dull plates or dishes of Indian design, more or less broken and +chipped. From the case came a pungent aromatic smell such as Ned +had noticed in the "Early American" room of the museum. He was not +quite sure what "ethno" meant, but he made a guess that it related +to old Indian things, and this theory he confirmed to himself when +he noticed on the table that Major Honeywell had just left another +piece of pottery and by its side a large reading or magnifying +glass. + +"A collector," thought Ned, more puzzled than ever. + +"I thank you for coming," said Major Honeywell finally. "It was +good of you to do so. But I had supposed you were older--at least a +young man," and he smiled again as if in some doubt. + +"Perhaps," replied Ned with just a shadow of resentment in his +voice, "if you will tell me why you sent for me I can help you in +making up your mind as to whether you were wrong in doing so. I'm +seventeen." + +Major Honeywell arose, took off his glasses again and walked to +where Ned was sitting. + +"I hope you'll not take offense, my boy. But my business with you +is most important. It is possibly the most important thing that has +ever come to me. Fate, or chance more properly, of course, seems to +have brought us together. If what I have in mind and have partly +hoped could be brought about, is brought about, you will have no +reason to regret my sending for you. We must be sure of ourselves. +So far we know almost nothing about each other. Since our +acquaintance may mean a great deal to us let us be sure of +ourselves. Therefore, you will pardon me if I ask you if you are +the Ned Napier?" + +Ned laughed good-naturedly. + +"That's what the clerk down stairs asked me few moments ago--if I +were the Ned Napier. Well, I never heard of any other Ned Napier. +But boys don't carry credentials, you know, Major Honeywell. I'll +take your word for it that you are Major Baldwin Honeywell, formerly +of the United States Army, and now of the--what do you call +it--ethno--?" + +"Ethnological survey," laughed the Major. "Then, since we know each +other, I want to congratulate you, my young friend, on being one of +the brightest, nerviest, and most promising young men of America. +I've read about you and that's why I sent for you." + +Ned could only conclude one thing and it made him blush. "You mean +my dirigible balloon experience last summer?" he asked with growing +embarrassment. + +"I do," replied Major Honeywell with what Ned thought was wholly +unnecessary warmth and enthusiasm, "and I want to shake the hand and +congratulate the youngest, most daring and most promising balloon +navigator in the world." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE RELATION OF MIGUEL VASQUEZ + + +It may be well to recount how such a young lad as Ned had become so +famous. + +Ned's father had been a consulting engineer with a fondness for +aeronautics. When Mr. Napier died, a year before Ned's meeting with +the Major, it was discovered that he was making in his little shop a +small dirigible balloon to be used at an amusement park. Mr. +Napier's death was sudden. Manufacturer's bills for the balloon bag +and engine came due and Ned, young as he was, knew that he must pay +them. Putting on all the dignity that his sixteen years would +permit he called on the manager of the amusement park. + +"I hear your father is dead," said the manager. "I suppose we have +lost the twenty-five per cent we advanced on the air ship." + +"Why do you suppose that?" + +"Because he had complete charge of the work and we have no one to +take his place." + +"I mean to do that myself," said Ned. + +The manager smiled and shook his head. "No doubt you would try--you +look it--but we don't care to experiment." + +"But you want the air ship, don't you? You've advertised it." + +"Yes, it was ordered--through your father. Since he is dead and +cannot contribute his services, our agreement is void." + +"Very well," replied Ned. "Good day." + +"Look here," interrupted the manager, "what do you mean to do?" + +"I'm going out to sell an air ship." + +"You mean our air ship?" + +"You said the contract is void." + +The manager laughed again, but not as jovially. + +"You ought to get on," he exclaimed. + +"I've got to get on, and I'm going to do it by being on the square." + +"I guess you're right. What's your proposition?" + +"Since you've thrown up the contract I'm going to sell the balloon +at a profit. The price is now $3,000. And I want a contract as +operator for six weeks at $100 per week." + +The manager stared at Ned and then exclaimed. "I'll do it. You are +the very youngster we want." + +That was how Ned Napier came to finish the air ship his father had +planned, and how it happened all that summer that the papers printed +news stories and Sunday specials with pictures of his daring +flights, and how Major Baldwin Honeywell and other happened to speak +of him as the Ned Napier. + +To return to the scene of Ned's meeting with the Major-- + +"My name is Ned Napier," the boy began as soon as his host's +cordiality gave him a chance, "and I am the young man the newspapers +wrote about." + +"I certainly made no mistake in sending for you," exclaimed the +soldier. "But, before I say more I want you to realize that this +is, to me, a most important matter." + +"You mean it is--" + +"A solemn secret. I want secure your services in a desperate and +daring adventure that will mean a great deal to me--and a great deal +to you." + +"Certainly," was the boy's response. "I give you my pledge on that." + +A look of relief came into the old soldier's face. + +"If I furnished you the money," went on Major Honeywell suddenly, +"could you produce in a short time a practical and manageable +balloon?" + +Before the boy could answer the old soldier continued: "I don't mean +one of those affairs in which ascensions of an hour or so are made. +I mean one in which you could travel for several days--perhaps a +week?" + +"No," said Ned, "it can't be done. No one has yet remained in the +air in a balloon over fifty-two hours." + +Major Honeywell said nothing, but Ned could see that what he had +told the Major had dashed some budding hope. + +"That is," Ned hastened to explain, "you couldn't do it unless you +periodically renewed your supply of hydrogen. I really believe," +continued Ned, "that I ought to know more about what you are +planning to accomplish." + +Again the white-mustached man was silent a few moments, and then he +told without reserve the great secret. He began with an account of +himself. Until three years before he had been an officer in the +United States cavalry, stationed in the southwest. Then the +President had assigned him to ethnological work. His special work +was in the ruins of the Sedentary Pueblos. While scaling a cliff in +this work he fell and permanently injured his left knee. + +Resigning from the army, he traveled for a year and then went to +visit an old friend, Senor Pedro Oje, whose immense sheep herds in +Southwestern Colorado had made their owner a millionaire. + +While here, hearing of an ancient nearby pueblo, just south of the +Mesa Verde, Major Honeywell and his friend drove to the settlement. +To Major Honeywell's surprise he found an old friend in Totontenac, +the chief. As the two white men were about to leave, old Totontenac +presented to his soldier friend an ancient funeral urn. + +Major Honeywell was almost paralyzed with astonishment when he saw +that the vessel was sealed and that it bore on its side, instead of +the conventional Aztec design, this inscription in black: "Miguel +Vasquez, 1545." + +"What was in it?" asked Ned quickly when the Major came to this part +of his narrative. + +"That man was undoubtedly a soldier who marched out of Mexico in +1539 with Friar Marcos, the great explorer," went on Major +Honeywell, ignoring the question, "and when others gave up the +search for the famed seven cities of Cibola and the wealth of the +Aztecs that every Spaniard believed rivaled the treasure of the +Incas, this man kept on. Either by accident or design Miguel +Vasquez was left by the expedition and six years later he wrote on +cowhide and concealed in that vase one of the most valuable historic +records extant in America to-day--confirmation that there was a real +basis for the tales that lured the Spaniards to this region in quest +of treasure." + +Stepping to a trunk Major Honeywell took from a compartment a tin +tube. From this he extracted a stiff sheet of parchment-like +material. + +"It's writing, isn't it?" exclaimed Ned. + +"Yes, and Spanish. It is Miguel Vasquez's last will and testament, +written over three hundred and fifty years ago. And here is a +translation of it. You may read it yourself. That is my secret-- +and yours now!" + +And these are the words that turned the current of Ned Napier's +life: + +"A relation of Miguel Vasquez soldier of Spain made in the year 1546 +concerning the hidden city of Tune Cha. Coming out of Saint Michael +in the Province of Culican I journeyed with Captain Marco de Nica in +1539. At Vacupa I departed from him and remained now six years +among those of this land. Three years I dwelt in the town of Acuco +and heard often of the city of Tune Cha wherein is to be found the +Temple of Turquoise than which none more beautiful is to be found, +not even in Castile itself. Such I have seen with my own eyes. It +standeth within a palace of five hundred rooms or more wherein are +to be found priestly vessels of gold and silver. And this same +palace or City of Priests is compassed about by a massive wall. And +in the center of the palace standeth the Temple, facing the sun +which is the sacred place of al Quivera, Arche and Guyas. And the +walls of this Temple are naught but precious Turquoise even to the +height of forty feet or more, and the pillars thereof are of gold +and silver alternate. Knowledge of this hidden and beautiful city +hath not been reported unto Spain nor even unto Nueva Espana. From +Acuco it lieth thirty day's travel west of north and as I estimate +in 36 degrees latitude in the mountains of Tune Cha. From the Rio +de Chuco it lieth west six days' travel. Nor may it be discovered +but by those who have knowledge of it. + Miguel Vasquez" + +"What I had hoped to do," said Major Honeywell at last, "was to make +the most perfect balloon ever built and discover through you this +hidden temple of turquoise treasure. You say you cannot do it." + +Something he had never felt before shot through Ned's body. His +face flushed and then grew pale under the spell that was on him. + +"Major Honeywell," he said suddenly, "I don't know of a balloon that +can be made to fly for a week. But if it is necessary to have one +to do what you wish I'll make it and I'll find Vasquez's Turquoise +Temple." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE CONTRACT, AND LIQUID HYDROGEN + + +"I knew you'd do it," exclaimed Major Honeywell, beaming. "Now +we'll have my friend Senor Oje up and get right at the details." + +"One moment, Major Honeywell. It is easy to say what I just told +you. But it means I've got to do something no one has ever done. +I've got to take with me--in the balloon, of course--the material to +replace the gas I lose." + +"Well, that's easy, isn't it? For you--" qualified the old soldier. + +"I guess you don't know much about ballooning," laughed Ned. + +"Will money enable you to do it?" + +"I hope so! Other experimenters have tried to carry materials to +make gas. I'm going to take the gas itself in a glass jar." + +"In a glass jar!" + +"Precisely. Liquefied hydrogen gas." + +At that moment Senor Pedro Oje, who had been summoned by Major +Honeywell, entered the room. An almost Indian complexion and cast +of countenance indicated his Mexican origin. What had taken place +was related to Senor Oje, and he left no doubt that he was +thoroughly in sympathy with the project. He soon put matters on a +business basis. + +"We are to share alike in what is found, I understand," he said. +"Major Honeywell will have a third interest because the secret is +his. This young man is to have a third because the risk is his. +And I am to have a similar portion for furnishing the capital. And +that brings us to the real starting point," the Mexican capitalist +continued. "What is it to cost?" + +"Ten thousand dollars at least," answered Ned instantly. + +"Phew!" exclaimed Major Honeywell. + +Senor Oje, not unused to speculative investments, gave no sign of +surprise. + +"How shall it be arranged?" was his only comment. + +"Put that amount to my personal credit in the First National Bank-- +if you care to trust me." + +"We are trusting you with more than that," replied Major Honeywell +with earnestness. + +"It will take me six weeks to make my arrangements. In that time, +as I need the money, I will draw on the account," said Ned. + +"Very good," said Senor Oje; "I will draw up the agreement." + +"Now," continued Ned, addressing Major Honeywell, "what is your +interpretation of the message of the Spaniard?" + +"Of course Vasquez's words must be modernized. What he termed the +Tune Cha Mountains begin in New Mexico and extend northwesterly into +Arizona and Utah. In many places their plateaus rise eight thousand +feet above the sea. Their thousands of peaks and canyons are fit +rivals of the wonders of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. Nowadays +they are known by many names--the Sierra Chusca, the Lokaeboka, the +Carrisco. 'Thirty days' travel west of north' is not very definite, +but it certainly locates the palace in the far northwestern part of +these mountains. + +"The Rio de Chuco can only mean the Chusco river. The only place in +its winding course that is six days' journey from the mountains is +where it joins the Amarilla. This is south and east of Wilson's +Peak, which is our landmark." + +"Very good," exclaimed Ned, briskly. "Now, what is the nearest +point in civilization?" + +"Clarkeville, Arizona." + +"Then that is my starting point. This is June twentieth. I shall +be ready by the last day of July. Of course I shall need a special +car." + +"Very well," responded the capitalist. "I see you know what you +want." + +"Incidentally," exclaimed Ned, "I shall, of course, be permitted to +carry my own assistants." + +"Assistants? Yes, of course," replied Major Honeywell, "but they +must be persons of discretion." + +"My chum, Alan Hope, who will make the ascension with me, will be +one, and a colored boy, Elmer Grissom, who has helped me prepare for +all my flights, will be the other." + +There was no dissent. + +"When shall I make my report?" Ned added. + +Major Honeywell and his friend conferred a moment. + +"Will five weeks be enough time for your exploration?" + +"I think so; perhaps less." + +"Then we will meet you at the Coates House in Kansas City on the +first day of August." + +Senor Oje arose and lit a fresh black cigar. + +"It will be well for you and Major Honeywell to talk over these +things while I see my Chicago banker," said he. And with a good- +natured "Adios, Senores," he left the apartment. + +"Now, about this liquid hydrogen?" began Major Honeywell at once. + +"Well," said Ned, "instead of ballast, I'm going to carry reserve +hydrogen with me." + +"And is that so difficult?" asked the Major. + +"Impossible, if you try to carry material to make the gas," answered +the boy. + +"And so you are going to carry it in liquid form?" + +"I'm going to try, although the making of liquid hydrogen is, so +far, pretty much a theory. It has been made only under tremendous +pressure and at minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit." + +The Major whistled. + +"That is so cold that ice is red hot comparatively," explained Ned. +"This work must be done, in Washington." + +They discussed the balloon itself, and the car and the engine for +propelling it; where these were to be made in the East, and how they +were to be forwarded to Chicago as they were completed. Ned himself +was to go East at once and remain there until the last thing was +accomplished. + +Ned's chum, Alan Hope, had just taken employment for the school +vacation in a large sporting goods store not far from the hotel. A +few minutes later Ned walked leisurely into this store and sought +out the fire-arms department, where Alan was on duty. + +"Hello, Ned," exclaimed Alan, "what do you think of this?" And with +a smile he handed him an automatic pistol he was inspecting. + +Restraining himself, Ned looked it over carefully. + +"It holds ten cartridges and it's a beauty," declared Alan. + +Ned weighed it carefully in his hand. "What's it worth?" he asked +with dignity. + +"Eighteen dollars." + +"I think we'll need three of them!" + +Alan laughed. + +"And there are a good many other things I think we shall need," went +on Ned, soberly. + +"This hot weather is pretty bad on some people," laughed Alan. +"But, by the way, who are 'we?"' + +"You and Elmer Grissom and I," answered Ned carelessly. + +"And where are we going?" continued Alan, who was not unused to +Ned's joking. + +"On a little run in a private car down into New Mexico." + +Alan looked at him a moment and then determined to have the joke +out. + +"Then what are we going to do?" he asked, still laughing. + +"Make a trip through an unexplored mountain region in the best +dirigible balloon ever built." + +Alan wondered just where the joke came in. "And then?" he +continued. + +"Discover enough hidden treasure of jewels and silver and gold to +make us rich." + +"Shall I get you a cabbage leaf and some ice water?" asked Alan. + +"Get your father's consent that you can go; that'll be all," +announced Ned and then, breaking into a laugh, he relieved the +perplexed Alan by explaining what had just taken place. In ten +minutes Alan had secured permission to be off for the remainder of +the day and the two boys hurried away for luncheon, to revel in +dreams of their great opportunity. + +By night Mrs. Napier had consented, though with tears, to Ned's +going, and later Alan's father reluctantly did the same. As Ned was +to leave the next afternoon and had to see Major Honeywell and Senor +Oje in the morning it was a busy evening that the two boys spent in +Ned's workshop. + +At one o'clock in the morning Alan's work in Chicago was outlined +and Ned's needs in the East were all listed. + +"And now," exclaimed the tired but exuberant Alan, "it is all +arranged but the name. What are we to call the air ship?" + +"The 'Cibola,'" answered Ned without hesitation, "the dream of the +Spanish invaders and our hope of success." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A DINNER PARTY ON THE PLACIDA + + +The long, heavy, limited train on which the young air ship boys were +at last embarked on their extraordinary mission pulled slowly out of +the station. + +Ned made a quick survey of the Placida. Coming out of the baggage +end he passed first into a drawing room. In this were two sections +that opened up into four berths. Beyond the berths a passageway led +to a private stateroom. When the boys reached the stateroom, Elmer +was standing at the door with a happy smile on his face. + +"Fo' de captain," exclaimed the colored boy. + +"Where are you to bunk, Alan?" Ned asked, quickly. + +"Oh, the crew is in the main room." + +"Not much," exclaimed Ned. "We're partners in this enterprise. I +don't have any better than the rest." + +And in another moment he had dropped his valise alongside Alan's +berth. + +"We'll keep the little room for consultations," he said with a +laugh, "when we don't want Elmer to hear us talking about the +Indians." + +The colored lad grunted. + +"Can't scare me wif no Injun talk," he said. "I specs I ain't half +so 'fraid o' Injuns as I is o' dat stuff in de black box." + +"And it's time to attend to the 'stuff,'" interrupted Ned. + +They returned to the baggage room. + +"Now," Ned began, "the door to this car must be kept locked except +when the train crew are compelled to come through. We, in turn, +must be careful about fire and lights. But, for fear of accident, I +have taken some precautions." + +Alan and Elmer then saw that the top of the case was fitted with a +lid the edges of which were bound with rubber. In the center of the +covering was a short spout. + +"What's the use of an air and gas proof top with a hole in it?" +asked Alan, inspecting it curiously. + +"Maybe dat's to let de air in and de lid's to keep de hydrogum from +gettin' out," volunteered the colored boy. + +Ned was too busy to answer the one or to laugh at the other. He had +unlocked the lid and thrown it back. About six inches beneath the +top of the case stood eight iron boxes--two rows with four boxes in +each. These boxes, six inches square, were each about three feet in +height and in each could be seen the neck of a glass vessel. +Securely packed in their iron jackets to prevent breaking, stood the +glass receptacles, open-mouthed and apparently empty. But down +below the shadowed rims were soft clouds of gaseous vapor, beneath +which reposed the precious contents that had cost Ned over a +thousand dollars--the liquid hydrogen. + +On top of the square iron buckets was coiled eight or ten feet of +rubber hose. Taking it out Ned closed and locked the lid. He then +screwed one end of the hose onto the open spout and, springing to +the top of the case, passed the other end out of the open +ventilator. + +"Now," Ned explained, "we are in less danger. Difficult as it is to +condense hydrogen, it is more difficult to keep it in liquid form. +It constantly seeks to return to gas. In a closed place it might +make trouble." + +Elmer had already disappeared, with popping eyes and mumbles of +protest. Alan proudly exhibited to his friend the results of his +share of the work of preparation. Every crate, box, barrel and +package was numbered and labeled and securely fastened in place. + +On one side of the car stood five large oak tanks, looking like the +famous beer tuns of Germany. + +"I can make more hydrogen in those than you've got in your black +box," Alan exclaimed jokingly. + +"I'll have a better look at them in the daylight," finally said Ned; +"and now those easy chairs in the other car would feel pretty good." + +"Aren't sleepy, are you?" asked Alan, forgetting that his chum had +not slept the night before. + +"No," said Ned, "only happy. But I'd be happier if I had had time +to get a good hot supper." + +"All ready, sah, in de stateroom," announced Elmer's cheerful voice. + +Both boys turned--Ned in surprise. + +"Supper's all ready, sah!" continued the colored boy, "and waiting +fo' you all." + +In the stateroom was a sight to arouse a sleepy boy and to delight a +hungry one. In the middle of a small table was a bunch of pink +roses. On either side, in a dish of cracked ice, was the half of a +luscious cantaloupe. Silver knives, forks and spoons, sparkling +glass-ware and snowy napkins at once revealed the resources of the +Placida's pantry. + +"Well, I'll be jiggered!" exclaimed Ned. + +"Pretty nifty, eh?" laughed Alan. + +"Well, if this isn't the last straw!" exclaimed Ned as they seated +themselves. "But I want to thank you both. I didn't know how +hungry I really was--" + +He was about to plunge a spoon into the fragrant, cool melon when he +saw a folded note by his plate. Opening it he read: + +"Dear Ned: Good luck and good voyage. The roses are from my own +garden. Bring me a turquoise ring. + MARY HOPE." + +It was from Alan's sister. + +"Shall we do it, Alan?" he cried. + +"Shall we?" answered Alan wringing his chum's hand. "We'll do it +or--" + +"Is you all ready for dis?" asked the young chef suddenly appearing +with a smoking broiled steak. "It can't wait no longer." + +And it did not have to. + +An hour later the two happy boys sat on either side of the table in +the drawing room of their car. + +"Are you getting nervous?" began Alan. + +"About what?" asked Ned. + +"Oh, about everything. The responsibility for this car and the +setting up of your balloon, and the trip itself." + +"Are you?" exclaimed Ned. + +"My, no, I'm not. But then I'm not the captain. But I thought you +might be." + +"Aren't we getting along all right?" + +"Perhaps too well," Alan answered. + +"Never talk that way," interrupted Ned decisively. "Everything is +happening as it does because we planned it just that way. Things +can't go too well. That is a foolish idea. The good fortune of +careful preparation should only confirm your judgment." + +This was the sort of advice Alan had to take now and then from his +friend; but it always did him good. + +"Then you don't believe in good luck?" rather sheepishly suggested +Alan. + +"I believe in it, yes," replied Ned, "if it comes--and I never put +it aside. But I never count on it." + +Sleep seemed to have fled from Ned's eyes. Although Alan suggested +that it might be well to turn in early and be up early, Ned insisted +on seeing Major Honeywell's chart of the country they were to +explore, saying that he had another night on the journey in which he +could sleep. + +The chart was really only a rough pencil sketch. The instructions +were more in detail. + +"This country, now a portion of the reservation of the Navajo and +Southern Ute Indians, is a wilderness," Major Honeywell wrote. +"White men do not visit it because the Indians will not permit them. +Mining prospectors who have tried to do so have been murdered." + +"Cheerful, isn't it?" interrupted Alan. + +"This jumble of mountains has no connection with our two great +western mountain ranges. The towering plateaus, cut with yawning +canyons, are plainly the result of some special volcanic action. +This unknown region extends over a hundred miles northwest and +southeast, and on all sides drops suddenly into the sandy deserts. +At Clarkeville the desert begins at once. If you will start a +little east of north and locate the Indian village of Toliatchi, +twenty miles away, you will be on the Arroyo Chusco. Although the +bed of this stream may be dry it can be traced northward sixty-five +miles, where it unites with the Amarilla, eighty-five miles from +Clarkeville. At the juncture of these water courses, if you face +west, the roughest part of the Tunit Chas will confront you. At +your right will be Wilson's Peak. That portion of the Tunit Chas to +the southwest forms the Lu-ka-ch-ka mountains. To the northeast lie +the Charriscos. Somewhere in these mountains lie the temple and the +treasures we seek." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +BOB RUSSELL OF THE KANSAS CITY COMET + + +When the Overland reached Kansas City at nine o'clock the next +morning the air ship boys were just finishing an appetizing +breakfast of fruit, omelet, pancakes and coffee. The Placida, their +special car, came to a stop at the far end of the station train +shed, and, covered with dust as it was, and almost hidden among +hissing engines and baggage and express cars, there seemed little +reason for it to attract attention. Of course it was not ignored by +the railway officials. No sooner was the train at rest than the +depot master and the division superintendent were knocking at the +door. They had special orders concerning the car, and immediately +wheels and brakes were being tested and ice and water were being +taken aboard. + +The railway officials made a quick inspection of the car, asked if +anything was needed, and were soon gone. A few minutes after they +had left a young man suddenly appeared, dodging among the cars. He +sprang on to the rear step of the Placida, but before he could enter +the car, the door of which had been left open by the departing +officials, the vigilant form of Elmer Grissom blocked his way. + +"Who's in charge here?" demanded the stranger. "I'm a reporter and +want to see him in a hurry." + +The railway officials had been admitted through the baggage portion +of the car, but Elmer knew that this way was not open to everyone. +He understood the need of secrecy, and politely forcing the reporter +out of the door on to the platform he led him to the front of the +car. + +"If you'll give me yo' card," he then said with dignity, "I'll take +it in, sah." + +As he was about to do so, Ned and Alan emerged from the car for a +few mouthfuls of fresh air. + +"Hey!" exclaimed the impatient young man, "I'd like to see the man +in charge of this car. It's important and I'm in a hurry. I'm a +reporter for the Comet." + +The boys smiled. + +"We are in charge," answered Ned. "What can we do for you?" + +The reporter seemed taken somewhat aback at seeing two youngsters +directing a special car. His bearing changed at once. + +"I've been sent to get a story about where you are going and what +you are going to do," he said with a little more consideration; +"that is, if you care to tell." + +Ned puckered up his lips and thought. He had met reporters before +and he knew what a "story" meant. + +"I think we don't care to say," he replied in a moment. He did not +even care to say it was a secret. Even that admission, he knew, +would be a basis for something that might interfere with his plans, + +"Our correspondent in Chicago says you left there last evening with +a carload of new and powerful explosives." + +"Was such a story printed this morning?" asked Ned, eyeing the +reporter closely. + +"I think not," said the reporter, "but we are an afternoon paper, +you know. We have a report that you are on your way to Mare Island, +California, and that you have a carload of explosives for the navy." + +"Was such a story printed this morning?" repeated Ned, smiling +again. + +"No, it wasn't. But it will be this afternoon," answered the young +man impatiently. + +"If such a report had been known in Chicago last night," replied Ned +sharply, "it would have been in every newspaper in that city and +this city this morning. No correspondent sent you such a story. +You are a poor guesser." + +The reporter was at least four years older than Ned and Alan. +Therefore, he gave a little start of surprise. He had been trapped +in a trick that he had often worked successfully on many an older +person. For Bob Russell, easily the brightest and quickest-witted +reporter in his city, thus to be turned down by two "kids" would +never do. Without wasting time to deny Ned's charge, he tried a +belligerent role. + +"Do you deny you have newly invented ammunition in that car?" he +exclaimed brusquely. + +"I deny nothing and refuse to be put in the attitude of doing so," +calmly answered Ned. "Although it happens you are wrong again." + +The young man laughed and again changed his tactics. + +"Well, look here, boys, what's the use of getting mad about this? +You're working on something, just as I'm working on a newspaper. +You've got a good story somewhere about you and I'd like to have it. +What's the matter with being good fellows and loosening up?" + +"Because it is purely a business matter in which the public would be +too much concerned if it knew what we were doing." + +"Well, whatever it is, it's good--I know that," replied the young +journalist, laughing, "and I'm sorry I'm not in it with you--special +car--flowers--traveling like railroad presidents. I'm on. But, +say, when this thing breaks I'd like to be in on the yarn. I was +lying. I never heard of you before the train pulled in. But you +know the railroad people are on. They told me you had a black case +marked 'Explosive.' That's all I know. Say, couldn't you tell me +this--are you going through to the coast?" + +Ned relented a little. + +"Perhaps," he said smiling, "we might go to the coast." + +"You might?" interrupted the reporter eagerly. + +"Or we might stop in the mountains." + +The reporter looked perplexed. + +"Then you've got something to do with mining?" interrupted the +impulsive journalist, "and it isn't the navy yard. But you came +from Washington! I know that, you see." + +"Yes," volunteered Ned, "but we might be from the Hydrographic +Office." + +"Cloud breakers," quickly interrupted the reporter again. "How's +that for a guess? Are you rain makers?" + +"What are they?" innocently asked Alan. + +The reporter saw he was wrong. + +"I give it up," he said shrugging his shoulders. "You are two wise +lads." + +"Not wise," suggested Ned, "but attending strictly to our business." + +"Right you are," answered the reporter. + +"I've got to leave you to have a look through the train. Sorry I'm +not in on this. Where ever you're going, it looks good to me. When +you come back, don't forget me. Save the story for me, Bob Russell +of the Comet." + +Handing his card to the boys with a cheery "So long!" he was gone. +The boys felt a little relieved. They had done what they could to +protect the interests of their patrons and themselves by keeping +their mission a strict secret. So far as Ned knew, the only persons +who had knowledge of what they were doing and where they were going +were his mother and sister, Alan's family, and Major Honeywell and +Senor Oje. Not even Elmer Grissom's parents knew where he was +bound--it was sufficient for them to know that he was with Ned. Of +course the railway people knew where the car was to stop. Beyond +these it was necessary for no one else to know what was being done-- +not even the manufacturers who made the balloon, the engine and +their precious gas. But what the young air navigators desired and +what Bob Russell wanted were two different things. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE MAKING OF A NEWSPAPER STORY + + +Let us see whether the young reporter was baffled by the reticence +of the secretive boys. + +"Every one to his trade," murmured Bob Russell, as he hastened from +Ned and Alan, "and now, me to mine." + +Bob was what was known on his paper as the "depot reporter." It was +not the most important assignment, for usually his work consisted +only in describing such notable personages as passed through the +city and now and then in interviewing the more important of these. +But this day he was confronted with a mystery and it was his +business to solve it. He acted quickly. + +Hurrying after the depot master, with whom of course he was +friendly, he persuaded that official to go at once to the conductor +of the train and ascertain the names of the boys. This was a simple +thing, done in that manner, for even the passengers in a special or +private car must have regular tickets. The conductor at once +revealed the identity of the three passengers. Although Bob knew +the conductor, he realized that he stood a chance of being refused +even thin information if he asked for it personally. + +While his friend the depot master was getting this information, Bob +quickly, but apparently carelessly, approached the head brakeman who +had helped bring the train from Chicago. It was Tom Smithers--also +a friend of Bob's, who made a point of knowing every employee +running into the station. + +"I see you've got the Placida with you?" began Bob indifferently. + +"Yep," answered Tom, "and loaded to the axles. All except +passengers. She's running light on them. Two boys and a coon." + +"I just had a talk with them," remarked Bob, carelessly offering the +brakeman a cigar. "Pretty dusty, eh?" After a moment's casual talk +Bob returned to the subject. + +"I guess those kids must be next--running a car with locked doors." + +"Locked doors!" snorted Tom, putting his cigar away for a +surreptitious smoke. "Not on your life. Not against me. You bet +she was open whenever I rang." + +"But it might just as well have been locked," said Bob. "The place +is so jammed full of stuff. I couldn't make out what it was, but +there was a wad of it." + +The unsuspecting brakeman then gave Bob what he was hoping to get. + +"Well, I stopped and saw it," he confessed. "I roused up the coon +after midnight to have a look at the ropes and when I came back I +took my time. They got a case of powder or dynamite in there marked +'Explosive.' I didn't bother that but the rest was plain. Half the +boxes in the car were labeled 'balloon works' or 'motor works.' +It's a balloon show--nothing else." + +"Where is the car going?" + +"They ain't consulted me," laughed Tom. + +A few moments later Bob was in the office of the division +superintendent. When he left he knew that the Placida would be +dropped on the only siding at the little town of Clarkeville in New +Mexico. He had also looked over the best map in the offices and +fixed in his mind the topography of the adjacent country. + +Before half past nine Bob had presented these scattered facts to his +city editor. + +"It's a story, all right, Bob, and a good one. Go to it," said the +editor. And Bob did the best he knew how--in a newspaper way. On +the suggestion of the editor he telegraphed to the representative of +the Comet in Chicago: "Who is Ned Napier?" In a little over an hour +he had a hundred and fifty word telegram outlining Ned's aeronautic +career and concluding: "Why? What do you know? Napier not here. +Family won't talk." + +Then Bob began his story. It was, for a reporter of his experience, +brilliant, with good deductions, good guesses and good ambiguous +generalities. It seemed to tell more than it really did. + +At four o'clock that afternoon Ned and Alan were speeding over the +green and fertile prairies of middle Kansas in blissful ignorance of +what Bob Russell had done. Under striking headlines appeared the +following story: + +"Ned Napier, the famous young aeronaut of Chicago, passed through +the city this morning on his way to the southwest to execute the +most daring and important balloon journey ever undertaken in this +country. Accompanied by an assistant, Alan Hope, and on board a +special car packed with $50,000 worth of apparatus he will proceed +to Clarkeville, an insignificant town in New Mexico, from which +place he will make his hazardous flight over the mountains lying to +the north. The aerial journey may possibly extended over the Sierra +Nevadas as far as the Pacific Coast. + +"The details of the expedition are not made public, as young Napier +has been retained by the authorities at Washington and is operating +under a strict pledge of secrecy. The knowledge that such an +expedition is under way was made known for the first time to the +representative of the Comet by Mr. Napier at the Union Station this +morning. While slow to discuss the ultimate object of his trip Mr. +Napier talked of his plans in a general way. + +"'I represent the Hydrographic Department,' he said to the reporter, +'and the journey I am about to make may extend from Clarkeville as +far as the Pacific. I hope it will accomplish what the department +has planned, but you know that we who are in this profession are +always prepared for failure. My assistant and I may easily have our +lives crushed out on the rugged peaks of the mountain chain we are +attempting to cross.' + +"Mr. Napier suggested that some might conclude that he had been sent +out as a 'rain maker,' or 'cloud breaker' in an attempt to secure +rain for the arid plains, but he laughed at this idea. + +"In the government's special car, carefully safeguarded, is carried +a large can of a new and powerful explosive. In exhibiting this to +the reporter Mr. Napier good-naturedly said: + +"'I am sorry I cannot tell the public the exact character of this +new explosive. But the secret belongs to the government.' + +"When it was suggested that the explosive might be destined for +certain elaborate experiments in the unpopulated wilderness of the +region to which the expedition is now hastening on the Limited, Mr. +Napier would only answer; + +"My lips are sealed. I can say no more. But I compliment the +Comet in discovering what all the eastern papers have missed--that a +stupendous thing is projected and that I have the honor, with my +friend, Mr. Hope, to attempt it." + +Then followed an elaborate rewritten version of what had been +telegraphed from Chicago concerning Ned. After this was a detailed +account of the car, not omitting little Mary Hope's bouquet of faded +roses, which in Bob's story became "a wealth of cut blossoms, the +tribute of Mr. Napier's scientific friends." + +What Bob wrote was in type by twelve o'clock. Three hundred words +of it were telegraphed to the Chicago evening newspapers. Sharp at +six o'clock that evening the Chicago correspondent of the New York +World sent advice to his paper that he had a story on the mystery of +what Ned Napier was about to do for the government. Word came back +at once to send on the story. + +At ten o'clock the telegraph editor of the World in New York took +the account just received to the managing editor of the paper. + +There was a minute's consultation, a nod of the head, and at twelve +o'clock that night Bob Russell was awakened to respond to a +telephone call. It was his own managing editor who read him this +telegram: + +Managing Editor, Comet, Kansas City + +Send man at once to follow Chicago balloon man and discover mission. +Advance funds and draw on us. Will share story with you. + +Managing Editor, +New York World. + +It is hardly necessary to say that Bob Russell was a passenger on +the Limited leaving the next morning. He was just twenty-four hours +behind in the race, but he meant, if he could, to execute his +orders, and was already smiling delightedly in anticipation of what +he knew would be a contest of wits. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE HOSPITALITY OF NEW MEXICO + + +Clarkeville was even smaller than the boys had imagined it. The +little depot was far more pretentious than any other building in +sight. Beyond this was a wide and exceedingly dusty street. On the +far side of this unpaved roadway was a row of one- and two-story +frame buildings. Here and there was a cheaper structure of little +else but corrugated iron sheets, while to the left, where a similar +street crossed the railroad at right angles, there was a one-story +cement building proudly labeled "Bank." Both streets suddenly +disappeared in a sandy, treeless plain. + +Wooden awnings in front of the buildings extended over the sidewalk. +At the edge of these awnings were a few teams and many saddled +horses, some of them hitched to posts, and others standing with their +bridle reins dropped to the ground. Not many persons were in sight. +The deep and cloudless blue sky was brilliant with the noonday sun +while a hot breezeless haze hung over all. + +The Limited had made its usual daily pause and then to the surprise +of the agent had run down beyond the water tank with one car, +switched it back onto the one siding until it stood opposite the +musty smelling freight shed, and, quickly coupling up again, had +gone. + +Ned and Alan had alighted when the train stopped. Around them the +boys could detect the first signs of the real West. At one end of +the station a big-hatted Mexican squatted by a hot tamale can. +Among others idling near were some high-heeled and sombrero-topped +cow-boys, whose easy and loose clothing made Alan envious at once. +Even the depot attendants, with their belts and loosely knotted +neckerchiefs, seemed gayer and freer than their brother laborers +back in the East. + +With coats off and collars loosened the two boys filled their lungs +with the tonic air, for, in spite of the heat, a certain dryness +seemed to give life and vigor to the atmosphere. + +"There it is, Alan," exclaimed Ned finally, pointing away to the +north and the distant mountains, "beyond those peaks and somewhere +under that sapphire sky is our land of promise. We'll be in it in a +few days." + +The brilliant sky, the exhilarating air and the new life about them +filled both boys with enthusiasm. + +"Whoopee!" almost shouted Alan finally, throwing out his arms as if +to embrace his friend. "All we need is an Indian or two and I guess +we'd be out West for sure." + +"You may not be so anxious to see them before we start back," +remarked Ned. "Anyway, I promise you enough of them in this +country." + +With the departure of the train, the two boys became the center of +some attention. Strangers were not plentiful in Clarkeville, and +when the news spread that a special car was standing behind the +freight shed on the far side of the tracks there was an instant rush +of idlers in that direction. Ned and Alan returned with them and +smiling good-naturedly right and left took stand at the forward car +steps. + +It was about two o'clock in the afternoon, but so anxious had the +boys become in the last stage of their journey that they had ordered +Elmer to put off the noonday meal until they reached Clarkeville. +The colored boy, troubled over the notion of a good dinner spoiling, +was waiting on the car platform for it chance to get his "bosses," +as be delighted to call them, into the car. + +Before he could do so, and while the two chums were answering idle +questions as to whether they were a "show," Ned's quick eye caught +sight of a more important personage. A middle-aged man, not quite +so western in appearance as the others, but plainly as much at home +in the saddle, rode up with a clatter and sprang from his pony. + +Ned advanced quickly, spurred on by the new arrival's quick "Howdy, +strangers!" + +"My name is Ned Napier," explained the lad, "and this is my friend, +Alan Hope." + +The rider held out his hand. + +"I'm Curt Bradley, and I'm the mayor of this town," he replied by +way of introduction. + +"Glad to meet you," answered Ned. "You've just saved me the trouble +of looking you up, for that would have been my first business." + +"Not to be over cur'ous," laughed the Mayor as his eyes took in the +big expensive car and then returned to the two boys, "might I +inquire the nature o' yer business." + +Ned laughed. + +"Certainly," he answered, "but come aboard first. Elmer," he said +to the waiting cook, waiter and porter, "another plate for Mr. +Bradley." + +And in spite of the wholesome-looking but bronzed Mr. Bradley's +protest that gentleman was soon sitting with the boys before what +was perhaps the most elaborate meal he had ever eaten. His protest +came from the fact that he had already had his dinner, but the fresh +fruit and vegetables and spring chicken were temptations too strong +for him. + +When Ned saw that their new acquaintance was at his ease and rapidly +becoming satisfied he lost no time in coming to the point. + +"Our visit here, Mr. Bradley, is, in part, a secret. I hope you +will accept my assurance, however, that it can in no way operate +against or damage your town or its residents or the country round +about. I want your assistance." + +"Ye can hev that," came the quick answer, "and if your lay is no +one's business, why, it ain't none o' ours." + +"I'm glad to hear that," answered Ned. "But there may be some who +will not be so considerate." + +"When I pass the word I guess they'll all think about like me," +interrupted the Clarkeville official. "Ye jest tell me what it is +you want." + +"First I'll explain to you that in the other part of this car we +have the material to make a dirigible balloon." + +"A what!" exclaimed the Mayor, his mouth full of chicken. + +"A balloon that you can guide through the air." + +Curt Bradley dropped his knife. + +"One o' them flyin' machines?" + +"Exactly." + +"And kin we all see it fly?" + +"Certainly," answered Ned, "if you will just see that no one +interferes with us. I shall be glad in time to show you, I hope, +the most perfect dirigible balloon ever put together and to explain +just how it is to be operated. But in a few days, when it is ready, +we are going to sail away on business that is our own. And when +that time comes curiosity must stop. If anyone attempts to +ascertain where we are going or what we mean to do I sound warning +now that we will do all we can to prove to him that it is none of +his business." + +The Mayor looked at them in surprise. + +"Why," he began, "I suppose ye must be on a mighty partic'lar job. +Are you--?" + +"There!" interrupted Ned. "You see you are beginning to ask +questions. Since we can't answer them we'd rather not hear them." + +"Right," exclaimed the Mayor. "Give me yer word it's all fair and +square and that ye ain't violatin' no laws and I'll give ye my word +they won't be no more questions asked." + +"I'm glad to do that," answered Ned, "we want certain accommodations +for which we are willing to pay. But we want the confidence of +Clarkeville that we are all right, even if we are a little young." + +"Clarkeville is yours," laughed the Mayor, getting up from the +table, "and now what do ye want first?" + +In another hour the two boys, guided by Mayor Bradley, had examined +the entire settlement. A little way down the railroad track they +found a rather ramshackle building, mostly tin roof, and behind it a +large plot of ground surrounded with a high corral or fence. The +sign read "Buck's Corral." In the East it would have been called a +livery stable. The air navigators engaged the place at five dollars +a day for a week or more, and put a half dozen Mexican laborers at +work removing the few horses and cleaning out the building and +corral. The proprietor, who owned one of the few wagons in the +town, they also hired as a drayman at $2.50 a day for himself and +team. + +Work began at once. Through Mayor Bradley three reliable men were +employed as watchmen, and these, in eight-hour shifts, undertook the +duty of seeing that nothing in the corral was molested in the +absence of Ned and Alan. Then the work of transporting material +began, the first task being the removal of the five large generating +tanks. + +Alan had been thoughtful enough to foresee the need of special +clothing, and it was not long before he and Ned and even Elmer +Grissom were enjoying the freedom of wide-brimmed hats, stout +shirts, thick-soled shoes, and belts. Elmer's duty was the constant +care of the Placida, which he only left on special permission. Ned +and Alan were free to devote themselves wholly to the agreeable and +long anticipated task of at last "getting ready." + +Help was easily hired and with Buck's wagon in service the +wide-opened doors of the baggage car seemed to give out more boxes, +crates and bundles than a full freight car. When strangers were on +the car the colored boy stood like a sentinel over the black case +which was made less conspicuous by being covered with a blanket. +And his constant injunction "No smokin', sah," soon won him a +sobriquet, Mexicans and cow-boys alike calling him "Smoky." + +Elmer was relieved from picket duty in time to prepare an extra +supper to which Mayor Bradley, Buck, and Jack Jellup, the town +marshal, were invited. It was extra work for "Smoky," who took his +new name with a mild protest; but when he called the crew to the +meal it was apparent that he harbored no resentment. Jack and Buck +took their seats gingerly, but the boys soon made all at home. + +"There ain't agoin' to be no pay took fur this day's work," suddenly +exclaimed Buck as he finished a generous portion of cold sliced ham +and potato salad. + +The boys laughed in protest. + +"I ain't seen real food in ten years," continued Buck, "and what I +said goes. This meal's worth a week's work to me." + +"All I got to say, young uns," interrupted Jack Jellup, the marshal, +"is that this 'ere town is yours." + +Jack's idea of hospitality was an invitation to the boys to visit +the town saloons as his guest, but Ned arid Alan laughed and thanked +him, pleading weariness as a reason for declining. The final +tribute of the three guests, however, before they left, was to push +the Placida along with crowbars until it was free of the freight +house and stood where the evening breeze could freely find its way +through the windows. Then with hearty "buenos noches," ("Good +night") and promises to see that every one was on hand early in the +morning, they left. + +For some time Ned, Alan and Elmer sat in camp chairs on the car +platform reveling in the glorious starlit night. From somewhere in +the little town came the sound of low singing and a Spanish air +played on the mandolin. It was all so different from the life the +boys had known that it seemed like a dream. And when their real +dreams did come it was of the not far distant Tunit Chas. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +"CALIFORNY KID" GETS A JOB + + +Old Buck's horse-corral had blossomed over night into a modern +balloon factory. And the proprietor, with his bronco team, and the +superintending Ned and Alan made big gaps the next day in the +precious freight of the Placida. By noon the five casks for +generating hydrogen, the cooling and purifying box, and the lead +pipe and other equipment, had been transferred to the old horse +yard. Three tons of iron turnings, forwarded by freight in advance, +were found in the keeping of the railroad agent. It took Buck six +trips to move this, and that consumed the afternoon. + +A special trip was made by the wagon just after luncheon. This was +to transport the tool chest--practically two chests, for it was a +large one containing both wood and iron-working tools. With it rode +the two boys, both in overalls and ready to begin the setting up and +adjustment of the generating tanks. + +After their arrival at the corral, the rest of the afternoon, in +spite of the heat, slipped quickly away. But by night a foundation +had been leveled in a corner of the yard and the five barrel-like +generators were firmly anchored and connected by lead pipes with the +cooling and purifying box. + +"Looks purty much like a distillery," commented Buck, who had just +made his last trip with the iron shavings, which were now piled +close by the casks. + +"And is," laughed Ned, "in a way." + +But he volunteered no more. In fact the whole matter was a mystery +to every one in the town, except Mayor Curt Bradley and Marshal Jack +Jellup. + +In the morning the first work accomplished was the removal, one at a +time, of ten casks of sulphuric acid, each weighing four hundred +pounds. It was a delicate job and not unattended with danger in +case of a cask breaking. The boys began to realize the need of help +of a higher grade than that of the "greasers" who had been thus far +their only assistants except Buck. + +Their usual good luck seemed to be with them, however, for just in +the middle of the work of sliding a heavy carboy of acid from the +wagon a stranger stepped from the group of onlookers, and without +words gave a hand to the job. + +Alan was about to thank him hurriedly, when the stranger said: +"Wot's the game, son? Wot's doin'?" + +Alan was at first inclined to resent this "tough" familiarity. Then +he realized that the language of the man was in his natural manner +of speaking, and he said: + +"Who are you and where are you from?" + +"Give you one guess," laughed the stranger. "No! Can't tell a +'bo'? Well, just tramp. Wot's dew name? I lost me card case. Me +nom de plumb is Kid, Californy Kid. And me address is--well wot's +de name o' dis munificent metropolis?" + +"Clarkeville, New Mexico," answered Alan smiling. + +"Well, den me address is dat. Wot's de nex' inquiry?" + +The man was young. His clothing was worn and greasy, his shoes were +patched, and those parts of his face and hands that could be seen +between smears of coal dust were red from exposure and the sun. + +"How do you happen to be here?" continued Alan. + +"Well, cul--beg pardon, son--de fact is I lost me purse and de +brakeman on de fast freight wouldn't take me check. I was dumped. +And I can't get away exceptin' I walk." + +"Then you wouldn't care to work?" + +"Will dis beautiful city give me coin and chuck widout work?" + +"I'm afraid not," laughed Alan. + +"Den' it's work for yours truly," answered the tramp with a sort of +cheery humor. "But, say, boss, ye couldn't stake me to a drink and +some chuck afore I loosen up me muscles?" + +"Your pay will be two dollars a day," said Alan, "but no drinking +goes. Here's a note that will get you something to eat." And +writing a message to Elmer the tramp was soon hurrying to the car +for a meal. A half hour later, with his sleeves rolled up, he +returned, riding alongside Buck on the wagon. + +Ned had given the new hand little attention. + +Now he looked him over and asked: + +"What's your real name?" + +"Gus, boss; or, spellin' it out, Gustave Lippe. How's dat for a +handle--Lippe?" + +Ned looked at the young man long and sharply. + +"One name, they say, is as good as another out here. But I didn't +know tramps got this far west." + +"Sure," answered the tramp, "It's long jumps and hard ones. It's me +last excursion dis way." + +"Well," said Ned slowly, "you can work for us as long as you are not +too inquisitive." + +"Dat's me, boss. I'm de clam till me two dollars per will git me to +de next whistle." + +"Then you'd better arrange to board with Buck." + +"Dat's me lay, boss, already booked. Now show me some work. Me +trunk was checked t'roo and I ain't nuttin' on me mind but me job." + +"Well, you had better spend the rest of the afternoon in cleaning up +a bit," suggested Ned. "Here's five dollars in advance. Report +early in the morning." + +"Tank's, boss," said Gus, the tramp. But he took the bill slowly. + +"But, you can't spend it on beer and whisky and work for us," added +Ned. + +Gus shifted uneasily. + +"You'd better have a bath and a shave. And if you need clothes and +can get them here," continued Ned, "I'll advance more to-morrow--if +you show up all right." + +"I kin work widdout a shave," the man said, "ain't der nuttin' doin' +to-day?" + +Assured that to-morrow was when he was wanted the tramp slowly and +apparently reluctantly turned and slouched away toward the stores. + +"What do you make of him, Ned?" asked Alan as the two toys resumed +work. + +"Too slangy, I think," commented Ned. + +But the final stowing of the acid soon drove the tramp from the +minds of the boys. + +When the young aeronauts finally closed the corral and returned to +the car, the sun a great red ball, was just dropping behind the +serrated mountains of the western horizon. On the car steps, Ned +turned and pointed to the north. Far away the dusky gray of the +plains deepened into darker and darker shadows that ended in a low +black mass. But here and there from the black wall rose irregular +spires, their tops pink-tipped by the red sun. + +"Yes," exclaimed Alan, "the Tunit Chas--our mountains." + +And even though the vigilant Elmer called from within, the boys +stood and gazed in silence until the last glow had died away and the +land of their hopes was lost under the stars. + +Important as was the work to be done in Buck's corral, there was +another vital thing to be accomplished while this progressed. That +was the creation of a base of supplies near the navigator's field of +work. This was preferably to be at the junction of the Amarilla and +Chusco rivers, and that point lay just eighty-five miles to the +north. Between Clarkeville and that spot there were no roads and, +at this time of the year, perhaps, no water. With the best wagon +and team they might be able to get, this trip over the desert would +require not less than five days. + +It was impossible for either of the boys to go on this important +errand, as both were needed on the spot to set up the balloon. So +it had long since been decided that Elmer was to have charge of this +secondary expedition. And since it was Elmer who would have to +conduct the expedition safely to its destination and establish a +relief camp, the colored boy had been thoroughly coached in his +coming task. + +"Kin I?" the boy had said more than once. "When de Cibola gits dar +I'll be dar. And ain't no Indians nor rattlesnakes nor hot weather +goin' to break up dat camp." + +And the camp meant gasoline, water, food and a stepping stone back +to civilization, whether the expedition ended in failure or success. +As the boys had already planned that Buck should furnish the wagon +and horses and guide Elmer's caravan, they had asked him to call +that evening to talk it over. + +"I'm ready to start, yes, right now," Elmer had said as he served +the good supper over which he had been laboring, "but I does jes +nach'elly hate to turn you young gemmen over to dese greaser cooks." + +The boys laughed. "You don't think we can keep this up all summer, +do you?" exclaimed, Ned. "Even 'greaser' cooks are better than +having nothing to eat. And up there," nodding toward the north, +"there won't be any cooks." + +"Don't forget," interrupted Elmer, "camp--camp--well, my camp. When +you get dar dar'll be a good meal waitin' you and when you git outen +de mountains I'll still be dar waitin' wid eatin's." + +The boys laughed again. + +"Like as not," suggested Alan, "if you get all that truck up there. +You'll certainly have enough. But don't you bother about the eating. +You just watch the water and the gasoline." + +"Till de snow flies," exclaimed Elmer with emphasis. + +"Which, right there," dryly remarked Ned as he disposed of the last +of a generous slice of melon, "is rather indefinite." + +When Buck, whose real name they had discovered to be William +Bourke--easily corrupted into "Buck"--appeared, the boys had a delicate +job before them. Inquiry had quickly shown them that Buck's twenty-five +years on the old Santa Fe trail as guide and an active service in the +army as scout easily made him the man to conduct Elmer to the north. + +To all their long explanations and reasons Buck listened in silence. +When there seemed nothing more to be said, Buck smothered the still +glowing end of a cigarette between his dark weather-beaten fingers +and said slowly: + +"When do we start?" + +It was arranged that on the second morning Buck should be ready for +a journey of uncertain length; that the general direction should be +north; that the final destination should be revealed by Elmer on the +second morning out. + +"Soldier-like," Buck had commented, "and that's the way I like it." + +Buck and an assistant were to take an outfit of two wagons, each +drawn by four horses. In the lighter wagon six barrels of water +were to be carried for use in case the usual "water holes" were dry. +In case of an accident, the lighter wagon and horses were to be sent +south by the second man and Elmer and Buck were to make a quick dash +forward with what water and supplies could be carried on the other +wagon. + +Old Buck made rather light of the matter. + +"Injuns ain't nothin' nowadays," he had explained, shrugging his +shoulders, "ye jest want to keep yer bearin's and git used to +drinkin' atmosphere and ye'r all right." + +The contract with Buck called for thirty dollars a day in money and +food for himself and a helper. Both parties to the contract were +satisfied and after Buck's fresh cigarette disappeared in the +direction of the town the boys lost no time in turning in for a good +night's rest. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +AN ERROR IN CALCULATION + + +While Buck was busy getting his wagons and horses and water casks +ready the next morning the boys were not surprised to see Gus, the +tramp, drive up just after breakfast with the moving team. + +"Have you had breakfast?" asked Alan by way of a greeting. + +"Have," retorted Gus, pulling up his team awkwardly. "It's me +wrappin' meself around tortillas till I feel like a bag o' corn +meal." + +"I can't see that you've spent any great amount of that five dollars +on yourself," interrupted Ned, noticing the tramp's unshaven face +and the still visible traces of coal smoke. + +"Well, boss, ye'r right. Dead right. But, ye see, de barber o' dis +growin' city only works on Saturday and me friend Buck's bat' tub +has a leak. Anyhow, de ladies hereabouts is scarce and few. Think +wot a swell I'll be when Sunday comes." + +"Come in the car. We've plenty of water, and soap too," suggested +Alan, smiling. + +'"Well, boss, don't tempt me. I'm working. I can't soldier away no +time dudin' meself up on do bosses' time." + +"All right," replied Ned, laughing, "every one to his taste." + +There was plenty of work to be done, and in a few minutes all were +at it. The chief task this day was the unloading of the materials +yet on the car. That had to be done by night, except in the case of +the boxes marked "Overland," all of which had been carefully and +specially crated for wagon transportation. Of these there seemed a +great many, and they were all put in one pile in the space made +vacant by the removal of the gas generators. The hydrogen case, +covered with a blanket, stood always under Elmer's watchful eye. +This was to be removed last. + +As the boys meant to stay close by their valuable outfit, they +planned to load Elmer's caravan early the next morning and to see it +start on its trying and dangerous trip. Then they intended to +remove the hydrogen cask to the corral and take up their own abode +in the same place. The Placida--with no little regret--was to be +surrendered to the railroad and returned to Chicago. + +For that reason this was a busy day. Load after load of crates, +boxes, and bundles were carried to the big corral, the teams +stirring up the dust of Clarkeville's main street on their way. It +was heavy work, and required care. Smoky-faced Gus was earning his +pay. So skilful and adroit was he in executing tasks assigned him +that Ned commented on it to Alan. + +While the boys were at their noonday lunch Buck appeared to report +progress. The big wagon was to come from a sheep ranch, ten miles +to the south. A man had gone for it and would arrive with it that +night. The wheels of the smaller wagon were being soaked in water +and the axles had been greased. + +Ned could not resist asking: + +"How's your new boarder, Buck?" + +"Ain't seen much o' him. Purty poor feeder fur a tramp. Can't get +a tortilla down him nohow." + +Ned looked at Alan significantly. + +"Hasn't any baggage, has he?" continued Ned. + +"Not a stitch. Lessen you allow fur a extra suit o' underclothes." + +"Under clothing?" exclaimed Ned. "Two suits?" + +"Yep. And fine, too. My old woman washed a suit to-day and she +'lows as how it cost more than the rest o' his outfit." + +"Don't you think that funny?" + +"'What?" responded Alan sleepily. + +"Why, a tramp with two suits of fine underwear?" + +"Probably he stole them." + +"And probably be didn't. A real tramp might steal them, but he +wouldn't wear them." + +"Well, what do you care," laughed Alan, "whether he's a tramp or not +so long as he's useful?" + +Ned was silent a few moments. + +"Tramp or not, that fellow will bear watching." + +"All right," conceded Alan, "I guess we can do that." + +By night the barn and horse yard of the corral looked like a +combination manufactory and hardware store. The seven sections of +the skeleton-like car stretched across the old horse yard like a +disjointed snake; crated aeroplane guides, and the propeller and the +rudder leaned against the fence, looking like the frame work of a +house; the more compact engine, motor, radiator and fan stood ready +for unpacking under the shelter shed, while shafts, connections and +boxes of small parts filled a large part of the empty stalls. The +tins of gasoline for experimental flights and the first trip to +Elmer's camp were in a far corner of the yard, and in the wagon shed +stood the two immense special trunks containing the gas bag and the +Italian hemp netting. + +The evening meal was not as cheery and chatty an affair as the +preceding ones had been, although Elmer had done his best in honor +of their farewell. And the boys insisted that at this last meal the +waiter should be dispensed with, and Elmer was put at the head of +the table. + +"Yo' make me feel as if I was a startin' fo' do norf pole," +exclaimed Elmer. "I don't see what's de use of so much fussin'." + +"Well, anyway," exclaimed Ned, holding up a glass of iced tea, +"here's luck to you, Elmer." + +"And de same to you," answered Elmer. "And to all of us." + +Rising bell was to ring at four o'clock the next morning; so the +boys all turned in at once after they had cleaned up the kitchen. + +It was about twelve o'clock when a sudden call sounded through the +car. + +"Alan!". + +It was Ned, who, clad in pajamas, was shaking his chum. The latter, +dazed for a moment, sprang upright, soundly whacking his head on the +upper berth, in which Elmer was snoring loudly. + +"What is it?" he exclaimed, rolling out on the floor. "Who hit me? +Indians?" + +"Not yet," laughed Ned, shaking his "pal" into wakefulness. +"Listen!" + +He struck a match, lit a candle and sat down on the edge of the +berth. + +"You're a bum calculator," he began, eyeing Alan. + +"I didn't calculate where that berth was," answered Alan ruefully, +rubbing a lump on the top of his head. + +"And you didn't calculate where we are now," somewhat excitedly +added Ned. "And I didn't think of it until just now." + +"Go on," interrupted the still sleepy Alan. "If it's a riddle I +give it up." + +"I suppose you know what the air pressure is to a square inch," +answered Ned, like a school teacher rebuking a slow scholar. + +"Why, 14.7 pounds, of course." + +"Where?" exclaimed Ned again, sharply. + +"Where?" echoed Alan. + +"Why, at the sea level-that's where. Not out here. Do you know how +high we are above sea level right here?" + +Alan began to see the point and a smile came over his face. He had +no chance to answer: + +"We're a little short of seven thousand feet up in the air right +here in Clarkeville," continued Ned in about the same tone of +exultation he might have used had he found a gold mine. "Now, +listen. How many cubic feet of gas does our balloon hold?" + +That question was easy. The boys knew that as well as the +multiplication table. + +"Sixty-five thousand, four hundred and ninety-three feet." + +"And how much weight is it going to carry?" + +"Three thousand nine hundred and thirty-five and a half pounds." + +"Exactly," went on Ned. "That's the weight we are going to carry +figured at sea level. Did it ever occur to you that our sixty-five +hundred feet of hydrogen can lift more way up here seven thousand +feet in the air, than it can at sea level? Did it ever occur to my +special engineer and calculator that as the weight and pressure of +the air grows less our hydrogen will lift just that much more +weight. + +"By the great horn spoon!" exclaimed Alan. "Give me that candle." + +In another moment he was at the drawing room table with a pencil in +his hand. It did not take him long to make his calculations. + +"Live and learn," he exclaimed finally. "I'm certainly all you said +was a 'bum calculator.' Our altitude here is 6,875 feet, for I took +it to-day just for practice. And we can carry in our balloon just +exactly 693.6 pounds more than we figured." + +"I thought so," laughed Ned. "It came to me in a dream, I guess. +But you don't need to feel badly. You say I'm the boss, yet I never +thought of it. You see, the trouble is that all the balloon +ascensions ordinarily are made from the large cities of America or +Europe. Who ever thought of ascending a mountain to get a start? +But since we have done so we must figure accordingly." + +"And what is the first thing you are going to add?" asked Alan. + +"First thing?" exclaimed Ned. "First and last and in the middle, +gasoline. We may find water in the mountains and we might even find +food, but we're not going to find gasoline. Now we'll do part of +our work whether Elmer meets us or fails." + +The incident showed the essential difference between Ned's mind and +Alan's. Alan was careful, precise, and adept in detail. Ned had +the "dreams" and inspirations of an inventor. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A DISGUISE PENETRATED + + +The boys, in spite of their broken slumbers, all turned out promptly +at four o'clock the next morning. They found this hour the +pleasantest of the day in this hot and dry region. The late moon +was just disappearing, and over the plains swept a breeze that +hinted of snow on some mountain peak not far away. Not a sound +broke the stillness but the occasional cry of a skulking coyote. + +"Hear it, Elmer," said Alan, as the boys got busy in the baggage +car. "You want to look out for those fellows." + +"I ain't feared o' no cutes and I ain't feared of no Injun," +solemnly answered Elmer, "jist so dem rattlers gives me de go-by. +Dat's all I ast." + +Buck's big wagon had arrived and was backed up to the car and now, +by the light of a lantern hanging above the door, the work of +loading began. + +With their improved gas bag the boys had figured on a record flight +without renewing the gas supply. They had hoped to be able to stay +at least seventy-two hours in the air. But during a large part of +this time they expected to drift without the engines, for they could +not carry enough gasoline to last for more than twenty-four hours of +engine work. By their new calculations they had more than enough +gasoline, and according to Ned it seemed probable that the decreased +air pressure on the bag might extend the period of flight another +twenty-four hours, or to four days. + +After that all would depend on the liquid hydrogen. The remarkable +qualities of this unique product were to be tested for the first +time in the history of ballooning. When the gas in the bag had +diminished by leakage through the valves and elsewhere so that it +was no longer sufficient to carry the car, the liquid hydrogen was +to be turned into gas which was to take the place of that lost. Ned +had left Washington with sixteen cubic feet of the liquid in eight +delicate Dewar bulbs, or casks. He figured that one-quarter of it +would be lost by evaporation, leaving twelve cubic feet. This seems +a small supply until one understands that the hydrogen increases in +volume 880 times as it returns into gas from the liquid form. The +twelve cubic feet of liquid, therefore, would give them a little +over ten thousand cubic feet of new gas. And this, with the loss of +ballast and provisions in three or four days, Ned calculated, would +give the balloon a new life of a day or so. + +Therefore, the secret plan was a direct journey to Elmer's camp, a +flight of eighty-five miles, which would bring the Cibola near to +the foot of the mountains of mystery. After this camp had been +located and more gasoline taken aboard the boys were to head their +craft toward the Tunit Chas mountains. What would follow they could +not foresee. With good luck they might be able to hover birdlike +over the peaks, canyons and plateaus for five days. With bad luck +they might have to come down sooner or fall. Then, if the Cibola +failed them, they would have to find their way to the treasure +temple and the ruined palace on foot in a rugged wilderness, +infested with unfriendly Indians and reptiles, or struggle back, in +some manner, if they could, to Elmer's relief station, and thus to +civilization. + +Should the worst happen and the balloon fail them, the boys might be +lost in a desolate region that is even now uncharted by the +government. The only resources they would have would be the Cibola +equipment and their own ability to take care of themselves. In any +event, the knowledge that Elmer and Buck were in camp ready to +succor them meant a good deal. And that was why the loading of the +overland outfit had so much interest for the boys. + +Of tins of provisions there were many: condensed foods--German +erbswurst, or army rations of ground peas and meat; dried potatoes; +eggs in powdered form; preserved and salt meats; hard tack; tea and +coffee; flour; and evaporated fruits. The water was already +arranged for and the wagon containing the casks was at Buck's adobe +house. + +On the floor of the wagon, packed in bunch grass, were the precious +gasoline casks. On top of all came the silk waterproof tent and the +camp equipage. Stowed under the seat was the box containing spare +flags, a heliograph, part of a wireless telephone outfit (the other +part was to be carried in the balloon) and compass. Two magazine +rifles and ammunition were included in the outfit, and Elmer donned +for the first time in his life a belt and holster to carry one of +the magazine revolvers that Ned had bought on the day when he first +told Alan what he had undertaken to do. + +By the time this work was done it was day. Then came breakfast, +which Elmer insisted on preparing. He even demanded that he be +given time to make hot biscuits. These, with thick slices of +broiled ham, the last of their oranges, and hot fragrant coffee +constituted the last meal on the Placida. + +As the meal came to an end the clump, clump of horses' feet in the +sand announced that Buck had arrived and that it was time for +breaking the "special car" camp. Alan and Elmer hastened to clean +up the little kitchen that had given the boys so many savory meals +and to pack up the remaining provisions, and Ned jumped off the car +to see Buck. + +To the lad's surprise he found Gus, the tramp, just as dirty and +just as cheerful as ever, proudly mounted on one of the newly +arrived horses. Buck noticed the surprise in Ned's face and +explained: + +"The helper I thought I could get fell down on me. My boarder's +goin' with us. I guess he'll do." + +"You understand you don't know where you're going," said Ned, +approaching Gus as he rolled off his horse, "nor when you're coming +back?" + +"I knows dat we ride and dat dere's chuck a-plenty," smiled Gus, +"and whichever way it is," he added lowering his voice and +chuckling, "can't be no worse dan Buck's place--fur me." + +"Do you want to go?" + +"Well, I ain't a settin' up nights a longin' to, but to oblige a +friend, Mr. Buck, I allowed meself to be persuaded." + +"Well, we'll see," said Ned. + +Ned rather wanted to watch this young man. Something suggested that +the tramp was too quick witted to be made a party to their plans. +Ned didn't exactly know what harm the stranger could do them, but he +decided to talk it over with Alan. While Buck was hitching up the +horses Ned turned to go into the car. + +They were loading from the far side opposite the hydrogen cask and +as Ned passed the corner of the car he almost ran into the station +agent. The agent, who was also the telegraph operator, had a +telegram for Ned, which the boy took eagerly. Ned had sent a +message to Major Honeywell, telling of their safe arrival, and did +not doubt that this was some important afterthought of the Major's. +The address ran: "Mr. Ned Napier, Private car Placida, Clarkeville, +New Mexico." Tearing open the envelope Ned read: + +"Just learned Kansas City Comet has story mysterious trip for +government starting Clarkeville. Real object not known. Look out +not followed. + +"Baldwin Honeywell." + +With three jumps Ned was in the car and had pull Alan into the +drawing room portion. The telegram was read again and the two boys +looked at each other in astonishment. + +"How could they?" began Alan. + +"No matter how," answered Ned, almost out of breath. "They did and +that's enough. Now I know!" + +"Know what?" + +Ned pushed his chum to the side of the car and pointed outside where +Buck and his helper were at work. + +"Look at him," he exclaimed. + +"At Buck?" + +"No. At the tramp who won't wash his face, who has a gentleman's +underclothes and who is so anxious to work for us!" + +"Well, I see him. But--" + +"Haven't you ever seen those sharp eyes before?" + +"You don't mean--?" + +"I do. If that isn't Bob Russell, the Comet reporter, I'm a goat." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +NED TO BOB RUSSELL'S RESCUE + + +It was a time for quick and fast thinking, and Ned and Alan did it. +Alan's instant suggestion that they denounce the disguised tramp was +almost as quickly voted down. + +"So long as we didn't know who he was he had the advantage of us. +Now that we know--" and neither of them now doubted the fact for an +instant. "We have the advantage of him," argued Ned. "Let's turn +that knowledge to profit. We can easily guess what he is trying to +do. Major Honeywell's message says our real object is not known. +This reporter has learned something, and I suspect he could have +found quite a lot from the train crew. On that he has written a +good enough story to attract attention. That shows he is no fool. +And he wouldn't come out here unless he had been sent. Who would +send him? Why, his paper, of course, to discover our real mission." + +"What can we do to head him off?" mused Alan. + +"There are two ways," suggested Ned, "and we've got to make one of +them effective. I don't know how he has guessed but he must not +have another guess. And he's seen a good deal." + +"We might have him arrested," suggested Alan. + +Ned thought awhile. + +"I'll tell you, Alan," he said finally. "The young men of the press +to-day may write fanciful stories, and they may even 'fake' where it +injures no one, but personally they won't lie. Let's call our tramp +in here, confront him with his imposture and give him his choice of +writing nothing or of being drummed out of town." + +"Who'll make him leave town?" + +"Marshal Jack Jellup wouldn't need two suggestions on that score. +And more, he'd see that the order was obeyed. I don't like to do +it, but I think we're justified. He's taking that chance." + +Again the thing was gone over, with arguments for and against, and +then Elmer was hastily dispatched to find Jellup and bring him to +the car. + +"And Buck will lose his helper," laughed Alan. + +"Better that than a second expedition on our heels," answered Ned + +"Gus!" he called, throwing open a window. "Come in here!" + +The tramp soon stood before them. + +"Geel Dis is a swell joint," were the tramp's first words as with +apparent awkwardness he entered the car. + +Ned acted as spokesman. + +"You say you've promised Buck to go with him without knowing where +you are going?" + +"Dat's about de cheese." + +"Well, we are willing. But I may as well tell you that this is a +secret expedition. If you go you must promise that you will not +tell anyone what you see or hear." + +The tramp's face suddenly took on a peculiar look, but it was gone +as quickly. + +"I gives me woid. I won't open me trap to no one." + +"Meaning you won't say anything about it?" smiled Ned inquiringly. + +"Dat's it. Mum's de woid. I won't open me trap." + +"Nor write anything?" + +The furtive look came back, this time more pronounced. + +"Me to write! Wit wot? Me new typewriter?" + +"That isn't an answer. Do you promise, if we send you with Buck, +that you'll neither tell nor write nor make known in any way what +you learn about what we are doing?" + +"Say, look here, boss. Quit yer kiddin'. Me name is Lippe and +mebbe I shoot it off a bit too frequent now and then, but you don't +need to be afeered o' me peachin' to de udder'Bos.'" + +"I'm not afraid of that," continued Ned. "We don't care what you +tell all the tramps this side of Kansas City. But we don't want you +to print anything more about us in the Comet." + +Hardly a flush came on the tramp's face. There was a quick movement +of the lips as if he were about to make protest and then he laughed +outright. + +"Bob Russell," said Ned, also laughing, "would you like the use of +our bath tub for a few moments?" + +"Would I!" laughed the young reporter rubbing his tinted and smoke +begrimed hands together as if to wash them. "Well, I guess I would. +My hands are up. What's next?" + +"Wash up and we'll see," exclaimed Ned. + +The young reporter was still laughing. "And if it isn't too much +trouble," he asked, "would you mind if Buck took his check over to +the depot and got the suit case that it calls for? Then we'll talk +business." + +In less than twenty minutes the sun burnt, dirty Gus Lippe had been +transformed into the dapper Bob Russell. When be reappeared in +fresh linen, outing clothes and a natty straw hat, he was still +laughing. Approaching the group in the drawing room, where Marshal +Jack Jellup had now arrived, the young reporter took out his pocket +book and a five dollar bill. + +"I'll pay that back first," he began; and then noticing one of his +cards he politely handed it to the marshal. It read: + +ROBERT RUSSELL +KANSAS CITY COMET + +"Ye'r a purty fresh kid," sneered Jellup. + +"At your service, Mr. Officer." + +Jellup had already received an explanation of the whole affair and +was aching to exercise his authority. + +"Ye'r an impostor," he began, "and ef ye hadn't been caught, ye'd +have taken money on false pretenses. I was onto ye." + +"Oh, now," interrupted Bob, "at two dollars Mex per day I'd have +given good value." + +"Mebbe," retorted the marshal, "but these gentlemen hev come here on +particular business and they came like gentlemen. The officials o' +this city hev give their word that there shouldn't be no interferin' +with their plans. And thet's what you're a-doin'. Now git!" + +Ned broke in: + +"One moment, Mr. Marshall" + +"Oh, that's all right, Mr. Napier," exclaimed the reporter, "he +doesn't mean just that. He knows I don't have to leave here so long +as I obey the law." + +"Ye don't, don't ye?" retorted the marshal. "Well, there ain't no +back east law down here. Our law books mebbe got all burnt up. And +mebbe I happen to be purty much o' the law myself. Ye'll git and +git quick." + +Again Ned interfered. + +"I suppose if we ask you to permit Mr. Russell to stay here he can," +he asked. + +"Well, I reckon that would be so. Ef ye ask it I reckon I'll have +to," he replied surlily. + +Ned and Alan held a brief consultation. + +"We have decided to ask the authorities to permit you to remain here +on one condition." + +The, intelligent face of Bob took on a quizzical air as he waited to +hear the condition. + +"That is," went on Ned, "that you give us your word that you will +not make known anything you have seen here, or of our plans so far +as you may know them." + +Bob's answer was immediate. + +"I can't do that," he said, "I was sent here to do just that thing, +and as quickly and as fully as I can. You ought to understand, and +do, I think, that I have a duty to perform. I've taken the trouble +to come all the way out here to get a story. I've got it and of +course I'm going to use it. I should be false to my duty, to my +employers and to myself if I promised not to do this." + +"But you don't know our story." + +"And I'm sorry. But I should have known it all if I had had a +little better luck." + +"Then you won't promise?" + +"Decidedly not." + +The boys showed that they were as stubborn as he. + +"Then we'll see that you learn no more," Alan exclaimed angrily. + +Bob smiled. "You can't take away what I already know, and it will +take a pretty long story to tell all I am going to guess from what I +have seen." + +As he spoke his eyes were on Major Honeywell's chart of the Tunit +Chas Mountains, which had carelessly been left lying on the table +where it had been in use during breakfast in the last explanations +to Elmer. + +Ned's face reddened in new anger. He did not resent what the young +reporter was doing; he even realized that he might do the same thing +himself; but he was chagrined to find himself caught in such a +simple manner. That was a big piece of additional information for +Russell to have, and Ned knew it. Hard as the thing was to do he +would at least put the young man out of the way of further +discoveries. + +"All right," he exclaimed, "we've tried to do the fair and decent +thing, and if you want to be stubborn Marshal Jellup can do as he +likes." + +"Git!" + +It was the marshal who spoke and he did so as if it were a pleasure. + +"I'll take the Limited west to Gallup at noon," said Russell, "if I +can stop it and catch the eastbound train there to-night." + +"Then ye'll flag it along the road," shouted Jellup, "fur ye'll get +out o' here on foot and in a hurry." + +"On foot?" exclaimed Russell in surprise. + +"That's what I said an' ye heerd me." + +Russell looked in appeal at the two boys. + +Ned was mad, and mad all over. + +"You are so quick to have your own way," he said, "you can't blame +us." + +"All right," was the cheery response, "it'll lend a bit of local +color to the story. Goodbye, boys. And good luck to you. I'll see +you when you come back." + +"Remember," said Alan relenting a trifle, "we'll let you stay until +we leave if you'll promise to write nothing." + +Bob laughed again. + +"What good would that do me? No experience means anything to me +that I can't turn into copy. And as for walking--I'd walk from here +to Kansas City or crawl before I'd lie down on my shop like that." + +"Come on, kid, get busy," exclaimed Jellup again. "An' when ye +start, don't bother about lingerin', because I'll be hangin' around +and I'm good with this at some distance." + +As he spoke he drew a Colt 44 and tapped it. + +"Never fear, Mr. Jellup," laughed Bob. "I suppose I can express my +suit case to the next town?" + +"Ye can't do no business in this city, d'ye hear? Now, come on." + +"Say, partner," interrupted Bob with his usual good humor, "if you +will let me take a snap of you I'll make you celebrated. 'Famous +gun man' of New Mexico. It'll be great." + +In another moment the nettled marshal had Bob by the shoulder and +was whirling him out of the car. On the steps he threw the suit +case onto the sandy plain and then pushed the reporter roughly down +the steps. Ned and Alan stood, with flushed faces, watching the +reporter pick up his hat and suit case. Then young Russell made a +remark they could not hear and the marshal's revolver flashed in the +air. They could see the boy's face grow pale at last, but as he +straightened up the two men disappeared around the freight house. + +Like a flash Ned was on the ground and after the marshal and his +victim. Alan and Buck came running in the rear, for the alert Buck +saw that something was in the air. It was early day and only a +straggler or two was in sight at the depot. The sun, already +mounting high, foretold a day of depressing heat. The steel lines +of the railway stretched interminably eastward toward the first stop +forty miles away. + +Bob Russell, pale but defiant, stood in the middle of the track, his +heavy suit case in his hand. + +Suddenly there was the crack of a revolver and the dust flew about +the young reporter's feet. + +"Jist as a sample!" roared the angered Jellup. "The next one'll be +higher up." And his trembling finger pointed down the hot sandy +track. + +There was nothing more to be done. The pale-faced but nervy +reporter turned toward the east and started slowly down the track. + +Ned ran forward. + +"Russell!" he shouted, "Russell!" + +As the reporter paused and turned, hearing his name, there was a +second report of the marshal's revolver and Russell's suit case flew +from his hand, ripped and torn ragged by a forty-four bullet. + +The smoke of the explosion puffed upward and, where it had been, the +marshal saw Ned Napier's automatic magazine revolver under his nose. + +The boy was white with indignation. The possible serious results +that might come to him and his plans meant nothing in his anger at +such a dastardly act. + +"It isn't a Colt," he said with dry lips, "but, if you make another +move like that it's got ten shots and they come out all together." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +QUICK JUSTICE IN THE WEST + + +Jack Jellup, marshal and "bad man," was never more surprised in his +life. But Jack was no fool, and something in Ned Napier's eyes made +the westerner conclude instantly that he had unexpectedly and +unquestionably "barked up the wrong tree." For a few moments the +marshal and the young aeronaut stood facing each other and then +Jellup sneered: + +"Do you reckon you'd better run this town?" + +"No, nor you," quietly answered Ned, "and if that's the way you are +going to do it you can settle with me right now. I'm going to stand +on my rights." + +He was conscious that Russell had hurried back and was behind him. +Another second and there was a sharp click. Both Jellup and Ned +turned to see the nervy young reporter with the torn suit case open +on the ground at his feet. A snap shot camera was in his hand. His +face was white, but there was a trace of his usual smile on it. Ned +wanted to laugh too, but the situation was too serious. + +"I've got you both," said Bob, a little nervously, "and if it's a +good one I've got a dandy--'shooting up the town or the bad man +covered'--" + +Had it not been for Ned's lightning-like action these might have +been Bob's last words. Jellup's pistol had flashed once more, but +as it dew into position Ned's own weapon rose with it under Jellup's +right hand and the marshal's shot passed over Bob's head. Before +Jellup and Ned could recover themselves Bob's camera was on the +ground and the reporter had his own revolver, which he had grabbed +quickly from the suit case. + +In the center of this group now stood, unarmed, Alan Hope and old +Buck. Almost at the same time a dozen men, attracted by the melee, +had also intervened and had taken charge of the three excited +combatants. + +Pushing the crowd right and left appeared the stalwart form of Mayor +Curt Bradley, weaponless, but with the stem face of one who gives +orders that cannot be ignored. + +"Put 'em up, every one of you," he exclaimed; "do ye hear? Put 'em +up." + +"Ye'r both under arrest," shouted Jellup to Ned and Bob. + +There was a quick explanation and then Mayor Bradley, still very +stem of face, ordered everybody across the street to his office +above the drug store. Men seemed to spring out of the ground, and +the room was instantly packed to suffocation. Marshal Jellup made a +formal charge against the two boys of "resisting and interfering +with an officer" and then each told his story. The decision was +immediate. Mayor Bradley ordered that both boys be released and the +court be instantly cleared. + +Jellup made his way noisily toward the door, his face white with +rage. Apparently a number present were his friends and cronies, for +the looks of sympathy that he got turned into open murmurs of +dissent. + +Mayor Bradley was on his feet at once. + +"What's the matter?" he began incisively. "Is there some one here +who wants to appeal from my decision?" + +The hubbub subsided but there wag no response. + +"The time to make any complaint about my decision is right now and +to me," went on the tall Bradley, looking over those in the room. + +But no one apparently cared to take up Jellup's cause. When the +spectators had gone the Mayor, who had sternly watched the slow exit +of the last loiterer, turned to the boys. + +"I thank you, Mr. Bradley," exclaimed Ned earnestly. + +"And I want to thank both of you," quickly added Bob Russell, taking +the hand of each. "I'm the cause of this and I'm sorry. I guess +you saved my life twice," he added, wringing Ned's hand. "If it +hadn't been for you the Comet certainly would never have heard from +me again. I guess that, puts all my obligation up to you." + +"No," said Ned, "I can't let you say that. You have your own duty +just as I have mine. We'll go over to the car and wait for the two +o'clock Limited. Then you are at liberty to go and write your story +and do its you like." + +"He don't have to leave," interrupted the Mayor; "this is a free +town and it's going to be an orderly one." + +"And I'm not going to," broke in Bob. "You've got yourself in a +muss over me and some of these soreheads may try to make you more +trouble. If you'll let me, I'll stay to the end and if it comes to +a mix-up I'm going to be right there with you." + +Mayor Bradley smiled and old Buck slapped the reporter on the back. + +"But how about the story you say you are going to write about us," +asked Alan. + +"There wouldn't have been any story if it hadn't been for Mr. +Napier," replied Bob. "And there isn't going to be one until he +tells me to write it. It's up to him." + +Ned was looking out of the window at the curious loungers standing +in the street. He was thinking of the work yet to be done and of +all the difficulties that the discomfited marshal might put in his +way. It wasn't a "picnic proposition." He didn't fear for himself, +but the thought of his expensive and delicate outfit and of how +easily it might be irreparably injured was not reassuring. + +"Russell," he said finally, "I think we need you. If you care to +stay with us we'll be glad to have you. It isn't because I don't +want to be bluffed by Jellup, but because you are game. If you'll +go with Buck and Elmer, I'll try to make it worth your while--some +time--and you shall be the historian of this expedition--when the +time comes to write its story." + +Am hour later the delayed overland expedition was on its way toward +the desert. There had been a quick shopping expedition in the +stores of Clarkeville and Bob Russell, in a new hat and boots and +various other articles of clothing, most of them too large for him, +sat proudly on the driver's seat of the second wagon. Around his +waist was a new cartridge belt and holster carrying Ned's gift, a 44 +revolver--"for game or rattlesnakes," as the boys expressed it, but +the weapon was not concealed when the little cavalcade traversed the +main street of the town, and if Jellup was an onlooker Ned felt sure +that the outwitted marshal would think twice before again molesting +the expedition. + +"All set," laughed Bob, as the final farewells had been said, and he +held up his camera, "now for the real thing." + +Ned and Alan were now alone. To tell the truth, the excitement of +the morning had been rather trying for them, but if it left them a +trifle nervous they soon forgot their apprehension in making the +last of the transfer. There was now another reason for abandoning +the car. With headquarters established in the corral they would be +near the balloon and its equipment, and if Jellup should permit his +ill will to develop into some overt act, they would be in a position +more easily to protect themselves. For that reason a number of +their "greaser" assistants were taken to the car before noon and the +hydrogen cask was loaded on the small wagon and carefully freighted +to the corral. Then followed the remainder of the provisions and +the personal belongings of the boys. Early in the afternoon the +Placida was closed and turned over to the railway agent. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +BUILDING AN AIR SHIP + + +When Ned announced to Alan that they would at once unpack and test +the motor--"for we might as well stop if the engine isn't right," as +he put it--all thoughts of the troubles of the early day vanished. +And the motor certainly was a beauty. Though some expert had +recommended the French motor, Ned had preferred to use one made in +America, not only because he had been able to get it quicker but +because he believed it as good as the foreign make. + +The engine had eight air-cooled cylinders, in two sets of four, +placed at an angle of ninety degrees to each other. The crank case +was of aluminum and the shaft of vanadium steel, hollow, and +specially treated to insure toughness. All the studs or bolts were +of the same steel. Complete, with balance wheel, it weighed two +hundred pounds. The ignition was accomplished by six dry batteries +and a single-wire vibrating coil. It was rated at fifty horsepower. + +So exactly had the preliminary work been done at the factory that in +two hours the boys were able to have the engine bolted to the +section of the car where it was to be used, and before evening the +radiator tubes and pump of the cooling system were also in place. +Temporary connections were set up and the sparking wires attached, +and then the reservoir was filled with gasoline. A little jar as +the wheel was turned, then a couple of sharp explosions, and the +engine fell to its work as if it had been running for weeks. + +Ned shut it off after a moment's critical inspection. + +"Let her flicker!" pleaded Alan. "We've waited so long for a real +one that I like to hear her buzz." + +"We'll let her buzz when we can use the buzz," laughed Ned. +"Gasoline is gasoline, you know." + +Night did not stop the work of the eager lads. As soon as they had +eaten a light meal, Ned and Alan, with a couple of lanterns and a +half dozen of candles, began to adjust the sections of the car. +These, seven in number, when joined, were 54.12 feet in length. The +American spruce frame and the aluminum joints were all intact. This +work finished the day. + +Blankets on the rough floor were good enough for the explorers that +night. The luxury of the Placida's mattresses and fresh sheets was +missed, as was Elmer's skill as a chef when it was time for +breakfast the next morning. The boys were not so indifferent about +this meal as they had been about that of the evening before. They +had no stove, but they took the time to arrange a regular camp in a +comer of the corral. A little fire was soon burning, at which they +made coffee and toasted some bacon. This, with hardtack and some +preserved fruit, they thought was enough, for they were determined +not to disturb the carefully packed provisions that were to be +carried in the balloon. + +"Have you had enough?" asked Ned as the last piece of scorched bacon +disappeared. + +"Enough?" answered Alan. "A regular banquet!" + + Just then there was a loud thump on the closed door of the barn. + +"The hands are arriving," explained Ned, and he hastened to open the +door. + +A few of the workmen were there, but the knocking had been done by a +pleasant faced woman--apparently a Mexican. A black shawl covered +her head and one arm. It was Mrs. Bourke, Buck's wife. + +"I thought," she said smiling, "hungry." + +Without further words she threw back the shawl and revealed a small +tin pail. The appetizing odor made Ned's mouth water. In the +bottom of the bucket were frijoles, or boiled and fried Mexican +black beans cooked in pepper, and on top of these were a half dozen +smoking hot tortillas or corn cakes. + +"Mrs. Buck," exclaimed Alan, "you have saved our lives!" + +All recollection of his recent banquet seemed to have disappeared, +and so did Mrs. Bourke's bucket of beans and cakes, in double-quick +order. The reward was a bright silver dollar for the thoughtful +woman and a contract that she should come three times a day and +prepare the boys' meals. It would have been easier to have gone to +Buck's home, only a short distance away, but the boys were now +determined to stay in the corral, or leave it only one at a time. +However, they soon developed a taste for Mrs. Bourke's peculiar hot +wholesome dishes and these, with what provisions they had on hand, +were a fair substitute for Elmer's cooking. + +The frijoles having been disposed of, Ned at once went out, and was +fortunate in finding a load of rough lumber and a sort of jack- +carpenter. With the help of the boys a four foot-high series of +"horses" or frames was set up in the center of the corral. This was +for the car to rest on while it was being assembled. It was +elevated so that the propeller and aeroplanes and rudder could all +be tested after being set up. The propeller, 11.48 feet in length, +revolved in bearings four feet above the bottom of the car. + +After noonday refreshment the middle section of the car, to which +the engine was already attached, was carefully lifted into place +with the aid of the workmen, and then the laborers were paid off and +dismissed--all except the watchmen. From now on there was nothing +that the boys could not do themselves, and they wanted to be +undisturbed and alone. The putting together of the car was a treat +of which they had long dreamed and they were happy in their work. + +The remaining sections were easily laid on 'the "horses" and then +came the bolts and the bracing with piano wire. When brought +together the fifty-four foot long skeleton was in shape much like a +cigar. The main frame was six feet high, tapering to five feet at +each end. In depth the dimensions were the same. The engine rested +on the floor of the middle section and was accessible in all its +parts from that compartment. An elevation of the floor in the +forward part of this section made it possible for one to stand high +enough to have an outlook in all directions through openings in a +hooded elevation that projected above the top of the section. + +This hood was of a waterproof silk, coated with powdered aluminum, +that metal being used because of its semi-incombustibility. This +silk also covered the sides of the central compartment, making a +wind-, rain- and waterproof cabin. The lookout windows on all four +sides were covered with isinglass. The bottom of the framework of +the car forward and aft of the engine compartment had a ladder-like +flooring of spruce, inserted more for strengthening the car than for +service. But on top of the car, reaching from end to end, was a +continuous runway two feet wide which could be used in hurriedly +visiting either propeller or rudder. This runway was protected by +guide ropes of Italian hemp running through posts extended upward +from the sides of the car. The top of the engine compartment was +completely floored, making a platform 6 x 6.12 feet square. This +was surrounded by a protecting network, and Alan named it the +"bridge." + +A light rope-ladder extended into the engine cabin from an opening +in the roof, making the top floor space or bridge and the upper +runways quickly accessible. The gasoline reservoir, just forward of +the engine, was connected with the bridge by a copper supply pipe. +The extra supply of gasoline was to be carried on the bridge in the +open air, and lashed to the netting instead of being stored in +permanent reservoirs as is the usual practice. This was in order +that the empty vessels might be thrown overboard when it was +necessary to lighten the balloon. + +The other sections of the car were each 8 feet long and decreasing +in height from 6 feet next the cabin to 5 feet at the end of the +car. In the two sections just forward of the cabin and in the two +just aft provision had been made for attaching the eight liquid +hydrogen casks--four at each end. As this liquid was reconverted +into gas the light sheet-iron casings might likewise be cast +overboard to lighten the balloon. As needed, the liquid hydrogen +jars, coated with mercury, were to be taken from their casings and +carried to the bridge where the reconverter was located. + +Aft of the engine cabin was the store room for water and provisions. +The grooves and rods for the counterweights and equilibrium adjuster +ran in the middle of the upper footway and the propeller shaft +rested on the bottom of the forward section of the car. + +At ten o'clock that evening all the work on the car was finished +except the buckling on of the aluminum silk sides and the hanging of +the propeller, the rudder and the aeroplane sides. It was as long +and as hard a day's work as either of the boys had ever done. They +were dead tired, but happy, and after a sousing wash-up they got +into their pajamas and, throwing their blankets on the floor of the +little office, were soon fast asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +HOW JACK JELLUP LOST AN ARM + + +In spite of his fatigue Ned did not sleep soundly. It had been +threatening a thunder storm all evening and the increasing +oppressiveness of the air made the young, aeronaut wakeful. The +long whistle and jarring stop of the midnight local train finally +fully aroused him. In the west the thunder was rumbling and great +sheets of heat lightning promised a storm in a short time. After +slipping out into the corral and seeing that the waterproof silk +sides of the car were securely buttoned around the engine Ned +returned and again tried to go to sleep. + +But his restlessness continued. In his early sleep he had had a +vivid dream about the wagon expedition. In this he thought that +Marshal Jack Jellup had followed Elmer, Bob and Buck and set fire to +the wagons while his friends were asleep in camp. It was a relief +to awaken and find that the flash of light was lightning and not, as +he had imagined in his dream, an explosion of the gasoline carried +in Buck's big wagon. He lay awake awhile regretting the quarrel +with Jellup, and then he sank into a doze again. + +But his active brain would not rest. Again he fell into a dream. +This time the picture was very real. The big balloon had been +finished and launched. A thrill ran through him as he felt the +monster craft poise and waver and then slowly rise above the corral. +He could hear the cheers of those gathered about. But in the midst +of them be heard the sudden crack of a revolver. Jack Jellup had +put a bullet through the silken bulk of the bag. The cold +perspiration broke out on Ned's forehead. + +The dream was so real that he thought he could hear the taunting +voice of Jellup. In feverish excitement Ned sprang upright, to find +a pair of strong arms clasped about him. He did not cry out. A +wave of cold fear seemed to benumb his tongue and brain. He knew +this was no dream. + +Forced onto his back, his face and eyes partly covered by the +shoulders of his sudden captor, Ned's returning consciousness made +him aware that there was a dim light in the office. + +"It's Jellup, Ned," exclaimed in a whisper a sudden voice which Ned +instantly recognized as Alan's. + +"No more from you," exclaimed a rough voice in quick reply. "Here's +the rope, Domingo." + +The man on top of Ned knew his business. Almost before the boy +realized what was being done his hands and feet were caught in +dexterous knots and he was helpless. + +"Now," continued the other voice, "let's have a few minutes' talk." + +Ned's assailant had arisen, and for the first time the boy could +look about. In the center of the room, with a sputtering candle in +his hand, stood the revengeful Jellup. His companion Ned at once +remembered as one of the noisy court room spectators of the day +before. Between the two, clad in his pajamas and similarly bound, +was poor Alan. + +"Ye can stand or set, jist as ye like," began Jellup. "Me and me +deputy hev made this little visit to ye fur a purpose. The citizens +of this town is tired of yer carryin's on and they've just delegated +me to ascertain what it all means. We got a purty good idee." + +"Well, what is your idea?" interrupted Ned, slowly regaining his +composure and his natural defiance. + +"My idee is that ye don't need no flyin' machine anywhar except to +git away quick and what we want to know is what air ye goin' to take +with you when ye fly away?" + +"Nothing that doesn't belong to us," answered Ned, "if that is what +you mean." + +"Ye ain't, eh? I suppose ye don't know that thar's enough cow money +in our bank to be worth stealin'?" + +Both Ned and Alan looked at each other astounded. + +"You don't think we look like safe robbers, do you?" began Alan. + +"Ye look just slick enough fur that and more," retorted the marshal +who had placed the candle on the table and roughly pulled Ned to his +feet. "But I didn't come here to argy. Ye began by vilatin' the +law and ye didn't come the way down here for no fun. Ef that ain't +yer game, and we don't put it above ye, what's yer lay?" + +"There's only one answer," said Ned. "None of your business." + +The marshal shoved Ned nearer the table. + +"Mebbe ye want to apologize fur that little bluff of yers +yesterday--" + +"No," said Ned, "but I'll accept yours." + +Jellup's right hand was on his revolver. + +"I ain't hyar to make no threats," he exclaimed, "and ye don't need +to be afeered that I'm going to shoot ye. But I've got just one +other little proposition. Ef ye don't cotton to that, why, thar +ain't agoin' to be no Fourth o' July balloon ascension around hyar." + +Ned straightened up. + +"Your proposition can't be a fair one or you wouldn't come like a +thief at this time of night--" + +Jellup's pistol flashed in the air but fell back again as the +marshal's left hand shot upward and struck Ned full in the face. +Even as the tears sprang into the bound boys eyes and pain and anger +flushed his pallid face, the cowardly Jellup fell backward and +stumbled to the floor. Alan, standing just behind the man, had shot +his knees forward, striking Jellup's legs in the hollow of his +knees, and, thrown off his balance, the westerner lay sprawling on +the floor. Before the marshal's confederate could interfere, Alan, +tightly as he was bound, had flung himself on top of Jellup and with +all the power he could throw into the act had butted his head into +the marshal's face. + +Am oath and a cry of pain indicated how true the stroke had been. +Both Ned and the companion of Jellup sprang forward at the same time +and the four fell in a silent distorted heap. But the encounter was +unequal. In another moment both boys were lying side by side on the +floor and their captors stood over them. Even in the half light of +the little room both boys could see the blood-smeared cheek of the +marshal. + +Jellup's hand was on Domingo's arm holding him back from further +attack on the helpless boys and the marshal was restraining his +anger as a snake withholds its venom until it strikes. + +"Purty good," sneered the marshal, "and the funny thing is ye hain't +got a bullet through ye fur it. But my business ain't with dead +ones. Onct more, air ye goin' to say what ye'r a plannin' to do?" + +"Since it doesn't concern you in the least," said Ned, slowly, "no." + +Jellup was silent a moment. + +"Fur kids ye seem to have plenty o' money. Ye'r purty free +spenders. I'll give ye one more chance. Ef ye've got a thousand +dollars handy fur a kind of a bond as it were I guess that'll sort +o' protect us." + +"You mean for bribery?" exclaimed Alan. + +"No, just instead of stealing," angrily added Ned. "We haven't a +thousand dollars and if we had you couldn't get a cent of it. And +to save you some trouble I'll say that what we have is in your +bank." + +Another half-uttered oath sounded on Jellup's lips. + +"In thet case," retorted the marshal, "we'll jest show you that we +mean business. That's a lie about the bank. Produce or take the +consequences." + +"Help yourself," replied Ned, "if you think we are lying." + +"I ain't no pickpocket," retorted Jellup, "this is official. I tell +ye it's a bond and this is yer last chanct to make good." + +The boys remained silent. + +But Jellup's companion was already busy. Leaving the marshal to +stand guard over the boys he made a quick search of their clothing. +But Ned was not so used to money as to be careless in the handling +of it and the six hundred dollars that he had in gold was in a belt +carefully concealed in the top of the liquid hydrogen crate, which, +for safety, had been stored in a corner of the room. + +When the silent Domingo threw down the working garments of the boys +he took up the candle and began a tour of the room. The big black +liquid hydrogen crate attracted his attention and he approached it. +The red "Explosive--no fire" letters of warning apparently meant +nothing to him, but Jellup halted him with a sharp warning, followed +by a few words in Mexican. Domingo handed the candle to Jellup and +the latter stepped toward the box. + +"That means what it says," exclaimed Ned quickly and sharply. + +The crate stood as it had been carried from Washington with the top +on and the connecting hose extended upward through a hole made in +the low roof in order that the slowly accumulating reconverted gas +might escape in safety. + +"Mebbe," said Jellup, "mebbe yes and mebbe no. I guess they ain't +nothin' agoin' to explode that ain't set afire." + +Ned noticed with satisfaction that the lid was properly locked. +Jellup noticed it too. Without a word, he turned and easily found +Ned's keys. Again he approached the crate, looking over the keys. + +"Jellup," exclaimed Ned in alarm, "there's gas in that box, and if +you go near it with a light you'll blow us all up." + +"Gas, eh?" answered the eager Jellup. "Don't run no sich bluffs on +me." + +"I warn you," cried Ned as the man approached the box, "it's taking +your life in your hands." + +Something in the tone of Ned's voice must have alarmed Jellup, for +he paused. Then he retreated a few steps and handed the almost +burned out candle to the vigilant Domingo. + +"I allow I kin jest hev a look without no light to oblige you. I've +been purty curious about this precious package ever since I see it. +And ye'r a sight too anxious consarnin' my safety." + +What might really happen Ned did not exactly know. The gas +generated from the liquid hydrogen was highly inflammable and +explosive when confined. But the evaporation was exceedingly slow +and the exhaust hose should easily carry the forming gas in safety +to the air. But even a small accumulation might be in the partly +depleted bulbs or the top of the crate and a fire would certainly +ensue even if there was no violent explosion. And besides, just +beneath the lid was their money--the cash Ned had secured for their +further expenses and the return home. + +"We are anxious for all of us," explained Alan. + +"And mebbe anxious fur something else," sneered the marshal. "I +reckon a peek in the dark ain't agoin' to hurt no one--an' it may +help some." + +"Drop on your face, Alan," whispered Ned, "and lie flat." + +It was the only precaution they could take. Both felt that all +their plans might end in a moment. But Ned could not resist +watching--even though his face was close to the floor. He saw +Jellup examine each key, guess the right one at once and then insert +it in the lock. Yet, despite his assumed bravado, it was apparent +that the man had considerable apprehension. For, before he turned +the lock, he motioned to Domingo to retire further with the candle. + +Finally, as if summoning his courage, the avaricious marshal snapped +the key, threw back the catches on each end of the crate and then +slowly and gingerly and at arm's length began to lift the lid. With +the top an inch ajar he paused, waited a moment or two, and then +began sniffing as if searching for an odor. + +Ned saw him. + +"It doesn't smell," he explained quickly, "but it's there. Look +out!" + +"Don't smell!" retorted Jellup. "Gas as don't smell? Well, that's +agoin' some, I guess." + +Nevertheless, he had dropped the lid. + +But as quickly recovering himself he reached forward again and with +a quick motion threw the top up and sprang back. + +To Ned's relief nothing happened. Either the light was too far away +or the gas had all been removed by the hose. But this relief was +quickly succeeded by another alarm. There had been no explosion, +but their financial means were now at the mercy of two thieves, and +he and his churn, bound and helpless, were powerless to protect +either themselves or their funds. There was nothing to be done but +to grin and bear it. For Ned's new leather money belt, containing +six hundred dollars in gold was stretched out conspicuously and at +full length on top of one of the two rows of glass bulbs in the +case. + +"Lyin', as I thought," exclaimed Jellup. "Gimme' the light, +Domingo." And the chuckle that followed almost instantly was +indication enough that he had discovered the boys' small fortune. + +"Dangerous, eh!" he laughed. "Now, we'll see if the city gits its +bond." + +Then he paused as if a thought had entered his head. + +"But, jest to keep the record clean, I reckon ye'd better give it to +me yerself, young 'un. Jack Jellup ain't no burglar. Loosen him +up, Domingo. And fur fear ye might need persuadin' jest take a peek +at this," and he drew his revolver. + +When Ned had been liberated, Jellup pointed to the money belt. + +"Jest be good enough to hand me whatever's in that," he exclaimed, +"without no hesitation. Then we'll have a little talk about what +else is agoin' to happen." + +It was hard to surrender so easily but the risk of attacking two +armed men single-handed was great. Ned walked slowly toward the +crate. + +"Get busy," ordered Jellup; "we've got other business yit to talk +of." + +Ned had a sudden impulse. The thing flashed on him and taking hold +of the belt in the middle he lifted it until the two ends were just +over an open-mouthed bulb of hydrogen, and then as if by accident +dropped the belt into the jar. The clear, watery liquid splashed +and the belt disappeared. + +"Water," shouted the eager Jellup, "Jist plain water." And as Ned +sprang back the gold-fevered marshal sprang forward and plunged his +hand into the liquid. + +He did not immediately know that his hand was in the depth of a +liquid whose temperature was 423 degrees below zero. But the thin +film of gas that instantly formed and protected his naked flesh +dissipated in a moment and then one benumbing, paralyzing shock +swept over Jack Jellup's body. + +With a cry wrung from him by pain such as few mortals have ever +experienced and survived, the stricken man fell unconscious to the +floor--his arm frozen as solid as crystallized steel. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +READY TO "LET GO ALL" + + +In the confusion that followed the sudden extinction of the candle, +while Ned was freeing Alan and Jack Jellup was uttering heartrending +groans, the marshal's confederate lost his nerve and made his +escape. When a lantern had been procured, immediate attention was +given to the stricken man. + +Ned hastened to secure a bucket of water. Wrapping the corner of a +blanket about the handle of a tin dipper he ladled out a spoonful of +the liquid hydrogen and, although the numbing chill ran through his +fingers and up his arm, he managed to pour the hydrogen into the +contents of the bucket. + +The pail of lukewarm water became almost instantly a cake of solid +ice. As Ned dropped the tin dipper to the hard adobe floor it flew +into a hundred pieces. The inconceivable cold had crystallized the +metal until the slightest shock was sufficient to break it into +pieces. + +At the sound of the crashing tin Ned instantly thought of the belt +of gold yet in the hydrogen jar. But a human being was in pain, and +he gave his first attention to the suffering marshal. He had made +the ice to use in drawing the frost out of Jellup's frozen arm. In +a few moments he had mashed a portion of the ice into small bits, +and using a blanket to make a pack, he soon had Jellup's rigid arm +encased in the fine ice. This he applied for the same reason that +snow and ice water are applied to frozen ears and noses. But his +treatment was of no avail. + +The rain was now falling steadily and it was dark, but Ned found +that it was nearly day--a little after four o'clock. Jellup's +suffering was so extreme that the boys had given him a hypodermic +insertion of morphine, using their "snake-bite" outfit, and in a few +minutes the man's ravings ceased and he quieted into a deep sleep. + +While awaiting this, attention was given the gold. Feeling free to +approach the now open jars with a light it was seen that a portion +of, the belt protruded above the liquid. A cord with a sailor slip +knot was lowered over the extended bit of leather, drawn taut with a +jerk and the belt was slowly lifted out. A folded blanket had been +placed on the floor to receive it. As Ned expected, the leather +crumbled and broke like glass as the belt fell on the soft blanket. + +"If you want change for a twenty-dollar gold piece just tap one of +those with a stick." said Ned, laughing and pointing to the gold +pieces scattered among the broken fragments of the belt. + +"Not I," exclaimed Alan, "not after what happened to the tin +dipper." + +Leaving Alan to watch over the unconscious Jellup and the frozen +gold, Ned dressed himself, and in spite of the rain hastened out in +the just perceptible dawn to carry out a plan he and Alan had agreed +upon. An hour later, with the assistance of Mayor Bradley, the +marshal, now somewhat easier, was placed in a bed in his own home. +Unless the silent Mexican told it no soul in all Clarkeville other +than Mayor Bradley and the air ship boys knew why Jellup was absent +from his haunts and his post of duty that day. Nor did many of them +ever know, when Jellup reappeared on the streets after weeks of +suffering, how he had been injured. They only knew that his right +arm was gone and that he was no longer marshal. + +The rain ceased with the coming of the day. + +"If we don't get away pretty soon," suggested Alan, as Ned was +getting into dry clothing preparatory to tackling another of Mrs. +Buck's meals, "this thing will be getting on my nerves." + +"Well," answered Ned philosophically, "there is mighty little worth +having in this world that isn't hard to get." + +If all went well that day the boys hoped to be ready to make their +departure that night or the next morning. Therefore they went to +work with a vim. Both felt more comfortable when, after finding +that the gold coins had returned to their normal condition, they had +again concealed them. The propeller, rudder and aeroplane guides +were now put in place and tested. + +As the engine, with a speed of 1,400 revolutions but geared down to +800, began to turn the shaft and the twelve-foot propeller began to +revolve, Ned swung his hat in the air. Without a break the speed +increased to 500, 600, and then 700 revolutions a minute. + +"Shut her off," exclaimed Alan joyously, as the white arms flew +round and round and the air shot backwards on both sides of the long +car. At 750 revolutions the car was rocking and lurching as if it +would soar birdlike into the air. At 800 the powerful pulling +propeller began to overcome the rigidity of the framework on which +the car rested and as Alan caught and held the car, fearful that it +was about to fly away under the propeller power alone, Ned shut off +the engine. + +The next instant the two boys, with clasped hands, were doing an +Indian war dance in their glee. + +It was not long until the rudder wires and the aeroplane shafts had +been attached to their proper guide wheels in the lookout or pilot +portion of the engine cabin. Then came the preparation of the +balloon bag itself. Here again Ned showed what he had accomplished +in the six weeks he had spent in the East. + +Clearing a space near the generating tanks, they placed the one +hundred sand bags, weighing forty pounds each, in parallel rows. +These sacks, with convenient loops on each for attaching the rigging +of the bag as it was being filled, had already been prepared by the +"greaser" laborers, but the placing of the two tons of dead weight +was not a joke, and the boys regretted that they had not kept a few +men around. But by noon this was done, and then the great +waterproof fiber trunk containing the silk bag was rolled out +between the retaining bags. The boys could not carry it, as the +balloon itself weighed seven hundred and twenty pounds, but they +improvised rollers and with many a laughing "yo he ho" finally +accomplished the task. + +The bag had been made by one of the leading aeronautical engineers +of America, whose factory, strangely enough, was in one of the small +inland towns of New York State. In a spirit of humor the +manufactory had been termed the "Balloon Farm," and so famous was it +that Ned had even planned to spend a part of his summer vacation +visiting it. When Major Honeywell gave him the opportunity, Ned was +at once determined to utilize every advanced idea of the skilled +owner, whatever the cost. + +The result was a machine-varnished and, as nearly as such a thing +was possible, hydrogen gas-proof bag. In the construction of this +the experienced manufacturer and engineer, who was no other than +Professor Carl E. Meyers, the hero of hundreds of ascents, had used +a new machine which applied simultaneously to both sides of the bag +fabric several thin films of elastic varnish. The bag itself +consisted of two layers of Japan silk between which was a layer of +rubber, all being sewed together and then vulcanized. + +But the balloon trunk was not opened at once. The pipe to convey +the gas from the cooler and purifying tank had been brought in +four-foot lengths of light wood, cemented and shellacked. Eight +lengths of these were laid to the center of the cleared place and +then the joints were wound with binding cement tape. When these +things had been satisfactorily adjusted it was mid-afternoon. +Everything now seemed ready for the filling up of the generating +tanks, the inflation, the flight, and "good-bye." + +Therefore, a final consultation was held. Wind tests conducted each +day had shown the prevailing breezes favorable, or at least not +against the aeronauts. The inflation would require approximately +ten hours. If begun at once this would make the departure possible +about midnight. This was not undesirable as the absence of the hot +southwestern sun would make the gas easier to control. But another +thing had to be taken into consideration. Only four days had +elapsed since Elmer and Bob and Buck had started. Were they yet at +the rendezvous? + +"I don't see what difference that makes," said Alan. "We expect to +sail directly north and east of the foothills. If they have not +reached their camp they must be nearly there and on the way. We've +got to locate them with our glasses anyway. Let's start and pick +them up where we find them." + +"True enough," answered Ned. "The way the engine is working, in +this light favoring wind, we ought to make eighteen miles an hour +anyway. If we leave at midnight, by five o'clock in the morning we +can be ninety miles north. The only trouble is in the handling of +the bag. It's going to take at least twenty men to move the +inflated bag from the retaining weights to the car and we can't make +the rigging fast in the dark. We'd better begin work at four +o'clock to-morrow morning, as soon as it begins to be light, and get +away about two in the afternoon. I think we'll see our friends +about seven or just at dark, if we do." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +AN INTERRUPTED FLIGHT + + +And so it was arranged. The young aeronauts thus had all afternoon +to store provisions, water, gasoline and the instruments. The +altitude barometer, the recording thermometer, the statoscope and +recording hygrometer, together with the telescopic camera were each +given a place on the bridge and lashed to the netting. The +twenty-five-foot rope-ladder, strong but light, that was to hang +below the car, and the anchor and drag rope, were attached, the name +pennant of white with the word "Cibola" resplendent in blue, "turquoise +blue," explained Ned--was unfurled on its little staff just abaft the +big propeller, and a new silk American flag was laid out it the stern +of the car to be run up on its halyards as soon as the bag was attached. + +Then came the careful transfer of the liquid hydrogen. One at a +time the cast iron eases were carried from the building, hoisted +aboard the car and lashed in place. Before supper Ned had time to +go to the depot and send a telegram to Major Honeywell, who was yet +in Chicago. It read: + +"Ready for inflation. All O. K. Sail at 2 P. M. to-morrow, August +11." + +He then visited "Saloon Row" and arranged for twenty men to report +at four o'clock the next morning. No chances were to be taken that +night. Dividing the hours up to four A. M. into two watches, the +two boys had supper and Ned was soon fast asleep on the floor of the +car "trying it out." + +At the first blush of dawn the corral gates were thrown open and in +a short time all the men engaged reported. Some of them were put to +work dumping the heavy iron filings into the big oak gas generators +and Ned and Alan began the delicate work of laying out the bag, +bottom side up the thin silken folds of the golden shell were slowly +lifted and laid on the ground. When the bottom filling valve had +been attached to the wooden gas conduits the mammoth sections of the +long gas receptacle were stretched out on top and then carefully +smoothed until an even inflation was assured. + +This done, the rigging trunk was opened and the seine-like mass of +delicate hemp cords laid over the bag. No "greasers" were permitted +to assist in this. Ned and Alan, in bare feet, laboriously but +carefully drew the silk folds of the bag into the net. When this +was completed the suspension cords reached out in all directions +like skeleton fingers. In a quarter of an hour these had been +attached to the retaining bags with slip knots and then the boys +were surprised to find that it was already after six o'clock. At +their best they could not now hope to reach the relief camp before +nine o'clock and after dark. + +Mrs. Buck came with a huge pot of coffee for all, and then followed +the last step. One by one, borne on the shoulders of the curious +workmen, the dangerous carboys of sulphuric acid were emptied into +the generating tanks. The boys guided each step of the men, +explaining the danger, and the work was finally completed without +hitch or accident. + +At the first bubble of gas the boys felt like doing another war +dance. But they were "business men" now and had to put on dignity +in the face of their employees. In two hours the reaction of the +bubbling acid had sent enough hydrogen through the purifier to raise +the bag shoulder-high and everything was going splendidly. The boys +had removed their working clothes and were now in the light but warm +canvas suits and caps they meant to wear in their flight. + +Ned stole away a few minutes and at the bank secured bills to pay +off the men. On his way back he stopped to invite Mayor Bradley to +lunch with them on the Cibola and to be present at the "let go." By +noon the men had been paid and the articles of baggage and tools +that were to be left behind had been packed, tagged with shipping +directions and turned over to Buck's wife. + +The cigar-like bag, 98.4 feet long and 17.4 feet in diameter, which +was to hold over 65,000 feet of gas, was now so far inflated that it +was nearly off the ground. Then Mayor Bradley came. With pride the +boys bade him climb into the cabin of the Cibola. + +"You won't find anything hot in a balloon, Mr. Mayor," laughed Ned, +"except the reception. Make yourself at home." + +On the bridge of the craft the two boys and their guest had +luncheon. Cold potted chicken and baked beans served on wooden +plates with hardtack and water, and sweet chocolate for dessert, was +the simple meal, but it tasted like a feast. + +"Have you christened the craft yet?" finally asked the Mayor who had +absorbed some of the enthusiasm of the young aeronauts. + +"That's for you to do," politely answered Ned. + +The luncheon was hurried to a finish, for the boys could see that +the bag needed final attention. It had risen higher and higher and +was now swaying and tugging at the suspension ropes. Both boys +alighted and at once began straightening the extension ropes. Here +and there where the cordage net was out of place they pulled down +the bag and adjusted the rigging. Finally a little after three +o'clock, the great case had filled out until its smooth glistening +sides resembled the skin of a fat sausage. + +"All ready!" ordered Ned as he shut of the valve of the cooling and +purifying box. "Now, every man bear a hand." + +One at a time the extension cords were untied from the retaining +bags, and each of the workmen was given four of the light but strong +lines. The Mayor himself passed among the men with stern +injunctions to hold fast. As the last cord was loosed the great +tugging bag was held wholly by the scared men. Then, with slow and +measured steps, the double line of assistants advanced to the car +and along each side of it. + +"All steady," commanded Ned when each man had been placed; "now hang +onto her." + +Then he and Alan, springing into the car, began the work of making +it fast to the bag. There was a place marked for each of the +extension ropes, and the air ship builders, beginning at each end of +the car, carefully adjusted and tied the end of each rope to the +frame of the ship. As the cords were taken from the attendants the +men took hold of the lower framework of the car, and to make doubly +sure each man was cautioned to throw his entire weight into the +work. + +At last the final rope was made fast, and three thousand pounds of +human flesh and muscle were holding the tugging balloon. Ned, +covered with perspiration, and nervous but happy, was hastily +connecting the compensating balloon tube with the hand blower on the +bridge, and Alan had run astern to tie the new national colors to +the halyards swinging from the end of the bag. + +"Hold on," cried Ned seeing that Alan was ready to run up the stars +and stripes. "Just a moment. Are you all ready, Mr. Mayor?" + +"All ready," came the answer from the town official, as he stood on +a box, his hat off and a revolver in his hand. + +"With a western salute I christen this balloon the 'Cibola,'" he +exclaimed, and a shot punctuated his speech. "Good luck and +goodbye!" + +As the shot sounded Alan's flag ran fluttering upwards. Ned's eyes +took one final look fore and aft and then he leaned over the car for +the last words for which all were waiting. + +They were on his lips and the eyes of twenty straining men were +fixed on him to hear the command, "Let go." One nervous attendant, +apparently thinking the order had been given, threw up his arms with +a shout. + +At that instant there was a second sharp pistol shot, and a quick +cry from the street outside the corral. + +"Hold on there, all of you!" shouted Ned. His dream had rushed back +to him with a sickening chill. Had some one shot at the towering +bag? "Hold on!" he yelled. + +At that moment there was another shout and Bob Russell, his face red +with the sun and his shirt wet with perspiration, walked into the +corral. In his right hand was gripped a revolver and in his left a +repeating rifle. In front of him, and prodded on by Bob's pistol, +was the Mexican, Domingo, Jack Jellup's tool and fellow thief. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +FREE AND AFLOAT AT LAST + + +This is what had happened. + +At the time of the rain storm, two days before, Buck and his +cavalcade were in camp on the bank of the dry Chusco, sixty miles +north of Clarkeville. The experienced scout knew that a water +supply was now assured, and he at once followed prearranged orders +by instructing Bob to return with the smaller wagon. This was a sad +blow to the young reporter, but it was a part of his contract and he +knew that it was his duty to obey. And with necessity before him, +he acted promptly. Emptying the heavy casks, Bob started on the +back trail at five the following morning, and by night had made +thirty miles with the light wagon. All day he wondered if it might +not be possible to reach Clarkeville again before the Cibola sailed. + +The next morning, spurred on by the hope that he might do this, he +started at daybreak. By the middle of the morning he was on the old +wagon trail and making better time. Some time after two o'clock he +came up over the rise of the last foothills and saw, eight miles +away, the glistening shape which he at once knew was the inflated +balloon. He hesitated a moment and then, unhitching the horses, +mounted one bareback and began a dash for the town. The animals +were tired and worn, and progress was slow, but it beat walking, and +Bob urged them on. + +As the young reporter came nearer and the balloon grew more distinct +he knew that it would be a close call. From time to time as the +winded horses dropped into a walk Bob wondered why he was making +such a race. "I can't go with them," he argued. But, like the +trained reporter, be decided that no effort was wasted that gave him +new information. And it was something out of the ordinary to see +the most complete balloon ever made start on a mysterious flight +into the wilderness. + +So he spurred up the horses anew. The hot sun reflected from the +yellow sands burnt his face and his muscles were sore, but he stuck +to it. When half a mile from the town he could see the boys on the +bridge of the Cibola. When a quarter of a mile away he decided that +he could beat the horses by going afoot, and, throwing himself to +the ground, he ran onward, knowing that the tired animals would +follow. Out of breath he reached the edge of the town and stumbled +on toward the corral. + +With head down he plunged forward. Almost at his goal he threw his +head up for breath just in time to notice a kneeling man with a +rifle at his shoulder. + +"Hey!" yelled Bob with what breath he had. + +Then he saw that the man was aiming directly at the balloon swaying +above the nearby corral fence. He also recognized the man instantly +as one of the sullen court spectators, and Jellup's crony. The +rifleman dropped the muzzle of his gun and turned. + +"I guess I am something of a gun man," explained Bob later to the +boys, "for I had that new revolver of mine on the 'greaser' before I +knew what I was doing myself. I didn't even then realize what he +was about to do. But I had the drop on him and when I figured out +that he meant to put a hole in the balloon, why, I just had him +right. And here he is." + +Alan looked at Ned. Both boys were puzzled. A few moment's talk +with Russell explained the whole situation. The balloon was ready +and the relief expedition was undoubtedly now in camp awaiting them. +It needed only the words and they would be off with the inquisitive +reporter left safely behind. And yet the word did not come. Ned +and Alan stood looking at Bob, and the reporter gazed in turn at the +beautiful straining car. Bob's face was a study. He had now made +some return to Ned for possibly saving his own life, but none of the +boys was thinking of that. In Bob's fine young face was the longing +of a child. In Ned's and Alan's faces were the traces of boyish +sympathy. + +The young aeronauts were very close to each other and all were +silent. Then Alan turned slowly to Ned and with a little quaver in +his voice whispered, "Shall we?" + +Ned made no answer. A smile lit up his face and he sprang down the +little ladder into the engine cabin followed by his chum. Almost +instantly the trap door in the floor of the car dropped down. A +moment later three fifty-pound sacks of ballast tumbled through the +door to the ground beneath. The bag tugged and strained as Ned +reappeared above. + +"Hurry up, Bob, if you're going with us," he said quietly, leaning +over the net of the bridge, "and close the door as you come up." + +Bob hesitated, as if he had not heard aright, but then he +understood, and with tears in his eyes be sprang forward. There was +a jar and Ned knew the new passenger was aboard. + +"All ready?" he called sharply from the bridge. + +"Aye, aye, captain," came in a choking but jubilant voice from the +inside of the cabin. + +"Stand by, everybody," sharply ordered Ned. And then, as Bob's +shoulders appeared through the hatchway, the commander of the air +ship gave a final look about. + +"Let go all," he cried sharply. "Everybody!" + +For a moment only one clinging workman careened the buoyant craft +and then, straight up, the Cibola bounded like a rubber ball. + +"Good-bye, all," came from Ned, cap in hand, as he leaned from the +bridge. + +There were cheers from below and the Cibola was at last free and +afloat. + +"Sit down here and keep quiet," sharply ordered Ned as Bob crawled +out on deck. Then the commander of the balloon disappeared below. + +There were almost immediately several sharp, muffled explosions, and +then the white propeller began to turn. The balloon was drifting +quickly toward the northwest and rising--Bob could see its shadow +following on the sandy plain. Then the arms of the propeller turned +faster and faster and a velvet whirr in the cabin showed that the +engine was falling to work. As the propeller blades settled into a +steady hum the vibration of the car indicated increased speed. This +Bob could also detect from the more swiftly flying shadow. + +The shadow was also growing smaller, and this meant that the Cibola +was still ascending. Now the shadow paused and turned. Alan had +thrown the rudder over and the balloon had responded instantly. The +aeroplane arms stretched out horizontally on each side of the car. +Ned, reappearing, took a quick look at the altitude gauge and again +disappeared. The aeroplane arms dipped in front almost forty-five +degrees and the current, blown back by the propeller, struck them +with a jar. The craft again responded and slowly took a downward +slant. + +Propeller, rudder and aeroplane being at work, Ned again appeared. + +"Go below," he ordered sharply, "and bear a hand when needed." + +Bob did so. Alan was on the pilot platform with his hands on the +wheel controlling the rudder wires. His eyes were fixed straight +ahead. + +"See that lever," he said, jerking his head to the left. + +Bob quickly discovered the aeroplane guider control and sprang to +it. + +"Wait for orders," added Alan. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE FIRST FLIGHT + + +The balloon was still sliding downwards and swiftly forward. For +several minutes the three boys stood in silence. Only the steady +whirr of the engine and a musical humming of vibrating wires could +be heard. Bob wondered if they were headed earthward again, for he +could see the approaching foothills widening out beneath. At last, +when they could not have been over five hundred feet from the +ground, came the quick order: + +"Right the planes." + +Bob was almost caught napping, for he was busy looking through the +window. But his hands responded instantly, and he almost choked +with chagrin to find that he had started to throw the lever the +wrong way. But his recovery of himself was instant and with a +desperate pull he forced the guiding planes back horizontally. The +glide downward stopped and the Cibola shot forward with renewed +speed. + +On the bridge Ned held a fluttering chart before him. + +"How is she heading?" he called to Pilot Alan at the wheel. With a +glance at the compass before him Alan promptly responded: + +"Nor'nor'east." + +"Make it north by east." + +A quick slight movement and a strain told that the alteration had +been made. + +"North by east it is," sang out Alan. + +"Keep her there," was the echoing response. + +Bob was thrilled. Every word was to him a joy. Everything had +happened so quickly that he hardly knew what it all meant, but he +was happy. Even the sudden discipline pleased him and he was glad +to be a part of it. The knowledge that a younger boy was giving him +orders did not bother him. He had skill in his own line, but he saw +and realized that in the Cibola Ned Napier was in charge and meant +business. + +For some time then no word was heard. The Cibola, speeding, swiftly +onward, had crossed the low foothills and was pulling herself +through the almost breezeless air like a modern liner, five hundred +feet above the ground. She was holding her course beautifully. +Then Ned appeared and tested the gas exhaust and oil feed of the +engine. + +"Were you ever in a balloon before?" he said when he had finished, +turning sharply towards Bob. + +"Never," answered Bob, glad enough for a chance to say something. + +"Have you any matches?" somewhat sternly asked the commander of the +Cibola. + +"Sure," replied Bob reaching in his pocket and finding one. + +"Any more? All of them." + +Surprised, Bob searched his clothes and discovered a few more which +he obediently handed over to his superior officer. Noting the look +of surprise in the reporter's face Ned laughed. + +"The first rule in a balloon is 'No fire.' But beginners forget, +sometimes; we can't take this chance with you." + +"Take anything I have got," answered Bob with his old smile, which +had now been in eclipse for some time, "and if I can speak at last I +want to say that you boys are white, clean white, through and +through. Didn't you need that ballast?" + +"We may need it badly," said Ned, laughing. "If it should become +necessary I suppose you won't mind if we throw you overboard." + +"No," retorted Bob, "not if it is a little at, a time. But you're +bricks--both of you--if I thank you I'll cry." The tears were again +in his eyes. + +"Well, it wasn't the thing to do, I suppose," said Ned turning away, +"but you looked so hungry to go, and I knew what it meant. So I +thought we'd just give you a little ride up to the camp." + +"Yes, of course," answered Bob slowly as his hopes fell. "Put me +out wherever you like," he added. + +"You can go up now and have a look around," said Ned at last, "both +of you. I'll take the wheel." + +The relieved boys scrambled onto the bridge deck. Night was coming +on and the mountains to the west were already black. Evening +shadows were lengthening on the sloping plains beneath and a gentle, +rising breeze flapped the flag and pennant and swayed the bag above +them. Beneath, the Chusco wound its half dry course and off to the +east a blue haze, melting into the unending sand, told of a treeless +and waterless waste. + +"And there," exclaimed Alan at last, pointing off to the northwest +where snow-capped, ragged peaks rose out of a black jumble of +mountains, "are the Tunit Chas and the land of our dreams. +To-morrow--" + +"One moment," interrupted Bob quickly. "I think you are forgetting. +That is your secret and not mine." + +Alan flushed. "I forgot," he said with a stammer, "and I thank +you." + +"I can't afford to make you sorry you brought me," added Bob, "and +you are not going to be." + +There was a little jar. The propeller slackened a trifle, and Alan +explained that Ned had headed the Cibola another point into the +freshening breeze. + +"Steward," said Ned from below, "it's seven o'clock and I'm hungry. +Besides, it's getting pretty dark down here." + +Alan and Bob looked at each other and laughed. + +"That certainly means me," exclaimed Bob, and both boys clambered +below. With Alan's help Bob made his first examination of the store +room. + +The meal was rather haphazard, as the boys, carried away by the +excitement of their new flight, had neglected to eat when it was +light. But water and hardtack were easily accessible, and Alan, +taking the first two cans at hand, found happily that they contained +sardines and veal loaf. + +"We'll eat on deck," suggested Ned, as he set the wheel and had +another look at the engine, which had not missed a revolution. + +The night that greeted them was magnificent. The moon was not yet +up, but the stars were scintillating in the inky sky and the deep +silence of the clouds and desert was about them. Bob gazed as if +spellbound. The charm of the night appealed to him as it did to Ned +and Alan; but with it his brain formed phrases--"cloudland by +night," "a dash to the stars." The reporter in him was thinking +"copy." + +"Hey, there, wake up!" cried practical Ned. + +Bob flew to his task; with a turn he had the veal loaf can open and +had dumped its contents in the wooden plate held by Alan. + +In another moment he would have thrown the empty can overboard but +the watchful Ned, ready for another lesson in aeronautics, caught +his hand. + +"Don't you like the route we are taking?" laughed Ned. + +Bob's face showed he did not understand. + +"The loss of the weight of that can might send us sparing upward a +thousand feet," explained Ned dryly, "so don't cast over ballast +until you get orders." + +Bob shook his head. "Well doesn't that beat all," he exclaimed. + +As night fell and the air grew heavier, the barometer showed that +the Cibola had a tendency to rise. The aeroplanes were readjusted +and then for an hour the craft sped on untouched. At eight o'clock +Ned said: + +"We haven't traveled over eighteen miles in an hour and we've been +afloat four hours. If we are still over the Chusco and Elmer and +Buck are at the appointed place we may be within ten or twelve miles +of them." + +"They are going to burn three small camp fires set in a triangle, +you remember," remarked Bob. + +"Therefore," suggested. Ned, "all keep a sharp lookout." + +At half past eight Ned showed some concern. No lights had been +sighted and the reckoning showed that they must be within two or +three miles of the probable location of the camp. Another fifteen +minutes went by, and yet no signal fires were seen. They had now +passed over the junction of the two rivers, if their calculations +were right, and Ned and Alan were in a quandary. + +"It's no use to go on," commented Ned; "so we'll just make a wide +circle and see what we can find." + +It was also useless to look below. In the darkness there was no +sight of either river or desert. + +"It we don't pick them up in that way," continued Ned, "we'll +descend and tie up for the night." + +Both Ned and Alan went below, and with the engine shut down to half +speed the Cibola was turned on her course in a wide sweep. Bob +alone watched with anxious eyes, until he was joined in a short time +by Ned. There was no sound but the soft chug-chug of the engine, +and for some time neither spoke. The breeze of the early evening +had died and there was not a breath of air. Alan in the dark cabin +below held the wheel and Ned and Bob alone, hanging over the side +net, watched and listened in vain. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +FIGHTING INDIANS WITH A SEARCHLIGHT + + +"Stop her!" It was Ned's voice in quick command. The young +aeronaut, peering over the side of the car of the Cibola into the +black night, had suddenly seen something that prompted the order. +It was a distant flash of light. This was followed by an echoing +explosion. The other boys heard the explosion and all instantly +knew that it was a shot from a firearm. Almost before Alan could +shut off the power Ned had disappeared into the cabin to help head +the balloon in the direction of the spurt of fire. The Cibola +slackened speed and they waited, drifting slowly toward the east. +Then, suddenly, and almost together came two streaks of fire and two +more explosions. + +"One of them might mean a signal," said Ned gravely, "but they were +not from the same spot. If it were Elmer he would have the three +fires. If it is Elmer and Buck and they can't make a fire and are +shooting I am afraid it means trouble." + +"It may mean Indians," suggested Bob, "and they may have put out +their fires for safety." + +"They might even be holding off an attack of some kind," added Alan +anxiously. + +Just then there was another crack of a firearm now a little nearer. +The Cibola was drifting directly toward the sound, but very slowly, +and would soon have lost all headway. + +"I don't want to be presumptuous," said Bob in a low voice, "but +can't we land and find out what the trouble is?" + +"We can find out without landing," replied Alan. + +It was so dark in the cabin that the boys could only dimly see each +other, but Ned was groping about near the silent engine. In a +moment he had secured from the ammunition case a storage electric +light, and cautiously shading the lens with his cap he asked Bob to +hold it. Then he turned to his chum. + +"I didn't know just how we would use our little drop light," he +began; "but it seems that the idea wasn't half bad. There is a +tribe of Indians not far from here that would steal a horse or cut a +man's throat quickly enough--the renegade or Southern Utes." As he +spoke he was digging in a chest extracting various small parcels. +"Not even the other Indians have any use for the Utes. And there is +only one thing to do. We must first find out if our friends are +below." + +With the help of the flashlight Bob could we that Ned held in his +hand a large, high candle-power incandescent bulb and was adjusting +it in a silver reflector. + +"With an electric light?" exclaimed Bob. + +"Why not?" replied Ned. "And the help of our little dynamo." + +Ned took the flashlight, held it under his coat, and crawled around +in front of the silent engine. "It's here," he explained for Bob's +benefit, "and I am just throwing the gear onto the propeller shaft." + +"Well, if you are afraid to show this little light why aren't you +afraid to show a brighter light?" asked the observing reporter. + +Alan answered him. + +"We are only afraid because it might draw an attack from some +observer. Balloonists are never safe from meddlesome persons or +worse. But there isn't the same danger if the light isn't on the +balloon." + +"Sure," said Bob. "I understand that. But you can't hold it very +far away." + +"No," answered Ned, "that's why we braided two good copper wires in +our drag rope." As he said this he opened the trap door in the +floor of the cabin and feeling about in the dark soon had hold of +the coiled drag. + +"I guess I'm dull," began Bob. + +"No," interrupted Alan, "only you haven't given two or three years +to figuring out the possibilities of an air ship." + +Ned was attaching the bulb, reflector down, to the end of the rope. + +"That rope is three hundred feet long. A light at the end of it is +quite a way from our bag. + +"Oh, I see," exclaimed Bob at last. "If we find Indians and they +shoot at our searchlight they are pretty sure to miss us." + +"That is the theory," answered Ned. + +And then the plan in Ned's mind was explained. The engine was to be +started at quarter speed, which meant that the sound would be +imperceptible; and, lying on the floor of the cabin, Ned was to +direct the movements of the ship, with Alan at the rudder wheel and +Bob at the aeroplane guider. + +"A quarter to ten o'clock," said Ned glancing at his watch as he +shut off the concealed flashlight, "and now start her up." + +As Alan started the engine and it began to turn the propeller they +could tell by the light breeze that the car was moving again, but +very slowly. The other boys could also hear Ned delicately paying +out the long drag rope. At last it was all out. Then Ned crawled +forward again to the dynamo and up to the partly open floor of the +car and whispered that he was ready. The multiple gear was already +speeding the little generator swiftly. + +"Lie down on the floor and watch," murmured Ned softly, "I'm going +to turn her on." + +Alan and Bob did so. As their two heads filled the open trap in the +cabin floor there was a click and then, as if some necromancy had +focused the sun on a part of the darkened world, a circle of light +seemed to spring out of the desert beneath. Yellow, with here and +there a ragged rock and a sage brush or two, the shadows of the +rocks and brush black like spilled ink, and the sand glaring back at +them with almost quivering brightness, the circle shot back and +forth as the light followed the swinging rope. But no living thing +was in sight. A click and all was black again. + +"Nothing doing," exclaimed Bob. + +"Wait," suggested Ned, "persons we couldn't see may have seen them." + +Almost as he spoke there was another quick report. + +"Did you see the flash, Alan?" asked Ned eagerly, for he had been +busy with the dynamo. + +But Alan was already at the wheel, and again the car swung from its +course. + +"Wait," he exclaimed, "turn it on again when I give the word." + +After perhaps two minutes he gave the signal and again Ned flashed +the gleaming bulb. Again the circle sprang apparently out of the +black ground. As the car drifted forward the black blotched golden +sand ran the opposite way like a whirling panorama. A coyote +sprang, dazed, from a clump of bushes and back again, but that was +all. + +"Give him another chance," whispered Alan, and the light flashed +out. + +"Listen," exclaimed Bob breathlessly, "wasn't that a cry?" + +Another moment and the sound came again. + +"Elmer!" exclaimed the two air ship boys together. + +The Cibola swung instantly at Alan's quick touch. Again the light +flashed. Sand and rock and brush. The brilliant circle of light +shot here and there, but the anxious watchers saw sign of neither +friend nor foe. Then like a flash the level plain dropped into the +sudden slope of a coulee and the darker shadow of water blotted out +the glare of sand. + +"The river," whispered Ned. "Now watch sharp." + +As the light was blotted out this time Alan swung the wheel again. +He knew instantly that they were on the wrong track, as they were +going east and crossing the Chusco. Elmer and Buck would not cross +the river. The camp was to be on the west side. + +"Follow the river," ordered Ned quickly; "the west shore." + +In order that the Cibola might be laid on the new course Ned threw +on the light switch again. As he did so and the light flashed there +was the sharp crack of a rifle and the light was gone. + +"Turn her on," exclaimed Alan; "I want to get a line on the river +bed." + +Ned laughed. "I'll need a new bulb first. Some one down below +turned it off." + +"What?" exclaimed the other boys together. + +"Shot out," calmly retorted Ned. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +A CORDITE BOMB AND ITS WORK + + +In a moment the boys were hauling in the rope and Ned was back in +the cabin after a new bulb which he secured and attached in the +dark. + +"Now give her a swing," he said as Bob again lowered the rope. "It +will make it harder to hit." + +When Bob announced that all the rope was paid out Ned snapped the +switch again. In spite of the gravity of the situation all the boys +were tempted to laugh. A brilliant green glow shot down. An +emerald circle of light flooded the ground beneath. + +"If anyone sees that they'll sure think it's a drug store," +suggested Bob. + +"'Or a sign of the Great Spirit, perhaps," added Ned soberly, "it +may help us in more ways than one, if Indians are--" + +"Look," hoarsely shouted Alan, "there, over there!" + +But his words were superfluous. The three boys saw the same thing. +And then as the wide swaying of the bulb swept the gnome-like +picture in green from view Ned threw himself over and shut off the +engine. + +Not a hundred feet beneath the brilliant bulb the precipitous bank +of the river had again shot into the circle of light. At the very +edge of the cliff stood the big freight wagon. Behind it, between +the wagon and the steep river bank, stood two horses. At one end +two more lay prostrate on the ground. In front a light barrier of +boxes and barrels rose a few feet from the ground. And there, a +rifle at his shoulder, knelt Elmer Grissom, their friend and +servant. Buck was nowhere in sight. + +Their worst fears were realized. + +As the dramatic picture flashed from view each boy knew that it was +time to act. + +"What's to be done?" exclaimed Alan, his voice choking. + +"There can't be many of them," answered Ned finally, as if thinking, +"or they would pushed their attack. If we could locate them the +rest would be easy. Let Bob take the wheel and try to get over the +wagon again; I have an idea." + +The Cibola again answered the rudder and circled, Ned flashing the +bulb until the river came beneath them. This required but a few +moments, but, before the craft had gathered momentum on the way +back, there were four shots almost together about three hundred +yards to the right of where they supposed the wagon stood, and a +quick reply from the river bank. + +"Our light did it," exclaimed Alan, "they are rushing the +barricade." + +"Indians don't rush together, if it is Indians," replied Ned. "Keep +on up the bank, Bob. It's risky for Elmer," he added with a husky +voice, "but we've got to take chances." + +Again the light flashed. Ned and Alan hurried to the bridge. + +Within its circle and almost together, sealing the seamed and hard +bank of the river, were five dark figures. As the powerful light +encircled them the crouching figures sprang backwards. But they +were not quicker than the alert and prepared Ned Napier. A small +round object shot downward from his hands. The glare of flame as +the missile struck true and the thunderous roar that hurled the big +bag of the Cibola sideways told that the cordite bomb had done its +work well. + +Bob was speechless. Ned and Alan were already in hurried +consultation. They could not count on fortunately finding the other +besiegers all together, "'and there are at least four more," said +Ned. The rescue of the lone besieged lad was not an easy problem. +The boys believed themselves now just above the wagon again, but +they were afraid to draw possible fire to the barricade by showing +another light. + +The hurling of the bomb overboard had shot the Cibola heavenward +like a bird. Before they realized it the aeronauts had mounted up +at least two thousand feet. They then began maneuvering to regain +their position. But this was not so easy. A flash of the suspended +searchlight gave them not a trace of their bearings and it was +plainly apparent they would have to use time and patience in +recovering the location of the besieged wagon. Using their best +judgment, they put the aeroplanes to work, and, circling slowly, the +Cibola gradually came nearer and nearer to the ground. After ten +minutes or more the car gave a sharp bound upward. + +"The drag has touched the ground," exclaimed Ned. + +The aeroplanes were righted, the engine was stopped, and again the +balloon was drifting. There was not a sound to guide the aeronauts. +The contact with the ground had broken the bulb and it was not +replaced. For aught the rescuers knew they might be again directly +over the wagon. Not a shot had been fired since the roar of the +explosion, but there was no reason to believe that the yet living +besiegers had withdrawn. + +"More likely planning a final attack," suggested Alan. + +Again a council was held. + +"We've got to take the risk," said Ned at last in desperation; "we +can't do anything up here." + +And then, with Alan's approval, the propeller was set turning again, +but so slowly that the big balloon was just moving under control. +The aeroplanes were also set to bring the craft nearer the ground +and, as a precaution, Bob was sent onto the bridge with an open +knife to cut away ballast if sudden ascent were needed. The drag +rope had been brought in. There were no means of knowing how near +the car might be to the earth and the suspense was decidedly trying. + +"I guess I can come a little nearer finding out," exclaimed Ned +finally to the others in a whisper. + +Alan did not know what he meant, but he resumed his place at the +wheel. Ned had disappeared in the dark. + +"Where are you, Ned?" asked Alan anxiously at last. + +The answer came from beneath the car. + +"Only down here, but I'm going lower," Ned replied, again in a +whisper. "Be ready with that ballast." + +A perspiration of fear broke out on Alan's body. He sprang to the +open trap door. + +Just discernible in the darkness was Ned's slowly retreating form. + +He was climbing down the twenty-five-foot rope landing ladder with +only his own strong grip and the spruce rungs to save him from +death. + +There was nothing to be said or done. Bob did not know what was +going on below, but he knew that he had a task set for him, and in +the long silence that followed while the Cibola settled lower and +lower and drifted on and on in the dark he stood, knife in hand, at +the ballast bags. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A THRILLING RESCUE IN MID-AIR + + +Buck, the guide, and Elmer Grissom had reached their appointed +rendezvous at two o'clock that afternoon. The hot journey had been +tedious and uneventful. Only at the half-breed settlement twenty +miles north of Clarkeville had they seen a human being. Therefore, +after they had been in camp about an hour, even the vigilant, +experienced Buck was startled to observe suddenly a solitary +Indian--his horse as statuesque as himself--watching them from a +knoll some two hundred yards distant. + +As the old scout raised both hands in signal of peace the Indian +rode forward. The man was not in the Indian panoply of the old +days, except that he wore moccasins and had two bands of red and +yellow paint on his broad, dark face. A black wide-brimmed hat, a +faded blue shirt and trousers completed his outfit. + +"How?" exclaimed the Indian. + +"Navajo?" answered Buck. + +"Ute!" came the answer. "Where go?" + +"Right here," said Buck good-naturedly, pointing to the ground. + +"Ute land!" retorted the Indian without a trace of expression in his +face. + +"No," retorted Buck sharply, "not Ute land. Ute land there," +pointing north, "in Colorado." + +"Ute land!" exclaimed the red man again, this time scowling. + +Buck only shook his head. + +Then the Indian suddenly threw himself from his horse, strode to the +wagon and threw up the tail curtain. Safely stored therein he saw +the protected tins of gasoline. + +"Whisky?" he exclaimed. + +"No," laughed Elmer, "not whisky." + +"Whisky," repeated the stranger turning towards Buck; "drink!" + +But Buck shook his head. + +With out another word the Ute walked haughtily to his horse, threw +himself upon it, and, clasping his heels to its sides, rode quickly +away. + +"I'm sorry," exclaimed the veteran at last. + +"I had no idea that there were Utes around here."' + +"He doesn't seem dangerous," commented Elmer. + +"No," answered Buck, "men who'd cut your throat for a horse never +do. The chances are he isn't alone." + +Elmer looked up in surprise. + +"We'll just make sure," exclaimed Buck, making as light of the +affair as possible. "I don't want to lose my horses and you don't +want to lose your freight. We'll make ourselves ready in case our +friends come back to make us a little visit." + +And as night came on and Elmer helped Buck draw the wagon close to +the river bank, where approach from the rear would be difficult, the +boy began to realize what it meant to get away from the telegraph +and policemen and law and order. And when the experienced scout +unloaded a portion of their heavier freight and began to build a +small barrier Elmer's usual joviality cooled into silence. The +three piles of brush and driftwood from the river were laid out some +distance in front of the camp in preparation for the agreed signal +fires and then, before the sun went down, the scout and his +companion made their camp fire and had supper. + +"What do yo' expec' deyll do?" asked the colored lad at last. + +"Well, you can't tell. Injuns are puzzles. When they steal they +steal in the dark. When they fight they fight at daybreak." + +"What do yo' suggest?" + +"To tell the truth, son," answered Buck, "there ain't much to do but +keep yer eyes open and pop it to the first red horse thief ye see +crawlin' around in the night." + +"Hadn't we better light our signal fires?" asked Elmer. + +"There won't be any signal fires to-night," replied Buck, slowly, +"if you want my advice. It's one thing for a bluffin' Ute to walk +up in the daylight when you've got a fair chance to give him as good +as he sends, and its another thing for him to get a bead on you a +sittin' in the light o' yer camp fire--him in the dark." + +Elmer saw and understood. + +So night fell in silence with Buck and Elmer keyed up and ready to +meet any possible attack. + +Nothing happened until several hours had passed. Neither Elmer nor +Buck were any the less alert, however. The old scout was pacing up +and down in front of the barricade and perhaps a hundred feet from +it. Elmer could just hear his soft footfalls in the sand. Suddenly +these ceased. Almost at the same moment there was the crack of +Buck's rifle, a groan and a moment later the scout was inside the +barricade. + +"I guess I got him all right," he whispered, "he was makin' too much +noise." + +This was the shot Ned heard miles away in the Cibola. + +Again for some minutes there was no sound and then, suddenly and +from the left, came a spit of flame in the dark. Almost before +Elmer heard the explosion Buck's gun had spoken in reply. Both +bullets went wild, but Buck explained that it was necessary to give +shot for shot, "and right at 'em," said Buck, "as it takes a little +o' the ginger out o' them." + +But the besiegers had undoubtedly widened out. The next signs of +them were two shots, almost together. Elmer's rifle made quick +reply, but, to the boy's surprise, Buck failed to fire in return. +The scout had disappeared from his companion's side. Before Elmer +could call out he heard a rush at the end of the barricade, and then +two explosions almost together and not ten feet away. He could not +describe the sound that followed, but he knew that it meant the +convulsions of human beings in agony. He whispered his companion's +name, but there was no answer--only a gasp. + +In the black darkness the colored boy, revolver in hand, crawled +forward. At the end of the barricade Buck's body was lying. As the +boy's hand fell on the old man's breast he knew that it was blood he +felt. + +"Buck," he whispered, "Buck! Is yo' hurt?" + +He put his arm under his friend's head. For a moment the unconscious +form yielded and then convulsively straightened. Elmer knew that his +companion and protector was dead. + +With strength that he did not know he had Elmer laid Buck's dead +body behind the little wall of freight boxes. + +Then, as if by intuition, he sprang forward and found what he +suspected--the unmoving form of an Indian. Unable to see, Elmer +quickly felt over the adjacent ground with his hands and discovered +the dead Ute's rifle. The revolver was gone. In the same manner he +recovered both Buck's rifle and revolver, and then prepared to do +his duty--to protect his employer's goods so long as he could. + +He was scarcely entrenched again, with the three magazine rifles +laid on the barricade before him, when his straining ears heard a +new sound. Far away and faint, but meaning only one thing, the soft +chugging of a motor. The Cibola! There could be no doubt of it. +The instant feeling of relief was shattered even as it gave Elmer +new courage; to attempt to light the signal fires would probably +mean instant death. And without them how would his friends know his +position or peril? But one thing he could do; and even knowing that +it would mean an answering shot from the skulking horse thieves he +discharged his revolver into the air. + +Then the sound of the motor died away and the long minutes dragged +by. When it began again, and more softly, the sound was nearer. +Nearer, and nearer it came and then the circle of light fell on the +wagon and was gone. "At least they know where I am," thought Elmer +to himself, and settled down courageously for renewed attack, +determined to hold out to the last. At this moment came the shot +that put out the Cibola's light. + +The nervy boy had been tempted to abandon the wagon and follow the +light, but his second judgment was against this. "If they can, the +boys will come back," he argued, "and I'll only get out of this when +I have to." + +To Elmer's surprise the attackers had been strangely silent for some +time. With more experience he would have known that this meant even +greater danger, but he only hoped it was due to the distracting and +mysterious flying light. Then the sepulchral green light burst out +in its funnel-like volume. It was coming back. It flared, went +out, shot over the distant sands again like a searching' eye and +then began moving straight up the river bank towards the wagon. +Then came the earth rending explosion. Nor could the besieged boy +know even then that Ned's well-aimed bomb had sent five Utes to +their last sleep. + +When the sound of the explosion had died away and Elmer had +recovered himself--for the shock had thrown him forward on the +barricade--the whirr of the Cibola's motor was again far away. But +it was directly above him! + +As if the attackers had been paralyzed by the explosion, the long +interval continued without a shot. Then suddenly, from the right +and left and front, the real attack began. One shot sounded as a +signal, and then from a half circle before him half a dozen bullets +tore their way towards the boy and his barricade. Most of them went +wild. Two hit the boxes and half stunned the lone guardian behind +them. The assailants did not know that one of the two white men was +dead, and Elmer, in hopes temporarily to deceive them, fired two of +the rifles at the same moment. + +But his enemies were closing in; the half circle was growing smaller +and the crash of the bullets in the wagon above him and in the +barricade in front told the boy that the end could not be far away. +To the right in the direction of the explosion there was a gap in +the fast closing circle. It was folly to delay longer. If escape +were possible, it was in that direction. He would make one +desperate attempt. One shot remained in his rifles. Putting it +where he thought it would do the most good, and catching up the two +yet full revolvers, the colored boy crawled under the wagon and +crept hastily along the river bank. + +And yet he did not dare to attempt to pass the end of the Indian +semi-circle. It was one chance in a thousand. Throwing himself on +the ground, he waited. "Crack!" It was the rifle of an Indian, not +fifty feet away and coming nearer. The stealthy footfalls told +Elmer that his foe was heading straight for the river bank and that +he was in the Ute's path. Then he could hear the Indian's deep +breathing. Detection was inevitable. + +One last thing remained to be done--to kill the Indian and make a +dash forward down the river bank. And he must act before his foe +discovered him. Elmer's revolver flashed fire and he saw his foe of +the red and yellow face bound into the air and then topple forward +with a cry of anguish. + +The boy turned, but too late. Directly in front he heard the sudden +shouts of other Indians. The river at his back! Flight down its +cement-like bank was impossible. He might plunge forward and pray +that the water was beneath. + +The death cry of the man he had shot and the echoing yells of the +Indians behind him had been taken up by others. He knew the +determined savages were making a final rush. Indian cries seemed to +come from the very ground at his feet. He hesitated no lodger. + +As he turned to the river a sudden and strange wave of cool air +struck down on him from above. Without reasoning he paused. That +pause saved his life. In that swift moment he heard the low creak +of something straining. His eyes pierced the black about him. Was +it a shadow? Something was brushing by him like a great bird asleep +on the wing. Then it was on him. + +"Ned?" It was only a whisper but it was enough. + +"Elmer, here, quick!" + +Even the whisper had brought an instant shot, but the colored boy +had hurled himself toward the voice and an instant later a strong +young arm was about the besieged lad. + +It was Ned Napier on the swaying ladder of the Cibola. + +"Cut away," came the low quick order and before even the nearby +besiegers could locate the sound Bob Russell, high above, had +slashed the lashings of a bag of ballast. The big balloon sprang +forward, Elmer dangling in the air, and then settled again to the +earth as the desperate colored boy found the last rung of the ladder +and clung fast opposite his rescuer. + +"Another, another," called Ned springing up the fragile length of +the doubly laden ladder. + +A thud on the ground told where another bag of ballast had fallen. +The crash of the fallen fifty-pound bag of sand probably saved the +Cibola. Shot after shot poured in the direction of the sound, +although the Cibola, dragging forward, yet refused to rise. Elmer, +at the bottom of the ladder, was helping the car onward in low +bounds by touching the ground with one foot. + +Then the air craft settled again. Elmer's weight was too much. A +mad thought came into the boy's brain. The Indians had located the +new invader and yells nearby told that hot pursuit was already being +made. Then the spit, spit, of new shots showed the risk the boys +had taken. Elmer realized it. Should he hang on and endanger the +lives of his friends, or should he let go? + +There seemed no time to think, but the boy's hand had already +loosened when out of the black came the hot breath of the foremost +pursuer. As the savage sprang forward Elmer's free arm gave him a +blow full in the face. At the same instant the Cibola sprang upward +like a bullet. A volley of shots rang out below, but they were too +late. The balloon had saved Elmer's life, and even before the lad +had made his way up the swaying ladder into the cabin it was a +thousand feet in the air. + + + + +CHATER XXIII + +CAMP EAGLE IN THE MOUNTAINS + + +It seemed too wonderful to be true. But words were proof enough +that Ned Napier and Alan Hope had found a new use for dirigible +balloons. Faithful Buck's death was more than the loss of a +companion. In the short time the boys had known him he had shown +that under his rough frontier bearing he was a brave and honest man. + +"We can't go back now," explained Ned, "and we can't afford to land +and wait for day. We can't all stay in the Cibola, and those of us +who are landed must be left in a safe place. Our work," he +continued turning to Bob, "is in the Tunit Chas Mountains, thirty +miles west of here. It seems as if you had to know it. We'll go +there to-night and land, if we can, on some isolated and inaccessible +plateau. We'll make that our new relief camp and you and Elmer must +take charge of it. To-morrow Alan and I will return in the Cibola to +our abandoned wagon, bury Buck and bring away such of our stores as +may be left. It's going to be a great loss, for I suppose the +Indians have stolen everything. If the gasoline is gone it will cut +short our work in the mountains." + +"I don't think it will be lost," said Elmer, quietly. "We tried to +save it. We rolled it into the river." + +"But it will float away," exclaimed Alan. + +"Unless de tins caught on in de drift in de bend jes' below," +answered Elmer. "I seen four ob de eight tins dar befo' dark." + +"That's what I call genius," exclaimed Ned. "Elmer, you're a brick! +And now our course is due east at half speed. By daybreak we'll be +over the Tunit Chas. Until then, the rest of you turn in. I'll run +the ship." + +Fifteen minutes later, despite the nerve-racking experiences of the +momentous day, Alan, Bob and Elmer were wrapped in their blankets +and sound asleep on the bridge deck of the Cibola. + +The night passed slowly, but Captain Ned stood the long trick at the +wheel, happy and content. To feel the Cibola, the product of his +youthful genius, at last moving forward in obedience to his +slightest touch drove all thought of fatigue and sleep from him. + +But, above all, the early light of the coming day was to reveal to +him a sight of the land of his hopes. There, before him, were the +Tunit Chas; peaks and chasms of unsolved mystery wherein the +centuries had held close their secret. Many trials had blocked his +way. Was he now about to reap the reward of his labors? Did the +hidden city of Cibola lie somewhere below him? Or were the Palace +of the Pueblos and the Turquoise Temple but empty myths? + +The young aeronaut's present plans were simple enough. The Cibola +had now been afloat twelve hours and nearly half her gasoline was +exhausted. More than once in the night Ned had noticed that the +balloon was settling lower and he had been forced to maintain his +level by casting over ballast. It was apparent that they were +already losing gas. + +In boyish impulse and sympathy they had made Bob Russell, the young +reporter, a third and unexpected passenger, and accident had forced +them to add Elmer Grissom, their colored friend and servant. And +these extra occupants of the car must be landed at the earliest +opportunity. + +This became imperative now because, the relief and supply station on +the Chusco river having been destroyed, the Cibola must add enough +ballast and gasoline to make its exploring tour in the mountains in +one journey. The original plan had been to make quick dashes to +the camp on the Chusco for gasoline and then return to the +mountains. To provide for this new weight the two new passengers +and a good portion of the air ship's stores must be landed. And the +most feasible plan seemed to be to set up a new emergency camp in +the heart of the mountains. + +Many things might happen to the now perfectly working balloon. And, +even if cast away in the mountains, it was no part of Ned and Alan's +plan to cease searching for the temple of treasure until dire +necessity drove them from it. In case wreck and privation came it +would be comforting to know that somewhere in the same wilderness +food and friends awaited them. + +The first glow of the sun painted for the ever watchful pilot a +picture beyond the possibilities of brush and canvas. Here and +there out of the blackness below sprang rosy points, the sun-tinted +peaks of the Tunit Chas. Down the mountain sides, like rivers of +silver pink, fell the sun's light. Then the valleys began to open +out of the chasm of night-dark canyons wrought in the wilderness of +the mountain sides. Here and there, oases left by the devastating +hand of time, rose high plateaus, tree-crowned and verdant. And +then, higher up among the white peaks, sentinel-like, stood giant +tables whose brown tops and precipitous sides told of inaccessible +and arid wastes. "And somewhere," said Ned to himself, "in this +Titanic chaos lies the object of our search." + +Starting at half speed, Ned had soon reduced the engine to quarter +speed. When he aroused his sleeping companions Wilson's peak, their +chief landmark, was just in sight far behind. His calculations +placed the present location of the Cibola thirty miles from the +Chusco river and just over the eastern Tunit Chas Mountains. + +"All hands turn to," shouted Ned cheerily, "and stand by to make a +landing." + +There was a scramble, a rubbing of yet sleepy eyes and then an +outburst of admiring wonder. The Cibola had sailed over two broken +ridges enclosing an irregular, broken valley and was now looking +down on a shelf-like plateau abutting on the second ridge and west +of it. On three sides the plateau dropped precipitately into a +lower rock-strewn, valley. On its eastern side it joined the still +higher ridge. A pine forest crowned the top of the shelf-like +mountain side and then ran up to the higher slopes until the carpet +of green faded into the brown wastes of the timber line. In the +very center of the wilderness of trees glistened a little lake of +mountain water. From it the silver thread of a rivulet wormed its +way for a mile or more among the trees and then trickled over the +side of the cliff in a vapory waterfall. + +Ned had swung the Cibola into a wide curve and the balloon and car +were soon directly over the mountain creek. He threw the aeroplane +guides downward and the slowly moving car drifted lower until it was +but four hundred feet above the water and the overhanging pines. +Then, following the water course beneath, the air ship floated back +into the woods and the little lake widened out beneath them. Two +deer, at the water's edge, stood unalarmed. On the south of the +lake a grassy opening indicated Ned's destination. + +"Here," he explained, "we can make a safe landing. It is an ideal +place for a camp, with plenty of firewood and water." + +"And meat, too," interrupted Alan, pointing to the deer. + +"Venison and bear meat too, no doubt," laughed Ned. + +From the top of a dead pine tree an eagle rose and soared lazily +away. + +"It's like the camping out places you read about," exclaimed Bob. +"That eagle nest completes the picture." + +"It does," interrupted Ned, "and I hope you won't forget the +picture. That high, barren tree is your landmark. Some day you may +need it. Remember; from the valley below your camp can be found by +locating the little waterfall on the cliff. From the timber line +above you will know it when you see the eagle's nest. And now let +go the anchor. We have no gas to spare, and can't afford to open +the valve." + +To make a landing in a balloon without throwing open a valve and +wasting precious gas is almost impossible. The craft could only be +kept near the ground by keeping it in motion or by causing the +propeller fans to depress currents of air on the aeroplanes. +Therefore, as soon as the engine stopped, the Cibola would mount +higher. But resourceful Ned had long since thought out this +problem. + +The engine's speed was reduced and the anchor was quickly lowered +until it caught hard and fast in a strong pine tree. The contact +shook the fragile car and sent the bag bounding, but when it was +seen that the iron had fixed itself firmly three of the boys, +pulling on the anchor rope, gradually drew the great buoyant car +down until it floated just above the tree top. To drag it lower +was, impossible, for one sharp branch might injure the bag beyond +repair. + +When the ship was safely anchored just above the tree, the +twenty-five foot landing ladder was lowered and Ned himself made his +way down its fragile rungs into the tree. . + +"Hold on tight," he continued, "I'm getting off." + +As he did so and found footing in the tree branches the Cibola +tugged to free itself, as if, overjoyed to be rid of Ned's one +hundred and forty-five pounds of weight. As soon as the young +commander was safely on the ground he ordered the other boys to pay +out the anchor rope and again the Cibola rose in the air. + +"Now," ordered Ned, "start your engine and head the car over the +opening." + +While Ned stood below directing, with hands to his mouth, +trumpet-wise, the Cibola strained at her anchor rope and then, +obeying her rudder, moved directly over the open space, her nose +pointing skyward at an angle of forty-five degrees. + +"Hold her," yelled Ned, "and haul back." + +The boys again strained at the taut anchor rope until the car stood +just clear of the trees and some two hundred feet in the air. + +"Now lower your drag rope and an empty ballast bag," called Ned. + +While this was being done the navigator of the Cibola was busy +carrying chunks of broken rock from the margin of the little lake, +and in a short time the boys above were hauling away on the rope and +lifting aboard new ballast. With each bag of it the Cibola sank +lower and lower, until finally, when it was almost balanced in the +air, Ned easily drew the balloon to the ground. + +But the landing was not yet finished. Not a passenger in the craft +could step ashore until Ned had added more stone. But when enough +of this had been lifted up to the hands above, and Elmer could +alight, the two willing workers on the ground soon made it possible +for the other boys to spring overboard. Then the four of them +loaded enough more rock on the bridge to take the place of the +stores to be landed. + +There were not many things that could be left: water, and half the +provisions and, preserved goods; a few cooking utensils; blankets, +an extra compass, two revolvers, a hatchet and saw; a light silk +tent; matches and candles, a medicine case, ammunition, and, to make +way for the gasoline that it was hoped might be recovered, all the +extra oil on board--for the reservoirs yet contained an ample supply +to make the trip back to the scene of Elmer's attack. + +At a safe distance from the balloon Elmer had returned to his +favorite occupation. He got a fire going and while the other boys +replaced the rocks on board with bags of sand from the margin of the +lake the colored lad made hot coffee and broiled some bacon. It was +a luxury after the cold, dry food of the long night. + +"When you come back this evening," exclaimed Bob jovially, "I'll try +to have a juicy venison steak." + +"An' hot biscuits," chimed in Elmer. + +"And a good bed of balsam boughs," added Bob, "and a fine camp fire, +and we can sit wound it and talk it all over." + +"And if we don't get back to-night you'd better have your camp fire +anyway," said Ned, + +"Ain't you goin' to git back to-night?" ruefully interrupted Elmer, +as he poured the smoking coffee. + +"You never know what you are going to do in a balloon," answered Ned. +"If we can we will. If we can't we won't. If we are not back +to-night we may not be here for several days. We've got work ahead +now, and plenty of it." + +"We'll be here when you come," replied Bob earnestly, with a smoking +bit of bacon in his fingers, "whenever that is." + +"No," replied Ned, "if we are not here in six days you must make +your way out to civilization. You have food enough but you can't +wait longer than that. As for directions, all I can say is that +from this ridge back of us you can see across the half desert valley +to the higher range of mountains. Should you cross the valley +bearing almost due east and be able to get over or through that +second ridge you will be able to see the top of Mount Wilson, thirty +miles further east. From Mount Wilson it is fifteen miles southeast +to the camp Elmer made. There you should pick up the trail of +Buck's wagon back to the railroad eighty-five miles south." + +Bob's eyes opened. + +"Is it as bad as that?" he said half laughing. "We'll certainly +have to get busy if the Cibola breaks down." + +"Or," went on Ned, "any strewn in the valley below here flows +finally into the San Juan River to the north. If you can make your +way to this river and then succeed in following its banks eastward +until you reach the plains, some time or other you'll find a +frontier settlement." + +"Or Utes," interrupted Alan. + +"Gib me de mountain road," exclaimed Elmer quickly. +"Nomo'Utesfo'me!" + +"Yes," added Ned, "that's the trouble. The route to the San Juan is +not only through a barren, broken mountain region, but it gets you +finally right into the Southern Ute reservation. And, remember, +too, that this is Navajo land. Your safety with them, should you be +discovered, will be in diplomacy. And now good-bye--until we meet +again." + +"And if we don't," replied Bob, huskily, taking the hands of the two +boys in turn, "I just want to say again that you boys have done for +me what I can't forget and what I can't repay. I don't know why you +are here, and I don't want to know. What I've seen will never be +revealed, when I get back to Kansas City and the Comet, until you +tell me I am free to tell it. And you'd know what that means to me +if you knew what a cracking good yarn my experience has given me +already. Good-bye and good luck!" + +Ned and Alan clambered aboard; the rocks were cast overboard, and as +the Cibola shot skyward the boys could hear Elmer calling: + +"Member, boys--we all'll be at Camp Eagle an' supper will be +awaitin'." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +A GRAVE IN THE DESERT + + +But Ned and Alan did not eat with their friends that night, nor for +some days to come. And when they saw each other again one of +Elmer's juicy venison steaks would have seemed to all of them the +sweetest morsel ever eaten by man. + +Ned only waited to help inflate the balloonet in the big balloon +with the little hand blower for the Cibola showed quite perceptibly +the loss of gas after her twenty hours of inflation. Then, the +course having been laid, he left the wheel and engine to Alan's care +and turned in for his long needed rest. + +Alan had determined on a record flight. He allowed the Cibola to +rise higher than it had yet flown, about 5,000 feet, and then +setting the aeroplanes on a slight incline he headed the car on a +down slant for Mount Wilson's just visible peak, thirty miles away. + +There was no economy in half speed, for time and the utilization of +their gas were more precious than gasoline. "We can always float +without gasoline," the boys had said to themselves, "but we can't +move without gas." Therefore the Cibola was soon at its maximum and +the enthusiastic Alan knew that Ned would have a short sleep. + +In an hour and twenty-one minutes the swift dirigible was abreast of +the peak of Mount Wilson, and then, without slackening speed, Alan +altered her course southeast toward the scene of the previous +night's hair-raising experience. Long before he reached the place +he was able to make the juncture of the two rivers his landmark, and +the ship pointed her course as straight as a railroad train. After +thirty minutes sailing from Mount Wilson, Buck's rendezvous could be +made out, three miles beyond. + +One glance told the whole sad story. Two dead horses alone marked +the spot where their freight wagon had stood. Alan aroused Ned, and +as the Cibola sailed low over the place the boys saw that the +thieving Utes had gone--with the wagon, horses, freight and their +dead companions. + +Poor Buck's body was lying where the brave escort had fallen. + +"We can't make two landings," suggested Ned. "We'll find the +gasoline and then come back and bury our friend." + +Disappointed, although they had really in their hearts expected +nothing less, the young navigators turned the Cibola and sailed +slowly down the river in the hope that the gasoline would be found +where Elmer had described it as lying. + +They were as richly rewarded here as they had been previously +disappointed. The drift, a tangled jumble of small mountain wood, +had caught and preserved seven of their eight tins of gasoline. + +It was now noon, and broiling hot, but luncheon was not thought of +and the difficult work of recovering the heavy packages was begun. +This presented a new difficulty, for again the boys were determined +not to lose any gas in making a landing. + +The drift was too light to hold their anchor although two trials at +this were made. Not a bush or tree was to be found nearby. In +despair at last, Alan was about to suggest opening the valve--for it +was imperative that they secure the gasoline--when Ned turned the +bow of the craft down stream. + +"Perhaps we can find anchorage further down," he explained. + +"But if will be pretty hard work carrying these tins," Alan began. + +"They floated where they are, didn't they?" smiled Ned. "What's the +matter with letting them float a little further?" + +His hope was realized. But the solution was fully a mile away. On +a sandy bar, half buried in the sand, the stout end of a cottonwood +trunk, the flotsam of some extraordinary freshet, had come into +view. The experience of the morning was repeated, but on a smaller +scale, for here were no dangerous tree limbs to threaten their +delicate silken bag. After two trials and much pulling and hauling +the car of the Cibola was tied fast to the snag, half over the +shallow water and half over the sand. + +Then, naked as when they were born, and suffering not a little from +the pitiless sun, the boys started afresh. Alan made his way back +up the river and began to prod out the stranded tin casks. All were +soon bobbing along in the slow current, with Alan behind them like a +lumber driver of the northwest dislodging logs left in the shallows. +Ned below soon had all of them in shallow water. + +By means of a coil of the drag rope, looped in turn about the tins +of recovered fuel, Ned lifting below and Alan pulling above soon +transferred the gasoline to the bobbing Cibola. As each cask +ascended, a portion of the extra ballast was dumped overboard. + +Then, dressing themselves and improvising what tools they could, the +boys made their way sorrowfully to the scene of the previous night's +tragedy. Buck's body was carefully removed and decently buried. A +mound of boulders was made over the grave to designate the spot, and +with the hope that some day they might return and suitably mark the +desert tomb the boys took a mournful farewell. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +BARTERING STORES A MILE IN THE AIR + + +"And now," said Alan, "it's ho, for Camp Eagle and our search at +last." + +"I don't know about all that sentiment," answered Ned, thoughtfully. +"I've been--" + +But he was interrupted. The boys, aboard the Cibola again, were +just about to cast off when Alan cut short Ned's remark with an +exclamation. + +"Isn't that a balloon?" he exclaimed pointing to an orange-like +object high in the heavens toward the west. + +Ned caught up the binoculars and had a quick look at the rapidly +moving ball which was rushing toward them from over the distant +Tunit Chas Mountains. + +"No question about it," answered Ned, handing Alan the glasses; "a +balloon, and a big one." + +"And out here, too!" commented Alan in surprise. "I guess the world +is pretty small after all." + +"Everything ready?" asked Ned eagerly. And then as the retaining +rope was untied from the frame of the car and slipped down and out +from under the cottonwood snag the Cibola shot upward. + +"I have an idea," continued Ned, "and please don't object until you +think it over. Let's make a little social call on the stranger!" + +"A call!" exclaimed Alan, plainly showing his astonishment; "a call +on a balloon five thousand feet in the air?" + +"Certainly. We are going that high anyway. And we have the means +of going where we like. If we go up until we strike the same, +stratum of air the stranger is moving in we have our propeller and +aeroplanes to check and guide ourselves. When it passes we can +easily run alongside!" + +"Well, if that isn't the limit!" laughed Alan. "And I suppose we'll +exchange greetings and messages like ships long at sea." + +"And," added Ned, "we can send some word to Major Honeywell. You +can see our fast flying friend isn't going to stop around here." + +The Cibola was rising fast and the two air craft were coming closer +and closer. As the dirigible reached the altitude at which the free +balloon was sailing Ned put the aeroplane in operation, stopped the +ascent of the Cibola and then, sweeping his own car into the same +direction with the other balloon he reversed the propeller and held +his own craft against the breeze until the stranger swept by. + +Then, throwing on the propeller again at full speed, Ned made the +Cibola bound after the other craft, and in a few minutes, aided by +the favoring wind, they were within hailing distance. + +Ned was on the bridge, his face flushed with the novelty of the +race. A mile above the earth, the two air ships came closer until, +as if running on parallel tracks, they were nearly together and +abreast. + +"Balloon ahoy!" exclaimed Ned at last and in true maritime style. + +"The Arrow of Los Angeles, bound across the continent," came the +sharp answer. + +"The Cibola from Clarkeville, New Mexico," called Ned in reply, +"exploring. Please report us over Mount Wilson." + +Then the two ships of the sky came closer. The boys could see that +the Arrow was well equipped for its purpose. Two determined looking +aeronauts were leaning from the heavily laden car. + +"Need anything?" shouted the Arrow cordially. + +"In good shape," answered Ned, "but a little short on provisions." + +"Plenty here," came quickly from the Arrow, "glad to exchange +fifty-pound emergency rations for ballast." + +"All right," responded Ned, "stand by to make a line fast." + +Alan, at the engine, brought the air ship up as skillfully as a +pilot might a vessel, and as the two cars almost touched Ned passed +the end of his drag rope, and the occupants of the Arrow with a +quick turn made her basket fast to the bridge of the Cibola. There +were handshakes, mutual congratulations and quick explanations. The +Arrow, the property of a wealthy amateur balloonist, was attempting +to sail, from the Pacific to the Atlantic and was, so far, beating +the best calculation of her owner. In reaching the desired height +that morning, however, much ballast had been used and the +possibility of a renewed supply was jumped at. + +"These extra provisions were packed with the idea of possibly using +them as ballast and we don't really need them. And, so," they +explained to the boys, "if you do you had better take them and give +us sand." + +The exchange was quickly made, and then, having stored their new +food supply safely on the bridge, they said hasty farewells. + +Ned had scribbled this note on a page from his note book: "Major +Baldwin Honeywell, Annex, Chicago. By courtesy of Balloon Arrow. +Bourke, escort, killed by Indians. Search begins at once. Camp +established on plateau, second range Tunit Chas Mountains, thirty +miles due east Wilson's Peak. Greetings. Written 5,600 feet above +San Juan River, New Mexico. Ned Napier and Alan Hope." + +The case of provisions weighed a trifle more than the ballast given +in exchange, and as the line holding the two cars together was cast +off the Cibola sank slowly below the level of the Arrow. Then, as +the Cibola's engines began to push the car ahead in a wide turning +circle, Ned called up to the disappearing Arrow: + +"Great country, this New Mexico, where you can buy food with sand. +Good-bye and success to you!" + +The answer was lost in space as the ships parted. + +"And now," said Ned, after lashing the now case of provisions to the +bridge netting, "we've wasted some more precious time. Do you still +think we had better lose a night at Camp Eagle? We have all the +fuel we can carry." + +Alan saw what was in the wind. + +"We have extra provisions, water and gasoline. My own judgment is +we had better make at once for our starting point." + +"I guess you are right," answered Alan after long thought; "I don't +know what is to be gained by the trouble of a landing at the camp by +the lake." + +"Nothing but that hot supper," smiled Ned, "and we'll have to put +that off a few days, I think." + +"All right," agreed Alan, "set your course and with luck we'll do a +little treasure hunting before dark." + +This being settled, the prow of the Cibola was pointed a little west +of northwest, and, dropping to a lower stratum to escape the lively +eastern breeze at the higher altitude, the boys started at last +directly for the and arid broken mountains of Northwestern Arizona. + +This region, bordering on the great sand dunes lying beyond the +Chelly River, was to be the beginning point of their arduous and +momentous search. From that place to a point nearly one hundred +miles to the southeast lay the secret fastnesses of mountain, canyon +and mesa wherein, somewhere, according to the Spanish soldier's +record, was the secret city of a dead race and the treasure that had +brought Ned and Alan half way across a continent. + +What such a search meant one glance at the monotonous and unending +rock easily told. On foot, only the compass could lead a man +forward in such wilderness of abrupt heights and winding chasms. As +the boys meant to manage it, the attempt had possibilities, but it +might mean days of drifting, of watching, of doubling back and forth +over every possible site. And that was now their task. + +So far as they could, Ned and Alan meant to begin at the extreme +northern end of this unknown land and, sailing back and forth from +east to west, cover every foot of exposed ground with their powerful +glasses. + +Both boys had long since agreed in this conclusion: the "city" meant +no more than one large structure similar to but on a larger scale +than those found in the Chaco Canyon at the extreme southern end of +the Tunit Chas Mountains. This would be indicated now by nothing +more than rectangular lines of wall stones, probably in piles, +outlining the shape of the "city" or palace. Prominent among these +ruins should be the more elevated temple, the object of their +search. And beneath this should be found the underground "khivas" +or religious chambers. + +That this "city" was secret or hidden was proof to Ned and Alan and +Major Honeywell that it would not occupy a prominent place such as +an exposed plateau or a high level mesa. Only one other location +was left, the abutting shelf of some canyon. And the young +navigators had pictured to themselves that, if this should prove to +be the location, the shelf would be so elevated as not to be visible +from the front or below and that it would be concealed from above by +an extended and overhanging cliff. + +"Look for it as you would look for a bird's nest in the cliff," +suggested Ned. And that was the plan of search. + +It was nearly three o'clock when the boys had bade farewell to the +Arrow and about half past five when the Cibola sailed over the +second ridge of the Tunit Chas. But the course was far to the north +and there was naturally no sign of the waterfall plateau or Camp +Eagle. For a time they thought of passing over the camp and +dropping a message, but this pleasant idea was given up. + +"Although," as Alan expressed it, "one of Elmer's hot suppers and a +soft bed of balsam boughs to-night wouldn't be bad." + +Ned thought of the four nights of hard floor and agreed, but he +said: + +"You'll have to forget soft beds if we're ever going to find Cibola. +We'll come down to-night, though, and make a camp of our own with a +fire and a pot of coffee, and at daybreak we'll be off." + +The boys had taken a light luncheon just after starting on the +return trip, and now, soaring over the Tunit Chas again, they began +to be anxious for night and supper. + +At seven o'clock the peaks and ridges below them had begun to drop +into foothills and as the great sandy deserts of distant Utah and +nearer by Arizona came before their eyes the boys decided that it +was time to anchor for the night. They were sailing over the +eastern slope of the last low ranges of hills, barren of trees or +vegetation. The aeroplanes being given the proper depression, the +Cibola shot earthward and then, the propeller coming to a pause, +floated gently along above the jumble of rocks. Making fast the +anchor in a ragged pile of these the boys soon drew the Cibola to +the ground and lashed her fore and aft to heavy boulders. + +The firm ground felt delicious to the tired boys and they refreshed +themselves with a brisk race over the open space between the rock +piles. Then came Alan's camp fire, a hot supper and preparations +for a good night's rest. There were no pine needles of balsam +boughs, but fatigue made a fine mattress, and it was not long before +the tired boys, rolled up in their blankets, were fast asleep on the +soft sand. + +"I hope," said Ned drowsily as they were dropping off to sleep, +"that we won't have any Jack Jellups or thieving Utes to-night. My +nerves need rest." + +Then the boys got eight good hours of health and strength giving +sleep in the tonic air of the Arizona Mountains. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE SECRET TUNNEL IN THE MESA + + +At five o'clock Ned and Alan were astir. With regrets that they +were not at Camp Eagle for a plunge in the cool mountain lake, they +prepared another hot meal, ate it, and boarded the Cibola. + +The balloon had now been inflated thirty-eight hours and was +noticeably showing the loss of its gas. While the top of the bag +was yet round and firm in the heat of the sun the lower sides had +become a trifle flabby as the cool evening had come on. Up to this +time all records for balloon flight had been broken a fact due to +the renewed buoyancy caused each day by the hot, Southwestern Sun. +And, exploration in and quick ascent from the canyons before them +would before long call for the use of ballast. The boys agreed that +the time had arrived to utilize their liquid hydrogen. The +shrinkage that night had been quite perceptible. + +They regretted that but two-thirds of this remained--about eleven +cubic feet. This when reconverted meant nearly twelve thousand +cubic feet of new gas at their present altitude. As the work of +converting the gas involved care, preparation for it was made before +the Cibola was cut loose. + +The reconverter, a reduced inversion of the apparatus used in making +liquid air, was made ready. When the muffled explosions and the +heat of the tubes told the boys that the reconverter was working +perfectly and pumping new and needed gas into the shrunken Cibola's +long bag, the lashings were loosed and once more the faithful +dirigible mounted skyward. + +With Major Honeywell's map of the region spread out on the deck of +the bridge and the binoculars in hand Ned began the long anticipated +search for the lost city. + +All day the process of turning the liquid hydrogen back into buoyant +gas went on. And all day the Cibola wound her devious course over +the peaks and chasms beneath. By night half the hydrogen jars were +empty and Ned and Alan saw the evening close in on them without a +sign of the object of their search. When darkness stopped further +work the balloon was brought to earth and camp made again. + +The following day, as uneventful as the first, gave no indication of +the secret city. The rest of the liquid hydrogen was transformed +into gas. The sun seemed to enfold the craft in a fiery embrace. +When camp was made again that night the Cibola had been afloat +eighty hours. + +"I think she is good for another forty-eight hours," said Ned that +night. "If we find nothing in two more days we'll have our choice +of going out on foot or of quitting in time to pick up Elmer and Bob +and make a dash to civilization. What do you say?" + +"I don't know," replied Alan, "I'd hate to give up as long as we can +fly. I think the boys can care for themselves. Let's stick to it. +We have provisions and there is water in some places." + +"Well," answered Ned, "we'll have two more days time in which to +decide." + +The next morning the Cibola showed plainly that her gas was rapidly +escaping. New life was given to the balloon by casting overboard +some empty hydrogen casks. The fourth day broke hotter than ever. +In all the wilderness examined by the tired and strained eyes of the +searchers, not a human being had been seen--not even a wandering +Navajo. This day they began the search with renewed vigor, but with +the same monotonous result--miles of hopelessly desert rock and sand +beneath them, with a little vegetation now and then, but so sign of +Indian remains. + +At noon Ned said: + +"If we were not in a balloon with a compass and sextant I should say +we were lost. And if Indians ever lived and died hereabouts they +certainly left so signs of their bones." + +By six O'clock, with the sun gratefully low, Alan expressed +discouragement. + +"To-morrow at this time," he said, "if we see no indication of the +old palace or city or whatever it was--if it ever was--I think I'll +vote to try to find Camp Eagle and get out." + +"We'll see to-morrow," answered Ned stoutly. + +That night at dark, a landing was made on the ledge of a point of +land ending in a rounded cliff pointing south, selected because the +place was open to the breeze and cool. The Cibola had approached +the height from the west, and the boys believed that the promontory +projected from yet higher ground beyond. On those portions of the +cliff that they could see there was neither shelf nor projection of +any kind. The walls rose almost like cut stone and were apparently +about three hundred feet high. As the Cibola was about to descend, +Alan, who was taking a last survey from the bridge, called Ned's +attention to the fact that even the far side of the supposed +promontory was separated from the mountains beyond, and that a chasm +at least a half mile wide separated the two heights. + +"It's a mesa," replied Ned with renewed enthusiasm, "and it will be +a good thing to look over it to-morrow. These high and almost +unapproachable islands of rock were favorite dwelling places for the +Indians." + +"But a temple up here wouldn't be a secret very long," replied Alan. +"We've seen this point all afternoon. It's prominent enough." + +"That's so," answered Ned, "but we are here, so let's make a landing +and eat, and dream over it." + +The balloon had now lost so much gas that a landing was easy, and, +tired with four days' profitless search and its strain, the young +aeronauts were soon beyond even dreams. + +It was with no small alarm that the boys saw, when they awoke with +the first rays of the sun, that the car of the Cibola, which had +been anchored fore and aft to heaped up rocks during the night, was +now resting on the ground. Gas, was rapidly escaping. But fortunately +the aeroplanes and propeller had been left properly in a horizontal +position and no damage had been done. + +The boys knew that by throwing over enough ballast and stores the +Cibola could be made good for one more flight, but that probably it +would be the last. Therefore, the inevitable seemed forced upon +them. They would fortify themselves with a good breakfast, look +over the mesa, make one more circling flight and then attempt to +find Camp Eagle. While Alan made haste to prepare breakfast, Ned +determined first on an examination of the mesa point by daylight. + +The rock had a top area of perhaps forty or fifty acres. It had a +rolling surface and was coated with a carpet of dusty sand, except +in the northwest corner. The northern end of the mesa, Ned could +see, widened and ended in a sharp rise almost wall-like in form. At +the western end this wall-like elevation turned the corner and +extended south a short distance, finally dropping down to the +general level of the mesa. In this protected comer grew a strange +grove of gnarled and twisted pines, ill nourished and apparently +very old. Between this comer of the mesa and the sharper promontory +whereon the Cibola had come to anchor, was a wide, sandy, barren +depression. + +The narrow portion of the rocky island where the boys had made camp +drew in abruptly to make the point that marked the southern end of +the mesa. Ned turned first toward the point. + +When he had advanced, making his way slightly upward all the time, +to where the narrow mesa was not over four hundred feet wide, the +lad was astounded to suddenly discover a deep and narrow fissure or +chasm. It was dark, with sides as abrupt as the cliffs of the mesa, +and too wide to jump across. A cold air was already rising from the +opening into the warmer atmosphere above. + +In his astonishment Ned called to his chum. + +"What surprises me," exclaimed Ned, "is the character of the +opening. If it extended from cliff to cliff I should say that the +same freak of nature that made this solitary island of rock also +split off this end at some time. But it is closed at each end." + +Alan hastened to the end of the fissure, near the side of the mesa. + +"It looks to me," he said, "as if it had extended entirely across at +some time and the ends walled up later." + +The boys made a closer examination. + +"You're right," said Ned when he discovered that each end of the +rift had been filled with closely fitted rock, "and human hands did +it." + +Alan sprang up in excitement. + +"That's the first sign we've had," he exclaimed. "Do you suppose it +means anything?" + +The edge of the cliff was so abrupt that the boys had to lie down to +look over in safety. + +"It does," Ned answered. "The reason you can't see that chasm from +below or from in front is because the face of it is walled up. And +it is walled so skillfully that you can't detect it from even a +short distance." + +"That's to hide something," quickly replied Alan, "but I don't see-- +" + +Ned was standing on top of the short filled-in portion of the chasm. + +"Look!" he exclaimed, suddenly interrupting his friend. "These +stones are steps, and, they are worn!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE TURQUOISE TEMPLE DISCOVERED + + +In another moment he had sprung forward and was quickly descending +into the narrow, dark pit, with Alan close behind. A cave-like +smell and a rapidly, cooling air greeted them. They were soon in +almost complete darkness. When the walls had narrowed to but a few +feet, a thin ribbon of blue sky was all that could be seen above. + +The steps had come to an end. An ascending elevation began just in +front of them. This they made out by the light of a match, which +flickered uncertainly in the bad air. Bats dashed against the walls +and every movement was followed by a cloud of dust. + +"Do you feel anything?" suddenly exclaimed Alan. "Seems to me like +a current of air on my feet." + +Ned lit another match. + +Before them they again made out an ascending slant such as they had +come down. But the base of it was hollowed out in the form of a +small cave. As the light went out both boys stooped to look further +into this opening. + +"Light!" they exclaimed almost together. + +They were looking through a tunnel made, as they afterward found, in +the base of the filled-in portion of the chasm. Reptiles, bats and +dust were forgotten now. Plunging forward on their hands and knees, +the two boys advanced without difficulty to the distant mouth of the +tunnel. + +It ended abruptly in the face of the mesa cliff, one hundred feet +above the valley below. There was not the slightest ledge below it +and the side of the mesa dropped so precipitately that access to the +tunnel mouth from without seemed impossible. The possibility of a +climb to that entrance to reach the mesa above was out of the +question. + +The boys, panting for breath, lay on the floor of the tunnel with +their heads just out of the opening. + +"Some one has used this place, but how did they ever get up here?" +asked Alan. + +"I don't know and I don't care," said Ned with excitement. "But I +do know that this entrance is concealed. Why, you couldn't even see +it from below--it's so small. And it was made that way for a +purpose. That must mean Cibola. Let's get busy." + +There were one hundred and thirty-five steps to mount, and each was +about a foot and a half high. When Ned and Alan were on top of the +mesa again they were out of breath and their clothes were white with +dust. They were also choked, thirsty and hungry. + +"Eat heartily," laughed Ned, when they began breakfast over again; +"we are going to have a busy day, I hope." + +"What is your theory?" + +"That our treasure is right here if it is anywhere," exclaimed Ned. + +Alan laughed. "The place is barren as a barn floor," he said; "I +don't see any very large palace or temple hereabouts." + +"I don't either. That's why I'm going to look for it--and look +hard." + +"And our gas slipping away at a lively rate!" interrupted Alan +again. + +"Let it all go," said Ned. "We know how we can get down within a +hundred feet of the ground, anyway. That's some consolation."' + +"First we will make a circuit of the north end," continued Ned, +after breakfast, "and if nothing comes of that--no unseen hollows or +new crevices--we'll try this sandy hollow, even if it is smooth as a +plain." + +The circuit of a fifty-acre area requires time and it was an hour +before the boys had traversed the edge of the precipitous cliff. At +every few yards they examined the face of the mesa for gaps or shelves, +but there seemed hardly a resting place for a bird. + +Tired and hot, the sun being now high above them, the young +aeronauts finally reached the north-eastern corner of the mesa +without finding a sign or suggestion of Indians, or even of animal +remains. + +Alan had thrown himself on the ground at this point for a rest, when +with an exclamation Ned darted from his side. As Alan's eyes +followed him he saw the cause of the exclamation. From where they +stood--directly east from the ancient grove--they could see for the +first time that the trees stood in a wide double semi-circle, and, +directly in the center, perhaps fifteen feet in height, arose a +column of masonry. It was snow white in color and glistened like +glass. + +There was no question about it. + +The fabled Temple of Turquoise, its deep blue glaze lost in the +whitening sun of three centuries, stood before them. Almost +overcome with the emotion of success the two boys stood as if +transfixed. Then cautiously, as if afraid the wonderful pile might +dissolve itself into a dream, they moved forward. + +In this protected corner of the mesa where the winds of ages had +gradually deposited a thin sandy soil, the hand of man had planted +two almost complete circles of trees. Therein, and generally +agreeing with the record of the long dead Vasquez, were the plain +outlines of a stone structure. At places, where the walls crossed, +and at some of the corners, the masonry yet rose to the height of a +man. And again, it fell into long irregular piles of jumbled +blocks. Sifted sand filled each corner and crevice. + +In the center of the ruins rose the turquoise column. From this, +and in a line with the true east to where the boys stood, extended +an open approach. Almost reverently Ned and Alan advanced up this +walk. + +It was easily seen that the structure had contained a maze of +rooms--over three hundred, they afterwards discovered--and that the +white column stood in a hollow square. + +"It's white," almost whispered Alan. + +"Yes," answered Ned; "it ought to be blue." + +They were now at the foot of the column. Directly in front stood an +opening or door. Bordering this was a framework of brick-like +squares or tiles, black, and ornamented with white figures. + +"Just like pottery," said Alan, noticing the true geometrical design +and the still cruder outlines of animals. + +"Look," exclaimed Ned, pointing to the top of the door. + +Here, the small tiles were replaced with a large square of black +tile, in the center of which shone a dull yellow radiating design. + +"A symbol of the sun," explained Alan, "and of gold!" he added +excitedly. + +"Then it certainly is our secret city," said Ned. + +As he said this he was busy with his knife, digging at the +glistening white bits with which the column was coated. Finally one +came off. It fell into his hand and the back of it came into view. + +The two boys broke out in an exclamation of delight. The protected +portion of the piece was a deep sky blue. + +"The Turquoise Temple!" they both cried together. "Hurrah!" + +When night came again Ned and Alan were almost too excited for rest +or sleep. Nor did they taste food again until the dust of the ruins +warned them temporarily to abandon their search. To walk into a +treasure house that the daring adventurers of two races had +overlooked for three hundred years was enough to turn the heads of +any two boys. + +The "Doorway of the Sun" as Alan called it, led into a chamber about +fifteen feet square. The walls of this were lined with smooth clay +squares of black tile, undecorated. Eight feet above the floor, +which was also of clay tile and half buried under sand, rose a +ceiling of arched stones. There was no opening in this, but steps +on the outside of the temple and in the rear led to a chamber above, +in the front of which, and also facing the sun, was another opening +about two feet from the floor. In front of this window was a stone +bench or altar. The meaning of it the boys did not know. This room +was barren of either decoration or utensil and it was half full of +the debris of what had apparently been another arched stone roof. +Only the front or eastern side of the structure was coated with the +precious turquoise; the other sides of the column were of plain, +fairly well fitted, mortarless stone blocks. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE COLLAPSE OF THE CIBOLA + + +An opening in the paved court in the rear of the Temple, half filled +with drifted sand, led into a "khiva" or secret religious council +chamber beneath. Herein the young adventurers discovered their +wonderland and the reward for all their labors. + +Hastily returning to the balloon, they procured candles and +improvised scoops out of the sides of the tin emergency ration case +obtained from the Arrow. Major Honeywell had warned the boys that +the floors of all closed chambers of this sort were covered with the +accumulated dust of ages. + +The first examination of the "khiva" resulted in disappointment. +The immediate impression that the boys received was one of cave-like +barrenness. In the half-light only a gray monotony met the eye. +Yet under this ghostlike pall, forms soon began to appear. In the +center of the chamber stood what was apparently an altar. In spite +of its burden of dust an elevation could be seen about eight inches +high and seven feet in diameter, on which was a boxlike structure +about three feet square and four feet high. On top of this was a +dust-covered figure. Beyond, in the deepest gloom, the mouths of +four radiating tunnels leading still further into the ground could +be seen. The roof was supported by irregular round columns, +apparently of wood, arranged in two circles. + +Before beginning an exploration of the chamber the boys decided to +ascertain the depth of the dust covering the floor, into which they +had already sunk over their shoe tops. This was stifling work, for +the soft powder ran back as fast as it was dug away. A half hour at +least was consumed in reaching the bard surface beneath. The +coating of dust was nearly three feet deep. + +As Ned climbed out of the little excavation Alan held the candle +down. To the astonishment of the boys a beautiful blue sheen met +their gaze. + +"Turquoise flooring!" shouted Ned. + +It was true. The entire "khiva," so far as the boys subsequently +uncovered its floor, was a crude mosaic of the most perfect +turquoise, the pieces, varying in size, being laid in a lime-like +cement. + +A general survey of the room and its connecting tunnels showed that +each radiating arm led, with about twenty feet of passageway, into a +smaller room. In each of these rooms were nine column placed in a +rectangle. The main chamber was circular in form, forty-eight feet +in diameter, and the smaller apartments were twenty-four feet +square. + +Ned while at work examining the floor, suddenly ceased and rushed to +one of the columns. + +"You remember," he exclaimed, "the Spaniard said these columns were +of gold and silver." + +But in this the ancient record was wrong. The inner six supports +were painted a faded yellow and the second row, twelve in number, +was colored red, as the boys discovered later when they brushed and +cleaned some of them. Around each of the inner columns, however, +there were two metal bands about two inches wide and thirty inches +apart. The lower ones were six feet from the floor. They were of +heavy gold with loops or hooks extending from each side, as if +festoons or connecting bands had once extended from pillar to +pillar. + +"Not a bad substitute!" exclaimed Ned. + +The second line of twelve columns had similar rings of silver, as +the boys discovered in good time. The movable contents of the room +were not easily examined, as each object on the floor was buried +under a mound of heavy, suffocating dust. Bats had made the place +an undisturbed refuge, and the repulsive flutter of these creatures +was disconcerting. + +A preliminary examination of the four lateral passages and the rooms +at their far end showed that these were probably store rooms, +excepting the one on the east side. Here, on shelves, fixed on +columns or posts similar to the colored supports in the principal +chamber, were eight oblong forms. Even the dust and refuse could +not disguise the nature of these--they were unmistakably mummies, +the embalmed bodies of either chiefs or priests. At the head and +foot of each were various dust covered receptacles and utensils. + +The afternoon was too short for the boys to accomplish the removal +of anything. + +"I feel like a grave robber," panted Alan, soberly, as the two boys +clambered out into the fresh air, finding, to their surprise, that +it was already night. + +"Well, I don't," said Ned. "These things are so old that they seem +to belong to Time itself. I feel more like a gold miner who has at +last struck a rich vein--and it's our vein." + +But, as so often happens, ill luck came close on good fortune. The +first glance of the young aeronauts at the camp and the Cibola was +enough to chill their new happiness. The big gas bag had settled so +low that it half concealed the car, which was resting flat on the +ground. The buoyancy of the air ship was gone. Without more gas +the Cibola could not make another flight. It was a severe blow to +Ned and Alan; but they met the issue squarely. + +"There is no use in worrying," said Ned, finally, when they realized +the exact situation, "and we've got to make the best of it. +Besides," he said, laughing, "we are not ready to go." + +"That's right," replied Alan, thinking of the yet unexamined +contents of the Treasure Temple, "and when we are ready I guess +we'll be no worse off than Bob and Elmer. I suppose we can manage +the one hundred foot descent some way." + +Ned pointed to the hundreds of yards of net cordage. + +"Right," exclaimed Alan, "that'll be easy--a rope ladder." + +It was almost dark and the boys were covered with the penetrating +grime of the long undisturbed "khiva." A meager wash up and supper +and rest were in order. But Ned said: + +"By morning the Cibola will be in collapse. It is a valuable +machine, and it ought not be left out here on this point unprotected +from the seasons. We shall probably never see it again, but while +we can move it let's tow it over in front of the temple and put the +bag and engine and instruments in the protected room." + +It was not a difficult task. With no great effort the car was half +carried and half dragged down the slope and then to the clearing in +the pine grove where the boys soon made a new camp. To complete +their work the big bag of the balloon was untied from the car and +drawn, half inflated, into the pathway leading to the temple door. +Then, with no small regret, the boys opened the escape valve, and in +a few minutes the collapsed Cibola was stretched like the cast off +skin of a snake along the sandy pathway, ready to be rolled up and +compactly stored away. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE GOLDEN EAGLE OF THE AZTECS + + +In the morning the boys went at their task with renewed vigor. +Inventory was first taken of the stores and provisions. There was +enough food for about six days, if used with care. Of water there +was a supply apparently for a little longer period. But the choking +dust of the "khiva" made bathing almost a necessity, and, used in +this way, even sparingly, the supply would not last over two days. + +"No more baths until we go down into the valley," ordered Ned. +"Cleanliness would be a comfort, but we'll have to be uncomfortable." + +Permanent camp was made in the cabin of the dirigible. In arranging +this all the machinery, the engine, the blower, the dynamo, the +reconverter and the aeroplanes, the rudder and the propeller were +unmounted, and the smaller articles made ready for storing in the +temple entrance. There were four casks of gasoline left unused. As +these were being carried to the temple Ned suddenly exclaimed: + +"Why not rig up the engine and dynamo and use an electric light down +in our cave of Mystery." + +"Good," answered Alan, "and while we are at it, why not hook up the +balloonet blower with the engine and get fresh air?" + +The stowing away of the machinery, the packing of the gas bag and +the setting up of the engine and dynamo and blower afforded plenty +of work until noon; and then, while the trusty little engine was +pumping volumes of good sweet air into the hot, almost suffocating +chamber below ground, the boys had luncheon. + +Then began the real exhumation of the long buried articles in the +secret religious chamber of the almost forgotten race. As +revelation succeeded revelation in the next two days the paralyzing +wonder that first came to Ned and Alan was succeeded by the dullness +of fatigue. At intervals of not more than an hour they came above +ground for fresh air. The absence of water soon converted them into +bronze-like human statues. They could feel that their lungs were +becoming clogged with the almost impalpable dust. But they +persevered. The prize was too rich to be abandoned because of mere +physical discomfort. + +By means of the wired drag rope the powerful incandescent light was +carried to all the chambers. And one after another, as the blower +gave the boys air and helped sweep away the clouds of dust, the +remains which had lain buried for over three centuries were +uncovered and brought above ground. + +Of the pottery itself, vases, jars, and religious ceremonial +utensils, perfect in shape and displaying ornamentation that would +have delighted Major Honeywell, the excavators could take little +note. After removing the twelve gold hoops or bands from the +supporting columns and twenty similar silver rings from the second +row of pillars, the boys penetrated the elevation in the center of +the "khiva." + +As the end of the blower pipe was directed against this square +column, the sediment of centuries disappeared. Then the brilliantly +penetrating glare of the reflected electric light fell on the +elevation and both boys burst out in an exclamation of amazement. + + +On what had been a ceremonial dais stood the treasure of the secret +city of Cibola--an image of the sacred Golden Eagle of the Aztecs. +The revered bird of the Aztecs stood upright, its extended head +peering east. The body of this aboriginal work of art, crude in +form, was of massive silver. And to it were attached overlapping +plates of gold in the similitude of feathers. The unfolded wings +were also of gold. The head, beak and talons were of gold, and the +eyes were two polished bits of quartz. The idol, for such no doubt +it was, stood forty inches in height and weighed about three hundred +pounds. + +The base on which the precious eagle stood was completely covered +with the deepest blue turquoise. At its foot and covering the dais +were the crumbled traces of many articles of cloth, feathers, bits +of wood and pottery, and the like, all, no doubt, fragments of +priestly utensils of worship. The most ornate and best preserved of +these was a large flat bowl covered on the inside with skillfully +cut mother-of-pearl. This was still iridescently beautiful, and the +more striking because its milk white exterior was unmarked by +decoration. + +Each mummy, when hauled into the open air and examined, gave more +positive proof of the riches that had been collected in this sacred +retreat. The funeral bowls placed at the feet of the bodies varied +in form and material. Some of these were of plain black and white +pottery, others were coated with gold, silver, or mother-of-pearl. +The bowls apparently had once contained food. In all there were +two golden bowls, four of silver, one of pearl and one of pottery. + +Each mummy was wound with as much care as was ever bestowed on the +Egyptian royal dead. The woven wrappings were coated with pitch and +beneath them were colored cotton cloths, affording proof of a high +civilization. The richest treasures of the dead were the +breastplates and necklaces found on each. These astounded the young +investigators. + +These plates and beads had been strung on deer sinews, which, not +having been protected by pitch, were now only lines of dust. But, +lying on the breast of each there was invariably a "body scraper," +(as Major Honeywell afterwards termed them) of gold, silver or +mother-of-pearl. Mother-of-pearl discs were the commonest neck +decoration. Of these the boys discovered four. + +On three of the bodies were pierced pearl bead necklaces. On the +most elaborately wrapped figure, that of a head priest or high +chief, came the crowning discovery. This was a necklace of pierced +amethysts. And on the breast of this figure was a flat plate of +gold with sixteen radiating points, each of these terminating in a +large luminous unpierced and polished amethyst. + +About the waist of this shriveled figure were the remains of a +jeweled belt. The foundation or back of this had dissolved into +dust, but careful unwrapping of the cerements revealed the priceless +ornamentation. This decoration was of alternating squares of +mother-of-pearl, in each of which glistened a perfect amethyst, and +of matchless turquoise squares set with great pearls. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +A QUARTER OF A TON OF TREASURE + + +It was impossible for the boys even to venture an estimate on the +value of the immense mine of turquoise, although they realized that +the increasing scarcity of the jewel made the beautiful and unique +specimens everywhere about them worth a great deal of money. Nor +had they any idea of the value of the mother-of-pearl bowls, nor of +the hundreds of beautiful and unique ceremonial and funeral urns and +vases. Least of all, could they put even an approximate price on +the amethyst and pearl necklaces. Even their most sanguine hopes of +discovering the hidden city of Cibola had not led the adventurers to +investigate the current prices of precious stones. + +Knowing, however, what the prices of gold and silver were, they +could form some estimate of the worth of this part of the treasure. + +By comparison with the known weights of certain articles in the car +the two boys made the following list of metal pieces discovered: + +GOLD POUNDS + +Twelve bands. Weight each 2 lbs. I oz. 26 +Two bowls. Weight each 6 lbs 12 +Two "body-scrapers." Weight each 9 oz 1 1/2 +Wings, head and talons of Sacred Eagle 82 +Breastplate 3 +Radiating sun over entrance 12 + +Total, 136 1/2, or 1,638 ounces. + +SILVER POUNDS + +Twenty-four bands. Weight each I lb. 8 oz 40 +Four bowls. Weight each 5 lbs 20 +Four "body-scrapers." Weight 10 oz.. 3 1/3 +Body of Sacred Eagle. Weight 218 +Ninety-six miscellaneous rings, bands, + anklets and wristlets, many set with + mother-of-pearl and turquoise 16 1/3 + +Total, 297 2/3, or 3,580 ounces. + + +The market value of these precious metals was easily computed. The +silver at sixty cents an ounce was worth $2,148. The more valuable +gold, at twenty dollars an ounce, was worth $32,760. Together, the +484 pounds were worth $34,908. + +"And one-third of that," said Ned with a smile--almost discernible +beneath his dust--begrimed face, "is nearly $12,000. And that is +$6,000 for each of us." + +"But how about the amethysts and pearls?" said Alan. + +"I suppose," answered Ned, "that they are worth a great deal more, +but I don't know. I should think that those that have no holes in +them would be very valuable." + +All this figuring was intensely interesting, but the boys, as the +revelation progressed, knew that they were now facing a new problem. +They could not possibly carry that gold and silver, to say nothing +of even a portion of the exquisite mother-of-pearl bowls or the +finest samples of the turquoise. When, in the end, nearly a quarter +of a ton of the metal treasure alone lay in a heap in the corner of +the temple vestibule they could come to but one conclusion. + +This portion of the treasure would have to be removed at another +time. + +"It has lain here undisturbed for over three hundred years," said +Ned hopefully, though sadly, "and we'll have to take a chance that +it can be left a while longer." + +Sorrowfully enough Alan agreed. It was to be no easy work getting +out of the wilderness, and food must be carried. That might be more +precious to them than gold before they saw a railroad again. The +boys agreed to take at noon the next day the exact latitude and +longitude of the mesa. The latitude, on one slip of paper, was to +be carried by one boy and the longitude, on another piece, was to be +in the possession of the other. This was a precaution against +accidental revelation of the treasure mesa. + +The set jewels were removed. There were two hundred and ninety-four +pierced pearls and ninety-eight pierced amethysts. Among the whole +gems, eighteen magnificent pearls were extracted from the jeweled +belt. Eighteen unpierced amethysts were also taken from the +alternating turquoise squares of the belt and sixteen magnificent +amethysts from the gold breastplate. + +It was then that the sewing kit supplied by Alan's sister Mary came +into service. A small piece of aluminum waterproof silk cabin +covering was converted into two flat bags and in these the stones, +equally divided, were enclosed and concealed under the clothing and +beneath the right arm of each lad. In addition, each boy took half +of the mother-of-pearl and turquoise belt plates as the finest +specimens of each material. + +"And to show that there is gold too," suggested Alan, "we might as +well take along, these gold 'scrapers,' which won't bother us much," +So these two pieces were strung on cords and suspended about the +necks of the young treasure seekers. + +"And to-morrow," exclaimed Ned joyfully when all this was done, +"we'll get down from here and get a bath." + +"Amen," added Alan earnestly. + +Until it was twelve o'clock, the time to take their observation, the +boys spent the next morning in last preparations and making +everything shipshape. The framework of the car was left intact, but +weighted by stones to prevent injury by the wind. Everything +movable was stored in the entrance room of the temple, including +three and one-half cans of gasoline. The engine was oiled and +covered with blankets. Underneath the smoothly folded balloon, in +the folds of which dry sand had been liberally sprinkled to prevent +possible adhesions of the varnish, lay nearly thirty-five thousand +dollars' worth of curiously wrought gold and silver. This was first +completely covered with sand. + +The two provision packs for the retreat to civilization had been +carefully arranged. How long the journey might take the, could not +estimate. They had decided to their way east, in hope of falling in +with Elmer and Bob, and this meant the crossing of at least two +mountain ranges and thirty miles of barren foothills to Mount +Wilson. Then, if they turned south, they would traverse eighty-five +miles of sandy plain in which water was infrequent. + +Their own provisions were exhausted. What they now depended on was +the emergency case secured from the Arrow. This supply was intended +to be enough for two men for two weeks. + +"It certainly ought not take us that long,"' complained Alan. "Why +not leave half the supply and take a little gold?" + +But Ned was obdurate. He explained that they might fall in with the +other boys, and that if they did Elmer and Bob might be wholly out +of supplies. + +"We can come back if we get out in good shape," explained Ned, "and +if we don't get out what'll be the use of a back load of gold?" + +That settled it. The food packs were made up of the following +supplies: Flour, 12 lbs; corn meal, 5 lbs; beans, 5 lbs; bacon, 7 1/2 +lbs; rice, 5 lbs; oatmeal, 2 lbs; baking powder, 1/2 lb; coffee, I +lb; tea, 1/2 lb; sugar, 5 lbs; lard, 2 1/2 lbs; salt, 1/2 lb; pepper, +1/8 lb. Each provision pack weighed twenty-one pounds. In addition +there was an aluminum frying pan, a coffee pot and two aluminum +plates. A water canteen, a blanket, a revolver and belt of +ammunition and a knife apiece completed the equipment. Alan carried +in addition the "snake bite" case, the compass and small hatchet, +and Ned the money belt containing over five hundred dollars in gold. + +The sealed glass tubes of matches were divided between the two boys +and then, as it was noon, the sextant that Ned had been so careful +to bring with them was used for the first and last time. The +observation made and noted, and the record of it divided as planned, +Ned and Alan were ready to begin their attempt to make their way out +of the rock-bound wilderness. With provisions, water, blanket and +arms each lad was carrying about thirty-five pounds. + +"Would you still like a few pounds of Aztec treasure?" laughed Ned +as they stood with packs adjusted. + +"I should say not," retorted Alan; "I'm satisfied." + +The method of lowering themselves from the hole in the face of the +cliff to the ground, one hundred feet beneath, had been worked out +in detail and the apparatus made in the evenings by the light of +their camp fire. And early that morning Alan had carried the long +rope ladder down the chasm and to the mouth of the tunnel. Now, in +addition to their packs, the two boys carried between them a section +of one of the pine trees, about six feet long. + +As they stood, ready to leave, Ned raised his cap. + +"Good bye, old Cibola," he said with moisture in his eyes, "until we +meet again, if ever." + +"If ever?" added Alan quickly with as much gaiety as he could +summon. "You don't think we'll ever let anyone else lift that +little pile?" and he pointed to the well filled entrance room of the +temple. + +"No," answered Ned, soberly, "if we have as good luck on the land as +we had in the air." + +Ned and Alan meant to reach the earth by means of a rope ladder. +This they had constructed from the stout Italian hemp suspension +cords of the Cibola. These ropes, each thirty feet in length, were +knotted and then doubled to insure strength. For the last +twenty-five feet at the bottom the landing ladder of the balloon was +used. The rungs, two feet apart, were of pine from a felled tree, +and were thirty-eight in number. + +For anchorage, the six-foot length of tree was dragged to the mouth +of the tunnel and, five feet from the opening, wedged between the +floor and roof of the tunnel, slightly inclined forward. The strain +on the bottom would thus only fix the supporting section more firmly +in place. From the bottom of the pine shaft a loop of four of the +suspension cords reached just out of the tunnel opening. To this +loop the top rang of the ladder was tied, with a separate +hundred-foot length of cord. After the ladder had been made firm +with a running slip knot the hundred-foot length of cord was dropped +to the ground. + +This arrangement had been provided in order that the rope ladder +might be removed after the descent. By a jerk of the cord the slip +knot would be loosened and the ladder, released, would fall of its +own weight. Another length of rope had been prepared, this one +somewhat over a hundred feet long and also doubled for strength. +This was for the lowering of the packs and other articles by one of +the boys after the other had descended. To insure its free running +and to prevent its wearing through on the edge of the cliff, a six +inch section of the pine tree had been prepared, flattened on one +side and having a wide smooth groove in the top. This, attached to +a short length of rope, which was made fast with the ladder loop to +the upright shaft in the tunnel, was fixed on the verge of the +opening. + +Finally everything had been arranged and made fast. Each of the two +boys insisted that he should go down first. To solve the dispute, +they cast lots and the risk of testing the rope fell to Ned. +Slipping off his shoes and socks, which he hung about his neck, he +sprang to the ladder. Alan hung over the edge and watched him with +apprehension, but Ned, feeling his way carefully, was soon on the +ground. + +His shout was the signal to begin the work of lowering the packs. +And down they came, one after another; provisions, revolvers, +blankets, water bottles, and even the money belt, for Ned had made +himself as light as possible for his descent. + +At last it was Alan's turn. The last load had descended, the +lowering line had been released, drawn up and stowed away. The slip +knot was examined anew and then Alan followed Ned down the slender, +fragile swaying rope ladder. When he had reached the ground by +Ned's side and the strain was over, the boys shook hands jubilantly. + +"--And now," shouted Ned with a laugh, "last chance! If you want to +go back for a new load say so before it is too late." + +Alan, exhausted with the climb, shook his head. + +"Then stand from under," cried Ned. + +As he jerked the slip knot cord the boys sprang aside and the long +ladder, wriggling, crashed at their feet. + +The only means of reaching the towering elevation had been removed +and the only visible sign of their brief occupancy of the secret +mesa had been destroyed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +AN ADVENTURE WITH THE NAVAJOS + + +Three days later, Ned Napier and Alan Hope, worn and almost +exhausted with the steady climb and descent of countless rocky +heights, made their camp for the night at the foot of a rugged +slope. Their shoes were torn so that a protection of rags was +necessary. The hot and pitiless sun had seemingly dried up their +boyish spirits. Silent with fatigue, having plodded steadily +forward since sunrise, they threw themselves on the sand. + +The young adventurers were headed straight for the east. And still +the last range of mountains was beyond them. Led by the compass, +they held to their course, sometimes passing miles out of their path +to avoid some inaccessible mesa, but more often scaling ragged and +tiresome heights. + +Eating had now become a matter of form and necessity. There was no +longer the keen joy in making camp. During the three days the boys +had seen no living object except birds, rabbits, many deer and two +bears, all of which they had left unmolested in their eagerness to +press forward. But at noon on this day Alan, having occasion to +glance backwards, was positive that he saw a human head. Whether +white man or Indian he could not determine. The incident gave the +lads no little, concern, but as no further sign of a human being was +seen that day they finally forgot the matter. + +That night, after making tea and taking a little more pains than +usual with their supper in an effort to revive their spirits as well +as their tired bodies, Ned and Alan spread their blankets at the +edge of a pine grove. Almost before it was dark they were both +sound asleep. + +Some hours later Alan awoke with the instant consciousness of an +unusual sound. Motionless and straining his ears, he heard deep +breathing just behind him. A new moon was just sinking below the +buttes on the far side of the little valley in which they had +stopped for rest, but under the pines the shadows were deep. He +knew that danger was near and he did not move. In another moment he +felt a soft hand on his waist, as swift and as silent as a snake, +and he knew that the hand was extracting his revolver. + +Then, from his half-opened eyes, he saw a figure crouching over his +chum just opposite. Some one no doubt was also removing Ned's +weapon. Then there was the pressure of stealthy footsteps on the +pine needles and Alan moved his head until he could see two +indistinct forms moving from the shadows of the timber across the +open space to the dying embers of their little fire. There he could +easily discern five or six figures. He was about to put his hand on +Ned's face to awaken him gently when he saw the entire group coming +directly toward their sleeping place. Their movements now revealed +plainly that they were Indians. + +With cold beads of perspiration covering his body Alan again +pretended sleep. It was now apparent that they had been followed, +and, no doubt, by Navajos. Perhaps this was the end of their +toilsome retreat. With visions of death presenting themselves, he +wondered again whether he ought to arouse Ned. Then he realized the +futility of such action. As the moccasined feet drew near Alan +could read death in each approaching sound. But at the edge of the +trees there was another pause, and then he knew that the Indians had +scattered. + +Straining every muscle in an effort to breathe naturally, like one +asleep, the boy counted the seconds while he waited for the clutch +of a savage hand. And as the moment passed and the attack did not +come he tried to speculate on what the strangers were doing. A +guttural half exclamation soon allowed him a quick breath of +temporary relief. The Indians were only after their supplies. + +The savages had found the half-concealed packs of the two boys. +Alan knew this by the location of the sounds that now came to him, +and then, as the prowlers withdrew again into the open and the faint +moonlight, it could be seen that they were bearing all the +belongings of the two lads. For perhaps ten minutes Alan lay +without moving and watched the Indians. He could make out that they +were hastily looking over the packs and dividing what yet remained +among themselves. Then ponies were led to the place of the camp +fire and the members of the band quickly threw themselves on their +animals and disappeared into the night. + +Almost paralyzed with the knowledge of what this meant Alan now +softly put his hand on Ned's face: + +"Are you awake?" came instantly from Ned. + +"Are you?" retorted Alan in surprise. + +"Yes," whispered Ned, "I saw it all. But I didn't move, because I +was afraid of arousing you." + +"Here, too," exclaimed Alan. "Did you feel them take your +revolver?" + +Ned's band flew to his belt. + +"Is yours gone too? I saw them when they came up from the fire. +But you did right to keep still. If we had moved I expect we'd have +had our throats cut." + +"That was one of them I saw to-day," added Alan, "and I guess we're +lucky to be alive." + +"Yes," added Ned rising to his feet, "we are. They are satisfied, I +suppose, to let us starve." + +The prospect was a trying one. If the range behind them was the one +they hoped it was, there was only one more valley between its summit +and the outer ridge of the Tunit Chas. If they could reach this +ridge they believed they might see Mount Wilson's peak. But even +that meant another thirty miles to the scene of the attack on Buck's +camp on the banks of the Chusco. And from that place it was +eighty-five miles to a railroad and help! + +The boys sat in the edge of the pines as the new moon disappeared, +leaving them in utter darkness, and tried desperately to encourage +each other. Both had the grit to set themselves stoutly to the +apparently hopeless task. Without food or firearms and possibly +without water, they knew they would find the task gigantic. But +nothing was to be gained by waiting for starvation and death in the +wilderness, and their decision was to do what they could, to try the +almost impossible, and if they failed to fail with their faces +toward the east. + +"Why not start now?" urged Alan. "Let's use what strength we have." + +But Ned showed him the folly of this. + +"A night's rest will enable us to make better time to-morrow. And +besides, we can't make headway when we can't follow the compass." + +Retiring a little further into the woods the boys composed +themselves again and before long were once more fast asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +ALAN SUCCUMBS TO EXHAUSTION + + +The boys were up at dawn. Not an article had the marauders left but +the two water canteens which had fortunately been left hanging from +the low branches of a pine. It was useless to look for more--there +was nothing more to be found. + +"Anyway," laughed Ned, "it leaves us in light marching order and we +can make better time. I'm glad we had a good supper." + +As no breakfast was in sight the two boys filled the water bottles +at the creek in the valley, and at five o'clock, taking their +bearings due east, Ned and Alan struck upwards through the pine +woods. It was a not unpleasant climb while the boys were fresh, but +as the slope grew more precipitous the work began to tell. At one +o'clock the crest was reached. + +"How would you like a piece of broiled bacon, some pancakes and a +cup of coffee, Ned?" asked Alan as they paused to rest. + +"In the middle of the day and on the top of a mountain I always +prefer plain water," laughed Ned in reply. "Here's to you!" + +With a big drink from the lukewarm canteens the boys did not pause +long. + +"To-night," continued Ned, "we ought to sleep high up in the +foothills over there." + +With that inspiration the sore-footed and jaded lads made good time +going down the slope. Then another rivulet was encountered, in +which they bathed and by which they rested a spell. Alan would have +been glad to pass the night here, but Ned urged him on, and as night +fell again the hungry, exhausted boys found themselves far up on the +new slope. Then they slept again, restlessly and on the rocky +ground, for they had abandoned their blankets. + +The boys did not wait for daylight. In the half dawn they were +afoot. + +"Take another hitch in your belt, chum, and don't think of the +Placida." laughed Ned. "We'll make it all right, somehow." + +Stiff in limb, their feet twitching with the pain of blisters, Ned +and Alan toiled slowly through the last of the pines and out into +the rocky higher slopes of the range. It was like climbing an +upright wall, Alan said, but the pain of going on was less than the +despair of giving up. A little after six o'clock Ned, ahead, pulled +himself breathless to the highest point. + +Alan stopped a little below and waited in anxiety. Before he could +ask whether it was the last ridge, Ned's voice broke out into a +shout. + +"Come on, old man, we're all right. There's old Wilson, the +grandest mountain peak in the world. Hurrah for Mount Wilson!" + +But there was no echo to his exclamation. Poor Alan, succumbing to +pain and exhaustion, had sunk insensible to the ground. In another +moment Ned was at his chum's side. Forcing some water between +Alan's lips and bathing his face with some more of the precious +liquid, Ned soon brought him back to consciousness. Alan sprang up +in chagrin, and with tears in his eyes insisted that he had only +stumbled and fallen. But Ned knew the truth. His friend's bright +eyes and feverish skin told that his condition was grave. + The unseen tears came to Ned's eyes, for it was at least thirty +miles to more water and the plains. And should they even reach the +Chusco, he could see only death in the desert. + +"You'll feel better in the cool of the woods down there," said Ned +gently, "and maybe we can kill a rabbit. Hurrah, come on, Alan! +Brace up. It's all down hill, now. Here's for the woods and +broiled rabbit!" + +In a new spurt of life another start was made and the two chums set +out down the slope. In one of Ned's hands was a rock. It was to be +the death warrant of any small animal, and his eyes were busy +examining each sheltered rocky nook and bush. Suddenly a feverish +hand caught his. + +"Look," whispered Alan. + +Ned's eyes followed his chum's gaze. + +It was a spiral of thin smoke in the trees below. + +With a shout, Ned sprang forward. Then he turned. Alan was +standing still. Ned's heart grew cold: + +"See the smoke," Alan was repeating, "see the nice smoke. Maybe +it's a house on fire." + +His friend was delirious. Ned flew to his side once more and again +his touch revived the exhausted boy. Almost five days of wandering +and the exhausting toil on the mesa had proved too much for the more +delicate Alan, and Ned realized with sickening horror that the +situation was critical. + +"I'm all right, Ned," answered Alan when his chum was once more with +him; "just a little lightheaded. But that's all." + +What was to be done? The smoke might be that of a forest fire. And +it might mean Indians. But even an enemy is welcome when starvation +and death confronts one. Almost at the end of his own resources, +the determined Ned forced himself into a last effort. He used no +words of persuasion, for Alan allowed Ned to take his hand, and +thus, silently and slowly, the two moved forward again. Perhaps +another half mile was made between rocks and down gullies and then +Alan exclaimed pitifully: + +"It's no use, Ned, I can't, I can't. My feet." Burying his +fevered face in his hands, the boy wept, partly in pain and partly +because he knew that he was holding back his chum. + +At such periods Ned Napier was at his best. With kind words he +sought to encourage his friend. He used the little water left to +bathe Alan's face, and the last of his shirt in binding anew his +friend's bleeding feet. He tried to joke and speculated on the +possibilities of the smoke beyond them, but it was without avail. +Poor Alan could not rise again. The fever of exhaustion was on him +and with a last appeal to Ned to leave him the boy threw himself on +the ground and fainted away. + +There was no doubt now as to what was to be done. Unless he could +bring help to his friend in a short time Ned knew it would mean +death. And that meant death for both, for young Napier would never +abandon his friend. Like a drunken man Ned turned and stumbled +forward. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +A FORLORN DASH FOR HELP + + +Am hour later Alan Hope, carried by the faithful Elmer Grissom and +the jovial Bob Russell, was laid gently on a blanket by the fire +whose smoke had attracted the attention of the ragged, worn +wanderers. Not until the sun had set did the exhausted lad open his +eyes again. But water and food had been forced through his lips and +when reason came back strength was not far behind. + +Ned sat by his chum's side all day, bathing his face and making him +as comfortable as possible; from Elmer's medicine packet. A few +mouthfuls of food had sufficed Ned. But that night, when Alan came +again to his senses, the four boys held a thanksgiving about a +cheerful fire and ate together. But it was no banquet. + +What had happened was soon repeated to the weak but happy Alan. +Elmer and Bob had waited and watched for ten days, using their +stores sparingly and ready always for the return of Ned and Alan. +Two days they had seen the Cibola a speck in the sky far to the +west, and had watched it from the little waterfall on the edge of +the plateau. Then it disappeared and they never saw it again. This +was three days after the boys departed from Camp Eagle. + +Husbanding their provisions as well as they could, they at last +decided to start on their return to the outside world. + +This was two days before. The tent and the heavier articles were +hidden in a cache. Their food had been reduced to a meager +quantity. They had two pounds of bacon, six pounds of flour, two +ounces of tea and a little over a pound of beans. In addition they +had a half dozen bouillon tablets, a little salt, pepper and sugar, +and a complete and unopened medicine packet in which were quinine, +adhesive plaster, cotton, bandages, morphine, and other needed and +compact drugs. With this light pack each boy had a rifle and a +revolver, a few cooking utensils and a blanket. + +Elmer had his own water bottle, and Bob improvised two out of the +empty baking powder can and a lard pail. + +Thus equipped, Camp Eagle was abandoned, and led by their compass +Elmer and Bob had set out bravely for Mount Wilson and the Chusco. +But it was with no small regret that they made their way up the long +slope behind them and then across the valley beyond. But, fresh and +strong of limb, they pushed forward and with Mount Wilson as a +landmark made camp on the second night in the timber on the slope of +the outer range. + +Never wholly despairing of meeting Ned and Alan again, the two boys +were frugal both of their strength and their stores. The food they +carried would have been sufficient for a healthy man for perhaps a +week. They could not count on reaching civilization again within +that time, even with good luck. That meant half rations at the +best. But if accidents came and delay even half rations would be +cut down. So, that night, in camp, there was no feasting. A little +tea, and a cake of dough apiece made their supper; and then they +slept. + +In the morning as they were about to breakfast and be off again Bob +caught sight of a deer. A little jerked venison would not come +amiss, he thought, and as the ammunition was plentiful he darted +through the woods in pursuit. The fact that Bob was a poor hunter +probably saved Alan's life. He was gone an hour and a half and when +he returned it was after seven o'clock. + +The two boys had just extinguished their fire and were about to +shoulder their packs when a well-known but strained call arrested +them. + +"Camp ahoy?" + +It was their leader, Ned Napier, his cheeks sunken, and his body +swaying from weakness, but cheery as of old, advancing slowly +through the trees. + +Food and a night's rest restored Ned's strength. "And now, my +friends," said he in the morning, "these bandages and a little food +and good companionship have worked wonders. We are all ourselves +again. But we can't stay here, pleasant--as it is. Alan ought not +to travel for another day and then he ought to have some husky +attendant. Bob, you are nominated for that job. Elmer and I will +take a few pinches of tea, the soup tablets, one revolver and a +rifle and--" + +"And what?" exclaimed Alan, suspicious of Ned's suggestion. + +"And," continued Ned, "We'll just dash on ahead and bring you some +help." + +"No, siree," shouted Alan. "Do you think get back to Clarkeville, +one hundred and fifteen miles or more, on six soup tablets? And for +me? If you think you ought to go, all right. But you'll take half +of the food." + +"Or more," interrupted Bob, "give us a little flour and salt and +some matches. I reckon I can get a deer before night." + +But Ned convinced them in the end that he was right. He argued that +each mile he and Elmer made in advance was nearer help. Alan must +advance slowly. + +"All you've got to do," he explained to Bob and Alan, "is to reach +the Chusco, where Elmer camped, and take care of yourselves for +seven or eight days. And we'll be there to help you, unless +something happens. You won't have much to eat but you'll have water +and you have ammunition." + +And at seven o'clock that morning they parted. Just before the +farewells Alan called Ned to one side and said: + +"Hadn't you better take my bag?" indicating the jewel case under his +arm. + +"Why?" answered Ned. + +"Well, you know we may never see each other again." + +Ned took his chum's hand. + +"Alan," he said, "we were not born to lose ourselves in the woods, +much less to die there. We'll meet again all right. Don't you have +any fears on that point. But if we shouldn't, I won't care for +amethysts or pearls. If I don't see you again it'll be because I'm +beyond the need of those things." + +There were handshakes and cheering, good wishes, and the relief +section was off. + +"Elmer," said Alan, after the two had been trailing through the +trees Indian fashion some time, "it is daylight at four o'clock and +dark at seven--that's fifteen hours. Can you walk two miles an +hour?" + +"Sho'ly," smiled Elmer, showing his white teeth. + +"Well, that's thirty miles a day. If we could do that for four days +we'd be in Clarkeville!" + +"Claikeville in fo' days it am den," echoed Elmer, "or bust." + +"We've got six soup tablets. If we dine on one at ten o'clock in +the morning and one at seven o'clock in the evening we'll have +regular meals for three days." + +"And de las' day we won't need none, we'll be in such a hurry," +added the colored boy, happy again in Ned's company. + +That was the spirit in which the expedition started. Late that +afternoon they emerged from the timber and were on the sandy +foothills where progress was faster. Ned's feet bothered him and he +was in constant pain, but the adhesive plaster and cotton had been +of the greatest help. There was no pause. The first day's schedule +he was determined to make and at about eight o'clock the relief +expedition gave a shout. The Chusco lay before them. + +A little fire, some tea and bouillon--made in the pan after the tea +was consumed--and the two boys found a bed on the soft sand with no +covering but the deep Mexican sky. At dawn they were up and away +after a bath in the muddy river. Elmer was now the guide and he +readily picked up Buck's old wagon trail. Sharp at ten o'clock a +halt was made for breakfast, bouillon now without tea. Ned, his +face a little more sunken and his legs a little more unsteady than +the day before, was sitting on the ground resting his burning feet, +when Elmer suddenly touched him on the shoulder, set the soup pan +quickly on the sand and drew his revolver. + +Far down the trail a horseman was approaching. Behind him in the +distance followed a wagon. What did this mean? + +"Well, whoever it is, we'll have the soup," said Ned. + +This consumed, Ned and his friend started forward. + +"If it's good luck we'll meet it sooner this way," said Ned, "if +it's bad we'll know the worst quicker." + +But it was good luck. The rider soon galloped up and swung his wide +hat in the air. It was Curt Bradley, the mayor of Clarkeville. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +THE RESCUE + + +They told Ned afterwards that he keeled over in the sand and fainted +dead away, but he always insisted that he didn't faint, that he knew +everything that was going on. Yet he did not hear a word of the +long story told by Elmer. When he roused himself he was lying in +the shade of the big freight wagon and a couple of cowboys were +getting breakfast ready. + +Then Mayor Bradley explained his presence in that mysterious way in +which bad news always travels friendly Indians had sent him word of +the attack on Buck's outfit and of the death of the veteran +plainsman. This news had just reached Clarkeville and Mayor Bradley +had at once set out to find the body if possible, and assist those +who escaped. + +Of course all speed was made toward the foothills and that evening +Alan and Bob, the former only a shadow of the lively youngster who +had left Clarkeville but two weeks before, were found and rescued. +That night there was a new camp on the Chusco and meat and hot +bread. The only shadow to dim the happiness of the rescued boys was +the recollection of the murdered Buck. + +The return to Clarkeville was made by easy stages in four days, and +even Alan was nearly his old self when that town was reached. One +night's rest in real beds, with fresh linen from the baggage they +had left behind them, and baths, removed the traces of privation and +suffering. There was little more to detain Ned and Alan. + +A telegram was dispatched to Major Honeywell at Kansas City, where +the boys and their patrons had agreed to meet. Then Ned's tool +chest was forwarded by freight to Chicago. In company with Mayor +Bradley Ned and Alan visited Mrs. Bourke, Buck's widow. Retaining +enough to cover the costs of transportation to Kansas City he gave +the widow what remained of his funds, nearly five hundred dollars, +and all the heavy stores remaining in the corral. + +At midnight of that day four wide-awake and alert boys, neatly clad +in summer suits, boarded the local train bound east for Albuquerque. +The last hand they shook was that of Mayor Bradley. + +"Mr. Mayor," said Ned as he parted from his friend, "I'm sorry I +can't tell you why we were here, or what we were doing. But you +were our friend and we'll never forget you. Some day I'm going to +show you how highly we regard you. And some day I hope I'll be able +to tell you what our mission was." + +Three days later the quartette of boys sprang from the Limited in +the Union depot at Kansas City. The parting had come. None of the +boys knew what that meant until the last moment. + +"'Ned," said Bob Russell, once again in the field of his profession, +"I've had many a strange assignment in my work and I expect to have +many another, but I'll never have one like this. I've got the story +of my life, but I haven't got yours. If the time ever comes when I +can write it, when you are free to tell it, just remember your best +friend, Bob Russell, reporter, Kansas City Comet." + +"Bob," answered Ned wringing his hand, "you have missed a good +story. I'm sorry. It wasn't because you were not a good reporter. +It was just our good luck. But if things work out the way I hope, +I'm going to give you something better than a good story." + +"And," broke in Alan, "just want to say this: if chance ever throws +adventures my way again I hope that the companions I share it with +will always include Bob Russell." + +The details of how Ned and Alan, just one day late, kept their +engagement with major Honeywell and Senor' Oje in the Coates House, +and of the almost unbelievable report they made and the rich +evidence of its genuineness that they submitted do not really belong +in an account of the flight of the Cibola. Two things were done at +once, however. A handsome gold watch was purchased and sent to +Mayor Bradley with the compliments of Ned and Alan, and Senor Oje +forwarded an additional check for a thousand dollars to Buck's +widow. + +The report on the value of the stones carried from the treasure +temple by the two boys was such that Senor Oje gave them his check +for $25,000. Out of this each boy contributed part of his share +toward a sum sufficient to give Elmer a business education. Finally +the two boys bought a draft for a thousand dollars, payable to +Robert Russell. With it went this note: "Please accept this as some +slight compensation for the story you did not get." + +But in good time Bob Russell did get his story. For, otherwise, +this narrative would never have been written. + +How it came about that Bob got his story; how the treasure left in +the Turquoise Temple was finally lifted; how the young aeronauts in +doing it battled successfully with a maelstrom in the clouds, were +driven far out over the Pacific, cast away on a derelict and finally +made an escape with their "sneering idol" by aeroplane into the +wilds of Mexico, is a later and more remarkable chapter in the +adventures of Ned Napier and Alan Hope, to be told in "The Air-Ship +Boys Adrift, or Saved by an Aeroplane." + +THE END + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Air Ship Boys, by H.L. 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