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diff --git a/77606-0.txt b/77606-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cf7ff40 --- /dev/null +++ b/77606-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6167 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77606 *** + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: "A NEW YORK PAPER!" EXCLAIMED JERRY, AS HE LOOKED AT +THE HEADING. 'Lost Over Greenland.' (See page 118)] + + + + SLIM TYLER AIR STORIES + + + LOST OVER + GREENLAND + + OR + + Slim Tyler's Search for Dave Boyd + + + BY + + RICHARD H. STONE + + Author of "Sky Riders of the Atlantic," "An Air + Cargo of Gold," Etc. + + + _ILLUSTRATED._ + + + NEW YORK + CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY + PUBLISHERS + + + + +SLIM TYLER AIR STORIES + +_By_ RICHARD H. STONE + +12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. + +SKY RIDERS OF THE ATLANTIC + OR SLIM TYLER'S FIRST TRIP IN THE CLOUDS + +LOST OVER GREENLAND + OR SLIM TYLER'S SEARCH FOR DAVE BOYD + +AN AIR CARGO OF GOLD + OR SLIM TYLER, SPECIAL BANK MESSENGER + +_(Other Volumes in Preparation)_ + + + COPYRIGHT, 1930, BY + CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY + + LOST OVER GREENLAND + + Printed in the U. S. A. + + + + + CONTENTS + + CHAPTER + + I. The Onrushing Train + II. A Bitter Dose + III. The Tramp's Notebook + IV. A Slender Chance + V. The Flight to the Frozen North + VI. Balking a Rascal + VII. A Hazardous Landing + VIII. The Missing Aviators + IX. On the Wing + X. The Howl of the Wolf + XI. The Pack Closes In + XII. A Fearful Dilemma + XIII. Treed + XIV. A Close Call + XV. Singing Arrows + XVI. In Deadly Peril + XVII. At Risk of Life + XVIII. In the Grip of the Storm + XIX. Threatening Doom + XX. The Crash + XXI. Lost + XXII. The Shot + XXIII. A Joyous Reunion + XXIV. At Grips with a Monster + XXV. Down the Slope + XXVI. The Brink of the Abyss + XXVII. Speeding Homeward + XXVIII. Nat Shaley Gets a Jolt + + + + +LOST OVER GREENLAND + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE ONRUSHING TRAIN + +"Go in and win, Slim." + +"Good luck to you, old boy!" + +"We're rooting for you, Slim Tyler." + +A chorus of these and similar good wishes came from a host of throats +as Slim Tyler, with an embarrassed grin on his freckled face, made +his way toward his plane through the crowd of people on the North +Elmwood flying field. The crowd had gathered to witness the take-off +on the great refueling endurance flight, in which Slim Tyler was a +competitor and which, it was hoped, would establish a new world's +record. + +The interest in the contest was intense and had attracted spectators +from all over the country. Four teams of the most celebrated +aviators in America had entered for the prize, and their machines, +groomed to the minute and gleaming in the sun, stood quivering on the +field, as eager, apparently, to go aloft as were their masters. + +As Slim Tyler reached his plane in which Jerry Marbury, his assistant +pilot, was already seated, the famous aviator, Dave Boyd, the ace of +all the world's flyers, came up to him for a final word. + +"Go to it, my boy," said Dave, as he wrung Slim's hand. "I'm backing +you to the limit. I've been bragging to everyone that you're the +finest airman of your age in America and I'm depending on you to make +my boast good." + +"I'll do my best, both for your sake and my own," promised Slim. +"But it isn't going to be any cinch, considering the fellows I'll be +against." + +"Righto," agreed Dave Boyd. "But there'll be all the more glory in +winning. It wouldn't be any fun if you were fighting against dubs. +They'll give you a run for your money, all right. All the same, +you're going to lick them. You have the stamina, you have the skill, +and, above all, you have the bulldog stick-to-itiveness that's going +to count." + +"I hope you're a true prophet," said Slim, as he drew on his helmet, +adjusted his goggles, and jumped into the plane. + +The luck of the draw had placed him last in the order of ascent, and +he and Jerry Marbury watched with keen interest as one after another +the competing planes were drawn to the head of the runway and soared +into the air. + +"Those boys know their business," murmured Jerry, as he noted the +grace and celerity of the three take-offs. + +"They sure do," agreed Slim. "It won't be an easy job to pluck their +feathers. But if we don't do it, it won't be for lack of trying." + +Generous applause greeted all the pilots as they mounted into the +air. But it was nothing compared to the thunderous shout that rose +when the _Lightning Flash_, the plane of Slim Tyler and Jerry +Marbury, roared down the runway and darted up into the sky. + +"Seems as though they rather like us down there," remarked Slim to +Jerry, as he brought the plane to an even keel at an altitude of +about fifteen hundred feet. + +"Sure does," agreed Jerry. "Of course, it's our home crowd and they +want to see us win just as a matter of local pride. Then, too, they +know that Dave Boyd is backing us, and anything that Dave wants +everybody else in this burg wants." + +"That's my own chief reason for wanting to win," declared Slim. "I'd +far rather please Dave Boyd that win the two thousand dollars they've +hung up as a prize." + +"Same here," assented Jerry. "But, oh boy, those two thousand +berries look awfully good to me! A thousand apiece for a few days in +the air! Not bad, is it?" + +"Not to mention the five thousand dollars we'll divide between us if, +in addition to beating these fellows, we make a new world's record," +added Slim. + +Faintly to their ears came the music of the band, which regaled the +ears of the spectators with a medley of popular tunes, though without +diverting their attention from the four planes that circled about the +field in a variety of graceful evolutions, occasionally indulging in +stunts that made the spectators gasp. + +"Whom do you think we have to beat?" asked Jerry, as he watched the +movements of their three rivals. + +"All three of them," replied Slim, grinning. + +"Of course," rejoined Jerry. "What I mean is, which of these bozos +is likely to give us the most trouble?" + +"Hard to tell," judged Slim. "They're all good. Ellison and +McCarthy in the _Comet_, Braxton and Deimer in the _Scout_, Axtell +and Wilson in the _Speed King_. None of them's to be sneezed at. If +I were picking any of them, though, I'd fix on Braxton and Deimer as +the most dangerous. They won a flight of this kind out in +California, you know, and they're veterans." + +He pulled the stick and the _Lightning Flash_ darted up to an +altitude of three thousand feet. At the same time he reduced his +speed from sixty to about fifty miles an hour. + +Gradually the crowd below thinned out, although some of the most +enthusiastic of the flying fans camped there permanently for the +whole duration of the flight. There was always the chance of +something sensational happening to one or more of the four competing +planes. + +Soon the time came for refueling. The supply of gas was running low +and the aviators, too, were beginning to feel the pangs of hunger. + +Slim gave the preconcerted signal, and their supply plane, manned by +Biff Donovan and Tom Ellsworth, rose swiftly from the ground. + +"Here comes our flying wagon," murmured Jerry with satisfaction. + +"And here's the crucial test of the whole thing," added Slim Tyler as +he watched keenly the approaching plane. "I'll tend to the controls +while you show me what a perfect contact you can make." + +He gradually went lower as the other plane came higher, and the two +planes maneuvered until the supply ship was almost directly over the +_Lightning Flash_. + +"Let her go, Tom!" shouted and signaled Jerry. + +"Here she comes!" called Tom, and a long hose, like a great serpent, +came shooting down directly behind the propeller. + +Jerry grabbed it deftly before it had time to touch the plane and +connected it with the main tank, which immediately began to fill. + +"Smart work, Jerry!" exclaimed the young pilot. "Cut her off when +we've taken on about seventy gallons." + +Jerry Marbury complied and then unscrewed the hose and cast it off. + +Aluminum cans, three feet long, containing sandwiches, fruit, and +coffee, in addition to a bottle of distilled water, were then swung +down to them by Tom Ellsworth. + +Jerry received them with marked enthusiasm, which was fully shared by +Slim. + +"They've sent us plenty, I hope," remarked Slim Tyler. + +"They have," declared Jerry, as an avalanche of good things slid from +the container that he turned upside down. "If we fail in this +flight, it won't be because they've let us starve to death. Sink +your teeth into that," and he flipped a lettuce and egg sandwich to +his companion, who caught it deftly in his left hand and ate it +eagerly. The supply plane slid down in long spirals to the ground, +and Jerry, after a copious meal, relieved Slim at the controls so +that the latter could follow his example. + +They ate with appetite, for it was now nearly night, and in the +feverish excitement of the preparations for the flight neither had +tasted food since early morning. + +The sun went down, dusk deepened into night, and gradually the +heavens were studded with stars. The moon would not rise till late, +but with the brightly lighted field beneath them and the searchlights +that kept sweeping the skies, there was no difficulty in avoiding +contact with the rival planes. + +Slim had throttled the motor down to about twelve hundred +revolutions, and the _Lightning Flash_ maintained a pace which, while +it would have been fast for an express train, was slow for an +airplane. They were not going anywhere, and it did not matter +whether they loafed or sped, as long as they remained aloft. + +"We'll work this thing on three-hour spells," decided Slim. "Suppose +you get some sleep now, Jerry, and I'll call you three hours from +now." + +"Suits me all right," acceded Jerry. "Talk about an outdoor sleeping +porch! This lies all over that. All the ventilation you want and +then some." + +He stretched out on his narrow mattress and in a few minutes was fast +asleep. At the appointed time Slim Tyler woke him and took his +place, and thus they alternated through the night. + +A slight haze lay low on the ground when morning broke and shut out +the sight of the field. It made flying hazardous, also, and had the +rival planes been flying at the same altitude, there would have been +great danger of collision. + +But it had been previously arranged that in case of bad weather +conditions they should fly at different heights, so that the pilots +had little worry on that account. + +About ten o'clock the haze lifted and the circling planes were bathed +in sunlight. + +Slim Tyler and Jerry Marbury cast a glance about for their rivals. + +"Look at the _Scout_!" exclaimed Jerry. "She seems to be coming +down." + +"Wonder what the trouble is," said Slim, with quickened interest. + +Braxton could be seen at the controls while Deimer was on the narrow +catwalk working desperately to adjust some trouble with the motor. + +"Seem to be making heavy weather of it," remarked Jerry. "Something +gone wrong with the engine." + +Whatever the difficulty was, it seemed unconquerable, for Deimer at +last threw up his hands in a gesture of despair, got into his seat, +where he sat with drooping head, and Braxton in long spirals brought +the plane to the ground. The _Scout_ was definitely out of the race. + +Slim Tyler and Jerry Marbury looked at each other, the same thought +in the mind of each. The dropping out of one of the contestants +marked a step toward their own final triumph. They had only two to +beat now, instead of three. They could not help a feeling of +elation, but blended with this was a feeling of sympathy for the +discomfited aviators. They knew how they would have felt in a +similar position. + +There were no more casualties on that day. But on the following +morning, Ellison and McCarthy in the _Comet_ were forced to quit +because of a split in the propeller that had developed during the +night. + +"Falling like autumn leaves," murmured Jerry. "I can see those two +thousand berries coming nearer. We have now only the _Speed King_ to +beat and the race is ours." + +"They're saying the same thing about us," observed Slim. "Everything +seems to be all serene with them so far. Listen to their motors. +They're working like a dream." + +A little later Slim Tyler himself had a scare. His own motors began +to miss. + +Jerry's face paled when he heard the ominous knocking. + +"Gas giving out?" he asked in alarm. + +"No, we have plenty," replied Slim, as he tapped the tank. "It must +be that the feed pipe is clogged. Hustle, Jerry, and get it cleared." + +Jerry worked like a madman and adjusted the trouble while Slim, with +consummate skill, so maneuvered the plane, which for the time was +practically motorless, as to keep it from descending. + +Even at that, it was dangerously near the ground before the engines +resumed their usual hum and Slim Tyler gave her the gun and mounted +to a realm of safety. + +"Close call that!" exclaimed Jerry, with a gasp of relief as he wiped +his streaming brow. + +"Sure was," agreed Slim. "It simply shows what an assortment of +chances there is in this game." + +This was illustrated an hour later when the _Speed King_ was seen to +falter and go into a tail spin. + +"She's going down!" cried Jerry excitedly. "Here's where we win." + +But his excitement was premature, for by a herculean effort the +_Speed King_ was brought out of her spin and to a level keel. + +"Now where's your two thousand?" chaffed Slim. + +"Only postponed a little while," replied Jerry. "Be all the more fun +counting it when it comes." + +Slim Tyler in his moments of leisure was thinking of far more than +two thousand dollars. He was mulling over in his mind the twenty +thousand dollars out of which he believed his father had been +swindled by the old skinflint, Nat Shaley. + +Would he ever get it? Could he ever pin the crime on Shaley and +compel him to make restitution? + +His last interview with the miserly old lumber dealer had convinced +Slim of the man's guilt. But moral certainty was one thing and legal +proof was quite another. He had not a shred of real evidence that +would stand up for a moment in a court of law. + +If the tramp, High Hat Frank, who knew so much about the matter had +not died so soon! If---- + +But what was the use of "ifs?" Slim Tyler put the matter in the back +of his mind and devoted himself to the task in hand. + +In the afternoon, to vary the scene of action a little, Slim Tyler +sailed in a wider circle that carried his plane over the railroad +tracks skirting the mountains. + +A long whistle came faintly to the ears of the two airmen, and, +looking up the tracks, they saw a freight train winding its way down +the grade. + +Jerry touched Slim's arm. + +"Look at the auto coming down that mountain road!" he exclaimed, +pointing to the right. "Looks as if the driver had lost control. +And that road crosses the railroad tracks!" + +"Brakes won't work, I guess," cried Slim in alarm. "Looks as if he +were heading for a smashup." + +The auto went plunging crazily along, made a wild skid as it +approached the roadbed, and turned over on its side on the track, +throwing out the driver, who lay stunned across the rails. + +"And the train's coming!" cried Slim, with blanched face. "Because +of the curve, they won't see him until it's too late to stop. We'll +have to go down and save him, contest or not!" + +"But the money--" began Jerry, and then added hastily: "All right. +I'm with you." + +There was an open field near by, and Slim Tyler made the quickest +landing of his life. Before the plane stopped, Slim and Jerry had +jumped from the cockpit and were racing at full speed toward the +wrecked car. + +As they neared the track the prostrate man rose and staggered toward +them. A shock ran through Slim Tyler as he saw the man's face. + +It was the face of Nat Shaley! + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A BITTER DOSE + +Nat Shaley! The worst enemy Slim Tyler had on earth! The man who +had cheated him out of his wages! The man who had hounded him on +false charges and had had him arrested! The man who, in Slim's +belief, had swindled his father out of twenty thousand dollars! + +And for the sake of this miserable rascal, Slim had thrown away his +chance of winning fame and money and possibly of hanging up a new +world's record! And not only his own chance, but that of his loyal +friend and companion, Jerry Marbury! + +A wave of bitterness swept over Slim Tyler as he looked at the mean, +wizened face of the old skinflint. + +"So it's you, is it, Nat Shaley?" exclaimed Slim. + +"Yes, it's me," snarled Shaley. "Why do you fellers stand here with +your mouths open, lookin' so dumb when the train's comin'? Hurry up +an' pull that car of mine off the tracks, an' be quick about it." + +The indignant response that flew to Slim's lips at the man's brusque +order was lost in the grinding of brakes as the freight train rounded +the curve and the engineer noted the obstruction on the track. + +But the train was heavy and the grade steep, and despite the +engineer's utmost efforts the locomotive struck the car and hurled +it, a twisted mass of wood and metal, to the side of the tracks. + +"There, drat it!" cried Shaley, "they've smashed my car, all because +you lazy lummoxes wuz as slow as molasses instead of hustlin'. But +somebody'll pay fer this, by gravy!" + +"Oh, shut up!" commanded Jerry, stung beyond endurance by the +fellow's arrogance. "Who do you think you are, to order us about?" + +"You ought to be glad you saved your miserable life," declared Slim. +"The old car was a rattletrap, anyway. It ought to have been in the +junk heap five years ago." + +"What's all this about?" demanded the engineer of the locomotive, who +had descended from the cab and approached them, accompanied by his +fireman, while the conductor was hurrying from the caboose. "Whose +car was that on the track?" + +"Mine!" shrieked Nat Shaley. "An' you've got yourself in a pretty +mess by smashin' it. I'll sue the company, by heck, an' you'll be +lookin' fer another job." + +"Cut out that kind of guff," growled the engineer. "What was the car +doing on the track?" + +"That ain't neither here nor there," retorted Shaley. "You got eyes +in your head, ain't you? Why didn't you stop your train when you +seed it there?" + +"Couldn't stop in time," replied the engineer curtly. + +"That's because you don't know your business," snarled Shaley. "You +ain't heerd the last of this yet. That car wuz worth twelve hundred +dollars, an' your company'll pay every last cent of it. I've got +witnesses here," and he pointed to Slim and Jerry. + +"Don't call on me," put in Jerry. + +"Nor me," added Slim bitterly. "The old car wasn't worth twenty +dollars. I've heard you say that you'd had it for fifteen years and +it was second hand when you bought it." + +"'Tain't so," snarled Shaley vehemently. "You lyin'----" + +He stopped abruptly and stepped back as Slim Tyler took a quick step +forward. + +"Look here, you old rascal," said the young aviator, his eyes +blazing, "no man calls me a liar and gets away with it. I won't hit +you, because you're too old. But another word like that and I'll +take you by the scruff of the neck and shake you till your false +teeth drop out." + +"Aw, go on," said Shaley sullenly, taking care to keep his distance. +"Anyways, I'll make the company pay----" + +"How did the car come to get on the tracks?" asked the conductor, who +by this time had joined the excited group. + +"Because there must have been somethin' wrong in the right of way," +replied Shaley. "Part of the rail stickin' out or somethin' that +upset it. Why don't your company keep the tracks in order? I wuz +joggin' along nice an' peaceable, everything shipshape, an' I struck +somethin' at the track that upset the car quick as a wink. Wonder I +wuzn't killed. Your company'll have to pay me fer personal damages, +as well as fer the car----" + +While this farrago of lies was being reeled off, Slim Tyler and Jerry +Marbury had been looking at each other in stupefaction. + +"You infernal old crook!" Jerry finally burst forth. "The whole +thing was your own fault, or the fault of the car. You'd lost +control of it, brakes out of order or something, and you were coming +down that hill lickety-split." + +Shaley glared at him, bursting with rage. + +"Well, we can't stay here all day chewing the rag," interrupted the +conductor, looking at his watch. "I'll take the names of you two +gentlemen," he said, taking out a notebook and doing some hasty +scribbling. "As for you," he said to Shaley, "you can put your claim +in the regular way, though I don't think you'll get anything. Get +into the cab, Jim," he directed the engineer, "and start her going." + +A minute or two more and the train was under way. + +Slim Tyler had gained his nickname because of his tall, lanky figure. +He had been christened Ross Joseph, and was the son of Stillwell and +Mary Tyler. Both had now been dead for years. Mr. Tyler had once +been possessed of considerable means, but most of it had been swept +away in the later years of his life by unfortunate investments. + +There was practically nothing left for the orphan lad, and he knocked +about, supporting himself as best he could, until he got a job in Nat +Shaley's lumberyard at Centerville. + +Slim worked early and late, hard and faithfully, but Shaley, whose +dislike he had incurred because of an accident that had been wholly +Shaley's fault, discharged him abruptly, owing him forty dollars in +wages. Shaley offered him twelve dollars in full settlement, but +Slim Tyler insisted on getting the forty that were due him. High +words took place and Slim declared that he would get square with +Shaley for cheating him. The threat was thrown out in the heat of +anger and really meant nothing. + +But that night Shaley's yards burned, and Slim, friendless and +moneyless, realized the deadly significance that would be attached to +his threat, which had been overheard by the foreman. In bewilderment +and consternation he "hopped" a freight train that same night. In +the car where he had ensconced himself he came in contact with a +half-drunken tramp who called himself High Hat Frank and who referred +to the fire, chuckling tipsily. + +In his wanderings Slim Tyler finally brought up at North Elmwood, +where he found employment with Carl Stummel, a good-natured old +German keeper of a "hot dog" stand. It was a great relief for Slim +to have his livelihood provided for, but his chief satisfaction rose +from the fact that the hot dog stand directly faced the North Elmwood +flying field, one of the great aviation fields of the country. + +Slim Tyler, from his earliest boyhood, had been fascinated by the +idea of flying. He would have given the world to be an airman. But +without money to go to a flying school it seemed that this ambition +would never be realized. + +It was a great delight, however, to watch the planes circling about +and to see the pilots and mechanics at work. He picked up many +acquaintances among the aviators, and every spare hour he had he +spent on the flying field. He looked with reverence on the famous +airmen and especially on Dave Boyd, the most famous aviator in the +United States and, for that matter, in the world. + +Slim's great chance came when he found in the road, where it had been +jolted from an automobile, a satchel containing two thousand dollars +in cash. To his delight this proved to belong to Dave Boyd, and Slim +hurried to him with the money. + +The great aviator was so struck with the boy's honesty that he +insisted on giving him a substantial reward, and finding that Slim +was interested in flying, he gave him employment in his own hangar. +The lad was in the seventh heaven and was learning rapidly all that +was to be known about airplanes when one day, just on the eve of a +South American flight by Boyd, he found himself confronted on the +crowded flying field by Nat Shaley. + +The latter clamored instantly for Slim's arrest. In the hue and cry +that followed Slim took refuge in the tail of the _Shooting Star_, +the plane that was to carry Boyd and his party to Buenos Aires, +Argentina, the goal of the flight. While hiding there, he overheard +Shaley say something inadvertently that led him to associate the old +miser with his, Slim's, father's lumber deal. + +Then, to the lad's surprise and consternation, the _Shooting Star_ +rose in the air, and he found himself an unwilling stowaway on the +great South American flight. + +What thrilling adventures he met with on that voyage, the stern +disfavor with which Boyd and his assistants met him when he emerged +from his hiding place, the way in which he conquered their respect +and admiration by his courage and quick wit in desperate emergencies, +his arrest by Shaley on his return and his exoneration; all this is +told in the first volume of this series, entitled: "Sky Riders of the +Atlantic." + +The wrongs he had suffered at the hands of Shaley were in Slim +Tyler's mind as he gave vent to his bitter denunciation of the +wizened old rascal. + +"You'd better look out what you're sayin', you boys had," bristled +Shaley. "Them words is actionable at law. You can't go aroun' +callin' people names an' not get caught up with, let me tell you." + +"Oh, close your face!" exclaimed Jerry, in profound disgust. "Slim +knows you're a crook. I know you're a liar. I wish you were younger +so that I could take a swing at you. Gosh, Slim," he added as he +turned to his comrade, "if I'd known that it was this old rascal in +that car I'd never have agreed to come down." + +"Well, there's no use crying over spilt milk," said Slim sadly. "We +are down, and that's the end of it. Come along and leave this old +crab to stew in his own juice. Gee, I hate to face Dave Boyd, but we +might as well get the agony over with." + +They left Shaley glaring after them malignantly, climbed into the +cockpit, and lifted the plane into the air. + +"Feel as if I were going to my own funeral," muttered Jerry +dejectedly. + +"It's a blow right between the eyes," admitted Slim. "But I really +don't see what else we could have done. We didn't know that Shaley +was going to recover in time to stagger off the tracks. And we would +never have forgiven ourselves if, for the sake of money, we'd let a +human being be crushed to death, as it seemed likely he would be." + +"Of course not," agreed Jerry. "Oh, I'm not beefing because we came +down. I'd do the same thing over again under the same circumstances. +But I'd rather we'd gone to the help of anyone else in the world than +that old miser. And how grateful he was! Thanked us a lot, didn't +he? Called us 'lazy lummoxes' because we didn't get that old bunch +of junk off the track." + +They reached the flying field to find the crowds in a great state of +excitement. It was known that the _Lightning Flash_ had come down +and all were agog to know the reason. + +The _Speed King_ was still gracefully flying over the field, and +Jerry looked at it with eyes bleak with disappointment. + +"They win," he said bitterly, "and all because a wretched old crook +happened to be in this part of the country at the wrong time. This +sure has been our unlucky day!" + +Slim brought the plane down to a perfect landing, to be surrounded +immediately by a clamoring crowd. + +Dave Boyd pushed his way to the side of the plane. + +"What in thunder made you come down?" he demanded. "Engine trouble?" + +In a few words Slim Tyler explained the cause of the disaster. +Boyd's disappointment was bitter, but he bore it like the sportsman +he was. + +"Of course you had to do what you did," he conceded, when Slim had +finished. "It's just a bit of awfully bad luck. And the fact that +it was Nat Shaley you did it for adds the finishing touch. We've +just got to grin and bear it. + +"By the way," he added to Slim, as the young aviator and Jerry +climbed dispiritedly out of the cockpit, "speaking of Shaley reminds +me that a little while ago a trampish-looking man was around here +looking for you. Said he'd known High Hat Frank." + +Slim pricked up his ears. + +"Where is he now?" he asked eagerly. + +"Haven't the least idea," replied Boyd. "Probably hanging round +somewhere. Probably he'll be hunting you up, now that he knows your +plane's come down." + +He turned to give directions to have the _Lightning Flash_ drawn into +her hangar, and Slim Tyler made his way wearily through the crowd. +The reason for his descent had spread like wildfire, and he received +many congratulations for having made such a sacrifice for the sake of +saving a life that seemed to be in danger. + +These, however, failed to cheer him greatly. His heart was sore. He +had entered the race with the highest of hopes. He had hoped to +write his name on the scroll of fame. His success would have meant +not only money, but reputation. His name and the story of his +exploit would have been in every newspaper in the United States. It +would have been the opening wedge of a great flying career. + +But he had lost! And lost for the sake of whom? That was the +bitterest drop in his cup of misery. Lost for the sake of his worst +enemy, a man who had cheated him, a man who hated him, a man who had +not thanked him, a man who would even chuckle when he read the papers +and learned the extent of Slim's loss! It was surely the irony of +fate. + +He made his way across to Stummel's hot dog stand and dropped wearily +on a stool. + +The old German spotted him at once and was so agitated that he +dropped the cup of coffee he was handling. + +"Himmel! It vos Shlim!" he cried, as he hurried toward him. "Vy iss +it dot you iss not yet oop in der air alretty? Iss it dot you haf a +fall gehabt?" + +Slim smiled wryly. + +"No go, Carl," he replied. "I had to come down." + +"Und dot two tausend dollars iss ausgespielt?" asked Carl, in +consternation. "It iss geflopt gangen?" + +"All gone," assented Slim. "I don't get a red cent." + +"Und I haf lost der fife tollers dot I bet on you," continued Carl. +"But dot iss nuddings. It iss for you dot I feel badt. Poor Shlim!" + +A rough-looking man on an adjoining stool turned about sharply. + +"Are you Slim Tyler?" he asked. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE TRAMP'S NOTEBOOK + +Slim Tyler nodded cautiously in answer to the stranger's question. +He was not impressed by the man's appearance. + +"That's what they call me," he replied. "What can I do for you?" + +The fellow leered at Slim over his hot dog. His look became sly and +calculating. + +"Well, now," he said, "it ain't so much what you can do for me, young +feller, as what I may be able to do for you." + +Slim grinned. + +"All right. I never yet shot a fellow for wanting to do me a favor. +What's on your mind?" + +The last words gained in interest, for it occurred to Slim that this +might be the fellow that Dave Boyd had mentioned, the +trampish-looking man that had claimed acquaintanceship with High Hat +Frank. + +Perhaps the tramp noticed his quickened interest and guessed at the +cause. At any rate, when he spoke again it was with increased +assurance. + +"Well, now, I ain't exactly throwin' my favors round reckless like. +There's folks might think that this here favor I've got for you was +worth spendin' a few bucks to get." + +"I supposed you were after money," said Slim. "Tell me what you have +for me and how much you want for it." + +The look of cunning grew in the eyes of the tramp. + +"Yeah, I should tell you!" he jeered. "And after you got my +information I'd like to know how much of a chance I'd have of +collecting on it." + +Slim turned his back on the fellow. + +"Keep your information," he said curtly, and added to Carl Stummel: +"One hot dog, please, with plenty of mustard." + +"Ach!" replied Carl, his eyes twinkling, "you talk like I don't know +alretty how you like dem--me who votched you spreadt on der mustard +so dick alretty it iss a vender vot you dond burn oudt your insides +yet." + +"I like plenty of mustard," grinned Slim. "It kills the taste of the +dog." + +As he accepted the wienie from Carl's stubby fingers he felt a touch +on his shoulder. He turned to find the stranger gazing anxiously at +him. + +"What, you here yet?" asked Slim, with a fine affectation of +carelessness and smothering a yawn. + +"I knew High Hat Frank," whispered the fellow, his ugly countenance +twisted into an expression of amiability. "It will be worth your +while to listen to what I have to say. Take it from one who knows." + +Slim eyed the man speculatively. + +"How much do you want and what have you got?" he asked. + +"I have a notebook that once belonged to High Hat Frank," the fellow +replied. "I was in a camp with three other guys, gentlemen of the +road like me," with a leer. "One day when all the rest had cleared +out I found a notebook. It had High Hat Frank's name on it." + +"Well," said Slim, "what has that to do with me?" + +"It has your name in it, that's what it's got to do with you," was +the reply. "And it has other things in it, this notebook has--things +you might like to know." + +"Let me see it," demanded Slim. + +"For a price," replied the tramp. "My name's Dan Mooney and you can +see for yourself that I ain't got much of this world's goods. I'm a +poor man, I am, and I got to make my money where I can." + +"You don't expect me to buy a pig in a poke, do you?" asked Slim. + +"You've got to take a chance on that," replied Mooney. "It'll cost +you ten dollars in advance to get a squint at it. Maybe it'll be +worth a hundred times that to you. I dunno. But you ought to be +willing to gamble that much on it." + +Slim himself was of the same opinion. He reached into his pocket, +pulled out some bills, counted out a five and five ones and shoved +them toward the tramp. Mooney seized them eagerly in his dirty +fingers and shoved them into an inside pocket of his ragged coat. + +"All right," he said. "Now, you being a sport and me being an honest +man, I'm giving you a fair return for your money." + +He thrust his hand deep into a back pocket and drew out a shabby old +notebook which he handed to the young aviator. The book was so +filthy with dirt and grease that Slim handled it gingerly by one +corner. + +"Looks like you vos got schwindled alretty," observed Carl Stummel, +who had watched the proceeding with disapproval. "For sooch a book +ich vould nicht ten cents geben, to say nuddings oof ten tollers." + +"Go take a back seat, grandpa," remarked the tramp, with a lofty wave +of his dirty hand. "Believe me when Mr. Tyler here gets a look at +the inside sheets of that there little book he'll think he got it +dirt cheap. Now give me two wienies with mustard and make it snappy. +I got money now and I want service." + +The old German's indignant snort was lost on Slim Tyler, as he rose +and strolled away, the notebook still held between thumb and +forefinger. He wanted to find a secluded spot where he could peruse +High Hat Frank's notebook without fear of interruption. + +He found such a spot in the yard back of the hot dog stand. He sat +down on a tree stump and opened the greasy notebook. + +His fingers shook with eagerness. + +How much, if anything, had High Hat Frank known of Nat Shaley and his +swindling lumber schemes? How much, if anything, had he known of +that Oregon deal in which Slim's own father had been involved? + +Almost fearfully Slim Tyler leafed the pages of the book. + +The first few pages on which his eye fell held little of personal +interest for him. They were memoranda of trips made and people +encountered by the dead tramp, of private grudges and vows on the +part of the writer to even the score with certain persons unknown to +Slim. + +The lad was becoming increasingly disappointed when a certain +notation caught his eye. He read with eagerness the almost illegible +writing that lay scrawled across the pages. + +"Guess this is worth ten dollars, all right," he muttered to himself. + +The paragraph that so interested him began with some decidedly +uncomplimentary remarks concerning the character of Nat Shaley, and +continued with some generalities relative to an Oregon lumber deal. + +These references were vague and had evidently been jotted down only +as aids to High Hat Frank's memory, which was probably becoming +dimmed by excessive drinking. + +Several names, however, were mentioned that Slim felt might serve him +as clues. The real name of High Hat Frank himself, Frank Larrapoo, +was the first that Slim came across. Two other men, Hugh Garrabrant +and Cameron Flood seemed to have been involved in the deal. The man +named Flood, it appeared, had a claim amounting to forty thousand +dollars. + +There was a notation relative to this last fact which made Slim's +pulses quicken: + + +"Flood and Tyl--" here a bit of the paper had crumpled away--"both +swindled. Looks like that crook, Shaley, got all the money while +they were left holding the bag." + + +"Tyl--"! It was maddening that just at that point the paper was +crumpled. What had originally been on that missing bit. Was it the +syllable "er," completing the name "Tyler?" Slim felt sure of it. + +This was all in the book that bore on the Oregon transaction, all, as +a matter of fact, that had the slightest interest for Slim Tyler. + +However, Slim felt that it was a great deal. It was the first +written statement he had yet seen in which Nat Shaley had been +accused of swindling. And it was the first time that in writing +Slim's father's name had been linked with the transaction. + +If only the paper had not worn away just there! If, in addition, the +full name "Stillwell Tyler" had been there! + +High Hat Frank could have made the identification definite. But High +Hat Frank was dead. But, even if he were alive, how far would his +evidence have weight? + +"He was only a tramp," thought Slim. "Who would have taken his word +against that of a man like Nat Shaley, who has the power of influence +and money behind him?" + +Thinking these thoughts, the first fine edge of Slim's enthusiasm was +dulled. He figured that as evidence in court High Hat Frank's dirty, +grease-soaked notebook would not be worth the paper in it. + +"The judge and jury would laugh," he thought, "and so would Nat +Shaley. What I need are facts--facts that the crook can't laugh off. +But how I'm going to get them--that's another question." + +He consulted the notebook again. + +"Hugh Garrabrant and Cameron Flood," he said aloud. "I'd like to +meet one or both of them. I reckon they might be able to tell me +some interesting things about that transaction--things that High Hat +Frank neglected to put down in his notebook." + +There was the thunderous rumble of an airplane directly overhead. + +Slim Tyler looked up absently, but instantly his attention became +fixed. + +The plane was the _Speed King_, the last of the four in the contest +remaining aloft. + +His practiced glance told him at once that the _Speed King_ was in +trouble and preparing to descend. + +"Lots of good that does me, though, now that Jerry and I are out of +it," he said to himself bitterly. + +He hurried over to the flying field, thrusting the notebook into his +pocket. + +The plane was flying low. Its engines barked wearily. It dropped +and fluttered like a tired bird. + +Slim made his way through the crowd to a place beside the Boyd +hangar, where Jerry was in earnest conversation with Henry Cusack, +the superintendent of the field, and several of Boyd's mechanics. + +Jerry waved to Slim and pointed to the plane. + +"One of the engines has passed out altogether," he said. "She's got +to come down. That knocks out all their chances of breaking the +record." + +"Yes," replied Slim. "But they've beaten us just the same in the +individual contest." + +"And got the two thousand berries that would have been ours if it +hadn't been for that confounded Nat Shaley," groaned Jerry. + +The plane touched the ground, bounded along for several hundred feet, +and came to a standstill. + +Slim was about to join the crowd that surged about the _Speed King_ +when a familiar voice caught his ear. He glanced back over his +shoulder. + +Carl Stummel elbowed and pushed his way through the crowd toward him +in a state of great excitement. + +"Dere he iss, alretty!" cried Carl. "I tell you dot dis Shlim Tyler, +dere iss nuddings dot he candt do vunst. Shlim! Vait a minute yet!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +A SLENDER CHANCE + +Slim Tyler whirled about, curious to know what had so stirred his +good friend. + +Carl Stummel's glasses were pushed far up on his forehead. His hair +stood up in bushy wisps about his head as though he had grasped it in +some extremity of tragic emotion. His eyes were wild and he was +panting heavily. + +The German was not alone. By the hand he led a man whose girth was +as generous as his own. There, however, the resemblance ended. The +stranger had a scholarly, sensitive face with near-sighted eyes that +peered uncertainly from steel-rimmed spectacles. He appeared not to +see Slim until he was almost upon him. + +"Dis iss Shlim Tyler," panted Carl to his companion. "Dere is +nuddings he candt do alretty. He vill your leetle poy save. Shlim, +dis iss Henry Traut." + +The newcomer peered up at the tall young aviator. He clutched at +Slim's sleeves. + +"Ach, yes, I have heard of you," he said. "Can you once save my +little boy, I will be your friend for life." + +Slim was touched by the pleading in the father's eyes. + +"I'll be glad to do anything I can," he said earnestly. "Where is +your boy and what's wrong with him?" + +Carl broke in to explain. + +"Der leetle poy in an accident it iss dot he vos been alretty. He +lif in Ernestville, fifty miles from here it iss. He must an +oberation haf kevick. He--he----" + +Carl was getting so excited that his friend took up the tale. + +"My wife has phoned me," he said in husky accents, "that the doctor +there says we must get Dr. Aaron Wills, the specialist who lives +here, to perform the operation. I understand he is a wonderful +surgeon. But he must come at once. Else my baby will die--my little +boy, he is only six years old----" + +His voice broke and he wrung his hands distractedly. + +"Eef you der doctor could get und fly mit him to Ernestville, Shlim," +Carl said pleadingly. + +"I'll do it," promised Slim. + +He made his way through the press of people toward the row of cars +parked about the field. + +He knew the famous specialist by sight, and remembered having seen +him on the field only a few minutes before. + +"It would be too good luck to find him there still," Slim thought to +himself. "Just the same, it's possible." + +When he reached the farther side of the field he caught a glimpse of +the surgeon's car about to pull away to the road. + +Slim began to run, his long legs covering the ground swiftly. + +"Doctor Wills!" he called. "Doctor Wills! Wait a minute!" + +The car was already rolling smoothly along the road and Slim's call +was unheard. + +Slim set his teeth and sprinted. His legs moved like pistons. + +The heavy traffic of vehicles along the road decided the race in +Slim's favor. He came up with the doctor's car and flung himself +upon the running board. + +Doctor Wills looked surprised. Perhaps he thought for a fleeting +second that he was the victim of a hold-up. + +He recognized the young aviator almost instantly, however, and drew +up at the side of the road. + +"What can I do for you, my boy?" he asked, a smile transforming +features that in repose were serious, almost stern. "You scarcely +look as though you needed the services of a doctor." + +"Not yet, doctor," replied Slim. "Although it's a lucky fellow in my +line of work who doesn't need the services of a surgeon to patch him +up now and then." + +He explained hurriedly the plight of Henry Traut and the six-year-old +child, whose life the skill of Dr. Aaron Wills was depended on to +save. + +Doctor Wills listened intently, his face growing increasingly serious. + +"Ernestville is more than fifty miles away," he observed. "If the +child is as badly hurt as you say, we probably couldn't get there in +time." + +Slim smiled confidently. + +"We could make it by plane," he declared. + +"Ah!" the stern face relaxed again. Slim's youth and enthusiasm +possessed a strong appeal for this man of many cares and ceaseless +responsibilities. "I see." + +He turned his car in the direction of the flying field. + +"Get your plane ready," he said. "While you're doing it, I'll call +up my office, tell them where I'm going, and leave directions +concerning a few matters with my assistant." + +They found Henry Traut where Slim had left him. Carl had been forced +to go back to his hot dog stand, for on a day like this business was +brisk. + +Slim introduced the doctor, and the German grasped his hand +convulsively. + +"It is so good of you, doctor," he said tremulously. "Our little +boy, he is all we have. If he should leave us, I too should die." + +"I'll do my best," said the doctor, as he and Traut hastily got into +the flying togs that Slim handed them. + +A hasty word to Jerry from Slim had apprised him of the state of +affairs and he had hauled out a speedy plane from the hangar so that +in an incredibly short time everything was ready for the flight. + +Carl Stummel rushed over again for a parting word with his friend. +There were tears in the eyes of the good old fellow as he wrung +Traut's hand. + +"It vill be alles recht," Carl assured him. "You shoost leave it mit +dot Shlim Tyler. He iss vun great poy. He vill get you dere in der +jig dime yet." + +Slim met the quizzical glance of the famous surgeon and grinned +sheepishly. + +"Mr. Stummel is an old friend of mine, Doctor," he said. "I'm afraid +he has too much confidence in me." + +"Any man may count himself fortunate to possess one friend with +implicit confidence in his ability," said Dr. Wills gravely. +"Besides, I think we're all inclined to share his confidence. Let's +see now how quickly you can take us to Ernestville." + +"Watch our smoke," said Slim, as he motioned to one of the mechanics +to turn the propeller. + +The engines sang their song of speed as the plane rushed down the +runway and darted upward into the air. + +Higher and higher it rose until it was at an elevation of about a +thousand feet. Then Slim brought it to an even keel and set its nose +in the direction of Ernestville, fifty miles away. + +Before Slim's mind rose the vision of a six-year-old child, inert, +helpless, dependent for life itself on the speed of the plane and the +skill of the surgeon. + +"A race with death perhaps," Slim muttered to himself. "But I have a +feeling that we'll win." + +He gave the plane full throttle and clove the air like a comet. He +was racing not for a money prize, not for glory or reputation, but +for a life. + +He covered the fifty miles in something less than twenty minutes, and +came down on a small flying field in the outskirts of Ernestville. + +There, through a previous arrangement made over the telephone by +Jerry Marbury before the take-off, a car was waiting. + +Into this hurried Dr. Wills, followed by Henry Traut and by Slim +himself, who had lingered behind just for a moment to give a few +directions regarding the plane. + +"To my house, quick!" urged Traut. + +"No, to the hospital," directed the doctor. "I talked to your doctor +before we left North Elmwood and he arranged for the transfer. With +the facilities there, a successful outcome to the operation is far +more probable than if it were performed at your home. Set your mind +at rest. Everything will be done for your child that it is possible +to do." + +"Ach, Gott!" murmured the stricken father. "I pray that it will be +enough." + +The car stopped at the hospital, and the doctor hurried up the steps. +Henry Traut kept beside him, his fingers twining and intertwining in +agonized helplessness. + +Slim Tyler brought up the rear, increasingly conscious of being an +outsider, yet unwilling to desert the party until he had learned more +concerning the fate of the little lad. + +Inside the hospital they were greeted by the clean antiseptic odor +common to all such institutions. + +The great surgeon was met by the nurse in charge, who summoned the +head of the hospital, who in turn offered all the facilities of his +domain to his distinguished colleague. + +Doctor Wills gave a crisp direction and turned toward the stairs. It +was evident that he had completely forgotten both the father of his +"case" and Slim Tyler, who had been chiefly responsible for bringing +him there. + +Henry Traut, however, was not willing to be ignored. He followed the +surgeon and plucked nervously at his sleeve. + +"My boy, I can see him, yes?" + +Without pausing in his swift stride, Doctor Wills said over his +shoulder: + +"Better wait in the reception room with young Tyler. I'll have word +sent to you as soon as you can see the boy." + +With this small comfort the distracted father was forced to content +himself. He walked irresolutely into the waiting room and paced up +and down, up and down, his hands behind his back, his glazed stare +fixed, his mouth set in a line of pain. + +Slim watched him uncomfortably for a few minutes, wondering if he +should try to say something comforting, but finally deciding against +it. + +"How can I say anything consoling when his poor little kid may be +dying this minute for all I know? I doubt if he'd even hear me. He +has his ears strained for some sound from upstairs." + +He turned restlessly to the window and tried to interest his thoughts +by the sights of the street. + +"The worst fix I ever was in," he muttered to himself. "Who'd think +I'd get so cut up about some one else's kid? Wonder what they're +doing to the poor little beggar, anyhow." + +As though in answer to his question, a soft-footed nurse entered. + +"Mr. Traut," she said, "I have come from Doctor Wills. He says that +you can see your little boy." + +Henry Traut paused in his restless pacing. He regarded the nurse, +his face working. He peered at her and gripped her arm with +imploring fingers. + +"My little boy--my little son," he whispered. "Tell me--will he +live?" + +The nurse nodded, a smile on her face. + +"Doctor Wills says that he is out of danger." + +Henry Traut sat down with great suddenness. Slim had the impression +that his legs had given out under him. Traut felt in his pocket and +drew out a handkerchief, which he applied to his eyes. + +"Lieber Gott!" he murmured, "I give thanks." + +Slim felt an unaccustomed emotion swelling up in him and turned +sharply to the window. He remained there until he was conscious of a +presence near him and turned to find the white-garbed nurse beside +him. + +"Are you Mr. Tyler?" she asked. + +Slim admitted his identity. + +"I brought Doctor Wills and Mr. Traut here in a plane," he added +awkwardly. "I haven't really any business here, but I thought I'd +sort of like to hang around until I found out how the little codger +was getting along. I--I guess I'll be going now." + +"I guess you'll do nothing of the kind," said the nurse smilingly. +"Not if I have anything to say about it--or Doctor Wills. You see +the little Traut boy has been asking for you--seems he's seen your +picture in the papers and heard a lot about your flying--and he won't +take no for an answer." + +"How does he know I'm here?" asked Slim. + +"He heard Doctor Wills speak of you to Doctor Morton the anæsthetist. +He must have understood then that you were still downstairs, for you +were the first one he asked for when he came out of the ether. +You're quite a hero to the little boy, Mr. Tyler." + +Slim fidgeted uncomfortably, wondering whether the nurse was laughing +at him. + +He was ashamed of the suspicion a moment later when very seriously +and gently she placed her hand upon his arm. + +"You undoubtedly saved the little fellow's life, Mr. Tyler. I heard +Doctor Wills say that if he had been half an hour later, he could +have done nothing. If you can carry your kindness a little further +and come up to see the boy just for a moment. It will keep him from +fretting and----" + +"I'll be glad to," said Slim promptly. "I'm glad to do anything I +can." + +The nurse said nothing further, but led the way from the room. + +Mr. Traut had already been taken to the room in which his boy lay. + +Slim had never been in a hospital before, except on the one occasion +when he had visited High Hat Frank. The smell of antiseptics and the +rows of narrow beds all had a depressing effect upon him. + +"Might as well get used to it, though," he thought. "Here's where +I'll come--or to a place like this--after my first crack-up. All the +fellows do, sooner or later." + +The nurse led him to a room at the far end of the corridor. On the +bed lay a little lad, a lad so white and thin that the dark eyes +gazing up at Slim seemed enormous in the small face. + +Henry Traut had been sitting beside the bed, the child's small hand +in his. + +Now, at a sign from the nurse, he rose as though to quit the room. +He bent over the small figure and the child reached up and patted his +face. + +As the father retired reluctantly, Slim took his place beside the bed. + +"Only a word or two," the nurse whispered. "Then you must go." + +The child reached out a brown little hand, and Slim took it with a +strange sensation of tenderness. He felt as he had in the waiting +room below, a bit choky in the throat. + +"You're big flying man," murmured the child. "I saw your picture. +You go up in the sky. I like you." + +"That's good," said Slim clearing his throat. "I like you, too. And +now you're going to hurry up and get well and pretty soon you'll be +playing around again." + +The little face flushed and the lips moved. Slim bent closer to +catch the whisper. + +"Will you come again?" + +"Sure thing," promised Slim. "When I come again I'll bring you a toy +airplane and show you how to fly it." + +Slim felt a touch on his arm. It was the nurse. + +"Time's up," she whispered. + +With difficulty Slim released his hand from the little fellow's +grasp. Tears started to the child's eyes, but the nurse soothed him. + +Outside in the corridor, it seemed to Slim that he could still feel +the pressure of the small fingers. He wanted to go back and reassure +him, tell him there was nothing to be frightened about. Gee, it was +tough to be flat on your back with all sorts of pains and aches +inside of you when you were only six years old! + +Doctor Wills emerged from a room where he had been washing after the +operation. + +"I hear it's all right, Doctor," said Slim. + +"Yes," replied the great surgeon. "But it wouldn't have been if you +hadn't whisked me here as swiftly as you did. A little while longer +and the child would have been beyond help. You've done a good day's +work, my boy." + +"I'm glad," said Slim simply. "I'll take you back when you're ready, +Doctor." + +"Thanks," said the doctor. "But I'm going to stay here a few hours +to watch developments. I'll have my man bring the car over." + +"You surely are not going home to-night, Mr. Tyler," put in Henry +Traut. "You must be my guest. My wife would never forgive me if I +did not bring you to her so that she can thank you. You must come." + +There was really no reason for refusing, and Slim Tyler accompanied +his host to the Traut home, where Mrs. Traut, who had been in a state +of nervous collapse and was under the care of a trained nurse, +received him with joy and gratitude that were beyond all words. They +were so insistent on his staying that nearly a week elapsed before +they would let him go. Slim yielded the more readily because of his +growing attachment to the little fellow, whom he visited daily and +who in turn fairly worshipped his deliverer. + +The child grew stronger rapidly, and the nurse declared that Slim's +visits helped the little lad more than all the medicines. + +At last Slim Tyler had to tear himself away. To him who had had so +little of home life it was a wrench to go from these kindly people. +Yet it was with a thrill of elation that he mounted into the cockpit +and felt once more the stick in his hand. + +When, after his return flight, he came down on the North Elmwood +flying field, Jerry Marbury detached himself from a group and hurried +over to him. + +"You old stick-in-the-mud!" he called, "where have you been all this +time?" + +"Didn't Dave Boyd tell you?" asked Slim, in some surprise. "I phoned +to him and asked him to pass the word along." + +"Dave has been so busy that he's hardly had time to breathe," replied +Jerry, "and thereby hangs a tale. Slim, old scout, you and I are out +of luck." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE FLIGHT TO THE FROZEN NORTH + +Jerry Marbury's statement was uttered so ruefully that Slim Tyler +shot a sharp glance at his chum. + +"How come?" he asked. + +"While you've been away," replied his friend, "Dave has accepted an +offer from a group of scientists--oh, you'd know their names fast +enough, if you heard them, Franz, Burke, Lewis, a lot of highbrows +with all the letters of the alphabet tucked behind their names--to +pilot an expedition into the wilds of Greenland. Some sort of +exploring expedition." + +"My name isn't up as a member of the expedition, I suppose," +conjectured Slim wistfully. + +"Not that you can notice," returned Jerry, with a gloomy nod. +"That's what I meant when I said we were out of luck." + +"You're not in it, either?" asked Slim, genuinely surprised. + +"Guess there isn't room for me on the trip," was the reply. "I can't +expect to be in on everything, you know." + +"Who is going with Dave, then?" queried Slim. + +"Biff Donovan for one. And I understand that Sardine Brown is going +along. If they've got any one else, I haven't heard of him." + +Slim Tyler could not help feeling envious of the lucky flyers. He +would have given almost everything he owned to have been included in +the plans for this expedition into Greenland. But common sense told +him that Dave would want only the more experienced flyers for this +kind of work. + +"My time will come yet," he assured himself, trying to banish the +disappointment that he could not help feeling. "There's no use +getting sore over nothing." + +Aloud he said: + +"Does the expedition start from here?" + +"I think so," replied Jerry, "although I understand Dave expects to +pick up one or two others in Canada on his way to the Far North." + +"When do they start?" asked Slim. + +Jerry chuckled. + +"According to latest reports from the Boyd hangar, in just about +thirty-five minutes." + +"So soon?" exclaimed Slim. "Things must have been humming while I +was away." + +"You don't know the half of it. Come with me and I'll show you." + +Approaching the Boyd hangar, they found everything in a bustle of +preparation. + +The plane that was to be used for the expedition, the _Flying Cloud_, +was being inspected for the last time in regard to its mechanical +perfection, fueling, and provisioning. + +The stir and excitement of the scene got into Slim's blood and +intensified his sense of disappointment in not being included in it. + +He and Jerry forced their way through the crowd that surrounded the +hangar and were greeted jovially by Henry Cusack. + +"Bet you boys wish you were going along," he remarked. + +Slim Tyler grinned ruefully. + +"Nothing else but," he agreed. + +"Where's Dave?" asked Jerry. + +"Around somewhere talking to the scientists. I ain't got any use for +those fellers," the rotund boss of the hangar confided in a lowered +tone. "Seems they always know so much that ain't so, and in the end +they always come around to facts that common folks have known all +along." + +Jerry Marbury chuckled. + +"Once in a while, though, they do succeed in turning up something, +Henry. There's Edison. What about him?" + +"Oh, well," admitted Henry grudgingly, "he's what you call a +practical scientist. I was talking about the kind that go around +with their heads in the clouds and never notice whether it's dry or +muddy underfoot. That sort makes me tired." + +Slim and Jerry found Dave Boyd surrounded by a distinguished group of +men--that type of star-gazing scientists of which Henry Cusack so +heartily disapproved. + +The great aviator greeted the young men cordially. + +"How's the little sick boy in Ernestville?" he asked Slim. It was +one of the pleasant attributes of the great flyer that, no matter how +deeply he might be absorbed in matters of importance, he never failed +to keep in mind events that were of interest to his associates. He +had a capacity for friendliness that was a never ending source of +pleasure to those who admired and loved him. + +"Coming along well, thanks," answered Slim. But his mind just then +was not on the little Traut boy. He was thinking wistful things of +Greenland and what he might do there if he had the chance. + +Dave Boyd seemed to divine his thoughts. + +"Sorry we haven't room for you and Jerry on this trip," he said. "I +was asked to take Biff and Brown. But there will be other trips, and +then you will get your chance." + +"Much good that does me now," thought Slim to himself, still fighting +his disappointment. + +He loitered about the hangar during the final arrangements for the +start of the expedition. The excitement infected him. The call to +adventure was in his blood. He wandered about, nurturing a wild hope +that at the last moment someone would be unable to go and he, Slim +Tyler, would be called upon to take his place. + +This flickering possibility received its death blow when the great +plane that was to carry the expedition to Greenland was trundled out +and the members of the party began to take their places in it. + +One by one Slim counted them. They were all there! No hope of a +vacancy at the last moment. + +Police were on hand to prevent crowding and to give the plane a fair +space for the take-off. + +Dave Boyd was the last to board the plane. In the act of settling +his heavy goggles in place, he turned to Slim and Jerry and held out +his hand. + +"Wish us luck, boys," he said. "We will keep you folks back here +informed of our progress, as far as it is possible to do so. We have +radio along and all the up-to-the-minute appliances. You should hear +from us often." + +"Good-by, sir," said Slim. "I don't have to wish any expedition luck +when you're along," he added, with a smile. "I just wish them Dave +Boyd." + +The aviator laughed, shook Slim's hand again, and climbed into the +plane. + +The propeller whirled, the engine hummed, and the great plane swept +down the field like a gigantic beetle. + +But it did not rise as soon as they expected. + +Jerry and Slim watched it with increasing anxiety. + +"Too heavily weighted," muttered Slim. + +Jerry nodded. + +"They may have to ditch some of the duffle," he observed. + +"No!" cried Slim. "There she goes! Look at her! See her lift! Now +I ask you, what could be sweeter?" + +He wandered about aimlessly for a while, trying to chide himself into +a more cheerful mood. He was turning a corner of the Boyd hangar +when he saw approaching him and evidently about to speak to him the +person he most loathed in all the world. + +He regarded Nat Shaley frigidly. + +"Well," he said, not trying to hide his distaste, "what do you want?" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +BALKING A RASCAL + +Nat Shaley, undismayed by Slim Tyler's reception of him, tried to +force his unpleasant countenance into a look of amiability. + +"I figger to have a talk with you, son," said Shaley, in a tone which +astonished Slim because it was so friendly and had the effect of +putting him instantly on his guard. "I say now, can't we go +somewhere where nobody'll be buttin' in to bother us?" + +Slim hesitated. He abominated the man and wanted to have nothing to +do with him. + +On the other hand, he was anxious to find out all that he could about +the mysterious Oregon lumber deal in which he now felt certain his +father had been swindled by the old miser. + +Of course, Shaley would never admit anything. But there was a chance +that some unguarded utterance of his might give Slim a clue that +could be followed up with profit. + +"If you must be private," Slim said brusquely, "come over there with +me back of Stummel's hot dog stand. We're not apt to be interrupted +there." + +Nat Shaley's small eyes gleamed assent. He wore a satisfied smirk. + +"All right, son," he said in his new manner. "You lead the way an' +I'll follow." + +When they had reached the vacant patch of land back of Carl Stummel's +place, Slim Tyler turned and faced the man who was his worst enemy +and had probably been his father's evil genius. + +"Well," he said crisply, "out with it. I'm no friend of yours, Nat +Shaley. I won't pretend to be. If you have anything to say to me, +say it quickly and get it over with." + +"Not so fast, not so fast," protested Shaley, who seemed a bit +disconcerted by the boy's uncompromising attitude. "Mebbe when you +hear what I have to say, you won't talk so loud about us bein' +enemies----" + +"All right," Slim interrupted impatiently. "Get on with it. What do +you want?" + +"I don't want nothin'," said Shaley, his own tone beginning to rasp. +"I come here to give you somethin'. Howsomever, if you don't want +it, you don't have to take it." + +"Give me something!" replied Slim contemptuously. "That doesn't seem +to be in your line, Nat Shaley. From what I've seen of you you're +the taking, not the giving sort." + +For a moment the mask of good nature dropped from the old miser's +face and his eyes glowed venomously. He started to speak and stopped +with his mouth half open. It was evident that he controlled himself +by a gigantic effort. + +"You ain't helpin' me to be nice to you," said the old scoundrel, +with a leer. "But I got a forgivin' disposition an' I ain't to be +turned from my purpose by no hot-headed young feller that don't know +what side his bread's buttered on. Now look here, Slim, I got some +money for you." + +"Money!" Slim's mind leaped to the twenty thousand dollars out of +which his father had been swindled. Was it possible? Was a miracle +happening? No. The age of miracles was past. + +Well, then, what was the old villain up to? + +"I got to thinkin' about how I treated you that time at the railroad +when you came down thinkin' to save my life," went on Shaley. "You +tried to help me, an' I ain't properly thanked you fer it." + +Slim was more than ever suspicious. Gratitude was not one of +Shaley's outstanding traits. + +"Is that what you brought me here for?" Slim asked guardedly. "To +say 'thank you'?" + +"Well, yes an' no. But there's a more important part. I aim to pay +you the back wages you say I owe you." + +"Not only what I say you owe me, but what you know you owe me," +corrected Slim. "It's about time you dug it up. Knowing you, I'd +kissed it good-by." + +Again Nat Shaley's face became purple with rage. He reigned in his +temper with a great effort. + +"What does the old rascal want of me," thought Slim, eying his +one-time employer keenly. "He isn't loosening up with any forty +dollars just for the fun of it--not Nat Shaley." + +He stretched out his hand. + +"Let me see the color of the money," he challenged. + +Nat Shaley drew back. A crafty expression marred the labored +amiability of his face. + +"All right, all right, I'll give it to you. All in good time. I +ain't deceivin' you, even if you seem to think I am. Look here!" + +He thrust his hand into his pocket and drew out a big roll of bills. +Before Slim's doubting eyes he counted out four, crisp, new tens. + +Nevertheless, when Slim again stretched out his hand, desirous to +prove to himself that he was not dreaming, Shaley still held the +bills clutched in his scrawny fingers. + +"Now that you have the proof that I'm tryin' to be your friend, mebbe +you won't mind doin' me a little favor." + +The suggestion was thrown off carelessly, as though it had no bearing +whatever upon the payment of the forty dollars of back wages. + +Slim Tyler was not fooled for an instant. + +"I knew you wouldn't loosen up on that forty dollars unless you were +out to get your money's worth," he said bitingly. "Speak up, Shaley, +and let's get this over with. What's on your mind?" + +Nat Shaley's face assumed an innocent air which was comical on that +villainous countenance. + +"It's jest about that there little accident up at the railroad," he +said smoothly. "You seen fer yourself how the engine smashed my car. +But I can't fix it up to collect damages unless I have a witness to +prove that the company was wrong." + +Light broke upon Slim Tyler. + +"And you want me to be that witness. Is that it?" he asked, with +misleading calm. + +Shaley nodded. He leered up at Slim hopefully. It was his belief +that anything could be bought with money. Had he not just offered +Slim Tyler forty dollars? + +"Sure," he said. "All you'll have to do is to say that I was drivin' +all right till the car seemed to hit somethin' stickin' from the +tracks an' turned over. An' you can say, too, that there was plenty +of time fer the train to stop before it smashed into the car." He +held the forty dollars conspicuously displayed, so that it would be +the greater temptation for the young aviator. "What's more, I'm +willin' to take your word fer it. All you have to say is that you're +sure the accident was the fault of the railroad and--here's your +forty dollars." + +Nat Shaley had failed to note Slim's ominous quiet. Now the young +man spoke, still quietly. + +"You low-down skunk!" + +Nat Shaley shrank back as though he had been struck. His thin lips +fell back from his teeth in a snarl. Fury gleamed in his eyes. + +"So that's the way you treat me when I offer you money!" he +ejaculated. + +"You offer me money if I'll lie for you!" cried Slim, his rage slowly +mastering him. It was with difficulty that he restrained himself +from leaping at Shaley's throat. "You rat! You thief! Trying to +bribe me to do your dirty work for you! Get away from here before I +forget myself and give you what's coming to you." + +"So that's your line, is it?" snarled Shaley. "Let me tell you that +you ain't foolin' me--no, not fer a minute. You ain't so innocent as +you try to make me think. You ain't jest got the spunk to pull off +the deal, that's all. You never was no good." + +"You crook!" Slim was white with rage. "I ought to wipe up the +ground with you. Not content to steal twenty thousand dollars from +my father, you have to come out here and try to bribe me with your +measly little forty dollars back pay that's mine by right. Get out +of here, you hound. If you were a younger man, you'd get my fist on +the point of your jaw." + +At mention of the twenty thousand dollars, Nat Shaley began to back +slowly away. + +"I never stole a cent from your father," he growled. "You're hipped, +that's what you are." + +"I suppose you never heard of Cameron Flood either," snapped Slim. +"Never heard of Hugh Garrabrant." + +A look of fright came into Shaley's eyes. + +"You're crazy," snarled Shaley, all the color ebbing from his face. +"What fool nonsense is it flingin' them names at me? They don't mean +nothin'. Never heerd of 'em." + +"You will hear of them plenty of times before I'm through with you," +replied Slim. "Now get away from here as fast as your legs can carry +you. And if you bring any more of your slimy propositions to me, +you'll wish you hadn't." + +"You young fool," growled Shaley, as he beat a final retreat. +"You'll be sorry some day. Nat Shaley ain't a good enemy to have, +an' don't you fergit it." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A HAZARDOUS LANDING + +During the days directly following Dave Boyd's departure for the +North, news came in daily regarding the Greenland expedition and its +whereabouts. + +Dave Boyd and his co-pilots had met with favorable weather; they had +made even better progress than they had anticipated. So far, so good. + +Slim Tyler and Jerry Marbury kept in close touch with the progress of +the _Flying Cloud_. Though neither of them had fully recovered from +the disappointment of not having been included in the party, they +nevertheless drew a vicarious excitement from the story of the doings +of Dave Boyd and his distinguished company. + +They flew daily, not only because they loved it, but to keep in +practice and to test occasional new devices that were constantly +coming up for trial in aviation. + +"If we get smashed up," said Jerry jokingly, as they were taking a +spin one day over the country surrounding North Elmwood, "Dave Boyd +will be sorry that he didn't take us along. Two of his most +enterprising young aviators gone to waste!" + +"You must think we're going to land in the ash heap," laughed Slim. + +"That's the chance we're taking every day," said Jerry. + +They had made a wide circuit and were returning to the North Elmwood +field when, looking down, they saw some of the mechanics and pilots +looking up at them and gesticulating wildly. + +"What's all the shooting about, I wonder?" asked Jerry in some +surprise. + +"Search me," replied Slim. "They seem to be urging us not to come +down. Don't you see that they're pointing to the sky?" + +"I'm not an expert at the sign language," said Jerry. "Why shouldn't +we go down? No cops waiting to nab us, I hope." + +"I don't know," replied Slim, his bewilderment increasing. "All the +same they have some reason. What's Cusack doing there with that big +paint brush?" + +"Spilling a lot of paint, anyhow," observed Jerry. "Marking down a +lot of big letters. Henry's all stirred up about something. And +there's Tom Ellsworth running toward his plane. What in thunder is +up?" + +They saw Tom jump into the cockpit, while Cusack handed to him a +bespattered sheet of canvas. Tom gave her the gun and shot up into +the air until he was nearly abreast of Slim's plane. + +He held out the canvas strip, on which Cusack had painted in +sprawling letters: + + YOUR LEFT WHEEL IS GONE + + +Slim Tyler and Jerry Marbury started as though from an electric +shock. For the message spoke of terrible danger. + +They would have to land on one wheel, and that was a thing that could +not be accomplished one time in twenty without a crack-up! Even Dave +Boyd himself would have had hard work to do it. + +Slim Tyler felt all the blood leave his face. Then he gritted his +teeth and set himself to his task. + +There was no more gesticulating from the field. The men below stood +in anxious silence. They knew that Slim Tyler had read and +understood the message. Now it was up to him. No one could help him +but himself. + +"Think you can make it, Slim?" asked Jerry soberly. + +"Can tell better when we hit," returned Slim grimly. "But I'm going +to do an awful lot of trying." + +He figured that they would hit the ground at the rate of about thirty +miles an hour. Then they would have to run along for several hundred +feet on that one wheel. + +If the wheel were only in the center of the plane, it would be fairly +easy to maintain an even keel. But it was on one side, and the +tendency of the plane would be to turn over on the unsupported side. +That would mean that the wing would strike the ground on that side +and the whole thing would crumple up, while the occupants would +probably be maimed or killed in the crash. + +"Throw everything in the plane that you can move over to the right +side, and keep yourself over there too," directed Slim. "We've got +to get all the weight there we can." + +Jerry did as directed, and Slim, moving in great, sweeping spirals, +drew gradually nearer to the ground. + +Down, down, he went, seeming to do scarcely more than float. + +Down still lower, until the one wheel touched the ground. It dipped +a trifle toward the unsupported side, and a groan went up from the +anxious spectators. + +With a lightning turn of the wrist, Slim Tyler righted her, at the +same time throwing the weight of his own body as far as he could to +the right. By the most delicate manipulation and balancing, he kept +the plane upright on the one wheel until the momentum of the run had +spent its force. + +The plane came to rest quiveringly, and only then yielded to the +force of gravitation and sank gently over on the left wing, so gently +that it would not have broken a pane of glass. + +A roar of relief and delight went up from the watchers and a rush was +made for the plane. Slim Tyler, drenched with perspiration from the +awful strain of that struggle, was pulled from the plane and pounded +and mauled by his enthusiastic friends until he begged for mercy. + +"Gee, that was a wonderful landing!" exclaimed Henry Cusack. "I've +been on this landin' field for years and never seen anything like it. +Shouldn't wonder if Dave Boyd was right when he said that you were +the greatest flyer for your age in the world." + +"Great work, Slim!" declared Tom Ellsworth. "I thought you were in +for a crack-up, sure. I wouldn't have given a plugged nickel for +your chances." + +"Such judgment! Such balancing! Such stick work!" applauded Jerry +Marbury. "Slim, I take off my hat to you. I was already figuring up +whether I had money enough to pay for my funeral expenses." + +"Just sheer luck," returned Slim Tyler modestly. "But you bet that +the next time I go up, particular attention will be given to the +wheels. A few experiences like this would give me gray hairs." + +He was leaving the grounds half an hour later when he was accosted by +one of the mechanics. + +"A couple of letters over at the office for you, Slim," he said. +"Better get them before the old stick-in-the-mud in charge there +tries to read them through the envelopes." + +Slim thanked the young fellow and made straight for the office. + +He was looking eagerly for mail these days. Since the notebook +containing the entries by High Hat Frank had fallen into his hands, +he had written to several places concerning Hugh Garrabrant and +Cameron Flood, but so far had received no word in return. + +He was exceedingly anxious to hear from one or both of them, for he +was hotly embarked now on Nat Shaley's trail and hoped the miser's +other victims could aid him in his search for facts. + +He waited with scarcely concealed impatience for Anthony Litwell, the +gossipy clerk in charge of the affairs of Boyd's office, to sort over +the mail and find his letters for him. + +He got them at last. One was postmarked from a city in California, +where he had written for news of Garrabrant. The other was from a +town in Ohio, where he had hoped to obtain information concerning +Cameron Flood. + +Back of the hot dog stand where some time before he had perused the +greasy, thumbed notebook of High Hat Frank, Slim Tyler opened one of +his two letters. + +This was from the Garrabrants' lawyer and proved a distinct +disappointment. + +Hugh Garrabrant was dead and had left no heirs as far as could be +ascertained. He had left, however, a claim against the Mt. Sunwa +Lumber Company which had operated in Oregon and was, Slim felt sure, +the one with which Nat Shaley had been connected. + +The fact that Garrabrant was no longer living was a sharp setback to +Slim's hopes in that quarter. To get into touch with Hugh Garrabrant +himself, that was what he wanted, not a talk with a lawyer or an +unsatisfactory delving into long past facts. + +He put the letter back into its envelope and shoved it into his +pocket. + +"One lead gone," he said to himself. "Now I'll see what news the +other letter gives me. If Cameron Flood is dead, too, I might just +as well give up the investigation." + +Almost in the first sentence of the letter he was informed that +Cameron Flood was indeed dead. However, he had left a son, Cameron +Flood, Jr., who would, the lawyer surmised, be glad to meet Mr. Tyler +and discuss this matter of mutual interest. + +"This is better," crowed Slim. "Now I'm getting somewhere!" + +He read on for a paragraph or two and his jubilant expression died. + +"Now what do you know about that?" he muttered. "Isn't that just +rotten luck?" + +The news that had caused Slim's swift change of expression was to the +effect that although Cameron Flood, Jr., was alive, he was +unfortunately no longer in his home town, but had left the city for +upper Canada, where he was about to join an exploring expedition by +airplane. + +The expedition, the writer went on to explain, was bound for +Greenland. + +"Can you beat that?" muttered Slim. "He must be one of those two +scientists slated to join Dave Boyd in Canada." + +Now his disappointment at not being a member of the party was +redoubled. + +"What a talk Flood and I would have had!" mourned Slim. "We'd have +had plenty of time to compare notes and map out a plan of campaign. +I sure am the original hard luck kid!" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE MISSING AVIATORS + +Slim Tyler smothered the bitterness at his heart as well as he could +and continued his reading of the letter. + +Cameron Flood, Jr., the lawyer went on to explain, had inherited a +claim for a large amount against the Mt. Sunwa Lumber Company and a +certain Nathaniel Shaley, who seemed to have been the leading figure +in the concern. + +There had been some grave irregularity and probably actual crime +attending the winding up of the company, the writer stated. In fact, +Cameron Flood, Senior, had been about to take up the cudgels in a +contest that would undoubtedly have had sensational features when +death put an end to his activities. + +"All very interesting, but not much use to me, now that I won't be +able to get in touch with the younger Flood for many months to come," +sighed Slim. "Talk about getting the hot end of the poker! I've got +nothing else but." + +Depression was a frequent guest of Slim Tyler in the days that +followed. From the papers he learned that two scientists, one of +them Flood, had joined the expedition in upper Canada. + +There the _Flying Cloud_ had laid up for a couple of days for +refueling and supplies. + +Then came the news that Dave Boyd and his party had left Canada and +embarked on the last and most perilous lap of the journey to the +uncharted wastes of Greenland. + +Up to that time good weather had been the rule. But now the public, +eagerly following the course of the flight by means of the newspapers +and radio, learned that the plane was meeting with inclement flying +conditions. + +Snow and hail and terrible winds prevailed in the regions of the air +through which the _Flying Cloud_ was painfully forcing its way. + +Slim Tyler and Jerry Marbury devouring every scrap of information +they could get, agonized together over the possible fate of the +flyers. + +"Under such weather conditions it's wonderful that the plane could +have stayed in the air so long," observed Jerry. + +"No one but Dave Boyd could have managed it," said Slim loyally. + +Jerry shook his head dubiously. + +"Even Dave Boyd can't keep aloft much longer with such odds against +him. A forced landing among the ice-coated mountains of Greenland--" +he did not finish the sentence, but in his eyes was the premonition +of disaster. + +A day later a screaming headline in the press informed the public +that what it had been dreading had probably occurred. + +No word had been received from the Boyd plane for eighteen hours! + +This fact, coupled with the increased severity of the weather +conditions in the region where the plane had last been heard of, gave +rise to the most dire prophecies. In all probability, it was +generally thought, the plane had been forced down among the mountain +gorges of the desolate land, in which event the situation of the +members of the expedition was, to say the least, of the utmost +gravity. + +With the paper in his hand that gave the disheartening report, Slim +Tyler dashed into Jerry's room. + +"Look here, old boy!" he exclaimed. "This is rotten news." + +"Couldn't be much worse," agreed Jerry gloomily. + +He also had been studying the paper. + +"Of course the papers may be all wrong," went on Slim, with a +desperate effort at optimism. "Because no news has come from the +_Flying Cloud_ for many hours, they've jumped at conclusions. It may +be only that something has gone wrong with the radio." + +Jerry looked at his chum curiously. + +"I guess you should have read on a little farther, Slim. It says +here that two trappers report that they saw a giant plane flying over +Greenland, that she seemed to be in distress and was trying to make a +landing among the mountains. Didn't you see that?" + +Slim shook his head. + +"It isn't in my paper. Let me see yours." + +The story of the Greenland trappers added to the anxiety that had +taken possession of Slim Tyler as to the fate of the man whom he +cared for most in all the world. + +He put down the paper and looked at Jerry. + +"When Dave Boyd took me up," he said, "I was nothing but a poor +homeless kid, battered about from pillar to post, with hardly a cent +to my name and no future to boast about. Dave Boyd gave me a chance +to make something of myself." + +"You've more than justified the faith he put in you," returned Jerry. + +"That doesn't change the fact that I owe everything to him," Slim +persisted. "I tell you, Jerry, if we don't get good news of the +plane within the next few days, I'm going after him." + +Jerry grinned and thrust out his hand. + +"Take me with you, kid?" + +"You bet," replied Slim, and they shook hands on it. + +Days passed with no news whatever of Dave Boyd and his expedition. +The worst was feared and there was much talk about sending out +searching planes for the missing flyers. + +Then Slim Tyler leaped to the front. He came out boldly with the +announcement that he and Jerry Marbury were anxious to go in search +of the _Flying Cloud_ and its occupants, and asked for a plane and +funds to finance the relief expedition. + +The response was immediate, and it astonished Slim by its enthusiasm. +Nothing could demonstrate better the position Dave Boyd held in the +hearts of his countrymen than the promptness with which funds began +to pour in from all parts of the nation. + +Money was collected by newspapers in the great cities. A plane of +the newest type and possessing all the latest mechanical improvements +was presented to Slim by one of the largest plane manufacturers in +the country. + +Slim Tyler himself flew the plane from the Mid-Western manufacturing +town to North Elmwood. + +He landed amid a heavy downpour of rain, which, however, did not +deter a large crowd from assembling to greet him. They pressed close +about the beautiful plane and the daring pilot who was about to +undertake such a perilous adventure. + +Jerry Marbury shoved his way through to Slim's side. His eyes were +shining. + +"She's a peach, boy! What are we going to name her?" + +"The _Hope_," said Slim. + +He regarded Jerry steadily and the two young men gripped hands. + +"We've got a new recruit," stated Jerry, as, after the plane had been +put in its hangar, they started across the field together. "He wants +to go on the relief flight with us. I like him and I think you will, +too. Suppose you take a squint at him." + +"Sure," agreed Slim. "Where is he?" + +"Over at Leslie's boarding house. He has taken a room there. He +says whether he goes with us or not, he's bound to see the start of +the expedition. He's a nice chap, and I think he may make himself +useful to us." + +At the door of the boarding house they ran into Dick Mylert, the +young man in question, who was just coming out. + +"Hello!" the latter exclaimed, staring. "Slim Tyler, isn't it? Just +the man I want to see." + +"Ditto," said Slim smilingly. + +"Two souls with but a single thought," grinned Mylert cheerfully. +"We ought to get along famously together. Come right in," and he led +the way into the sitting room. + +"Not beautiful," he said, with a glance around the plainly furnished +room, "but clean and comfortable. The hotel was crowded and I had to +put up here. Anyway, the landlady serves real butter with meals." + +"That's a help," remarked Slim. + +"You tell 'em. Now to get down to brass tacks. Do I get a chance to +go along with you and Mr. Marbury here on your relief expedition to +Greenland?" + +"Shouldn't wonder," returned Slim, who had taken an immediate liking +to the breezy young fellow. "If you'll just tell me----" + +"Sure. You want to know my qualifications for the job. To start +with, I'm a newspaper reporter on--" He named the great New York +paper that had been chiefly instrumental in raising the funds for the +expedition. "I'm white, unmarried, twenty-eight, and have never been +convicted of a crime, although traffic cops have sometimes spoken +harshly to me." + +Following this unconventional self-introduction, Mylert became a bit +more serious and gave Slim and Jerry a brief but comprehensive +description of his activities up to date. The more he talked, the +more Slim liked him. + +It appeared that he had had a most varied experience. He had +traveled over a great part of the world, sometimes as a sailor before +the mast, at others as assistant navigator; had been with a +scientific expedition as a geographer; and was conversant with a +number of languages. He had even tried flying for a while before +settling on a newspaper career. + +"So you see I'm qualified in more ways than one to be of use to you +on your expedition," the young man remarked. "By the way, I have +papers here to prove my statements--if you need any other proof than +my open and ingenuous countenance," he ended with a grin. + +As a matter of form, Slim looked over the credentials that Mylert +handed him. Then he turned them over to Jerry. + +"Your open and ingenuous countenance is a good reference," laughed +Slim. "But these others seem to be all right, and as far as I am +concerned clinch the matter. What do you say, Jerry?" + +"It's all right with me," said Jerry heartily. "If it's O.K. with +you, Slim, Mr. Mylert will be the third member of the party without +any further argument." + +"O.K. with me," assented Slim. + +The three young men shook hands gravely. Dick Mylert beamed +gratification. + +"I've always had a terrific admiration for Dave Boyd," he confessed. +"When you boys started plans for this relief expedition I had a +yearning to go that I couldn't resist. Glad you fellows like me, for +I've certainly taken a shine to you." + +This important detail settled, preparations for the flight went on +with great rapidity. The young aviators kept hoping that every day +would bring them news of Boyd's safety and make their trip +unnecessary. + +But nothing of the kind occurred. Not a signal came from the Arctic +wastes to tell that the intrepid adventurers lived. + +Slim and Jerry worked day and night with a force of helpers, and in +an incredibly short space of time the _Hope_ was ready for her flight. + +"To-morrow," said Slim, two nights later, "we make our start." + +"The weather prophecies from Washington are good," observed Jerry. +"That doesn't hurt any." + +"It isn't the weather here that bothers me much," replied Slim. +"It's what we may run into farther north." + +The next day justified the optimistic weather prophecies. The sky +was a uniform bright blue. There was no suggestion of fog or +threatened storm. + +The three members of the relief expedition were in a mood of hope to +match the name of the plane. They were eager to be off, and grudged +the time that was taken up by the persistent reporters and +photographers, all anxious to get stories and pictures for their +papers. + +There was a confused sound of altercation on the edge of the crowd. +Slim Tyler heard a familiar voice. + +"I toldt you I got somedings for him alretty. Gif me der room to get +dere vonst." + +Slim chuckled and faced about as Carl Stummel shoved his way through +the crowd. + +"Blenty hot togs, alretty," panted Carl, as he handed Slim a large +paper bundle. "Cooked shoost der vay you like dem, mit blenty oof +mustard. Vere you're going you might maybe haf a hardt dime getting +sooch goot vuns, yes?" + +"There aren't such good ones anywhere," declared Slim, as he accepted +the gift. "Your mustard is hot enough to keep us warm even in +Greenland." + +"If dey last dot long, den I am a bum cook, alretty," replied Carl. +"I betcher dey vill be et before dis night koomt. Goot luck, Shlim! +Und bring back dot Dave Boydt." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +ON THE WING + +As the flyers climbed aboard the plane, a spontaneous cheer arose +from the crowd that increased steadily until it swelled into a roar. + +Slim Tyler took his place at the controls. A mechanic twirled the +propeller, the motors sang, and the _Hope_ moved forward, gathering +speed as it swept down the long runway. + +At two hundred yards it lifted easily, despite the heavy weight it +carried, and soared into the air like a bird. + +Again arose the thunderous cheering. Hundreds of handkerchiefs +fluttered and hats were thrown into the air. + +The _Hope_ circled once around the field, and then Slim Tyler laid +her nose toward the north. + +Soon she had passed from the gaze of the multitude, fairly embarked +on her long and perilous journey. + +At the controls, Slim exulted. + +"Flies like a dream!" he exclaimed. "Just listen to those motors! +Ever hear sweeter music? And see the way she responds to the least +touch of the stick." + +For the first few hours the weather was perfect, and the _Hope_ ate +up space at the rate of a hundred and twenty miles an hour. + +Then a haze began gradually to gather and presently shut out the +sight of the land below. Before long it thickened into a fog that +grew ever denser and denser, until the young pilot was reduced to +flying entirely by his instruments. + +Dick Mylert, who proved, together with his reputation as a mascot, to +be blessed with an excellent appetite, remembered the hot dogs +donated by Carl Stummel and suggested that they try them. + +Nothing had ever tasted better than those frankfurters. Carl had +been generous, but the sandwiches disappeared before the husky +appetites of the three young men like magic. + +The wind began to rise in fierce gusts that grew ever stronger, and +the _Hope_ was soon flying in the teeth of half a gale. + +"Guess I'll edge off a little to the west and try for altitude," +remarked Slim. + +"My sentiments exactly," agreed Jerry. "You took the words right out +of my mouth." + +"Maybe I read your mind." + +Slim Tyler pulled the stick and the _Hope_ shot upward for a couple +of thousand feet. There a quieter strata of air was found and the +plane made rapid progress. + +But if the _Hope_ had escaped the gale, she had not succeeded in +freeing herself from the all-enveloping mist. + +A roar came from in front. + +"Another plane!" cried Jerry, his eyes straining through the +darkness. "And it's coming straight toward us!" + +Probably the pilot of the approaching plane sensed the presence of +the _Hope_ at the same moment that Slim Tyler and his companions +became aware of their own peril. For in that mist-enshrouded +vastness of space began a weird duel, such as the young aviators +could never afterward recall without a thrill of horror. + +When Slim turned the nose of his plane upward in an attempt to gain +altitude swiftly and so avoid a collision, the pilot of the other +plane did likewise. + +When the _Hope_ swooped downward like a swallow, it was evident from +the sound that the other plane had also resorted to the same maneuver. + +The ghost ship was not yet visible through the enshrouding mist, but +Slim Tyler knew that at any second it would tear the veil asunder and +charge down on them, a Juggernaut of destruction. + +Slim sat grim, determined, rigid as a creation of steel, ready with a +lightning movement to send the plane to right or left, up or down, as +the emergency might demand. + +Like some fabulous monster of prehistoric times, the rival plane +loomed up in the fog. + +Slim dropped the _Hope_ like a plummet, turning sharply to the right. + +With a wild throb of engines the ghostly ship swept by overhead, +missing the _Hope_ by the smallest possible margin. + +Slim Tyler's breath whistled through his teeth. + +"Gee, that was close!" he muttered. "A few inches less, and there +would have been no one left to tell the story." + +"Great shift that was of yours, Slim!" exclaimed Jerry. "You could +run rings around lightning." + +"Do you usually act as quickly as that?" asked Dick Mylert, looking +at Slim with an admiration he took no pains to conceal. + +"Oh, I don't know," replied Slim, a trifle embarrassed. "In this +business you've got to be quick or be dead." + +"I wish Dave Boyd could have seen that," remarked Jerry. "He'd have +been more than ever proud of his pupil." + +As though fate had played its last card and was a bit discouraged, +the fog began to lift. Slowly, at first, it shredded away. The +earth came into view, the sky became visible, and the young aviators +felt as though they had been released from prison, no less a prison +because the walls were soft and insubstantial. + +One thing that had pleased the young pilot in the episode of the +threatened collision had been the nerve displayed by Dick Mylert. In +those few awful moments when he knew that death might claim him at +any moment he had not blenched nor made a sound. He was game, Slim +decided. + +They had crossed the United States border now and were flying over +Canada. The air was getting cooler, cold in fact, and the growing +change from the temperature toward the frigid zone was met by the +young aviators by a consistent increase in articles of wearing +apparel. + +With every hundred miles they flew farther north, the air grew +keener, but no sign of trouble came until Dick Mylert found a +snowflake on his hand. + +"Snowing," murmured Jerry dubiously. "You know what that means in +this part of the country. It may be that before long we'll run head +on into a blizzard." + +"One little snowflake doesn't make a winter," Dick reminded him. +"Wait for a while and see. It may be only a flurry." + +Some hours later they found themselves in the midst of a furious +snowstorm, which enabled Jerry to say with the condescension of a +successful prophet: + +"Here's your flurry, Dick. How do you like it?" + +"Less abundant, thank you," returned the young journalist unabashed. +"Still, it started with a flurry. You have to admit that." + +The snow fell heavily, hemming them in. It seemed to form an almost +solid white wall, against which the _Hope_ drove endlessly. The wall +gave way, only to close up again, pressing more relentlessly. + +The _Hope_ gradually became covered with the clinging white stuff. +It weighted the wings, the tail, and the body of the fuselage. + +The wings lost buoyancy. The engines began to labor. The plane was +no longer a joy to handle. She became heavy, clumsy, responding +sluggishly to the hand at the controls. + +"I'll let her down," observed Slim, "though we may have to come +dangerously near the tops of the trees before we can see the ground." + +With the increasing weight of snow on the wings it became absolutely +necessary that a landing should be sought. If the aviators did not +go down of their own accord, they would be forced down. + +Slim Tyler chose the lesser of the two evils. + +He flew down gradually in long, sweeping spirals, while Jerry and +Dick kept field glasses glued to their eyes. + +"Tree tops beneath!" cried Jerry. "'Ware!" + +Slim pulled the stick and cleared the threatened peril. + +It seemed an almost interminable time before they found a place that +could by the remotest possibility answer their purpose. + +The district was for the most part heavily wooded. On the rare +occasions when clearings presented themselves, they were dotted so +thickly with hummocks, underbrush, and the half-rotted stumps of +trees that landing was out of the question. + +At last Dick Mylert cried out jubilantly: + +"There it is, right below us! The very thing we've been looking for! +Some sort of frozen lake, I should say at a guess." + +"If it's a lake, let's hope that it isn't deep or that the ice is +frozen clear through," muttered Slim Tyler. "Else we're headed for a +ducking." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE HOWL OF THE WOLF + +The lake was small and it was closely surrounded by a ring of +guardian trees. In that limited space it would take first class +airmanship to make a safe landing. + +Slim Tyler encircled the clearing several times, checking the speed +of the plane and judging the distance by his eyes. + +Then he made up his mind, shifted the controls, and the plane swept +downward, the wheels crunching in the snow to the heavy ice beneath. + +The _Hope_ teetered uncertainly for a moment, righted, and swept on +toward the trees on the bank. + +For a flashing fraction of a second it seemed that she would rush +into the trees and be wrecked. But once more Dave Boyd's faith in +his pupil was justified. + +With consummate skill Slim Tyler swung the plane around and sped +about the lake in a circle, until the momentum lessened and the tired +bird came finally to rest. + +The young aviators climbed stiffly from the plane, slapping their +numbed hands together to restore the circulation. They pounded their +feet on the ice, only now beginning to realize how bitterly cold they +were. + +"A fire would feel mighty good," said Jerry Marbury, brushing the +snow from his eyes. "My ears feel frostbitten." + +"Same here," echoed Dick. "I'm all for Jerry's suggestion." + +"Suits me," agreed Slim. "Only if we have to camp here all night, +which seems very likely, it might be a good idea to find a more +sheltered place to build our fire." + +They tramped off into the surrounding woods, hoping to find a cave or +overhanging rocks that would serve as partial shelter from the +severity of the storm. + +But something better than that was in store for them. They had not +gone far before they discovered a tumbledown shack that had probably +been occupied at some time by a trapper or a party of trappers. + +It was dilapidated enough, in all conscience, but to the cold and +weary travelers a palace could scarcely have provided a more +attractive sight. It meant at least shelter from the snow and a +barrier against the wind. + +The hut had a roof, though there were gaping holes in it. The one +window had been boarded up. The door hung loosely on its rusted +hinges. + +"Guess we won't have to knock," observed Slim lightly, as he placed +his hand on the knob of the door. "Looks as though there had been +nobody at home here for a long, long time." + +The door yielded easily. + +The young men crowded in, stamping the snow from their boots, and +looked around them. + +They found that the cabin consisted of one fair-sized room, with a +lean-to adjoining; a typical trappers' abode. + +Bunks stretched along two sides of the room; beneath the boarded +window on the third side was a rough table of logs with a pine top; +on the fourth side was a fireplace which looked as though it had been +in disuse for a long time and a couple of rude chairs. + +The fireplace, in the estimation of the young adventurers, was by far +the most important object in the place. + +"Now if we can only find some dry wood," observed Dick, "everything +will be great." + +He pushed open the door at the farther end of the cabin and disclosed +a well-stocked lean-to. One end of it was packed almost to the roof +with log blocks and smaller pieces of wood. + +There were two shelves, upon which were some unopened packages of +canned goods. + +"Looks as though we'd neither starve nor freeze while we're here," +exulted Jerry. + +He fell upon the wood, scooping up an armful and carried it into the +main room. + +His companions followed his example, and it was not long before a +comforting fire roared in the fireplace. + +"I'll be chef, fellows," said Slim, as he went to the lean-to door. +"Come and name your poison." + +They decided upon beans and tinned corn beef. The beans they warmed +over the fire and ate out of the can. The beef they picked up with +their fingers and ate with relish, smacking their lips over the +impromptu meal. + +The storm was now much less severe than it had been when they first +stumbled upon the cabin. The snow had almost stopped, and the heavy +clouds in the east had lifted perceptibly. + +"I was afraid the _Hope_ might be snowed under," Slim remarked. "I +guess there's no danger of that now." + +They walked back to the lake and found the plane as they had left it, +except that the coating of ice and snow on the wings was heavier. +They scraped this off and covered the wings with tarpaulins. + +They debated starting again at once, but more prudent counsel +prevailed. The night had now fully come. + +"Bad enough to take off from here in full daylight, let alone at +night," judged the young leader of the expedition. "We'll start off +at the first streak of dawn if conditions permit." + +Slim Tyler came to this decision with the utmost reluctance, for he +was consumed with anxiety to reach his destination at the earliest +possible moment. But this was a case where caution promised +decidedly better results than precipitate courage. + +"Better take our guns with us," Slim counseled, as he reached into +the plane and drew out his own rifle. "Little likelihood that we'll +have to use them, but they're handy things to have." + +His companions also secured their weapons, and the little party +retraced its steps to the cabin. + +The night would have been one of Egyptian darkness had it not been +for the faint glimmer of the snow, for the clouds effectively barred +the rays of moon or stars. + +The forest seemed suddenly a dangerous and menacing place. Behind +the trees that stood like gaunt sentinels above the snow, any furtive +thing might lurk. There was something sinister and repellent in +their very silence. + +Once Slim Tyler stopped short and stared at a clump of bushes. + +"What's wrong?" asked Jerry. + +"There was something behind those bushes. I distinctly saw it move," +declared Slim. + +Seeing that Dick and Jerry were inclined to scoff, Slim did not +insist. In his own mind, however, he was convinced that he had not +been mistaken. His eyes had always been reliable, and he saw no +reason to doubt them now. + +When Dick Mylert paused before the door of the cabin to examine some +freshly made tracks in the snow, Slim was not surprised. + +"Dog tracks!" cried the young newspaperman. + +"Timber wolves!" corrected Slim. + +At those ominous words Jerry came up to Slim and Dick, and also bent +to examine the tracks in the snow. He gave a long whistle as he +straightened up and glanced uneasily about him. + +"By Jove, Slim!" he cried, "I believe you're right. Timber wolves, +and savage, I'll be bound! This snow has made it hard for them to +find game. Probably regard us as a godsend." + +"Lucky we brought our firearms along," observed Slim. "We'll be safe +enough inside the cabin with the door barricaded." + +The interior of the cabin in the flickering of the firelight offered +a cheering contrast to the dark and menacing forest that surrounded +it. + +The young men fitted the rather unstable door into place and dropped +the wooden bar that served as bolt. Then they moved the heavy table +against the door as an additional barrier. + +"That door as a door may not be worth much," commented Dick, "but it +would take a life-sized pack of wolves to shove that table away." + +"The roof isn't much as a roof, either," added Slim. "But I guess, +if it can hold all that weight of snow, it will stand a few extra +pounds of wolf, if they should try to get in that way." + +"They can't come down the chimney as long as we keep a fire going, +and the window is already boarded up," Jerry comforted himself. "All +we have to do now is to sit down and wait for the show to commence." + +To sit and wait, however, was a more nerve-racking business than they +had anticipated. As the darkness settled down more thickly over the +forest, the intense silence about the cabin became oppressive. Now +and then the sharp crackling of a frost-snapped twig or a slide of +snow from the roof would cause them to start involuntarily and then +exchange apologetic glances. + +"If we could strike a light, it would be a little more cheerful," +remarked Jerry. + +A lantern depended from a hook on the wall, but upon examination they +found that this was innocent of oil. + +They searched the lean-to for kerosene and failed to find any, though +they did come across two fat tallow candles. + +They lighted these, using the drip to fasten them to the rough top of +the table. + +The light was faint and flickering and seemed to accentuate the +shadows in the corners of the room. No one cared to mention the +fact, however, for fear of betraying his own restlessness. + +"I only hope Dave Boyd to-night is as warm and sheltered as we are," +remarked Slim, from whom the thought of his benefactor was seldom +absent. + +"I suppose there are plenty of poor fellows out in the Arctic night +that would give their souls for a fire and a meal of hot food," +conjectured Dick. He paused, hand raised. + +"What's that?" he cried. + +From the depths of the forest came the blood-curdling howl of a wolf! + +From a distance the cry of the wolf was answered, now from one +direction, then from another. + +"The pack is gathering," remarked Jerry Marbury grimly. "Well, let +'em come. We're ready for them." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE PACK CLOSES IN + +The isolated howls of the distant wolves soon swelled into a chorus. +The beasts were assembling for the kill. + +The noise came nearer, growing more vibrant and eager as it +approached the men the wolves had marked for their prey. + +But the anticipated victims had other ideas. During the time of +waiting they had carefully examined their weapons and made sure that +they had an abundant supply of cartridges on hand. + +They sat there, intent and determined, fully aware of the danger that +was coming on apace and yet with their hearts aflame with high +courage. + +They had no definite plan of campaign. They could not have. They +would have to meet every emergency as it arose. + +Then the howls ceased abruptly. In their stead could be heard the +rustling made by bodies thrusting themselves through the brushwood, +the scufflings of padded feet in the snow. The enemy was massing for +the attack. + +A long-drawn savage howl just beneath the boarded-up window brought +those within the cabin to their feet. At the same moment a heavy +body flung itself at the cabin door. + +The boards of the door bent inward under the shock, but the heavy +table shoved against it prevented them from breaking. + +"That was the first gun on their side," remarked Slim Tyler. "Well, +here's the first gun on ours." + +He fired through the door at a height of about a foot above the floor. + +But the yelp that would have told that the brute was struck did not +come. The shot had not found a target. Nor had it seemed to +intimidate the aviators' assailants, for a moment later not one, but +three of the beasts, as though by a preconcerted signal, hurled +themselves against the door with a force that made the cabin tremble. + +This time one of the planks was splintered, and a wolf thrust his +nose in the gap tearing with his claws to enlarge the opening. + +Jerry's gun and Dick's spoke at the same instant, and this time a +howl of pain told that one or both of the shots had struck. The wolf +fell back and a hideous hubbub ensued. + +"My wolf," cried Dick, with a grin. "I saw him first." + +"You may claim him," replied Jerry. "The main thing is that he's put +out of commission." + +"He may be only wounded," surmised Slim. + +"Then he's as good as dead," declared Dick. "Wolves don't take their +crippled companions to a hospital. Listen!" + +There was a frightful snarling as the wolves tore their unfortunate +companion to pieces. + +"That gives us at least a breathing spell," murmured Jerry. + +"Not for long," warned Slim. "There'll be nothing of that wolf left +in ten minutes but the bones, and the taste of blood will make the +pack ravenous for more." + +Slim Tyler's prediction proved correct, for the onslaught was soon +renewed. This time the boarded window was the target for attack. + +Time after time the brutes dashed their heavy bodies against it, and +as often as they did so the besieged fired their rifles. But they +had to do this by guesswork, and several rounds were fired without +any evidence of damage. + +"We're wasting ammunition going it blind this way," cried Slim in +disgust. "We've got to do now what we ought to have done before and +cut loopholes in the sides of the walls. Then we'll have a fair +target when we shoot. I'll stand guard while you fellows--Ah, you +will, will you?" + +The exclamation was caused by the sight of a wolf which threw itself +with such force against the hole in the door where his companion had +met its fate that not only his head, but his shoulders and front paws +protruded into the room. + +Almost as he spoke Slim Tyler fired, and the bullet penetrated the +animal's brain. + +A howl came from the slavering jaws and the head slumped forward. + +"That makes two less to worry about!" exclaimed Slim. + +"Good work!" commended Jerry. "Don't do that, Dick," he cried, as +Mylert made a motion to kick the dead body through the opening. "Let +it stay there to plug up the hole. It'll be all the harder for the +next one to force its way in." + +"The fellows outside will drag the body out, anyway," replied Dick. + +"Perhaps they won't know he's dead," conjectured Jerry. + +"Trust them," said Dick. "They know a death howl when they hear it. +Look, they're at it now!" + +There was a fierce tugging at the animal's body, and in a trice it +was drawn from the opening and the cannibal feast was renewed. + +The pulling and tearing had still more enlarged the opening, and the +young aviators viewed it with dismay. + +"That last one got halfway through," observed Slim. "The next one +may make the whole distance. If he does, he'll be followed by +others. A few of them rampaging around inside would give us a tough +job." + +"And we haven't a thing to bar the hole with!" exclaimed Jerry, as +his eyes ranged swiftly around the room. + +"I have it!" cried Slim, as he rushed to the fireplace and pulled out +a blazing brand. "They're as afraid as death of fire. Let's see how +this works." + +He hurled the burning torch through the opening. + +There was a chorus of frightened snarls as the beasts scurried from +the vicinity of the door, abandoning their bloody feast with +reluctance, but abandoning it nevertheless. + +"Got 'em all right," chuckled Slim. "They don't like it for a cent. +We'll give them some more of the same kind. We'll keep the home +fires burning, and not one of them will cross the blaze to get at the +hole." + +They hurriedly threw out some more of the burning logs until there +was quite a bonfire in front of the door. + +"Lucky we have plenty of wood in the lean-to," exulted Dick, as he +hurried to get a fresh supply with which to replenish the fire. "We +can keep this up all night, if we have to." + +"It will serve a double purpose," put in Jerry. "It will light up +the place outside so that we can see what we're aiming at." + +"Yes, if they'll only stay in front," replied Dick dubiously. "But +they'll soon sense that there's nothing doing in that quarter, and +they'll try us on the other three sides." + +"All the more reason why we should hurry up with those loopholes," +suggested Slim. "Let's hustle now, fellows, so that we can see +what's doing on every side of the cabin." + +They laid aside their guns for the moment and dug away with their +knives with feverish energy until they had made apertures large +enough to thrust rifle barrels through and turn them in any desired +direction. + +During all the time they were working, there had come no sound from +without. The lonely forest seemed wholly untenanted. + +"Think they've had enough of our game and drawn off?" asked Jerry, +the wish father to the hope. + +"Not by a jugful!" affirmed Dick. "A couple of dead ones make no +difference to them. Judging from the snarling, there must have been +twenty at the least. They won't give up as easily as that. Just now +they're planning what to do next." + +If this were so, there must have been a confusion of counsels, for +the silence continued for a long time. + +The besieged scanned the space without from every side, but no +slinking figures stood out against the background of the snow, no +green eyes gleamed from the shadows of the forest. + +The tense waiting wore on the besieged ones' nerves. + +"Hanged if I don't believe that Jerry was right after all!" conceded +Dick Mylert, wiping his brow with his handkerchief, for the fierce +fire they were obliged to keep up made the cabin abominably warm. +"Looks as if the brutes--Look out, fellows! Look out!" he shouted, +as he leaped for his gun. + +He aimed it at an open place in the roof and fired. + +In Mylert's excitement the shot went wild, and the next instant a +great gray body came hurtling through the air and struck the floor +with a thud. + +Slim Tyler and Jerry Marbury had grabbed their guns at their +companion's shout but had had no time to aim. + +Like lightning, the wolf sprang at Jerry's throat! + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A FEARFUL DILEMMA + +Slim Tyler had no time to aim at the savage brute that had launched +itself in mid-air in the attack on Jerry Marbury. But his trained +muscles acted like lightning. + +His rifle, held by the muzzle, described a circle and came down with +crushing force on the wolf's head. + +There was a sharp crack as the skull caved in, and the beast fell to +the floor, rolling over and over in the agonies of death. + +The besieged youths had no time to rejoice over the narrow escape, +for the head of another brute appeared at the opening. + +Before it could spring, Mylert's rifle rang out, and the body came +tumbling to the earth floor of the cabin. + +It was not mortally wounded and still showed fight, but another shot +from Jerry's gun ended its life. + +The young men looked at each other, pale and panting. + +"A pretty lively time while it lasted," commented Slim, summoning up +a wry smile. + +"Sure keeps the blood in circulation," admitted Dick. + +"And it isn't over yet!" cried Jerry, as his rifle rang out and +filled the cabin with echoes. + +A third beast at the roof opening fell back with a frightful snarl, +and they could hear the body rolling over and over as it slithered +along the snowy roof and finally fell to the ground. + +"I wonder if they'll come for any more medicine of the same kind," +remarked Jerry. + +"I don't know," replied Slim. "It certainly takes a long time to get +an idea through some fool heads." + +It did seem, though, that the savage brutes had at last learned the +lesson that the roof was not exactly a health resort for wolves. At +all events, a long time elapsed before any move took place on the +part of the besiegers that could be interpreted by the occupants of +the cabin as an attack. + +An hour went by, then two, and still the assault was delayed. + +"Guess they've gone off now for fair," surmised Jerry. + +"Don't kid yourself," said Dick, from the loophole through which he +was peering. "Those fellows hang on like grim death. Why shouldn't +they? They probably haven't any pressing engagements elsewhere, and +they figure that luck may turn. There! I saw a couple just now +slinking through the brushwood. Oh, they're there, all right. Hand +me my gun, Jerry. I think I can pot one of them right now." + +Jerry passed over the gun and Dick took careful aim and fired. + +"Winged him!" he cried exultantly, as a howl of pain and fright +followed the shot. "One less to count on. The pack's on him +already. A minute more and all his troubles will be over." + +Another hour passed and still no sign of attack. + +"Getting near morning," remarked Slim, as he looked at his watch. + +"And it will never again be so welcome," sighed Jerry. "Those +fellows don't like the light and they'll scatter as soon as the sun +rises." + +"What's that smell of smoke?" asked Dick suddenly. + +"Comes from the fireplace, I guess," yawned Jerry. + +"Don't you believe it!" cried Slim. "It's more than that. And +listen to that crackling! Boys, the cabin's on fire!" + +That terrible pronouncement fell on the aviators' ears like the crack +of doom. There was no mistaking the fact. Smoke was beginning to +eddy in through the hole in the door and wisps of it shredded through +the crack in the building. The crackling grew more pronounced, and +the space before the building was lighted up with a lurid glare. + +"It's those brands we threw outside to scare off the wolves," groaned +Slim. "One of them must have dropped so close to the cabin that it's +caught fire. Fools that we were! Why didn't we throw them farther +away?" + +Red tongues of fire now began to sift through the cracks in the logs +and fill the cabin with a ruddy flickering light. + +Those within looked at each other in consternation. There was no way +to put out the fire. They had no water, and even if they had had, +there would have been no way to apply it to the outside of the +building. The wolves would have been on them in an instant the +moment they showed themselves outside the door. + +The wolves themselves seemed to realize the predicament in which the +besieged were placed. The cunning beasts had gathered in front of +the cabin and squatted there, their white fangs showing, their jaws +slavering in expectation of a feast. + +The young aviators looked at each other. + +"The cabin's doomed!" groaned Jerry. + +"Just a chance between being roasted or eaten alive," judged Dick +gloomily. + +"See if there's a back door to the place, Jerry," directed Slim +Tyler, whose mind had been working at lightning speed. + +Jerry darted into the lean-to and returned in an instant. + +"Nothing doing," he reported. "Our only way of getting out is by the +front door." + +The front door! And in front of that door, only a few yards away, +were a dozen or fifteen gaunt, hungry, savage wolves, waiting to +launch themselves on their prey! + +"There's only one chance, fellows," said Slim Tyler between his +teeth, "and I'll admit that it's a desperate one. We've got to +depend on surprise. Let's move that table back from the door." + +This was done. + +"Now," said Slim, "slip your cartridges into your pockets and strap +your rifles over your shoulders, so that they won't be in the way of +your arms and legs." + +Slim's companions obeyed rapidly, not knowing yet what their leader +had in mind, but yielding to him without hesitation. + +"Pick out your trees," went on Slim. "Choose slender ones that you +can climb rapidly and yet strong enough to support your weight. Then +when I give the word we'll throw the door open and make for the +trees. Each of us will pick out a couple of blazing brands from the +fire and throw 'em in the faces of the pack as we run. We'll have +the advantage of the surprise, anyway. It may work and it may not. +It's a forlorn hope, but it's the only chance we have." + +They shook hands solemnly. In the minds of each was the thought that +they might never touch hands again. With a blazing brand in each +hand they faced the door. + +"All ready?" asked Slim. + +"Ready," came the answer. + +"Go!" shouted Slim, flinging open the door. + +They charged down on the savage horde, yelling like Indians and +waving their fiery torches before throwing them into the faces of the +pack. + +The astonished wolves, daunted by the fire, taken by surprise, and +bewildered by finding themselves the hunted instead of the hunters, +gave way in confusion and scattered in the woods. + +Before they could recover themselves, the young adventurers were +legging it for dear life toward their chosen trees! + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +TREED + +Slim Tyler and his companions ran as they had never run before to the +trees that offered their only chance of safety. How slim that chance +was, no one knew better than themselves. + +Had their path been through the deep snow, they could never have made +it. But the constant going to and fro of the pack had trodded down +the snow and made the running easier. + +By this time, the temporary panic into which the beasts had been +thrown by the sudden sortie from the cabin had spent its force. The +wolves began to realize that their enemies were no longer advancing +to the attack, but were themselves racing for their lives. + +With gleaming eyes and howls of fury, the brutes turned and rushed in +the direction of the fugitives. + +The latter had by this time reached their respective trees, and were +shinning up them with an agility born of desperation. + +Up they went like monkeys, spurred on by the certainty that if they +slipped and fell they would be torn to pieces in an instant. + +Slim's long legs and arms helped him most, and he was the first to +find himself out of reach of the ravening jaws below. He clambered +into the crotch of a limb and sat there panting. + +Dick had been almost as quick. Jerry, however, was a fraction of a +second slower, and that almost proved his undoing. + +Two wolves leaped at him at the same time. The jaws of either one of +them would certainly have clamped upon a foot that was within easy +reach. But the two collided in mid-air and tumbled snarling to the +ground. Before they could renew the attempt Jerry had caught at a +lower limb and swung himself to safety. + +For a few minutes none of the three young men spoke a word. They +could not, if they had tried to. That frightful race for life, when +every particle of nerve and muscle had been taxed to the utmost, had +left them utterly exhausted. + +It was Dick Mylert who at last broke the silence. + +"I take off my hat to you, Slim," he said. "That plan of yours was +the only possible one, and it worked. You've got a head on your +shoulders, old scout." + +"Nothing else but," affirmed Jerry. "That brain of Slim's is always +on the job." + +"We're not out of the woods yet," said Slim. "These fellows have got +us treed, and there's no telling how long they'll keep us here." + +"Lucky they can't climb," observed Jerry. "If they were bears or +panthers now, they'd have us just where they wanted us. We'd be easy +meat." + +"I think it's about time our rifles got busy," remarked Slim, as he +unslung his weapon. "Get yours ready, fellows, and when I give the +word we'll let them have a volley." + +"Good idea," approved Jerry, as he got his rifle in position. "At +such short range it won't be possible to miss. But let's each pick +out a separate one. We don't want to waste any ammunition." + +At Slim's signal the three rifles cracked simultaneously. Each +bullet found its target. Two of the wolves fell dead, and the third +rolled over, mortally wounded. + +"Once more before they scatter!" cried Slim, and again the rifles +spoke, each claiming a victim. + +It was too much for the pack. The survivors broke and ran for cover. +How far they went the occupants of the trees did not know. They +might be lurking in the vicinity or have gone for good. + +"Guess that will hold them for a while!" exclaimed Jerry, with a sigh +of relief as he settled back in the crotch of the limb. "They don't +even stay to eat their dead comrades. They're beating it while the +going's good." + +"Likely enough," assented Slim. "Still, we'd better not bank on that +too heavily. We'll wait a while and see what happens." + +The cabin by this time was a mass of flames. The young men +contemplated it with a shudder. It might have been their funeral +pyre! + +"It's serving one useful purpose, anyway," remarked Dick. "It's +keeping us warm. We'd be freezing to death in these trees if it +weren't for that." + +In a little while the darkness began to lift. A pearly gray streaked +the heavens in the east, growing brighter and brighter, until at last +the sun peeped over the horizon and shot its slanting rays through +the forest. + +With the light came an upspringing of the young voyagers' spirits. +The night of horror was over. Death had reached for them but had not +quite clutched them. Now the day was here and their hearts exulted. + +"How about it?" asked Dick. "I'm mighty grateful to this old tree, +but I don't care for it as a permanent home." + +"Same here," chimed in Jerry. "And maybe I'm not hungry." + +The youths slid down from the trees. Now, if ever, would be the time +for their enemies to show themselves. But no untoward sight or sound +came from the surrounding forest. The wolves had gone! + +Still exercising caution, the young adventurers made their way toward +the plane. + +"Gee!" exclaimed Jerry, as a thought struck him, "suppose the wolves +have looted the food supplies in the plane." + +"Heaven forbid!" exclaimed Dick fervently. "Still, it's possible. +There was nothing to prevent them." + +Apprehension quickened their steps, until finally they were running +at full speed in the direction of the plane. If any such disaster +had happened, it would mean a torturing delay in their search for +Dave Boyd and his party. They would have to return to civilization, +stock up, and start off again. The thought was intolerable. + +Slim Tyler reached the plane first and jumped aboard. A glance +sufficed. + +"Glory hallelujah!" he cried. "Nothing touched! Everything all +right!" + +"Bully!" jubilated Jerry. "Break out that grub. Here's one wolf +that's going to get busy. And how!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +A CLOSE CALL + +The sky voyagers broke out the supplies and fell to with a will, +their appetites whetted by their long sojourn in the cold air. + +The snow had stopped and the weather had cleared, although there was +a cutting wind from the northwest. + +"The sooner we get going the better," declared Slim Tyler, on the +conclusion of their meal. "The end of this day, if things go well, +ought to find us pretty close to Greenland." + +"You're going to find it some job taking off from here," observed +Jerry, scanning the small area of the lake with anxious eyes. "It +was hard enough making a landing, but, take it from me, it will be a +mighty sight harder getting this bird into the air." + +Slim Tyler's eyes swept round the borders of the lake. + +At one place there was a space about a hundred and fifty feet in +width that was free from trees. There was a quantity of underbrush, +but in that cold region it had not grown thickly and much of it had +been trampled down by animals coming to the lake to drink. + +"That gives us a hint as to the best way out," said Slim. "It won't +take more than an hour's work with knives and axes to make it fairly +level for the plane. We'll trundle the _Hope_ in there as far as we +can and then make our start. By the time we get back to the lake +she'll be going pretty fast, and I think we can lift her before she +gets to the further shore." + +"Perhaps," assented Jerry dubiously. "Even at that it's going to be +a tight squeeze." + +"I know it," admitted Slim. "But it's the only way out and I think +we've got to take the chance." + +The young airmen got out their implements and set to work lustily. +But the task was harder than they had anticipated, and it was a good +two hours before the rude runway was in shape. + +They hauled the _Hope_ to the farthest possible limit, adjusted their +goggles, and Slim and Dick climbed into the cockpit. + +"Give her a whirl, Jerry," directed Slim, as his hand settled on the +controls. + +Jerry started the propellers and the engine began to roar. Then +Jerry jumped on board and the plane started down the improvised +runway. + +By the time it reached the edge of the frozen lake it had attained a +fair rate of speed, but not as much as the young pilot had hoped for. + +He knew he faced two dangers. One was that the ice of the lake might +crack and let them down. The other was that, despite his utmost +efforts, he might not be able to clear the trees on the further side. + +On he went and on, until he was nearly in the center of the lake. +The ice still held, though it was cracking ominously. + +The _Hope_ quivered, lifted, and rebounded. Then she definitely rose +into the air and darted toward the trees. + +Tall trees they were, veritable forest giants, and Slim Tyler's heart +skipped a beat as he saw how fast they seemed to be rushing toward +him. + +Could he clear them? Or would he smash? + +If he struck, the plane would fall to the earth a crumpled mass, and +what would happen to its occupants the pilots did not dare think. + +Nearer and nearer! + +Slim Tyler's knuckles were white as he gripped the controls, his +heart was beating fast, but his brain was cool and his nerves were +steel. + +The _Hope_ was shooting now at the sharpest of angles toward the +skies. It seemed almost as though she were rearing upright in the +air like a frightened horse. + +"He'll never do it," whispered Dick Mylert to Jerry. + +"Yes, he will," Jerry whispered back. "You don't know Slim Tyler." + +"Even he can't do miracles," murmured Dick. + +"No," admitted Jerry. "But he can come mighty close to doing them." + +Nearer and nearer! Higher and higher! + +Then with a roar of her motors the _Hope_ rushed over the tree tops, +so close that the highest tips of the branches grazed the wheels. + +"Great Scott he's done it!" cried Dick jubilantly. + +"What did I tell you?" Jerry reminded him. + +Slim Tyler kept the airplane whizzing upward until he had reached an +altitude of about two thousand feet. Then he brought her to an even +keel and turned around with a grin to his companions. + +"You can't complain that you're not getting any excitement on this +trip," he said. + +"That's too weak a word for it," returned Dick. "My hair was fairly +standing on end." + +"Wonderful work, Slim," commended Jerry. "You've got this plane so +that it'll eat out of your hand." + +"I wouldn't have given a thin dime for our chances," avowed Mylert. +"I was already seeing the headlines, 'Tyler Relief Expedition Wrecked +in a Canadian Forest'." + +"Well, a miss is as good as a mile," declared the young pilot. "Our +time hasn't come yet." + +He turned the nose of the _Hope_ toward the north and gradually eased +her into three-quarter throttle, keeping her there as a rule, though +at times he threw her into full for short distances. + +With every hundred miles she reeled off the weather grew colder. +They were approaching the regions of almost perpetual ice and snow. +The ground had put on its winter garments and the soil was completely +hidden from sight. + +"We'll have to take off the wheels now and put on the skis," observed +Slim. "I'd have done it this morning before we started, but I wasn't +sure that the ground would be wholly covered with snow. It's clear +now that it will be that way from this time on, and the sooner we get +the runners on the better. We'll wait, though, till late afternoon, +for I want to take advantage of this good weather to get as far on +our way as possible." + +The _Hope_ clove its way through the air, fairly eating up space. +The motors were working beautifully, and Slim Tyler's heart sang with +exultation. + +Dick slept peacefully, wrapped in his furs, tired out by the +ceaseless vigil of the night before. Slim and Jerry also felt the +strain, and they relieved each other at the controls at two hour +intervals, so that each could catch up on sleep. + +"Time now to think of putting on the skis," judged the young leader +of the expedition, as the afternoon was waning. "Country seems +pretty flat here, and we oughtn't to have much trouble in finding a +place to come down. Suppose you boys get out your field glasses and +pick out a good spot for landing." + +Dick and Jerry applied themselves to the task, but for some time +without result. + +"I see something that hits me right," Jerry said at length. "Looks +almost as level as a floor. Look! Over there a little to the right!" + +"Not bad," agreed Slim, after a little scrutiny. "I'll get down a +little and we'll take a squint at it at close quarters." + +He lowered the _Hope_ to within three hundred feet of the ground. +Closer examination confirmed the favorable first impression, and Slim +came down to an easy landing. + +They jumped out, glad to stretch their cramped limbs. Not far off +was a patch of woodland, but in all other directions what seemed to +be a measureless expanse stretched out as far as the eye could reach. + +"Bet there isn't a living creature besides ourselves within a hundred +miles," remarked Dick. "Hello, what's this?" and he stooped to pick +up something that was half buried in snow. + +"By the great horn spoon!" he cried. "A newspaper--or a part of one! +How on earth did it ever get up in this desolate spot?" + +Slim and Jerry crowded around him as he smoothed out the crumpled, +snow-encrusted sheet. + +"A New York paper!" exclaimed Jerry, as he looked at the heading. +"What do you know about that?" + +"Look at the date line!" cried Slim. "The seventeenth! It was the +eighteenth when Dave Boyd started on his trip. By Jove, fellows, I +see it now! Dave or some member of his party had this paper in his +pocket when he left North Elmwood. I'll bet a dollar to a nickel +that Dave Boyd camped on this very spot on his way to Greenland!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +SINGING ARROWS + +The young voyagers looked at each other with amazement in their eyes. +It seemed wholly likely that Slim Tyler's conjecture was true. + +Travelers in this region, by air or otherwise, were extremely few. +No other expedition in this part of the world was known to be in +progress. And the date line, coinciding so closely with Dave Boyd's +departure on his trip, deepened their confidence in their conclusions. + +"It's almost like a message from him," said Jerry, with a touch of +awe in his tone. + +"Don't get superstitious, Jerry," laughed Dick. + +"Of course," remarked Slim, "it doesn't prove that Dave actually +landed here. The paper may have been dropped or blown from the +plane. But that the _Flying Cloud_ at least passed over this place, +I feel sure. We know that this was the general direction he intended +to take when he started." + +"Seems like a good omen," remarked Jerry. "Makes me feel, somehow, +as though we'd got in touch with Dave." + +"Same here," agreed Slim. "But now let's get busy with those skis." + +They brought the long runners out of the plane together with the +necessary tools and set busily to work. + +They had taken off one of the wheels and were applying themselves to +the other, when Jerry felt a rush of wind over his face, accompanied +by a slight stinging sensation in his ear. + +"Jehoshaphat! what's that?" he exclaimed, as he straightened up. +"Felt as though a bee had stung me." + +"You're loco," replied Dick, without looking up. "Bees don't go +gadding about in this kind of weather." + +"Why, Jerry!" cried Slim, in some alarm, "your ear is bleeding." + +"So it is," assented Jerry, as he put his finger to the injured +member and brought it away reddened. "Now what in thunder----" + +He stopped short and gazed transfixed at the side of the plane. + +An arrow was sticking there, still quivering! + +"Indians!" yelled the young leader, as he recovered from his +momentary stupefaction. "To the other side of the plane, fellows! +Quick!" + +They darted to the side that was farthest from the woods and crouched +in the shelter of the _Hope_. + +They were not a moment too soon, for as they did so the air became +full of hissing sounds, and they could hear the soft thud of arrows +as they buried themselves in the wood. + +This was something that had never entered into their calculations. +Animal foes they had counted on as a possibility, more than that, a +probability. But human enemies, no! + +"I never thought of there being Indians in Canada," muttered Dick. +"I'd always associated them with the Wild West in our own country." + +"There are a few scattered tribes in Canada in the upper part," +replied Slim. "But I never thought of them as dangerous." + +"I'll say they are," grumbled Jerry, as he touched gingerly his +injured ear. "Here's the proof of it. And they can shoot pretty +straight, if you ask me." + +"Wonder if they'll rush us," observed Dick. + +"Probably not till dark, anyway," conjectured Slim. "They won't take +any needless risks as long as they think they can pick us off from +the shelter of the woods." + +The voyagers peered over the side of the plane toward the patch of +woods. Not a sound came from there. Not a figure could be seen. If +it had not been for those ominous arrows sticking in the side of the +plane, it might well have seemed that the young adventurers had that +whole region to themselves. + +Stealthily, Slim Tyler crept over the side of the plane, got his own +rifle and handed other weapons to his companions. + +"Might as well do a little shooting on our own account," he said +grimly, as he rejoined his mates. "We'll send a little volley into +the woods just to let those bozos know we're armed." + +At his signal all fired at once, and their bullets went whistling +among the trees. No cry of pain indicated that any of them had found +a mark. A silence as of death reigned over the darkening woods. + +"A little bashful about showing themselves," remarked Dick. + +"They're waiting patiently," replied Slim. "They count on the dark +as their best friend. Then they'll try to put us out of business and +loot the plane." + +"If we hadn't taken that wheel off," groaned Jerry, "we could start +the old bus going and give these fellows the merry ha ha." + +"Lucky there's only one off," replied Slim. "We can put that on in a +jiffy. The skis will have to wait till another time. Here's my +plan, fellows. As soon as it's too dark for them to see us, we'll +slip around to the other side and adjust the wheel. It won't take us +more than ten minutes, if we hurry. Of course more arrows may come, +but they'll be shot more or less at a venture and we've got to take +our chance. In the meantime we'll send them a volley every once in a +while, just to warn them that, if they get anything from us, they'll +have to fight for it." + +They followed this suggestion, shooting at intervals into the woods +without eliciting any response from their unseen enemies. + +When dusk at last had deepened into dark, the three slipped silently +to the other side of the plane and worked with desperate energy at +replacing the wheel. + +It was ticklish work, for at any moment a host of arrows might come +with their messages of death. + +It was done at last, however, and Slim and Dick climbed into the +plane. + +Jerry gave the propeller a whirl and dashed for the cockpit. + +At the instant a horde of savages, with blood-curdling yells, broke +from the shadow of the woods! + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +IN DEADLY PERIL + +"Lie low, fellows!" shouted Slim Tyler as the engine broke into a +roar. + +A cloud of arrows that came from the bows of the natives emphasized +the injunction. Some buried themselves in the side of the plane. +Others whizzed over the heads of the three young aviators, crouched +low behind their defenses. Had they not been as quick in ducking as +they had, some or all of them would certainly have been struck. + +One of the fleetest of the natives reached the side of the plane +before it had fully gathered speed. He grabbed the edge and tried to +climb in. + +Dick's fist launched out and caught the fellow a tremendous blow in +the jaw. The clutching hands loosened and the savage fell back to +the ground. + +"Plucky beggar!" muttered Dick. "But I'll bet he's lost a few of his +teeth." + +The _Hope_ was now in full swing and zooming down the field at high +speed. + +"Let's hope she doesn't strike a stump or something," muttered Jerry +between his teeth. "I'd not like to be dumped into that yelling +crowd." + +"Here we go," said the young pilot as he lifted the plane into the +air. "They'd have to have wings to get at us now." + +Up and up they soared until they were safely beyond the reach of the +arrows. Only then did they dare to breathe. + +"I'd like to take a pot shot at them," muttered Jerry vengefully. +"Look at the way they're all crowded together down there! We +couldn't help winging some of them." + +"I don't think we'd better," counseled the leader of the expedition. +"Hardly seems sporting when the poor beggars haven't a chance to get +back at us." + +"They gave me a lot of a chance, didn't they, when they nicked my ear +with that arrow?" grumbled Jerry. "Anyway, let's give them a scare +and send down a few flares." + +"That's all right," assented Slim, and a moment later four flares +went hissing down into the crowd. + +The dazzling lights illumined the scene and showed the fright on the +throng of dark faces as the mysterious flares neared the ground. To +their untutored minds, it seemed, perhaps, that the white men had +plucked the stars from the skies and were hurling them down upon them. + +With wild yells of terror, the Indians broke and scurried like +rabbits to the shelter of the woods. + +"Got that much out of them, anyway," chuckled Jerry, in high glee. +"Doesn't pay for my ear, but it helps." + +In a few minutes they had left the ill-omened camping place far +behind and the _Hope_ was roaring swiftly toward the north. + +Jerry got out the medicine kit and Dick bathed the wounded ear in +iodine. Luckily, the wound was slight, although it was painful +enough to keep Jerry constantly reminded of his narrow escape. + +"No monotony on this trip, anyway," he remarked later, when an +abundant meal had put him and his companions at peace with the world. +"First wolves, then Indians. Fate is certainly handing us some heavy +jolts. I wonder what will come next?" + +"For goodness' sake, don't start worrying about that," Dick Mylert +adjured him. "It'll be bad enough when it comes. I'm so thankful +now that my scalp isn't drying at some Indian's belt that I'm not +inclined to kick about anything--especially anything that hasn't yet +happened." + +"What about the skis, Slim?" asked Jerry. "It's too bad we couldn't +have finished that job while we were about it." + +"It sure was," agreed Slim Tyler thoughtfully. "What makes it worse +is that we're getting near the coast and will soon be over the water. +Then it will be too late to change to the skis before we reach +Greenland. Of course we could wait at the coast till morning before +we make another attempt to put on the skis. That is, if we think +that it's got to be done by daylight. But if you fellows are game, +we'll take a chance and go down now and do it as well as we can in +the dark. Only this time," he added, with a grin, "we'll choose a +place where there are no woods in sight." + +"You bet your life!" exclaimed Mylert, with fervor. + +"That goes for me, too," echoed Jerry, instinctively reaching for his +ear. "But how are we going to find a landing place in the dark?" + +"It won't be dark long," replied the young pilot. "The moon will +rise in about an hour. I'll fly low and we'll try to find some level +place. When we think we've found it, we'll drop some flares to make +sure it's all right, and if it is I'll go down." + +"Rather risky, don't you think?" asked Dick dubiously. + +"A little, but not so much," replied Slim. "You see it's this way. +I judge that we'll be at the coast about midnight. Now, if we have +to hover about there till daylight to fix the skis, we'll have lost +half a dozen hours or so, while if we have them fixed by the time we +reach the water, we can keep right on and fly all night. Time is so +precious now that I don't want to lose an hour of it that I don't +have to. Savvy?" + +"I guess you're right," conceded Dick. "Anyway, I'm just a passenger +and I don't want to do any back seat driving. Anything that you +decide on goes with me." + +An hour passed and the moon arose and flooded all that wild world +with glory. + +Under any other circumstances the flyers would have reveled in the +beauty of the scene. But just now the moon was to be admired, not +for itself, but for the help that it might be to them in discovering +a suitable landing field. + +They descried such a place half an hour later. Like all the district +over which they had been flying that day, it was covered with a hard +crust of snow that had been so beaten upon by the bitter winds that +it was packed almost to the consistency of ice. + +Taking every precaution, Slim Tyler let the plane down to a +successful landing. The moon shining on the snow made everything +almost as light as day. There were no woods within sight and nothing +else that could possibly shelter an enemy. + +Under these conditions the changes they had in mind were easily made. +Skis were substituted for the wheels and the latter carefully packed +away for future use. In less than an hour everything was in +readiness for the resumption of their flight. + +They were delighted to find that the skis worked to a charm. When +the young pilot started the engines the plane darted along on the +runners like a thing of life and soared into the air like a bird. + +It had been more or less in the nature of an experiment, for neither +Slim Tyler nor Jerry Marbury had ever used skis before. So they were +relieved beyond measure when the first test proved successful. + +For in the place to which they were going there was practically +nothing but ice. The whole of Greenland, except in some strips along +the shore and certain other places where weather conditions were +unusual, was covered with a solid ice cap. Wheels would be at a +discount in that frozen region. Skis were almost indispensable. + +So that it was with a feeling of intense elation that they flew on +over the desolate wastes of Labrador and approached the shore of +Davis Straits, on the other side of which lay Greenland. + +Slim gave the _Hope_ full throttle, and at about midnight, as he had +predicted, the water came in view. + +The flyers heard it before they saw it. A thunderous roar blended +with the song of the motors. It was the roar of breakers dashing +against the rocky shores. + +"How does it sound, fellows?" asked Slim, turning toward his +companions with a grin. + +"Rather fierce, if you ask me," returned Dick. + +"As though it were daring us to come on," put in Jerry. + +"Well, we're going to accept the challenge," declared Slim, as the +raging waves came into full view. "Say good-by to the land, fellows, +for it will be a long time before you see land again." + +There was a curious feeling in the hearts of all as they said +farewell to the American continental mass. Land meant home. It was +associated with every experience of their lives. It was secure, +stable, solid. While flying over it they had the comfortable feeling +that, if anything went wrong, they could come down to safety. + +But the ocean, cruel, remorseless, uncaring for human life or +pain--that was different. + +Now, if they came down, they would come down to death! + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +AT RISK OF LIFE + +Though the three young adventurers fully appreciated the chances they +were taking, their hearts were high and their souls undaunted. They +had counted the cost before they had embarked on their enterprise, +and they were willing to pay that cost, if an unkind fate should +demand it of them. + +On they went over the wild sea, flying at an altitude of three +thousand feet. + +An hour of this, and Slim Tyler relinquished the control of the plane +to Jerry Marbury, while he snatched a little sleep. + +"How is she going?" he asked, a couple of hours later, when he came +to relieve his companion. + +"Not very well," returned Jerry uneasily. "She doesn't answer as she +should. I was just going to call you and have a talk about it. I'm +afraid there's something wrong with the stabilizer." + +"The stabilizer!" exclaimed Slim quickly, for all the meaning of that +disaster flashed upon him at once. "Here, give me the control and +let me get the feel of it." + +It took him less than a minute to realize that Jerry was right. The +_Hope_ was tossing and bucking like a balky mule. + +"I know what it must be," declared Slim, after he had run over in his +mind all possible reasons for the _Hope's_ eccentric behavior. "The +streamlined cable brace on the right side of the stabilizer has +parted." + +"Parted!" + +To an experienced airman like Jerry, the word was like the crack of +doom! + +The young aviators looked at each other. The blood had fled from +their faces. + +"Unless we fix it, we're goners," declared Slim. + +"Of course we are," agreed Jerry. "But how are we going to fix it +unless we can come down?" + +"I don't know how, but we've got to," affirmed Slim. + +"I don't believe it's ever been done on an airplane while in flight," +groaned Jerry. "Looks to me, Slim, as though the jig is up." + +"What's all the shooting about?" asked a sleepy voice, and Dick +Mylert, roused by the excited conversation, came forward and joined +the pair. + +"Plenty," returned Slim. "The stabilizer brace has given way." + +"And that means?" + +"It means that unless we fix it promptly we'll get a ducking," +replied Slim grimly. "I can't explain it to you now. Let me think." + +He needed to think and think quickly, for none knew better than he +what was meant by the parting of that brace that put the rudder in +jeopardy. + +One plan after another chased itself through his mind, to be rejected +as impossible. + +At last he fastened on one that offered some glimmer of hope, though +it was beset with manifold dangers. + +"Dick," he commanded, "you'll find some rosin in a bag back there. +Break it out." + +Mylert hastened to obey. + +Slim turned to Jerry. + +"Get me a spare brace, Jerry," he directed. "You know where we keep +them." + +In a minute Jerry was back with the brace, a steel strut about a +quarter of an inch thick, an inch wide, and about three feet long. + +"Here it is," he said. "What's your plan, Slim?" + +"We're going to smash the rear bulkhead," explained Slim. "Then I'm +going to crawl to the tail of the ship through the fuselage. I'll +take a sharp knife along and slit the fabric on the top of the +fuselage. Then I'm going to push my head and shoulders through the +hole, so that I can have my arms free." + +"But you'll be in the full blast of the propellers!" cried Jerry, +aghast. "It will tear you to pieces!" + +"I guess not," replied Slim. "Anyhow, I've got to take the chance." + +"Let me do it," pleaded Jerry. "My life isn't worth any more than +yours. Why should you take all the risk?" + +"No," said Slim. "I've got the whole thing mapped out in my mind. I +won't be blown away. That's one reason why I asked Dick for the +rosin. I'm going to spread it over my suit, so as to give a better +grip on the fabric. You stay at the controls, Jerry, and try to keep +this bucking broncho steady until I've finished my work. In a little +while we'll either be riding pretty or we'll be at the bottom of the +sea." + +He rubbed his clothes with the rosin that Dick brought, and with the +latter's aid broke through the rear bulkhead and slit the fabric +until his head and shoulders could emerge. + +It seemed that the blast of the propellers, as he came into its full +force, would blow his head from his shoulders. + +It would have been a delicate piece of work to do, even under the +most tranquil circumstances. In this wild roaring and tumult it +seemed impossible. + +One end of the brace was bent into a hook with a sharpened point. A +hole had been drilled below the point of the hook. In the shaft of +the strut opposite the hole in the hook was a corresponding hole. At +the end of the shaft was another hole, larger than either of the +other two. + +Slim pulled the hook of the strut through the fabric of the +stabilizer so as to hook the outside tubing, which was just on the +other side of an interior steel brace. + +Then he put a bolt through the two holes and screwed the bolt tightly +into place. That proceeding clamped the strut permanently to the +stabilizer. + +With a heavy pair of pliers he drew the end of the broken brace +through the big hole in the end of the shaft of the new strut as +tautly as he could. Then he lashed it securely. + +It had been a fearful task that would have daunted a lesser soul. +The blast of the propeller was tearing at him, taking away his +breath, searing his eyes, threatening at any moment to wrench him +from his precarious hold and hurl him into the raging waters beneath. +His lungs were laboring to the bursting point with his terrible +exertions. His hands were so numbed by wind and cold that they had +scarcely any feeling left in them. + +But he had triumphed! He had saved the plane! The brace was not +quite as rigid as he would have liked to have it, but amply so for +their present needs. + +That it was working well was evident from the fact that the bucking +and balking of the plane had ceased. She was once more answering her +helm without protest. + +Breathing a huge sigh of relief, Slim Tyler drew back into the +fuselage, got back into the cabin through the broken bulkhead, and +made his way to the control. + +Jerry fairly hugged Slim in his delight at his safe return. + +"You did it, old boy! You did it!" he exclaimed. "It was a hundred +to one chance, but you won! A thing I don't think has ever been done +before by a flyer--repairing a stabilizer while in flight. Didn't I +tell you this fellow could work miracles?" he demanded of Dick Mylert. + +"I'm beginning to believe you," replied the young newspaper man +warmly. "Gee, my heart was in my mouth while you were out there, +Slim! It looked as though you were up against a hopeless task." + +"Nothing is hopeless, unless we admit it is," replied the young +pilot. "I'll take a turn now at the controls while you boys finish +the job. You'll need a curved needle to sew up the slit in the +fabric and then you can repair the broken bulkhead. That will make +everything O.K." + +Jerry and Dick set to work busily and soon had the repairs made, +pending a more complete job when they should be able to land. + +It was bitterly cold, and grew still colder as they progressed toward +the Greenland coast. + +Below them the sea was dotted here and there with huge icebergs, +great masses that had broken off from the ice cap and were now +floating in stately majesty toward the warmer waters of the south. + +With the moonlight reflected from a thousand jagged points, the bergs +resembled gigantic diamonds. It was like a scene from fairyland. + +But the aviators had not long to enjoy it, for great masses of clouds +gradually obscured the moon, and gusts of wind, growing ever fiercer +in intensity, presaged a coming storm. + +"Something brewing," remarked Jerry. "Looks as if----" + +The sentence was never finished. + +A terrific blast struck the plane with such irresistible force that +it turned turtle! + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +IN THE GRIP OF THE STORM + +The attack of the wind was sudden beyond all precedent in the +experience of the young aviators. + +It was as though the demon of the storm had counted on surprise and +had hoped to accomplish the destruction of the _Hope_ at one blow +before the aviators could rally their confused senses to combat it. + +One moment the _Hope_ had been flying on an even keel. The next, it +had completely reversed its position, and the occupants found +themselves flying head downward. + +The straps that held Slim Tyler in the pilot's seat stretched and +strained, but did not break. + +His comrades were not so fortunate. Jerry Marbury was for a moment +literally standing on his head. Then he fell down heavily, grasping +an iron bolt, to which he clung with the tenacity of a drowning man. + +Dick Mylert was flung out of the plane and would have gone hurtling +to the waters beneath if his hands, flung about wildly, had not +grasped the side of the fuselage. There he hung suspended while the +wind tore at him, trying to loosen his grasp. + +"Hold on, Dick! For the love of Pete, hold on!" screamed Jerry, as +his senses cleared and he saw his companion's frightful plight. + +He crawled close to his imperiled comrade, clutched his wrists, and +by a tremendous effort pulled him in to safety. + +Slim Tyler was fighting desperately to regain control of the plane +and bring her right side up. It was a herculean task, as she had +already started on her downward plunge. + +A lesser pilot would have lost his head and his doom would have been +sealed then and there. But Slim Tyler kept his nerve, and by +consummate craftsmanship finally brought the plane to its normal +position. + +The first onslaught had been met and repelled, but others followed, +and the aviators found themselves in a wild turmoil of the elements. +The wind was blowing with all the force of a tornado. It beat and +tore at the plane as though it would rend it into shreds. The +howling of the storm drowned the roar of the motors. It was a +terrible demonstration of nature's unbridled fury. + +Yet in that awful welter, Slim Tyler's hand at the control never +faltered. His pulses were steady, his heart undaunted. + +With masterly skill he jockeyed the plane, driving here, banking +there, trying to present the least vulnerable surface to the blow, +making the wind at times his ally, again challenging it to do its +worst. + +He darted upward in an attempt to find a quieter strata of air, but +found that he gained nothing by the change. Then he sought lower +altitudes, coming down at times so close to the water that he heard +its roar and was sprinkled with its spray. + +But wherever he went it was the same. The gale was out to find a +victim, and it seemed to exercise a demoniac cunning in thwarting +every effort of its prey to escape. + +To keep on their projected path was of course out of the question. +All that mattered now was saving the plane and with it their own +lives. If they perished, the course did not matter. If they +survived, they could easily find it again. + +Over that great angry waste of waters, the _Hope_ flew on, a mere +speck in immensity, while its imperiled occupants never knew what +moment might be their last. + +For one thing Slim Tyler was grateful. He had repaired the +stabilizer before the storm started. If he had been delayed until +the gale was upon them, nothing on earth could have saved them from +certain death. + +Luckily, there was no lightning. They were too far north for that, +and thus they were spared one peril that had so nearly brought to +naught the journey to South America. + +For more than an hour the storm raged with the greatest fury. Then +it began to subside. It died away in fitful gusts that came at +longer and longer intervals and finally ceased altogether, although +the agitated air rocked up and down like the waves of the ocean after +a gale. + +Slim Tyler's tense grip on the controls relaxed. Despite the bitter +cold, he was drenched with perspiration from the terrific strain he +had undergone. + +"I've been on many a ship in a gale," breathed Dick Mylert, "but I've +never been shaken up and tossed about like this. I feel like a +scrambled egg." + +"You brought her through wonderfully, Slim," said Jerry, clapping his +friend on the shoulder. "Where do you think we are?" + +"Search me," replied Slim. "I'll try to figure it out as soon as I +can get my breath. If those clouds break away and let the moon shine +through again, you can get out your instruments and we'll check up on +the figures. I've tried to keep her in an easterly direction as far +as I could, but in this hullabaloo she's been dancing round to all +points of the compass." + +But the clouds obstinately refused to break away. They had contained +more than wind. Half an hour had not elapsed before snow began to +fall. + +The storm came first in scattered flakes, then in a thick cloud, then +in blinding sheets. It plastered the windows of the cockpit. It lay +in a heavy blanket on the body of the plane. It coated the broad +wings, weighing them down. + +Every additional ounce that weighted the plane weighted Slim Tyler's +heart as well. + +For the plane was losing buoyancy and sinking lower and lower with +every ten minutes that passed. + +She was like an overloaded ship, wallowing in the trough of the sea +when she ought to have been cleaving her way through it. + +Slim banked and dived and rose and sideslipped in the effort to shake +the snow from the wings. Had it been of the powdery variety, he +might have succeeded. But it was wet and stuck to the wings like +glue. + +"Going through a good many stunts, aren't you, Slim?" asked Dick +Mylert lightly. He had no idea of the gravity of the situation. +"What is this, anyway? A flying circus?" + +"Something far different from that," answered Slim soberly. "The +wings are carrying so much snow that the _Hope_ is getting too tired +to fly." + +"Is that so?" exclaimed the reporter, his airy manner vanishing +instantly. "Does that mean that there's danger of her going down?" + +"Exactly that, if the snow keeps falling," affirmed Slim. "I have +all I can do now to keep her aloft. There must be half a ton of snow +on her wings now. And half a ton is a thousand pounds." + +"If this keeps up, we'll have to throw some of our cargo overboard to +lighten the plane," declared Jerry. + +"Possibly," admitted Slim. "Spare parts, tools, even food, if +necessary. Lucky if we keep our shirts. But even that is better +than drowning." + +As if to emphasize that sinister word, the roar of the waves beneath +grew louder. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THREATENING DOOM + +Slim Tyler's quick ears caught an unusual note in that more +boisterous roar of the angry waves. _Hope_ sprang anew in his heart. + +"Notice anything different in this sound from that we've been hearing +for the last hour?" he asked his companions. + +They listened intently. + +"Sounds to me like breakers dashing on the shore!" exclaimed Jerry +Marbury, and the newspaper man nodded assent. + +"That's what it is, I'll bet!" cried Slim. "If that's true, fellows, +it means that we have reached the Greenland coast!" + +The words went through them all like an electric shock. + +"Thank goodness!" ejaculated Dick Mylert fervently. + +"Glory hallelujah!" cried Jerry. + +"We don't want to crow too soon," the young pilot cautioned his +companions. "Break out those flares, Jerry, and throw a couple of +them down." + +Jerry obeyed, and the flares went down, leaving fiery trails like the +tails of comets in their wake. + +"After all," observed Dick dubiously, "what good will they do? The +wall of snow shuts out our sight. We can't see whether they fall on +the land or the sea." + +"Wait," advised Slim. + +Perhaps twenty seconds elapsed before the luminous glows left by the +passing of the flares disappeared. + +"Land!" exclaimed Slim joyously. + +"Land!" echoed Jerry with equal jubilation. + +"How do you know?" asked Dick wonderingly. + +"If water were beneath us, the flares would have been extinguished +immediately," explained Slim Tyler. "As it is, you notice that they +continued to burn. We've reached Greenland all right. Now if we +have to come down, as we probably shall, we'll find land beneath us." + +"Or ice," suggested Jerry. + +"The same thing as far as making a landing is concerned," replied the +young pilot. "As a matter of fact, I shouldn't be surprised if we +never see the ground itself as long as we're in Greenland. With a +few exceptions, it's a solid sheet of ice from end to end." + +"Seems to me it isn't snowing as hard as it was," observed Dick. + +"It isn't," affirmed Slim. "If it will only stop altogether now, I +can probably keep the plane afloat. But with much more weight on her +wings she'll go down as sure as shooting." + +Presently the snow stopped falling, and with its cessation an immense +load was lifted from Slim Tyler's spirits. The _Hope_ still labored +heavily, but she was more or less manageable. + +It was imperative that they should make a landing as soon as +possible. They were in a mountainous region, and if they should +suddenly come face to face with a high peak there would be no way of +making the heavily weighted plane rise above it. + +It was growing lighter now, and the occupants of the plane strained +their eyes to see something of their surroundings. + +They had left the sea far behind and found themselves flying over a +high plateau, sheathed in ice and destitute of all signs of human +habitation. It was many miles in area, rugged and uneven and hemmed +in on every side by mountains. + +At intervals it was cut through by gorges hundreds of feet in depth, +with steep, precipitous sides. There were no trees anywhere to break +the landscape. The whole scene was one of dreary desolation, and it +sent a chill through the veins of the adventurers. + +"Nice place to live in--I don't think," muttered Jerry. + +"Not many human beings do live in it," replied Slim; "about twelve or +fifteen thousand altogether and most of them Eskimos at that, in the +milder places scattered along the coast." + +"Only fit for polar bears," commented Dick. + +"There are plenty of them," replied Slim. "Perhaps we'll get a hack +at them before we're through. Or perhaps," he added, with a grin, +"it will be they that take a hack at us. Gosh, what made that Dave +Boyd expedition come to such a rotten place?" + +The sun had risen now, and its rays sent back a thousand dazzling +reflections from the ice. + +"Keep your eyes peeled for a landing place," Slim adjured his +companions. "This bird is trying to come down of her own accord, and +I'm having all I can do to keep her in check." + +"There's a possible place," sang out Jerry a few minutes later. +"Seems to be a depression in the plateau, almost like a valley. +There's a long level strip at the bottom that may fill the bill." + +"Looks good to me," pronounced Slim after careful scrutiny of the +spot that Jerry pointed out. "Here goes!" + +He spiraled down into the valley, maneuvering the plane with masterly +skill. The skis landed gently on a comparatively smooth surface, +skimmed along for a few hundred feet, and gradually came to a stop. + +A shout of delight came from the throats of all three as for the +first time their feet touched the ice of Greenland. They had reached +their destination after enduring frightful perils. They had +negotiated the last water jump, during which they had not known but +what the next moment might be their last. + +But they had triumphed! They had achieved their goal! They were in +Greenland! It was with a feeling of irrepressible exultation that, +all past perils forgotten, they felt solid footing beneath them. + +"Now to find Dave Boyd!" cried Jerry. + +"And Cameron Flood," added Slim, from whom, through all the journey, +the thought of Nat Shaley and the lumber claim had never been long +absent. + +"Who's Cameron Flood?" asked Dick Mylert curiously. + +"One of the scientists in the party," replied Slim. "There's a +matter in which both he and I are interested. But now for a good +meal. Then we'll set to work and get the snow off this baby's wings." + +They ate with appetite, for all through that terrible night they had +been too oppressed and anxious to think of food, and now woke to the +realization that they were ravenously hungry. + +After the meal was finished they got out scrapers and shovels and +removed the snow from the wings of the _Hope_ and also from the body +and struts of the machine. In many places it had changed to ice and +the work was long and arduous, and had to be done with extreme care. + +This finished at last, they made a careful inspection of the plane. +There were some slight repairs to be made, but considering the +conditions she had met, the _Hope_ had come through with flying +colors. The broken strut was made almost as good as new. + +Following this, Slim and Jerry brought out their instruments and took +observations of the sun. From these they were able to figure out +their approximate position. + +"About forty miles inland," mused Slim thoughtfully. "We know at +least where we are. But where in the mischief is Dave Boyd? Any +idea, Jerry?" + +"Not the least," replied Jerry. "Ten to one he's landed somewhere he +didn't want to. You know that story of the trappers about seeing the +plane forced down." + +"Yes, and that story didn't give the location, except that it was +somewhere about the center of the island," rejoined Slim. "That's a +pretty indefinite indication, for Greenland is more like a continent +than an island. Thousands and thousands of square miles to fly over. +It's almost like looking for a needle in a haystack." + +"Yes," said Jerry sombrely. "Moreover, sometimes I'm afraid of what +we'll find if we find them at all. Only their dead bodies, perhaps. +The plane may have been smashed to flinders." + +"That's a chance, of course," admitted Slim, and a pain stabbed +through his heart at the thought. "But we're not going to dwell on +that. I think we'll find them, in trouble, perhaps, but still alive +and well." + +The two aviators were interrupted by a call from Dick Mylert, who, +while the others had been making their calculations, had wandered off +to the side of a cliff at a little distance. + +"Come here, fellows," cried Dick, "and take a squint at these." + +He held up some oval objects as they hurried toward him. + +"Eggs," he said, as they came up to him. "Lallapaloozers, too. Some +of the biggest I've ever seen." + +"Where did you get them?" asked Slim, as he and Jerry examined them +curiously. + +"In the side of the cliff here," replied Dick. "Saw a cleft in the +rock and climbed up. Scientific curiosity," he grinned. "We'll take +them along and let some of the high-brows in Boyd's party--if we find +them--tell us what they are." + +"I don't know," said Slim reflectively. "Perhaps it would be wiser +to put them back. They're still a little warm." + +"What of that?" asked Dick. + +"It means that the mother bird hasn't been away from them long and +may be back any minute," replied Slim. "When she comes there may be +ructions. Better put them back, Dick. We've got trouble enough +without looking for any." + +The young newspaper man grumbled a little but acceded. He climbed up +the cliffside and was putting back the eggs when there came a sudden +whirring of wings. + +"Look out, Dick! For the love of Pete, look out!" shouted Slim Tyler. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE CRASH + +Startled by Slim Tyler's cry of warning, in which Jerry joined, Dick +Mylert looked up. + +Two great birds were swooping down upon him with raucous cries, +talons outspread. + +Dick started to clamber down, but one of the birds, bigger than an +eagle, struck him a heavy blow with one of its wings and he fell for +a dozen feet. + +His feet slipped out from under him as they touched the icy surface +and he fell on his back. + +"Cover your eyes, Dick!" screamed Slim, as he saw the creatures +making for Dick's face. + +Dick, though confused and bewildered, had sense enough left to follow +the injunction and threw both arms tightly over his eyes. The angry +birds tore at his arms, their beaks drawing blood. + +Slim and Jerry launched themselves against the creatures, their arms +and fists working like flails. The ferocity of their onslaught drove +the feathered assailants back for the moment, but they returned +promptly to the attack. + +With their left arms shielding their eyes, Slim and Jerry yanked Dick +to his feet and the three fought their way back to the plane, while +again and again the maddened birds swooped down upon them, beating +them heavily with their wings, striking at them with talons, and +trying ever to get at their eyes with their beaks. + +"Hold them off for another minute," panted Slim, as he leaped over +the side of the plane and grabbed a rifle. + +The gun cracked and one of the birds fell lifeless. Another shot +broke the wing of the other and it flopped helpless to the ground. +Slim fired once more and killed it. + +Then he rejoined his comrades, who were leaning, gasping, against the +side of the plane. + +"They haven't touched your eyes, have they?" he inquired anxiously. + +"No," panted Jerry. "But it wasn't for the want of trying. I'm +bleeding like a stuck pig." + +"My eyes are all right," gasped Dick. "But that fall knocked all my +teeth loose. I can feel each one of them move as I touch them with +my tongue." + +"They'll tighten up in a day or two," Slim consoled him. "Gee, but +I'm glad that we've got rid of those pirates!" as he viewed the +feathered heaps on the ice. + +"They were bad medicine," grunted Jerry. "But let's break out the +first aid kit and get some iodine and bandages." + +They helped to bind up each other's wounds, which were plentiful. +But they were so relieved that their eyes were left that they bore +the pain with philosophy. + +"How about that scientific curiosity of yours, Dick?" asked Slim +quizzically. + +"Gone! Squelched!" replied Dick emphatically. "I'll never go +bird-nesting in the Arctic again. Gee, but those fellows were +fierce! What are they, anyway?" + +"Auks, I guess, or something of the sort," replied Slim, with a +glance at the huge creatures. "Mild enough when they are let alone, +but tough bozos when it comes to defending their nests. Can't blame +them. I like their spunk, and I'm sorry we had to kill them." + +They rested for a few minutes and then prepared for their flight of +exploration. + +"Just what are your plans, Slim?" asked Dick. + +"Simply to keep flying as long as daylight lasts," replied Slim, as +he climbed into the cockpit and took his seat at the controls. +"While Jerry or I guide the plane, the others will study the ice +beneath with the field glasses. We'll be able to cover a good many +hundred square miles of territory every day. We'll fly as low as we +dare and yet keep out of the way of the mountain peaks. Each day +we'll cover a separate section. We'll go over the whole of Greenland +as with a fine toothed comb." + +"How about the gasoline?" asked Jerry. "We're using up a good many +gallons with every day we fly." + +"I know," admitted Slim. "That's a problem. But we'll keep aloft as +long as we can, and when the supply runs low we'll make for one of +the Danish towns along the coast, where we can replenish. I hope, +though, that it won't come to that." + +They made an excellent take-off and mounted into the skies. + +The sun was still shining brightly as Slim Tyler headed toward the +center of the island. The visibility was fine, and they had no +difficulty with their glasses in seeing the landscape beneath. + +For hours and hours they flew on their quest without detecting any +signs of human life. Animal life there was, reindeer, foxes, +ermines, hares and musk oxen, though how some of them could find a +living in those ice-covered wastes it was hard to imagine. From time +to time these could be seen as mere dark specks on the ice-clad +surface. + +"If a fellow were lost here and had his rifle, he might live on +game," remarked Jerry. + +"A slim chance," returned Dick. "There'd be no cover, and he +couldn't get close enough for a shot without being seen. No, this is +anything but a hunter's paradise. If a fellow got stranded here, his +best bet would be to streak it to some of the settlements along the +coast." + +Time wore on until mid-afternoon with not a sign of anything human to +reward their quest. Then a haze began to rise and obscure their +sight. + +"By Jove!" exclaimed Slim suddenly, just as he was about reluctantly +to put aside his glasses. "I thought I saw something then that +looked like a camp." + +"Where?" asked Jerry, who at the moment was guiding the plane. + +"Down there," replied Slim, pointing to a deep valley a little to the +right. "Hang it, it's fading away now as this fog grows thicker. +We'll have to wait till it lifts. But keep circling around in this +vicinity, Jerry, so that we shan't get away from this spot." + +"Why couldn't the fog have waited a little longer?" grumbled Dick. +"It's maddening to have it come up just now." + +"What did the thing look like, Slim?" asked Jerry eagerly. + +"Oh, it was vague enough," admitted the young aviator. "But there +seemed to be a lot of things scattered around and I thought I could +see some figures moving." + +"Moving!" repeated Jerry, with huge satisfaction. "That's cheering. +Movement means life." + +"Of course, we don't want to let our hopes rise too high," cautioned +Slim. "It may have been a party of Eskimos or Danish trappers." + +"Even that would be something," put in Dick. "We might get some +valuable information from them as to the whereabouts of Boyd and his +party." + +"That's true," agreed Slim. "Gee, fellows, I feel happier now than +at any time since we landed in Greenland!" + +The fog grew thicker. It soon wrapped the plane as in a pall. The +_Hope_ seemed like a ghost wandering through the darkness. The wet, +clammy folds penetrated through everything, even the heavy clothing +of the young aviators. + +Slim Tyler bent over Jerry and consulted the instruments. + +"Better lift her a little higher, Jerry," he said, with a touch of +uneasiness. "These mountains around here----" + +A huge black mass loomed up in front of them. There was a crash, and +everything went black before Slim Tyler's eyes! + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +LOST + +How long it was before he came back to consciousness, Slim Tyler +never knew. + +He woke to find himself lying on his back, with dense darkness all +about him. For a long time his dazed senses failed to take in the +situation in which he found himself. + +"Wonder how long I've been sleeping?" he asked himself confusedly. +"Why hasn't Jerry waked me up? He needs sleep as much as I do. He's +been having a long spell at the controls. Time I relieved the old +boy." + +He tried to rise, but sank back with a groan of pain. + +"Must be those auk bites," he murmured. "Hope there wasn't any +poison in them. Thought I used plenty of iodine, though. Gee, but +this bed is cold!" + +He put out his hand and felt ice. The shock aroused him. + +"What in thunder!" he exclaimed, as he felt about him for some of the +familiar objects of the plane. + +His hands encountered only empty air. + +Then in a flash it all came back to him--the study of the +instruments, his suggestion to Jerry that they rise higher, the black +mass looming up, the crash! + +They had struck, then. Hit the mountain side and gone down. The +_Hope_ was gone. And Jerry! And Dick! Good old Jerry and Dick! +Where were they? Slim Tyler groaned in anguish. + +His own awful plight for the moment hardly interested him. It was +the fate of his companions that tore at his soul. He was at least +alive. But they? + +"Lying dead, perhaps," he moaned. "Or, still worse, perhaps maimed +for life." + +So this was the end of the expedition on which he had placed such +high hopes, in the working out of which he had encountered and +overcome so many perils! + +All wasted! Sheer waste! The bitter sarcasm of it! Coming on a +mission of rescue and now himself a derelict! + +But Slim Tyler did not spend long in these soul-searing reflections. +His indomitable will awoke and stirred him to action. + +How did he know that his companions were dead? he asked himself. He +himself had escaped with life. Might not they have had equal luck? +He must look for them, and at once. + +By a tremendous effort he brought himself to a sitting position. He +could not repress a groan as he did so. He was bruised and sore all +over. + +He flexed his arms, though the operation caused him intense agony. +But at least they obeyed his will. They were not broken. + +He felt his legs gingerly. No broken bones there! + +A surge of hope thrilled through his veins. He was not crippled, +doomed to freeze or starve until death should come to his relief! + +With infinite pain and effort he managed to get upon his feet. Then +he applied himself to rubbing himself vigorously until the numbness +left his limbs and he was able to move about, though haltingly. + +Even though he could move about, he had not found freedom of action. +For the night wrapped about him like a blanket. He could hardly see +his hand before his face. For all he knew, he might be on the brink +of a precipice. The first step forward might hurl him down into a +chasm hundreds of feet deep. + +Inaction was maddening, but it would be sheer insanity to attempt to +move forward in that darkness. There was no alternative. He must +wait till daylight broke. + +How long would that be? He had not the slightest idea how long he +had lain there unconscious. He took out his watch and held it to his +ear. It had stopped. + +He summoned all his stoicism and steeled himself to the hardest task +in the world--to wait! + +In those dreary hours of waiting he had plenty of time to take stock +of his situation. The inventory was depressing. + +As far as he knew, he was alone--alone in thousands of square miles +of uninhabited, ice-clad territory. + +Even if his strength held out, he might wander over it for months +without coming in contact with a human soul. + +But how could his strength hold out? He had no food and no way of +getting any. Already the pangs of hunger were assailing him. + +There were of course provisions in the _Hope_. But where was the +_Hope_? Perhaps at the bottom of some inaccessible chasm. Perhaps +it had caught fire in the crash and been consumed. It might have +gone down one slope of the mountain, while he himself had been cast +down another. + +While he was immersed in these gloomy reflections the night wore +itself away. With the first glimmer of light that came from the +east, Slim Tyler looked with straining eyes about him. + +He found himself on an icy plateau at the bottom of a mountain slope. +Not ten feet in front of him was a yawning crevasse leading down to +an unknown depth. Similar gorges were in evidence everywhere. A +more forbidding, dreary, desolate landscape could not have been +imagined. + +Nothing familiar met Slim's eyes. No Jerry Marbury! No Dick Mylert! +No plane! + +He was lost! Lost in Greenland! + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE SHOT + +Slim Tyler had cherished the hope that daylight would reveal the +plane, or what remained of it after its collision with the cliff. +Even if wrecked, he might recover from it provisions to keep himself +alive for a time and weapons with which to secure game later on. + +The fact that he could discern no trace of it was at first a bitter +disappointment. Yet, as he pondered the matter, there came a slight +upspringing of hope. + +How did he know that the plane had smashed? Might not Jerry, despite +the damage it must have sustained, have managed to keep it aloft? + +The shock, to be sure, had been violent enough to throw him, Slim +Tyler, out of the fuselage. But his companions might have had better +luck, and the _Hope_ itself might have survived. If this were true, +he knew that they would search for him unceasingly until they found +him. + +This was the bright side of the picture. Down deep in his heart he +felt almost certain that the _Hope_ had gone down. + +But if so, where was it? Why had it not fallen at practically the +same spot in which he found himself? + +The answer might be found in the great gorges that seamed the +plateau. He shuddered as he looked at them. At the bottom of one of +them the _Hope_ at this moment might be lying, far from human sight, +a crumpled mass with the dead bodies of Dick Mylert and Jerry Marbury +in the wreckage. + +How had he himself survived? Why had he not been killed by his fall? + +A glance at the mountain side gave him the answer. He had not fallen +like a plummet through space. He had been flung out on an icy slope, +through which protruded at frequent intervals clumps of bushes and +shrubbery that had flourished during the brief summer season. + +These, no doubt, had broken his fall. His progress down the slippery +slope had been checked at intervals until he had finally brought up +at the bottom, horribly bruised and sore, but with all his bones +intact. + +The tufts of shrubbery gave him an idea. They might serve as hand +holds and enable him to make his way to the top. From there, on the +other side of the mountain, he might discern some traces of the +catastrophe. + +He girded himself for the effort and began to climb. In his +condition it was a frightful task. For every three feet he went up, +he slipped back at least one. Every muscle of his body clamored its +weariness and pain. + +But the stuff of which heroes are made was in Slim Tyler, and at last +he reached the coveted summit. + +From there he could see for many miles in every direction. It was a +scene of magnificent grandeur that met his eyes. As far as the eye +could reach were ice-capped mountains, valleys and gorges, gleaming +in the morning sun. + +But its sublimity made no appeal to Slim Tyler in his present state +of mind. To him it was only a magnificent tomb, in which he might +find his eternal rest, as perhaps his cherished comrades had already +found it. + +He strained his eyes for some sign of the _Hope_, But the region was +a sealed book. There was nothing in it that he could read. If the +mountains and gorges knew anything, they kept the secret. + +Bitterly disappointed, Slim Tyler left his point of vantage. The +cliffs on the other side of the mountain were almost perpendicular. +He must return by the way he had come. + +Reaching once more the plateau, Slim tied a handkerchief to a clump +of bushes so that its fluttering might attract attention, in case one +of his companions or a wandering trapper should come that way. To it +he pinned a page of his notebook, on which he scribbled a few lines, +telling of the disaster and urging that search should be made for him +and his companions. + +Then he set out on his journeyings. He had no plan of action. Under +the circumstances he could have none. One path was as good as +another. All he knew was that he must keep moving. + +Otherwise he would freeze. In motion there was hope. It would +engross his mind, keep him from going mad. And there was always the +chance that he might stumble on some traces of Jerry and Dick. + +Then, too, there was that camp that he thought he had discerned just +before the fog closed in on the plane. + +Was it really a camp? Or was it a mere figment of his imagination? +And if it existed, in what direction did it lay? + +He had not the least idea. It might be east, west, north, or south +from where he was at present. Every step he took might be bringing +him nearer to it or taking him farther from it. It was a pure +gamble, in which he had one chance out of four. + +He progressed but slowly. At times he had to make wide detours to +get about the crevasses in the ice that criss-crossed the plateau in +all directions. The utmost care was necessary, for the slightest +misstep on the slippery ice might send him into the yawning mouth of +an abyss. + +Hours passed, and still Slim Tyler plodded on. He had eaten nothing +since the noon before, and the fast of twenty-four hours had made him +ravenously hungry. + +He searched his pockets in the faint hope that he might find a bit of +biscuit or of chocolate. But there was not a crumb. He plucked some +leaves and twigs from withered shrubbery and chewed on them in the +hope of alleviating the gnawing pangs. But they seemed only to +aggravate his hunger. + +At times he stood still and shouted, in the hope that his voice might +carry to some human ears in that vast solitude. The mountains echoed +back the shout, but no other voice replied. + +Night fell and he perforce had to stop. He was growing dizzy and +lightheaded. But he did not dare sleep. Even that solace of the +miserable was denied him. He knew that, if he once closed his eyes +in that freezing atmosphere, he would never open them again. + +He had no matches, or he might have gathered withered shrubs enough +to make a tiny fire. That at least would have brought some semblance +of cheer. + +All night long he tramped to and fro in a narrow space that he had +selected because it was free from crevasses. When morning came he +set out again on his quest. + +He still kept shouting at intervals, though his voice was weaker now. + +It was after one of those quavering calls that he stopped abruptly. + +What was that? An answering call? No! He must be getting +delirious. He had been fearing that. Now it had come! + +But no--yes--there it was again! No mistake this time! A voice that +was not his own and that had a familiar ring in it! + +Slim Tyler summoned up his remaining strength and hurried around a +near-by bend in the cliff. And there was Dick Mylert running to meet +him! + +Dick! Good old Dick! Not his ghost, but Dick in the flesh! Dick, +whom he had feared he would never see again! + +The two fairly hugged each other in the exuberance of their delight, +babbling incoherently. + +"And Jerry?" asked Slim, when they had somewhat recovered their +composure. + +A shadow came over Mylert's haggard face. He shook his head sadly. + +"Don't know," he replied. "The shock came and the next thing I knew +I knew nothing. I was just chucked out and found myself alone when I +woke up. Ever since I've been looking around for you and him." + +They exchanged experiences, which had been very much alike. They had +rolled down different slopes and so had become separated. + +"Not a scrap to eat," mourned Dick. "Gee, I'd like to come across +those auks we killed!" + +"Same here," echoed Slim. "But now, if we starve, we'll have the +poor comfort of starving together." + +"Poor is right," said the young reporter, with a grimace. "But let's +hope it won't come to that." + +They set out again on their apparently unending tramp. Two hours +passed, and they were steadily growing weaker. Growing more +hopeless, too, though each kept up a brave front. + +"Don't know where we're going, but we're on the way," remarked Dick, +with a game but feeble attempt at joking. "Geewhillikens! what's +that?" + +The "that" was a shot that rang out crisply in the icy air! + +At the same moment a bird that had been flying overhead came whirling +down to earth! + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +A JOYOUS REUNION + +A shot! + +That meant that a human finger had touched the trigger. Men were at +hand! Trappers, hunters--it mattered not who they were, they were +men! The starving wanderers were no longer alone in this vast icy +wilderness. + +Slim Tyler and Dick Mylert looked at each other in wild rapture. +Then they broke into as rapid a run as their weakened state permitted. + +Staggering, but still running, they rounded an icy hummock and came +into view of a camp. + +Half a dozen figures were in sight, most of them busily engaged in +various tasks. + +Nearest to the newcomers was a man working at a plane. He looked up +at the sound of running feet and jumped up with a startled +exclamation when he saw the staggering figures coming toward him. + +Slim Tyler's heart leaped as though it would leave his body. + +The man was Dave Boyd! + +"Dave! Dave!" shrieked Slim in wild delight, almost falling in his +effort to reach him. + +Dave Boyd rushed forward and caught the youth in his arms. + +"By the great horn spoon!" yelled the older aviator in amazement, +hardly able to believe his eyes. "Slim! Slim Tyler! How did you +get here? Did you drop from the skies?" + +"Just that," replied Slim, smiling weakly as Dave Boyd folded him in +a bear's embrace. "Plane went flooey and I dropped. So did my +friend here, Dick Mylert. Dick, this is Dave Boyd." + +The men exchanged handclasps. By this time all the members of the +camp had come running and surrounded the newcomers with expressions +of wonder and welcome. There were Biff Donovan, for once genial and +smiling, Sardine Brown, and the scientists, Franz, Burke, Lewis, +Thompson and another upon whom Slim looked with keen interest, +Cameron Flood. + +Exclamations and questions tumbled over one another until Boyd +intervened. + +"Why, you're just a rack of bones, Slim!" he exclaimed. + +"Not much wonder," put in Dick. "He hasn't had anything to eat for +two days. Neither have I." + +"What?" yelled Dave. "Lay off that questioning, you fellows. Not +another word till we fill these boys up. Break out some of that +canned soup, Biff. Sardine, get some coffee going. Starved, are +you? You poor fellows! But we'll soon fix that." + +He led Slim and Dick to a shack that the party had constructed and +snuggled them under a pile of blankets. Then, when the soup and +coffee were ready, he fed them with his own hands, taking care that +they got no more than was good for them in their present weakened +condition. + +"Now get to sleep," he ordered them. "No, not a word," he commanded, +as Slim was about to speak. "I'm burning up with curiosity as to how +and why you're here, but you get your sleep first." + +"But I must speak," persisted Slim. "It's Jerry----" + +"What about Jerry?" asked Dave Boyd quickly. + +"He was with us," replied Slim. "He was guiding the plane when it +crashed. He may be wandering around as we were. I don't know." + +Dave Boyd's face paled. He was very fond of Jerry Marbury, who had +accompanied him on many of his flights. + +"Jerry!" he exclaimed. "Poor lad! We'll start a hunt for him at +once, every man jack of us. And we won't let up till we find him +alive--or find him dead. Trust us now and go to sleep." + +Slim and Dick could not have disobeyed, if they had tried. Through +the rest of the afternoon and all that night they were wrapped in the +sleep of utter exhaustion. + +Their youth and vitality stood them in good stead, and the next +morning they woke up enormously refreshed and almost their usual +selves. + +A glance at Dave Boyd's grave face told Slim without asking that the +quest for Jerry Marbury had been in vain. + +"No," said Dave. "We went in different directions, looking for him +and firing off guns at intervals to guide him to where we were. At +night we shot off Very pistols and sent up rockets in hope that he'd +see the lights. With no success so far. We'll go out again to-day +as soon as we've had breakfast." + +Slim sighed, but made no comment. + +"Now," said Dave, as they sat down at the rude table a little later, +"tell us what we all want to hear, Slim. What brought you to +Greenland?" + +"You," replied Slim simply. + +"What?" + +"You," repeated Slim. "We got worried when your messages ceased. We +got more worried when the report came that trappers had seen a plane +in trouble forced down in the mountains. So we raised funds, got a +plane, and started out to look for you." + +"We," said Dave dazedly. "Whom do you mean by 'we'?" + +"Jerry and I," replied Slim. "Dick came along to get stuff for his +newspaper." + +Dave Boyd was not an emotional man, but tears started to his eyes. + +"Let me get this straight," he said huskily. "You mean that you and +Jerry of your own volition got up this expedition and risked your +lives just to rescue me, if you should find me in trouble?" + +"Why not?" replied Slim. "You're the best friend I have in the +world." + +Dave Boyd thrust his big hand across the table. + +"Shake, Slim! Shake!" he said, as he grasped the lad's hand. +"You're there, Slim! You're all there!" + +A murmur of assent rose from all at the table, as, with eyes full of +admiration, they looked at Slim Tyler. + +"You were right in thinking we were in trouble," resumed Dave Boyd, +when he had released Slim's hand. "It's a wonder that we're not all +dead. We got caught in a frightful blizzard that forced us down. By +sheer luck we were able to make a landing----" + +"Luck, nothing!" interrupted Biff Donovan from the other end of the +table. "It was because you were handling the controls. No other +aviator in the world could have made that landing." + +"Nonsense!" disclaimed Boyd. "You could have done it just as well. +As it was, we escaped with our lives. But the radio was smashed and +the plane pretty badly cracked up. Biff and Sardine and I have been +pretty busy since patching it up. Our scientists here haven't done +so badly. They've got all kinds of information about the meteorology +of Greenland, the precipitation, the mountain ranges, and goodness +knows what else." + +"You're right in that," put in Cameron Flood, and the other +scientists nodded their heads. "It's been a fruitful opportunity, +far surpassing our expectations." + +Slim Tyler studied the speaker closely. What he saw pleased him. + +Cameron Flood was a tall, handsome young man of perhaps twenty-eight, +frank and open in expression, with a humorous glint in his eyes. He +had a straight, strong nose and a jaw that bespoke determination. +Slim judged that he would be a valuable ally in the tracking down of +Nat Shaley. + +"Now," said Boyd, as he shoved back his chair, "we're off to look for +Jerry. Everything around here has got to stop until we find him. +We'll divide into parties and keep in touch with each other by +frequent rifle shots. Flood, suppose you go with Slim and Dick. You +know this district well by this time." + +Armed with rifles, the groups scattered in different directions. + +Slim Tyler and his companions had been traveling about an hour when +Slim grabbed an arm each of Dick and Flood and yanked his astonished +comrades down behind an ice hummock. + +"What's up?" demanded Dick, struggling to rise. + +"S-sh!" warned Slim. "Look!" + +Dick and Flood peered cautiously around the corner of the hummock. + +A huge polar bear was lumbering toward them! + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +AT GRIPS WITH A MONSTER + +That the bear had not discovered the presence of the searching party +was evidenced by the leisurely and unperturbed way in which he came +swinging along. + +But their immunity could not last. The creature was coming directly +toward the hummock behind which they lay concealed. A minute more, +and he would have reached it. Then discovery would be inevitable. + +"Looks like a fight," remarked Cameron Flood coolly, as he gripped +his rifle tightly. + +"That's what," assented Slim Tyler. "And it's always a good plan in +a fight to get in the first blow. Let's give him a volley." + +"Whenever you say the word," agreed Dick Mylert. + +The bear stopped abruptly. Its air of serenity vanished. It had +caught the scent of man. It growled savagely, rose on its hind legs +and sniffed the air, looking about for its enemies. + +"A sockdolager!" breathed Dick. "Eight feet tall, standing up, if +it's an inch!" + +"Ready, fellows?" whispered Slim. + +His companions nodded. + +"Now!" shouted Slim. + +They sprang to their feet and fired. + +Standing up as it was, the bear offered a good target, and all the +bullets struck. With a frightful roar of rage and pain the animal +staggered and toppled over. + +The shouts of triumph that rose from the throats of the marksmen died +in their birth. None of the bullets had struck a vital spot and the +monster scrambled to its feet and rushed at its enemies with a speed +surprising in so large a creature. + +The bear was no more than twenty feet away and coming toward them +like an express train. + +They fired again, but failed to stop the charging beast. + +"Scatter!" yelled Slim, "and plug him when you get a chance." + +They fled like the wind in different directions. + +The melting away of the group disconcerted the polar bear for an +instant, but for an instant only. The next moment it singled out +Slim Tyler and made for him. + +If Slim's long legs had ever stood him in good stead, it was then. +He ran as if his feet had wings, spurred on by the certainty that +death was pursuing him. + +Had he been on bare ground, he might have twisted and doubled and +possibly escaped, though in the long run the superior endurance of +the bear would probably have told. + +But he was handicapped because he was running on ice. Again and +again he slipped and almost fell, and the struggle to regain his +footing checked his speed. The bear's paws were made for ice, and +the creature was at no disadvantage on that account. Slowly but +surely the bear was gaining on the fugitive. + +Shots rang out, and Slim Tyler knew that his comrades were doing all +they could to stop his pursuer. + +Then his blood froze with horror, for he saw before him a yawning +crevasse in the ice field! It was fully twenty feet across. He +could not leap it. He was trapped! Before him the abyss! Behind +him the bear! + +Slim Tyler whirled about like lightning. The bear reared itself up +to grasp him with a hideous growl of triumph. + +Flinging his rifle to his shoulder, Slim fired. + +The bullet entered the monster's eye and penetrated to the brain. + +Slim dodged as the huge body came tumbling down and narrowly escaped +the dreadful claws. + +The great bulk slid to the edge of the crevasse and went whirling +over and over to the bottom, hundreds of feet below. + +The young aviator sat down suddenly, gasping for breath, utterly +exhausted, scarcely daring to believe in his narrow escape from an +awful death. + +Dick and Flood came running up to him. + +"Are you hurt?" asked Dick anxiously. + +"No," panted Slim, "but--all--in." + +"No wonder!" exclaimed Flood. "You'll never be nearer death than you +were a minute ago and live to tell about it. My heart was in my +mouth. I thought it was all over with you." + +"It was a case of touch and go," admitted Slim, as he rose to his +feet. "Merest luck that shot got to the brain. I didn't aim for the +eye. Just let fly at the head, hoping it would get him somewhere." + +"Pity we lost the hide," remarked Dick. "It would have made a +splendid rug for your room when you got back." + +"I don't want it," replied Slim. "It would have given me the willies +every time I looked at it. Let's be getting on." + +"And let's keep a sharp lookout for the mate of that fellow," +cautioned Flood. "They usually travel in pairs." + +The precaution proved needless, as no other bear appeared. + +All the morning and well into the afternoon they searched plateaus +and valleys and mountain slopes, shouting at intervals and firing +their rifles, without eliciting a response or finding a trace of the +missing one. With every hour that passed their hearts grew heavier. + +They had paused to rest at the edge of a long slope that extended far +down into a valley. + +There came a cracking sound and a yell from Slim. + +"Jump back, fellows!" he shouted. "Jump back!" + +Too late! + +A huge segment of the ice on which they were standing gave way. The +next moment they went whirling down the steep slope in a wild medley +of waving arms and legs! + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +DOWN THE SLOPE + +Sliding, rolling, tumbling, their senses as well as their bodies in a +whirl, the three adventurers kept on in their headlong flight down +the slippery slope, reaching out wildly in the hope of grasping +something that would check their dizzy speed but clutching nothing +but empty air. + +As far as they could think of anything in the tumult of their minds, +they feared what would be at the end of that long slide. + +It might be a precipice over which they would be hurled to instant +death. Or they might bring up against an ice hummock or some other +obstruction with a force that would break every bone in their bodies. + +As they neared the bottom, however, the slide lost its steepness and +gradually merged into a gently rolling slope. This served to +moderate their speed, so that they had almost stopped rolling when +they brought up against some object that halted their flight. + +They were dazed and breathless, and for some moments lay motionless +in a heap, their predominant feeling one of intense thankfulness that +they were still alive. Then they began slowly to untangle themselves +and assume a sitting position. + +"I--I don't know whether I've got my own legs or somebody else's," +gasped Dick, as he extricated those useful members from those of his +companions. + +"We are pretty well scrambled," admitted Slim, "and that goes for +brains as well as legs. My head is spinning like a top. Either of +you fellows hurt?" + +"Feel as though I'd been drawn through a cement mixer," vouchsafed +Flood. "Think I'll take my meals standing up for a while. But none +of my bones seem out of whack." + +"No more such coasting parties for me!" declared Dick. "That is, if +I'm consulted about it beforehand. Gee, what a dizzy whirl!" + +"What is it we brought up against at the end, anyway?" asked Flood. + +"Don't know," replied Slim, groping behind him, for at that great +depth it was almost impossible to see anything. "Feels like----" + +He broke off suddenly and sprang to his feet with a yell. + +"It's a plane!" he shouted. "It's the _Hope_! Do you hear me, +fellows? It's the _Hope_!" + +"What?" cried Dick. "You're dreaming!" + +"It is, I tell you!" reiterated Slim, almost crazy with excitement +and delight. "Feel it! Go over it! Give me your flashlight, Flood." + +The young scientist handed it over, and Slim Tyler shot its rays over +the object. + +The _Hope_! It stood revealed from nose to tail, broken here, bent +there, a propeller twisted, the undercarriage awry, but by no means +an utter wreck, as Slim Tyler's eye noted at once. If it hadn't been +so big, Slim would have hugged it. + +There was the _Hope_. But where was Jerry Marbury? + +With dread in his heart, Slim Tyler moved slowly toward the cockpit. +He was afraid to flash the light into it. What might that light +reveal? + +But he had to know. With a desperate lunge, he flung the rays into +the cockpit, swept the fuselage and the cabin. + +His heart leaped. What he had feared to see was not there! + +"He wasn't killed when the plane cracked up," exulted Slim, "or his +body would be here." + +"That's something to be thankful for," replied Dick. "Still, it +doesn't really prove anything. He may have been thrown out as the +plane came down." + +A shout from a little distance made the three adventurers jump. + +"Hello! Hello there!" came in a familiar voice that set Slim's and +Dick's hearts to beating wildly. + +"It's Jerry! Jerry!" cried Slim. + +He started running in the direction of the shout, flashing the light +ahead of him, his companions close on his heels. + +Into the light came Jerry, good old Jerry, hobbling as fast toward +them as a bandaged foot would let him! + +Slim and Dick swept him into their arms, pounding him, embracing him, +mauling him, fairly delirious with relief and rapture. + +"Alive! Alive!" cried Slim. "Jerry, old boy, I wouldn't exchange +this minute for a million dollars!" + +"You'd get stung, then," grinned Jerry, though his eyes were moist +from the warmth of the welcome. "I'm not worth that much, living or +dead. But I feel the same way about you fellows. When you were +thrown out of the plane I was afraid I'd never see you again." + +"You stuck to the old ship, though," said Dick, "like the brick you +are." + +"No credit to me," disclaimed Jerry. "My straps held me in my seat. +As soon as I got over the shock, I tried to handle the old bus so +that she'd stay aloft. It was no go, though, and she came down at +last where you see her. Came down more slowly than I thought she +would, and yet hard enough to put one of my legs out of commission." + +"It isn't broken, is it?" asked Slim quickly. + +"Not as bad as that," was the reply. "But the knee was twisted and +the ankle sprained so that this is the first day I've been able to +stand on it. Otherwise, you can bet your life, I'd have been out +hunting for you. But how did you fellows ever get down to the bottom +of this gorge?" + +"Tumbled down, and brought up plunk against the plane," laughed Slim. +"And we've found Dave Boyd, Jerry." + +"Glory be!" cried Jerry. "Is he all right?" + +"Perfectly," replied Slim. "So are the rest of his party. Forced +down, but nobody hurt. They're patching up the plane now." Then +Slim introduced Cameron Flood. + +"This sure is my lucky day!" ejaculated Jerry. + +"There's one thing in which you were luckier than we were when we +were chucked out," put in Dick. "You've had plenty of grub." + +"Yes," grinned Jerry. "What's more, I sure have made a hole in it." + +"Well, now to get out of here and back to our camp," suggested Flood. +"The others will be worried if we don't turn up." + +"More easily said than done," said Dick, looking ruefully up the +slope down which they had rolled. "We can't go back the way we came, +especially Jerry with his crippled leg," and he pointed to the top, +where the segment that had broken away had left an overhanging cliff. + +"Sure enough," muttered Slim. "That makes it bad." + +"I was just coming back from a little scouting expedition when you +fellows met me," put in Jerry eagerly. "I found something that +seemed to lead out into the open--a sort of a narrow ice bridge it +looked like from a little distance. Maybe we could turn the trick +with that." + +"We'll try anything once," decided Slim Tyler. "Let's get moving. +Suppose you fellows," addressing Dick and Flood, "give Jerry an arm +each and I'll handle the flashlight." + +Following Jerry's directions and moving slowly because of the +latter's injured leg, they came before long in sight of the bridge of +ice. + +It was a natural formation stretching for perhaps two hundred feet +over a deep gorge and seemed at the farther end to emerge into open +country. + +In places it was thick; in others it had been hollowed out beneath by +thaws so that its thickness could be measured only by inches. In no +place was it wide enough for two to go abreast. + +Dick Mylert eyed it dubiously as Slim flashed the light upon it. + +"Easiest place in the world to fall from," he commented. "And if one +should fall--" He glanced at the yawning gulf below. + +"Mighty risky," agreed Slim. "But I'm ready to chance it if the rest +of you are." + +There was no dissent, and Slim Tyler led the way with his flashlight. + +"Come close behind me, Jerry, and hang on to my shoulder," Slim +directed. "I'll go slowly." + +With the utmost precaution they set their feet on the slippery +surface, not lifting one foot till the other was firmly planted. +They had to proceed at a snail's pace. The slightest misstep would +prove fatal. It was a nightmarish journey. + +The voyagers' apprehensions were not lessened by the ominous cracking +that made itself heard when they trod on the thinner places of the +structure. + +More sinister still in threat was the rumbling that grew ever louder +from the ice cliffs on either side. This presently assumed tangible +form when splinters of ice began to fall. + +They were soon more than splinters, large pieces detached from the +cliffs falling about the adventurers and at times narrowly missing +them. + +Every impulse urged hurry. But to hurry might itself mean death. + +"Steady, boys, steady!" gritted Slim Tyler between his teeth. + +At last, after what seemed ages, Slim reached the plateau on the +other side. He gripped Jerry's arm and yanked him to safety. + +A hideous rending roar sounded from above. + +"Quick, fellows, quick!" yelled Slim. + +Dick jumped to the plateau. Flood, who was last, gathered himself +for a spring. + +A tremendous mass of ice and rock came down from above. + +The ice bridge broke! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE BRINK OF THE ABYSS + +A huge piece of the cliff had struck the bridge and the structure, +never too strong at the best, collapsed under the blow. + +As Cameron Flood felt the bridge give way under him, he made a +desperate spring for the plateau. + +The distance was too great. He struck the side of the plateau with +his chest, his outstretched hands clutching some withered grasses +growing near the edge on the surface above, to which he clung with +the tenacity of despair. There he hung, swinging to and fro over the +fearful chasm hundreds of feet in depth. + +It had been said of Slim Tyler that his thinking processes could run +rings around lightning. A fond exaggeration of his friends! But he +proved his quickness now. + +In a flash he had seen that Cameron Flood could not clear the space +from the sinking bridge to the plateau. Simultaneously with Flood's +spring, Slim had thrown himself flat on the ground. + +"Sit on my legs," he roared to Dick and Jerry. + +The grasses that Flood had clutched gave way almost immediately +beneath his weight. But before they had completely yielded, Slim +Tyler's hands had closed on Flood's wrists with a grip of steel. + +"I've got you!" he cried. "Don't struggle. I'll pull you up." + +Flood obeyed, and inch by inch Slim Tyler hauled him up. + +It was a terrific task, for Flood had had the breath knocked out of +him by his impact against the side of the plateau and was a dead +weight. + +Slim felt as though his arms were being wrenched from their sockets. +If it had not been for the weight of Dick and Jerry on his legs, he +would have been pulled over the edge, and he and Flood would have +gone down to the depths together. + +Strainingly, Slim Tyler drew his burden up until Flood could rest his +elbows on the edge of the plateau. That helped. Then another +heart-breaking pull until Flood could throw one leg over. One final +tug and Slim had drawn him to safety. + +The young aviator rolled over on his back, panting, gasping, utterly +exhausted from the terrible mental and physical strain. The fervent +thanks of Flood, the admiring exclamations of Dick and Jerry, seemed +to come to him from far away. It seemed as though he could never get +breath enough into his laboring lungs. Fully five minutes elapsed +before he could speak. Then he sat up and smiled faintly. + +"Guess we'd better be getting on," he said. + +"Just like that!" exclaimed Dick. "Just done the quickest, nerviest, +pluckiest thing I ever saw, and thinks no more of it than just to +remark that he thinks 'we'd better be getting on.' You just can't +make a hero of that boy. He won't let you. Put him on a pedestal +and he kicks the pedestal over and comes down." + +"Oh, shucks!" deprecated Slim. "The chance just came to me and I +took it. Nothing to write home about." + +"He's hopeless," pronounced Jerry, shaking his head. + +"You saved my life, Slim," said Cameron Flood earnestly, "and I'll +never forget it. It was a wonderful exhibition of coolness, courage +and swift action. I shall be your debtor as long as I live." + +"I'm mighty glad I had the chance," replied Slim. "How are you +feeling now? All right?" + +"Rather battered, but still in the ring," replied Flood, as he rose +with the rest to continue their journey. + +"I think," said Slim, "it would be a good idea to fire the three +shots in succession that we agreed upon in case Jerry were found." + +The suggestion was followed, and as sound carried far in that silent +region, it was not long before answering shots told that the rest of +the searchers were hurrying in their direction. + +Dave Boyd with his group was the first to reach them, and it was with +a wild cry of delight that Dave recognized Jerry and rushed forward +to fold him in his arms. + +"Thank heaven!" he cried. "Jerry, my boy, I'd almost given you up. +Those three shots were the sweetest music I ever heard. Now we've +got all the old bunch together again. This Greenland trip would have +been utterly spoiled for me if anything had happened to any one of +you." + +"Two more might have been missing from the list every easily," +remarked Dick. "A polar bear nearly nabbed Slim and Mr. Flood came +within an ace of falling into a gorge. But luck was with us." + +"I should say that Slim Tyler was with us," amended Flood. "He shot +the bear through the brain, making an almost impossible shot, and he +saved me from dropping into the chasm. Apart from that, he didn't do +anything much." + +"Trust that lad to be always on the job," observed Dave Boyd. "It +was a lucky day when I met him. But let's get along to the camp +before it grows too dark to see." + +It was a jubilant party that gathered about the supper table that +night and went over the events of the day. A fearful weight had been +lifted from the minds of all. What was painful in the past had been +wiped out. The present was serene. The future could take care of +itself. + +No opportunity had yet been afforded Slim to speak to Cameron Flood +about the lumber deal in which the father of each had been concerned. +In the anxiety about Jerry Marbury, that had been shoved to the back +of Slim's mind. But after supper, as he was sitting next to Flood +before a roaring fire that had been built outdoors, the young aviator +broached the subject. + +"Mr. Flood," he said, "have you ever heard of Nat Shaley?" + +Flood started. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +SPEEDING HOMEWARD + +"Nat Shaley?" exclaimed Cameron Flood in answer to Slim Tyler's +question. "You bet I've heard of him, worse luck! What on earth +brought that old rascal to your mind?" + +"Rascal is right," agreed Slim. "I see you have him sized up. I've +had him in my mind for a long time. I think he swindled my father +out of twenty thousand dollars." + +"Shake!" said Flood extending his hand. "Our fathers were brothers +in misfortune. I have reason to think that he swindled my dad to the +tune of forty thousand." + +"Have you any definite proof of that?" asked Slim eagerly. + +"None too definite, I'm afraid," replied Flood meditatively. "A +virtual certainty, but perhaps not a legal one. There seem to be +some links missing in the proof. So, at any rate, our family lawyer +seems to think." + +"Yes, I got a letter from him," declared Slim. + +"You did?" asked Flood curiously. "What prompted you to get in touch +with him?" + +"This," replied Slim, taking the thumbed, greasy notebook of High Hat +Frank from his pocket. + +He told Flood of the way in which the notebook had come into his +possession, and the two went over it with the keenest interest. + +"That broken word 'Tyl'," said Slim, putting his finger on it. "I'm +sure that it refers to my father." + +"I know it does," asseverated Flood emphatically. "I can remember my +father speaking of a Mr. Tyler who was at one time associated with +him in business. What was your father's first name?" + +"Stillwell," replied Slim. + +"That's it!" cried Flood. "I remember thinking of it at the time as +an unusual name. What a queer coincidence it is that has thrown us +together!" + +"It is, for a fact," agreed Slim. "Doesn't it mean, perhaps, that +we're to be partners in tracking down Nat Shaley?" + +"Certainly looks like it," assented Flood. "And I'm with you in that +till the cows come home. But it will be no easy task. That old fox +has probably covered his trail pretty well. But there's a weak point +somewhere in every villain's plans, and you and I will do our best to +find it. Gee, I'd like to put the screws on the old scoundrel!" + +"Same here," declared Slim. "Not only has he cheated my father, but +he's done me dirt in every way he could. Robbed me of my wages, had +me arrested on a false charge, lied to me, tried to bribe me. I have +a heavy score to settle with him." + +"I'll stir up my lawyer as soon as I get back," promised Flood, "and +see if we can't get action. Don't worry about the funds. I'm fairly +well fixed financially, and all the money we need will be +forthcoming. Sooner or later we'll bring Nat Shaley to book and make +him pay back every dollar he stole." + +"That will suit me right down to the ground," said Slim. "Here's +hoping!" + +The next morning, Dave Boyd, accompanied by Slim Tyler and Biff +Donovan, went over to the valley where the _Hope_ had come down. It +took hours of searching before they found access to it through a pass +in the mountains. + +"Not so bad," pronounced Dave, after the three had made a careful +examination of the plane. "We have spare parts enough, and she can +be put in prime condition without too much trouble." + +"But she can never rise from here," remarked Biff. "No runway for a +take-off." + +"I was coming to that," said Dave. "We'll have to disassemble her, +carry the parts out piece by piece, take them to our camp, and put +them together again. It'll be a whale of a job, especially with the +motors, but a block and tackle will work wonders." + +It took nearly a week of hard work before the parts were all +transferred to the scientists' camp, and nearly two weeks more, with +their lack of machine shop facilities, before the plane could be put +in condition to fly. But with Slim and Jerry it was a labor of love, +and the other aviators joined in whole-heartedly, until at last the +_Hope_, as good as ever, stood ready for the homeward flight. + +In the meantime the scientists had fully achieved the objects of +their expedition. They had accomplished more than they had dared +hope and were in high feather over the results. + +The _Flying Cloud_ also had been fully repaired, with the exception +of the radio sets, of which all the tubes had been smashed, including +those designed for replacements. + +This had been a source of keen regret to Dave Boyd, and to the others +as well, especially to those who had families. No messages could be +sent, and the outside world was wholly in ignorance as to the fate +that had befallen the party. For all that the world knew, the +voyagers of both the _Flying Cloud_ and the _Hope_ had perished. + +One person in the party, however, had no regrets at the radio +failure. Dick Mylert, in his own words, was "riding high and sitting +pretty." + +"Peaches and cream for me!" jubilated the young newspaper man, the +instinct of his profession uppermost. "Exclusive story by an +eye-witness of the great Greenland Expedition! Thrilling details! +I'll write the whole thing up on the way home and be ready to put it +hot on the wire the moment we land. The other papers will be crazy. +And maybe my boss won't be tickled pink! I'll be the cream in his +coffee. Big jump in salary! Bonus! Promotion! Blessings on that +smashed radio!" + +"Go to it, old scout," laughed Slim Tyler. "You've surely earned it." + +A slight change was made in the grouping of the voyagers on the +return flight, Cameron Flood going in the _Hope_ with Slim and Jerry, +while Dick Mylert was transferred to the _Flying Cloud_. + +Boyd was the first to take off, and a few minutes later Slim Tyler +lifted the _Hope_ into the air. + +"Good-by, Greenland!" waved Jerry. + +"And Hail, Columbia!" added Flood, as the plane straightened out for +home. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +NAT SHALEY GETS A JOLT + +The start of the homeward flight was auspicious. Fate, that had been +so harsh to the voyagers on their outward trip, made amends by the +fair winds and favorable weather that accompanied them on their +flight over Davis Straits to the mainland of the American Continent. + +The voyagers had planned to make their first stop at Montreal for two +reasons. One was to replenish their stock of gasoline, which was +running low in each plane and would not suffice for the entire trip. + +Another was to drop off Dick Mylert so that that enterprising young +man could rush to the telegraph office and send his great exclusive +news story over the wires to his New York paper before the rest of +the world should have any inkling that the intrepid Greenland +adventurers were safe and sound and on their way home. + +For the greater part of the flight over the Canadian wilds the planes +kept each other in sight. Twice they were separated, once in a fog +and again in a storm of moderate violence, but they managed to rejoin +each other and came down to refuel at Montreal only a few minutes +apart. + +"Not a word now to anybody," implored the young newspaper man, as he +bade his companions a cordial farewell before hastening to the +telegraph station. + +"We'll be as dumb as oysters," promised Dave Boyd, and the rest +nodded assent. "Wouldn't spoil your story for anything. If it isn't +going to take you too long, we'll wait here for you." + +"Thanks just the same," replied Dick. "But there's no knowing how +long it will be before I can get a clear wire for a story of this +length, and you'd better go along. I'll take a train for New York as +soon as I get through." + +"Run up to North Elmwood as soon as you get a chance," urged Slim. + +"If you don't, we'll come down and kidnap you," added Jerry. + +"You bet I'll come!" promised Dick. "And out of that jump in salary +I'm going to get I'll blow you to the best dinner that your hotel +there can furnish." + +"Or better yet, we'll clean out Carl Stummel's hot dog stand," +laughed Slim. + +"That wouldn't be so bad either," replied Dick, chuckling. "The +memory of his hot dogs lingers." + +The newspaper man hurried off with a wave of his hand, and Slim Tyler +and Jerry Marbury looked after him with keen regret at losing him. +He had been a staunch, courageous comrade, always bright, always +jolly, a "regular fellow" in the fullest sense of the word. + +The party had to parry many questions from the mechanics and pilots +on the field while the planes were being refueled, but they avoided +revealing their identity, and when they rose again into the air for +the final lap home Dick Mylert's secret was still his own. + +"In Uncle Sam's country once more!" exclaimed Slim a little while +later, as the _Hope_ swept over the Canadian border. + +"It sure looks good to me!" ejaculated Jerry. "There have been times +on this trip when I wouldn't have given a plugged nickel for my +chance of ever seeing it again." + +It was with a thrill of exultation impossible to describe that, at +about noon on the next day, they found themselves hovering over the +old familiar field of North Elmwood. + +"Great Scott!" exclaimed Jerry in amazement. "Here we thought we'd +take them by surprise, and the field is black with people." + +"So it is," replied Slim. "Dick got his story through all right, and +after his paper got the first hack at it I suppose the news was +flashed all over America." + +As indeed it had. The big New York newspaper had electrified the +world by its great first-page story with screaming headlines about +the finding of the Greenland adventurers, and instantly the press +associations had sent the news to every town and hamlet of America +and to the capitals of Europe. + +Long before, the voyagers had been given up for lost and now it was +like a return from the dead. It was the sensation of the day, and +from every part of the country reporters in shoals and the populace +by thousands were hurrying to North Elmwood. + +So it was a tremendous reception that was accorded the daring +explorers when the planes descended like weary birds to the home +field. The voyagers were fairly mobbed by the crowds, whose +enthusiasm could not be held in check. + +There was glory enough for all, but Dave Boyd and Slim Tyler were the +special heroes of that great homecoming, Boyd because of the +admiration in which he was held as the greatest aviator in the world +and Slim Tyler because of his intrepid daring in leading the mission +of rescue. + +But better than all the applause and admiration showered on Slim was +the meeting with his old friends. They were all there, rotund Henry +Cusack, his face beaming like a full moon; Tom Ellsworth, who nearly +wrung his hand off; Henry Traut, with his little boy whose life Slim +had saved, well and rosy now, who squealed with delight as Slim took +him up in his arms; and Carl Stummel, good old Carl, who fairly +blubbered as he threw his arms about Slim. + +"Und it vos deadt dot I beleefed you vos, alretty!" he exclaimed. +"Und here you iss alife yet!" + +"You couldn't kill me with an axe," declared Slim. "I'm----" + +He broke off suddenly, for he saw a familiar figure edging away +through the crowd. + +"Just a minute, Carl," he excused himself. He turned to Cameron +Flood, who had been standing by, smiling. "Come with me a minute, +Cam." He had long dropped the more formal "Mr. Flood." "You'll meet +a mutual friend of ours." + +The two slipped away in the wake of the retreating figure. + +"It's Nat Shaley," Slim explained, as they hurried along. "I want to +give him a shock by introducing you. He may let slip something that +will help us." + +They overtook Shaley just after he had turned into a side street, +passed him and turned about, blocking his path. + +The old rascal started violently as he recognized Slim Tyler. + +"How are you, Mr. Shaley?" said Slim. "I'm back again, you see." + +"What's that to me?" snarled Shaley. "I wouldn't have keerd if you'd +never come back." + +"I don't doubt it," replied Slim. "You might have been saved a +lawsuit later on. Speaking of lawsuits, I want to introduce you to a +friend of mine." + +"I don't want no truck with you nor your friends," growled Shaley. + +"I'm surprised," returned Slim. "Don't you want to meet Mr. Cameron +Flood?" + +The name struck Nat Shaley like a blow. He turned pale and looked +with fear in his eyes at the stranger. + +"You seem to know the name," said Flood. "Yes, I'm the son of +Cameron Flood, who was associated with you at one time in the Mt. +Sunwa lumber deal." + +Nat Shaley staggered. He licked his lips, tried to speak. + +"Never heerd of him," he managed to get out at last. "Never heerd of +that outlandish Mount somethin' or other you're gabbin' about. Never +wuz in Oregon----" + +"Who said anything about Oregon?" asked Flood quickly. + +Shaley could have bitten his tongue off for the slip. He took refuge +in bluster. + +"If you fellers is tryin' any blackmailin' on me, you'd better look +out," he fumed. "There's laws ag'inst that kind o' thing an' don't +you fergit it." + +"There are laws against many things," agreed Flood. "One of those +things is swindling. My father had a claim against you for forty +thousand dollars. Mr. Tyler had another for twenty thousand. That's +sixty thousand in all, and the interest to date will be almost as +much more. Those claims are going to be pressed, Mr. Shaley--do you +get that? pressed--and you'll pay every cent!" + +"You ain't got proof," Shaley was beginning, when a throng of +departing spectators from the field came round the corner and Shaley, +thankful for the opportunity, lost himself in the swirl. + +"Gave him a jolt, anyway," remarked Slim. + +"He'll get more of a jolt before we're through with him," averred +Flood, setting his jaw hard. "We'll press this thing to the limit, +and I'm pretty sure that we're going to win." + +That night for the first time in many weeks Slim Tyler slept between +sheets. It had been a crowded day, full of glory and triumph, and he +was still tingling with the excitement of it as he slipped into bed. + +"That was the top notch," he murmured to himself. "Afraid things are +going to be rather dull after this." + +But he was mistaken. Other thrilling experiences were in store for +him, and what they were will be told in another volume, entitled: "An +Air Cargo of Gold; or, Slim Tyler, Special Bank Messenger," in which +we shall meet Slim in some of the most daring adventures of his life. + +A breezy night letter from Dick Mylert reached Slim the next morning. + + +"Did you read my story? Wasn't it a knockout? And, say, didn't it +hit the boss hard! He all but gave me the business. I'm the salt in +his gravy. Doubled my salary! Five thousand bonus! Biggest scoop +in years! And he thinks you're the ace of all aviators. Told him +how your endurance flight was knocked cock-eyed by that Shaley +fellow. He's going to offer a big prize for beating the present +refueling endurance record. There's your chance and Jerry's. Go in +and win." + + +There was more of the same tenor, but Slim's special interest was +caught and held by the publisher's offer. What he and Jerry did +regarding that offer is another story. + +"Vell, Shlim," said Carl that night, as the two were hobnobbing over +the hot dog counter, "ain't id aboud time dot you vos down settling? +Vot mit der wolfs und der bolar pears, und der shtorms in der skies +und der smashin' der mountains against, ain'd it dot you haf enough +ockcitement got alretty?" + +"I'll never have enough excitement," replied Slim. "Excitement is +life. I can't do without it. I thrive on it. I eat it up." + +"Veil, eat id on der groundt den, vere you can put your feets down," +urged Carl. "Gif up dot flying." + +"Give up flying?" cried Slim Tyler, his eyes shining. "Never, Carl! +Never! The air is my home!" + + + +THE END + + + + +---------------------------------------------------------------------- + + + +SLIM TYLER AIR STORIES + +By RICHARD H. STONE + +_A new group of stories for boys by a new author whose excellent air +adventures are so realistically written and so up to the minute in +all their implications as to win ready admiration from all readers._ + +1. SKY RIDERS OF THE ATLANTIC + +_or Slim Tyler's First Trip in the Clouds_ + +Slim Tyler though but a boy, finds himself confronted by troubles and +by enemies that might well have dismayed a man. By pluck and +straight thinking he fights clear of entanglements and gains a place +he has long coveted among flyers. + +2. LOST OVER GREENLAND + +_or Slim Tyler's Search for Dave Boyd_ + +Slim Tyler sets out in search of his friend and patron who is lost +over Greenland, and in so doing has many hair-raising adventures that +make an absorbing story. + +3. AN AIR CARGO OF GOLD + +_or Slim Tyler, Special Bank Messenger_ + +Quick-witted and resourceful, Slim, after strenuous efforts to gain +the world's endurance record, faces more odds when he makes a +perilous trip carrying a cargo of gold. + +4. ADRIFT OVER HUDSON BAY + +_or Slim Tyler in the Land of Ice_ + +Blazing the great Northeastern trail against great odds, this story +will captivate the hearts of the boys. + +5. AN AIRPLANE MYSTERY + +_or Slim Tyler on the Trail_ + +The story of the rescue, after the flyers had been given up for lost, +was a "whale of a story." + +6. SECRET SKY EXPRESS + +_or Slim Tyler Saving a Fortune_ + +A story of many episodes and thrills against great odds. + + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York + +---------------------------------------------------------------------- + + + +MYSTERY AND ADVENTURE BOOKS FOR BOYS + + +SOUTH FROM HUDSON BAY, by E. C. BRILL + +A thrilling tale of the coming of settlers from France and +Switzerland to the wilderness of the Prairie country of the Red River +district, and the adventures of three boys who find themselves +entangled in the fate of the little colony. + +THE SECRET CACHE, by E. C. BRILL + +The father of two boys, a fur hunter, has been seriously injured by +an Indian. Before he dies he succeeds in telling the younger son +about a secret cache of valuable furs. The directions are incomplete +but the boys start off to find the Cache, and with the help of men +from a nearby settlement capture the Indian and bring him to justice. + +THE ISLAND OF YELLOW SANDS, by E. C. BRILL + +An exciting story of Adventure in Colonial Days in the primitive +country around Lake Superior, when the forest and waters were the +hunting ground of Indians, hunters and trappers. + +LOST CITY OF THE AZTECS, by J. A. LATH + +Four chums find a secret code stuck inside the binding of an old book +written many years ago by a famous geologist. The boys finally solve +the code and learn of the existence of the remnant of a civilized +Aztec tribe inside an extinct crater in the southern part of Arizona. +How they find these Aztecs, and their many stirring adventures makes +a story of tremendous present-day scientific interest that every boy +will enjoy. + + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York + +---------------------------------------------------------------------- + + + +THE BOMBA BOOKS + +By ROY ROCKWOOD + +_Bomba lived far back in the jungles of the Amazon with a +half-demented naturalist who told the lad nothing of his past. The +jungle boy was a lover of birds, and hunted animals with a bow and +arrow and his trusty machete. He had only a primitive education, and +his daring adventures will be followed with breathless interest by +thousands._ + + 1. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY + 2. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AT THE MOVING MOUNTAIN + 3. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AT THE GIANT CATARACT + 4. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY ON JAGUAR ISLAND + 5. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY IN THE ABANDONED CITY + 6. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY ON TERROR TRAIL + 7. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY IN THE SWAMP OF DEATH + 8. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AMONG THE SLAVES + 9. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY ON THE UNDERGROUND RIVER + 10. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AND THE LOST EXPLORERS + 11. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY IN A STRANGE LAND + 12. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AMONG THE PYGMIES + 13. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AND THE CANNIBALS + 14. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AND THE PAINTED HUNTERS + 15. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AND THE RIVER DEMONS + 16. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AND THE HOSTILE CHIEFTAIN + + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York + +---------------------------------------------------------------------- + + + +THE GREAT ACE SERIES + +By NOEL SAINSBURY, JR. + +Author of THE CHAMPION SPORT STORIES + +_Here is a series of rattling good flying stories told by an expert. +A boy-aviator's adventures in the wilds of New Guinea, Arabia, South +America and other strange lands. Billy Smith, son of an eminent +explorer, learns to pilot a seaplane aboard a Naval Air Station, and +immediately fares forth upon a series of the most exciting cruises +and mysterious quests by air, by land and by sea that have ever +fallen to the lot of man. The author, a traveller and ex-naval +aviator, brings many of his own adventures into these tales. Every +boy with a drop of red blood in his veins will want to join Billy +Smith in his thrilling quests._ + +1. BILLY SMITH--EXPLORING ACE + +_or By Airplane to New Guinea_ + +The story of a fourteen-year-old lad, taught to pilot a seaplane by +his uncle, Lieut.-Commander on a Naval Air Station. Together they +are forced down at sea, and Lieut.-Com. Smith is so impressed with +the lad's courage in this trying situation that he takes Billy with +him to New Guinea to help search for Billy's father. + +2. BILLY SMITH--SECRET SERVICE ACE + +_or Airplane Adventures in Arabia_ + +Billy Smith again proves his mettle in a series of adventures that +take him to Port Sudan on the Red Sea and the Holy City of Hejaz. + +3. BILLY SMITH--MYSTERY ACE + +_or Airplane Discoveries in South America_ + +Doctor Stanton, bird man of the Natural History Museum disappeared in +the Amazon Jungles. The Smiths, father and son are ordered to find +him, and the trail leads to an outpost rubber plantation, where Billy +is lost in the jungle and captured by the cannibal Mangeroma Indians. + +4. BILLY SMITH--TRAIL EATER ACE + +_or Into the Wilds of Northern Alaska_ + +Another exciting story. Billy Smith and his pal, Nuky, with the aid +of Billy's father set a trap to catch desperate gangsters which they +succeed in doing after many thrilling adventures. + +5. BILLY SMITH--SHANGHAIED ACE + +_or Malay Pirates and Solomon Island Cannibals_ + +Billy shanghaied while on a search for a missing steamer and one +passenger in particular, escapes in time to be of vast help, after +all, and bring off a famous rescue in the South Sea Islands. + + +CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York + + + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77606 *** |