START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AIRPLANE BOYS AMONG THE CLOUDS*** E-text prepared by Al Haines THE AIRPLANE BOYS AMONG THE CLOUDS or, Young Aviators in a Wreck by JOHN LUTHER LANGWORTHY M. A. Donohue & Company Chicago ------ New York 1912 CONTENTS Chapter I. TRYING OUT THE NEW BIPLANE II. A RESCUER FROM THE SKIES III. THE MEN IN THE TOURING CAR IV. SUSPICION V. FIGURING IT ALL OUT VI. AN UNKNOWN ENEMY VII. SEEN FROM THE EAGLES' EYRIE VIII. MYSTERIOUS MR. MARSH AT IT AGAIN IX. STARTLING NEWS OVER THE WIRE X. IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CHIEF XI. A NEW ALARM XII. SANDY DROPS SOMETHING XIII. THE CHALLENGE XIV. SOMETHING DOING XV. THE AWAKENING XVI. THE CHIEF MEETS AN OLD FRIEND XVII. GALLANT ANDY XVIII. AT THE FOOT OF THE LIBERTY POLE XIX. THE MYSTERY STILL UNSOLVED XX. THE RIVAL AVIATORS XXI. THE RACE WITH THE STORM XXII. A TERRIBLE MOMENT ON OLD THUNDER TOP XXIII. THE BIRD BOYS' TRIUMPH--CONCLUSION THE AIRPLANE BOYS AMONG THE CLOUDS or, Young Aviators in a Wreck CHAPTER I TRYING OUT THE NEW BIPLANE "I tell you, Elephant, it's the Bird boys, and nobody else!" "But they had a monoplane last summer, Larry; and you can see for yourself it's a biplane out yonder over the lake. So that's why I thought it must be Percy Carberry and his crony, Sandy Hollingshead." "Shucks! stir up your think-box, Elephant. Get a move on your mind, and look back. Don't you remember Percy lost his old biplane when he took that trip down to South America, and had some trouble with the revolutionists in Colombia?" "Say, now, that's right. You mean the time Andy Bird found his long-lost father, whose balloon left him a prisoner in such a queer way? Yes, but tell me, where would Frank and Andy Bird get a biplane now?" "Oh! rats, what ails you, Elephant? Didn't they make the other; and don't you know they've been busy all winter, in that shop Old Colonel Whympers fitted up for them out in the field? And not even such bully good friends as you and me were allowed to take a peep inside. That's what they were working on--building this new biplane, after sending for the parts." "Don't it just shine like fun in the sunlight, though?" declared the little "runt," who had been nicknamed "Elephant" by his chums, possibly in a spirit of boyish humor, and which name had clung to him ever since. "It sure does look like a spider-like craft," Larry Geohegan went on. "Just see that white-headed eagle up in the blue sky. I bet you he's looking down, and wondering what sort of thing it is." "Huh! don't you fool yourself there, Larry," chuckled the other. "That wise old chap knows all about aeroplanes. He's had experience, he has. You forget that last summer, when the race was on between the Bird boys and Percy, to see who could land on the summit of Old Thunder-Top first, from an aeroplane, those same eagles had a nest up there, and tackled the boys for a warm session." The two lads had come to a halt on the road about half a mile from the borders of Bloomsbury where they lived. From where they stood, holding their fishing rods, and quite a decent catch of finny prizes, they could look out over the beautiful surface of Lake Sunrise, which was over fifteen miles long, and in places as much as three or four wide. "Mebbe you can tell me, Larry," the smaller boy presently said, "just why Frank keeps sailing around over the lake that way? Suppose he's taking pictures from his biplane?" "That might be, Elephant," Larry answered, slowly and thoughtfully. "Seems to me I did hear somebody talking about the State wanting to get a map of the lake, with all its many coves and points. But ain't it more dangerous for aviators hanging over water than the shore?" "That depends," remarked the other boy, whose real name was Fennimore Cooper Small, and who was rather apt to have an exalted idea of his own importance, as do so many undersized people. "If a fellow dropped out of his machine when he was even fifty feet high, he'd be apt to break his neck, or anyhow a leg, if he struck on the land; but in the water he might have a show." "Look at 'em circling round and round, would you?" Larry went on, his curiosity climbing toward the fever stage. "I'd give a fit now to know what Frank's got in that wise old noddle of his. He ain't the one to do things for nothing, take it from me, Elephant." "Hi! step out of the way, Larry, if you don't want to get run over!" exclaimed the other, suddenly gripping his companion's sleeve. "Here comes a car, and the driver's tooting his old bazoo to beat the band." "They're slowing up, don't you see," observed Larry, who had been startled by the other's abrupt warning. "No need to scare a feller like that, Elephant." "Well, that machine don't belong around here, anyway; and I guess they're tourists doing the lake road course. Lots of 'em come this way just for the view, which they say can't be beat," the other went on, in a low tone; for the touring car had drawn very close by now. Two men sat in it, one apparently the chauffeur, and the other occupying the commodious seat in the tonneau. The latter was a keen-faced man, with a peculiar eye, that seemed to sparkle and glow; and Larry immediately became aware that he was experiencing a queer sensation akin to a chill, when he returned the gaze of this individual. Still, the other could look very pleasant when he chose to smile, as was the case immediately after the car came to a halt within five feet of where the two Bloomsbury high school boys stood. "Looks like you had had pretty good luck, boys," he remarked, smoothly. "Pretty middlin'," Elephant said, indifferently, as though this were an everyday occurrence with him; when to tell the truth, he and Larry had not done so well all season as on this particular day. "Guess you know where the old fishing hole lies," laughed the stranger, pleasantly. "Quite a collection too--black bass, perch, 'slickers,' as we used to call the pickerel, and even some big fat sunfish. Many a happy hour have I spent just as you've been doing. And I'll never forget how fine those same fish tasted after I'd cleaned them myself for the frying-pan." "That's what we do, sir," replied Larry, now beginning to think the stranger rather a nice spoken man. "My friend and myself were just wondering what aviator you've got up here," continued the gentleman, as he cast a quick glance out over the lake. "You see, our attention was attracted toward that circling biplane as we came along. I happen to know some of the most famous fliers myself; but I never heard that any one of them was hiding up here this summer, trying fancy stunts. Look at that dip, Longley. That was a corker, now, I'm telling you. Do you know who that fellow is, my boy; the one handling the levers of that sparkling biplane out yonder?" Larry and Elephant glanced at each other and grinned. Then the little fellow threw out his chest, after a pompous way he had, and observed: "Sure we do, mister. That's a chum of ours. His name is Frank Bird, and he knows more about aeroplanes in a minute than the rest of us do in a year. His cousin, Andy, is along with him. They stick together through thick and thin." "Bird!" remarked the other, watching the agile movements of the biplane eagerly, as Larry could not but note. "A very suggestive name for a flier, too." "That's right," burst out Larry. "Frank always said he was just forced to take to being an aeronaut. He says it's just as natural for birds to take to the air, as it is for ducks to swim in the water." "Bird?" the other went on, turning to his companion. "Seems to me, Longley, there used to be a professor by that name in one of our colleges, who went daft on the subject of flying." "You're right, Marsh; and he lost his life down at Panama; tried to cross the isthmus in a dirigible, and was never heard from again." "Oh! but you're wrong, sir!" exclaimed Elephant, eagerly. "He was saved through those two boys in their monoplane, and is alive and well in Bloomsbury right now. It's a great story, and all to the good for the Bird boys." "I'd like to hear it some time or other," replied the gentleman called Mr. Marsh by his companion who was serving as chauffeur. "But it seems to me these young fellows must be unusually bright boys to do what they're doing right now." "That's easy for Frank and Andy Bird, sir," declared Larry. "Why, they've got a shop that they keep under lock and key, where they spend most of their time when they ain't flying. That biplane is what they made last winter--got some of the parts, and did the rest themselves. And it would be just like Frank to have invented some clever stunt that's going to just revolutionize flying." Again a quick look passed between the two tourists, but the boys simply considered that it implied wonder at such youthful ingenuity. "They must be smart boys, surely," remarked Mr. Marsh, again turning his head to look out over the lake. "And you say they even have a shop, where they work out these wonderful new ideas? Perhaps if we stayed over in Bloomsbury, Longley, they might be willing to let us have a little peep in that place?" Elephant promptly shook his head in the negative. "I wouldn't build too much on that, if I was you, sir," he said, "because, you see, we're chums of the Bird boys; and if they wouldn't let us once inside that shop all winter they ain't going to invite strangers there." "Well, hardly," laughed the other. "How's that, Longley? Quite interesting to run across a couple of boy inventors up this way. Must tell Wright about it the next time we see him, and Curtiss too. They'll want to look them up perhaps, and coax them to join the new aeroplane trust that's forming. But what makes that biplane shine so? It glitters in the sunlight like silver." "That's just what me and Elephant were talking about when you came along, mister," remarked Larry. "And we just came to the conclusion that it must be something Frank's been experimenting on. Mebbe he's made his machine out of aluminum; or else he's got a new Kinkaid engine that has a lot of brass about it. Gee! look at 'em now, Larry! My heart jumped up in my throat because they just skimmed the water, and I was dead sure it meant a ducking for the boys." "They certainly seem to know how to handle an aeroplane as well as any one I have ever seen," declared Mr. Marsh; who apparently could not tear his eyes away from the thrilling spectacle of the swooping air craft, that soared aloft, only to again dart daringly down toward the surface of the almost quiet lake. "I bet you it's a game of conquer they're playing," suggested Elephant. "Each one seeing how close to touching the water he can come. Say, Larry, d'ye suppose Percy Carberry has got his new biplane yet? He's been boasting about it for weeks, and what he meant to do when she arrived." "I saw him this morning, and he said he was still waiting; but that the thing had been shipped," replied the other. "Never saw such an unlucky dog as Percy is; and to tell the honest truth, Elephant, 'twouldn't surprise me one little bit if the old train got smashed up on the way, and the new flying machine along with it." "Wonder if he's watching the stunts them fellers are doing out there, and saying all sorts of mean things about 'em?" suggested the smaller boy, grinning. "Shouldn't wonder," Larry chirped. "He keeps tab on all Frank does these days. You know they've had to keep a man on duty every night around that workshop, because of Percy. He ain't to be trusted, and would just as soon put a match to the place as eat his dinner--if he thought he could do it on the sly." Mr. Marsh caught the eye of his companion, and instantly a quick signal seemed to pass between them, unnoticed by either of the two boys, who were keeping their attention glued on the fluttering aeroplane a quarter of a mile away, and which had again mounted to quite a little height by means of boring upward in circles. "There they go again!" exclaimed Elephant, excitedly, as the flying machine once more tilted its planes, and started down toward the water like a huge bird intending to alight. "Oh! look at it, would you?" cried Larry, almost as much worked up as his smaller companion. "This time there's going to be something doing! I bet you Frank wants to just snatch a floating piece of wood off the water as he skims along, just like them Wild West riders do on horseback, when they throw their hats down. Why! Something must a-busted--they dropped splash on the lake; and look at the old biplane sitting right there like a great big gull! Ain't that too bad, though; I'm sorry for Frank and Andy!" But Mr. Marsh, bending his head close to the ear of the man who sat in the front of the touring car, laughed softly, and remarked with an air of triumph: "What did I tell you, Longley? Now say it was a false scent, will you? It isn't often I make a mistake, and already I believe we've struck great luck in coming up here." CHAPTER II A RESCUER FROM THE SKIES "What if the bally thing takes a notion to duck under, Larry?" asked Elephant, staggered himself at the possibility of such a catastrophe happening. "Wow! they'd stand a chance of being drowned, then, I take it!" answered the taller lad, shaking his head as if worried. "Say, p'raps we ought to be chasing after a boat, and putting out there right now," the small boy exclaimed. "O K say I. Let's make a dash for Cragan's dock, and borrow his skiff!" suggested Larry, ready to toss fishing poles, and even the fine catch in the dusty weeds bordering the road, so that they might be unimpeded in their flight. "Hold on, boys!" observed the gentleman in the tonneau of the touring car, as he reached out and caught Larry by the sleeve of his shirt. "No need of bothering yourselves in the least, I assure you." "But perhaps the biplane might sink, sir," declared Elephant, still showing extreme nervousness. "And what if Frank or Andy happened to be caught in the wires that stay the planes? They might be drowned, you see. Accidents can happen, even to the two smart Bird boys." "No danger of any such catastrophe, I give you my word," went on the gentleman. "And when you learn the truth, you'll thank me for restraining you from acting in a foolish manner. Here, take a look through this glass I chance to have along in the car. What do you see now?" Larry accepted the binoculars, and immediately adjusted them to his eyes. "Well, of all the things I ever heard of!" he slowly ejaculated. "Let me look, Larry," exploded Elephant, as he deftly "hooked" the glasses away from his companion's hands, and immediately clapped them to his own eyes, to let out a shout of amazement. "I declare if the old thing ain't floatin' like a big duck. Talk about her sinking, you couldn't push that wonder box down under the surface. Some more of Frank's magic; he's got 'em all queered a mile, Larry." "Listen," remarked Mr. Marsh, quietly. "There's nothing so very wonderful about this new stunt of your friend, Frank. Those shining things you noticed about the biplane happened to be a couple of new aluminum pontoons under the craft, meant to float the whole affair whenever it drops in the water. They will be in common use shortly. And that machine is what we call a hydroplane--that is, it will prove to be as much at home on the water as in the air." "What d'ye think of that, Elephant?" cried Larry, ready to swing his hat, and give a loud whoop to let the young aviators know that friendly eyes had been watching their startling maneuvers. "Ain't they all the candy, though? Why, Perc Carberry never could get up early enough in the morning to best the Bird boys." "They float all right," remarked the other boy, still gazing through the fine pair of marine glasses that seemed to bring the biplane within touching distance. "But how under the sun can they start up again? Don't they have to take a run on them bicycle wheels first?" "Watch and see," laughed Mr. Marsh. "A hydroplane can rise from the surface of the water just like a wild duck might. The propeller starts to working, the machine is sent swiftly along, and soon leaves the water, to soar upward as the planes are moved accordingly. There they go; now, keep tab on what they do, Longley." He took the glasses from Elephant and placed them to his own eye, as though it might be of the greatest importance that he see distinctly every little movement of the daring young aviators. "Whoop! hurrah! there they quit snaking along on the water! They're going to climb, I tell you, Larry! Look at that, would you? Up they go, as easy as you please! Now, ain't that just a hummer; and did you ever hear tell of as smart a pair of boys as Frank and Andy Bird? What won't they try next, I wonder?" "They certainly seem to be made of the right stuff for airmen," admitted Mr. Marsh, with animation. "Some time I hope to make their acquaintance, and hear the story of their stirring adventure down in South America. What say Longley, can we afford to lay over at this Bloomsbury for a couple of days, while we have the car overhauled, and put in apple-pie condition?" "It might be a good thing, Marsh," the other promptly answered, as he detected the signal wink his companion gave. "You know they say an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. And unless something is done we stand a chance of being thrown over a precipice, when that weak place in the machinery gives way suddenly." "All right, then; we'll stop," remarked the gentleman with the glittering eyes, as if the new idea quite appealed to him. "I'd like to see something of these Bird boys. They have a future before them, I believe. And if I'm any judge of up-to-date things I even suspect they've gone and applied that latest device the Wrights patented, where a little pendulum under the machine warps the planes automatically, at the slightest motion of the body, keeping the aeroplane in an exactly horizontal position." "Oh! they're up to snuff, all right, take it from me," declared Elephant, with an air of pride, since it was his friends whose praises were being sung, and he could bask in the reflected light. "I bet you there ain't anything going on in aviation circles that them two boys don't know," put in Larry, enthusiastically. "They take all sorts of papers and magazines, and spend every living day in that old shop. I knew something was on, and there she is, all hatched out. Poor old Percy, won't he just want to crawl back into his hole, though, when he learns this?" "Rats! you don't know him if you think that!" exclaimed Elephant. "Ten to one he plays Frank and Andy a close second. Right now that sharper has got cards hidden up his sleeve, and ready to surprise everybody. Didn't he slip away early in the spring, and go down to New York? You watch his smoke, I tell you, Larry. No, Perc ain't giving up till he has to, and that won't be till the race is run. Just wait!" "I declare, that's a queer thing to allow!" exclaimed Longley, who had picked up the glasses and with them swept the surface of the lake, as well as surveyed the hovering biplane that had walked on the water like an aquatic bird. "What now?" asked Mr. Marsh, looking a little nervous. "Why, see that boat floating out yonder, the plaything of the breeze that seems to be rising?" asked the other, still using the binoculars. "I see what you mean," remarked Mr. Marsh, "and it seems to have drifted away from the shore. Is that some man lying down in it? There, I saw the object move then. What is it, Longley?" "A little baby, hardly more," came the startling reply. "Oh! he was nearly over the side, that time. However in the wide world do you suppose the child ever came to be in that boat? Here, take a look. Marsh. Another tilt like that, and the child will be drowned for certain!" "Why, it must be Tommy Cragan, the fisherman's baby," said Larry, his face turning a bit gray with alarm. "I've seen the little shaver playing around his daddy's boat many a time. It must have floated off; and now it's away out on the lake, where the water is twenty feet deep!" "Cracky! that's tough on poor old Cragan, with his wife sick abed!" groaned the sympathetic Elephant, as he strained his eyes to watch. "If the child would only remain quiet there would be little danger," remarked Mr. Marsh, who was still looking through the glasses, as though something about the picture fascinated him. "That's the trouble," remarked his companion, quickly, "the little chap is getting frightened, or else bolder, for he keeps leaning far over all the time. Can nothing be done to save the child? If I could swim I'd take a chance at it myself." "We could run as fast as anything to Cragan's, sir," declared Elephant, "or perhaps you could take us in, and we'd show you the way there. He might have another boat, and would put out to save Tommy." "I'm afraid that would be too late, good though the intention might seem," the man said regretfully. "I can swim like a duck, sir. What's to hinder me jumping in and trying to get out there to him in time?" demanded Larry, hastening to start removing his shoes as he spoke. "It's a long way out there, my boy, and you might take a cramp," said Longley. "But I'm willing to try it, sir. Besides, the rest of you could be heading for Cragan's fish house, and seeing if he's around. I know that little chap, and he's the idol of his daddy's heart. It'll nigh about kill Amiel if the kid was drowned." Even while he was speaking Larry had kicked one shoe off, and was working to undo the stubborn lace of the other, which of course had to get in a snarl as usual, exciting his nervous disposition to the utmost, as he tugged away. "Hold on! I'm afraid it's going to be too late!" exclaimed the other occupant of the touring car, still keeping his eyes glued to the smaller end of the marine glasses. "Oh! is he going to fall in, sir?" gasped Elephant, in a quiver of fear, as he shaded his eyes with both hands, and stared out across that glowing stretch of water. "There! he has done it!" cried the other; and all of them saw what seemed to be a faint splash alongside of the drifting skiff. "No, strange to say the little fellow has caught hold of the gunnel of the boat; and while his body is in the lake, he continues to hold on desperately, just keeping his head above the surface! But it can't last, it can't last! He could not keep up that grip more than a minute at the most! This is terrible; and all of us so helpless to save the child!" He took the glasses down as though really unable to watch any longer. But his companion did not seem to feel the same way, for he immediately snatched them out of Mr. Marsh's hand, and clapped them to his eyes. "No use, boy, thinking of swimming out yonder," said Mr. Marsh, seeing that Larry had finally broken the obstinate lace, and kicked the shoe into the bushes. "Long before you could get near the boat it would all be over. If anything is to be done, some one else will have to engineer the rescue." "And it's coming," shouted the other, just then. "Watch the biplane, Marsh! The boys have seen the danger of the child! They are headed for the drifting boat, and darting down again. Perhaps they mean to alight in the water alongside, and pick the little chap up! Good! Another ten seconds, and they will have arrived on the spot!" Even Larry, barefooted now, and with both hands tightly clenched, such was his wrought-up condition, stood and watched with burning eyes as the aeroplane sank lower and lower in its forward swoop. Undoubtedly the Bird boys had suddenly become aware of the dreadful peril threatening the little chap belonging to the well known Bloomsbury fisherman, who was every boy's friend; and meant to do their level best to save Tommy from the watery grave that yawned to receive him. "Oh! it's too late!" suddenly cried Longley, staggering back as if he had himself received a blow. "What happened?" exclaimed his companion, hoarsely. "The child let go! See, he is struggling in the water, but must disappear before the aeroplane can alight, for it is still twenty feet above the lake. Too bad! Too bad! They might have got him in another minute!" "Look there! One of them has leaped into the lake! See that splash, would you?" shrilled Larry, jumping up and down in his excitement. "That was Andy, I reckon!" cried Elephant, climbing up on the side of the car, the better to see, at this tremendously exciting stage of the game. "He ain't afraid of anything; neither is Frank, for that matter. And he just dove right down like a hawk after a breakfast of fish. Do you see him, mister? Ain't he come up yet? Oh! my! I wouldn't have missed this for a cookey. What's he doing, mister, please? He's our chum, Andy is, and we're proud of him." "Yes, there he is alongside the boat now," said Longley, using the binoculars again, "I can see him swimming with one hand. He seems to have injured the other--no, no, it must be he's got the child gripped in his right arm, for I seem to see a yellow head close to his. There, the hydroplane drops in the water near by. The boy lifts up his burden and places it in the boat. Now he's climbing in himself, as if he means to revive the child. Marsh, he's done it! And if that was Andy Bird I take off my hat to him." Whereupon both Elephant and Larry started in to shout and cheer at the top of their voices; as though they might have a personal interest in the gallant rescue which had just come under their observation. CHAPTER III THE MEN IN THE TOURING CAR When Andy Bird, wet through to the skin, arrived at the fisherman's dock a little later, he found quite a crowd awaiting his coming. The small urchin, Tommy, had apparently not suffered seriously from his immersion in the waters of Sunrise Lake. Perhaps he was to some extent accustomed to tumbling overboard; though this time the consequences might have been most serious only for the lucky presence of the Bird boys near by, intent on trying out their new hydroplane. Tommy's mother managed to thank the rescuer, after a fashion; but Andy was a modest lad, and made light of his recent adventure. "Don't mention it, fellows," he laughed when Larry and Elephant started to lavish praise on his head. "I'm thinking of sending in an application to become a member of the Life Saving Corps on the Great Lakes, you know. And this was just the finest chance ever to try how things worked. Besides, some day Frank and myself may have to take a header from an aeroplane, and it's just as well to know how to drop." "Well, all I can say is, that you did it as well as any expert," observed the occupant of the tonneau, who had given the name of Mr. Marsh. Andy looked at him, noticing for the first time that strangers were present. "Thank you, sir," he said, blushing a trifle, for he was as yet hardly accustomed to praise, and quite unspoiled. "But there comes Frank with the machine. Did you see us rise from the lake, fellows?" "Did we?" exclaimed Elephant, with his face beaming; "well, I should smile we did now. It was the greatest stunt ever. I thought at first, Andy, something had happened to your new biplane; but these gentlemen knew all about such things, and they explained to us what you meant to do." Andy at this stole another side glance at the occupants of the big touring car. Noticing this, Mr. Marsh hastened to remark: "Well, that is putting it rather strong, my boy. We've been interested in several aviation meets during the last year, and keep posted as to what is new along those lines. Plenty of people know about hydroplanes, and such things. And so this represents the last thing in your work, does it? I must say you are a credit to your teacher, whoever he may be." Frank, who had landed close by, heard these words, as possibly the gentleman intended he should. But he was too much interested in other matters to pay any particular attention to the flattery of passing tourists. "How did Tommy come out of the accident?" he asked. "All right, I guess," laughed Andy Bird, his cousin. "His ma has carried him off into the house, to fill him up with cake, or bread and molasses. He didn't swallow more than a pint of water." "Lucky Tommy!" observed Mr. Marsh. "You made the drop in fine shape, Andy," Frank went on, still keeping his face turned toward his chum, as though not really caring to enter into conversation with these unknown gentlemen, who seemed to be so well posted on things aeronautic. "It was a peach of a dive!" exclaimed Elephant, enthusiastically. "And since you're wringing wet I don't think you'd better go up with me again right now," Frank continued. "Hike for home, and get into some dry duds. I'll knock around for a spell, to try out a few more stunts I have in mind." Truth to tell Frank was eager to get his new hydroplane away from those searching eyes of Mr. Marsh. They gave him a queer feeling, which of course he was quite unable to understand. During the preceding summer, when the Bird boys were using the monoplane they had put together so successfully, it chanced that they had quite a serious adventure with a couple of thieves who had robbed a jewelry establishment, and were trying to get out of the country, where the roads were being closely watched by the police. On this occasion one of the rascals chanced to be a man named Jules Garrone, who, over across the water had been something of an aeronaut and aviator. Conceiving the brilliant scheme that if the monoplane of the Bird boys could only be stolen he and his companion could easily elude their hunters, he had given Frank and Andy lots of trouble before finally falling into the net. That was one reason why Frank felt rather cool toward strangers who manifested undue interest in his work. He was of an inventive turn of mind, and believed he had several new features connected with this hydroplane that as yet were, so far as he knew, novel to the science of aviation. And those keen eyes of Mr. Marsh gave him an uneasy feeling. "Your biplane seems to be built especially for two?" remarked that gentleman, as he watched Frank swing the machine around, with the help of the willing Larry and Elephant. "Yes, sir," replied the boy, promptly. "Andy and myself always hunt together. We are called the Siamese Twins, because we won't be separated. Where one Bird boy is found you can make up your mind the other isn't very far away. Once on a time they got to calling me Smoke, and Andy, Fire; but we just wouldn't stand for that." "But possibly your machine may not fly quite so well with only one to balance!" Was that a broad hint that he would be only too glad of an invitation to occupy the seat left vacant by the departure of Andy? Frank suspected such a thing; and made a quick reply. "Oh! we've got all that arranged to a dot, sir," he laughed. "I can change my seat, and still reach every lever easily. And as to balancing, the time has come when the aviator is going to be freed from all that anxiety. Give me a start, will you, fellows? It's easier rising from the water than on land, because no stumps or roots get in the way there. That's it. Good day, sir!" There was a whirr of the powerful little Kinkaid engine, the lightest ever installed in an aeroplane, and immediately the new biplane started to take on speed. When, in the estimation of the one who handled the flier, it has attained sufficient momentum, the planes were elevated, and like a great bird it gracefully began to mount upward into space. Larry was watching the two gentlemen in the car, who had been paying the closest attention to every little detail. He saw Mr. Marsh turn his head, and nod several times quickly to his companion. "As neatly done as I ever saw it accomplished," the gentleman muttered, though the sharp ears of Larry Geohegan caught the suggestive words. Then, after a few pleasant words to the two boys who had been fishing, the men in the touring car started off, heading toward town, and were speedily lost to sight in a cloud of dust. "Let's take the short-cut, and bring up at the field where Frank and Andy do pretty much all of their practice, turning, and cutting figure-eights," suggested Larry, as though he had a purpose in saying this. "Oh! I guess I'm still able to toddle that far," remarked Elephant who was compelled to work his short legs very fast when trying to keep alongside the taller Larry; and yet these two, so unlike in almost every way, had long been known as inseparables, ready to have an occasional little spat, yet just as quick to pour oil on the troubled waters again. "There's Andy turning out," remarked Larry, after a while. "Perhaps, if you could only get going a little bit faster we might overtake him before he reaches home. I reckon he means to head for the shop in the field, because I know he always keeps a lot of old duds there." "Sure thing," assented the dwarf, cheerfully, as he started on what was for him very like a run. "And it would be just like Andy to want to help when Frank comes along with the new biplane. Say, ain't she a dandy, though? Did you ever see such a neat contraption? Guess them gents thought we had some pretty smart fellows in Bloomsbury." "That's just what I was thinking, Elephant," remarked Larry, "but here we are at the edge of the old field, and Andy just ahead. See that, he's aiming for the shop in the middle of the patch, where the hangar lies that holds their old monoplane. Perhaps you could buy that cheap now, Elephant. You know you always declared you meant to take up flying some day." "Haven't given it up yet, either," returned the other, doggedly. "Well, I advise you to think it over good and hard. Remember the fate of Darius Green. It needs a mighty active fellow to manage one of those tipsy, cranky machines. And if you ever should fall out I bet you there'd be an awful squash!" chuckled the tall boy. "Let up on that, can't you?" expostulated Elephant. "I'm small, but I can get around as well as the next one. And when I get to sailing through the air, I expect to have wings. Then, if any accident comes along, it's me to flap my feathers, and drop like a thistle-down. In other words, Larry, I've got a parachute all arranged that will let me down easy; just like the fellow at the county fair, who drops from a hot air balloon." "Hello! now what d'ye think of that?" claimed Larry, suddenly. "What do you mean?" demanded the small boy. "You're the most mysterious fellow ever. Oh! I see now, by the way you stare over yonder. Yes, it's the same two gentlemen who admired the daring of the Bird boys a little while back. They must have found out where Andy lives, and have run out here from town to see what sort of a hangar they have." "Yes, that's right, but I don't like it, I tell you," Larry went on, as he led the way over the fence that surrounded the field. "What's that?" cried Elephant. "Sure you don't suspect these two fine looking gents might be another pair of crooks like the ones that tried to steal Frank's monoplane last summer, do you?" "Oh! rats! You wouldn't understand if I did try to explain. There they go now, in a cloud of dust. Guess they saw us pointing at the car. Come along, slowpoke, and get up with Andy," and Larry linked his arm in that of his comrade, though he had to stoop considerably in order to make the connection. "Why, hello, fellows!" exclaimed Andy, who now for the first time became aware of the fact that they had been trailing after him. "Just dropped around to see if we could be of any use putting the new machine away," remarked Elephant, as if an apology were needed to account for their presence; but both boys had always been accounted special friends of Frank and Andy, and warmly greeted, though not taken into the secrets of the shop, where mystery reigned much of the time of late. "And there's Frank coming right now!" declared Andy. "I guess he made up his mind he didn't care to put her through all her paces, with me away. We're sure proud of this new one, fellows. Why, she works like a clock, and minds her helm better than anything that ever answered to the call of the plane." "Say, did you happen to notice that car on the road over there?" asked Larry. "I saw one moving along in a cloud of dust; but didn't notice who was in it. Why do you ask that?" answered the young aviator, looking at his friend curiously. "Oh well, it happened to be those same two men you saw, when you brought little Tommy ashore," remarked the other, mysteriously. "But I thought they were headed for Bloomsbury?" exclaimed Andy. "That's what they said; but you see they thought it worth while to run past and come away out here, just to take a peek over the fence and see what you Bird boys had in this section." "That's funny now," muttered Andy, who, being less keen than his cousin, could not let suspicion find lodgment in his brain as quickly either. "But perhaps Frank may know who they are. He keeps pretty well posted on everybody connected with aviation meets and inventions. Marsh, he said his name was; what was the other, do you know, fellows?" "I heard him call the man at the wheel Longley several times, so I reckon that must be his handle," said Elephant, who never liked being left out in the cold whenever there was an argument on the carpet, or in fact any talking being done. Frank came sailing directly toward them with considerable speed. When it began to look as though he might mean to collide with the low workshop close by, he suddenly swooped upward, and passed over their heads, uttering a laugh as he saw how the alarmed Elephant dropped flat on his face and hugged the earth. Circling around, Frank cut several fancy figures with the new biplane, the hum of the twin propellers making merry music in the ears of the delighted boys. Finally, as though tiring of this sport he dropped on the grass as lightly as he had a little while before nestled on the smooth surface of Sunrise Lake. The three boys joined him, and willing hands soon stored the aeroplane in the snug hangar prepared for it alongside the workshop. Then Andy dodged inside to change his clothes before he got a chill; for though summer had come, the air was far from hot right then by any means, a storm having cleared the atmosphere during the preceding night, and leaving it delightfully crisp. "I saw a car buzzing along the road while I was up, but couldn't use my glass to see who was in it. Did you notice, Larry?" Frank asked as they stood there near the open door of the shop. "I was just going to mention the fact that those two men act like they had taken a great fancy to you and Andy," returned the other, readily. Frank Bird frowned. "H'm! I just don't like to hear that," he said. "Andy and myself have been working on something lately that we want to keep a dead secret from everybody. If we don't tell even our friends, then there can be little chance of a leak. But I'm not inviting strangers to take a ride with me, or visit us in our shop. Though you can come in now, any time you want, Larry and Elephant." "Sho! we wouldn't know the wing feather of a plane from one that belonged in the tail or steering rudder," chuckled Larry. "But I'm meaning to learn, Frank," put in the small chap, strenuously. "It looks so easy for you fellows, knocking around up there, with nobody ever getting in your way, like on our roads, that I want to fly." "Well," pursued Frank, shaking his head. "I don't encourage anybody to take up the business. It's certainly the most dangerous calling going at present; but after the Wrights have put their latest balancing idea into general use, the number of dead aviators will drop fast. In time it may be a fellow can hardly fall out of a well-made flying machine if he is the most reckless aviator going." "Hear that, Elephant," laughed Larry. "Hope yet that some of us common truck may be flapping through the upper currents, and getting out of the wet when it rains, by sailing above the clouds. But I see some fellow coming along the road on his wheel like he had a hurry call. Looks like Nat Holmes too, and he's coming in here." "Funny how badly balanced that fellow is," remarked Frank. "Always in a hurry in everything he tackles; and then falling all over himself when he tries to talk. He's waving his hat too like he had something interesting to say. Let's hope, boys, it happens to be one of his good hours; or we're in for a lot of gibberish Hottentot patter, I'm afraid." CHAPTER IV SUSPICION "F-f-frank!" stammered the new arrival, as he actually fell off his wheel, allowing the same to drop in a heap on the turf. "That's me; what d'ye want, Nat?" asked the one addressed; as he assumed a reassuring air, knowing what a terrible mess the wretched stutterer often made of his attempt at speech, especially when he happened to be excited. Nat was breathing hard. He always did things with a whirlwind method; and of course the exertion added to his difficulty in forming such words as he wanted. "D-d-did y-y-you k-k-k-," he started, with a rush; and then seemed to lose his grip entirely; for all he could do was to make a sharp, hissing sound, get red in the face under the strain and tremble all over. "I s-s-say, d-d-do y-y-y-," he went on, when there came another full stop, and as Larry said, a further escape of gas to account for that hissing noise from between his partly closed lips. The contortions of his face when poor Nat worked himself into this sort of a fever were simply agonizing. Some boys made it a habit of laughing coarsely at the afflicted boy. But Frank always felt sorry, and tried the best he knew how to break the spell that seemed to bind up Nat's vocal faculties. For strange to say, there were other times when Nat could really speak calmly and evenly, as if he had never stammered in his life. As though utterly despairing of ever being able to get out what he so eagerly wished to say, the boy suddenly snatched a pencil from one pocket, and a pad of paper from another. These necessities he always carried along with him, though hating to have to make use of such a silly trick at all. Rapidly dashing a line or so upon the little pad, Nat tore the sheet off, and thrust it into Frank's hand. Andy had come out of the shop by that time, dressed in dry garments; and bending over his cousin's shoulder he read these words: "Percy's new aeroplane has arrived at the station. He's down there right now, seeing about having it put on a cart and pulled to his shack." "Just about what we expected; eh, Frank?" asked Andy, handing the scrap of paper to Larry, so that he and the runt could read what news Nat had brought in such a tremendous hurry. It was as if the stammering boy had judged, that of all the people in Bloomsbury who would be interested in knowing that Percy had received a new aeroplane, the Bird boys took front rank. For was not Percy Carberry the old-time rival of Frank; and on numerous occasions had he not striven furiously to keep the cousins from winning the laurels that came their way, despite all opposition? "Yes, I understand that he was going in for aviation again," replied the other. "And I don't know whether I'm glad or sorry. If Percy and that crony of his, Sandy Hollingshead, only believed in the square deal, we might have great times in racing and exploring; but the trouble is, they hate to see anybody getting ahead of them, and lots of times as everybody understands, have tried to injure our machine." "Oh! I don't know," said the optimistic Andy; "we always manage somehow, to come out of every affair right-side up, and they get the rough end of the deal, as they should because they won't leave us alone to manage our own business. I can see some warm times coming soon, when they get to cruising around once more." "Well," said Frank, thoughtfully, "I never believed that Percy had really reformed when he said he was through playing mean tricks. He's always kept quiet about that trip down to South America. Why, he even accused me of giving him away just because I told of our adventures there, even glossing over the part he played in our little rumpus with the revolutionists in Columbia, at the time I found my dear father, and rescued him." "That's just like Percy," declared Larry. "Don't I size him up, though? He never knew what gratitude meant. I've been told that you and Andy really saved his life down in that upset country." "Oh! perhaps it wasn't quite all of that, Larry," protested Frank. "All right," spoke up Andy immediately; "at least we got those fellows out of a mighty tough hole. But it was just like Percy to declare that he was going to use some chloroform he had with him, to put the whole bunch of revolutionists to sleep, take their guns away, bind them hand and foot, and send
{'title': 'The Airplane Boys among the Clouds; Or, Young Aviators in a Wreck by Langworthy', 'source': 'Project Gutenberg', 'lang': 'en'}