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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/33605-8.txt b/33605-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..754c038 --- /dev/null +++ b/33605-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5931 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Girl Aviators and the Phantom Airship, by +Margaret Burnham + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Girl Aviators and the Phantom Airship + +Author: Margaret Burnham + +Release Date: September 1, 2010 [EBook #33605] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL AVIATORS *** + + + + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.fadedpage.net + + + + + +THE GIRL AVIATORS + +AND + +THE PHANTOM AIRSHIP + +BY + +MARGARET BURNHAM + +M. A. DONOHUE & COMPANY + +CHICAGO--NEW YORK + +Made in U.S.A. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +The Girl Aviators and the Phantom Airship + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE GOLDEN BUTTERFLY. + + +"Roy! Roy! where are you?" + +Peggy Prescott came flying down the red-brick path, a rustling newspaper +clutched in her hand. + +"Here I am, sis,--what's up?" + +The door of a long, low shed at the farther end of the old-fashioned +garden opened as a clattering sound of hammering abruptly ceased. Roy +Prescott, a wavy-haired, blue-eyed lad of seventeen, or thereabouts, +stood in the portal. He looked very business-like in his khaki trousers, +blue shirt and rolled up sleeves. In his hand was a shiny hammer. + +Peggy, quite regardless of a big, black smudge on her brother's face, +threw her arms around his neck in one of her "bear hugs," while Roy, +boy-like, wriggled in her clasp as best he could. + +"Now, just look here," cried Peggy, quite out of breath with her own +vehemence. She flourished the paper under his nose and, imitating the +traditional voice of a town crier, announced: + +"Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye! Roy Prescott or any of the ambitious +aviators--now is your chance! Great news from the front! Third and last +call!" + +"You've got auctioneering, the Supreme Court and war times, mixed up a +bit, haven't you?" asked Roy with masculine condescension, but gazing +fondly at his vivacious sister nevertheless. + +Peggy made a little face and then thrust forth the paper for his +examination. + +"Read that, you unenthusiastic person," she demanded, "and then tell me +if you don't think that Miss Margaret Prescott has good reason to feel +somewhat more enthusiastic than comports with her usual dignity and +well-known icy reserve--ahem!" + +"Good gracious, sis!" exclaimed the boy, as he scanned the news-sheet, +"why this is just what we were wishing for, isn't it? It's our chance if +we can only grasp it and make good." + +"We can! We will!" exclaimed Peggy, striking an attitude and holding one +hand above her glossy head. "Read it out, Roy, so that Monsieur Bleriot +can hear it." + +M. Bleriot, a French bull-dog, who had dignifiedly followed Peggy's mad +career down the path, gazed up appreciatively, as Roy read out: + + "Big Chance for Sky Boys! + + "Ironmaster Higgins of Acatonick Offers Ten Thousand Dollars + In Prizes for Flights and Planes." + +"Ten thousand dollars, just think!" cried Peggy, clasping her hands one +minute and the next stooping to caress M. Bleriot. "Oh, Roy! Do you think +we could?" + +"Could what? you indefinite person?" parried Roy, although his eyes were +dancing and he knew well enough what his vivacious sister was driving at. + +"Could win that ten thousand dollars, of course, you goose." + +Roy laughed. + +"It's not all offered in a lump sum," he rejoined. "Listen; there is a +first prize of five thousand dollars for the boy under eighteen who makes +the longest sustained flight in a plane of his own construction--with the +exception of the engine, that is; and here's another of two thousand five +hundred dollars to the glider making the best and longest sustained +flight, and another of one thousand five hundred to the boy flying the +most carefully constructed machine and the one bearing the most ingenious +devices for perfecting the art of flying and--and--oh listen, Peggy!" + +"I am--oh, I am!" breathed Peggy with half assumed breathlessness. + +"There's a prize offered for girls!" + +"No!" + +"Yes. Now don't say any more that girls are downtrodden and neglected by +the bright minds of the day. Here it is, all in black and white, a prize +of a whole thousand to the young lady who makes a successful flight. +There, what do you think of that?" + +"That Mr. Higgins is a mean old thing," pouted Peggy, "five thousand +dollars to the successful boy and only one thousand to the successful +girl. It's discrimination, that's what it is. Don't you read every day in +the papers about girls and women making almost as good flights as the +men? Didn't a--a Mademoiselle somebody-or-other make a flight round the +bell tower at Bruges the other day, and hasn't Col. Roosevelt's daughter +been up in one, and isn't there a regular school for women fliers at +Washington, and--and----?" + +"Didn't the suffragettes promise to drop 'Votes for Women' placards from +the air upon the devoted heads of the British Parliament, you up to date +young person?" finished Roy, teasingly. + +Peggy made a dash for him but the boy dodged into the shed, closely +followed by his sister. + +But as she crossed the threshold Peggy's wild swoop became a decorous +stroll, so to speak. She paused, all out of breath, beneath a spreading +expanse of yellow balloon silk, braced and strengthened with brightly +gleaming wires and stays,--one wing of the big monoplane upon which her +brother had spent all his spare time for the past year. The flying thing +was almost completed now. It stood in its shed, with its scarab-like +wings outspread like a newly alighted yellow butterfly, which, by a +stroke of ill luck, had found itself installed in a gloomy cage instead +of the bright, open spaces of its native element. + +In one corner of the shed was a large crate surrounded by some smaller +ones. The large one had been partially opened and Peggy gave a little +squeal of delight as her eyes fell on it. + +"Oh, Roy, that's it?" + +"That's it," rejoined the boy proudly, lifting a bit of sacking from the +contents of the opened crate, "isn't it a beauty?" + +The lifted covering had exposed a gleam of bright, scarlet enamel, and +the glint of polished brass. To Roy the contents of that crate was the +splendid new motor for his aeroplane. But to Peggy, just then, it was +something far different. A bit of a mist dimmed her shining eyes for an +instant. Her voice grew very sober. + +"Three thousand dollars--oh, Roy, it scares me!" + +Roy crossed the shed and threw an arm about his sister's neck. + +"Don't be frightened, sis," he breathed in an assuring tone, "it's going +to be all right. Why, can't you see that the very first thing that +happens is a chance to win $5,000?" + +"I know that. But that contest is not to come off for more than a month +and--and supposing someone should have a better machine than you?" + +For an instant that air of absolute assurance, which truth to tell, had +made Roy some enemies, and which was his greatest fault, left him. His +face clouded and he looked troubled. But it was as momentary as the +cloud-shadow that passes over a summer wheat field. + +"It'll be all right, sis," he rejoined, confidently, "and if it isn't, I +can always sell out to Simon Harding. You know he said that his offer +held good at any time." + +"I know that, Roy," rejoined Peggy, seriously, "but we could never do +that. We could neither of us go against father's wishes like that. +He--well, Roy, it's not to be thought of. Poor dad----" + +Her bright eyes filled with tears as her mind travelled back to a scene +of a year before when Mr. Prescott had ceased from troubling with the +affairs of this world, and commended his children to the care of their +maiden aunt--his sister with whom, since their mother's death some years +before, the little family had made their home. + +Poor Mr. Prescott had been that hopelessly impracticable creature--an +inventor. Fortunately for himself, however, he had a small fortune of his +own so that he had been enabled to carry on his dreaming and planning +without embarrassing his family. Roy and Peggy had both been sent to good +boarding schools, and had known, in fact, very little of home life after +their mother's death which had occurred several years before, as already +said. + +Mr. Prescott, in his dreamy, abstract way, had cared dearly for his +children. But those other children of his--the offsprings of his +brain--that surrounded him in his workshop, had, somehow, seemed always +to mean more to him. And so the young Prescotts had grown up without the +benefit of home influences. + +On Peggy's naturally sweet, vivacious character, this had not made so +much difference. But Roy had developed, in spite of his real sterling +worth and ability, into a headstrong, rather self-opinionated lad. His +success at school in athletics and the studies which he cared about +"mugging" at had not tended to decrease these qualities. + +It had come as a shock to both of them a year before when two telegrams +had been despatched--one to Peggy's school up the Hudson, and the other +to Roy up in Connecticut, telling them to return to the Long Island +village of Sandy Bay at once. Their father--that half-shadowy being--was +very ill. + +The messages had not exaggerated the seriousness of the situation. Three +days after his children reached his side Mr. Prescott gently breathed his +last, dying, as he had lived, so quietly, that the end had come before +they realized it. But in those last brief moments Roy came to know his +father better than ever before. He learned that the dream of his parent +had been to produce an aeroplane free from the defects of its +forerunners,--a safe vehicle for passengers or freight. How far he had +progressed in this there was no time for him to tell before the end came. +But Roy, interested already in aeronautics at school, where he had been +president of "The High Fliers"--a model aeroplane association,--eagerly +took up his father's desire that he would try to carry on his work, and +began to take lessons in flying. + +In the shed which had been Mr. Prescott's workshop the framework of an +aeroplane already stood. And with the aid of what money his father had +left him, Roy had carried on the work till now it was almost completed. +But the three thousand dollars which had gone for the motor had +completely exhausted the lad's legacy. As Peggy put it, all their eggs +were in an "aerial basket." + +But how much Peggy had aided him, in what had, in the last few months +possessed all his thoughts, Roy did not guess. To what extent her +encouragement had spurred him on to surmount seemingly unconquerable +difficulties, and how she had actually aided him in constructing the +machine, his ambition never realized. Not innately selfish, Roy was yet +too used to having his own way to attribute his success to any one but +himself. + +Sometimes, brave, loyal little Peggy, try as she might, could not +disguise this from herself, and it pained her a good deal. But she had +uncomplainingly, ungrudgingly, aided her brother, without hoping for, or +expecting, the appreciation she sometimes felt she was really entitled +to. But her great love for her brother kept Peggy from ever betraying to +him or any one else an iota of her inner feelings. + +So intent had the brother and sister been on their talk that neither of +them had noticed, while they conversed, that a big four-door touring car, +aglitter with gleaming maroon paint, and with a long, low hood concealing +a powerful engine, had glided up to the white gate in the picket fence +surrounding Miss Prescott's old fashioned cottage. + +From it a frank, pleasant-faced lad and an unusually striking girl, tall, +slender and with a glossy mass of black hair coiled attractively on her +shapely head, had alighted. + +Hearing the sound of voices from the open door of the shed in which The +Golden Butterfly, as Peggy had christened it, was nearing completion, +they, without ceremony, at once made their way toward it. Peggy, glancing +up from her sad reverie at the sound of footsteps, gave a glad little cry +as she beheld the visitors standing framed in the sunlight of the open +door. While she and the tall, dark-haired girl mingled their contrasting +tresses in an exuberant school-girl caress, the lad and Roy Prescott, +were, boy fashion, slapping one another on the back and shaking hands +with just as much enthusiasm. + +"Why, if this isn't simply delightful, Jess, you dear old thing," cried +the delighted Peggy, as, with both hands on her chum's shoulders, she +held Jess Bancroft off at arm's length, the better to scrutinize her +handsome face, "and Jimsy, too," as she turned to the lad with a bright +smile of welcome; "wherever did you two come from?" + +"From the clouds?" demanded Roy. + +"No, hardly, although I don't wonder at your asking such a question," +laughed Jess, merrily, exchanging greetings with Roy. "Roy Prescott, +positively I can see your wings sprouting." + +They all laughed heartily at this, while Jess ran on to explain that she +and her brother were stopping for the summer at Seaview Towers, a summer +estate which their father, a Wall Street power, had leased for the +season. Of course, explained the merry girl, who had been Peggy's closest +chum at school, her first thought had been to take a spin over in her new +motor car and look up her friends, for Roy and James--or Jimsy--Bancroft +had been almost as close chums as the girls. + +"And so this is the wonderful Golden Butterfly that you wrote to me +about?" exclaimed Jess enthusiastically after the first buzz of +conversation subsided. + +"Yes, this is it," said Roy with great satisfaction in his tones, "and +I'm proud of it, I can tell you. I think I've made a success of it." + +Jess and Jimsy exchanged glances. And then Jess stole a look at Peggy, +but no cloud had crossed the face of Roy's sister. + +"Oh, you darling," thought Jess, "you're too sweet for anything. I just +know how much you contributed to the Golden Butterfly's existence, and +yet you won't detract a bit from Roy's self satisfaction." + +As for Jimsy Bancroft, he said nothing. He glanced rather oddly at Roy +for an instant. Then his eyes turned to Peggy's face. Perhaps they dwelt +there for rather a long period of time. At any rate, they were still +fixed on her brave beauty when a sudden shadow fell across the stream of +sunlight that poured into the open portal of the workshop. + +"Ah! So this is the place in which young genius finds its habitation;" +grated out a rather harsh, unpleasant voice. + +They all looked up. Perhaps none of them--Jimsy least of all--was pleased +at the interruption. The newcomer was a tall, angular man, with a +withered, clean-shaven face,--what Peggy called a "money making face"; +and surely that described Simon Harding, as he stood there in his black, +none-too-new garments, and his square-toed shoes. One could fairly catch +the avaricious glint in his eyes as he squinted rapidly over the new +aeroplane's outlines. + +By his side stood a youth who was, so far as dress went at any rate, the +exact opposite of the elder man. Fanning Harding--or Fan as he was +usually called--was dressed in elaborate motoring costume. His goggles, +of the latest and most exaggerated design, were shoved up off his +countenance now, exposing to view a good-looking browned face. It was +marred, however, by the same restless, strained look that could be seen +on his father's visage. + +"We're not intruding, I hope," he hastened to say, coming forward with a +cordiality that seemed somewhat forced. + +"Not in the least," said Peggy, hastily, realizing that none of them had +perhaps looked very cordial, "won't you come in?" + +Fan Harding, bestowing an admiring glance on her, seemed to be about to +accept. His father, however, struck in: + +"I'll leave you with the young folks, my boy, while I go up to the house. +I have some business with Miss Prescott." + +As he shuffled off, Peggy and Roy exchanged somewhat uneasy glances. What +business could this old man--in some respects a power financially and +otherwise in Sandy Beach--have with their aunt? + +"Say Peggy," spoke up Fan Harding, suddenly, "ain't you going to +introduce me to your friends? And how about inviting us all to have some +of those strawberries Pop and I noticed as we came down the path?" + +"Well, he isn't a bit backward about coming forward!" thought Jess as the +young people, with due formality, went through the ceremony of +introductions. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +SUSPENSE AND ACHIEVEMENT. + + +It was a week after Fan Harding's visit to the Prescott home, on one +windless, steamy morning, when the pearl-gray mist still lay in the +smooth hollows running back from the coast, that The Golden Butterfly was +wheeled out of her cocoon--so to speak--and dragged up the hillside at +the back of the white, green-shuttered cottage. Miss Prescott, a +sweet-faced old lady, whose cheek was still blooming despite the passage +of the years, stood on the back porch of the house watching the process. + +If Miss Prescott's face had been somewhat less cheerful than usual since +her talk with Mr. Harding, all the clouds had been chased from it now. +She watched as eagerly as a girl while Roy and Peggy, aided by Jess and +Jimsy and two other lads, friends of Roy's from the village, dragged the +brand new aeroplane up the hillside. + +The excited chatter and laughter of the young folks rang out merrily as +they worked--for it was work to get the 'plane, light as it was, up the +grade. Fortunately--for Roy had no desire of a crowd to witness his +initial ascent in the new 'plane--the Prescott house was some distance +out of the village, and there were no near neighbors. The place had, in +fact, once been a farm house, and although the acreage still was in the +possession of Miss Prescott it was not worked. + +A more ideal place for flying could not be imagined. Smooth +slopes--unwooded, except in clumps--were all about. To the north +glimmered the sparkling waters of Long Island Sound, while to the south +stretched fertile farming land, devoted to crop-raising and pasturage. + +Very business-like the young people looked as they hauled the monoplane +up the hill. Roy and Jimsy wore leather puttees, trousers fashioned +somewhat like riding breeches, and leather coats. On their heads were +caps of the latter material, well padded within and provided with visors +pierced with goggles. + +The girls wore shirt waists, outing skirts and "sensible" walking boots. +Jess had on her "Shaker" motoring bonnet, in which she looked very +captivating indeed. Peggy's glossy hair, unadorned, but tightly confined +in a net, formed her hair covering. Both girls were all a-tiptoe with +excitement, for although Roy had had experience with aeroplanes, and so, +in a limited way, had Jimsy, this feature of the sport was new to them. + +At last the summit was reached, and Roy, after calling a halt, took a +brief but comprehensive survey of the Golden Butterfly. This done, he +climbed into the chassis--or body--of the thing, and leaning over the +machinery he rapidly tested all the adjustments and examined the +lubricating devices to see that all was in order. Everything appeared to +be. + +"Well," said Roy, with some self complacency, stepping out of the +machine, "everything seems to be ready for the initial flight of the +Golden Butterfly, my lords and gentlemen." + +"And ladies, if you please," put in Jess, in a voice that was vibrant +with excitement, despite her endeavor to keep calm. + +"And ladies," added Roy, with a gallant bow in her direction. + +Peggy in the meantime, like an anxious little mother fussing over dolls, +had been examining the aeroplane once more. Suddenly she gave a little +cry. The exclamation interrupted Roy who was explaining, with great +satisfaction, that everything was all right. + +"I've looked it over and if there had been anything wrong it couldn't +have escaped my notice," he observed rather pompously. + +"Oh, Roy! Just look here! The spring of this landing wheel is all slack!" + +This was the exclamation from Peggy that brought up Roy somewhat shortly +in the midst of his self-confident harangue. + +"By George, so it is, sis!" exclaimed Roy, reddening a little, while Lem +Sidney, one of his chums, observed with a chuckle to Jeff Stokes, that +Peggy appeared to know as much, if not more, about the machine than did +Roy. + +The spring was soon tightened by means of a monkey wrench. But that did +not prevent them all realizing that had it not been for Peggy's acute +observation a serious accident might have occurred. This done, even +Peggy's anxious glances could not detect any other flaw in the machine. + +"What time did that aviator fellow say he would show up?" then demanded +Jimsy, abruptly. + +"He should be here now," rejoined Roy. "I've half a mind to start anyhow. +I can manage the machine I am very certain." + +"Oh, Roy!" cried Peggy, reprovingly, "you know you promised aunty that +you wouldn't do anything till Mr. Hal Homer got here." + +"All right, sis," put in Roy, hastily, "don't be scared. I'll stick to my +word." + +"Hullo!" cried Jimsy, suddenly, "there comes an auto now." + +"So it is," exclaimed the others, as a black touring car came whizzing +down the road below them. It soon halted, and a figure in leather +garments with gaitered legs alighted and hastened across the fields +toward the party clustered about the aeroplane. The car was left in +charge of the chauffeur. + +As Jimsy had guessed, the new arrival proved to be Hal Homer, the +well-known cross country flier, from whom Roy had taken some vacation +time aviation lessons. + +"He's awfully good looking," whispered Jess to Peggy, after introductions +to the dapper young aviator had been extended by Roy. + +"Oh, so--so," rejoined Peggy, with a toss of her head. + +"Maybe you know some one who is handsomer?" questioned Jess with a +mischievous side glance of her fine eyes. + +Peggy flushed under her fair skin. But Jess laughed with good-humored +raillery. + +"Jimsy surely is a good-looking boy," she said, "if he hadn't a pug nose." + +"A pug nose!" flared up Peggy. "Oh, Jess, how can----" + +Then she stopped short in confusion while Jess laughed the more at her +discomfiture. + +Young Mr. Homer lost no time in starting operations. He ordered his +helpers to secure the machine to a small tree growing nearby by means of +a stout rope Roy had brought with him. This done, and the monoplane thus +secured from flying away when her engine was started, he set the sparking +and gasolene levers and threw in the switch. Roy and Jimsy, the latter +acting under Roy's instructions, flew to the propeller. + +The Golden Butterfly being a monoplane, this was in front of the machine. + +"Be careful when you feel it start, to leap aside," warned Roy, "or you +might be beheaded." + +"I never lose my head in an emergency," joked Jimsy. + +But just the same his heart beat, as did those of all of them but Hal +Homer's, as he and Roy started to swing the great shiny wooden driving +appliance. + +Once, twice, three times they swung it round, exerting all their force. +The fourth time they were rewarded by a feeble sigh from the engine--a +sixty horse power motor. + +All at once--Bang! + +"Let go!" yelled Roy, jumping backward. + +Jimsy in his hurry to obey stumbled and fell backward in a heap. He +rolled some distance down the hill unnoticed, before he succeeded in +stopping his motion. In the meantime the others--even Peggy--were too +absorbed in the sight before them to watch Jimsy. + +Simultaneously with the sharp report the propeller had whirled around +swiftly. The next instant it was a mere gray blur, while a furious wind +from its revolving blades swept the onlookers. Blue smoke spurted from +the exhausts, mingled with flame, and the uproar was terrific. + +The Golden Butterfly, like a thing of life, struggled at her moorings. +The rope stretched and strained, taut as a violin string, under the pull. +But it held fast, and after a while Aviator Homer slowed down the engine +and finally stopped it, after adjusting a miss-fire in one of the +cylinders. As the propeller became once more visible and then came to a +stop, the boys broke into cheers, while the girls, too, voiced their +enthusiasm. + +"Oh, Peggy, isn't it a darling!" cried Jess. + +"Aeroplanes are not usually called 'darlings,'" responded Peggy with +assumed severity, "but--oh, Jess, it's--it's--a jewel and----" + +"I'm dying for a ride in it!" burst in Jess. + +"Then if you will consent to live a little longer I hope to have the +pleasure of saving your life," put in Roy, gallantly. + +"Oh, Roy! I can ride in it now!" gasped Jess, while Peggy clasped her +hands and snuggled up close to her chum. + +"Well, no, hardly just yet," laughed Roy, "but after Homer has tested her +thoroughly out I guess you girls can take a spin." + +"You know I'm going to learn to handle one," declared Peggy, as Roy made +off once more. "I know a good deal about the theoretical part of it +already." + +"Well, theory wouldn't do you much good in a mile-long tumble," quoth +Jess, sagely. + +"Nonsense," rejoined Peggy. "Mr. Homer says one is as safe in an +aeroplane, if one is careful, as in an auto." + +"Safer I guess, the way that brother of mine drives sometimes," replied +Jess. "He calls it 'burning up the road.' But--oh, look, they're casting +off, or whatever it is you do to an airship when you turn her loose. Oh!" + +Snatching off her motoring bonnet Jess began waving it furiously. While +they had been talking the rope had been cast loose, and now, with Mr. +Homer himself at the driving wheel, in cap and goggles, the engine was +being started once more. + +In wrapt excitement both girls stood breathless. So intent were they on +the scene transpiring before them that they had not noticed the approach +of a second auto on the road below. From it Fan Harding had alighted and +hastened up the hill, after "parking" his machine, as if in fear that he +would be too late to view the proceedings. + +A sneering look was on his rather handsome face as he rapidly climbed the +hill. He reached a position behind the two girls just as the aviator gave +the signal to let go of the machine--to the rear structure of which Lem +Sidney and Jeff Stokes were perspiringly clinging, their heels digging +into the soft turf to steady themselves. + +As Mr. Homer's hand swung backward and downward they let go. Instantly, +like an arrow from a bow, the monoplane--the work of Peggy and Roy--was +off. How it scudded across the hill top! Blue smoke and flame shot from +its exhaust. Its operator sat hunched over his machinery looking, with +his goggles, like some creature of the lower regions. Peggy clasped her +hands and stood a-tiptoe breathlessly as it scudded along. + +"Oh, will it rise?" she breathed, her color coming and going in her +excitement. + +"I'll bet ten dollars it won't fly any more than an earthworm." + +Peggy turned swiftly, indignantly. Her color flamed and her eyes blazed +angrily. Jess, hardly less indignant at the sneering tone and words, also +faced about. + +"Good morning, girls," said Fan Harding, easily, raising his motoring cap +nonchalantly, "I came to see the ascension, but I'm afraid that it's +going to be a descension." + +"I think you're hateful to talk like that," cried Peggy, angrily, +stamping her foot. "Our aeroplane will rise. It just will, I tell +you--oh, gracious!" + +She broke off in confusion and stood aghast for a moment. The swiftly +scudding aeroplane had stopped its skittering over the grass and had come +to an abrupt stop at a distance of about five hundred yards. + +Already the boys were running across the turf toward it at top speed. The +girls could see Mr. Homer clambering out of the chassis as the machine +came to a standstill. + +"Ha! Ha! just as I thought," chuckled Fan Harding, viciously, "that thing +is a dead failure." + +Poor Peggy, tears in her eyes at this seeming disaster, was stung fairly +out of herself. She switched round on Fan Harding with a suddenness that +made her skirt fly out and that young gentleman step precipitately +backward. + +"It isn't a failure, Fan Harding," she cried, with blazing eyes. "How +dare you come here to sneer at us. We didn't invite you. Oh, I could----" + +But Jess had seized her arm and succeeded in checking Peggy just in time. +She whispered something to the indignant girl, who, with a scornful look +at Fan Harding, turned and, with her friend, ran lightly off toward the +stranded aeroplane. + +"By Jove, I really thought for a minute she was going to slap my face," +chuckled Fan Harding to himself. "How pretty she is when she is angry. +But I guess if she knew what I do about certain affairs she wouldn't be +quite so fresh with me." + +He cast a glance at the aeroplane around which the anxious young people +were now clustering thickly. + +"If that thing is a success," he mused, as he strode off to join them, +"so much the better for me. I think I could use an aeroplane. I don't see +why I should let Roy Prescott beat me out at anything. Ah! They've +started the engine again and--by ginger, she's rising! She's going up! +She's flying!" + +The small irregularity in the working of the engine, which had brought +the plane to a stop, had been quickly remedied. Even Fan Harding, little +as he liked Roy, could not help but join in the cheers as the Golden +Butterfly, swinging in an easy circle, began to climb--higher and higher +toward the fleecy clouds that flecked the blue dome above. + +As for Peggy, she jumped up and down in her enthusiasm till her golden +hair was tumbling in a tangle about her pink shells of ears. + +"Oh, goody! goody! goody!" she squealed in the intensity of her joy. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE CLOUDS GATHER. + + +"And so unless we can raise that money somehow within a short time we +shall have to leave dear old Shadyside!" + +It was Roy who spoke, in troubled tones, some days after the successful +flight of the Golden Butterfly. They were seated in the cool-looking +living room of Miss Prescott's home. The sun filtering in through the +Venetian blinds, fell in patches on the polished floors--Peggy's work, +for Miss Prescott's circumstances had been for some time too straitened +to afford the servants she formerly had. But she had kept all knowledge +of her struggle from her nephew and niece, until now the time had arrived +when she felt that she could conceal no longer the object of old Sam +Harding's visit to her. + +The old man, among other things, was President of the Sandy Bay Bank. +This bank, although the children did not know it, had long held a +mortgage on Miss Prescott's property. The kindly, sweet-souled lady had +incurred the debt to forward her brother's dreams. For poor Mr. Prescott +had always been "just on the verge of making a fortune." Mr. Harding's +errand was to state that the interest being long overdue and there being +no immediate prospect of settlement the bank would have to foreclose. The +real reason for this anxiety, which of course Miss Prescott, +simple-minded lady, could not know, was, that a real estate concern +wanted to purchase the property to erect a summer colony. + +"But what of my securities in----and----and----?" inquired poor Miss +Prescott, who really knew no more of business than Peggy's French +bull-dog. + +"In the depressed state of the market that class of securities are worth +nothing, madam," was the response, "in addition, though I have refrained +from telling you so till now, your account at the bank is much overdrawn. +However," he had continued, "to show you that we mean to be fair with you +we will say nothing about that, but unless the bank gets its interest we +must have the land." + +It was Miss Prescott's relation of the true state of affairs to Roy and +Peggy that sunny afternoon that had brought forth Roy's exclamation +recorded at the beginning of this chapter. + +"But, auntie," burst out Peggy, blankly, "does the man mean to say that +there is nothing, absolutely nothing, on which we can realize anything?" + +Miss Prescott shook her head slowly. + +"There is nothing we can do," she rejoined, sadly. "We shall have to +leave dear old Shadyside and the land will be cut up and sold to +strangers. Land which the first Prescott settled on and which has been in +the family ever since. Oh, dear!" and Miss Prescott, never the most +strong-minded of women, drew out her handkerchief and began to sniff +ominously. Peggy, looking bewitchingly pretty in a simple muslin frock, +wrinkled her forehead seriously. + +"It can't--it simply can't be as bad as all that," she persisted. "We can +raise the money somehow." + +"Five thousand dollars!" cried Miss Prescott. + +"Phew! That is a lot of money," from Roy. But Peggy had jumped up from +her chair. + +"The contest, Roy! The contest!" she was exclaiming. "We must write this +very day for particulars. If the Golden Butterfly can win that prize----" + +"By Jove, sis, it's five thousand dollars, isn't it?" burst out Roy, +almost equally excited. "I'd forgotten all about it up till now. What an +idiot I am. If only----" + +He stopped short suddenly, struck by a depressing thought. Probably there +were plenty of machines, most of them far better than the Golden +Butterfly, entered in the contest which they had read about. His +enthusiasm died away--as was the way with Roy--almost as quickly as it +had flamed up. + +But Peggy would not hear of hesitation. She made Roy sit down that very +night and write to the committee in charge of the Higgins' prize. Under +her brave, independent urgings things began to look brighter. It was a +fairly cheerful party that sat down to a simple supper that evening. + +"Oh, dear," sighed Peggy, in the course of the meal, "if only I knew some +one who needed a bright young woman to run an aeroplane, how I'd jump at +the job." + +"You ought to get a high salary at it anyhow," rather dolefully joked Roy. + +"And make a high jump, too," laughed Peggy; "but seriously, auntie, I can +run the Butterfly almost as well as Roy. Mr. Homer said so before he +left. He said: 'Well, Miss Prescott, I've taught you all I know about an +aeroplane. The rest lies with you, of course.'" Peggy went on modestly: +"I could run an auto before. I learned on the one that Jess had at +school, so it really wasn't hard to get to understand the engine. Don't +you think I'm almost as good a--" Peggy paused for a word--"a--sky +pilot!" she cried triumphantly, "as good a sky pilot as you are, Roy?" + +"Almost," modestly admitted Roy, his mouth full of strawberry shortcake, +"but never mind about that now, sis. There are more important things to +be thought of than that. I'm going into town to-morrow for two things. +One is to see Mr. Harding myself. It takes a man to tackle these +things----" + +"Oh, dear!" sniffed Peggy. + +"The other bit of business I have to attend to," went on Roy, "is to get +a position. It's time I was a breadwinner." Roy thought that sounded +rather well and went on--"a breadwinner." + +"Oh, Roy!" cried his aunt, admiringly, "do you think you'll be able to +get a position?" + +"Without a doubt, aunt," rejoined Roy, confidently; "no doubt several +business houses would be glad--to have me with them," Roy was going to +say but he thought better of it and concluded, "to give me a chance." + +Peggy said nothing, which rather irritated the boy. He concluded, +however, that being a girl, she could hardly be expected to appreciate +the responsibilities of the man of the household. For since that +afternoon and its disclosures, Roy had, in his own mind, assumed that +important position. + +Somewhat to Roy's surprise he found no difficulty in obtaining access to +Mr. Harding at the bank. On the contrary, had he been expected he could +not have been ushered into the old man's presence with greater +promptness. He stated his business briefly and straightforwardly. + +"Now, Mr. Harding," he concluded, "is there no way in which this matter +can be straightened out?" + +The old man, in the rusty black suit, picked up a pen and began drawing +scrawly diagrams on the blotter in front of him. Apparently he was in +deep thought. But had Roy been able to penetrate that mask-like face he +would have been startled at what was passing in Simon Harding's mind. At +last he spoke: + +"I understand that you have built an aeroplane which is a success?" he +questioned. + +"That's right, sir," said Roy, flushing proudly; "but the ideas we put +into it were my father's--every one of them. He practically made it his +life work, you see, and----" + +"And you beggared yourself carrying those ideas out, eh?" snarled the old +man. "Oh, you need not look astonished. I know all about your affairs. +More than you think for. And now having expended a wicked sum for the +engine of this flying thing where do you expect to reap your profit?" + +Roy was rather taken aback. In the past days--since the first wonderful +flight of the Golden Butterfly--he had not given much thought to that +part of it. He realized this now with a rather embarrassed feeling. Old +Harding eyed him keenly. + +"Why--father, before he died, spoke of the government, sir. He wanted the +United States to have the benefit of the machine if it proved successful." + +"Bah!" sneered old Harding, scornfully, "a mere visionary dream of an +inventor. Now I have a business proposition to make to you. I myself am +interested in aeroplanes--or rather in their manufacture." + +"You, Mr. Harding!" Roy looked his astonishment. The last vehicle in the +world one would have thought of in connection with "Old Money Grubber," +as he was sometimes called, was an aeroplane. If he had been given to +such things Roy would have concluded the old man was joking. + +"Yes, sir," snapped Mr. Harding, "I am. But not directly. It's on +Fanning's account. He tells me that he has a chance to organize a company +to give aeroplane exhibitions and also to manufacture them. But he has +not been able to find a suitable machine, or one that was not fully +covered by patents till he saw yours in flight the other day." + +Suddenly he raised his voice: + +"Fanning! Come here a minute." + +Almost immediately, through a door which Roy had not hitherto noticed, +but which evidently led into an adjoining office, the figure of Simon +Harding's son appeared. To his chagrin, Roy realized that almost every +word he had said to the father must have been overheard by the son. + +Young Harding, who was dressed in a flashy gray suit, with trousers +rolled up very high to exhibit electric blue socks of the same hue as his +necktie, greeted Roy, who felt suddenly very shabby and insignificant, +with a patronizing nod. + +"Sorry you're in difficulties, Roy," he said, "but you never were a +business chap even at school." + +The memory of certain monetary transactions in which young Harding had +been concerned occurred to Roy. The other's patronizing air angered him. +He would have liked to make some sharp, meaning retort. But the thought +of Peggy and his aunt restrained him. Roy was beginning to learn fast. + +"You needn't bother to tell me anything about the case," went on the +younger Harding. "I accidentally overheard all that you said. Now, Roy, +my father has stated the case to you correctly. I've got a chance to make +money with aeroplanes if I can only get hold of a new model. You've got +just what I want." + +"Come to the point, my boy, come to the point," urged his father. + +"I'm getting there, ain't I?" snarled the dutiful son. "Well, Roy, you're +in pretty tight straits. We can foreclose on that mortgage any day we +want to. But we won't do it if you give us a square deal. Forget the +government. Make a deal with us consigning to me the right to manufacture +and exhibit those aeroplanes and I'll set aside that mortgage and give +you a thousand dollars to boot." + +"And suppose I won't accept that offer?" asked Roy, slowly. + +"Then we shall have to go ahead and foreclose. We want that land anyhow, +but I am even more anxious to set up my son in a paying business," +exclaimed old Harding. "Our offer is a fair one. It amounts to giving you +six thousand dollars for a thing of canvas, wire and clockwork." + +"Rather more than that, sir," said Roy, in a steady voice, although he +was inwardly blazing. + +"Well, what do you say?" asked Fanning, eagerly. "We'll draw up the +papers right now if you say so." + +But Roy was learning fast. He knew that the offer just made him had been +an inadequate one. + +"I'd like to have time to think it over," he said, hesitatingly. + +"Take all the time you want," said old Harding, with a wave of his +shrivelled, claw-like hand. + +But Fanning did not seem so pleased. It flashed across his mind that Roy +wanted to consult with Peggy, and somehow Fanning felt that in that case +his offer would meet with refusal. He therefore resolved to put in a +heavy blow. + +"But I want to start at once," he said. "I can't wait any length of time. +When you think that if you don't accept my offer you'll all be without a +roof over your heads I should think that for the sake of your sister and +your aunt you'd accept." + +"They'll never be in that position while I can work," rejoined Roy, with +a flushed face. He rose and picked up his hat. Somehow he felt that he +could not stand Fanning very many minutes more. + +"Yes, very fine talk, but what can you do?" snarled Simon Harding. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +JESS AND ROY. + + +Roy flung back some sort of answer and hastened out of the office. As he +made his way up the sunny street outside, however, he could not get out +of his mind the words of Simon Harding. After all, they were true; "what +could he do?" Mentally, as he walked along, Roy ran over the list of his +accomplishments. He came to the conclusion that aeroplane building and +flying was where his greatest strength lay. But how was he to proceed to +make money with his knowledge? + +At this point in his meditations, when, unnoticed, he had almost reached +the end of the elm-shaded village street, a loud "Honk! Honk!" suddenly +startled him. + +He looked up, and his gloom vanished like a summer cloud as he saw +smiling down on him from the driver's seat of the big auto which had just +rolled up beside him, the sunny countenance of Jess Prescott. She was in +automobile attire and looked unusually attractive. + +"Oh, I am so glad I've run across you," she exclaimed. + +"You almost did," laughed Roy. + +"Did what?" + +"Run across me, of course," was the response. "But what are you doing in +town? And driving your own car, too. Where is Jimsy?" + +"Oh, he had to do an errand for father." + +"And so you are acting as chauffeur?" + +"Yes, don't I make a nice one?" + +"You certainly do," rejoined the lad with a great deal of emphasis. + +"Well, that being the case, you are commanded to jump in by me at once. +I've got an errand or two to do and then I'm driving home. We'll go by +your place and I can drop you there." + +"That's very good of you----" began Roy, but Jess cut him short. + +"It's really selfish," she exclaimed. "I was looking for an escort. I +really need one. You haven't got a revolver with you, have you?" + +"Good gracious," exclaimed the astonished boy as he climbed into the big +car; "no, of course not. Whatever do you want one for?" + +"Why," confided Jess, as they sped along, "I'm on my way to the bank. +Mother is going to a big dinner party to-night and I volunteered to fetch +out her jewels for her from the safe deposit vault where she keeps them." + +"And you were afraid of robbers holding you up?" + +"Of course not," laughed the girl, skillfully dodging a vagrant dog that +sped across the road in front of the big car; "but just the same, I'm +glad to have a nice big boy like you with me. You see, some of the jewels +are very valuable, and one never knows what might happen." + +"No," agreed Roy; "but in broad daylight, on the road between Sandy Bay +and your home, there could hardly be any risk. For instance, who would +know that you had valuables in the car?" + +"Nobody, except some of the servants at home probably," responded Jess. +"But here's the bank." + +As she spoke she skillfully manipulated her levers and pedals and brought +the car to a stop against the curb as neatly as any driver could have +accomplished it. + +The car had hardly come to a stop before the bank door flew open and +Fanning Harding emerged, his features drawn up into what he meant to be a +pleasing smile, but which more resembled a smirk. + +Jess, ignoring his proffered hand, leaped lightly to the sidewalk and, +responding somewhat frigidly to his pleasantries, made her way into the +bank. A cold nod was all that had passed between Fanning and Roy, though +young Harding had looked astonished at beholding the other in Jess's car. +Before long the girl tripped out of the building once more. But this time +she carried with her a black leather case. Fanning was once more at her +side and insisted on helping her into the car, holding her arm rather +tightly as he did so. + +"I wish I could accompany you," he said. "Ten thousand dollars' worth of +jewels is a rather risky thing to carry about." + +"Oh, I have a splendid escort, thank you," spoke up Jess, frigidly. She +drew on her gauntlets and began fumbling with the levers. Roy was already +out of the car and cranking up. + +"It would be the pleasure of the ride," said Fanning, in a low voice. "If +I were with you I could almost wish somebody would try to hold us up so +that I could show you what I could do in your defence." + +"Just as you did that day at school when poor little Henry Willis was +being beaten by that big bully Hank Jones?" asked Jess, quietly. +Fanning's glances, and the emphasis he threw into what he said, were very +distasteful to her, and she took what proved an effectual means of +squelching him. + +"You know I had a sore wrist that day and couldn't get into a fight with +Hank," said Fanning, but his eyes were downcast and he had not much more +to say. Presently the auto chugged off, leaving the disgruntled youth +standing on the sidewalk following it with his eyes. + +"So you're trying to win out Jess Bancroft, are you?" the over-dressed +lad thought to himself. "Well, Roy Prescott, I guess that settles you. +I've never liked you, and now that I've a chance to get the upper hand of +you I'm going to use it. You'll regret this auto ride to-day in days to +come, or I'm very much mistaken." + +He turned and reëntered the bank, but presently emerged again in a +leather coat of black material, black leggings and black cap and goggles. +Hauling out his motor-cycle from a rack in front of the bank he wheeled +it into the street, and with an admiring crowd of small boys looking on, +started the swift, four-cylindered machine. In a cloud of dust he +vanished in the same direction as had Jess Bancroft's car. + +Jess, once the confines of the village were past, "let the car out." They +sped along, chatting merrily. The roads about Sandy Bay were ideal for +automobiling, and perhaps neither of the young occupants of the car +noticed how fast they were going when the vehicle topped a small rise and +began descending a long steep grade at the bottom of which the railroad, +which approached on a curve, was visible in two shining parallel streaks +of metal. + +Suddenly there came a shrill, long drawn whistle. + +"Hullo, a train!" exclaimed Roy. "Must be a freight; there's no regular +passenger scheduled to run at this time of day." + +"That's right," agreed Jess. "I guess I'll slow down a bit till we see +how close it is to the crossing." + +She pressed her foot on the brake pedal and shoved hard. + +But to her astonishment there was no diminution in the speed of the car. +It plunged forward down the hill, gaining impetus every second. + +"Better slow up, Jess," warned Roy, who had not noticed the girl grow +white and faint, as the possibility of what might occur if she could not +control the car flashed before her. + +"I--I can't!" she gasped. + +"The emergency brake!" almost shouted Roy. Below them he had seen a +swiftly moving column of white smoke. It was the approaching train. Now +it whistled once more. That meant it was close upon the crossing toward +which the car was racing at terrific speed. + +"I've--I've tried it. It's jammed or something! Oh, Roy! the train!" + +Before she could say any more Roy had risen from his seat, and gently, +but firmly, removed the girl's trembling hands from the steering wheel. +With might and main he tried to check the car. But all he did was in +vain. Drops of perspiration stood out upon his forehead. Jess, utterly +unnerved, sank back in her seat and hid her face with her gloved hands. + +Above the roar of the on-dashing car could be heard the sharp puffing of +the approaching locomotive. Roy tugged as if he would tear his muscle out +at the brake lever, but it refused to budge. A sort of desperate coolness +came over him. But Jess, who had uncovered her eyes for an instant, gave +a sudden shrill scream. + +"Oh, we'll be killed! Look,--the train! We'll crash into it!" + +"Sit down, Jess," ordered Roy, sternly, for the excited girl had seemed +to be on the point of jumping from the car as it swayed and bumped toward +what seemed certain annihilation, at a terrific rate. + +Roy glanced desperately about him. The hill was enclosed by steepish +banks with hedgerows at the top. But at one point he thought he saw a +chance of escape. + +As he despairingly changed the direction of the car two figures sprang +from behind the hedge and gazed in amazement at the runaway auto. + +"They'll be killed to a certainty!" cried one. + +Indeed it seemed so. With Jess in a dead faint and Roy looking straight +into the dark face of danger the uncontrolled car tore onward toward the +train. The engineer saw it now and blew his whistle shrilly. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +A NARROW ESCAPE. + + +But Roy's quick eye had noted one loophole of escape,--a gap in the bank. + +Truly it was taking a terrible risk to dash the car through it. The boy +did not know what lay beyond, and in taking the chance he was running +almost as great a risk of annihilation as if he kept straight on. But to +have done the latter would have been to crash into a solid wall of moving +freight cars as they bumped across the grade crossing. + +It was almost certain that they would be thrown out and maybe injured. +But Roy did not hesitate. With a quick twist of his steering wheel he +sent the car spinning on two wheels for the gap. For an instant it seemed +as if the vehicle would capsize under the sudden change of direction. But +it did not, although it tilted over at a dangerous angle. + +Whiz-z-z-z-z! + +In a flash they were through the gap, the landscape blurring, so terrific +was the speed. + +The next instant there was a sickening shock. Instinctively Roy threw out +an arm to protect his fair companion. Hardly had he done so before he +felt himself impelled through the air as if from a catapult, and all grew +blank. + +When Roy came to himself his head ached as if it would burst. It was some +few seconds, in fact, before he realized what had occurred. When he did +he looked about him. A few paces away lay the still form of Jess +Bancroft. She was stretched out on a cushion upon which she must have +fallen. For an instant, as he gazed at her features as pale as marble, +and her closed eyes, a dreadful thought flashed across Roy's mind. What +if she were dead? + +But to his great relief he speedily ascertained that the girl was +breathing. An ugly bruise on her forehead may have accounted for her +continued swoon although she had fainted with terror the instant the +train appeared beneath them on the crossing. + +The car, its hood crumpled up as if it had been made of paper instead of +metal, stood at the foot of a tree not far off. + +"No wonder we were thrown out," thought Roy, as he gazed at the wreck and +considered the speed at which they had encountered the obstruction. "The +wonder is we escaped with our lives." + +After a brief and ineffectual attempt to arouse the girl the boy looked +about him for some means of assistance. The cowardly train crew had not +stopped when they saw the accident. Visions of damage suits and summary +discharges may have drifted through their minds, for extra freights were +supposed to send flagmen to the crossing to warn all traffic of the +train's approach. + +Suddenly Roy recollected the two men he had seen spring from behind the +hedge as the runaway auto approached the gap. What had become of them? +Apparently they had taken to their heels also, for not a sign was to be +seen of them. + +"Odd," thought the boy to himself; "one would think the first instinct of +a human being at seeing an accident like this would be to stay and help. +But, hold on, maybe they've gone for a doctor. A retired physician, Dr. +Mays, lives not far from here. In the meantime if I could only get some +cold water." + +Suddenly he spied a small brook at the foot of the hill. Ill and dazed as +he felt Roy sprinted toward it, and wetting his handkerchief hastened +back to Jess. Kneeling by her side he bathed her forehead. He was +rewarded in a few moments by beholding her eyelids flutter and open. In a +few seconds more she was fully conscious, but weak and shaken. Roy +collected the scattered cushions from the wreck, and placing them like a +mattress laid the girl upon them. + +She thanked him with a wan smile and then lay still once more. Roy wisely +did not speak. He judged that perfect quiet was what she wanted at that +moment. + +While he sat by her side meditating what to do a sudden noise caused him +to look upward. + +It was a noise like the drone of a giant bumble bee. It came from +directly above his head. + +"The Golden Butterfly!" shouted Roy, springing to his feet. + +Above him, at an elevation of some thousand feet, the yellow wings of the +Prescott aeroplane were outlined against the blue, like the form of one +of her namesakes. + +Roy shouted and waved frantically. Presently he was rewarded by the +flutter of a handkerchief from the chassis of the 'plane. At the same +instant it was swung about, and revolving in graceful circles began to +spiral down to the earth. + +"Hooray! It's Peggy and Jimsy!" cried Roy. "I recollect now Jess told me +that Jimsy was to have a lesson to-day." + +Ten minutes later the aeroplane lighted in the field not a hundred yards +from the wreck. As it reached the ground Peggy started the engine at +reduced speed. The aerial marvel began to scoot across the field toward +Roy as obediently as if it had been an automobile under perfect control. + +Agitated as he was Roy could not help feeling enthusiastic as the huge, +glittering, flying thing came closer, its engine roaring and its +propeller whirring angrily, and yet, the dainty girl in the motor bonnet +who was driving it had it under perfect control every second. Throwing +back a lever and cutting off the spark and the gasolene, Peggy brought +the aeroplane to a stop with a jerk. + +Jimsy, with alarmed questions on his lips, sprang out, while Roy helped +his sister to alight. + +"Good gracious, whatever has happened?" gasped the girl, as she stood on +the ground and viewed the still form of her chum Jess, over which Jimsy +was bending in genuine alarm. + +"It's all right, sis," Roy assured her, "Jess is not badly hurt. See--she +is looking up at you." + +Peggy sped lightly over the turf to her chum's side. + +"Oh, Peggy, dear, I'm so glad you've come. It was dreadful. But Roy was +so brave. I'm sure I owe my life to him, for the last thing I recollect +we were heading direct for the train." + +She would have said more, but Peggy held up an admonitory finger. Turning +to Roy she sought an explanation of all that occurred. It was soon told, +and then the question of summoning a physician came up. + +In the midst of the discussion Peggy gave a glad little cry. + +"The aeroplane! I can fly over to Doctor Mays' house. There's a dandy big +pasture in the rear in which to alight." + +"By George, that's so," agreed Roy, "and I guess, although it sounds a +bit startling, it's the only thing to do. We can't run the car and nobody +will be along here for hours perhaps. This road isn't travelled much." + +But Peggy, with that quick decision which was characteristic of her, was +already half way to the aeroplane. A moment more and she was in the +chassis, and slipping into the driver's seat began adjusting the motor. + +"I'll leave you to look after Jess," said Roy to Jimsy, "while I go along +with Peggy. I'm not sure that she is as expert in managing an aeroplane +as she thinks she is." + +"Well, she brought me over here at a great rate, anyhow," put in Jimsy, +loyally. + +"And in the nick of time, too," said Roy, warmly pressing the other's +hand. + +"Oh, do be back as quickly as possible, my foot hurts dreadfully," moaned +poor Jess, "and my head feels as if a thousand dwarfs were hammering away +inside it." + +"We'll be back before you expect us," Roy said, cheerily. Jimsy shouted +something, but his words were drowned in the roar of the motor as Roy +clambered into the Golden Butterfly and Peggy started the engine. + +The aeroplane dashed forward over the smooth turf and then seemed to take +the air as lightly and easily as a bit of gossamer. Straight up it +soared, high above the tree tops, and was speedily reduced to a fast +diminishing speck in the northwest in which direction lay Doctor Mays' +home. Looking downward from the speeding flyer the boy and girl aviators +could see, spread out below them like a checkerboard, the fertile Long +Island landscape. + +Through it ran the railroad, looking like a glittering ribbon of steel. +Off to the north the sea sparkled, a few white sails dotting its surface. +The Black Rock lighthouse, painted in bands of red and white, formed a +conspicuous object. + +All at once, on the road beneath them, Roy spied a solitary motor-cyclist +whom, even at the height to which they had now risen, he recognized as +Fanning Harding. He called his sister's attention to the rider. + +"He must have passed right by where the accident happened," he remarked; +"that road has no outlet for some distance. Funny that he didn't come to +help us." + +"You must remember that the banks and hedge hid the place from the road," +Peggy reminded him. "Even Fanning Harding wouldn't have willfully passed +by you when you were in such straits." + +"I don't think so, either," agreed Roy, "and come to think of it, bending +over his handlebars as he is, he would not be likely to have noticed the +gap we ploughed through." + +"Look," cried Peggy suddenly, "he's stopping." + +The girl was right. The motor-cycling boy, whose pace had hitherto been +as fast as that of the aeroplane, could now be seen to slacken his +machine and finally stop it. Leaning it against a fence he clambered into +an adjoining field, and with every evidence of extreme caution he crept +toward a patch of woods at no great distance. + +"What can he be doing?" exclaimed Peggy. + +As she spoke they saw the boy below them take something from his hip +pocket. + +"A pistol!" cried Roy. + +The next instant Fanning Harding had vanished into the patch of woods +without having noticed the aerial observers, or, at least, so it appeared. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +A ROADSIDE MYSTERY. + + +"Now, what could he be up to?" Roy wondered as they sped on. + +"Give it up," laughed Peggy, "unless he was going rabbit shooting." + +"Rabbit shooting with a pistol--and in June--oh, Peggy, I thought you +were more of a sport than that." + +"Well, can you suggest any solution?" + +"Frankly--no. But I've been forgetting something which the sight of +Fanning Harding reminded me of," and Roy at once plunged into an account +of his interview with the banker and his son. + +To his great relief Peggy agreed with him that on no account must the +aeroplane be turned over to the Hardings, but her mind was sadly +troubled, nevertheless, by what her brother told her concerning Simon +Harding's attitude. + +"It looks as if he was bent on hounding us," she sighed. + +"It surely does," agreed Roy, "but look, sis--there's Doctor Mays' house +off there. You'll have to make a landing in that field back of the barn." + +Peggy nodded and deftly touched a lever or two. The aeroplane began to +descend. + +"Want me to take the helm?" inquired Roy. + +If Peggy had dared to turn her head she would have flashed an indignant +glance at her brother. As it was she had to content herself with a very +haughty, "No, indeed." + +Roy laughed. + +"You surely are the original Girl Aviator," he exclaimed. + +"Huh!" cried Peggy, "by no means the original one, my dear. There are +lots of them in Europe and there soon will be in this country, too." + +"I hope so," responded Roy, "riding with a pretty girl in an aeroplane +just suits me." + +But Peggy did not reply, and for a good reason. They were now just above +the pasture lot in which she meant to descend, and below them, as they +dropped, an amusing scene was transpiring. + +The Doctor's horse, old Dobbin, was dashing madly around in circles, +faster than he had gone in twenty years of solid respectability; the two +cows, and an old mother pig with her family, joined him as the strange +whirring thing from the sky dropped lowering above them. As for the +chickens, they flew wildly in every direction, clucking as if they had +gone mad. + +In the midst of the turmoil a rear door opened and a kindly-faced old man +with white whiskers and a pair of big spectacles perched on his nose, +emerged, to see what could be causing all the disturbance. He fairly +dropped the big book he was holding, in his astonishment as he beheld a +glistening object, like a huge yellow and spangled bird, dropping in his +very back yard, so to speak. But the next instant he recovered himself. + +"Bless my soul," exclaimed Dr. Mays, for it was the retired physician +himself, "I thought for a moment that the fabled days of the gigantic +Roc, with which Sinbad the sailor had his adventures, had returned. + +"It must be those Prescott children. Ah!" he exclaimed, as the aeroplane +alighted and came to a standstill, "it is! Dear me, what a century we are +living in! Boys and girls flying about like--like--my chickens!" + +He "clucked" reassuringly to the terrified birds as he hastened toward +the now stationary machine. Roy and his sister came forward to greet the +venerable old doctor as he approached. + +Roy hastily explained their errand, being interrupted constantly by the +physician's exclamations of astonishment. + +"Go back with you? Of course, I will, my children. Will one of you help +me catch old Dobbin and harness him? My man Jake is in town to-day." + +"Oh, doctor," cried Peggy, entreatingly, "can't we persuade you to go +back with us in the Golden Butterfly?" + +"To fly! Good heavens!" + +The aged physician threw up his hands at the idea. + +"It is perfectly safe, sir," put in Roy. "Safer than old Dobbin in his +present frame of mind, I should imagine." + +They all had to laugh as they looked at the hitherto staid and sober +equine careening about the pasture with his tail held high, and from time +to time emitting shrill whinnies of terror at the sight of the strange +thing which had landed in his domain. + +"I don't know, I really don't," hesitated Dr. Mays. "The very idea of an +old man like me riding in an aeroplane. It's--it's----" + +"Just splendid," laughed Peggy, merrily, "and, doctor, I've often heard +you say to father that it was a physician's duty to keep pace with modern +invention." + +"Quite right! Quite right! I often told your poor father so," cried Dr. +Mays. "Well, my dear, it may be revolutionary and unbecoming to a man of +my years, but I actually believe I will brave a new element in that +flying machine of yours. More especially as we can reach my young patient +much quicker in that way." + +While Dr. Mays, who was a widower and childless, went to hunt up an old +cap, as headgear for his novel journey, Roy obtained permission to use +the doctor's telephone. He called up Jess's home and related briefly to +Mrs. Bancroft what had occurred, and asked that an automobile be sent to +the scene of the accident. + +Mrs. Bancroft, who at first had been seriously alarmed, was reassured by +Roy's quiet manner of breaking the news to her, and promised to come over +herself at once. By this time Doctor Mays was ready, and the young people +noted, not without amusement, that under his assumed air of confidence +the benevolent old gentleman was not a little worried at the idea of +braving what was to him a new element. + +The Golden Butterfly was equipped with a small extension seat at the +stern of her chassis, and into this Roy dropped after it had been pulled +out. Dr. Mays was seated in the centre, as being the heaviest of the +party, while Peggy resumed her place at the steering and driving +apparatus. + +"All ready behind?" she called out, laughingly, as they settled down. + +"All right here, my dear," responded the doctor with an inward conviction +that all was wrong. + +"Go ahead, sis," cried Roy. "Hold tight, doctor, to those straps on the +side." + +With a roar and a whirring thunder of its exhausts the motor was started +up. Dr. Mays paled, but, as Roy afterward expressed it, "he was dead +game." Forward shot the aeroplane across the hitherto peaceful pasture +lot which was now turned into a crazy circus of terrified animals. + +"Wh-wh-when are we going up?" + +The doctor asked the question rather jerkily as the aeroplane sped over +the uneven ground, jolting, and jouncing tremendously despite its +chilled-steel spiral springs. + +"In a moment," explained Roy; "the extra weight makes her slower in +rising than usual." + +"Look out, child!" yelled the doctor, suddenly, "you'll crash into the +fence." + +He half rose, but Roy pulled him back. + +"It's all right, doctor," he said reassuringly. + +But to the physician it seemed far otherwise. The fence he had alluded +to, a tall, five-barred, white-washed affair, loomed right up in front of +them. It seemed as if the aeroplane, scudding over the ground like a +scared jackrabbit, must crash into it. + +But no such thing happened. + +As the 'plane neared the obstruction something seemed to impel it upward. +Peggy pulled a lever and twisted a valve, and the motor, beating like a +fevered pulse, answered with an angry roar. + +The Golden Butterfly rose gracefully, just grazing the fence top, like a +jumping horse. But, unlike the latter, it did not come down upon the +other side. Instead, it soared upward in a steady gradient. + +The doctor, his first alarm over, gazed about him with wonder, and +perhaps a bit of awe. Many times had he and his dead friend, Mr. +Prescott, talked over aerial possibilities, and he had always listened +with interest to what the inventor had to say. But that he should +actually be riding in such a marvellous craft seemed like a dream to this +venerable man of science. + +After his first feeling of alarm had worn off the physician found that +riding in an aeroplane after the preliminary run with its bumps and +jouncings is over, is very like drifting gently over the fleeciest of +clouds in a gossamer car, if such a thing can be imagined. In other +words, the Golden Butterfly seemed not to be moving fast, but to be +floating in the crystal clear atmosphere. But a glance over the edge of +the high-sided chassis soon showed the physician that she was tearing +along at a great rate at a height of about five hundred feet. Fields, +woods, streams and small farmhouses swam by beneath their keel. + +"Well, doctor, how do you like it?" Roy ventured, after a few moments. + +"Like it!" repeated the physician; "my lad, it's--it's--it's bully!" + +And thus did his dignity fall like a mantle from Doctor Mays after a few +moments in Peggy Prescott's, the girl aviator's, Golden Butterfly. + +A few moments later they came in sight of the field in which they had +left poor Jess lying by the side of the wrecked automobile. + +Hardly had they alighted before Jimsy, a rather worried look on his face, +was at the side of the aeroplane. + +"Say, Roy," he exclaimed, "you didn't happen to put that jewel case in +your pocket for safe keeping after the accident, did you?" + +"Why, no. Jess had it and slipped it under the seat while she was +driving," cried Roy. "Why?" + +"Because it's gone!" exclaimed Jimsy, somewhat blankly. + +"Gone! Impossible!" protested Roy. + +"But it is. I've searched the field thoroughly in the vicinity of the +car, and I can't find a single trace of it." + +"It couldn't have been stolen." + +It was Peggy who spoke. + +Roy thought a moment. All at once the recollection of Fanning Harding's +queer actions when they had seen him on the road below them flashed into +his mind. The road, as he had observed, led past the scene of the +accident. + +Would it have been possible for Fanning to enter the field while they lay +unconscious there? After an instant's figuring Roy had to dismiss the +idea. Had such been the case, the son of the banker would have been much +further off when they observed him from the aeroplane than he had been. +The speed he was making would have carried him far from the wrecked auto +had he been near it at the time the accident occurred. + +What, then, could have become of the jewel case? + +"It must be here," exclaimed Roy, positively; "nobody could have taken +it." + +While Dr. Mays bent over Jess and examined her injured ankle the others +searched the field in every reasonable direction. But not a trace of the +jewel case could they find. + +All at once, the noise of a horse's hoofs coming at a rapid trot was +heard from the road. Roy, thinking it might be some one of whom he might +make inquiries, hastened to the hedge and peered over. He saw, coming +toward him, a disreputable-looking old ramshackle rig, driven by a +red-haired man of big frame who was slouchily dressed. His chin had once +been shaven, but now the hair stood out on it like bristles on an old +tooth brush. By the side of this individual was seated none other than +the immaculate Fanning Harding, in his motor-cycling clothes. + +"Why, that's Gid Gibbons, the most disreputable character about here," +exclaimed Roy, in amazement. "What can Fan Harding be doing with him?" + +He now noted, to his further astonishment and perplexity, that there was +a third person in the rig--Gid Gibbon's daughter, a pretty girl in a +coarse way, and given to loud dressing. She had plenty of black hair and +a pair of dark eyes that might have been beautiful if they had not had a +certain hard, defiant look in them. + +As they drew near Fan Harding turned and seemed to whisper something to +the girl, whose name was Hester, at which they both laughed heartily. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +PEGGY IS PUZZLED. + + +"Hello, Gid," hailed Roy, thinking that perhaps the ne'er-do-well, who +conducted a small blacksmith shop some distance off, might be able to +throw some light on the mystery. + +"Hello, yourself," was the response in a harsh, gutteral voice as Gid +drew in his reins and the conveyance came to a stop. Roy raised his hat +to Hester Gibbons and nodded coldly to Fan Harding. + +"Good gracious, what's been happening?" shrilled out the girl. + +"An accident," said Roy, and went on rapidly to explain what had occurred. + +"And the worst of it is," the boy went on, "that besides the accident +Miss Bancroft has suffered a serious loss. A wallet containing valuable +jewelry has vanished entirely." Roy watched Fan Harding closely as he +spoke and thought that he saw him change color. It might have likewise +been fancy, but he could have sworn that the girl, too, looked confused. +Gid puckered up his lips and emitted a whistle. + +"Lost a wallet with jewelry in it, eh?" he repeated. + +"Have you looked everywhere for it?" asked Fan Harding, with an +appearance of great solicitude. + +"Everywhere we can think of," rejoined Roy. He turned to Jimsy, who had +just joined him. Jimsy looked despondent and worried. A glance at his +countenance convinced Roy that the jewel case was still missing. + +"I'll get out and help you look for it myself," said Fan Harding +suddenly. "It's awfully queer. Miss Bancroft remarked when she left the +bank that she would take particular care of the jewels." + +"I wonder if any one passed on this road while we were unconscious?" +queried Roy, looking narrowly at Fan. + +To his surprise, the other answered with a great show of frankness. + +"It's very odd," he exclaimed, "but I myself must have gone by this place +not more than a few moments after the smash-up. I was on my way to Gid +Gibbons's blacksmith shop to get a part of my motor-cycle fixed up. I +guess if I hadn't been bending over my brakes as I rode down hill I'd +have seen the place myself." + +"Guess so," struck in Gid, with a grin; "no one never accused you of +being blind." + +"My motor-cycle was in worse repair than I thought," went on Fan, "and so +I left it at Gid's place and accepted his offer to ride into town with +him." + +This all sounded plausible enough. Yet Roy noted that Fan had not +mentioned his little excursion into the wood with the pistol. What was he +trying to conceal? What had been his mission there? + +While these thoughts flashed through Roy's mind Gid and his daughter had +followed Fan's example and now joined the searchers. By this time, Jess, +under the doctor's ministrations, was able to sit up. Her face was pale +as marble, partly from suffering, for her ankle still gave her +considerable pain, and partly from agitation at the loss of the jewels. + +There was a sudden puffing of an auto, and presently Mrs. Bancroft +herself, in a smaller car than the wrecked one, was driven into the group +by one of the employees of her husband's estate. As gently as possible, +after first explanations had been made, Jess broke the news to her. Mrs. +Bancroft, a tall, stately woman, went white as she heard. + +"One of those jewels, a ruby, was an heirloom that has been in the family +for years," she exclaimed. "I would not have lost it for all the others. +Has every place been searched thoroughly?" + +"Everywhere, mamma," responded Jess. + +"Bin over ther ground with a fine tooth comb, mum," said the uncouth Gid. + +Mrs. Bancroft raised her lorgnette and regarded the unabashed Gid with a +look tinged with some disgust. But Gid merely showed his yellow fangs, in +what he intended to be a pleasant smile, in reply, and lifted his hat +with clumsy gallantry. + +"What was the last you saw of the jewels?" asked Mrs. Bancroft of her +daughter, after Jess had been tenderly carried to the other auto and made +comfortable. + +"It was just before we started down the hill," was the reply. "I felt to +see if it was safe under the seat just before the car got away from me." + +"Then they were there just before the accident, of course," put in Mrs. +Bancroft. "And now they are missing in this mysterious way." + +"Well, they couldn't have walked off," said Fan; "somebody may have taken +them while you were unconscious. Unless----" + +He stopped and glanced at Roy, who felt his face flushing angrily. There +had been a queer intonation in Fan Harding's tones. + +"Unless what?" put in Jess, looking at Fan Harding directly in the eyes. +His dropped under the scrutiny of the straightforward girl. + +"I suppose you mean unless I took them," struck in Roy, angrily. There +was a hard note of defiance in his tones which sounded strange there. + +Fan Harding glanced at him quickly and then said in a low voice: + +"Well, it does look odd, you know, and----" + +"Don't dare to say another word like that!" + +Peggy, her soft eyes blazing, stepped forward before Mrs. Bancroft could +stop her. Gid Gibbon's daughter watched the angry girl with a +contemptuous smile. But Fan Harding went white and shrank back. + +"I--I didn't mean anything," he stammered. + +"Children! Children!" exclaimed Mrs. Bancroft, "no more of this. It seems +that there is a mystery here, and perhaps some day it will be solved. But +in the meantime I wish no suspicion, or doubt even, cast on any one." + +If they had been watching Fan Harding they would have seen his face +brighten up at this. Muttering something in an undertone to Gid, he slunk +off, accompanied by his disreputable blacksmith companion and the +latter's daughter, Hester, as she went, flung back a glance of contempt +at the others, of which they took not the slightest notice. + +Dr. Mays elected to return home by means of Mrs. Bancroft's auto. He +declared, laughingly, that he had had quite enough excitement that +morning for a man of his years. A few moments after the departure of Fan +and his strange companions therefore, Mrs. Bancroft's auto, towing the +injured car by means of a rope brought along for that purpose, set out on +its return journey. Jimsy rode beside his sister, who made a brave effort +to bid a cheery good-bye to the young aviators. + +But, somehow, all of them felt that a constraint had been suddenly born +among them, arising out of the mystery of the missing jewels. The next +day posters, announcing a reward for the recovery of the jewels, were +hurriedly struck off at Sandy Bay printing office, and distributed +throughout the town and the surrounding country. In due course the +Prescott household, of course, received one, and the perusal of it did +not add to their cheerfulness. + +The bills gave a description of the accident and the circumstances, and +Roy could not but feel that any logical person reading the things would +come to the conclusion that Roy Prescott probably knew more about the +facts of the case, at least, than any one else. + +In addition to the disconcerting bills the regular police officials of +Sandy Bay visited the Prescott home and interrogated Roy, to Peggy's huge +indignation. But worse was to come; private detectives also came and +questioned and cross-questioned him at great length. Roy could not but +feel with all this that he was an object of suspicion, but he bravely +went about as before and tried to hide his inner thoughts as closely as +possible. + +Jess soon recovered and was up and about once more. The four young folks +interchanged visits and motored and "aeroed" together as freely as +before, but they somehow all felt that the air was charged with some +influence that made things quite different to what they had been before +the accident and the subsequent mysterious vanishing of the jewels. + +Peggy privately made up her mind, with a truly feminine intuition, that +Fanning Harding had something to do with the affair. Recalling his +strange visit to the wood, she even visited the place by herself one day +to see if she could light upon any clew that might serve to clear things +up. But, as might have been expected, she found nothing. + +Her trip over had been made in the Golden Butterfly. Disappointed at her +lack of success, for she had almost allowed herself to believe that she +would, in some queer fashion, happen upon a clew, the girl was preparing +to return, when something happened. + +A rod, connecting a warping lever with the right wing of the monoplane, +snapped with a sharp crack. + +"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Peggy to herself, "what shall I do?" + +She looked about her as if seeking for information from her surroundings. +All at once she became aware that two men had emerged from the wood +behind her and were watching her closely. + +Plucky as the girl was, she felt her heart beat a little quicker as she +gazed. There was something so very piercing in their scrutiny. + +Suddenly one of them stepped forward, and Peggy saw, to her astonishment, +that she knew him. More astonishing still, the man was trembling and +whitefaced as if in alarm at something. + +It was Morgan, the butler at Mrs. Bancroft's. + +"Why, Morgan, whatever are you doing here?" exclaimed Peggy as she +breathed more freely. + +The man hesitated. His companion, whom Peggy could now see was an employe +about the Bancroft stables, came to his rescue. + +"Why, miss, we've been doin' a bit of trapping in the woods there." + +"Yes, miss, that's hit," struck in Morgan, a stout, puffy-faced +Englishman with "side burns." + +"A bit o' poaching, as you might say, miss. I 'opes you won't tell on +hus." + +"Good gracious, no," laughed Peggy, immensely relieved to find that the +two men were not strangers. "I thought you looked scared when you saw me, +Morgan." + +"Yes, miss. You see, I haint used in hold England ter see young ledies a +flyin' round like bloomin'--bloomin' pertater bugs, hif you'll pardon the +comparison, miss. But 'as yer 'ad han h'accident?" + +"I have," rejoined Peggy, restraining an impulse to say "I 'ave." "It's +not much. If there was a blacksmith shop round here I could get it fixed +in a jiffy. It's just this rod that's snapped." + +"Why, miss," puffed Morgan, "Gid Gibbon's place isn't more than a few +paces, as you might say, from 'ere. Why don't you take that rod there? +Hi'll h'escort yer." + +"Why, that's so," agreed Peggy, "how stupid of me not to have thought of +it. Gid can fix it in a few minutes." + +Selecting a small wrench from the tool box Peggy deftly unbolted the +broken rod, and then, with Morgan and his companion as guides, she set +off across the fields for Gid's shop, which she now recalled was a short +distance up the road, but hidden from the spot where the Butterfly had +dropped by a patch of woods. + +"By the way, Morgan," the girl asked, suddenly, "has anything more been +heard of the missing jewels?" + +To Peggy's astonishment the man started and stammered. + +"Yes, miss--that is--no, miss. I means, miss, that there ain't been no +news, miss, hof hany kind, miss." + +Peggy nodded without appearing to note the man's confusion. + +"It's a queer affair, miss," put in Morgan's companion, whose name was +Giles. + +"It is, indeed," rejoined Peggy. "I do wish it could all be cleared up." + +"Same 'ere, miss, hi'm sure," struck in Morgan, mopping his puffy face. +He seemed to have, in great part, recovered his composure. + +"Well, there is the blacksmith shop," said the other man presently, as +they emerged from the fields upon the road through a sliding gate. He +pointed to a long, low, ramshackle structure at the cross-roads. Beside +it stood a fairly neat cottage and beyond this again a brand new shed, +from which proceeded a great sound of hammering. + +As Morgan and Giles left her, to make a shortcut home across lots, Peggy +set off at a brisk pace, holding the broken rod in her hands. She almost +dropped the bits of metal an instant later in a great surprise that she +encountered. + +The door of the brand new building opened and out stepped Fanning +Harding, in overalls and jumper. Suddenly he became aware of Peggy's +advancing figure and halted, staring at her. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +HESTER'S RUBY. + + +The door of the shed had been opened wide, but Fanning closed it swiftly +as if in great anxiety to conceal what was within. Then it was that Peggy +first became aware of something she had not noticed before. Above the +portal was a signboard upon which was painted in staring red letters: + + "Office and Works of the Fanning Harding Aeroplane Co." + +Hardly had Peggy digested this astonishing sign before Fanning, his look +of startled surprise replaced by a smile, advanced, cap in hand, to meet +her. + +"Why, what ever brings you here?" he asked, with the air of easy +familiarity which Peggy disliked so much. "I guess that that sign gave +you a kind of a start, eh?" + +"It certainly did," agreed Peggy, "and it gives me even more of a start +to see you working, Fanning." + +"Huh," grunted the youth, beneath whose blue overalls were visible a pair +of gaudy socks of the kind he affected, "I guess you think that I can't +make good as well as any one else when I try. Roy wouldn't go into a deal +with me on that aeroplane of his, so I just got busy and started a +concern of my own." + +"Do you mean you are actually building an aeroplane?" + +"Yes. Got orders for several of them," rejoined the swaggering youth. "So +far I've only had Gid to help me, but I guess I'll have to enlarge the +plant pretty soon. You see that Roy would have been wiser to sell me that +'plane of his at the start-off. As things are now, the Harding Aeroplane +Company is going to discount anything in its line." + +"Well, I am glad of that," said Peggy, briskly, and with some trace of +asperity. Fanning's conceited, confident air jarred upon her sadly. "But +I came over here to find Mr. Gibbons. I want him to repair this rod for +me." + +"Why, that's off an aeroplane!" exclaimed Fanning, eagerly; "you must +have come to earth in the Golden Butterfly quite close to here." + +"Why, yes. In that field yonder," rejoined Peggy, some instinct telling +her not to disclose the true object of her visit there; "my motor went +wrong and I had to descend." + +"What field did you come down in? That one by the clump of woods round +the bend in the road?" asked Fanning, with just a trace of anxiety in his +tone. + +"Yes. It was lucky I was so close. Morgan and Giles----" + +"What, Morgan and Giles were there?" + +Fanning seemed tremendously excited all of a sudden. + +"Why, yes. What of it?" + +But Fanning had pulled himself together. + +"Oh, nothing," he said, in a matter-of-fact tone. "I only thought they +were a long way from home, that's all. But here comes Gid now. Hey, Gid! +Miss Prescott wants a rod welded. Can you do it for her right away?" + +"Sure," responded the ill-favored blacksmith, shuffling up. His chin was +more bristly than ever, and his shifty blue eyes blinked like a rat's +beady orbs as he took the bits of metal. + +"A flaw," he declared, examining them; "wonder it didn't break sooner. +Come on to the forge, miss, and I'll fix it for you in a brace-of-shakes." + +Off he shuffled toward the ramshackle forge, Peggy following. Behind her +came Fanning. As they passed the cottage Hester Gibbons came flying down +the path, but stopped at a sign from Fanning. The youth dropped further +behind, and as Peggy followed Gid into the forge and the bellows began +roaring, they began to talk in low tones. + +"Do you think she can suspect anything?" asked Hester at one point. + +"Not a thing," was the confident response. "That pale-faced old gopher, +Morgan, was in the wood this afternoon, though. She told me that. The +existence of the Harding Aeroplane Company has become known rather before +I wanted it to, also. However, they may as well know now as any other +time that they aren't the only fliers in the air. I guess the Harding +aeroplane will beat anything in its line ever seen." + +"I guess it will," laughed Hester, and then, for some unknown reason, +they both burst into fits of immoderate laughter. Evidently something +connected with Fanning's new enterprise was deemed highly amusing by both +of them. + +Peggy left without seeing Hester, although from behind a blind in the +cottage, the girl watched her closely enough. Gid, whatever his other +shortcomings might have been, was a good blacksmith, and the rod was well +repaired. Peggy soon had it adjusted, and was about to clamber into the +chassis and start home when a shout from the road made her look up. An +automobile stood there, and in it were Jess and Jimsy. They hailed her +excitedly, and Peggy hastily threw out the switch which she had just +adjusted and hastened across the field to them. + +She soon saw that Jess was waving a leather pocket case above her head +and that her face was flushed and excited. + +"My dear Jess, whatever has happened?" she cried, as she came up to the +side of the auto. + +"Happened!" echoed Jess. "Why, my dear, the most extraordinary, +inexplicable thing you ever heard of." + +"In other words, 'we are up in the air,'" quoth the slangy Jimsy, "even +if we don't own an aeroplane." + +"You see this case," cried Jess, extending the leather wallet for Peggy's +inspection. "Well, that's the case that held mamma's jewels. It was +returned most strangely to us this afternoon. We found it on the porch +after lunch. + +"Oh, Jess! the jewels were in it. I'm so glad." + +"No, girlie, it was empty." + +"Empty!" echoed Peggy, "and nobody knows how it came there?" + +"No, we must have been at lunch at the time. None of the servants know +anything about the matter, either. It's a real, dark and deep mystery." + +"It's all of that, my dear Watson," proclaimed Jimsy, folding his arms +and scowling in imitation of a famous detective of fiction. "Why on earth +should the thief want to return the wallet? You'd think he'd dodge such a +risk of being arrested." + +But Peggy had been looking at the wallet which had so amazingly +reappeared. + +"Why, Jess," she cried, "it's all mud-stained. It looks as if it had been +buried somewhere." + +"It certainly does," agreed Jimsy, "but even that doesn't give us any +more to go on than the theory that the jewels have been buried some +place." + +"And been dug up again," put in Peggy, quickly. + +After some more conversation the group was about to break up, when Jess +exclaimed suddenly: + +"Oh, by the way, did you hear about Jeff Stokes? No, I see you haven't. +Well, he's been appointed wireless operator at Rocky Point." + +"Oh, I'm so glad," cried Peggy, impulsively; "that's been his ambition +for a long time." + +Rocky Point was a projecting neck of land about two miles east of Sandy +Bay. It was quite an important signalling station for ships passing up +and down the Sound. The position which Jeff Stokes had secured was a +lucrative one in a way, and, at any rate, was in direct line of promotion. + +The two Bancrofts waited to watch Peggy take the air in her now staunch +aeroplane. It was not until she had vanished with a whirr and a whiz that +Jimsy thought of starting his own car. + +"Gracious," cried Jess, as they sped along, "how I wish that the mystery +of those jewels could be cleared up." + +As she spoke they were passing by the cottage occupied by Gid Gibbons. + +"Oh, look, there's that horrid Fanning Harding and Gid Gibbons's daughter +at the gate," cried Jess. + +At the same instant as she uttered the exclamation, Hester Gibbons looked +up in time to see Jess's gaze concentrated upon her. She whisked about, +her skirts swinging as she did so. But she did not turn quickly enough +for Jess's sharp eyes not to see that she snatched at something she had +been wearing at her throat. + +The millionaire's daughter was almost certain that the object Hester +snatched at in such a hurry was a ruby brooch, or at least an imitation +of one. She had distinctly caught a ruddy flash as Hester's hand moved to +her throat. + +Jimsy, too, had noticed it, it seemed, for he suddenly observed: + +"Seems queer for Hester to be wearing jewelry. Her father must be making +money fast nowadays." + +"Yes," said Jess, but her voice was distant and preoccupied. She was +certain that her eyes had not deceived her. It had been a ruby that +Hester Gibbons had pulled off and hastened to conceal. Obeying an +impulse, she turned and gazed back over the top of the tonneau. + +Through the dust cloud behind the car she could see that Hester and +Fanning Harding were once more in deep conversation at the gate. She +wondered what they could find so engrossing to talk about, and also +speculated on several other things. She, however, avoided mentioning her +suddenly aroused suspicions to Jimsy. He was so hasty. Inwardly she made +a resolve to seek out Peggy the first thing the next day and compare +notes with her. She could not help feeling that matters were assuming a +very complicated aspect. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +A RACE AGAINST TIME. + + +One evening, a week later, Peggy and her brother were tightening up some +braces on the Golden Butterfly after an afternoon's flight along the +coast, when the sharp "honk! honk!" of an automobile from the road +attracted their attention. Running to the door, Peggy saw Jimsy and his +sister in the "Gee Whizz," as their red auto had been christened. + +But that there was something the matter with the Gee Whizz was evident. +The motor, ungeared, was coughing and gasping in a painful manner. Jimsy +shouted as he saw the two young Prescotts. + +"Say, you aviators, come here and see what you can do to doctor a poor +creeping earthworm of an auto." + +Laughing at his tone and words, Peggy and her brother hastened down the +path and through the gate. + +"Something's wrong with the transmission," explained Jimsy. + +"What's the trouble?" asked Roy. + +"What a question, you goose?" cried Jess; "if we knew we'd have fixed it +long ago." + +"It's doubly annoying," said Jimsy, in an impatient voice, "because we +got a wire from father to-night, saying that he would take us on a trip +to Washington with him if we arrived in New York by eight-thirty." + +"Oh, you poor dears," exclaimed Peggy, "and if you don't get there at +that time?" + +"We can't go, that's all," said Jess, tragically clasping her gloved +hands. + +"Bother the luck," muttered Jimsy, with masculine grumpiness. "Found out +what's the trouble, Roy?" + +"Yes," was the response; "one of your gears is stripped. I'm afraid that +there'll be no Washington trip for you folksies." + +The tears rose in Jess's fine eyes. Jimsy looked cross, and an abrupt +silence fell. + +It was Peggy who broke it with a suggestion. + +"There's a train leaves Central Riverview junction at six, isn't there?" + +"I believe so," rejoined Jess, in a doleful voice; "we took it one night, +I remember, when we missed the through cars from Sandy Bay." + +"It's five now," nodded Peggy, examining the dial of a tiny watch, one of +the last presents her father had given her. + +"Fat chance of getting this old hurdy-gurdy fixed up in time to make it," +grumbled Jimsy. + +"You don't have to," cried Peggy, with a note of triumph. + +"Don't have to!" + +It was Jess who echoed the remark. + +"No, indeed. Our aerial express will start for the junction in a few +minutes, and----" + +But the rest was drowned in an enthusiastic shout. Jess threw her arms +about her chum and fairly hugged her. + +"You darling. We can make it?" + +"We must," was the business-like rejoinder. "Roy, you get the Butterfly +out and fill the lubricator tank. We've got enough gasolene." + +Roy and Jimsy, arm in arm, hastened off to the shed. The two girls +followed more leisurely. It was not long before everything was in +readiness, but fast as they worked it was nearly half an hour before +preparations were all complete. + +Then they climbed in and Peggy started the engine. But the next instant +she shut it off again. + +"The second cylinder is missing fire," she pronounced. + +Roy bent over the refractory part of the motor and soon had it adjusted. +Then the motor settled down to a steady tune, the regular humming throb +that delights the heart of the aviator. + +"All ready?" inquired Peggy, adjusting her hood and goggles and turning +about. + +"Right Oh!" hailed Jimsy. + +"Now, boys and girls, prepare for a long run," warned Peggy; "with this +load it will take a long time to rise." + +The aeroplane was speeded up and soon traversed the slope leading from +the back of the shed to the summit of the little hill at the rear of the +Prescott place. As it topped the rise Peggy turned on full power. The +Golden Butterfly dashed forward and then, after what seemed a long +interval, began to rise. Up it soared, its motor laboring bravely under +its heavy burden. In the dusk blue flames could be seen occasionally +spurting from the exhausts. It would have been a weird, perhaps a +terrifying sight to any one unused to it--the flight of this roaring, +flaming, sky monster, through the evening gloom. + +"We've got half an hour to make the twenty miles," shouted Roy, from his +seat beside his sister. Peggy set her little white even teeth and nodded. + +"I'm going to make for the tracks and follow them. That's the quickest +way," she said. + +It seemed only a few seconds later that the red and green lights of a +semaphore signal flashed up below them. + +"Bradley's Crossing," announced Roy. + +Swinging the aeroplane about, Peggy began flying directly above the +tracks. + +"No sign of the train yet--we may make it," said Jimsy, pulling out his +watch. It showed a quarter to six, and they had fifteen miles to travel, +or so Roy estimated the distance. + +"Let her out for a mile-a-minute," he exclaimed. + +Peggy only nodded. She was far too busy getting all the work she could +out of the motor. An extra passenger makes a lot of difference to an +aeroplane, and the Butterfly was only built to accommodate three. But she +was answering gallantly to the strain. + +On she flew above the tracks, every now and then roaring above some +astonished crossing keeper or track-walker. + +Suddenly, from somewhere behind them, they heard a long, moaning whistle. + +"The train!" shouted Jess. + +In her excitement she gripped Roy's arm tightly and peered back. + +All at once, around a curve, the locomotive came into view--black smoke +spouting from its funnel and a column of white steam pouring from its +safety valves. + +"She'll beat us," cried Jimsy, despairingly, as the thunder of the +speeding train grew louder. The setting sun flashed on the varnished +sides of the cars. + +The engineer thrust his head out of the cab window and gazed upward. His +attention had been attracted by the roaring of the motor overhead. + +He broke into a yell and waved his hand as he saw the flying aeroplane +dashing along above him. The next instant his hand sought the whistle +cord. + +"Toot! toot! toot!" + +The occupants of the aeroplane waved their hands. To their chagrin, +however, they saw that, overloaded as the aeroplane was, the train was +gaining on them in leaps and bounds. Its windows were black with heads +now as passengers, regardless of the danger of encountering some +trackside obstacle, leaned out and gazed up at the Golden Butterfly +roaring along like some great Thunder Lizard of the dark ages. + +"Don't they stop anywhere between here and the junction?" gasped Jimsy. + +Roy shook his head. + +"It's a through train from Montauk," he said; "they make all the speed +they can." + +"Two minutes," cried Jess, suddenly; "we won't do it." + +But Peggy had suddenly swung off the tracks and was cutting across +country. She had seen that the track took a long curve just before it +entered the junction. By taking a direct "crow flight" across country she +might beat it after all. + +And she did. As the train came thundering into the station and stopped +with a mighty screaming of brakes and hiss of escaping steam, the +aeroplane came to earth in the flat park-like space in front of the depot. + +"Tumble out quick!" shouted Roy, "she only stops a jiffy." + +Jess and Jimsy lost no time in obeying. + +"Good-bye, you darlings!" cried Jess, as she sped after her brother +toward the station. + +"We'll get our tickets on the train!" shouted Jimsy, as they vanished. + +"All ab-o-a-r-d!" + +The conductor's voice ran peremptorily out. He had seen the race between +the aeroplane and the train, but even that could not disturb a +conductor's desire to start on time. + +As the wheels began to revolve, Jimsy and Jess swung on to the steps of +the rear parlor car. As they did so the passengers broke into an +involuntary cheer. The shouts of approval at the up to date manner in +which the young folks had "made their train," mingled with the puffing of +the locomotive as it sped off. + +Among the spectators of the sensational feat had been a broad-shouldered, +bronzed man in a big sombrero hat, who sat in the same parlor car which +Jimsy and Jess had entered. He looked like a Westerner. As the train +gathered headway he suddenly, after an interval of deep thought, struck +one big brawny hand upon his knee and exclaimed to himself: + +"It's the very thing--the very thing. With a fleet of those I could +develop the Jupiter and astonish the mining world." + +He rose, with the slowness of a powerful man, and made his way back to +where Jimsy and Jess were sitting. Raising his broad-brimmed hat with +old-fashioned courtesy, he addressed himself to Jimsy and was soon deep +in conversation with him. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE RIVAL AEROPLANE. + + +In the meanwhile, the exciting race against time had resulted in +overheating the Golden Butterfly's cylinders, and a stop of an hour or +more at the junction was necessary. Thus it was quite dark when the young +Prescotts were ready to make for home. A small crowd had gathered to see +them start, for there was a little community of houses scattered about +the junction. + +They decided to go the way they had come, namely, to follow the tracks to +the crossing and then turn off for home. It was their first experience in +night piloting, and when they were ready Peggy switched on the tiny +shaded bulb that illuminated the compass. This done, she started the +engine, and the Golden Butterfly shot into the air under its reduced load +with an almost buoyant sense of freedom. + +The crossing was reached in several minutes less than it had taken them +to reach the junction on the going trip. Peggy turned off as she marked +the glowing lights beneath her, and presently the Golden Butterfly was +skimming along above dark woodlands and gloom-enshrouded meadows. There +was something awe inspiring about this night flying. Above them the +canopy of the stars stretched like a mantle spangled with silver sequins. +Below, the earth showed as a black void. + +They were flying slowly to avoid overheating the cylinders again. +Suddenly a bright glare shot up against the night from below, and a +little ahead of them. It died down almost instantly, only to flash up +once more. + +"Gid Gibbons's forge!" exclaimed Roy. "Let's fly over by there and see +what he's doing." + +"All right," agreed Peggy; "ever since my visit there I have felt a great +interest in Mr. Gibbons. But we'll have to make haste, there's some wind +coming before long." + +The girl was right. A filmy mist, like a veil, had spread over the stars, +dimming their bright lamps, and a wind was beginning to sigh in the trees +under them. + +But they had not reached Gid Gibbons's place, or rather a location above +it, when an astonishing thing happened. From the ground a red light and a +green light set at some distance apart began to rise. Up and up they +climbed through the night in long, swinging circles. Between them was +dimly visible the dark outlines of some fabric. + +"An aeroplane!" cried the boy and girl, simultaneously. + +"Fan Harding's aeroplane!" cried Peggy, an instant later. + +"And--oh, Roy--it can fly!" she added, admiringly. + +"No doubt of that," was the rather grudging reply, as the red and green +lights soared up and up. + +"Keep clear of it, sis, we don't want a collision," warned Roy. + +"Oh, I'd like to get close and see it," breathed Peggy. "I never would +have credited Fan Harding with being able to do it." + +"Nor I," exclaimed Roy, his dislike of Fan Harding giving place to +admiration--genuine admiration--of the other's ingenuity. + +"Well, he's beaten me out at my own particular specialty," he exclaimed +presently, after an interval in which the lights had climbed far above +the Golden Butterfly. "That's a better machine than ours, Peg." + +"I guess we'll have to admit that," rejoined the girl, with a sigh. "I +wonder if he'll enter for the prize?" + +"Of course. With a craft like that he'd be foolish if he didn't. Odd that +he's trying it out at night, though." + +"I suppose he wants to keep secret what it can do and then spring it on +an astonished world," rejoined Peggy. "Good gracious!" she broke off +hurriedly. + +The aeroplane had given a sudden lurch, and at the same instant a sharp +puff of wind struck them both in the face. Peggy's hands fairly flashed +among her levers, and she averted what might have been a bad predicament. + +Involuntarily, at the same instant, Roy had glanced up at the other +aeroplane to see how it was faring. To his astonishment the lights did +not seem to waver. + +"Wow, Peg!" he cried, "that puff didn't even bother Fan Harding's craft. +It was uncanny to see her weather it." + +"There's something uncanny about it altogether," sniffed Peggy; "it's a +regular phantom airship." + +"That's just what it is," agreed Roy, "but I'm afraid it is a substantial +enough phantom to carry off that $5,000 prize." + +Another puff prevented Peggy from replying just then. Once more the +Golden Butterfly careened violently, and then, under Peggy's skillful +handling, righted herself. But this time the puff was followed by a +steady rush of wind. + +"Better turn, Peg, before it gets any worse," advised Roy; "we're off our +course now." + +"I--I tried to," exclaimed Peggy, desperately, "but the wind won't let +me. I don't dare to." + +"We must," exclaimed Roy, with a serious note in his voice; "if this wind +freshens much more we won't be able to turn at all." + +He leaned forward and took the wheel from his sister. But the instant he +tried to steer the aeroplane round, the wind, rising under one wing tip, +careened her to a perilous angle. + +"No go," he said; "we've got to keep on going." + +"But where can we land?" asked Peggy, a little catch in her voice. + +"We'll have to take chances on that," decided Roy. "It would be suicidal +to try to buck this wind." + +The breeze had now freshened till it was singing an Aeolian song in every +wire and brace of the Golden Butterfly. Brother and sister could feel the +stout fabric vibrate under the strain of the blast. + +The aeroplane was moving swiftly now. But it was the toy of the wind, +which grew stronger every minute. The dark landscape beneath fairly flew +by under them. Neither of them thought to look back at the red and green +lights in the sky behind them. + +All at once, Roy, who had leaned over his sister's shoulder and glanced +at the compass, gave a sharp cry. + +"We've got to turn, sis," he said, in a tense, sharp voice. + +"What do you mean, Roy? Are we in any very serious danger?" + +The girl's voice shook nervously in response to the anxiety expressed in +her brother's tone. + +"Danger!" echoed Roy. "Girlie, we are being blown out to sea!" + +Blown out to sea! The words held a real poignant terror for Peggy. + +"Oh, Roy, we must do something!" she cried, helplessly. + +"Yes, but what? We can't, we daren't turn about. The machine would tip +like a bucket. No, we must keep on and trust to luck." + +Peggy shuddered. Hurtled along in the wind-driven darkness, brother and +sister sat in silence, waiting for the first warning that they were +approaching the sea. + +In the blackness it was impossible to see anything ahead, and the +starlight, which, dim as it was, might have helped, had been overcast by +a filmy covering of light clouds. + +Once or twice as they were hurried helplessly along, the propeller +beating desperately against the wind, they saw, far below them, the +cheerful lights of some farmhouse. Further off a glare against the sky +indicated the lights of Sandy Bay. + +How they wished that they were safe and sound at home, as they were blown +onward by the wind, going faster and faster every minute. + +Roy, his pulses beating hard, and every nerve at tension, had taken the +wheel from his sister, even at the risk of careening the aeroplane when +they shifted their positions. Every now and then he tried to turn ever so +little, but each time a tip at a dangerous angle warned him not to +attempt such a thing. + +All at once Peggy uttered a shrill cry. + +"Oh, Roy! The sea!" + +Above the screeching of the wind and the hum of the motor they could now +hear another sound, the thunder of the surf on the beach. + +Straining his eyes ahead Roy could see now the white gleam of the +breakers as they broke in showers of spray on the seashore. A real sense +of terror, such as he had never felt before, clutched at his heart as he +heard and saw. + +But controlling his voice, he turned to Peggy. + +"Be brave, little sister," he said; "we'll pull through all right." + +Peggy said nothing in response. She dared not trust her voice to speak +just at that moment. White faced and with staring, fixed eyes, she sat +motionless and silent, as the Golden Butterfly was driven out above the +roaring surf and the tossing waves. To her alarmed imagination the sea +seemed to be reaching up hungry arms for the two daring young aviators. + +Suddenly she was half blinded by a brilliant flash of light which bathed +the aeroplane in a flood of radiance. The next instant it was gone, but +they could see the great shaft of radiance sweeping around the compass. + +"It's the light!" cried Roy. "The Rocky Point light!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +IN DIREST PERIL. + + +"Oh, if we could only work round and land on the point," exclaimed Peggy. +"There's a fine, smooth field there; in fact, it's all bare ground, +without rocks or trees." + +"Yes, and Jeff Stokes is wireless operator there, too," rejoined her +brother. "Hullo," he exclaimed an instant later, "the wind is shifting a +bit. I almost got her head round that time." + +"Then there is a chance, Roy!" + +"Yes, sis, but don't count too much on it." + +Like a skillful jockey handling a restive horse, Roy worked the Golden +Butterfly about on the shifting air currents. If once he could turn her +nose toward the land he was sure that he would be able to make the ground +by driving the aeroplane down on a slanting angle. + +Once or twice, while he strove with hand and brain against the elements, +he caught his breath with a gasping intake--so near had they come to +overturning. But, thanks to the wind eddies of the point, it was +possible, after a deal of breathless maneuvering, to get the aeroplane +headed for the land. + +The instant he found himself in this position Roy threw on all his power +and then, "bucking" the wind, like a ship beating up to windward, he +rushed down through the night upon the point. As he did so the rays of +the slowly revolving light flashed brightly upon the laboring aeroplane. +In the radiance it looked like some struggling night bird beating its way +against the storm and darkness. + +As Peggy had said, the point was clear of rocks or brush, and a landing +was made without much difficulty once the aeroplane had been turned. Just +as a ship can face the waves with comparative security, so an aeroplane, +being driven into the teeth of a gale, is secure so long as she does not +"broach to"; in other words, get sidewise to the blast. It was touch and +go with the Golden Butterfly for several minutes, though, during that +struggle with the elements, and two more thankful young hearts rarely +beat than Peggy's and Roy's as they stepped from the machine and made it +fast by pointed braces provided for the purpose. + +Hardly had she touched the ground before a door in the lower part of the +lighthouse opened and the form of Jeff Stokes emerged. He told them that +the struggle with the wind had been seen by the light-keeper and himself, +and he was warm in his congratulations of the daring young aviators. The +light-keeper, a grizzled man named Zeb. Beasley, followed close on Jeff's +heels. + +"Come right into the house and hev some supper," he said warmly. "It's +only rough fare, but you're welcome. My misses will be glad to have you." + +Truth to tell, both Peggy and her brother were almost famished and worn +out after the tension of the struggle with the wind. This being so, they +were glad enough to accept the light-keeper's kind invitation. + +Peggy's first action, however, was to hasten to the 'phone in the +lighthouse and call up their aunt. Miss Prescott, who had been badly +worried over their prolonged absence, was much relieved to learn that +they were safe and sound. + +Mrs. Beasley, a motherly woman of middle age, took charge of Peggy while +Jeff Stokes entertained Roy. Jeff said that he liked the life at the +light, lonesome as it grew sometimes. When he felt blue he used to +relieve the monotony by talking, by means of invisible waves, with other +operators. He wiled many a weary hour away in this manner, he said. + +Suddenly, in the midst of their talk, he excused himself and hastened to +the small room in which his instruments were. The place, filled with +shiny, mysterious apparatus and networked above with wires, was as neat +as a pin. + +"Some one's calling," Jeff explained. + +His quick ear had caught the faint "tick-tick" hardly audible to the +untrained ears, which told him that a message was vibrating through the +night. Slipping over his head a metallic apparatus, not unlike the +telephone receivers worn by "Central," Jeff began listening intently. +Drawing a pad toward him, he was soon writing down the message as it was +ticked off. Presently it was completed, by which time Peggy was one of +his audience. + +"'Steamer Valiant, Captain Briggs, of London, wishes to be reported as +passing Rocky Point, bound for Boston,'" read off Jeff. "Hum--nothing +very exciting there." + +"What are you going to do now?" asked Peggy, as Jeff, the message in his +hand, turned to another table, one on which were arranged some ordinary +telegraph instruments. + +"Send it by ordinary wire telegraphy into the head office in New York," +he said. + +"Why not send it by wireless?" asked Peggy. + +"Too much chance of delay and getting cross currents," explained Jeff. +"We found that for quick transmission of ordinary business, that the wire +is best, unless the atmospheric conditions are just right." + +Suddenly, one of the telegraph instruments began to crackle and click +loudly. + +"Phew!" said Jeff, listening intently; "here's something that will +interest you folks." + +"What is it?" asked Peggy, eagerly. + +"It's--wait a minute till I catch the last----" Jeff listened a few +seconds more and then faced about. "Why, that message was a despatch from +the Sandy Bay correspondent of the New York Planet to his paper," he +said. "It was an article telling that Fanning Harding has completed a +successful aeroplane which made a wonderful flight to-night in a stiff +wind. He says that Harding has formed a company and means to manufacture +similar craft. Then there was a lot of taffy about what a fine young +fellow Harding is, and how bright, and so on. Wonder if it's true?" + +"I can vouch for that," said Peggy. "I've seen his factory. It's out by +Gid Gibbons's shop." + +"So that's where Gid is getting all his money," exclaimed Jeff. "I saw +him spending it like water in Sandy Bay the other day. Hester's got a lot +of new dresses and hats, too." + +Peggy's heart beat a little faster. This sounded like a corroboration of +her suspicions. Where could such a man as Gid Gibbons be getting such +large amounts of money as he seemed to have recently? But before she +could ask any more questions Mrs. Beasley announced supper. Speculation +was rife in Peggy's mind as they sat down to the broiled sea bass, +freshly caught, home-grown potatoes and string beans and other good +things which the light-keeper had designated as "rough fare." Peggy was +fain to admit afterward, and so was Roy, that never had she enjoyed +anything so much as that meal in the old lighthouse with the wind roaring +about it and the rough, kindly faces of their entertainers smiling on +them. + +Good-natured Mrs. Beasley soon after arranged sleeping accommodations for +her young guests, and that night the young aviators slumbered peacefully, +while above them the great revolving light swept steadily in slow +circles, warning vessels passing up and down the Sound of the dangerous +proximity of Rocky Point. + +The next day dawned bright and fair. The sea lay like a sheet of blue +glass, with scarcely a ripple to mar its polished surface. The last trace +of the wind had died down. + +"We'll have no more breeze till sundown," announced Mr. Beasley at +breakfast. Like most men of his profession, he was an earnest and +accurate student of the weather. After breakfast Jeff Stokes, who had +been on duty all night, was relieved by his assistant, a young man who +boarded in the village and rode over to his duty on a motor-cycle. + +"Well," said Roy, after they had thanked their good-hearted entertainers +warmly, "I guess it's time for us to be getting home." + +But Peggy had noted a wistful look in Jeff Stokes's eyes as he stood by +the side of the aeroplane, which an examination had already shown to be +none the worse for its buffeting of the night before. + +"Would you like to try a little flight, Jeff?" she asked. + +"Would I?" echoed the youth; "will a duck swim?" + +"Yes, I believe so," laughed Roy, "and so can a certain young wireless +operator fly." + +"Gee, Roy, you mean it?" + +"Of course, if you're not scared." + +There was a mischievous twinkle in Roy's eye as he bent over the engine. + +"How would you like a ride, Mr. Beasley?" asked Peggy presently, while +Roy adjusted the engine. + +The weather-beaten old fellow fairly threw up his hands. + +"Land of Goshen, miss!" he exclaimed, "I've lived on the earth and sea, +man and boy, for fifty years, and I ain't agoin' ter tempt Providence by +embarking in a sky clipper at this late day." + +"You bet you ain't," put in Mrs. Beasley with deep conviction. "Why, if +you ever done such a thing we'd be like to be read out of church--not but +what it's all right for young folks if they know how to manage the +contraptions." + +"Now, then, Jeff, if you are ready will you get in?" said Roy presently. + +The slender young wireless operator hopped into the chassis with +alacrity. But his face was a bit pallid from excitement at the idea of +the new method of locomotion he was about to test. + +Last good-byes were said, and the motor began to whirr like a gigantic +locust. There was a grinding and buzzing as the gears meshed and the +aeroplane began to scud off. + +"Fer all ther world like some big, pesky grasshopper," declared Mrs. +Beasley, as it scudded off across the smooth turf. + +But if the good lady was astonished, then it was nothing to her amazement +when a moment later the Butterfly soared up into the air, lifting as +gently on the windless atmosphere as a bit of drifting gossamer. + +Up and up it swept in graceful hawk-like circles. + +"Dear Suz!" shrieked Mrs. Beasley presently, "if they ain't agoin' out +ter sea!" + +"Just what they air," shouted her husband, shading his eyes with a +wrinkled hand. "I never thought ter have lived ter have seen such a +thing!" + +Roy had been unable to resist the temptation to take a little spin out +above the glassy, scarcely heaving water. The gulls, soaring above it, +viewed with amazement the invasion of their realm by this buzzing, angry +looking monster. They flew about it shrieking. + +"Goodness, I hope they don't attack us," exclaimed Peggy. + +"Not likely," was Roy's response. "They think we are some kind of big +bird, I guess, and want to have a game with us." + +As they swept on, all agreed that never had they felt such a feeling of +exhilaration as came to them as they swooped and swung above the +glistening blue water, for all the world like some huge bird. Once or +twice motor boats went by beneath them, and the occupants looked up at +first in wonderment and then in enthusiasm at the sight the Golden +Butterfly and her three young occupants presented. + +But all at once the steady song of the engine began to grow different. It +"skipped" and sputtered and coughed. Blue smoke rolled from the exhausts. +The aeroplane began to waver and sag. + +Jeff Stokes turned rather pale. + +"What is the matter?" he gasped, steadying his voice as much as he could +as the aeroplane began to drop steadily down toward the water beneath +them. + +"The gasolene's given out," rejoined Roy in a voice which was full of +anxiety. + +"Oh, Roy, what shall we do?" + +Peggy gasped as the aeroplane, its propeller beating the air more and +more feebly, began to descend with greater rapidity. + +"We'll have to volplane to some land if we can, and if we can't we must +take our chances for it in the water," was Roy's grim reply. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +WHAT HAPPENED ON THE ISLAND. + + +"Look," cried Peggy suddenly, "isn't that a small island below there? +Maybe we can make that?" + +"I'll try to," was the answer, as Roy gripped the steering wheel more +firmly. + +At the same instant the motor, with a gasp and a sputter, gave out +altogether. But Roy knew how to volplane; that is, to reach the earth by +swinging the aeroplane in circles so that her stability was maintained +even with the power cut off. + +He began to execute this maneuver now. The island which Peggy had +indicated was a small spot of land some five miles off the shore. It was +sandy and barren looking on one side, though at the further end from them +there grew some trees and scrubby looking bushes. + +If he could only keep the aeroplane from sagging down into the sea Roy +was confident he could land at the place in safety. But it was still some +distance off and the aeroplane was still dropping with much greater +rapidity than seemed comfortable. Both Roy and his sister were expert +swimmers, and the boy knew that Jeff was at home in the water. But at the +same time, if they struck the surface of the sea, there was the chance +that they might become entangled in the aeroplane and drowned before they +had an opportunity to save themselves. So it was with a keen sense of +apprehension that the boy exercised all the air craft of which he was +master in bringing his sky cruiser downward. + +"Oh!" cried Peggy suddenly as the Golden Butterfly gave a sickening +downward drop like a stone plunging to vacancy. + +But the empty "air pocket" which the craft had struck was a small one, +and the next instant the atmosphere caught the broad wings and buoyed the +aeroplane up from what seemed to be destined to be a disastrous fall. + +The drop had, however, had one good effect. It had thrown the aeroplane +almost on end, and in that manner drained a few last driblets of gasolene +from the depleted tank into the feed pipes. + +It was only a little fuel, but it was enough to cause the engine to +resume operations for a couple of minutes. Taking advantage of this lucky +accident, Roy drove forward, and as the propeller came once more to a +standstill the Golden Butterfly sank down into a bed of sand which made +her almost at once stationary. + +"Well, we are--aerial Robinson Crusoes," exclaimed Peggy as, having +clambered out of the chassis, she stood surveying the little island which +they had so fortunately landed upon. + +"Yes, and if we don't get some gasolene pretty quick we'll be Crusoes in +a mighty uncomfortable sense," commented Roy, moodily gazing about at the +surrounding sea, smooth as a sheet of glass and without the sign of a +boat upon it. Far off on the horizon there hung a three-masted schooner, +all her sails set, in the flat calm. But she was too far off to aid them +even had she been able to. + +"Tell you what we'll do, let's explore the island," said Jeff Stokes +suddenly. + +"Of course," cried Peggy, clapping her hands, "that's what everybody does +in story books when they are stranded on a desert island, and right after +that they always find just what they want, even down to a silver-mounted +manicure set." + +"I'd like to see a tin-mounted can of gasolene," grunted Roy. +Nevertheless after seeing to the engine of the aeroplane he was willing +enough to set out with the others to explore this little spot of land in +the Sound. + +It was so small that it did not take them long to reach the summit of the +low peak into which it rose in the centre. + +"Oh, there's a little hut!" cried Peggy, suddenly. + +Sure enough, below them, and half overgrown with tall weeds and scrub +growth, was a half ruined hut. It was doubtless the relic of some +fisherman who had once used the island as headquarters. But it had, +apparently, long lapsed into disuse. + +Hardly had they spied it before Roy made another discovery. Drawn up in a +miniature cove not far from the hut was a trim and trig white motor boat, +seemingly, from her long narrow shape and powerful engines, capable of +great speed. + +Here was a discovery! A motor boat meant gasolene and companionship. + +With a soft cry of joy Peggy was dashing forward toward the hut, from +which they could now hear proceeding the hum of human voices, when Roy +suddenly checked her. From the doorway there had suddenly issued the +figure of Morgan, the Bancrofts' butler. He gazed about him with a look +of half alarmed suspicion on his flabby face. The young aviators +instinctively crouched back behind a screen of green brush. They felt a +suddenly aroused premonition that everything was not as it should be. + +"H'its nothink," said Morgan, addressing someone within the hut, after he +had gazed about a little more without seeing anything to further alarm +his suspicions. + +"All right, if that's the case come back in here," came another voice +from inside the hut. + +"Giles!" recognized the astonished Peggy. But another and a greater +surprise was yet in store for them when they heard another voice strike +into the conversation. There was no mistaking the tones for any others +than Fanning Harding's. + +"You chaps are nervous as kittens," he was saying, "who on earth would +come to this island? We are as private here as if we were in the South +Seas. Now go ahead, Morgan, with what you were saying." + +"Well, what h'I says is this," spoke up the English butler, "a fair +diwision and no favoritism. You say you want a third? You ain't +h'entitled to h'it. H'it was h'only by h'accident that you found h'out +h'our secret h'and h'I thinks you ought to be content with what you can +get." + +"Very well," was the rejoinder, "but as you fellows know, I've got you in +my power. You daren't make a move without consulting me. If you try any +monkey tricks I'll crush you so quick you won't know what struck you. The +police are still carrying on their investigation, and----" + +But here the voices sank so low that the eager young listeners could hear +no more. But their eyes shone as they exchanged glances. Somehow both +Peggy and Roy felt that the conversation had related to the mysterious +vanishing of the jewels. This at least appeared clear from Fanning +Harding's reference to the police. + +"We'd better get back to the other side of the island before they come +out and see us," counseled Peggy. "If they were to find out we had been +spying on them they might get frightened and spirit the jewels away from +wherever they have them concealed, for I'm just as sure now that they are +all three mixed up in it as I am that--that----" + +"We have no gasolene," put in Roy. + +"But you have no proof and nothing to go upon," objected Jeff Stokes who +was, like most folks around Sandy Bay, familiar with the details of the +strange occurrence. + +"That's just the trouble," said Peggy, "and it is just as impossible to +go ahead in the case as it is for us to fly without fuel." + +"Peg!" cried Roy, suddenly, "look at that!" + +"That" was a ten gallon can of gasolene standing on the beach by the side +of the motor boat. Evidently, to drag her bow up on the beach, they had +lightened the craft so as to make the task easier, for several ropes, +water jars and other bits of marine tackle lay about. + +"If we could only get it," sighed Peggy. + +"Yes, if," was the rejoinder from Roy, "but we can't steal it, and, as +you say, it might spoil everything if Fanning Harding thought that we had +overheard any of his talk." + +"Look out!" warned Jeff Stokes in a whisper the next instant. The warning +did not come a bit too soon. The door of the hut opened and the party +which had been in conference inside emerged. They made straight for the +motor boat, which Jeff Stokes had, in the meantime, recognized as one +that was for hire at Sandy Bay. + +"Come on, boys, we've got to be getting back," urged Fanning moving +quickly and preparing to shove the craft off. + +"Wait till I chuck some of this truck in," grumbled Giles. + +He stooped and rapidly threw in the ropes and other gear scattered about. +Then as Fanning Harding and the flabby-faced butler shoved the craft off +he made a hasty scramble for the boat's bow, leaping in as she floated +free of the beach. + +"H'I soy," shouted Morgan, "you forgot the bloomin' gasolene." + +"Better put back and get it," growled Giles; "if you fellows had helped +me a bit instead of givin' advice it wouldn't have bin forgotten." + +"Oh, we can't bother with it now," struck in Fanning, impatiently, "we've +plenty in the tank to take us back. I'm not going to delay any longer." + +He spun over the fly wheel as he spoke and the motor boat began to cut +rapidly through the water headed for Sandy Bay. As soon as it had gone a +safe distance the three stranded young adventurers joined hands and +executed a wild war dance of joy. By a means almost miraculous they had +fallen across the very thing they needed. + +"It's just like the story books!" cried Peggy, delightedly. + +They raced down toward the coveted can, which was half full of the +precious fuel. Enough to get them ashore at any rate. Before returning to +the stranded aeroplane they examined the hut, but found nothing in it but +a few broken-down bits of furniture. + +"Queer," commented Jeff, "I half expected to find something." + +"Not likely," laughed Roy, "they're too foxy for that." + +"What do you suppose they came to the island for?" asked Peggy. + +"To get a quiet place to talk where they would not be observed by any one +who knew them, I guess," rejoined her brother. "Oh, if only we could +solve the mystery. It's tantalizing to be so close to it and yet with so +many tangled ends left ravelled." + +"Be patient," advised Peggy, "it will all come out in time. And now I'm +as famished for lunch as the Golden Butterfly is, so lets fill up the +tank and then head for home." + +"Second the motion," laughed Jeff Stokes. + +Half an hour later the Golden Butterfly once more rose, and without +incident or mishap winged her way back to Rocky Point. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +JUKES DADE APPEARS. + + +The aviation field at Acatonick a few days before the big contests for +juvenile aviators was alive with action and color. The spot selected was +a flat, smooth field of some fifty acres on the outskirts of the town. + +The grass spread a green carpet, thickly sprinkled with wild flowers, +while at one side of the place was a row of green-painted sheds known as +the "hangars." + +"Hangar is French for shed," Peggy had explained to a group of friends +from Sandy Bay whom she was showing over the grounds, "and I think that +_shed_ is a whole lot better word than 'Ongar,' which is the way you are +supposed to pronounce it." + +One of the sheds--as in deference to Peggy we shall call them--was of a +different color, and stood somewhat apart from the rest. It was also much +larger and bore in consequential-looking letters over its door the words: + + "Harding Aeroplane Company. Keep Out." + +And to see that this notice was enforced to the letter, Fanning Harding +had installed a red-nosed watchman with a formidable club at the portal. +Considerable secrecy, in fact, had been observed concerning his +aeroplane. Several large boxes had arrived one night and been hustled as +quickly as possible into the shed. + +The shed assigned to Roy Prescott, happened, by an odd coincidence, to be +next door to the Harding one. The second day of their stay at Acatonick, +Roy, on coming down to the field from the hotel at which he and Peggy and +Miss Prescott were stopping, was much surprised to be greeted by Fanning, +with some effusiveness. + +After a lot of preliminary hemming and hawing, Fanning broached to Roy +once more the proposition of selling the Golden Butterfly. + +"But I thought you had a fine type of aeroplane of your own," said Roy, +wondering at this renewal of Fanning's offer. + +"So I have," was the rejoinder, "but now that I have established my +business on a paying business basis I can handle another type. You know +mine is a biplane model." + +Roy nodded. He had no liking for Fanning, but the other was so effusive +that he felt it was incumbent on him to meet the other lad half way, as +the saying is. + +"I'd like to have a look at your craft sometime," he said. + +"Not much you won't," rejoined Fanning, quickly, "you'll see her on the +day she wins the big prize and not before." + +"You seem to have it won already," rejoined Roy, rather contemptuously. + +"Oh, yes," was the confident reply, "I'm going to simply fly rings round +you and the rest, so you'd better take up my offer now, for after the +race your Golden Butterfly stock won't be worth a penny." + +"I'm not so certain about that," was the answer. + +"Then you won't take up my offer. I'll raise it another two hundred." + +Roy smiled and shook his head. Something in his refusal angered the other +lad. + +"Well as you wish," he said, strolling off, "but dad has been pretty +lenient with you up to date. As you won't meet us half way, though I'm +going to advise him to force you to sell the Golden Butterfly." + +"How?" + +"By foreclosing that mortgage without further delay." + +Fanning whipped the words out with a vicious intonation. All his mean +nature surged up into his face as he spoke. Roy breathed a little +quicker. But outwardly he was calm and cold as ice. + +"That's your privilege," he said shortly, turning away, but that night he +and Peggy had a troubled discussion about ways and means, and it became +more than ever evident to them how much depended on winning the five +thousand dollar prize. + +There were several aspirants in the juvenile class on the grounds as well +as fliers of more mature years, for Mr. Higgins had interested some other +capitalists, and it had been decided to make quite an event out of the +aerial meet. + +On the day before the race, which meant so much to them, Peggy and Roy +decided to take a practice spin across country in their 'plane. The +capable looking machine excited much favorable comment when it was +wheeled out of its shed. Several of the other competitors gathered about +it while the engine was being tuned up. Among them was a surly looking +chap with a dark, roughly-shaven chin and a pair of shifty eyes. He stood +beside Fanning Harding, who was also in the crowd about the Golden +Butterfly. + +The Sandy Bay boy gazed on with a sneering look while our two young +aviators got everything in readiness. This took some time for everybody +was anxious to take a hand in the work, and it was quite a task to +kindly, but steadfastly, reject these offers, well meant as they were. + +At last everything appeared to be in good shape and with a buzz and a +whirr the engine was tried out. It worked perfectly, and before the crowd +had had time to cheer, the aeroplane shot up from the ground in front of +its shed with hardly any preliminary run. Then came a belated cheer. + +"That's the craft that wins the big prize," said a stout, good-natured +looking man. + +"Don't you be so certain," snapped out Fanning Harding, who stood close +by, and to whom the words were gall. + +"Why, what's the matter with you, my young friend," asked the jovial man; +"you must be meaning to get it yourself." + +"That's right," was the confident reply. + +"Well, don't count your aerial chicks before they're hatched," was the +merry rejoinder. A laugh at Fanning's expense went up from the crowd. The +boy flushed angrily and strode off in the direction of his hangar. + +"Confound that young Jackanapes of a Roy Prescott," he muttered, as he +went; "he gets ahead of me every time. But I'll fix him. Pop needs that +land, and if Roy wins this race the Prescotts can pay off that mortgage +and be on the road to riches. Well, I guess I'll settle all that. But +I'll have to act quickly." + +"You seem to be sore on that Prescott boy," came a voice at his shoulder +suddenly. + +Fanning turned quickly to find himself confronted by the unprepossessing +individual who had stood at his side during the start of the Golden +Butterfly, which was by this time almost out of sight in the eastward. + +"Why, what do you know about it?" he asked, sharply. + +"Well," was the rejoinder, "being an observing sort of an individual I +figured out that you were not best pleased at seeing what a fine +aeroplane that kid has. Right, ain't I?" + +He coolly took from his pocket a disgusting-looking cigar stump and +proceeded to light it, leering impudently into Fanning's face the while. + +"Well, may be you are and then again you may not be," was the Sandy Bay +youngster's cautious reply; "but how does it interest you?" + +"Because I haven't any more use for him than you have, and if you make it +worth my while I'll give you a bit of information that will be of value +to you." + +"What do you mean?" inquired Fanning, beginning to listen with more +attention than he had hitherto shown. + +"Just this, that I'm Jukes Dade, who used to work for Mr. Prescott years +ago, but he discharged me for--for--well for a little fault of drinking I +had. Come now, don't you recognize me?" + +"By George, I do," exclaimed Fanning; "but it was so many years ago you +were with Mr. Prescott that I hardly knew you. You have changed greatly." + +"I may have," was the reply in bitter tones. "I've been through enough. +But there's one thing I ain't never forgotten in all these years, and +that is my resolve to get even on old man Prescott." + +"But he is dead," put in Fanning, wondering at the baleful expression of +hatred that had come into the man's face. + +"All true enough. I heard that some time ago. But if I can injure the son +in any way, I'd like to do it. I've got a wrong to avenge, and if you +want to pay well to have Roy Prescott put out of the race to-morrow I'm +your man." + +"Hush, don't talk so loud. Some folks over there are looking at us." + +"Oh, well, if you're afraid to----" + +"No, no, that isn't it. I must prevent Roy winning that race to-morrow at +all hazards. Come into my hangar and we can talk quietly." + +"Ah, that's the talk," was the rejoinder, and Jukes Dade chuckled with +grim delight. "You want a little job of work done to settle our friend's +hash. Well, you've come to the right shop when you meet up with old Jukes +Dade who has an axe of his own to grind." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +A GIRL AVIATOR'S ADVENTURE. + + +In the meantime, Peggy and Roy, the former at the steering wheel and +controls, were skimming through the air above the charming country +surrounding Acatonick. The exhilaration of flying, the thrill and zest of +it, were strong upon them as they glided along, and they made an extended +flight. + +"She is working like a three-hundred-dollar watch," cried Roy joyously as +the speedy monoplane flew onward. + +"She's a darling," was Peggy's enthusiastic response. "I'm sure that if +nothing happens you'll win that race to-morrow, Roy." + +"I hope so, little sister," was the response, "for there's a whole lot +depending on it." + +"But just think. If you only do we shall be at the end of our troubles." + +"Not quite, sis," Roy reminded her, "that affair of the missing jewels is +still a mystery, and as long as it stays so some folks will always be +suspicious of me." + +"Oh, Roy, don't say such things. Nobody but the horridest of the horrid +would----" + +"Unluckily," struck in the boy, "there are a lot of the horridest of the +horrid in this world, and some of them are in Sandy Bay." + +He laughed and then went on more seriously: + +"It's a pretty nasty feeling, I can tell you, to know that you are +unjustly suspected by several folks of--of--er--knowing more about an +affair of that kind than you tell." + +"What can have become of the jewels?" + +"Ah, that's just it. Of course we have our suspicion, based really on +nothing, that Fanning Harding knows something about them. But if he did +why would he place that wallet on the porch of Jess's home?" + +"It's beyond me." + +"And beyond me, too. I'm quite sure that nobody was about the place when +the accident happened, and I could not have been unconscious more than a +few seconds. Now who could have stolen the wallet in that time?" + +"It will all come out in time. I'm sure of it, Roy, dear," said Peggy, +earnestly. "Perhaps it will turn out to be not such a mystery after all." + +"I don't know," was Roy's rejoinder. "Mr. Bancroft has had some of the +cleverest detectives in the country on the case, and a description of the +jewels, some of which were heirlooms, has been wired everywhere +broadcast. But up to date none of them have turned up at any pawnshops or +other likely places." + +For some moments more they talked in this strain, when Peggy suddenly +gave a cry and pointed below. They were passing over a tiny lake +surrounded by steeply sloping banks, wooded with beautiful trees. It was +an isolated spot, no human habitation being near at hand apparently. + +"Oh, isn't that pretty?" cried Peggy delightedly. "It looks as if it +might have come out of a picture book." + +"And the sight of that water reminds me that I'm terribly thirsty," said +Roy. "I bet there are some springs by that lake, or if there are not +maybe the water is good to drink from the lake itself." + +"Let's go down and see," said Peggy, with a bright smile, and setting +over a lever and twisting a couple of valves she began to depress the +aeroplane. + +"There's a good landing place off there to the right of the end of the +lake," cried Roy, indicating a bare spot where some land seemed to have +been cleared at one time. + +"All right, my brilliant brother," laughed Peggy merrily. "I saw it at +least five minutes ago. Hold tight, I'm going to drop fast." + +To any one less accustomed to aerial navigation than our two young +friends, the downward plunge would have been alarming in its velocity. +But to them it was merely exciting. Within a few feet of the ground, just +when it seemed they must dash against the surface of the earth with +crushing force, Peggy set the planes on a rising angle and the Golden +Eagle settled to earth as gracefully as a tired bird. + +"Well, here we are," exclaimed Roy, looking about him at the sylvan scene +as they alighted; "and now what comes next?" + +"A hunt for the spring, of course," cried Peggy, placing one hand on her +brother's shoulder and nimbly leaping from the chassis to the soft, +springy ground. And off they set toward the margin of the little lake +below them. + +"Reminds me of Ponce de Leon's hunt for a spring," laughed Roy, who felt +in high spirits over the fine way the Golden Butterfly had conducted +herself. + +"But he was looking for the Fountain of Eternal Youth," said Peggy, +quickly. + +"Wonder if he'd have been any happier if he'd found it," murmured Roy, +philosophically. + +"If he'd been a woman he would," said Peggy. + +"Would what? Have found it?" + +"No, you goose, but have been perfectly happy if he had attained +perpetual youth. Why, I think----Why, whatever was that?" + +The girl broke off short in her laughing remarks and an expression of +startled astonishment crept over her features. + +"Why, it's some one groaning," cried Roy, after a brief period of +listening. + +"Yes. Some one in pain, too. It's off this way. Come on, Roy, let us find +out what is the matter." + +Without a thought of personal danger, but with all her warm girlish +sympathy aroused, plucky Peggy plunged off on to a path, from a spot +along which it appeared the injured person must be groaning. But Roy +caught her arm and pulled her back while he stepped in front of her. + +"Let me go first, sis," he said; "we don't know what may be the matter." + +Peggy dutifully tiptoed along behind, as with hearts that beat somewhat +faster than usual they made their way down the narrow path which led them +into the deep gloom of the deeper woods. All at once Roy halted. They had +arrived on the edge of a little clearing in the midst of which stood a +tiny and roughly built hut with a big stone chimney at one end. Although +the place was primitive it was scrupulously neat. + +Painted white with green shutters, with a bright flower garden in front, +it was a veritable picture of rural thrift. + +The boy hesitated for an instant as they stood on the opposite edge of +the cleared ground. There was no question but that they had reached the +place whence the groans had proceeded. As they stood there the grim +sounds began once more, after being hushed for an instant. Now, however, +they took coherent form. + +"Oh, help me! Help me!" + +Roy was undetermined no longer. Directing Peggy to remain outside till he +summoned her, he walked rapidly, and with a firm step, up the path +leading to the hut, and entered. It was so dark inside that at first he +could see nothing. But pretty soon he spied a huddled form in one corner. + +"Oh, don't hurt me! I'm only a harmless old man! I have no money," cried +the cringing figure, as Roy entered. + +"I don't want to hurt you," said the boy kindly; "I want to help you." + +He now saw that the form in the corner was that of an old man with a +silvery beard and long white hair. From a gash on his forehead blood was +flowing, and the wound seemed to have been recently inflicted. + +"What is the matter? What has happened?" asked Roy, gently, as he raised +the old man to a chair into which he fell limply. + +"Water! water!" he cried, feebly. + +Roy hastened outside saying to himself as he went: + +"This is a case for Peggy." + +Summoning her he hastily related what had occurred and the warm-hearted +girl, with many exclamations of pity, hastened to the wounded man's side. + +"Get me some water quick, Roy," she exclaimed, tearing a long strip from +her linen petticoat to serve as a bandage. Outside the hut, Roy soon +found a spring, back of a rickety stable in which the old man had a horse +and a ramshackle buggy. + +When he returned with the water the poor old fellow took a long draught +from a cup Peggy held to his lips and the girl then deftly washed and +bandaged his wound. This done the venerable old man seemed to rally, and +sitting up in his chair thanked his young friends warmly. Roy, in the +meantime, had been looking about the hut and saw that it was furnished in +plain, but tidy style. Over the great open fireplace, at one end, hung a +big picture. Evidently the canvas was many years old. It was the portrait +of a fine, self-reliant looking young man in early manhood. His blue eyes +gazed confidently out from the picture and a smile of seeming +satisfaction quivered about his lips. + +"I'll bet that's a fellow who has got on in the world," thought Roy to +himself as he scanned the capable, strong features. + +"Ah," said the old man, observing the lad's interest in the painting, +"that picture is a relic of old, old days. It is a portrait of my brother +James. He----But I must tell you how I came to be in the sad condition in +which you found me. Have you a comfortable chair, miss? Yes, very well, +then I will tell you what happened this afternoon in this hut, and will +then relate to you something of my own story for I was not always a +hermit and an outcast." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE HERMIT OF THE WOODS. + + +"My name is Peter Bell," began the old man, "and many years ago I was +like any other happy, care-free young man, who is the son of well-to-do +parents. I had a brother named James Bell, who was much younger than me. +We were very fond of each other and inseparable. + +"Our home was on the Long Island coast and we often went boating. One day +when we were out in my boat a storm came up and she capsized. I tried to +save my brother who was a poor swimmer. But in the midst of my efforts +the bulwark of the wave-tossed boat struck my head and rendered me +insensible. It seems, however, I must have clung to the boat, for when I +came to myself I had almost been blown ashore, and, striking out, I soon +reached it. + +"But to my horror I soon saw that people shunned me. In some way the +story got about that I had saved myself at the expense of my brother's +life. Such stories are always readily credited among the majority of +people in a small town and the tale spread like wildfire with +exaggerations. Driven half wild by the general contempt which I met on +every side I left home one night, and having a sum of money in my own +right I decided to live the life of a recluse. + +"I recollected this spot to which I had come on hunting expeditions in +brighter days. Not long after, grief over my brother's death resulted in +my mother's life coming to a close, and shortly afterward my father's +demise occurred. + +"They left but little, but I managed to secure that portrait of my +brother you see hanging up there and a few bits of favorite furniture +associated with happier times. + +"I have lived here ever since and have become reconciled to my fate. From +time to time I used to advertise for news of my brother, offering +rewards, but long ago I stopped that, and have no doubt that he perished +in the storm, although for a time I comforted myself by thinking that he +might, by some strange chance, have been saved. + +"In some way a rumor has spread through the countryside that I have much +wealth hidden here, and this afternoon four masked men entered the hut +and when I protested, in reply to their demands, that I had no money, +they struck me down and searched the house. Then cursing me for a fraud +and an impostor because they found no gold they left, leaving me to my +fate." + +"You have no idea who the men were?" asked Roy who, like Peggy, had +listened with close attention to the old man's story. + +"Yes, I think they were young men of bad reputation from a neighboring +village; however, I am not sure. I am certain that I recollected hearing +the voice of one of them when I was in the market in that village some +time ago." + +"Oh, then, you do go into town sometimes?" asked Roy. + +"Oh, yes," rejoined the hermit, "but no more than I can help. I have long +since departed from the ways of the world and the habitations of men. But +I gather herbs in the woods for miles about and sell them to folks in the +villages." + +"I suppose that is why you have the horse and cart?" put in Peggy, who +had been gazing out of the window and had noticed the tumbledown barn. + +"Yes," rejoined the old man. "I am not as active as I was once and my old +bones will not carry me as far as they used to. So I drive old Dobbin +when I have a journey of any length to make." + +The hermit would not hear of any help being summoned for him. He said +that he was in no danger of a second attack, as the search of his little +property had been thorough and had resulted in the rascals, who had +invaded his haunts, getting nothing for their pains. Refusing some +refreshment the old man offered, the young aviators soon after left the +hut, promising to call in again in a few days and give the hermit an +opportunity to see the aeroplane in which he was much interested. The old +man asked them many questions about the races of the next day and seemed +interested in hearing the details. + +The Golden Butterfly they found just as they had left her, and clambering +on board they were soon winging their way back to Acatonick where, as you +may imagine, they had an interesting story of the incidents of the +afternoon to relate to Miss Prescott that evening. + +"I never saw such children for adventures in all my born days," she +declared, "but I have a letter here which I must show you. I am afraid it +means that we shall have to leave the old home." + +She drew an envelope from her handbag which lay on a table of the hotel +room and handed it to Roy. On opening it, he found that it contained a +formal notice from the Sandy Bay Bank, that unless the accumulated +interest and other moneys owing them were paid up within a week that +foreclosure proceedings would be taken. The boy gave a disconsolate +whistle as he finished reading the letter aloud and handed it back. + +He had hardly done so when there came a rap on the door of the room. "I +wonder who that can be so late?" thought Roy, getting up and going to the +door. + +A bellboy stood there with a note. + +"A messenger just brought this from the aviation grounds," he said. "Any +answer?" + +"Wait a minute," said Roy, skimming hastily through the note. It was +typewritten and signed:--James Jarvis, Superintendent of Arrangements. + + "Dear sir: You are requested to report at the executive tent at once. + An important meeting will take place affecting the competitors in + the races to-morrow." + +This was what Roy read. Then he turned to the bellboy and told the lad to +inform the messenger that he would be there as soon as possible. + +"Queer though," he said to Peggy and his aunt. "I didn't know of any +meeting that was scheduled to take place to-night. I guess it's one +that's been called at the eleventh hour to make some arrangements." + +"That must be it," agreed Peggy. "Shall I come with you?" + +"No, thanks, sis," rejoined the boy; "you'd better get to bed. It's going +to be an exciting day to-morrow for us all." + +The boy snatched up his cap and with a hasty good-bye, was off. + +Downstairs in the lobby of the hotel he found the messenger awaiting +him,--a shifty-eyed man with a blue chin. It was, in fact, Jukes Dade, +who, in a different suit of clothes and with a clean shave and haircut, +looked a trifle more presentable than he had earlier in the day when he +made himself known to Fanning. + +"This way, sir," he said, with a fawning sort of bow. + +"Out of this door is the quickest," said Roy quickly, with a feeling that +he would rather walk to the grounds alone than with such a companion. + +"But we're not going to walk, sir. The committee has sent an auto for +you." + +"A car, eh?" said Roy; "well, that's considerate of them. I'll tell my +sister. She might like to come along, too." + +The messenger shook his head. + +"Sorry, sir; but we've got to pick up some other aviators on our way and +every bit of room in the car will be taken." + +"Oh, very well, then," said Roy, "lead on." + +The blue-chinned Dade shuffled across the lobby with a furtive air. + +"Funny," thought Roy. "I've seen that chap some place before, but to save +my life I can't place him." + +Cudgelling his brains to try to recall where he had met the man, Roy +passed through the hotel lobby and out into the street. In the lamplight +he saw a big car standing at the curb, shaking as its ungeared engine +puffed and chugged. A chauffeur, with an auto mask and goggles on, sat on +the front seat. Roy got in behind in the tonneau while the messenger took +his seat by the chauffeur. + +He said something in a low whisper to the driver and the next instant +there was a grinding whirr as the gears were connected and the car rolled +forward. + +"Well, they've got a good fast car here," thought Roy, as the machine +sped along over the roads. "At this rate we ought to be at the grounds +in----" + +But what was this? Surely the road they were on was not the right one. +Leaning forward he touched the chauffeur on the shoulder. + +"This isn't the road to the grounds," he said. + +"Oh, yes it is," put in the messenger; "it's a short cut, though. Isn't +it, Fred?" + +The chauffeur did not speak but merely nodded his head. + +Although by no means satisfied with the explanation, Roy made no +immediate comment. In the meantime they had passed the outskirts of the +little town and were now whizzing along an unlighted road bordered with +big trees. On and on they went, and Roy, every minute, grew more uneasy. +Where could they be taking him? + +"Where are you going?" he demanded suddenly, his suspicion showing in his +tone as he rose in the tonneau and leaned forward. "I want you to know +that----" + +But before he could utter another word the blue-chinned messenger did an +astonishing thing. With a quick, imperceptible movement he produced a +revolver and thrust its gleaming barrel up under Roy's nose. + +"Sit back and keep quiet," he warned, "and you'll be all right. If you +make a holler you'll get what's in this barker." + +As he spoke the auto began to slow down, and presently a dark form +stepped from the shadows of the trees ahead and stood awaiting its coming. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE ENEMY'S MOVE. + + +Roy's first feeling was one of indignation at the fellow's impudence. + +"What do you mean by such conduct," he blurted out angrily. "Take me to +the aviation grounds at once, or----" + +"That's just where we are taking you away from, young fellow," sneered +the man behind the pistol. "Ah! Don't move. I'm very nervous and if I get +excited this pistol might go off. It's very light on the trigger." + +As he spoke the auto slowed down almost to a standstill, and the man who +had evidently been waiting for it, swung himself on the running board and +joined the others on the front seat. Like the driver, he wore a motoring +mask and goggles which effectively concealed his features, and yet to Roy +there was something familiar even about the muffled up figure. Once the +third man was aboard, the auto plunged forward once more at breakneck +speed. It rocked from side to side on the rough road as it flew along. +But the man with the pistol kept his weapon levelled at Roy throughout +all its jouncings and joltings. + +Like a wise boy, Roy had concluded that it would be worse than foolish to +attempt any resistance to his abductors. So he sat motionless and silent +as the car tore onward through the night. He had not the least idea where +they were, nor for what place they could be bound. Nor had he yet had +time to think over the reason for this bold kidnapping. + +Now, however, it was plain that the object of the trip was to take him to +some place and hold him prisoner till the aero race was over. It struck +him with cruel force that, unless he could manage to escape, the object +of the expedition seemed very likely to prove successful. + +All at once the car struck a bump in the road with a violent wrenching +thud. It leaped into the air like a live thing while a frightened shout +burst from the throats of the men on the front seat. Mechanically Roy +gripped the sides of the tonneau to avoid being thrown out like a missile. + +The next instant, with a rasping grind and a sickening swaying and +jouncing the car tore full tilt down the side of the road, which, at this +point, was banked, and fetched up motionless and hub-deep in a pool of +dark water. + +"Don't let the kid escape," came a shout from the man who had boarded the +car on the roadside, as the auto ceased to move. + +But before the words had left his lips Roy had perceived that the water +in the pond was not much more than knee high. Quick as a cat he was out +of the tonneau before any of the others had time to collect their wits. +As the man shouted his warning the lad struck out through the oozy +ground, seeking, with every ounce of his strength, to shroud himself in +the darkness at the pond edge before the pistol wielder could locate him. + +But he had not gone more than a few steps when-- + +Bang! + +A red flash cut the night behind him and a bullet whistled by his ear. + +"Look out, you fool, you don't want to kill him," came a voice behind him. + +"Gid Gibbons," flashed through Roy's mind. He was almost at a thick clump +of alders now. As he heard the splashing of the bodies of the abductors, +as they took to the water after him, he plunged into the coppice and +pushed rapidly on into its intricacies. + +Shouts and cries came from behind him, and suddenly a blinding shaft of +white radiance cut through the blackness. They had turned on the +searchlight of the car in a determined effort to locate their escaped +prisoner. + +As the light penetrated among the maze of alder trunks, Roy threw himself +flat. While his pursuers hunted about, muttering and angrily discussing +the situation, he crouched in his shelter, hardly daring to breathe. +After what seemed an eternity of suspense he heard one of the men, whose +voice he seemed to recognize as that of the pistol carrier, angrily +declaiming. + +"Aw, what's ther use, ther kid is a mile off by this time, worse luck." + +"Hush, don't talk so loud," came another voice. "You don't know who may +be about." + +"Well, we'd better be getting that car out of the mud and making +ourselves scarce," came in the tones which Roy was certain were those of +Gid Gibbons. "If there's a hue and cry raised about this and they find +that car stranded here they can easy trace us." + +"That's so," was the response in the voice of Jukes Dade. "Come on, boys, +we'll get her out of this confounded slough if we can, and get back to +town." + +The voices died away as they retreated, splashing like water animals +through the mud and ooze. + +As silence fell once more Roy straightened up from his unpleasant +situation and looked about him. The night was starry, and above his head +he could see The Dipper. He knew that the outside stars of this +constellation pointed to the North Star and he soon had the latter +located. This gave him the points of the compass, and figuring that +Acatonick must lie to the east of his present position, he struck out in +that direction as nearly as he could. + +He had no idea of the time, to his great chagrin, for in his haste to +obey the forged summons to the flying track he had forgotten to bring his +watch. In fact, in his hurry, he had slipped into an old coat, the +pockets of which contained nothing more useful to him than a packet of +chewing gum. He slipped a wad of this into his mouth to "keep him +company" as he expressed it to himself, and grittily went forward. + +The wood ended presently, and he found himself in a field with woods on +all three sides, except that on which the swamp impinged. Little as he +liked the idea of plunging into pathless woods, with nothing to guide him +but the stars, as he glimpsed them through the trees, there was no help +for it. Go on he must. Crossing the field rapidly he soon reached the +border of the tangle and entered its black shadows. Keeping as straight a +line as he could he hastened forward, and to his great delight, soon saw +that the trees were beginning to thin out, and that beyond lay, +apparently, open country. + +"Hooray, I'm bound to strike a road before long now," thought Roy +gleefully and quickened his pace. + +He had not gone more than a few paces, however, when through the trees he +heard a strange sound. It was a clinking sound like the rattling of a +chain. + +The boy was bold enough, but the mysterious sound on the edge of that +dark wood caused his pulses to beat a bit quicker. What could it be? + +Gradually, as he stood still among the trees, the sound drew closer. + +"Ghosts in story books always clank chains," thought Roy, to himself. +"Now if I believed in such things, I----" + +He stopped short abruptly, as, from behind a clump of brush in the +direction from whence the clanking had proceeded, there suddenly emerged +a tall form all in white. + +"Good gracious!" cried Roy, considerably startled by the sight of this +sudden apparition. "I do believe----" + +But at the sight of the white form he had involuntarily given a backward +step. Without the slightest warning he felt the ground suddenly give way +under his feet, and his body shot down through space. + +Down, down he shot, a hundred mad thoughts twisting dizzily in his head. + +All at once his progress was arrested. Before he could realize what had +happened he felt a flood of icy cold water close over his head and a +mighty ringing and roaring in his ears. + +But Roy was used to diving, and he automatically, almost, held his breath +till he shot to the surface again. Then he extended his hands and found +that his fingers encountered a rough stone wall of some kind. + +"I'm in an old well," gasped the boy as the truth suddenly flashed across +him. He looked upward. Far above him, as if seen through a telescope, he +could see the glittering stars. They were reflected, also, in the +agitated water about him. + +Somewhat to his astonishment, for the thought of death itself had been in +his mind as he hurtled downward, Roy found that he was unhurt. But his +present position was by no means one to invite congratulations. At the +bottom of an old well in the midst of lonely fields he might stay a long +time before rescue would arrive. + +And in the meantime,--but Roy bravely put such thoughts resolutely out of +his head, and began to feel about him to see if it was not possible to +find some rough places in the sides of the excavation by which he might +clamber to the surface. But his fingers only encountered stonework set +far too smoothly to be of any service to him. + +Then he suddenly noticed what he had not observed before, and that was +that a rope depended from above, trailing its end down into the water. It +was too thin to bear his weight, but the boy thought he could utilize it +to keep himself above the surface without effort. + +Tying a loop knot in it he thrust an arm through the noose and found that +he could sustain himself very comfortably. Then he began to shout. Loudly +at first--and then more feebly as his voice grew tired. But no answering +sound came back to him. + +For the first time since he had found himself in his predicament cold +fear clutched at the young aviator's heart. + +What if nobody heard him and he was compelled to remain at the bottom of +the old well? + +As this thought shot through his mind Roy noticed, too, that a deadly +chill was beginning to creep up his limbs. He shivered waist deep in the +chilly water as if he had an ague. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +A COWARD AND HIS WAYS. + + +Peggy awoke the next day with a feeling of distinct uneasiness. She and +her aunt had sat up till after midnight awaiting Roy's return, but, as we +know, the lad was in a position from which he could not extricate +himself. An attempt had been made to communicate with the aviation +grounds, but an unlucky aeroplane had blundered against the telephone +wire during an afternoon flight, snapping the thread of communication. + +In spite of the late hour at which they had retired, however, Miss +Prescott and her niece were up betimes. But early as it was they found +the little town all astir. Excursion trains were already pouring their +crowds into the place and the streets were fairly alive with humanity. +Peggy's first act on awaking was to gaze out of the window, beneath which +some fine trees grew. Not a breath of wind stirred their leaves. The air +was as clear and undisturbed as it was possible for it to be. + +Donning a white duck skirt and a plain shirt waist, and dressing her hair +in a becomingly simple style, Peggy hastened to the office of the hotel, +and going to the telephone switchboard asked the operator to put her in +communication with Roy's room. But after several minutes spent in a vain +attempt to obtain an answer Central had to inform the anxious girl that +there was no reply. + +Thinking that after his late absence of the night before Roy might have +overslept, Peggy despatched a bellboy to his room. But the report came +back that the room was empty and that Roy's bed had not been slept in. + +"See if you can get the executive office on the aviation grounds," said +Peggy to the 'phone girl. But although the wire had been repaired and +communication was easily established, there was no news of Roy. Worse +still for Peggy's peace of mind, she learned now, for the first time, +that there had been no meeting at the aviation field the night before. + +"If your brother got a note to that effect it was a forgery," said the +official who answered the call. + +Peggy fairly flew upstairs to her aunt's room. Rapidly she informed Miss +Prescott of what had happened. + +"Oh, I'm certain now that that hateful Fanning Harding has something to +do with it," she almost sobbed. + +"Hush, dear," said her aunt, although in the gentle lady's breast a great +fear had arisen, "everything may be all right. At any rate, I do not +believe that any one, no matter how anxious they were that you should not +compete in the race, would dare to resort to such methods to keep Roy out +of the contest." + +"I don't know so much about that, auntie," rejoined the girl. "I was in +our hangar yesterday afternoon and I noticed a horrid looking man +prowling about with Fanning Harding. If it had not been too improbable I +should say that I knew the man's face." + +"My dear!" exclaimed the good lady in astonishment. + +"Well," rejoined Peggy with conviction, "I'm almost sure that the man was +Jukes Dade, a workman who once was employed in his laboratory and +workshop by my father. He was a skillful mechanic, but dad had to +discharge him because he drank fearfully. He swore at the time that he +would get even with us in some way. But we never heard any more of him. +Yet if that really was him with Fanning Harding yesterday I'm awfully +afraid that there is some mischief stirring." + +"What you say, my dear, makes me also very anxious," responded Miss +Prescott. "Perhaps we had better communicate with the police at once." + +"Not yet, aunt," breathed Peggy; "you see, Roy may turn up in time for +the race, and if he does, everything will be all right." + +"But, Peggy----" + +"On the other hand, if we spread an alarm that he is missing we shall be +declared out of the contest." + +"I see what you mean, my dear," was the response, "and I suppose that +what you say is best. I feel positive, somehow, that we shall have news +of Roy before long, and that no harm has come to him." + +But the morning wore on, and no word came. In the meantime, every +available source of information had been canvassed thoroughly without +result. Roy Prescott had totally vanished; or so it seemed. + +Peggy, as in duty bound, spent all she could spare of the morning at the +aviation field, putting the finishing touches on the Golden Butterfly. +The big contest was not to be held till the afternoon, and in the +meantime, some of the smaller events were flown off. But Peggy was too +heartsick to watch the aeroplanes thunder around the course, which was +marked out by red and white "pylons" or signal towers. + +Instead, she remained in the hangar and kept a watchful eye on Fanning +Harding, who, with some mechanics and the same man she had noticed about +the hangar the day before, was very busy over his machine, apparently. +But no one obtained even a glimpse of Fanning's air craft, for it was not +wheeled out, and, except when one or the other of his party dodged in or +out, the doors of his hangar were closed. + +In the course of the morning Fanning's father arrived, and not long +after, to Peggy's unbounded delight, Jess and Jimsy and a party of +friends drove up to the Prescott hangar. + +"Why, Peggy, what is the matter with you? You look +positively--er--er--dowdy!" exclaimed Jess, gazing at her friend after +first greetings were over. + +"And Roy, where is Roy?" demanded Jimsy. + +"Yes, where is he? We want him to explain the points of this gasolene +turkey-buzzard to us," cried Ed. Taylor, one of the gay party. + +"I expect him here any minute," rejoined Peggy, and then drawing Jess and +Jimsy aside she related to them, in a voice that shook in spite of +herself, the mysterious occurrences of the night, and Roy's total +disappearance. + +"I'm going right over now and ask Fanning if he knows anything about it," +announced Jimsy indignantly as soon as the girl had concluded. + +"Oh, don't, please don't," begged his sister. + +"I don't think it would be wise to, now," put in Peggy. + +But Jimsy was not to be shaken in his purpose. Fanning was outside his +hangar smoking a cigarette and swaggering about when Jimsy approached +him. Perhaps the self-assertive youth felt a bit alarmed at the look in +Jimsy's eye as he stepped up, but he assumed an impudent expression and +blew out a puff of smoke which he did not try to avert from Jimsy's face. + +"Good morning, Fanning," said Jimsy, bottling up his temper at the +other's insulting manners, "can you give me a few minutes of private +conversation?" + +"Hum, well I don't know. What's it about?" inquired Harding more +impudently than ever. + +"It's about Roy, Fanning," said Jimsy seriously. "I want you to tell me +on your word of honor that you don't know where he is." + +"Oh, you do, eh? Well, you have an awful nerve to come to me with such +questions. How do I know where he is?" + +This question was somewhat of a poser for Jimsy. That impetuous youth had +approached the other more or less on an impulse, and now that the direct +question was put to him he felt that he could not, for the life of him, +put his suspicions into so many words. + +"Well--er--you see," he said somewhat confusedly, "I had an idea that you +might have seen him." + +"Well, I haven't, and what's more I don't want to," snapped Fanning +aggressively. He was quite cool now that he saw that Jimsy had nothing +definite against him in his mind, but only a vague suspicion. + +"You really mean that, Fanning?" rejoined Jimsy earnestly. "His sister is +terribly worried. He hasn't been seen since last night." + +"Is that so?" asked Fanning with a sudden accession of interest; "then he +can't race to-day, can he?" + +"I wasn't thinking about the race," said Jimsy; "it was Roy himself I was +worrying about." + +"Well, you may as well stop your anxiety," chuckled Fanning; "how do you +know he isn't off on a little spree, and----" + +"That's enough, Fanning. Roy Prescott does not do such low-down things. +He----" + +"Oh, you mean to imply that I do, eh?" + +Fanning came forward pugnaciously. + +"I'll tell you what it is, Jim Bancroft, you just take yourself away from +this hangar as quickly as possible. I don't want anything to do with you, +do you understand? It's none of my business if Roy goes off and forgets +to tell you where to find him. How do you know he hasn't gone off with +those jewels?" + +"What do you mean?" + +Jimsy's tone was as angry in reality now as Fanning Harding's had been +for effect a few seconds before. + +But Fanning, in his bitter enmity toward Roy, could not see the danger +signals in Jimsy's honest gray eyes. + +"What do I mean?" he drawled; "why, just this, that the investigation of +the police has taken a new turn in the last few days, and that Roy is +likely to be arrested within the next twenty-four hours for robbery. I'll +bet he got wind of it and skipped out. I'll bet----" + +"How dare you?" + +Peggy, eyes aflame, stepped up. Her bosom heaved angrily. + +"How dare you say such things? You--you coward." + +"Well, I ain't coward enough to steal a girl's jewels and then----" + +"Hold on there, Fanning. Stop right there." + +It was Jimsy's turn. But Fanning was too much worked up in his vindictive +anger to stop. + +"I won't stop," he shouted. "I'll say it right out. Roy Prescott is a----" + +But before he could utter another word Jimsy's fist had shot out, and +Fanning's chin happening to be in the way he felt himself suddenly +propelled off his feet and elevated into the air. He sought to recover +his balance as he reeled, but his foot caught in a bit of turf, and +whirling his arms about like one of those figures on the top of a barn he +measured his length. + +"Had enough?" asked Jimsy mildly, rolling up his sleeves. + +"No, you despicable young whelp!" roared Fanning, utterly throwing aside +all prudence. "I haven't." + +He leaped to his feet and rushed toward Jimsy. As he did so Jess gave a +shriek. In the angry, half-crazed youth's hand there glistened a long +clasp knife. + +"Jimsy! Look out!" cried the girl. + +But before the frenzied Fan could spring upon Jimsy, who was utterly +unprepared for the production of the deadly weapon, a dainty foot in +white canvas outing shoes and silk stockings flashed out from under +Peggy's skirt. It caught Fanning as he sprang, and the next instant, for +the second time that day, he fell sprawling on the ground. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE DARING OF PEGGY. + + +By the time he had risen to his feet several of the officials of the +track were seen approaching, and Fanning, with a scowl of deep disgust at +our party, who paid little attention to him, shuffled off. At first Peggy +thought that the officials had seen something of the trouble and would be +angry. But it turned out that they were only coming to announce a few +minor changes in the rules governing the race, and to distribute printed +copies of the same. + +As they passed on one of them turned and remarked casually: + +"By the way, as the wind is so light we have decided to have the big +contest an hour earlier than was announced, and eliminate the girls' +contest, so that everybody can get home from the grounds in good time for +dinner." + +He hastened on to join his companions on their journey down the line of +hangars, outside of which aeroplanes were sputtering and smoking, and +excited aviators and mechanics hustling about. + +All at once a big biplane was wheeled out and soared into the air. It +carried a blue and gold streamer. + +"That's Steiner of the Agassiz High School in New York City," explained +Jimsy; "he's confident of winning the big prize." + +Peggy made some reply. She didn't know just what. Her mind was throbbing +with the idea that Roy's inexplicable absence meant that harm had come to +him, and that even if he were safe the advancing of the hour of the race +would put them out of it if he did not make haste. + +"Look, there goes Banker of the Philadelphia Polytechnic, and Rayburn of +the Boston Tech," cried Jimsy the next instant as a biplane and a +graceful white-winged monoplane shot aloft on trial trips, their motors +exploding loudly and a tail of blue smoke streaming out behind them. A +slight cheer came from the grand stands, which were already beginning to +fill, as the boy aviators shot upward. + +"Oh, Roy! Roy, where are you?" sighed Peggy to herself, as she watched +the young aspirants for aerial honors swinging around the course. + +"I'm going over to the stand and 'phone to the police station," said +Jimsy presently; "they may have news of him over there by this time." + +"Oh, yes, please do," cried Peggy, as Jimsy hastened off. + +When he had gone the two girls turned troubled countenances to each other. + +"You poor honey," cried Jess, "I know how you are suffering. But don't +worry, Peggy, I'm sure it will come out all right." + +"Yes, but--but you don't know what depends on Roy's winning this race," +cried Peggy. "I am sure that some of our rivals in the race--I need not +mention who--have something to do with his disappearance." + +"What do you mean by saying 'a lot depends on it,' girlie?" asked Jess, +drawing Peggy's arm within her own. + +With brimming eyes Peggy told her friend frankly and fully what she had +not before, namely, the exact circumstances of the Prescott family and +the threat which old Harding held above their heads. + +"So, you see, Jess," she concluded sadly, "this could not have happened +at a worse time for us." + +"I see that," gently rejoined the other girl, "but listen, dear, you may +have a chance to win it after all if you will trust to us to find Roy." + +"Trust to you?" repeated Peggy in a puzzled tone. "Trust to you to find +Roy?" + +"Yes, my dear, while you--go in and win the race!" + +"Why, what are you talking about?" gasped Peggy. + +"A brilliant idea that has just occurred to me. You are about Roy's +height, and if your hair was cut short you'd look enough like him to be +his twin brother instead of his sister. But that doesn't matter, for you +wear goggles and a helmet in driving that thing, anyway, don't you?" + +"Yes. But,--oh, Jess, I couldn't do that." + +"Not even for your aunt's sake, Peggy, and to show those whom you suspect +that they could not put a Prescott out of the race, however hard they +tried? Come into the shed with me. I am going to persuade you, if I can, +to do a brave thing." + +With their arms about each other's waists the girls walked toward the +hangar and entered it. As they did so the figure of Jukes Dade glided +from a place of concealment close at hand, and slipping behind some low +bushes he gained the rear of the Prescott shed unperceived. Once there he +placed an ear to a crack in the structure, from within which could be +heard the murmur of girlish voices. + +Whatever he heard seemed to strike him with astonishment at first and +then with a malicious glee. + +"So," he muttered, "that's your scheme, is it? Well, I guess we'll be +able to head that off. That aeroplane of yours won't go in that race if I +can help it, and even if it did I know enough now to head you off from +getting the big prize. That young Harding ought to pay me well for this." + +So saying, Jukes Dade shuffled off toward Fanning's hangar, still +chortling evilly to himself. + +Jimsy returned to the shed without any good news. In fact, the doleful +expression on his usually merry face would have told them that long +before he opened his mouth. In the midst of the general gloom a merry +face was suddenly obtruded through the swinging doors. + +"Hullo! hullo! young folks, what's the trouble? You look as if you were +going to attend a funeral." + +They looked up to see the figure of Hal Homer, clad in white flannels, +and with a checked cap on his curly head, standing in the doorway. + +"Can I come in?" he asked, and without waiting for an answer in he came. + +"Oh, Mr. Homer," cried Jess, fairly pouncing on him, "we're so glad +you've come; we are in a dreadful fix." + +"A dreadful fix? Why, my dear young lady, I read in the local paper that +I bought on my way from the depot that Roy's machine, judging from the +trials, was going to have things all her own way." + +"So much so," struck in Jimsy, "that it looks as if some of Roy's enemies +have spirited him away." + +"What? I'm afraid I hardly understand." + +The aviation instructor looked at Jimsy in a puzzled way, rather as if he +thought the youth might be having some fun with him. + +"No, no, this is serious. I mean it," spoke Jimsy quickly. "Roy has gone!" + +"Gone!" + +"Yes. He vanished last night. But sit down and we'll tell you all about +it. Maybe you can help us out." + +Absolutely "flabbergasted," to use his own expression, the good-looking +young flying man sank down on an upturned case, while Jimsy went on to +relate all that had occurred, with Peggy every now and then striking in +with additions and corrections. + +Another ear also took in the conversation--that of Jukes Dade--who had +seen the arrival of the well-dressed young aviator, and had instantly +slipped back to his eavesdropping post to learn what the newcomer's +business might be. + +It might have been an hour later that a chauffeur, summoned by 'phone +from the grandstand, brought the Bancrofts' car up to the hangar and Hal +Homer, Jess and Jimsy emerged. + +"Drive to the police station," ordered Hal Homer as he stepped in, +leaving Jess and Jimsy behind. + +Jukes Dade, peering around a corner of the hangar, heard the order and +grew pale. + +"Looks bad," he muttered as the car rolled off; "I wonder if they know +anything. If they do, I'm off. This isn't a healthy part of the country +for Jukes Dade from the minute that kid is found. He didn't recognize Gid +or young Harding, but he knew me all right. I could tell it by the way he +looked at me, and if he's found the first man they'll hunt for is me." + +With snake-like caution he glided behind the hangar once more. + +It was not long after this that the Golden Butterfly was wheeled out by +some of the mechanicians attached to the track, whose services were +furnished free by the aviation officials. + +Jess and Jimsy emerged from the hangar at the same time, in company with +a boyish figure in aviator's clothing, leather trousers cut very baggily, +fur-lined leather coat and big helmet of leather, well padded, completely +obscuring the features. After a few words in a low tone with its +companions, this figure clambered lightly into the aeroplane, leaned +forward, adjusted some levers, and the next instant, amidst a shout from +several hastily gathered onlookers, the Golden Butterfly skyrocketed +upward, her engine roaring like an angry giant hornet. + +All this was watched by Fanning Harding, Jukes Dade, and Gid Gibbons. + +"A nice mess you've made of it," growled Harding angrily to his +companions. "You've succeeded in getting me suspected, and in trouble, +while the boy is safe and sound and on the scene." + +"Wonder how he got back," grunted Gid speculatively; "he must have looked +a sight when he crawled out of that swamp." + +"Say, Dade, you'd better be off," said Fanning suddenly; "you were the +only one of us whose face wasn't covered. He would swear to you." + +"Oh, I ain't worrying yet," grinned Dade easily. + +"You're not, eh? Well, you are a cool hand," rejoined Gid admiringly. "If +I were in your shoes I'd clear out before that aeroplane lands again." + +"You would, eh?" scoffed Dade. "Well, what would you say if I told you +that that ain't Roy Prescott in the Golden Butterfly at all?" + +"That you were crazy with the heat," was the prompt and impolite answer. + +"Then you'd be crazy yourself. That's his sister in that aeroplane, and +if he don't show up in time for the race she's going to fly it herself +and win it." + +If a bombshell had fallen at Fanning's feet he could not have been more +thunderstruck. But he recovered in an instant. + +"If she does I'll protest to the judges," he said angrily; "they can't +prove that I know anything about her brother's disappearance, and that +Golden Butterfly won't win this race if I can help it." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +BROTHER AND SISTER. + + +The first gleam of the summer dawn shining into Roy's place of +imprisonment at the bottom of the old well revealed to him only too +clearly into what a trap he had fallen. The well seemed to be about fifty +feet or more in depth, and the sides were smooth and slippery. + +The chill he had felt spreading through his limbs earlier was gone now, +but a numb sensation was setting in which did not leave them even when +the boy wriggled his legs about. + +"Phew!" thought Roy. "I stand a fair chance of being turned into a +pollywog or something if I stay here long enough." + +Somehow, with the coming of daylight, the buoyant spirits of youth had +returned to the boy and his predicament did not seem nearly so serious as +it had during the dark hours. + +But it was bad enough, as Roy realized. From time to time he tried +shouting, but no one came to the edge of the well and peered over, +although he anxiously kept his eyes riveted on the disc of sky above him. +How long this went on Roy had no idea, but he had sunk into a sort of +semi-doze when a sudden sound aroused him. + +A tinkling, metallic sound, not unlike the rattling of the chain the +night before that had, in reality, caused his trouble. + +"Help! Help!" shouted Roy. + +It was perhaps the five hundredth time he had uttered the cry since he +had tumbled into the well. But this time there came a response. + +"What is it? What's the trouble?" + +The voice sounded rather shaky, and as if the utterer of the words was +somewhat scared. + +"It's a boy who has fallen into the well," shouted Roy. "I'm almost +exhausted. Get me out." + +A face suddenly projected over the well curb--a face which Roy recognized +with astonishment as that of old Peter Bell, the hermit. + +"Mr. Bell, it's Roy Prescott," he shouted; "can you get a rope and get me +out?" + +"Good heavens!" cried the hermit; "it's the boy whose sister was so kind +to me. However did you--but never mind that now. Can you hold on for a +time?" + +"Yes, but my strength is almost gone." + +"Well, summon up all your courage. There is a farm house not far off. +I'll go there and get a rope and be back as quick as I can." + +Without wasting more words the old man hastened to his little cart. He +had been out since dawn gathering herbs and roots and had taken a short +cut home through the field in which the old well was located. Muttering +excitedly to himself, he climbed somewhat stiffly into his rickety +conveyance and urged his old horse forward with gently spoken commands. +As the animal broke into a trot the little bell about its neck began to +jangle not unmusically. This was the sound which, fortunately for him, +had notified Roy that some human being was at hand. + +In the near distance, half hidden in trees, could be seen the red-roofed +gable of a farm house. Toward this old Peter Bell directed his way. +Farmer Ingalls was only too glad, when he heard of the accident, to +secure a long rope, used in hoisting hay to the top of his big barns. + +"Bless my soul!" he exclaimed, "a lad tumbled into my well! Mommer," +turning to a motherly-looking, calico-clad woman, "you always told me to +cover that well up, and I never did, and now thar's a poor young chap +tumbled into it." + +"Hurry," urged old Peter Bell; "he was almost exhausted, poor lad. We +must get back as quick as possible." + +Summoning his two hired men the farmer set off at a run across the +fields, easily keeping pace with old Peter's decrepit horse. As they +neared the well they began shouting, and a feeble cry from the depths +answered them. + +"Cheer up, my lad, we'll have you out of that in a brace-of-shakes," +cried Farmer Ingalls encouragingly, as they reached the curb and peered +over into the dark hole. + +"I hope you will," cried Roy. "It's getting pretty monotonous, I can tell +you." + +"Don't know what mon-ount-on-tonous means, but I'd hate to change places +with you," agreed the farmer. + +Presently the rope came snaking down, with a loop in its lower end. Roy +was directed to place his foot in the loop and hold on tight. When this +had been done he shouted up: + +"All right! Haul away!" + +The stalwart farmer and his two assistants began to heave with all their +might, while old Mr. Bell encouraged them. Before long, by dint of hard +exertions, they succeeded in dragging Roy to the surface, and dripping +and shivering he could stand once more in the blessed air and sunlight. + +"But how in the world did you come to get in there?" asked the farmer, as +he paced along by the side of the hermit's little cart, in which the +half-exhausted Roy had been placed. + +"Well," said the lad with a rather shamefaced laugh, "I'm really half +ashamed to say. But it was this way. Some bad men who have an interest in +putting me out of an aeroplane contest, of which Mr. Bell knows, had run +off with me in an automobile. It was wrecked, and I escaped. I struck out +toward town, as I thought, but as I came through that patch of woods by +the wall I saw something that startled me so much that I stepped back and +fell down the well." + +"What did you see, my lad?" asked the farmer with half a twinkle in his +eye. + +"Something like a story-book ghost," smiled Roy; "it was tall and all in +white and clanked a chain." + +"Ha! ha! ha!" roared the farmer; "I half suspected as much. Why, that +ghost was my old white mule Boxer. He managed somehow to snap his chain +last night and we found him careening around the fields this morning. +Don't color up, my boy," for poor Roy's face had turned very red, as the +hired men guffawed loudly; "older men than you have been startled at far +less. And now, here's the farm, and I'll bet mommer has a fine breakfast +all ready for you." + +The half-famished boy ate hungrily of the substantial farmhouse fare Mrs. +Ingalls provided for him, and as he ate he made inquiries about the +distance to the aviation grounds, which, he found to his dismay, were +further distant than he had imagined. + +"I'll never be able to make it in time without an automobile," moaned Roy +to himself; "what shall I do?" + +He cast about in his mind for some way out of his difficulty, but he +could find none. Nor could the farmer help him. There were no automobiles +in that part of the country, and in a horse-drawn vehicle he would never +be able to make it in time. + +All at once a queer sound filled the air. The atmosphere seemed to +vibrate with it as it does on a still summer day when a threshing machine +is buzzing away in a distant field. + +"Land o' Goshen, what's that?" cried Mrs. Ingalls running to the door. + +"Lish! Lish! come here quick!" she shouted the next instant. + +Followed by the old hermit and Roy, Mr. Ingalls ran to the door. But his +exclamations at the sight he saw were drowned by Roy's amazed cry: + +"It's the Golden Butterfly!" + +"An aeroplane!" shouted the farmer. "By gosh, she's like a pretty bird." + +"It's my--our aeroplane," went on Roy; "who can be in it? Oh, if it's +only Peggy I may not be too late after all." + +He ran out into the door yard of the farm house and, snatching off his +coat, began waving it desperately. Would the occupant of the aeroplane +see his frantic signals? With a beating heart Roy watched the winged +machine as it droned far above him. + +All at once he gave a delighted shout. The aeroplane was beginning to +descend. Down it came in big circles, while the farmer, his wife and the +old hermit gazed open mouthed at it, as if half inclined to run. + +But as it drew closer to the ground Roy noted a puzzling thing. A +helmeted and goggled person was driving it, evidently a boy or man and +not Peggy at all. Who could it be? For an instant a queer thought flashed +through his head. Possibly somebody had stolen it and was making off +across country with it so as to put it out of the race. + +More and more rapidly the aeroplane began to drop as it neared the +ground, and before many minutes it alighted in the patch of meadow in +front of the farm house, gliding gracefully for several feet before it +stopped. + +But the rubber-tired landing wheels had not ceased revolving before Roy +was at its side. + +"Say, who are you, and what are you doing with my aeroplane?" he demanded +in heated tones, for the helmeted aviator had not yet even deigned to +notice him, but seemed to be busy with various levers and valves. + +"Well, are you going to answer me?" sputtered Roy, while the farmer, his +wife, the old hermit and the hired men gazed on curiously. + +For answer the mysterious aviator raised his helmet and a cloud of golden +curls fell about a milk-and-roses face. + +"By gum, a gal and a purty one!" cried the farmer capering about. + +"Peggy!" shouted Roy. + +"Yes, Peggy," cried the girl. "Oh, Roy, what has happened to you? When +you didn't come back Jess and Jimsy persuaded me to put on your clothes +and at least try the Butterfly out. But I was so miserable that I could +not try her out on the track, so I flew off across country. I saw you +waving far below me and--oh, Roy!" + +Peggy could go no further and half collapsed in Roy's arms as he tenderly +lifted her out. + +"Great hopping water millions!" cried the farmer, "if this ain't a day of +wonders. This must be ther lad's sister he told us about, and ter think +she come flopping down out of ther sky like a seventeen-y'ar locust." + +Peggy was quickly her usual strong, self-reliant self again. With +indignation blazing in her kind eyes she heard Roy's account of the +happenings of the night. At its conclusion she announced with decision: + +"We must defeat them, Roy." + +"Yes, but how? There's only a scant half hour before starting time if you +said they'd changed it." + +"Even so you can make it. You must take these clothes, get into the +aeroplane and fly back to the track. If you go alone the 'plane will be +light and you can make it in time." + +"But you, Peggy?" + +"I guess I can borrow a dress from Mrs. Ingalls here," said the girl +briskly. + +"Of course, you kin," put in Mrs. Ingalls, but surveying her own ample +form rather doubtfully the while. + +"You kin give her one of daughter Jenny's dresses," said the farmer. + +"Then that is settled, thanks to you," said Peggy with characteristic +decision. + +They all entered the farm house, from which, a few seconds later, Roy +emerged, clad in the garments his sister had donned a short time before. +He climbed into the aeroplane amid the admiring comments of the farm +hands, who, by this time, had come in from the fields, drawn by the +wonderful airship, and stood all about it gaping and wondering. + +Peggy, in a dress belonging to the farmer's daughter, who was away on a +visit, stepped quickly to Roy's side as, after glancing at the clock +attached to the front of the aeroplane, he started the engine. + +As it started its uproarious song, the farm hands jumped back in +affright. But Peggy clasped her brother's hand. + +"Win that prize, Roy," she said. + +"I'll do my best, little sister." + +And that was all, but as Peggy Prescott gazed a few minutes later at the +fast diminishing form of the speeding aeroplane she felt that all she had +braved and dared that day had not been in vain. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +IN THE NICK OF TIME. + + +Excitement had reached its topmost pitch on the aviation field. It was +but a few minutes to starting time for the great contest, and already +four young aviators had their winged craft in line before the judge's +stand. + +Engines were belching clouds of acrid blue smoke heavily impregnated with +oily, smelling fumes. The roar of motors shook the air. Folks in the +grandstand and on the crowded lawns excitedly pointed out to one another +the different machines, all of which bore large numbers. + +Excited officials, red-faced and perspiring, bustled about importantly, +while from the top of the judge's stand a portly man bellowed occasional +announcements through a megaphone. + +Suddenly he made an announcement that caused a hum of interest. + +"Machine number seven--mach-ine num-ber sev-en! Fanning Harding, owner, +has withdrawn from the race," he announced. + +A buzz of comment went through the crowd. Jess, Jimsy and Hal Homer, +standing in a group by the empty Prescott hangar, exchanged astonished +glances as they heard the news. What did that mean? Fanning had been +swaggering about, boasting of his wonderful aeroplane, and now it +appeared at the eleventh hour he had decided not to enter it. + +"Must have had an accident," opined Jimsy. + +"Maybe he gave it one of those pleasant looks of his," suggested Jess. + +"Wherever can Peggy be," exclaimed the girl the next minute; "she's been +gone for more than an hour. I do hope nothing has happened to her." + +"Not likely," rejoined Jimsy, although he looked a little troubled over +the non-appearance of the Golden Butterfly. + +"The police said they had a dragnet out in every part of the vicinity," +volunteered Hal Homer, who had returned only a few minutes before from +the station house. + +Bang! + +A bomb had been shot skyward and now exploded in a cloud of yellow smoke. + +"Three minutes to starting time," cried Hal Homer anxiously; "where can +Miss Prescott be?" + +"Look!" cried Jess suddenly, dancing about. "Oh, Glory! Here she comes!" + +Far off against the sky a speck was visible. Rushing toward them at +tremendous speed it swiftly grew larger. The crowd saw it now and great +excitement prevailed. The word flew about that the machine was the +missing Number Six. Would it arrive in time to participate in the start +and thus qualify? This was the question on every lip. + +Hal Homer jumped into the auto and sped over to the judge's stand. + +"Can't you delay the start for five minutes?" he begged. + +"Impossible," was the reply. + +"But that aeroplane, Number Six, has been delayed by some accident. If +you start the race on time it may not arrive in time to take part." + +"Can't be helped. Young Prescott--that's the name of the owner, isn't +it?--shouldn't have gone off on a cross country tryout." + +Back to the hangar sped Hal, where Jess and Jimsy, almost beside +themselves with excitement, were watching the homing aeroplane. + +"She'll be on time," cried Jimsy as the graceful ship swept over the +distant confines of the course and came thundering down toward the +starting point. + +A great cheer swept skywards as the aeroplane came on. + +"She'll make it." + +"She won't." + +"Where has the thing been?" + +"Why is it so late?" + +These and a hundred other questions and remarks went from mouth to mouth +all through the big crowd. + +"It's all off," groaned Jimsy suddenly. + +He had seen the signal corps man, whose duty it was to fire the bombs, +outstretching himself on the ground awaiting the signal to touch off the +starting sign. + +But even as Jimsy spoke, the Golden Butterfly made a swift turn and, amid +a roar from the crowd, shot whirring past the grandstand and alighted in +front of the stand on the starting line. + +Hardly had the wheels touched the ground before the judge in charge of +the track raised his hand. A flag fell and the signal corps man jerked +his arm back, firing the bomb that announced the start. + +B-o-o-o-o-m! + +As the detonation died out the aeroplanes shot forward, rising into the +still air almost in a body, like a flock of birds. It was a spectacle +never to be forgotten, and the crowd appreciated it to the full. + +But up in the grandstand, in inconspicuous places, sat three persons who +did not look as well pleased as those about them. + +"So the girl is going to take a chance," muttered Fanning Harding; "well, +so much the worse for her. If she wins I'll put in a protest and compel +her to unmask." + +"Won't that Prescott and Bancroft bunch be astonished when they find out +that we are on to their little game," chuckled Jukes Dade; "it'll be as +good as a play." + +"That's what it will," grinned Gid. + +"They'll find out that they can't humiliate me and not suffer for it," +grated out Fanning. + +"Wonder where that girl went to on her tryout spin?" inquired Dade. + +"It doesn't make much difference where, but she certainly came back with +a grandstand play," rejoined Gid. + +"Well, if she wins the race it will be our turn," Fanning assured him. + +They then turned their attention to the contest, two laps of which had +been made while they were talking. + +Number One, a small white Bleriot type of monoplane, seemed to be making +the pace for the rest, and word flew about that it had gained half a lap +on Number Four, its nearest competitor so far. + +"But it will be a long contest," said the wiseacres in the crowd, "and +accidents may happen at any time." + +On the fourth lap Number One was seen to descend over by the hangars. +Something had gone wrong with its lubricating valve. By the time the +difficulty was adjusted it was hopelessly out of the race. Number Three +was the next to drop out. This machine was driven by one of the high +school lads, and his contingent of rooters in the grandstand set up a +woeful noise as he dropped to earth in the middle of the course. A broken +stay had made it dangerous for him to remain longer in the air. + +This left number Six, the Prescott machine, Numbers Two, Four and Five +still in the air. + +"Number Six has gained a lap on Number Five!" went up the cry presently +as Number Five, so far the leader, was seen to lose speed on the +fifteenth lap. + +The Golden Butterfly was in truth doing magnificently, but try as her +operator would it did not seem possible to shake off Number Five, another +high school boy's machine, which clung persistently to its stern. Number +Four alighted for more gasolene on the twentieth lap and lost a round of +the course thereby. A few seconds later Number Two was also forced to +descend with heated cylinders. This practically left the race between +Number Five and the Golden Butterfly. Round and round they tore, neither +of them gaining or losing a foot apparently. The thunder of their engines +grew deafeningly monotonous and the crowds watched them as if hypnotized +by the whirring aerial monsters. + +All at once, though, a mighty roar proclaimed that something was +happening, and gazing down toward the further end of the track it could +be seen that Number Six, the Golden Butterfly, had made a daring attempt +to gain on the other machine, and had succeeded. + +So close did the two aeroplanes edge to the end pylon in the effort to +secure the inside plane that for an instant it looked as if a crash must +result. + +A thunder of cheers greeted the Golden Butterfly as she swept by the +grandstand on the next lap. + +"That girl can drive all right," grudgingly admitted Fanning Harding. + +"Yes, and she's pretty as a picture, too," put in Gid Gibbons; "guess you +were stuck on her once, weren't you, Fan?" + +"Oh, shut up," growled Fanning angrily. "It makes no difference to you, +does it?" + +The aeroplanes had been racing for an hour now, and neither showed any +signs of slacking speed. On the contrary, as they "warmed up," they +seemed to go the quicker. All at once an incident occurred which brought +the crowd to its feet yelling and cheering as if wild. + +The driver of Number Five, as the two machines passed the grandstand, had +made a deliberate attempt to prevent the Golden Butterfly overhauling him +by jamming his aeroplane over toward a pylon and directly in front of the +Butterfly. For an instant it looked as if a crash must be inevitable, but +just as the spectators were beginning to turn pale and the more timid to +hide their eyes, the Butterfly was seen to make a graceful dip and dive +clean under the other aeroplane. It was a magnificent bit of aerial +driving, and the crowd appreciated it to the full. A roar and a shout +went up, to which the driver of Number Six responded with a wave of a +gloved hand. + +Ten minutes later Number Five, two laps behind, and with a leaking +radiator, dropped out of the race, leaving the Golden Butterfly the +winner. Fanning Harding was white as a sheet as he saw an official with a +black and white checkered flag step out into the field. This was the +signal to the Golden Butterfly, which was still in the air, that the race +was over. + +As the Prescott aeroplane dropped to earth in front of the grandstand +amid rapturous plaudits, the son of the Sandy Bay banker deliberately +arose and made his way toward the judges' stand, to which Hal Homer and +the Bancrofts, the core of a shouting, yelling mob of enthusiasts, were +already conducting the daring driver of Number Six. + +Special policemen made a path for the aviator and his friends, while +cries of: + +"Take off your helmet!" + +"We want to see you!" + +"What's the matter with Number Six?" and a hundred other cries arose. + +But the driver of Number Six did not respond, and with his helmet still +on his head was conducted before the judges to receive their +congratulations. The helmet was still in place when Fanning Harding came +shoving through the crowd and finally reached the little group. + +"As a competitor I demand that Number Six take off his helmet!" he cried. + +The judges turned to him in astonishment. + +"This is most unseemly, sir," said one of them; "no doubt in good time +Mr. Prescott will take off his helmet." + +"Oh, no, he won't," shouted Fanning, at whom all the group was now +gazing. "He won't, I tell you, and for a good reason, too. _That's not +Roy Prescott at all, but his sister Peggy._" + +But the words had not left his lips before Jimsy, with a quick motion, +jerked off the aviator's helmet and disclosed the handsome, perspiring +features of Roy himself. + +In the few minutes he had had, Roy had found time briefly to explain how +he and his sister had changed garments. + +"Well, I guess that settles that question," cried Jimsy triumphantly, as +a mighty shout went up. + +"It certainly does," said one of the officials. "Where is that young +scamp? Officer, find the young man who made that accusation and bring him +here to explain himself." + +But the disgruntled Fanning had dived off into the crowd the instant he +saw into what a tremendous blunder he had fallen. And although a strict +search was made for him he was not to be found. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +THE PHANTOM AIRSHIP. + + +In the midst of the hum and excitement and the crossfire of questions +which immediately followed, there occurred a startling interruption. From +the further side of the grounds there arose a cry, which swelled in +volume as it advanced. + +"Fire! One of the hangars is on fire!" + +The group immediately broke up and orders and commands flew thick and +fast. In the midst of the excitement Roy and his chums found an +opportunity to slip away. + +"There's the fire. Off by our hangar!" shouted Hal Homer, pointing across +the field. + +By the side of the Prescott's green aero shed a big cloud of smoke was +ascending, mingled with yellow flames. It seemed to be a hot blaze. + +"It's Fanning Harding's hangar!" cried Roy suddenly; "come on, let's go +over and see what the matter is." + +"I've got the car right here," said Jimsy. "I'll get you over in a jiffy." + +Soon they were speeding across the field toward the blaze. In the +meantime an emergency fire corps, composed of men employed on the +grounds, had attached a line of hose to a hydrant and were drenching the +flames. Such good work did they do that it was not long before they had +the fire under control. + +As soon as it was out our party, which had managed to get through the +lines formed to keep back the curious, gazed into the ruins with some +interest. + +"Why, say!" cried Jimsy suddenly, "the place was empty." + +"So it was!" cried Roy in astonished tones, "except for that big box kite +over in the corner there. Whatever kind of a game of bluff has Fanning +Harding been playing?" + +"I guess I can imagine it," struck in Hal Homer. "From what you have told +me his little game was to bluff you into thinking he had a fine airship +that could beat yours, and in that way induce you to sell out to him." + +"By George, I never thought of that!" exclaimed Roy, "but--hullo, here +comes Peggy in the farmer's wagon!" + +He ran through the crowd to the side of the wagon, which had been driven +in by Farmer Ingalls. + +"You dear, dear boy, I've heard all about it already," cried Peggy, +throwing her white arms about Roy's neck, while Miss Prescott, whom they +had picked up at the hotel, sat by, hardly knowing whether to laugh or to +cry, as she expressed it later. + +I am not going to describe that reunion by the side of Fanning Harding's +burned hangar, but each reader can imagine for herself what a joyous one +it was. + +"I know a place in town where they sell the bulliest sodas and sundaes," +cried Jimsy suddenly. "Everybody come up there in the car and we'll +celebrate!" + +"In one moment, Jimsy," said Roy. "There's one thing still I don't +understand about this whole business, and that is this. It is clear +enough that Fanning Harding was bluffing about having an aeroplane in +that shed, but how was it that he made a night ascent with red and green +lanterns?" + +"Oh, you mean the time you saw him in the air at night, the time we went +to Washington?" asked Jimsy. + +"That's it. How do you account for it?" + +"Give it up," rejoined the other lad. + +"Perhaps this may help to explain it." + +Hal Homer came up carrying two much scorched lanterns he had found in the +debris of the hangar. One was red, the other was green. + +"I don't quite see," said Peggy, but Hal, with an apology interrupted her. + +"It's plain as day to me," he said; "these two lanterns attached to that +big box kite on a breezy night would certainly give any one the +impression that an aeroplane was sailing about. Harding knew you would be +flying home in that vicinity on that night and rigged up this contrivance +to delude you." + +"A phantom airship!" cried Peggy. + +"That's about the size of it," put in the slangy Jimsy, "and I think that +friend Homer here has hit on the correct solution." + +"But if that were so, why did Fanning fit up a shop out at Gid Gibbons's +place?" asked Jess in a puzzled tone. + +"I guess that shop had no more in it than this hangar," was Roy's reply. +"Gid Gibbons is a bad character who would do anything for money, and I +think it likely that he fell in with Harding's schemes because he had no +great liking for any of us." + +"Looks that way," agreed Jimsy. + +"But that doesn't explain that ruby which Hester was wearing," thought +Peggy to herself as the laughing party of young folks drove off up the +town, followed by Farmer Ingalls and his good wife, who had been invited +to take part in the little celebration of their triumph. Here and there +they were recognized and cheered, but among the crowds on the sidewalks +all discussing the thrilling race, there were three that took no part in +the good-natured jubilation. Who these were we can guess. + +Jukes Dade at Fanning's side had to listen to some savage abuse as they +slunk along, avoiding as far as possible the crowds. + +"I told you to burn up the hangar so that there would be no trace left of +the bluff we had been putting up," he growled. + +"Well, didn't I soak the place with gasolene," protested Dade; "how was I +to know a kid would come along and give the alarm before it got fairly +alight?" + +"It's been a dismal failure all the way through," lamented Harding, as if +he had been engaged on some praiseworthy enterprise. + +"Incidentally," purred Jukes Dade, but with a menace under his silky +tones, "I'd like to see some of that money you've been promising me all +along." + +"You'll have to wait till I see my father," snapped out Fanning savagely. + +"Well, see him quick then, or I may have to take other means of getting +it," snarled Dade. + +"What do you mean?" + +"Why, by telling a few things I know. About the loss of a certain lady's +jewels, for instance." + +Fanning went white as ashes. + +"You sneak! You've been listening at keyholes!" he cried. + +Dade returned him look for look defiantly. + +"Well, what if I have?" he snarled. "I've got a hold on you now, Master +Harding. I've got you where I want you and I'm going to keep you there." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +JIM BELL OF THE WEST. + + +Some days after the events described in the last chapter, and following +the receipt by Roy of a pink check for $5,000.00, a strange visitor +arrived at the Prescott home--their very own home now, for the mortgage +had been paid off, much to Mr. Harding's disgust. + +The stranger was a bronzed man and wore a broad-brimmed sombrero which +would have marked him anywhere as a Westerner. Of Miss Prescott, who, in +a new lavender silk dress, came to the door, he inquired if he could see +Mr. Roy Prescott. + +Miss Prescott smiled at this ceremonial way of mentioning her young +nephew, but directed the stranger with the breezy Western manner to the +workshop at the rear of the house, where Roy and Peggy were "fussing," as +Jess called it, with their beloved Golden Butterfly. + +"Good morning," he said, doffing his sombrero with a sweep and a +flourish; "can I have a word with you?" + +"Certainly. Two or three if you want them," rejoined Roy, while Peggy +gazed in some surprise at the queer-mannered newcomer. + +"The fact is," went on the stranger, "that I'm in the market for +aeroplanes such as yours. I happened to be on the train some nights ago +when you came flying through the air with two belated young passengers. +Well, sir, thinks I, if such a machine can make a train on schedule time +it ought to be good for other purposes. I took the liberty of making some +inquiries about you from your two young friends after the train had +started, but asked them not to mention the matter to you yet awhile. + +"In New York I looked up my partner and we discussed the plan and he +agreed with me that it was a good one. Now, I'm down here this morning to +offer you $10,000 outright for the use of half a dozen of your +aeroplanes, and a salary of $5,000 as instructor to the aviators I shall +have to have to run them. How does the offer strike you?" + +"I--er--well, I hardly know what to say," responded Roy; "you see, it's a +bit sudden. It rather takes my breath away." + +"Well, that's a way we have in the West," was the response, "but maybe +I'd better tell you a little more about myself. My name is Jim Bell. I'm +worth a couple of million or thereabouts. You can verify that by +referring to the First National Bank of 'Frisco, or the East Coast Bank +of New York City. I've got interests in cattle, wool and mines, but the +very best mining proposition I ever struck I ran across out on the Nevada +alkali desert in a range of barren hills. We were prospecting there when +I was told about it. After untold hardships I found the spot and staked +it out. But there arose the difficulty of transportation. There was the +gold all right, but how was I to get it out?" + +"I came East to see if I couldn't get some sort of automobile built that +would travel the desert, but when I saw that aeroplane of yours droop +down at that jerkwater junction, I realized I had found what I wanted. +Now, are you on?" + +"You'll have to give us a little time to think, sir," rejoined Roy; "it's +a very flattering offer and I'd like to accept it, but I'll have to think +it over." + +"Quite right, quite right," rejoined the other, "nothing like thinking it +over. If every one did that fewer accidents and mishaps would occur in +life. Take my own life, for instance. I've often thought I'd go back to +see the old folks, but in that case I thought it over too long, for when +I went to the old home the other day it was all gone. Not a stick or +stone remained. My parents were dead and my only brother was +no-one-knew-where." + +Jim Bell's voice shook strangely. He blinked his eyes once or twice and +then resumed briskly: "You see, I left home in a mighty queer way. I was +out in a boat with my brother when it got overturned. He was drowned, I +guess, but anyway I found myself drifting about on the Sound. I managed +to seize hold of a bit of floating driftwood and in that way kept my head +above water till a ship came along and picked me up. + +"She was a big vessel bound for China and her captain was a brute. On our +arrival in the Far East he bound me out as a sort of apprentice to a rich +Chinaman living in the interior. I was with him for ten years before I +escaped. I worked my way to the coast, got another ship and headed for +California. + +"On the way across there was a mutiny and I saved the life of a wealthy +passenger, who turned out to be a mining man and who, when he died two +years later, left me most of his property. That gave me my start in life, +and now I'm a millionaire. But I'd give it all if I could get some news +of poor brother Peter and find out if he is dead or alive." + +"Maybe we can help you," cried Peggy, her eyes shining and her white +hands clasped excitedly. + +While the rugged Westerner had been talking the story of the old hermit +came back to her. + +"What do you mean?" asked the other; "do you know where my brother is?" + +"I'm not certain," cried Peggy, "but the old hermit, Peter Bell, is he +almost beyond a doubt." + +"My brother a hermit!" cried the wealthy mining man. + +"If it is your brother," put in Roy, "I hope for your sake it is. But his +story tallies absolutely with yours. He told us that after he had missed +you in the water he thought that you were drowned. Returning home he was +shunned on every side, for the villagers accused him of having deserted +you to save his own life." + +"My poor Peter," breathed the miner. + +"Miserable and made morose by the contempt he met with on every side he +became a hermit and now lives in a hut near the town of Acatonick." + +"How long does it take to get there? I must lose no time in finding out," +exclaimed Jim Bell. + +"You can get there in two or three hours from here if you can catch a +train," said Roy. "If you like I'll phone for you and find out." + +"Say, boy, that would be mighty white of you. I tell you it hurts to +think of poor Peter living all alone like that in poverty while I've been +rich all these years. But it wasn't for lack of trying to locate him, for +I've advertised and had detectives searching every likely place." + +Roy found that there would be a train to Acatonick in about half an hour, +and their new found friend hastened off, after warm farewells, to catch +it. He promised to be back within a few days and let them know of his +success, and also inform them of any further arrangements he might be +prepared to make about his offer. + +"Well," said Roy, after he had gone, "the skies are beginning to clear, +sis." + +Peggy sighed. + +"Yes, but there is still one thing to be cleared up, Roy," she said. + +"I know--the disappearance of those jewels," rejoined Roy. "Oh, if only +we had something more to go upon than mere suspicions." + +"Perhaps we will have before long," said Peggy, musingly. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +LIKE THIEVES IN THE NIGHT. + + +"Heard anything of Fanning Harding?" asked Jimsy, one bright morning, as +he stopped his car at the Prescotts' gate and he and Jess got out. + +"Not a thing since that day at Acatonick," responded Roy, who with his +sister had hastened to meet the other two. "Why, Jess, how charming you +look this morning." + +"Meaning that you notice the contrast with other mornings," laughed Jess +merrily; "oh, Roy, you are not a courtier." + +"No, I guess not yet--whatever a courtier may be," was the laughing +rejoinder; "but I always like to pay deserved compliments." + +"Oh, that's better," cried Jess; "but have you heard anything more from +Mr. Bell?" + +For, of course, Jimsy and Jess by this time knew about the visit of the +mining man. Mr. Bancroft had looked up his standing and character and had +found both of the highest. On his advice Roy had about decided to accept +the unique offer made him by the Western millionaire. + +Peggy shook her head in response to Jess's question. + +"No, dear, not one word," she said; "isn't it queer? However, I guess we +shall, before long. Oh, I do hope that that poor old hermit turns out to +be Mr. Jim Bell's brother." + +"So do I, too," agreed Jimsy. "It would be jolly for you and Roy to think +that you and your aeroplane had been the means of righting such a +succession of mishaps." + +"Indeed it would," agreed Peggy, warmly; "but now come into the house and +have some ice cream. It's one sign of our new prosperity that we are +never without it now." + +"I've eaten so much of it I'm ashamed to look a freezer in the face," +laughed Roy, as they trooped in, to be warmly welcomed by Miss Prescott. + +In the midst of their merry feast the sound of wheels was heard and a rig +from the station drove up. Out of it stepped a venerable old gentleman in +a well-fitting dark suit, with well blackened shoes and an altogether +neat and prosperous appearance. + +Peggy and Jess who had run to the window at the sound of wheels saw him +assisted to the ground by a younger man whom they both recognized with a +cry of astonishment. + +"Mr. Jim Bell. But who is the old gentleman?" + +"Why it's--it's the hermit!" cried Roy. + +"Good gracious, is that fashionable looking old man a hermit?" gasped +Jimsy. + +"He was, I guess, but he won't be any more," laughed Peggy, happily, as +she tripped to the door to welcome the visitors. The Prescotts had a maid +now; but Peggy preferred to be the first to greet the newly united +brothers for it was evident that Jim Bell's quest had been successful. + +What greetings there were to be sure, when the two brothers were inside +the cool, shady house! The old hermit's eyes gleamed delightedly as he +gallantly handed Miss Prescott to a chair. As for Jim Bell, he was happy +enough to "dance a jig," he said. + +"I'll play for you, sir," volunteered Jimsy, going toward the piano. + +"No, no," laughed Jim Bell; "I'm too old for that now. But not too old +for Peter and I to have many happy days together yet, eh, Peter?" + +He turned tenderly toward the old man whose eyes grew dim and moist. + +"I wish dad and mother could see us now," he said, sadly, as his thoughts +wandered back over the long bitter years he had spent in solitude. + +"Perhaps they can," breathed Peggy, softly; "let us hope so." + +"Thank you," said the old hermit, with a sigh. + +But the conversation soon turned to a merrier vein. And then it drifted +into business. Mr. Bancroft happened to stop in on his way into town and +after a long talk with Jim Bell he seriously advised Roy to accept the +mining man's proposal. + +"I'll put you up a factory any place you say," said the millionaire, "and +you can turn out all that we require. I've a notion, too, that they might +be used as general freight carriers over arid stretches of country where +there are no railroads, and feed and water for stock is scarce." + +"Not a doubt of it," said Mr. Bancroft. + +Before he left the preliminary papers had been drawn up and signed, and +Roy Prescott found himself fairly launched in business. But in all this +success he did not forget how much he owed to Peggy. Recent events had +softened the boy's character and reduced his conceit wonderfully. + +"I owe it all to you, little sis," he said that evening. + +"I don't know about all," cried Jimsy, who was present; "but you do owe a +whole lot to her, old man, and I'm glad to see you acknowledge it at +last." + +"I always have," cried Roy, turning rather red, though. + +"Hum," commented Jimsy; "I'm not so sure about that." + +But Peggy put her hand over his mouth and it took Jimsy what seemed an +unduly long time to remove it. As for Jess, she stalwartly declared that +if it hadn't been for Peggy there would have been no Golden Butterfly, no +five thousand dollar prize, and, as she said, "no nothing." But to this +loyal little Peggy would not assent. In her eyes Roy would always remain +the most wonderful brother in the world. + +Soon after this Jimsy and Jess took their leave and it was not long +before the last light was extinguished in the happy little household and +deep silence reigned. About midnight, as nearly as she could judge, Peggy +awoke to find the moonlight streaming into her room and upon her face. + +"Good gracious, I'll get moonstruck," she thought, and throwing on a wrap +she went to the window to pull down the shade which had been raised to +admit the cool air. + +The window commanded a view of the workshop, in which the Golden +Butterfly was kept, and Peggy, as she looked out, was astonished to see +that the door of the work shop which housed the precious craft was open. + +"Goodness!" thought the girl, "how careless of whoever left it that way. +The night air will rust the stay-wires and the steel parts of the motor +terribly. I guess I had better slip downstairs and close it." + +Partially dressing herself the girl noiselessly tiptoed down the stairs +and out into the moonlit night. + +For one instant she was startled as she thought she saw a dark form dodge +swiftly behind a corner of the workshop as she appeared. + +"I must be getting as nervous as poor Roy when the mule frightened him +down the well," she thought to herself as she advanced toward the shed. +Reaching it she raised her hand to shut the door when, to her +astonishment, she discovered that it had apparently been locked,--at +least a broken bit of the padlock dangling from the portal seemed to +indicate this. + +"Somebody's filed that through," was Peggy's thought. But before she +could make any further investigation a pair of hands grasped her from +behind, pinioning her arms to her side. At the same instant an old coat +was flung over her head and pulled close, stifling her outcries. + +"We won't hurt you if you keep quiet," hissed a voice in her ear, "but if +you don't, look out for trouble." + +"What are you going to do?" cried Peggy, through the muffling medium of +the coat. + +"You'll soon find out," was the rejoinder. "Jukes, bring her inside the +shed and keep her quiet." + +Jukes! The name struck a familiar chord in Peggy's memory. She knew now +why the face and form of the man hanging about Fanning's "Phantom" hangar +at the aviation field had seemed so familiar to her. It _was_ Jukes Dade, +the man her father had peremptorily discharged. Peggy could not repress a +shudder as she thought of the desperate character of the man. + +Suddenly, as her captors half dragged, half carried her into the +workshop, her body grew limp, and she fell in an insensible heap forward. +She would have struck the ground had not a pair of hands caught her. + +"She's fainted," cried Jukes, alarmedly. + +"So much the better," growled out his companion; "she won't give us any +trouble now. We can do what we've got to do and get away. Got the files?" + +"Here they are," responded Jukes; "just let me lay her down here while I +hand 'em to you." + +He deposited Peggy's limp form on a long box on which some sacks had been +strewn. The next instant the sharp rasping of a file could be heard in +the silent workshop. + +"I guess this Golden Butterfly will have its wings clipped for some time +to come," chuckled Jukes' companion, whom Peggy, of course, had not yet +seen. + +"I guess that's right," laughed the other; "just wait a jiffy while I lay +down this gun of mine and I'll give you a hand." + +He stepped over and put down a wicked-looking pistol on the rough bench +on which Peggy lay. Then he turned and began to help his companion. The +two worked by the light of a dark lantern which they had brought with +them on their rascally expedition to ruin the Golden Butterfly. + +But suddenly a slight noise behind him made Jukes turn his head. As he +did so he gave a startled yell. Peggy, her eyes bright and wild-looking, +was standing up behind them. In her hand was the pistol which Jukes had +laid down beside her when she had seemed to faint a few moments before. +But Peggy's faint had been a simulated one. Realizing that harm was meant +to the Golden Butterfly, she had imitated unconsciousness as a means to +possible escape and giving the alarm. + +"Don't move, either of you," said Peggy, in a firm voice. "I'm only a +girl, but I can use a pistol." + +But Jukes and his companion, with a wild yell, made a dash for the door. + +"Good gracious, I can't shoot them," thought Peggy. + +"Help! help!" she began to cry at the top of her voice. + +But the next instant the whirr and roar of a motor from the road apprised +her that the two rascals had made their escape in an auto and that +pursuit was useless. Thus it was that when the aroused household came +pouring excitedly out of the house they found a brave, if a rather +tremulous, girl awaiting them with a pistol in her hand on the stock of +which were engraved the initials "F. H." + +"So that's who Jukes's companion was," exclaimed Roy, angrily. "Oh, if +you had only awakened me, sis." + +"My dear Roy," rejoined Peggy, with dignity, "don't you think that I am +capable of taking care of myself?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +HESTER MAKES AMENDS--CONCLUSION. + + +A few days later Peggy borrowed Jess's car and went out for a long, +lonely spin along the country roads. She wanted to think. Roy and Jimsy +were at home repairing the damage wrought to the Golden Butterfly, which, +it turned out, was very slight. + +She was driving along a pretty stretch of road when she came across a +veritable fairyland of delicate pink wild roses intertwined with +honeysuckle and woodbine. + +"Oh," cried Peggy, who simply worshipped flowers, "how beautiful; I must +take some of these home. They'll make all our garden things look mean and +shabby." + +Stopping the car she alighted and was soon deep in her occupation of +gathering the fragrant posies. Suddenly she was startled by the sound of +a sobbing voice close at hand, and the next minute an angry male voice +could be heard also. + +"I tell you I'll do nothing of the sort," the man was saying; "why should +I go and own up that I'm a thief or the next thing to it? At any rate +they'd have me put in jail for all the attempts I've made to interfere +with their aeroplane." + +"It's Fanning Harding!" gasped Peggy, amazedly, "and Hester Gibbons," she +added the next instant as the girl's voice sobbed out: + +"Well, if you won't, I will. I've been weak and foolish but I'm not +wicked. I'm going to tell Peggy Prescott all about it to-day and ask her +to forgive me." + +"You'd better not," Fanning Harding's tone was threatening now. + +"Well, what if I do?" + +"You won't, I tell you. I'll have you locked up and charged with the +theft yourself." + +"You wouldn't dare." + +"Oh, yes, I would. You've got that ruby and that is pretty good proof +that you stole it." + +"It isn't so and you know it. I have been a weak, silly girl, that's all, +but I see it all now. And just to think if I hadn't overheard you and my +father talking that I might have gone on admiring you." + +"Tell me you won't go to the Prescotts with the story or I'll----" + +"Help! Help!" + +The shrill cry came in Hester's tones. + +Without quite realizing what she was doing, Peggy stooped and picked up a +heavy bit of stick that lay in the road beside her. Then she stepped +forward around a bend which had hitherto hidden the other two from her +sight. As she appeared Fanning had his hand on Hester's wrist and was +wrenching it cruelly. + +"Oh! oh! Fanning, please let go!" Hester was crying. + +"I will if you'll promise not to tell." + +"There's no need for her to promise that, Fanning," said Peggy, "for I +have already heard enough for me to know that she has some connection +with the disappearance of the Bancroft diamonds." + +"Oh, Peggy!" cried Hester, running to her side. + +"See here," began Fanning, swaggering forward threateningly toward the +two girls. + +"My brother is just 'round that corner," said Peggy, boldly; "he'll be +here in a minute. If you don't wish to be arrested for what you did the +other night you had better get away from here, Fanning Harding." + +A scared look crossed Fanning's face and he turned and fairly took to his +heels. + +"Now, Hester," said Peggy, kindly, "come with me to my car. It's just +'round the corner." + +"Oh, Peggy, I've been a bad, wicked girl, but I'm not a thief. Truly I'm +not." + +"I believe that," said Peggy, "but what do you know about the +disappearance of the diamonds?" + +"That I have them all here. Not one is gone," was the amazing reply, and +Hester, drawing a handkerchief from her bosom, unfolded it and displayed +to Peggy's amazed eyes a glittering collection of gems. In the midst of +the flashing gems gleamed the big ruby which Peggy had once seen Hester +so carefully conceal. + +"Hester, you have a duty before you," said Peggy slowly; "get in my car +and come with me to my home and then tell me all about this mystery which +has puzzled us so long." + +But the girl shrank back. + +"I can't. Oh, Peggy, with you it's different, but before, the others. +Your brother----" + +"Poor fellow, he has been under unjust suspicion on account of these very +jewels," Peggy reminded the agitated girl. + +"Oh, give me time. Not now. I----" + +"No, it must be now," said Peggy, with gentle insistence. "Come!" + +Something in her manner seemed to strike the girl. + +"You'll promise no harm will come to me or my father through this?" she +said. + +"Is your father very deeply implicated in the matter?" asked Peggy +seriously, looking straight into the other's eyes. + +"No. On my word of honor, no," was the response. + +"Then I'll promise," said Peggy. + +"Very well, then, I'll tell you all I know about the matter," said +Hester, as the girls got into the car. + +An hour later, in the library of the Prescott's home, Peggy, Roy, Jimsy +and Jess were gathered listening to Hester's story. Her eyes were red +from crying and she hesitated frequently, but her manner showed that she +was telling the truth. + +On a table lay the glistening jewels. Jess had counted them and found +that they were all there. + +"I didn't find out about the jewels till one night Fanning, who has +always said he admired me," said Hester, with downcast eyes, "gave me +that big ruby there. At least he didn't give it to me but he said I could +wear it. Of course I had heard about the disappearance of the jewels from +the auto, but somehow I didn't associate this token of Fanning's with it. + +"It was not till a week ago that I learned the true state of affairs. I +overheard a conversation of Fanning's with my father in which he +threatened him with arrest if he, father, didn't give him some money +Fanning said he had hoarded up. I knew dad didn't have any and I asked +him after Fanning had gone to tell me all about it. + +"He isn't such a bad man at bottom and when I pleaded with him he told me +the whole story. On the day of the jewel robbery, for it was a robbery, +Morgan and Giles----" + +"Our butler and groom!" cried Jess. + +"Yes. Well, they were taking a stroll in the fields and happened along +just as the car was wrecked. They knew from servants' gossip that you had +been to town to get the gems and when they saw you lying unconscious and +the wallet near at hand, the temptation was too much for them and they +stole it. + +"They determined to hide it in some woods near my father's place; but as +they entered them Fanning Harding came along on his bicycle. He saw them +enter the woods and became suspicious. Leaning his bicycle against a tree +he followed them and saw them bury the gems under a tree which they +marked. + +"He noted the tree, too, and then, without their seeing him he remounted +his motor-cycle and came on to see my father about that business of the +hoax aeroplane. He said he wanted to bluff you into selling the Butterfly +to him. + +"Well, father agreed, for a fair sum of money, to help him, and we +started right into town. At that time I thought it was a good joke, and +we were both laughing as we came in sight of the scene of the accident." + +"So that's what they were laughing at," thought Roy, recollecting how +mystified he had been when he saw them together. + +"I don't know whether it was Fanning's manner or what," said Hester +resuming, "but my father began to suspect that he might know something +about the jewels, and one day he followed him into the woods when he went +to see if the jewels were still under the tree. Father made him own up +when he caught him red-handed like that, but in the meantime Morgan and +Giles also had arrived. Well, the four of them were all equally guilty, +so they agreed to stick together and say nothing till the excitement +about the loss had blown over. But Fanning in the meantime said that he +must have the ruby to let me wear. + +"I guess he wanted to show me that he was as rich as he was always +pretending to be. + +"A few days later they had a terrible fright. Morgan, who carried the +leather wallet in his pocket for lack of a better place to put it, +dropped it on the porch of the Bancrofts' house where, as you know, it +was found before he realized his loss and could recover it. + +"When Fanning came back from the aviation meet and began boasting of the +mean tricks he had played you and how he had kidnapped Roy, I began to +see what a despicable fellow he was. Then, too, he was always threatening +dad, and so I decided to make a clean breast of it all and save poor dad +any more trouble, for Fanning has dictated to him ever since they shared +the secret. + +"I went to the wood and found the marked tree I had heard them talk about +so often and with the jewels in my hand I started for your home, Peggy, +for I didn't dare to go to the Bancrofts'. But Fanning, it seems, had got +suspicious, and followed me. He overtook me at the spot where you +encountered us." + +"Does he know you have the jewels?" asked Roy. + +"Not yet," rejoined Hester; "I believe if he had he would have been +violent." + +"Well, Hester," said Peggy, as the girl concluded her strange narrative, +"you have cleared up a puzzling mystery." + +"Did you ever hear such a yarn in all your born days?" asked Jimsy. + +"And every one of the jewels is there," cried Jess. "I tell you what I'll +do, I'll just call up the house and tell mother about it. Won't she be +pleased?" + +But Mrs. Bancroft was not at home, and---- + +"Oh, miss," gasped the servant, who answered the 'phone, "we're all +upset. Morgan has run off, miss, and so has Giles. They took some of the +silver with them. Mary and me tried to stop 'em but they pointed a pistol +at us and scared us inter high strikes." + +"I'll 'phone the police at once," cried Jess, indignantly. "They might +have got off if it hadn't been for that." + +But although a good description was furnished, Morgan and Giles were not +captured and Mr. Bancroft was not ill pleased. + +"They will not venture into this part of the country again," he said, +"and we are well rid of such rascals." + +Hester, in whom Mrs. Bancroft took an interest after the girl had told +her with her own lips her strange story, is now at a girls' boarding +school, having been sent there at Mrs. Bancroft's expense. + +As for Fanning Harding, his father sent him West soon after the lad's +innate rascality had been revealed, and from reports Fanning is working +hard to redeem the past and make himself a good and useful man. + +"And so the mystery of the phantom airship and the missing jewels is all +cleared up," said Peggy to Jess one day a short time after the events +just described had transpired. + +"Yes," rejoined her chum, "and the air seems clearer and fresher somehow. +It is terrible to have a dark cloud of suspicion hanging over one." + +"It is, indeed," rejoined Peggy; "and now, as Roy leaves in a few days +for the West, let's all take a good long spin. You and I will go in the +Golden Butterfly while the boys can run along below us in the auto." + +But Jess looked a bit doubtful. + +"Wouldn't Roy like to go in the aeroplane?" she said. + +Peggy broke into merry laughter. + +"Oh, you sly puss," she exclaimed. "Very well, then you and Roy in the +Golden Eagle and Jimsy and I in the auto." + +"Suits me," cried Jimsy, throwing his arm around his sister's waist, "but +I thought you were the girl aviator of the family, Peggy." + +"So I am," laughed Peggy, "but I am willing to yield my place for once." + +"Well, if you'll excuse my horrid slang," laughed Jimsy, "I think I may +say we've all been 'up in the air' for the last few weeks. But it's all +over now and we'll settle down to humdrum life once more." + +"It's been jolly, though," protested Peggy. + +"With some parts left out," put in Jess. + +But although no adventures just like those we have related happened again +to the Girl Aviators, they were due to encounter some more strange +experiences. In fact, both Peggy and Roy and their friends were on the +brink of some odd happenings, the narration of which must be postponed to +another volume of this series. + +What these complications and adventures, both merry and perilous, proved +to be will be set down in full detail in "The Girl Aviators on Golden +Wings," a breezy tale of our aerial maids. + +THE END. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Girl Aviators and the Phantom +Airship, by Margaret Burnham + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL AVIATORS *** + +***** This file should be named 33605-8.txt or 33605-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/6/0/33605/ + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.fadedpage.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Girl Aviators and the Phantom Airship + +Author: Margaret Burnham + +Release Date: September 1, 2010 [EBook #33605] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL AVIATORS *** + + + + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.fadedpage.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div id='title'> +<p style='margin-bottom:40px;'><span style='font-size:2.0em;'>THE GIRL AVIATORS</span><br /> +<span style='font-size:1.2em;'>AND</span><br /> +<span style='font-size:1.8em;'>THE PHANTOM AIRSHIP</span></p> +<p style='margin-bottom:60px;'>BY<br /> +<span style='font-size:1.4em;'>MARGARET BURNHAM</span></p> +<p style='font-size:1.2em;'>M. A. DONOHUE & COMPANY</p> +<p style='margin-bottom:10px'>CHICAGO NEW YORK</p> +<p style='font-size:0.8em;'>Made in U. S. A.</p> +</div> +<hr class='pagebreak' /> + +<p style='text-align: center; margin-bottom:40px; font-size:1.8em;'>The Girl Aviators and the<br />Phantom Airship</p> + +<div class='chapter'> +<a id='ref_aa'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_5'></a>5</span> +<p class='cln0'>CHAPTER I.</p> +<p class='cln1'>THE GOLDEN BUTTERFLY.</p> +</div> + +<p>“Roy! Roy! where are you?”</p> + +<p>Peggy Prescott came flying down the red-brick path, a rustling newspaper +clutched in her hand.</p> + +<p>“Here I am, sis,—what’s up?”</p> + +<p>The door of a long, low shed at the farther end of the old-fashioned garden +opened as a clattering sound of hammering abruptly ceased. Roy Prescott, a +wavy-haired, blue-eyed lad of seventeen, or thereabouts, stood in the portal. He +looked very business-like in his khaki trousers, blue shirt and rolled up +sleeves. In his hand was a shiny hammer.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_6'></a>6</span>Peggy, quite regardless of a big, black smudge on her brother’s +face, threw her arms around his neck in one of her “bear hugs,” while Roy, +boy-like, wriggled in her clasp as best he could.</p> + +<p>“Now, just look here,” cried Peggy, quite out of breath with her own +vehemence. She flourished the paper under his nose and, imitating the +traditional voice of a town crier, announced:</p> + +<p>“Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye! Roy Prescott or any of the ambitious +aviators—now is your chance! Great news from the front! Third and last +call!”</p> + +<p>“You’ve got auctioneering, the Supreme Court and war times, mixed up a bit, +haven’t you?” asked Roy with masculine condescension, but gazing fondly at +his vivacious sister nevertheless.</p> + +<p>Peggy made a little face and then thrust forth the paper for his +examination.</p> + +<p>“Read that, you unenthusiastic person,” she demanded, “and then tell +me if you don’t think that Miss Margaret Prescott has good reason to feel +somewhat more enthusiastic than comports <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_7'></a>7</span>with her usual dignity and +well-known icy reserve—ahem!”</p> + +<p>“Good gracious, sis!” exclaimed the boy, as he scanned the news-sheet, +“why this is just what we were wishing for, isn’t it? It’s our chance if we +can only grasp it and make good.”</p> + +<p>“We can! We will!” exclaimed Peggy, striking an attitude and holding one +hand above her glossy head. “Read it out, Roy, so that Monsieur Bleriot can +hear it.”</p> + +<p>M. Bleriot, a French bull-dog, who had dignifiedly followed Peggy’s mad +career down the path, gazed up appreciatively, as Roy read out:</p> + +<p style='text-align: center;'>“Big Chance for Sky Boys!</p> +<p style='text-align: center;'>“Ironmaster Higgins of Acatonick Offers Ten<br /> +Thousand Dollars In Prizes for Flights and Planes.”</p> + +<p>“Ten thousand dollars, just think!” cried Peggy, clasping her hands one +minute and the next stooping to caress M. Bleriot. “Oh, Roy! Do you think we +could?”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_8'></a>8</span>“Could what? you indefinite person?” parried Roy, although +his eyes were dancing and he knew well enough what his vivacious sister was +driving at.</p> + +<p>“Could win that ten thousand dollars, of course, you goose.”</p> + +<p>Roy laughed.</p> + +<p>“It’s not all offered in a lump sum,” he rejoined. “Listen; there is a +first prize of five thousand dollars for the boy under eighteen who makes the +longest sustained flight in a plane of his own construction—with the exception +of the engine, that is; and here’s another of two thousand five hundred dollars +to the glider making the best and longest sustained flight, and another of one +thousand five hundred to the boy flying the most carefully constructed machine +and the one bearing the most ingenious devices for perfecting the art of flying +and—and—oh listen, Peggy!”</p> + +<p>“I am—oh, I am!” breathed Peggy with half assumed breathlessness.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_9'></a>9</span>“There’s a prize offered for girls!”</p> + +<p>“No!”</p> + +<p>“Yes. Now don’t say any more that girls are downtrodden and neglected by +the bright minds of the day. Here it is, all in black and white, a prize of a +whole thousand to the young lady who makes a successful flight. There, what do +you think of that?”</p> + +<p>“That Mr. Higgins is a mean old thing,” pouted Peggy, “five thousand +dollars to the successful boy and only one thousand to the successful girl. It’s +discrimination, that’s what it is. Don’t you read every day in the papers about +girls and women making almost as good flights as the men? Didn’t a—a +Mademoiselle somebody-or-other make a flight round the bell tower at Bruges the +other day, and hasn’t Col. Roosevelt’s daughter been up in one, and isn’t there +a regular school for women fliers at Washington, and—and<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>?”</p> + +<p>“Didn’t the suffragettes promise to drop ‘Votes for Women’ placards +from the air upon <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_10'></a>10</span>the devoted heads of the British Parliament, you +up to date young person?” finished Roy, teasingly.</p> + +<p>Peggy made a dash for him but the boy dodged into the shed, closely followed +by his sister.</p> + +<p>But as she crossed the threshold Peggy’s wild swoop became a decorous stroll, +so to speak. She paused, all out of breath, beneath a spreading expanse of +yellow balloon silk, braced and strengthened with brightly gleaming wires and +stays,—one wing of the big monoplane upon which her brother had spent all his +spare time for the past year. The flying thing was almost completed now. It +stood in its shed, with its scarab-like wings outspread like a newly alighted +yellow butterfly, which, by a stroke of ill luck, had found itself installed in +a gloomy cage instead of the bright, open spaces of its native element.</p> + +<p>In one corner of the shed was a large crate surrounded by some smaller ones. +The large <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_11'></a>11</span>one had been partially opened and Peggy gave a little +squeal of delight as her eyes fell on it.</p> + +<p>“Oh, Roy, that’s it?”</p> + +<p>“That’s it,” rejoined the boy proudly, lifting a bit of sacking from the +contents of the opened crate, “isn’t it a beauty?”</p> + +<p>The lifted covering had exposed a gleam of bright, scarlet enamel, and the +glint of polished brass. To Roy the contents of that crate was the splendid new +motor for his aeroplane. But to Peggy, just then, it was something far +different. A bit of a mist dimmed her shining eyes for an instant. Her voice +grew very sober.</p> + +<p>“Three thousand dollars—oh, Roy, it scares me!”</p> + +<p>Roy crossed the shed and threw an arm about his sister’s neck.</p> + +<p>“Don’t be frightened, sis,” he breathed in an assuring tone, “it’s +going to be all right. Why, can’t you see that the very first thing that happens +is a chance to win $5,000?”</p> + +<p>“I know that. But that contest is not to come <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_12'></a>12</span>off for more than +a month and—and supposing someone should have a better machine than +you?”</p> + +<p>For an instant that air of absolute assurance, which truth to tell, had made +Roy some enemies, and which was his greatest fault, left him. His face clouded +and he looked troubled. But it was as momentary as the cloud-shadow that passes +over a summer wheat field.</p> + +<p>“It’ll be all right, sis,” he rejoined, confidently, “and if it isn’t, +I can always sell out to Simon Harding. You know he said that his offer held +good at any time.”</p> + +<p>“I know that, Roy,” rejoined Peggy, seriously, “but we could never do +that. We could neither of us go against father’s wishes like that. He—well, +Roy, it’s not to be thought of. Poor dad<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>Her bright eyes filled with tears as her mind travelled back to a scene of a +year before when Mr. Prescott had ceased from troubling with the affairs of this +world, and commended his children <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_13'></a>13</span>to the care of their maiden +aunt—his sister with whom, since their mother’s death some years before, the +little family had made their home.</p> + +<p>Poor Mr. Prescott had been that hopelessly impracticable creature—an +inventor. Fortunately for himself, however, he had a small fortune of his own so +that he had been enabled to carry on his dreaming and planning without +embarrassing his family. Roy and Peggy had both been sent to good boarding +schools, and had known, in fact, very little of home life after their mother’s +death which had occurred several years before, as already said.</p> + +<p>Mr. Prescott, in his dreamy, abstract way, had cared dearly for his children. +But those other children of his—the offsprings of his brain—that surrounded +him in his workshop, had, somehow, seemed always to mean more to him. And so the +young Prescotts had grown up without the benefit of home influences.</p> + +<p>On Peggy’s naturally sweet, vivacious character, <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_14'></a>14</span>this had not +made so much difference. But Roy had developed, in spite of his real sterling +worth and ability, into a headstrong, rather self-opinionated lad. His success +at school in athletics and the studies which he cared about “mugging” at +had not tended to decrease these qualities.</p> + +<p>It had come as a shock to both of them a year before when two telegrams had +been despatched—one to Peggy’s school up the Hudson, and the other to Roy up in +Connecticut, telling them to return to the Long Island village of Sandy Bay at +once. Their father—that half-shadowy being—was very ill.</p> + +<p>The messages had not exaggerated the seriousness of the situation. Three days +after his children reached his side Mr. Prescott gently breathed his last, +dying, as he had lived, so quietly, that the end had come before they realized +it. But in those last brief moments Roy came to know his father better than ever +before. He learned that the dream of his parent <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_15'></a>15</span>had been to produce +an aeroplane free from the defects of its forerunners,—a safe vehicle for +passengers or freight. How far he had progressed in this there was no time for +him to tell before the end came. But Roy, interested already in aeronautics at +school, where he had been president of “The High Fliers”—a model aeroplane +association,—eagerly took up his father’s desire that he would try to carry on +his work, and began to take lessons in flying.</p> + +<p>In the shed which had been Mr. Prescott’s workshop the framework of an +aeroplane already stood. And with the aid of what money his father had left him, +Roy had carried on the work till now it was almost completed. But the three +thousand dollars which had gone for the motor had completely exhausted the lad’s +legacy. As Peggy put it, all their eggs were in an “aerial basket.”</p> + +<p>But how much Peggy had aided him, in what had, in the last few months +possessed all his thoughts, Roy did not guess. To what extent <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_16'></a>16</span>her +encouragement had spurred him on to surmount seemingly unconquerable +difficulties, and how she had actually aided him in constructing the machine, +his ambition never realized. Not innately selfish, Roy was yet too used to +having his own way to attribute his success to any one but himself.</p> + +<p>Sometimes, brave, loyal little Peggy, try as she might, could not disguise +this from herself, and it pained her a good deal. But she had uncomplainingly, +ungrudgingly, aided her brother, without hoping for, or expecting, the +appreciation she sometimes felt she was really entitled to. But her great love +for her brother kept Peggy from ever betraying to him or any one else an iota of +her inner feelings.</p> + +<p>So intent had the brother and sister been on their talk that neither of them +had noticed, while they conversed, that a big four-door touring car, aglitter +with gleaming maroon paint, and with a long, low hood concealing a powerful +engine, had glided up to the white gate in the picket <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_17'></a>17</span>fence +surrounding Miss Prescott’s old fashioned cottage.</p> + +<p>From it a frank, pleasant-faced lad and an unusually striking girl, tall, +slender and with a glossy mass of black hair coiled attractively on her shapely +head, had alighted.</p> + +<p>Hearing the sound of voices from the open door of the shed in which The +Golden Butterfly, as Peggy had christened it, was nearing completion, they, +without ceremony, at once made their way toward it. Peggy, glancing up from her +sad reverie at the sound of footsteps, gave a glad little cry as she beheld the +visitors standing framed in the sunlight of the open door. While she and the +tall, dark-haired girl mingled their contrasting tresses in an exuberant +school-girl caress, the lad and Roy Prescott, were, boy fashion, slapping one +another on the back and shaking hands with just as much enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>“Why, if this isn’t simply delightful, Jess, you dear old thing,” cried +the delighted Peggy, as, <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_18'></a>18</span>with both hands on her chum’s shoulders, +she held Jess Bancroft off at arm’s length, the better to scrutinize her +handsome face, “and Jimsy, too,” as she turned to the lad with a bright +smile of welcome; “wherever did you two come from?”</p> + +<p>“From the clouds?” demanded Roy.</p> + +<p>“No, hardly, although I don’t wonder at your asking such a question,” +laughed Jess, merrily, exchanging greetings with Roy. “Roy Prescott, +positively I can see your wings sprouting.”</p> + +<p>They all laughed heartily at this, while Jess ran on to explain that she and +her brother were stopping for the summer at Seaview Towers, a summer estate +which their father, a Wall Street power, had leased for the season. Of course, +explained the merry girl, who had been Peggy’s closest chum at school, her first +thought had been to take a spin over in her new motor car and look up her +friends, for Roy and James—or Jimsy—Bancroft had been almost as close chums as +the girls.</p> + +<p>“And so this is the wonderful Golden Butterfly <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_19'></a>19</span>that you wrote +to me about?” exclaimed Jess enthusiastically after the first buzz of +conversation subsided.</p> + +<p>“Yes, this is it,” said Roy with great satisfaction in his tones, “and +I’m proud of it, I can tell you. I think I’ve made a success of it.”</p> + +<p>Jess and Jimsy exchanged glances. And then Jess stole a look at Peggy, but no +cloud had crossed the face of Roy’s sister.</p> + +<p>“Oh, you darling,” thought Jess, “you’re too sweet for anything. I +just know how much you contributed to the Golden Butterfly’s existence, and yet +you won’t detract a bit from Roy’s self satisfaction.”</p> + +<p>As for Jimsy Bancroft, he said nothing. He glanced rather oddly at Roy for an +instant. Then his eyes turned to Peggy’s face. Perhaps they dwelt there for +rather a long period of time. At any rate, they were still fixed on her brave +beauty when a sudden shadow fell across the stream of sunlight that poured into +the open portal of the workshop.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_20'></a>20</span>“Ah! So this is the place in which young genius finds its +habitation;” grated out a rather harsh, unpleasant voice.</p> + +<p>They all looked up. Perhaps none of them—Jimsy least of all—was pleased at +the interruption. The newcomer was a tall, angular man, with a withered, +clean-shaven face,—what Peggy called a “money making face”; and surely +that described Simon Harding, as he stood there in his black, none-too-new +garments, and his square-toed shoes. One could fairly catch the avaricious glint +in his eyes as he squinted rapidly over the new aeroplane’s outlines.</p> + +<p>By his side stood a youth who was, so far as dress went at any rate, the +exact opposite of the elder man. Fanning Harding—or Fan as he was usually +called—was dressed in elaborate motoring costume. His goggles, of the latest +and most exaggerated design, were shoved up off his countenance now, exposing to +view a good-looking browned face. It was marred, however, <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_21'></a>21</span>by the +same restless, strained look that could be seen on his father’s visage.</p> + +<p>“We’re not intruding, I hope,” he hastened to say, coming forward with a +cordiality that seemed somewhat forced.</p> + +<p>“Not in the least,” said Peggy, hastily, realizing that none of them had +perhaps looked very cordial, “won’t you come in?”</p> + +<p>Fan Harding, bestowing an admiring glance on her, seemed to be about to +accept. His father, however, struck in:</p> + +<p>“I’ll leave you with the young folks, my boy, while I go up to the house. I +have some business with Miss Prescott.”</p> + +<p>As he shuffled off, Peggy and Roy exchanged somewhat uneasy glances. What +business could this old man—in some respects a power financially and otherwise +in Sandy Beach—have with their aunt?</p> + +<p>“Say Peggy,” spoke up Fan Harding, suddenly, “ain’t you going to +introduce me to your friends? And how about inviting us all to have +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_22'></a>22</span>some of those strawberries Pop and I noticed as we came down the +path?”</p> + +<p>“Well, he isn’t a bit backward about coming forward!” thought Jess as +the young people, with due formality, went through the ceremony of +introductions.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> +<a id='ref_ab'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_23'></a>23</span> +<p class='cln0'>CHAPTER II.</p> +<p class='cln1'>SUSPENSE AND ACHIEVEMENT.</p> +</div> + +<p>It was a week after Fan Harding’s visit to the Prescott home, on one +windless, steamy morning, when the pearl-gray mist still lay in the smooth +hollows running back from the coast, that The Golden Butterfly was wheeled out +of her cocoon—so to speak—and dragged up the hillside at the back of the +white, green-shuttered cottage. Miss Prescott, a sweet-faced old lady, whose +cheek was still blooming despite the passage of the years, stood on the back +porch of the house watching the process.</p> + +<p>If Miss Prescott’s face had been somewhat less cheerful than usual since her +talk with Mr. Harding, all the clouds had been chased from it now. She watched +as eagerly as a girl while Roy and Peggy, aided by Jess and Jimsy and two other +lads, friends of Roy’s from the village, <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_24'></a>24</span>dragged the brand new +aeroplane up the hillside.</p> + +<p>The excited chatter and laughter of the young folks rang out merrily as they +worked—for it was work to get the ’plane, light as it was, up the grade. +Fortunately—for Roy had no desire of a crowd to witness his initial ascent in +the new ’plane—the Prescott house was some distance out of the village, and +there were no near neighbors. The place had, in fact, once been a farm house, +and although the acreage still was in the possession of Miss Prescott it was not +worked.</p> + +<p>A more ideal place for flying could not be imagined. Smooth slopes—unwooded, +except in clumps—were all about. To the north glimmered the sparkling waters of +Long Island Sound, while to the south stretched fertile farming land, devoted to +crop-raising and pasturage.</p> + +<p>Very business-like the young people looked as they hauled the monoplane up +the hill. Roy and Jimsy wore leather puttees, trousers fashioned +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_25'></a>25</span>somewhat like riding breeches, and leather coats. On their heads +were caps of the latter material, well padded within and provided with visors +pierced with goggles.</p> + +<p>The girls wore shirt waists, outing skirts and “sensible” walking boots. +Jess had on her “Shaker” motoring bonnet, in which she looked very +captivating indeed. Peggy’s glossy hair, unadorned, but tightly confined in a +net, formed her hair covering. Both girls were all a-tiptoe with excitement, for +although Roy had had experience with aeroplanes, and so, in a limited way, had +Jimsy, this feature of the sport was new to them.</p> + +<p>At last the summit was reached, and Roy, after calling a halt, took a brief +but comprehensive survey of the Golden Butterfly. This done, he climbed into the +chassis—or body—of the thing, and leaning over the machinery he rapidly tested +all the adjustments and examined the lubricating devices to see that all was in +order. Everything appeared to be.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_26'></a>26</span>“Well,” said Roy, with some self complacency, stepping out +of the machine, “everything seems to be ready for the initial flight of the +Golden Butterfly, my lords and gentlemen.”</p> + +<p>“And ladies, if you please,” put in Jess, in a voice that was vibrant +with excitement, despite her endeavor to keep calm.</p> + +<p>“And ladies,” added Roy, with a gallant bow in her direction.</p> + +<p>Peggy in the meantime, like an anxious little mother fussing over dolls, had +been examining the aeroplane once more. Suddenly she gave a little cry. The +exclamation interrupted Roy who was explaining, with great satisfaction, that +everything was all right.</p> + +<p>“I’ve looked it over and if there had been anything wrong it couldn’t have +escaped my notice,” he observed rather pompously.</p> + +<p>“Oh, Roy! Just look here! The spring of this landing wheel is all +slack!”</p> + +<p>This was the exclamation from Peggy that <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_27'></a>27</span>brought up Roy somewhat +shortly in the midst of his self-confident harangue.</p> + +<p>“By George, so it is, sis!” exclaimed Roy, reddening a little, while Lem +Sidney, one of his chums, observed with a chuckle to Jeff Stokes, that Peggy +appeared to know as much, if not more, about the machine than did Roy.</p> + +<p>The spring was soon tightened by means of a monkey wrench. But that did not +prevent them all realizing that had it not been for Peggy’s acute observation a +serious accident might have occurred. This done, even Peggy’s anxious glances +could not detect any other flaw in the machine.</p> + +<p>“What time did that aviator fellow say he would show up?” then demanded +Jimsy, abruptly.</p> + +<p>“He should be here now,” rejoined Roy. “I’ve half a mind to start +anyhow. I can manage the machine I am very certain.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, Roy!” cried Peggy, reprovingly, “you <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_28'></a>28</span>know you +promised aunty that you wouldn’t do anything till Mr. Hal Homer got +here.”</p> + +<p>“All right, sis,” put in Roy, hastily, “don’t be scared. I’ll stick to +my word.”</p> + +<p>“Hullo!” cried Jimsy, suddenly, “there comes an auto now.”</p> + +<p>“So it is,” exclaimed the others, as a black touring car came whizzing +down the road below them. It soon halted, and a figure in leather garments with +gaitered legs alighted and hastened across the fields toward the party clustered +about the aeroplane. The car was left in charge of the chauffeur.</p> + +<p>As Jimsy had guessed, the new arrival proved to be Hal Homer, the well-known +cross country flier, from whom Roy had taken some vacation time aviation +lessons.</p> + +<p>“He’s awfully good looking,” whispered Jess to Peggy, after +introductions to the dapper young aviator had been extended by Roy.</p> + +<p>“Oh, so—so,” rejoined Peggy, with a toss of her head.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_29'></a>29</span>“Maybe you know some one who is handsomer?” questioned Jess +with a mischievous side glance of her fine eyes.</p> + +<p>Peggy flushed under her fair skin. But Jess laughed with good-humored +raillery.</p> + +<p>“Jimsy surely is a good-looking boy,” she said, “if he hadn’t a pug +nose.”</p> + +<p>“A pug nose!” flared up Peggy. “Oh, Jess, how can<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>Then she stopped short in confusion while Jess laughed the more at her +discomfiture.</p> + +<p>Young Mr. Homer lost no time in starting operations. He ordered his helpers +to secure the machine to a small tree growing nearby by means of a stout rope +Roy had brought with him. This done, and the monoplane thus secured from flying +away when her engine was started, he set the sparking and gasolene levers and +threw in the switch. Roy and Jimsy, the latter acting under Roy’s instructions, +flew to the propeller.</p> + +<p>The Golden Butterfly being a monoplane, this was in front of the machine.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_30'></a>30</span>“Be careful when you feel it start, to leap aside,” warned +Roy, “or you might be beheaded.”</p> + +<p>“I never lose my head in an emergency,” joked Jimsy.</p> + +<p>But just the same his heart beat, as did those of all of them but Hal +Homer’s, as he and Roy started to swing the great shiny wooden driving +appliance.</p> + +<p>Once, twice, three times they swung it round, exerting all their force. The +fourth time they were rewarded by a feeble sigh from the engine—a sixty horse +power motor.</p> + +<p>All at once—Bang!</p> + +<p>“Let go!” yelled Roy, jumping backward.</p> + +<p>Jimsy in his hurry to obey stumbled and fell backward in a heap. He rolled +some distance down the hill unnoticed, before he succeeded in stopping his +motion. In the meantime the others—even Peggy—were too absorbed in the sight +before them to watch Jimsy.</p> + +<p>Simultaneously with the sharp report the propeller <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_31'></a>31</span>had whirled +around swiftly. The next instant it was a mere gray blur, while a furious wind +from its revolving blades swept the onlookers. Blue smoke spurted from the +exhausts, mingled with flame, and the uproar was terrific.</p> + +<p>The Golden Butterfly, like a thing of life, struggled at her moorings. The +rope stretched and strained, taut as a violin string, under the pull. But it +held fast, and after a while Aviator Homer slowed down the engine and finally +stopped it, after adjusting a miss-fire in one of the cylinders. As the +propeller became once more visible and then came to a stop, the boys broke into +cheers, while the girls, too, voiced their enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>“Oh, Peggy, isn’t it a darling!” cried Jess.</p> + +<p>“Aeroplanes are not usually called ‘darlings,’” responded Peggy +with assumed severity, “but—oh, Jess, it’s—it’s—a jewel and<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>“I’m dying for a ride in it!” burst in Jess.</p> + +<p>“Then if you will consent to live a little longer <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_32'></a>32</span>I hope to +have the pleasure of saving your life,” put in Roy, gallantly.</p> + +<p>“Oh, Roy! I can ride in it now!” gasped Jess, while Peggy clasped her +hands and snuggled up close to her chum.</p> + +<p>“Well, no, hardly just yet,” laughed Roy, “but after Homer has tested +her thoroughly out I guess you girls can take a spin.”</p> + +<p>“You know I’m going to learn to handle one,” declared Peggy, as Roy made +off once more. “I know a good deal about the theoretical part of it +already.”</p> + +<p>“Well, theory wouldn’t do you much good in a mile-long tumble,” quoth +Jess, sagely.</p> + +<p>“Nonsense,” rejoined Peggy. “Mr. Homer says one is as safe in an +aeroplane, if one is careful, as in an auto.”</p> + +<p>“Safer I guess, the way that brother of mine drives sometimes,” replied +Jess. “He calls it ‘burning up the road.’ But—oh, look, they’re casting +off, or whatever it is you do to an airship when you turn her loose. Oh!”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_33'></a>33</span>Snatching off her motoring bonnet Jess began waving it furiously. +While they had been talking the rope had been cast loose, and now, with Mr. +Homer himself at the driving wheel, in cap and goggles, the engine was being +started once more.</p> + +<p>In wrapt excitement both girls stood breathless. So intent were they on the +scene transpiring before them that they had not noticed the approach of a second +auto on the road below. From it Fan Harding had alighted and hastened up the +hill, after “parking” his machine, as if in fear that he would be too late +to view the proceedings.</p> + +<p>A sneering look was on his rather handsome face as he rapidly climbed the +hill. He reached a position behind the two girls just as the aviator gave the +signal to let go of the machine—to the rear structure of which Lem Sidney and +Jeff Stokes were perspiringly clinging, their heels digging into the soft turf +to steady themselves.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_34'></a>34</span>As Mr. Homer’s hand swung backward and downward they let go. +Instantly, like an arrow from a bow, the monoplane—the work of Peggy and +Roy—was off. How it scudded across the hill top! Blue smoke and flame shot from +its exhaust. Its operator sat hunched over his machinery looking, with his +goggles, like some creature of the lower regions. Peggy clasped her hands and +stood a-tiptoe breathlessly as it scudded along.</p> + +<p>“Oh, will it rise?” she breathed, her color coming and going in her +excitement.</p> + +<p>“I’ll bet ten dollars it won’t fly any more than an earthworm.”</p> + +<p>Peggy turned swiftly, indignantly. Her color flamed and her eyes blazed +angrily. Jess, hardly less indignant at the sneering tone and words, also faced +about.</p> + +<p>“Good morning, girls,” said Fan Harding, easily, raising his motoring +cap nonchalantly, “I came to see the ascension, but I’m afraid that it’s going +to be a descension.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_35'></a>35</span>“I think you’re hateful to talk like that,” cried Peggy, +angrily, stamping her foot. “Our aeroplane will rise. It just will, I tell +you—oh, gracious!”</p> + +<p>She broke off in confusion and stood aghast for a moment. The swiftly +scudding aeroplane had stopped its skittering over the grass and had come to an +abrupt stop at a distance of about five hundred yards.</p> + +<p>Already the boys were running across the turf toward it at top speed. The +girls could see Mr. Homer clambering out of the chassis as the machine came to a +standstill.</p> + +<p>“Ha! Ha! just as I thought,” chuckled Fan Harding, viciously, “that +thing is a dead failure.”</p> + +<p>Poor Peggy, tears in her eyes at this seeming disaster, was stung fairly out +of herself. She switched round on Fan Harding with a suddenness that made her +skirt fly out and that young gentleman step precipitately backward.</p> + +<p>“It isn’t a failure, Fan Harding,” she cried, <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_36'></a>36</span>with blazing +eyes. “How dare you come here to sneer at us. We didn’t invite you. Oh, I +could<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>But Jess had seized her arm and succeeded in checking Peggy just in time. She +whispered something to the indignant girl, who, with a scornful look at Fan +Harding, turned and, with her friend, ran lightly off toward the stranded +aeroplane.</p> + +<p>“By Jove, I really thought for a minute she was going to slap my face,” +chuckled Fan Harding to himself. “How pretty she is when she is angry. But I +guess if she knew what I do about certain affairs she wouldn’t be quite so fresh +with me.”</p> + +<p>He cast a glance at the aeroplane around which the anxious young people were +now clustering thickly.</p> + +<p>“If that thing is a success,” he mused, as he strode off to join them, +“so much the better for me. I think I could use an aeroplane. I don’t see why +I should let Roy Prescott beat me out <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_37'></a>37</span>at anything. Ah! They’ve +started the engine again and—by ginger, she’s rising! She’s going up! She’s +flying!”</p> + +<p>The small irregularity in the working of the engine, which had brought the +plane to a stop, had been quickly remedied. Even Fan Harding, little as he liked +Roy, could not help but join in the cheers as the Golden Butterfly, swinging in +an easy circle, began to climb—higher and higher toward the fleecy clouds that +flecked the blue dome above.</p> + +<p>As for Peggy, she jumped up and down in her enthusiasm till her golden hair +was tumbling in a tangle about her pink shells of ears.</p> + +<p>“Oh, goody! goody! goody!” she squealed in the intensity of her joy.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> +<a id='ref_ac'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_38'></a>38</span> +<p class='cln0'>CHAPTER III.</p> +<p class='cln1'>THE CLOUDS GATHER.</p> +</div> + +<p>“And so unless we can raise that money somehow within a short time we shall +have to leave dear old Shadyside!”</p> + +<p>It was Roy who spoke, in troubled tones, some days after the successful +flight of the Golden Butterfly. They were seated in the cool-looking living room +of Miss Prescott’s home. The sun filtering in through the Venetian blinds, fell +in patches on the polished floors—Peggy’s work, for Miss Prescott’s +circumstances had been for some time too straitened to afford the servants she +formerly had. But she had kept all knowledge of her struggle from her nephew and +niece, until now the time had arrived when she felt that she could conceal no +longer the object of old Sam Harding’s visit to her.</p> + +<p>The old man, among other things, was President <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_39'></a>39</span>of the Sandy Bay +Bank. This bank, although the children did not know it, had long held a mortgage +on Miss Prescott’s property. The kindly, sweet-souled lady had incurred the debt +to forward her brother’s dreams. For poor Mr. Prescott had always been “just +on the verge of making a fortune.” Mr. Harding’s errand was to state that the +interest being long overdue and there being no immediate prospect of settlement +the bank would have to foreclose. The real reason for this anxiety, which of +course Miss Prescott, simple-minded lady, could not know, was, that a real +estate concern wanted to purchase the property to erect a summer colony.</p> + +<p>“But what of my securities in<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>and<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>and<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>?” inquired poor Miss +Prescott, who really knew no more of business than Peggy’s French bull-dog.</p> + +<p>“In the depressed state of the market that class of securities are worth +nothing, madam,” was the response, “in addition, though I have refrained +from telling you so till now, your <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_40'></a>40</span>account at the bank is much +overdrawn. However,” he had continued, “to show you that we mean to be fair +with you we will say nothing about that, but unless the bank gets its interest +we must have the land.”</p> + +<p>It was Miss Prescott’s relation of the true state of affairs to Roy and Peggy +that sunny afternoon that had brought forth Roy’s exclamation recorded at the +beginning of this chapter.</p> + +<p>“But, auntie,” burst out Peggy, blankly, “does the man mean to say +that there is nothing, absolutely nothing, on which we can realize +anything?”</p> + +<p>Miss Prescott shook her head slowly.</p> + +<p>“There is nothing we can do,” she rejoined, sadly. “We shall have to +leave dear old Shadyside and the land will be cut up and sold to strangers. Land +which the first Prescott settled on and which has been in the family ever since. +Oh, dear!” and Miss Prescott, never the most strong-minded of women, drew out +her handkerchief and began to sniff ominously. Peggy, <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_41'></a>41</span>looking +bewitchingly pretty in a simple muslin frock, wrinkled her forehead +seriously.</p> + +<p>“It can’t—it simply can’t be as bad as all that,” she persisted. “We +can raise the money somehow.”</p> + +<p>“Five thousand dollars!” cried Miss Prescott.</p> + +<p>“Phew! That is a lot of money,” from Roy. But Peggy had jumped up from +her chair.</p> + +<p>“The contest, Roy! The contest!” she was exclaiming. “We must write +this very day for particulars. If the Golden Butterfly can win that +prize<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>“By Jove, sis, it’s five thousand dollars, isn’t it?” burst out Roy, +almost equally excited. “I’d forgotten all about it up till now. What an idiot +I am. If only<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>He stopped short suddenly, struck by a depressing thought. Probably there +were plenty of machines, most of them far better than the Golden Butterfly, +entered in the contest which they had read about. His enthusiasm died +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_42'></a>42</span>away—as was the way with Roy—almost as quickly as it had flamed +up.</p> + +<p>But Peggy would not hear of hesitation. She made Roy sit down that very night +and write to the committee in charge of the Higgins’ prize. Under her brave, +independent urgings things began to look brighter. It was a fairly cheerful +party that sat down to a simple supper that evening.</p> + +<p>“Oh, dear,” sighed Peggy, in the course of the meal, “if only I knew +some one who needed a bright young woman to run an aeroplane, how I’d jump at +the job.”</p> + +<p>“You ought to get a high salary at it anyhow,” rather dolefully joked +Roy.</p> + +<p>“And make a high jump, too,” laughed Peggy; “but seriously, auntie, I +can run the Butterfly almost as well as Roy. Mr. Homer said so before he left. +He said: ‘Well, Miss Prescott, I’ve taught you all I know about an aeroplane. +The rest lies with you, of course.’” Peggy went on modestly: “I could +run an auto before. I <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_43'></a>43</span>learned on the one that Jess had at school, so +it really wasn’t hard to get to understand the engine. Don’t you think I’m +almost as good a—” Peggy paused for a word—“a—sky pilot!” she cried +triumphantly, “as good a sky pilot as you are, Roy?”</p> + +<p>“Almost,” modestly admitted Roy, his mouth full of strawberry shortcake, +“but never mind about that now, sis. There are more important things to be +thought of than that. I’m going into town to-morrow for two things. One is to +see Mr. Harding myself. It takes a man to tackle these things<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>“Oh, dear!” sniffed Peggy.</p> + +<p>“The other bit of business I have to attend to,” went on Roy, “is to +get a position. It’s time I was a breadwinner.” Roy thought that sounded +rather well and went on—“a breadwinner.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, Roy!” cried his aunt, admiringly, “do you think you’ll be able to +get a position?”</p> + +<p>“Without a doubt, aunt,” rejoined Roy, confidently; <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_44'></a>44</span>“no +doubt several business houses would be glad—to have me with them,” Roy was +going to say but he thought better of it and concluded, “to give me a +chance.”</p> + +<p>Peggy said nothing, which rather irritated the boy. He concluded, however, +that being a girl, she could hardly be expected to appreciate the +responsibilities of the man of the household. For since that afternoon and its +disclosures, Roy had, in his own mind, assumed that important position.</p> + +<p>Somewhat to Roy’s surprise he found no difficulty in obtaining access to Mr. +Harding at the bank. On the contrary, had he been expected he could not have +been ushered into the old man’s presence with greater promptness. He stated his +business briefly and straightforwardly.</p> + +<p>“Now, Mr. Harding,” he concluded, “is there no way in which this +matter can be straightened out?”</p> + +<p>The old man, in the rusty black suit, picked up <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_45'></a>45</span>a pen and began +drawing scrawly diagrams on the blotter in front of him. Apparently he was in +deep thought. But had Roy been able to penetrate that mask-like face he would +have been startled at what was passing in Simon Harding’s mind. At last he +spoke:</p> + +<p>“I understand that you have built an aeroplane which is a success?” he +questioned.</p> + +<p>“That’s right, sir,” said Roy, flushing proudly; “but the ideas we put +into it were my father’s—every one of them. He practically made it his life +work, you see, and<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>“And you beggared yourself carrying those ideas out, eh?” snarled the +old man. “Oh, you need not look astonished. I know all about your affairs. +More than you think for. And now having expended a wicked sum for the engine of +this flying thing where do you expect to reap your profit?”</p> + +<p>Roy was rather taken aback. In the past days—since the first wonderful +flight of the Golden Butterfly—he had not given much <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_46'></a>46</span>thought to +that part of it. He realized this now with a rather embarrassed feeling. Old +Harding eyed him keenly.</p> + +<p>“Why—father, before he died, spoke of the government, sir. He wanted the +United States to have the benefit of the machine if it proved +successful.”</p> + +<p>“Bah!” sneered old Harding, scornfully, “a mere visionary dream of an +inventor. Now I have a business proposition to make to you. I myself am +interested in aeroplanes—or rather in their manufacture.”</p> + +<p>“You, Mr. Harding!” Roy looked his astonishment. The last vehicle in the +world one would have thought of in connection with “Old Money Grubber,” as +he was sometimes called, was an aeroplane. If he had been given to such things +Roy would have concluded the old man was joking.</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir,” snapped Mr. Harding, “I am. But not directly. It’s on +Fanning’s account. He tells me that he has a chance to organize a company +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_47'></a>47</span>to give aeroplane exhibitions and also to manufacture them. But he +has not been able to find a suitable machine, or one that was not fully covered +by patents till he saw yours in flight the other day.”</p> + +<p>Suddenly he raised his voice:</p> + +<p>“Fanning! Come here a minute.”</p> + +<p>Almost immediately, through a door which Roy had not hitherto noticed, but +which evidently led into an adjoining office, the figure of Simon Harding’s son +appeared. To his chagrin, Roy realized that almost every word he had said to the +father must have been overheard by the son.</p> + +<p>Young Harding, who was dressed in a flashy gray suit, with trousers rolled up +very high to exhibit electric blue socks of the same hue as his necktie, greeted +Roy, who felt suddenly very shabby and insignificant, with a patronizing +nod.</p> + +<p>“Sorry you’re in difficulties, Roy,” he said, “but you never were a +business chap even at school.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_48'></a>48</span>The memory of certain monetary transactions in which young +Harding had been concerned occurred to Roy. The other’s patronizing air angered +him. He would have liked to make some sharp, meaning retort. But the thought of +Peggy and his aunt restrained him. Roy was beginning to learn fast.</p> + +<p>“You needn’t bother to tell me anything about the case,” went on the +younger Harding. “I accidentally overheard all that you said. Now, Roy, my +father has stated the case to you correctly. I’ve got a chance to make money +with aeroplanes if I can only get hold of a new model. You’ve got just what I +want.”</p> + +<p>“Come to the point, my boy, come to the point,” urged his father.</p> + +<p>“I’m getting there, ain’t I?” snarled the dutiful son. “Well, Roy, +you’re in pretty tight straits. We can foreclose on that mortgage any day we +want to. But we won’t do it if you give us a square deal. Forget the government. +Make a deal with us consigning to me the right <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_49'></a>49</span>to manufacture and +exhibit those aeroplanes and I’ll set aside that mortgage and give you a +thousand dollars to boot.”</p> + +<p>“And suppose I won’t accept that offer?” asked Roy, slowly.</p> + +<p>“Then we shall have to go ahead and foreclose. We want that land anyhow, +but I am even more anxious to set up my son in a paying business,” exclaimed +old Harding. “Our offer is a fair one. It amounts to giving you six thousand +dollars for a thing of canvas, wire and clockwork.”</p> + +<p>“Rather more than that, sir,” said Roy, in a steady voice, although he +was inwardly blazing.</p> + +<p>“Well, what do you say?” asked Fanning, eagerly. “We’ll draw up the +papers right now if you say so.”</p> + +<p>But Roy was learning fast. He knew that the offer just made him had been an +inadequate one.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_50'></a>50</span>“I’d like to have time to think it over,” he said, +hesitatingly.</p> + +<p>“Take all the time you want,” said old Harding, with a wave of his +shrivelled, claw-like hand.</p> + +<p>But Fanning did not seem so pleased. It flashed across his mind that Roy +wanted to consult with Peggy, and somehow Fanning felt that in that case his +offer would meet with refusal. He therefore resolved to put in a heavy blow.</p> + +<p>“But I want to start at once,” he said. “I can’t wait any length of +time. When you think that if you don’t accept my offer you’ll all be without a +roof over your heads I should think that for the sake of your sister and your +aunt you’d accept.”</p> + +<p>“They’ll never be in that position while I can work,” rejoined Roy, with +a flushed face. He rose and picked up his hat. Somehow he felt that he could not +stand Fanning very many minutes more.</p> + +<p>“Yes, very fine talk, but what can you do?” snarled Simon Harding.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> +<a id='ref_ad'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_51'></a>51</span> +<p class='cln0'>CHAPTER IV.</p> +<p class='cln1'>JESS AND ROY.</p> +</div> + +<p>Roy flung back some sort of answer and hastened out of the office. As he made +his way up the sunny street outside, however, he could not get out of his mind +the words of Simon Harding. After all, they were true; “what could he do?” +Mentally, as he walked along, Roy ran over the list of his accomplishments. He +came to the conclusion that aeroplane building and flying was where his greatest +strength lay. But how was he to proceed to make money with his knowledge?</p> + +<p>At this point in his meditations, when, unnoticed, he had almost reached the +end of the elm-shaded village street, a loud “Honk! Honk!” suddenly +startled him.</p> + +<p>He looked up, and his gloom vanished like a summer cloud as he saw smiling +down on him <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_52'></a>52</span>from the driver’s seat of the big auto which had just +rolled up beside him, the sunny countenance of Jess Prescott. She was in +automobile attire and looked unusually attractive.</p> + +<p>“Oh, I am so glad I’ve run across you,” she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>“You almost did,” laughed Roy.</p> + +<p>“Did what?”</p> + +<p>“Run across me, of course,” was the response. “But what are you doing +in town? And driving your own car, too. Where is Jimsy?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, he had to do an errand for father.”</p> + +<p>“And so you are acting as chauffeur?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, don’t I make a nice one?”</p> + +<p>“You certainly do,” rejoined the lad with a great deal of emphasis.</p> + +<p>“Well, that being the case, you are commanded to jump in by me at once. +I’ve got an errand or two to do and then I’m driving home. We’ll go by your +place and I can drop you there.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_53'></a>53</span>“That’s very good of you<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>” began Roy, but Jess cut him +short.</p> + +<p>“It’s really selfish,” she exclaimed. “I was looking for an escort. I +really need one. You haven’t got a revolver with you, have you?”</p> + +<p>“Good gracious,” exclaimed the astonished boy as he climbed into the big +car; “no, of course not. Whatever do you want one for?”</p> + +<p>“Why,” confided Jess, as they sped along, “I’m on my way to the bank. +Mother is going to a big dinner party to-night and I volunteered to fetch out +her jewels for her from the safe deposit vault where she keeps them.”</p> + +<p>“And you were afraid of robbers holding you up?”</p> + +<p>“Of course not,” laughed the girl, skillfully dodging a vagrant dog that +sped across the road in front of the big car; “but just the same, I’m glad to +have a nice big boy like you with me. You see, some of the jewels are very +valuable, and one never knows what might happen.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_54'></a>54</span>“No,” agreed Roy; “but in broad daylight, on the road +between Sandy Bay and your home, there could hardly be any risk. For instance, +who would know that you had valuables in the car?”</p> + +<p>“Nobody, except some of the servants at home probably,” responded Jess. +“But here’s the bank.”</p> + +<p>As she spoke she skillfully manipulated her levers and pedals and brought the +car to a stop against the curb as neatly as any driver could have accomplished +it.</p> + +<p>The car had hardly come to a stop before the bank door flew open and Fanning +Harding emerged, his features drawn up into what he meant to be a pleasing +smile, but which more resembled a smirk.</p> + +<p>Jess, ignoring his proffered hand, leaped lightly to the sidewalk and, +responding somewhat frigidly to his pleasantries, made her way into the bank. A +cold nod was all that had passed between Fanning and Roy, though young Harding +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_55'></a>55</span>had looked astonished at beholding the other in Jess’s car. Before +long the girl tripped out of the building once more. But this time she carried +with her a black leather case. Fanning was once more at her side and insisted on +helping her into the car, holding her arm rather tightly as he did so.</p> + +<p>“I wish I could accompany you,” he said. “Ten thousand dollars’ worth +of jewels is a rather risky thing to carry about.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I have a splendid escort, thank you,” spoke up Jess, frigidly. She +drew on her gauntlets and began fumbling with the levers. Roy was already out of +the car and cranking up.</p> + +<p>“It would be the pleasure of the ride,” said Fanning, in a low voice. +“If I were with you I could almost wish somebody would try to hold us up so +that I could show you what I could do in your defence.”</p> + +<p>“Just as you did that day at school when poor little Henry Willis was being +beaten by that big bully Hank Jones?” asked Jess, quietly. Fanning’s +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_56'></a>56</span>glances, and the emphasis he threw into what he said, were very +distasteful to her, and she took what proved an effectual means of squelching +him.</p> + +<p>“You know I had a sore wrist that day and couldn’t get into a fight with +Hank,” said Fanning, but his eyes were downcast and he had not much more to +say. Presently the auto chugged off, leaving the disgruntled youth standing on +the sidewalk following it with his eyes.</p> + +<p>“So you’re trying to win out Jess Bancroft, are you?” the over-dressed +lad thought to himself. “Well, Roy Prescott, I guess that settles you. I’ve +never liked you, and now that I’ve a chance to get the upper hand of you I’m +going to use it. You’ll regret this auto ride to-day in days to come, or I’m +very much mistaken.”</p> + +<p>He turned and reëntered the bank, but presently emerged again in a leather +coat of black material, black leggings and black cap and goggles. Hauling out +his motor-cycle from a rack in front of the bank he wheeled it into the street, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_57'></a>57</span>and with an admiring crowd of small boys looking on, started the +swift, four-cylindered machine. In a cloud of dust he vanished in the same +direction as had Jess Bancroft’s car.</p> + +<p>Jess, once the confines of the village were past, “let the car out.” +They sped along, chatting merrily. The roads about Sandy Bay were ideal for +automobiling, and perhaps neither of the young occupants of the car noticed how +fast they were going when the vehicle topped a small rise and began descending a +long steep grade at the bottom of which the railroad, which approached on a +curve, was visible in two shining parallel streaks of metal.</p> + +<p>Suddenly there came a shrill, long drawn whistle.</p> + +<p>“Hullo, a train!” exclaimed Roy. “Must be a freight; there’s no +regular passenger scheduled to run at this time of day.”</p> + +<p>“That’s right,” agreed Jess. “I guess I’ll slow down a bit till we see +how close it is to the crossing.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_58'></a>58</span>She pressed her foot on the brake pedal and shoved hard.</p> + +<p>But to her astonishment there was no diminution in the speed of the car. It +plunged forward down the hill, gaining impetus every second.</p> + +<p>“Better slow up, Jess,” warned Roy, who had not noticed the girl grow +white and faint, as the possibility of what might occur if she could not control +the car flashed before her.</p> + +<p>“I—I can’t!” she gasped.</p> + +<p>“The emergency brake!” almost shouted Roy. Below them he had seen a +swiftly moving column of white smoke. It was the approaching train. Now it +whistled once more. That meant it was close upon the crossing toward which the +car was racing at terrific speed.</p> + +<p>“I’ve—I’ve tried it. It’s jammed or something! Oh, Roy! the train!”</p> + +<p>Before she could say any more Roy had risen from his seat, and gently, but +firmly, removed the girl’s trembling hands from the steering wheel. With might +and main he tried to check <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_59'></a>59</span>the car. But all he did was in vain. +Drops of perspiration stood out upon his forehead. Jess, utterly unnerved, sank +back in her seat and hid her face with her gloved hands.</p> + +<p>Above the roar of the on-dashing car could be heard the sharp puffing of the +approaching locomotive. Roy tugged as if he would tear his muscle out at the +brake lever, but it refused to budge. A sort of desperate coolness came over +him. But Jess, who had uncovered her eyes for an instant, gave a sudden shrill +scream.</p> + +<p>“Oh, we’ll be killed! Look,—the train! We’ll crash into it!”</p> + +<p>“Sit down, Jess,” ordered Roy, sternly, for the excited girl had seemed +to be on the point of jumping from the car as it swayed and bumped toward what +seemed certain annihilation, at a terrific rate.</p> + +<p>Roy glanced desperately about him. The hill was enclosed by steepish banks +with hedgerows at the top. But at one point he thought he saw a chance of +escape.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_60'></a>60</span>As he despairingly changed the direction of the car two figures +sprang from behind the hedge and gazed in amazement at the runaway auto.</p> + +<p>“They’ll be killed to a certainty!” cried one.</p> + +<p>Indeed it seemed so. With Jess in a dead faint and Roy looking straight into +the dark face of danger the uncontrolled car tore onward toward the train. The +engineer saw it now and blew his whistle shrilly.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> +<a id='ref_ae'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_61'></a>61</span> +<p class='cln0'>CHAPTER V.</p> +<p class='cln1'>A NARROW ESCAPE.</p> +</div> + +<p>But Roy’s quick eye had noted one loophole of escape,—a gap in the bank.</p> + +<p>Truly it was taking a terrible risk to dash the car through it. The boy did +not know what lay beyond, and in taking the chance he was running almost as +great a risk of annihilation as if he kept straight on. But to have done the +latter would have been to crash into a solid wall of moving freight cars as they +bumped across the grade crossing.</p> + +<p>It was almost certain that they would be thrown out and maybe injured. But +Roy did not hesitate. With a quick twist of his steering wheel he sent the car +spinning on two wheels for the gap. For an instant it seemed as if the vehicle +would capsize under the sudden change <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_62'></a>62</span>of direction. But it did not, +although it tilted over at a dangerous angle.</p> + +<p>Whiz-z-z-z-z!</p> + +<p>In a flash they were through the gap, the landscape blurring, so terrific was +the speed.</p> + +<p>The next instant there was a sickening shock. Instinctively Roy threw out an +arm to protect his fair companion. Hardly had he done so before he felt himself +impelled through the air as if from a catapult, and all grew blank.</p> + +<p>When Roy came to himself his head ached as if it would burst. It was some few +seconds, in fact, before he realized what had occurred. When he did he looked +about him. A few paces away lay the still form of Jess Bancroft. She was +stretched out on a cushion upon which she must have fallen. For an instant, as +he gazed at her features as pale as marble, and her closed eyes, a dreadful +thought flashed across Roy’s mind. What if she were dead?</p> + +<p>But to his great relief he speedily ascertained that the girl was breathing. +An ugly bruise on <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_63'></a>63</span>her forehead may have accounted for her continued +swoon although she had fainted with terror the instant the train appeared +beneath them on the crossing.</p> + +<p>The car, its hood crumpled up as if it had been made of paper instead of +metal, stood at the foot of a tree not far off.</p> + +<p>“No wonder we were thrown out,” thought Roy, as he gazed at the wreck +and considered the speed at which they had encountered the obstruction. “The +wonder is we escaped with our lives.”</p> + +<p>After a brief and ineffectual attempt to arouse the girl the boy looked about +him for some means of assistance. The cowardly train crew had not stopped when +they saw the accident. Visions of damage suits and summary discharges may have +drifted through their minds, for extra freights were supposed to send flagmen to +the crossing to warn all traffic of the train’s approach.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Roy recollected the two men he had <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_64'></a>64</span>seen spring from +behind the hedge as the runaway auto approached the gap. What had become of +them? Apparently they had taken to their heels also, for not a sign was to be +seen of them.</p> + +<p>“Odd,” thought the boy to himself; “one would think the first instinct +of a human being at seeing an accident like this would be to stay and help. But, +hold on, maybe they’ve gone for a doctor. A retired physician, Dr. Mays, lives +not far from here. In the meantime if I could only get some cold water.”</p> + +<p>Suddenly he spied a small brook at the foot of the hill. Ill and dazed as he +felt Roy sprinted toward it, and wetting his handkerchief hastened back to Jess. +Kneeling by her side he bathed her forehead. He was rewarded in a few moments by +beholding her eyelids flutter and open. In a few seconds more she was fully +conscious, but weak and shaken. Roy collected the scattered cushions from the +wreck, and placing <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_65'></a>65</span>them like a mattress laid the girl upon them.</p> + +<p>She thanked him with a wan smile and then lay still once more. Roy wisely did +not speak. He judged that perfect quiet was what she wanted at that moment.</p> + +<p>While he sat by her side meditating what to do a sudden noise caused him to +look upward.</p> + +<p>It was a noise like the drone of a giant bumble bee. It came from directly +above his head.</p> + +<p>“The Golden Butterfly!” shouted Roy, springing to his feet.</p> + +<p>Above him, at an elevation of some thousand feet, the yellow wings of the +Prescott aeroplane were outlined against the blue, like the form of one of her +namesakes.</p> + +<p>Roy shouted and waved frantically. Presently he was rewarded by the flutter +of a handkerchief from the chassis of the ’plane. At the same instant it was +swung about, and revolving in graceful circles began to spiral down to the +earth.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_66'></a>66</span>“Hooray! It’s Peggy and Jimsy!” cried Roy. “I recollect +now Jess told me that Jimsy was to have a lesson to-day.”</p> + +<p>Ten minutes later the aeroplane lighted in the field not a hundred yards from +the wreck. As it reached the ground Peggy started the engine at reduced speed. +The aerial marvel began to scoot across the field toward Roy as obediently as if +it had been an automobile under perfect control.</p> + +<p>Agitated as he was Roy could not help feeling enthusiastic as the huge, +glittering, flying thing came closer, its engine roaring and its propeller +whirring angrily, and yet, the dainty girl in the motor bonnet who was driving +it had it under perfect control every second. Throwing back a lever and cutting +off the spark and the gasolene, Peggy brought the aeroplane to a stop with a +jerk.</p> + +<p>Jimsy, with alarmed questions on his lips, sprang out, while Roy helped his +sister to alight.</p> + +<p>“Good gracious, whatever has happened?” <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_67'></a>67</span>gasped the girl, as +she stood on the ground and viewed the still form of her chum Jess, over which +Jimsy was bending in genuine alarm.</p> + +<p>“It’s all right, sis,” Roy assured her, “Jess is not badly hurt. +See—she is looking up at you.”</p> + +<p>Peggy sped lightly over the turf to her chum’s side.</p> + +<p>“Oh, Peggy, dear, I’m so glad you’ve come. It was dreadful. But Roy was so +brave. I’m sure I owe my life to him, for the last thing I recollect we were +heading direct for the train.”</p> + +<p>She would have said more, but Peggy held up an admonitory finger. Turning to +Roy she sought an explanation of all that occurred. It was soon told, and then +the question of summoning a physician came up.</p> + +<p>In the midst of the discussion Peggy gave a glad little cry.</p> + +<p>“The aeroplane! I can fly over to Doctor Mays’ house. There’s a dandy big +pasture in the rear in which to alight.”</p> + +<p>“By George, that’s so,” agreed Roy, “and I <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_68'></a>68</span>guess, although +it sounds a bit startling, it’s the only thing to do. We can’t run the car and +nobody will be along here for hours perhaps. This road isn’t travelled +much.”</p> + +<p>But Peggy, with that quick decision which was characteristic of her, was +already half way to the aeroplane. A moment more and she was in the chassis, and +slipping into the driver’s seat began adjusting the motor.</p> + +<p>“I’ll leave you to look after Jess,” said Roy to Jimsy, “while I go +along with Peggy. I’m not sure that she is as expert in managing an aeroplane as +she thinks she is.”</p> + +<p>“Well, she brought me over here at a great rate, anyhow,” put in Jimsy, +loyally.</p> + +<p>“And in the nick of time, too,” said Roy, warmly pressing the other’s +hand.</p> + +<p>“Oh, do be back as quickly as possible, my foot hurts dreadfully,” +moaned poor Jess, “and my head feels as if a thousand dwarfs were hammering +away inside it.”</p> + +<p>“We’ll be back before you expect us,” Roy <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_69'></a>69</span>said, cheerily. +Jimsy shouted something, but his words were drowned in the roar of the motor as +Roy clambered into the Golden Butterfly and Peggy started the engine.</p> + +<p>The aeroplane dashed forward over the smooth turf and then seemed to take the +air as lightly and easily as a bit of gossamer. Straight up it soared, high +above the tree tops, and was speedily reduced to a fast diminishing speck in the +northwest in which direction lay Doctor Mays’ home. Looking downward from the +speeding flyer the boy and girl aviators could see, spread out below them like a +checkerboard, the fertile Long Island landscape.</p> + +<p>Through it ran the railroad, looking like a glittering ribbon of steel. Off +to the north the sea sparkled, a few white sails dotting its surface. The Black +Rock lighthouse, painted in bands of red and white, formed a conspicuous +object.</p> + +<p>All at once, on the road beneath them, Roy spied a solitary motor-cyclist +whom, even at the <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_70'></a>70</span>height to which they had now risen, he recognized +as Fanning Harding. He called his sister’s attention to the rider.</p> + +<p>“He must have passed right by where the accident happened,” he remarked; +“that road has no outlet for some distance. Funny that he didn’t come to help +us.”</p> + +<p>“You must remember that the banks and hedge hid the place from the +road,” Peggy reminded him. “Even Fanning Harding wouldn’t have willfully +passed by you when you were in such straits.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t think so, either,” agreed Roy, “and come to think of it, +bending over his handlebars as he is, he would not be likely to have noticed the +gap we ploughed through.”</p> + +<p>“Look,” cried Peggy suddenly, “he’s stopping.”</p> + +<p>The girl was right. The motor-cycling boy, whose pace had hitherto been as +fast as that of the aeroplane, could now be seen to slacken his machine and +finally stop it. Leaning it against <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_71'></a>71</span>a fence he clambered into an +adjoining field, and with every evidence of extreme caution he crept toward a +patch of woods at no great distance.</p> + +<p>“What can he be doing?” exclaimed Peggy.</p> + +<p>As she spoke they saw the boy below them take something from his hip +pocket.</p> + +<p>“A pistol!” cried Roy.</p> + +<p>The next instant Fanning Harding had vanished into the patch of woods without +having noticed the aerial observers, or, at least, so it appeared.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> +<a id='ref_af'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_72'></a>72</span> +<p class='cln0'>CHAPTER VI.</p> +<p class='cln1'>A ROADSIDE MYSTERY.</p> +</div> + +<p>“Now, what could he be up to?” Roy wondered as they sped on.</p> + +<p>“Give it up,” laughed Peggy, “unless he was going rabbit +shooting.”</p> + +<p>“Rabbit shooting with a pistol—and in June—oh, Peggy, I thought you were +more of a sport than that.”</p> + +<p>“Well, can you suggest any solution?”</p> + +<p>“Frankly—no. But I’ve been forgetting something which the sight of Fanning +Harding reminded me of,” and Roy at once plunged into an account of his +interview with the banker and his son.</p> + +<p>To his great relief Peggy agreed with him that on no account must the +aeroplane be turned over to the Hardings, but her mind was sadly +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_73'></a>73</span>troubled, nevertheless, by what her brother told her concerning +Simon Harding’s attitude.</p> + +<p>“It looks as if he was bent on hounding us,” she sighed.</p> + +<p>“It surely does,” agreed Roy, “but look, sis—there’s Doctor Mays’ +house off there. You’ll have to make a landing in that field back of the +barn.”</p> + +<p>Peggy nodded and deftly touched a lever or two. The aeroplane began to +descend.</p> + +<p>“Want me to take the helm?” inquired Roy.</p> + +<p>If Peggy had dared to turn her head she would have flashed an indignant +glance at her brother. As it was she had to content herself with a very haughty, +“No, indeed.”</p> + +<p>Roy laughed.</p> + +<p>“You surely are the original Girl Aviator,” he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>“Huh!” cried Peggy, “by no means the original one, my dear. There are +lots of them in Europe and there soon will be in this country, too.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_74'></a>74</span>“I hope so,” responded Roy, “riding with a pretty girl in +an aeroplane just suits me.”</p> + +<p>But Peggy did not reply, and for a good reason. They were now just above the +pasture lot in which she meant to descend, and below them, as they dropped, an +amusing scene was transpiring.</p> + +<p>The Doctor’s horse, old Dobbin, was dashing madly around in circles, faster +than he had gone in twenty years of solid respectability; the two cows, and an +old mother pig with her family, joined him as the strange whirring thing from +the sky dropped lowering above them. As for the chickens, they flew wildly in +every direction, clucking as if they had gone mad.</p> + +<p>In the midst of the turmoil a rear door opened and a kindly-faced old man +with white whiskers and a pair of big spectacles perched on his nose, emerged, +to see what could be causing all the disturbance. He fairly dropped the big book +he was holding, in his astonishment as he beheld a glistening object, like a +huge yellow and spangled <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_75'></a>75</span>bird, dropping in his very back yard, so to +speak. But the next instant he recovered himself.</p> + +<p>“Bless my soul,” exclaimed Dr. Mays, for it was the retired physician +himself, “I thought for a moment that the fabled days of the gigantic Roc, +with which Sinbad the sailor had his adventures, had returned.</p> + +<p>“It must be those Prescott children. Ah!” he exclaimed, as the aeroplane +alighted and came to a standstill, “it is! Dear me, what a century we are +living in! Boys and girls flying about like—like—my chickens!”</p> + +<p>He “clucked” reassuringly to the terrified birds as he hastened toward +the now stationary machine. Roy and his sister came forward to greet the +venerable old doctor as he approached.</p> + +<p>Roy hastily explained their errand, being interrupted constantly by the +physician’s exclamations of astonishment.</p> + +<p>“Go back with you? Of course, I will, my children. Will one of you help me +catch old <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_76'></a>76</span>Dobbin and harness him? My man Jake is in town +to-day.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, doctor,” cried Peggy, entreatingly, “can’t we persuade you to go +back with us in the Golden Butterfly?”</p> + +<p>“To fly! Good heavens!”</p> + +<p>The aged physician threw up his hands at the idea.</p> + +<p>“It is perfectly safe, sir,” put in Roy. “Safer than old Dobbin in his +present frame of mind, I should imagine.”</p> + +<p>They all had to laugh as they looked at the hitherto staid and sober equine +careening about the pasture with his tail held high, and from time to time +emitting shrill whinnies of terror at the sight of the strange thing which had +landed in his domain.</p> + +<p>“I don’t know, I really don’t,” hesitated Dr. Mays. “The very idea of +an old man like me riding in an aeroplane. It’s—it’s<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>“Just splendid,” laughed Peggy, merrily, “and, doctor, I’ve often +heard you say to father that <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_77'></a>77</span>it was a physician’s duty to keep pace +with modern invention.”</p> + +<p>“Quite right! Quite right! I often told your poor father so,” cried Dr. +Mays. “Well, my dear, it may be revolutionary and unbecoming to a man of my +years, but I actually believe I will brave a new element in that flying machine +of yours. More especially as we can reach my young patient much quicker in that +way.”</p> + +<p>While Dr. Mays, who was a widower and childless, went to hunt up an old cap, +as headgear for his novel journey, Roy obtained permission to use the doctor’s +telephone. He called up Jess’s home and related briefly to Mrs. Bancroft what +had occurred, and asked that an automobile be sent to the scene of the +accident.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bancroft, who at first had been seriously alarmed, was reassured by +Roy’s quiet manner of breaking the news to her, and promised to come over +herself at once. By this time Doctor Mays was ready, and the young people noted, +not without amusement, that under his <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_78'></a>78</span>assumed air of confidence the +benevolent old gentleman was not a little worried at the idea of braving what +was to him a new element.</p> + +<p>The Golden Butterfly was equipped with a small extension seat at the stern of +her chassis, and into this Roy dropped after it had been pulled out. Dr. Mays +was seated in the centre, as being the heaviest of the party, while Peggy +resumed her place at the steering and driving apparatus.</p> + +<p>“All ready behind?” she called out, laughingly, as they settled +down.</p> + +<p>“All right here, my dear,” responded the doctor with an inward +conviction that all was wrong.</p> + +<p>“Go ahead, sis,” cried Roy. “Hold tight, doctor, to those straps on +the side.”</p> + +<p>With a roar and a whirring thunder of its exhausts the motor was started up. +Dr. Mays paled, but, as Roy afterward expressed it, “he was dead game.” +Forward shot the aeroplane across the hitherto peaceful pasture lot which +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_79'></a>79</span>was now turned into a crazy circus of terrified animals.</p> + +<p>“Wh-wh-when are we going up?”</p> + +<p>The doctor asked the question rather jerkily as the aeroplane sped over the +uneven ground, jolting, and jouncing tremendously despite its chilled-steel +spiral springs.</p> + +<p>“In a moment,” explained Roy; “the extra weight makes her slower in +rising than usual.”</p> + +<p>“Look out, child!” yelled the doctor, suddenly, “you’ll crash into the +fence.”</p> + +<p>He half rose, but Roy pulled him back.</p> + +<p>“It’s all right, doctor,” he said reassuringly.</p> + +<p>But to the physician it seemed far otherwise. The fence he had alluded to, a +tall, five-barred, white-washed affair, loomed right up in front of them. It +seemed as if the aeroplane, scudding over the ground like a scared jackrabbit, +must crash into it.</p> + +<p>But no such thing happened.</p> + +<p>As the ’plane neared the obstruction something seemed to impel it upward. +Peggy pulled a lever <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_80'></a>80</span>and twisted a valve, and the motor, beating +like a fevered pulse, answered with an angry roar.</p> + +<p>The Golden Butterfly rose gracefully, just grazing the fence top, like a +jumping horse. But, unlike the latter, it did not come down upon the other side. +Instead, it soared upward in a steady gradient.</p> + +<p>The doctor, his first alarm over, gazed about him with wonder, and perhaps a +bit of awe. Many times had he and his dead friend, Mr. Prescott, talked over +aerial possibilities, and he had always listened with interest to what the +inventor had to say. But that he should actually be riding in such a marvellous +craft seemed like a dream to this venerable man of science.</p> + +<p>After his first feeling of alarm had worn off the physician found that riding +in an aeroplane after the preliminary run with its bumps and jouncings is over, +is very like drifting gently over the fleeciest of clouds in a gossamer car, if +such a thing can be imagined. In other words, the Golden Butterfly seemed not to +be moving <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_81'></a>81</span>fast, but to be floating in the crystal clear atmosphere. +But a glance over the edge of the high-sided chassis soon showed the physician +that she was tearing along at a great rate at a height of about five hundred +feet. Fields, woods, streams and small farmhouses swam by beneath their +keel.</p> + +<p>“Well, doctor, how do you like it?” Roy ventured, after a few +moments.</p> + +<p>“Like it!” repeated the physician; “my lad, it’s—it’s—it’s +bully!”</p> + +<p>And thus did his dignity fall like a mantle from Doctor Mays after a few +moments in Peggy Prescott’s, the girl aviator’s, Golden Butterfly.</p> + +<p>A few moments later they came in sight of the field in which they had left +poor Jess lying by the side of the wrecked automobile.</p> + +<p>Hardly had they alighted before Jimsy, a rather worried look on his face, was +at the side of the aeroplane.</p> + +<p>“Say, Roy,” he exclaimed, “you didn’t happen <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_82'></a>82</span>to put that +jewel case in your pocket for safe keeping after the accident, did you?”</p> + +<p>“Why, no. Jess had it and slipped it under the seat while she was +driving,” cried Roy. “Why?”</p> + +<p>“Because it’s gone!” exclaimed Jimsy, somewhat blankly.</p> + +<p>“Gone! Impossible!” protested Roy.</p> + +<p>“But it is. I’ve searched the field thoroughly in the vicinity of the car, +and I can’t find a single trace of it.”</p> + +<p>“It couldn’t have been stolen.”</p> + +<p>It was Peggy who spoke.</p> + +<p>Roy thought a moment. All at once the recollection of Fanning Harding’s queer +actions when they had seen him on the road below them flashed into his mind. The +road, as he had observed, led past the scene of the accident.</p> + +<p>Would it have been possible for Fanning to enter the field while they lay +unconscious there? After an instant’s figuring Roy had to dismiss the idea. Had +such been the case, the son of the <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_83'></a>83</span>banker would have been much +further off when they observed him from the aeroplane than he had been. The +speed he was making would have carried him far from the wrecked auto had he been +near it at the time the accident occurred.</p> + +<p>What, then, could have become of the jewel case?</p> + +<p>“It must be here,” exclaimed Roy, positively; “nobody could have taken +it.”</p> + +<p>While Dr. Mays bent over Jess and examined her injured ankle the others +searched the field in every reasonable direction. But not a trace of the jewel +case could they find.</p> + +<p>All at once, the noise of a horse’s hoofs coming at a rapid trot was heard +from the road. Roy, thinking it might be some one of whom he might make +inquiries, hastened to the hedge and peered over. He saw, coming toward him, a +disreputable-looking old ramshackle rig, driven by a red-haired man of big frame +who was slouchily dressed. His chin had once been shaven, but now the hair stood +out on it like bristles on an old <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_84'></a>84</span>tooth brush. By the side of this +individual was seated none other than the immaculate Fanning Harding, in his +motor-cycling clothes.</p> + +<p>“Why, that’s Gid Gibbons, the most disreputable character about here,” +exclaimed Roy, in amazement. “What can Fan Harding be doing with him?”</p> + +<p>He now noted, to his further astonishment and perplexity, that there was a +third person in the rig—Gid Gibbon’s daughter, a pretty girl in a coarse way, +and given to loud dressing. She had plenty of black hair and a pair of dark eyes +that might have been beautiful if they had not had a certain hard, defiant look +in them.</p> + +<p>As they drew near Fan Harding turned and seemed to whisper something to the +girl, whose name was Hester, at which they both laughed heartily.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> +<a id='ref_ag'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_85'></a>85</span> +<p class='cln0'>CHAPTER VII.</p> +<p class='cln1'>PEGGY IS PUZZLED.</p> +</div> + +<p>“Hello, Gid,” hailed Roy, thinking that perhaps the ne’er-do-well, who +conducted a small blacksmith shop some distance off, might be able to throw some +light on the mystery.</p> + +<p>“Hello, yourself,” was the response in a harsh, gutteral voice as Gid +drew in his reins and the conveyance came to a stop. Roy raised his hat to +Hester Gibbons and nodded coldly to Fan Harding.</p> + +<p>“Good gracious, what’s been happening?” shrilled out the girl.</p> + +<p>“An accident,” said Roy, and went on rapidly to explain what had +occurred.</p> + +<p>“And the worst of it is,” the boy went on, “that besides the accident +Miss Bancroft has suffered a serious loss. A wallet containing valuable jewelry +has vanished entirely.” Roy <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_86'></a>86</span>watched Fan Harding closely as he +spoke and thought that he saw him change color. It might have likewise been +fancy, but he could have sworn that the girl, too, looked confused. Gid puckered +up his lips and emitted a whistle.</p> + +<p>“Lost a wallet with jewelry in it, eh?” he repeated.</p> + +<p>“Have you looked everywhere for it?” asked Fan Harding, with an +appearance of great solicitude.</p> + +<p>“Everywhere we can think of,” rejoined Roy. He turned to Jimsy, who had +just joined him. Jimsy looked despondent and worried. A glance at his +countenance convinced Roy that the jewel case was still missing.</p> + +<p>“I’ll get out and help you look for it myself,” said Fan Harding +suddenly. “It’s awfully queer. Miss Bancroft remarked when she left the bank +that she would take particular care of the jewels.”</p> + +<p>“I wonder if any one passed on this road <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_87'></a>87</span>while we were +unconscious?” queried Roy, looking narrowly at Fan.</p> + +<p>To his surprise, the other answered with a great show of frankness.</p> + +<p>“It’s very odd,” he exclaimed, “but I myself must have gone by this +place not more than a few moments after the smash-up. I was on my way to Gid +Gibbons’s blacksmith shop to get a part of my motor-cycle fixed up. I guess if I +hadn’t been bending over my brakes as I rode down hill I’d have seen the place +myself.”</p> + +<p>“Guess so,” struck in Gid, with a grin; “no one never accused you of +being blind.”</p> + +<p>“My motor-cycle was in worse repair than I thought,” went on Fan, “and +so I left it at Gid’s place and accepted his offer to ride into town with +him.”</p> + +<p>This all sounded plausible enough. Yet Roy noted that Fan had not mentioned +his little excursion into the wood with the pistol. What was he trying to +conceal? What had been his mission there?</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_88'></a>88</span>While these thoughts flashed through Roy’s mind Gid and his +daughter had followed Fan’s example and now joined the searchers. By this time, +Jess, under the doctor’s ministrations, was able to sit up. Her face was pale as +marble, partly from suffering, for her ankle still gave her considerable pain, +and partly from agitation at the loss of the jewels.</p> + +<p>There was a sudden puffing of an auto, and presently Mrs. Bancroft herself, +in a smaller car than the wrecked one, was driven into the group by one of the +employees of her husband’s estate. As gently as possible, after first +explanations had been made, Jess broke the news to her. Mrs. Bancroft, a tall, +stately woman, went white as she heard.</p> + +<p>“One of those jewels, a ruby, was an heirloom that has been in the family +for years,” she exclaimed. “I would not have lost it for all the others. +Has every place been searched thoroughly?”</p> + +<p>“Everywhere, mamma,” responded Jess.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_89'></a>89</span>“Bin over ther ground with a fine tooth comb, mum,” said the +uncouth Gid.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bancroft raised her lorgnette and regarded the unabashed Gid with a look +tinged with some disgust. But Gid merely showed his yellow fangs, in what he +intended to be a pleasant smile, in reply, and lifted his hat with clumsy +gallantry.</p> + +<p>“What was the last you saw of the jewels?” asked Mrs. Bancroft of her +daughter, after Jess had been tenderly carried to the other auto and made +comfortable.</p> + +<p>“It was just before we started down the hill,” was the reply. “I felt +to see if it was safe under the seat just before the car got away from +me.”</p> + +<p>“Then they were there just before the accident, of course,” put in Mrs. +Bancroft. “And now they are missing in this mysterious way.”</p> + +<p>“Well, they couldn’t have walked off,” said Fan; “somebody may have +taken them while you were unconscious. Unless<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>He stopped and glanced at Roy, who felt his <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_90'></a>90</span>face flushing +angrily. There had been a queer intonation in Fan Harding’s tones.</p> + +<p>“Unless what?” put in Jess, looking at Fan Harding directly in the eyes. +His dropped under the scrutiny of the straightforward girl.</p> + +<p>“I suppose you mean unless I took them,” struck in Roy, angrily. There +was a hard note of defiance in his tones which sounded strange there.</p> + +<p>Fan Harding glanced at him quickly and then said in a low voice:</p> + +<p>“Well, it does look odd, you know, and<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>“Don’t dare to say another word like that!”</p> + +<p>Peggy, her soft eyes blazing, stepped forward before Mrs. Bancroft could stop +her. Gid Gibbon’s daughter watched the angry girl with a contemptuous smile. But +Fan Harding went white and shrank back.</p> + +<p>“I—I didn’t mean anything,” he stammered.</p> + +<p>“Children! Children!” exclaimed Mrs. Bancroft, “no more of this. It +seems that there is a mystery here, and perhaps some day it will be +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_91'></a>91</span>solved. But in the meantime I wish no suspicion, or doubt even, cast +on any one.”</p> + +<p>If they had been watching Fan Harding they would have seen his face brighten +up at this. Muttering something in an undertone to Gid, he slunk off, +accompanied by his disreputable blacksmith companion and the latter’s daughter, +Hester, as she went, flung back a glance of contempt at the others, of which +they took not the slightest notice.</p> + +<p>Dr. Mays elected to return home by means of Mrs. Bancroft’s auto. He +declared, laughingly, that he had had quite enough excitement that morning for a +man of his years. A few moments after the departure of Fan and his strange +companions therefore, Mrs. Bancroft’s auto, towing the injured car by means of a +rope brought along for that purpose, set out on its return journey. Jimsy rode +beside his sister, who made a brave effort to bid a cheery good-bye to the young +aviators.</p> + +<p>But, somehow, all of them felt that a constraint <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_92'></a>92</span>had been +suddenly born among them, arising out of the mystery of the missing jewels. The +next day posters, announcing a reward for the recovery of the jewels, were +hurriedly struck off at Sandy Bay printing office, and distributed throughout +the town and the surrounding country. In due course the Prescott household, of +course, received one, and the perusal of it did not add to their +cheerfulness.</p> + +<p>The bills gave a description of the accident and the circumstances, and Roy +could not but feel that any logical person reading the things would come to the +conclusion that Roy Prescott probably knew more about the facts of the case, at +least, than any one else.</p> + +<p>In addition to the disconcerting bills the regular police officials of Sandy +Bay visited the Prescott home and interrogated Roy, to Peggy’s huge indignation. +But worse was to come; private detectives also came and questioned and +cross-questioned him at great length. Roy could not but feel with all this that +he was an object of <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_93'></a>93</span>suspicion, but he bravely went about as before +and tried to hide his inner thoughts as closely as possible.</p> + +<p>Jess soon recovered and was up and about once more. The four young folks +interchanged visits and motored and “aeroed” together as freely as before, +but they somehow all felt that the air was charged with some influence that made +things quite different to what they had been before the accident and the +subsequent mysterious vanishing of the jewels.</p> + +<p>Peggy privately made up her mind, with a truly feminine intuition, that +Fanning Harding had something to do with the affair. Recalling his strange visit +to the wood, she even visited the place by herself one day to see if she could +light upon any clew that might serve to clear things up. But, as might have been +expected, she found nothing.</p> + +<p>Her trip over had been made in the Golden Butterfly. Disappointed at her lack +of success, for she had almost allowed herself to believe that <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_94'></a>94</span>she +would, in some queer fashion, happen upon a clew, the girl was preparing to +return, when something happened.</p> + +<p>A rod, connecting a warping lever with the right wing of the monoplane, +snapped with a sharp crack.</p> + +<p>“Oh, dear!” exclaimed Peggy to herself, “what shall I do?”</p> + +<p>She looked about her as if seeking for information from her surroundings. All +at once she became aware that two men had emerged from the wood behind her and +were watching her closely.</p> + +<p>Plucky as the girl was, she felt her heart beat a little quicker as she +gazed. There was something so very piercing in their scrutiny.</p> + +<p>Suddenly one of them stepped forward, and Peggy saw, to her astonishment, +that she knew him. More astonishing still, the man was trembling and whitefaced +as if in alarm at something.</p> + +<p>It was Morgan, the butler at Mrs. Bancroft’s.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_95'></a>95</span>“Why, Morgan, whatever are you doing here?” exclaimed Peggy +as she breathed more freely.</p> + +<p>The man hesitated. His companion, whom Peggy could now see was an employe +about the Bancroft stables, came to his rescue.</p> + +<p>“Why, miss, we’ve been doin’ a bit of trapping in the woods there.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, miss, that’s hit,” struck in Morgan, a stout, puffy-faced +Englishman with “side burns.”</p> + +<p>“A bit o’ poaching, as you might say, miss. I ’opes you won’t tell on +hus.”</p> + +<p>“Good gracious, no,” laughed Peggy, immensely relieved to find that the +two men were not strangers. “I thought you looked scared when you saw me, +Morgan.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, miss. You see, I haint used in hold England ter see young ledies a +flyin’ round like bloomin’—bloomin’ pertater bugs, hif you’ll pardon the +comparison, miss. But ’as yer ’ad han h’accident?”</p> + +<p>“I have,” rejoined Peggy, restraining an impulse <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_96'></a>96</span>to say “I +’ave.” “It’s not much. If there was a blacksmith shop round here I could +get it fixed in a jiffy. It’s just this rod that’s snapped.”</p> + +<p>“Why, miss,” puffed Morgan, “Gid Gibbon’s place isn’t more than a few +paces, as you might say, from ’ere. Why don’t you take that rod there? Hi’ll +h'escort yer.”</p> + +<p>“Why, that’s so,” agreed Peggy, “how stupid of me not to have thought +of it. Gid can fix it in a few minutes.”</p> + +<p>Selecting a small wrench from the tool box Peggy deftly unbolted the broken +rod, and then, with Morgan and his companion as guides, she set off across the +fields for Gid’s shop, which she now recalled was a short distance up the road, +but hidden from the spot where the Butterfly had dropped by a patch of +woods.</p> + +<p>“By the way, Morgan,” the girl asked, suddenly, “has anything more +been heard of the missing jewels?”</p> + +<p>To Peggy’s astonishment the man started and stammered.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_97'></a>97</span>“Yes, miss—that is—no, miss. I means, miss, that there ain’t +been no news, miss, hof hany kind, miss.”</p> + +<p>Peggy nodded without appearing to note the man’s confusion.</p> + +<p>“It’s a queer affair, miss,” put in Morgan’s companion, whose name was +Giles.</p> + +<p>“It is, indeed,” rejoined Peggy. “I do wish it could all be cleared +up.”</p> + +<p>“Same ’ere, miss, hi’m sure,” struck in Morgan, mopping his puffy face. +He seemed to have, in great part, recovered his composure.</p> + +<p>“Well, there is the blacksmith shop,” said the other man presently, as +they emerged from the fields upon the road through a sliding gate. He pointed to +a long, low, ramshackle structure at the cross-roads. Beside it stood a fairly +neat cottage and beyond this again a brand new shed, from which proceeded a +great sound of hammering.</p> + +<p>As Morgan and Giles left her, to make a shortcut home across lots, Peggy set +off at a brisk <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_98'></a>98</span>pace, holding the broken rod in her hands. She almost +dropped the bits of metal an instant later in a great surprise that she +encountered.</p> + +<p>The door of the brand new building opened and out stepped Fanning Harding, in +overalls and jumper. Suddenly he became aware of Peggy’s advancing figure and +halted, staring at her.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> +<a id='ref_ah'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_99'></a>99</span> +<p class='cln0'>CHAPTER VIII.</p> +<p class='cln1'>HESTER’S RUBY.</p> +</div> + +<p>The door of the shed had been opened wide, but Fanning closed it swiftly as +if in great anxiety to conceal what was within. Then it was that Peggy first +became aware of something she had not noticed before. Above the portal was a +signboard upon which was painted in staring red letters:</p> + +<p style='text-align: center;'>“Office and Works of the Fanning Harding Aeroplane Co.”</p> + +<p>Hardly had Peggy digested this astonishing sign before Fanning, his look of +startled surprise replaced by a smile, advanced, cap in hand, to meet her.</p> + +<p>“Why, what ever brings you here?” he asked, with the air of easy +familiarity which Peggy disliked <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_100'></a>100</span>so much. “I guess that that sign +gave you a kind of a start, eh?”</p> + +<p>“It certainly did,” agreed Peggy, “and it gives me even more of a +start to see you working, Fanning.”</p> + +<p>“Huh,” grunted the youth, beneath whose blue overalls were visible a +pair of gaudy socks of the kind he affected, “I guess you think that I can’t +make good as well as any one else when I try. Roy wouldn’t go into a deal with +me on that aeroplane of his, so I just got busy and started a concern of my +own.”</p> + +<p>“Do you mean you are actually building an aeroplane?”</p> + +<p>“Yes. Got orders for several of them,” rejoined the swaggering youth. +“So far I’ve only had Gid to help me, but I guess I’ll have to enlarge the +plant pretty soon. You see that Roy would have been wiser to sell me that ’plane +of his at the start-off. As things are now, the Harding Aeroplane Company is +going to discount anything in its line.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_101'></a>101</span>“Well, I am glad of that,” said Peggy, briskly, and with +some trace of asperity. Fanning’s conceited, confident air jarred upon her +sadly. “But I came over here to find Mr. Gibbons. I want him to repair this +rod for me.”</p> + +<p>“Why, that’s off an aeroplane!” exclaimed Fanning, eagerly; “you must +have come to earth in the Golden Butterfly quite close to here.”</p> + +<p>“Why, yes. In that field yonder,” rejoined Peggy, some instinct telling +her not to disclose the true object of her visit there; “my motor went wrong +and I had to descend.”</p> + +<p>“What field did you come down in? That one by the clump of woods round the +bend in the road?” asked Fanning, with just a trace of anxiety in his +tone.</p> + +<p>“Yes. It was lucky I was so close. Morgan and Giles<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>“What, Morgan and Giles were there?”</p> + +<p>Fanning seemed tremendously excited all of a sudden.</p> + +<p>“Why, yes. What of it?”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_102'></a>102</span>But Fanning had pulled himself together.</p> + +<p>“Oh, nothing,” he said, in a matter-of-fact tone. “I only thought they +were a long way from home, that’s all. But here comes Gid now. Hey, Gid! Miss +Prescott wants a rod welded. Can you do it for her right away?”</p> + +<p>“Sure,” responded the ill-favored blacksmith, shuffling up. His chin was +more bristly than ever, and his shifty blue eyes blinked like a rat’s beady orbs +as he took the bits of metal.</p> + +<p>“A flaw,” he declared, examining them; “wonder it didn’t break sooner. +Come on to the forge, miss, and I’ll fix it for you in a +brace-of-shakes.”</p> + +<p>Off he shuffled toward the ramshackle forge, Peggy following. Behind her came +Fanning. As they passed the cottage Hester Gibbons came flying down the path, +but stopped at a sign from Fanning. The youth dropped further behind, and as +Peggy followed Gid into the forge and the bellows began roaring, they began to +talk in low tones.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_103'></a>103</span>“Do you think she can suspect anything?” asked Hester at +one point.</p> + +<p>“Not a thing,” was the confident response. “That pale-faced old +gopher, Morgan, was in the wood this afternoon, though. She told me that. The +existence of the Harding Aeroplane Company has become known rather before I +wanted it to, also. However, they may as well know now as any other time that +they aren’t the only fliers in the air. I guess the Harding aeroplane will beat +anything in its line ever seen.”</p> + +<p>“I guess it will,” laughed Hester, and then, for some unknown reason, +they both burst into fits of immoderate laughter. Evidently something connected +with Fanning’s new enterprise was deemed highly amusing by both of them.</p> + +<p>Peggy left without seeing Hester, although from behind a blind in the +cottage, the girl watched her closely enough. Gid, whatever his other +shortcomings might have been, was a good blacksmith, and the rod was well +repaired. Peggy soon had it adjusted, and was about to clamber <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_104'></a>104</span>into +the chassis and start home when a shout from the road made her look up. An +automobile stood there, and in it were Jess and Jimsy. They hailed her +excitedly, and Peggy hastily threw out the switch which she had just adjusted +and hastened across the field to them.</p> + +<p>She soon saw that Jess was waving a leather pocket case above her head and +that her face was flushed and excited.</p> + +<p>“My dear Jess, whatever has happened?” she cried, as she came up to the +side of the auto.</p> + +<p>“Happened!” echoed Jess. “Why, my dear, the most extraordinary, +inexplicable thing you ever heard of.”</p> + +<p>“In other words, ‘we are up in the air,’” quoth the slangy Jimsy, +“even if we don’t own an aeroplane.”</p> + +<p>“You see this case,” cried Jess, extending the leather wallet for +Peggy’s inspection. “Well, that’s the case that held mamma’s jewels. It was +returned most strangely to us this afternoon. We found it on the porch after +lunch.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_105'></a>105</span>“Oh, Jess! the jewels were in it. I’m so glad.”</p> + +<p>“No, girlie, it was empty.”</p> + +<p>“Empty!” echoed Peggy, “and nobody knows how it came there?”</p> + +<p>“No, we must have been at lunch at the time. None of the servants know +anything about the matter, either. It’s a real, dark and deep mystery.”</p> + +<p>“It’s all of that, my dear Watson,” proclaimed Jimsy, folding his arms +and scowling in imitation of a famous detective of fiction. “Why on earth +should the thief want to return the wallet? You’d think he’d dodge such a risk +of being arrested.”</p> + +<p>But Peggy had been looking at the wallet which had so amazingly +reappeared.</p> + +<p>“Why, Jess,” she cried, “it’s all mud-stained. It looks as if it had +been buried somewhere.”</p> + +<p>“It certainly does,” agreed Jimsy, “but even that doesn’t give us any +more to go on than the theory that the jewels have been buried some place.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_106'></a>106</span>“And been dug up again,” put in Peggy, quickly.</p> + +<p>After some more conversation the group was about to break up, when Jess +exclaimed suddenly:</p> + +<p>“Oh, by the way, did you hear about Jeff Stokes? No, I see you haven’t. +Well, he’s been appointed wireless operator at Rocky Point.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I’m so glad,” cried Peggy, impulsively; “that’s been his ambition +for a long time.”</p> + +<p>Rocky Point was a projecting neck of land about two miles east of Sandy Bay. +It was quite an important signalling station for ships passing up and down the +Sound. The position which Jeff Stokes had secured was a lucrative one in a way, +and, at any rate, was in direct line of promotion.</p> + +<p>The two Bancrofts waited to watch Peggy take the air in her now staunch +aeroplane. It was not until she had vanished with a whirr and a whiz that Jimsy +thought of starting his own car.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_107'></a>107</span>“Gracious,” cried Jess, as they sped along, “how I wish +that the mystery of those jewels could be cleared up.”</p> + +<p>As she spoke they were passing by the cottage occupied by Gid Gibbons.</p> + +<p>“Oh, look, there’s that horrid Fanning Harding and Gid Gibbons’s daughter +at the gate,” cried Jess.</p> + +<p>At the same instant as she uttered the exclamation, Hester Gibbons looked up +in time to see Jess’s gaze concentrated upon her. She whisked about, her skirts +swinging as she did so. But she did not turn quickly enough for Jess’s sharp +eyes not to see that she snatched at something she had been wearing at her +throat.</p> + +<p>The millionaire’s daughter was almost certain that the object Hester snatched +at in such a hurry was a ruby brooch, or at least an imitation of one. She had +distinctly caught a ruddy flash as Hester’s hand moved to her throat.</p> + +<p>Jimsy, too, had noticed it, it seemed, for he suddenly observed:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_108'></a>108</span>“Seems queer for Hester to be wearing jewelry. Her father must +be making money fast nowadays.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Jess, but her voice was distant and preoccupied. She was +certain that her eyes had not deceived her. It had been a ruby that Hester +Gibbons had pulled off and hastened to conceal. Obeying an impulse, she turned +and gazed back over the top of the tonneau.</p> + +<p>Through the dust cloud behind the car she could see that Hester and Fanning +Harding were once more in deep conversation at the gate. She wondered what they +could find so engrossing to talk about, and also speculated on several other +things. She, however, avoided mentioning her suddenly aroused suspicions to +Jimsy. He was so hasty. Inwardly she made a resolve to seek out Peggy the first +thing the next day and compare notes with her. She could not help feeling that +matters were assuming a very complicated aspect.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> +<a id='ref_ai'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_109'></a>109</span> +<p class='cln0'>CHAPTER IX.</p> +<p class='cln1'>A RACE AGAINST TIME.</p> +</div> + +<p>One evening, a week later, Peggy and her brother were tightening up some +braces on the Golden Butterfly after an afternoon’s flight along the coast, when +the sharp “honk! honk!” of an automobile from the road attracted their +attention. Running to the door, Peggy saw Jimsy and his sister in the “Gee +Whizz,” as their red auto had been christened.</p> + +<p>But that there was something the matter with the Gee Whizz was evident. The +motor, ungeared, was coughing and gasping in a painful manner. Jimsy shouted as +he saw the two young Prescotts.</p> + +<p>“Say, you aviators, come here and see what you can do to doctor a poor +creeping earthworm of an auto.”</p> + +<p>Laughing at his tone and words, Peggy and <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_110'></a>110</span>her brother hastened +down the path and through the gate.</p> + +<p>“Something’s wrong with the transmission,” explained Jimsy.</p> + +<p>“What’s the trouble?” asked Roy.</p> + +<p>“What a question, you goose?” cried Jess; “if we knew we’d have fixed +it long ago.”</p> + +<p>“It’s doubly annoying,” said Jimsy, in an impatient voice, “because we +got a wire from father to-night, saying that he would take us on a trip to +Washington with him if we arrived in New York by eight-thirty.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, you poor dears,” exclaimed Peggy, “and if you don’t get there at +that time?”</p> + +<p>“We can’t go, that’s all,” said Jess, tragically clasping her gloved +hands.</p> + +<p>“Bother the luck,” muttered Jimsy, with masculine grumpiness. “Found +out what’s the trouble, Roy?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” was the response; “one of your gears is stripped. I’m afraid +that there’ll be no Washington trip for you folksies.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_111'></a>111</span>The tears rose in Jess’s fine eyes. Jimsy looked cross, and an +abrupt silence fell.</p> + +<p>It was Peggy who broke it with a suggestion.</p> + +<p>“There’s a train leaves Central Riverview junction at six, isn’t +there?”</p> + +<p>“I believe so,” rejoined Jess, in a doleful voice; “we took it one +night, I remember, when we missed the through cars from Sandy Bay.”</p> + +<p>“It’s five now,” nodded Peggy, examining the dial of a tiny watch, one +of the last presents her father had given her.</p> + +<p>“Fat chance of getting this old hurdy-gurdy fixed up in time to make +it,” grumbled Jimsy.</p> + +<p>“You don’t have to,” cried Peggy, with a note of triumph.</p> + +<p>“Don’t have to!”</p> + +<p>It was Jess who echoed the remark.</p> + +<p>“No, indeed. Our aerial express will start for the junction in a few +minutes, and<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>But the rest was drowned in an enthusiastic shout. Jess threw her arms about +her chum and fairly hugged her.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_112'></a>112</span>“You darling. We can make it?”</p> + +<p>“We must,” was the business-like rejoinder. “Roy, you get the +Butterfly out and fill the lubricator tank. We’ve got enough gasolene.”</p> + +<p>Roy and Jimsy, arm in arm, hastened off to the shed. The two girls followed +more leisurely. It was not long before everything was in readiness, but fast as +they worked it was nearly half an hour before preparations were all +complete.</p> + +<p>Then they climbed in and Peggy started the engine. But the next instant she +shut it off again.</p> + +<p>“The second cylinder is missing fire,” she pronounced.</p> + +<p>Roy bent over the refractory part of the motor and soon had it adjusted. Then +the motor settled down to a steady tune, the regular humming throb that delights +the heart of the aviator.</p> + +<p>“All ready?” inquired Peggy, adjusting her hood and goggles and turning +about.</p> + +<p>“Right Oh!” hailed Jimsy.</p> + +<p>“Now, boys and girls, prepare for a long run,” <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_113'></a>113</span>warned +Peggy; “with this load it will take a long time to rise.”</p> + +<p>The aeroplane was speeded up and soon traversed the slope leading from the +back of the shed to the summit of the little hill at the rear of the Prescott +place. As it topped the rise Peggy turned on full power. The Golden Butterfly +dashed forward and then, after what seemed a long interval, began to rise. Up it +soared, its motor laboring bravely under its heavy burden. In the dusk blue +flames could be seen occasionally spurting from the exhausts. It would have been +a weird, perhaps a terrifying sight to any one unused to it—the flight of this +roaring, flaming, sky monster, through the evening gloom.</p> + +<p>“We’ve got half an hour to make the twenty miles,” shouted Roy, from his +seat beside his sister. Peggy set her little white even teeth and nodded.</p> + +<p>“I’m going to make for the tracks and follow them. That’s the quickest +way,” she said.</p> + +<p>It seemed only a few seconds later that the <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_114'></a>114</span>red and green lights +of a semaphore signal flashed up below them.</p> + +<p>“Bradley’s Crossing,” announced Roy.</p> + +<p>Swinging the aeroplane about, Peggy began flying directly above the +tracks.</p> + +<p>“No sign of the train yet—we may make it,” said Jimsy, pulling out his +watch. It showed a quarter to six, and they had fifteen miles to travel, or so +Roy estimated the distance.</p> + +<p>“Let her out for a mile-a-minute,” he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>Peggy only nodded. She was far too busy getting all the work she could out of +the motor. An extra passenger makes a lot of difference to an aeroplane, and the +Butterfly was only built to accommodate three. But she was answering gallantly +to the strain.</p> + +<p>On she flew above the tracks, every now and then roaring above some +astonished crossing keeper or track-walker.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, from somewhere behind them, they heard a long, moaning whistle.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_115'></a>115</span>“The train!” shouted Jess.</p> + +<p>In her excitement she gripped Roy’s arm tightly and peered back.</p> + +<p>All at once, around a curve, the locomotive came into view—black smoke +spouting from its funnel and a column of white steam pouring from its safety +valves.</p> + +<p>“She’ll beat us,” cried Jimsy, despairingly, as the thunder of the +speeding train grew louder. The setting sun flashed on the varnished sides of +the cars.</p> + +<p>The engineer thrust his head out of the cab window and gazed upward. His +attention had been attracted by the roaring of the motor overhead.</p> + +<p>He broke into a yell and waved his hand as he saw the flying aeroplane +dashing along above him. The next instant his hand sought the whistle cord.</p> + +<p>“Toot! toot! toot!”</p> + +<p>The occupants of the aeroplane waved their hands. To their chagrin, however, +they saw <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_116'></a>116</span>that, overloaded as the aeroplane was, the train was +gaining on them in leaps and bounds. Its windows were black with heads now as +passengers, regardless of the danger of encountering some trackside obstacle, +leaned out and gazed up at the Golden Butterfly roaring along like some great +Thunder Lizard of the dark ages.</p> + +<p>“Don’t they stop anywhere between here and the junction?” gasped +Jimsy.</p> + +<p>Roy shook his head.</p> + +<p>“It’s a through train from Montauk,” he said; “they make all the speed +they can.”</p> + +<p>“Two minutes,” cried Jess, suddenly; “we won’t do it.”</p> + +<p>But Peggy had suddenly swung off the tracks and was cutting across country. +She had seen that the track took a long curve just before it entered the +junction. By taking a direct “crow flight” across country she might beat it +after all.</p> + +<p>And she did. As the train came thundering into the station and stopped with a +mighty screaming of brakes and hiss of escaping steam, <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_117'></a>117</span>the +aeroplane came to earth in the flat park-like space in front of the depot.</p> + +<p>“Tumble out quick!” shouted Roy, “she only stops a jiffy.”</p> + +<p>Jess and Jimsy lost no time in obeying.</p> + +<p>“Good-bye, you darlings!” cried Jess, as she sped after her brother +toward the station.</p> + +<p>“We’ll get our tickets on the train!” shouted Jimsy, as they +vanished.</p> + +<p>“All ab-o-a-r-d!”</p> + +<p>The conductor’s voice ran peremptorily out. He had seen the race between the +aeroplane and the train, but even that could not disturb a conductor’s desire to +start on time.</p> + +<p>As the wheels began to revolve, Jimsy and Jess swung on to the steps of the +rear parlor car. As they did so the passengers broke into an involuntary cheer. +The shouts of approval at the up to date manner in which the young folks had +“made their train,” mingled with the puffing of the locomotive as it sped +off.</p> + +<p>Among the spectators of the sensational feat <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_118'></a>118</span>had been a +broad-shouldered, bronzed man in a big sombrero hat, who sat in the same parlor +car which Jimsy and Jess had entered. He looked like a Westerner. As the train +gathered headway he suddenly, after an interval of deep thought, struck one big +brawny hand upon his knee and exclaimed to himself:</p> + +<p>“It’s the very thing—the very thing. With a fleet of those I could develop +the Jupiter and astonish the mining world.”</p> + +<p>He rose, with the slowness of a powerful man, and made his way back to where +Jimsy and Jess were sitting. Raising his broad-brimmed hat with old-fashioned +courtesy, he addressed himself to Jimsy and was soon deep in conversation with +him.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> +<a id='ref_aj'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_119'></a>119</span> +<p class='cln0'>CHAPTER X.</p> +<p class='cln1'>THE RIVAL AEROPLANE.</p> +</div> + +<p>In the meanwhile, the exciting race against time had resulted in overheating +the Golden Butterfly’s cylinders, and a stop of an hour or more at the junction +was necessary. Thus it was quite dark when the young Prescotts were ready to +make for home. A small crowd had gathered to see them start, for there was a +little community of houses scattered about the junction.</p> + +<p>They decided to go the way they had come, namely, to follow the tracks to the +crossing and then turn off for home. It was their first experience in night +piloting, and when they were ready Peggy switched on the tiny shaded bulb that +illuminated the compass. This done, she started the engine, and the Golden +Butterfly shot into the air under its reduced load with an almost buoyant sense +of freedom.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_120'></a>120</span>The crossing was reached in several minutes less than it had +taken them to reach the junction on the going trip. Peggy turned off as she +marked the glowing lights beneath her, and presently the Golden Butterfly was +skimming along above dark woodlands and gloom-enshrouded meadows. There was +something awe inspiring about this night flying. Above them the canopy of the +stars stretched like a mantle spangled with silver sequins. Below, the earth +showed as a black void.</p> + +<p>They were flying slowly to avoid overheating the cylinders again. Suddenly a +bright glare shot up against the night from below, and a little ahead of them. +It died down almost instantly, only to flash up once more.</p> + +<p>“Gid Gibbons’s forge!” exclaimed Roy. “Let’s fly over by there and see +what he’s doing.”</p> + +<p>“All right,” agreed Peggy; “ever since my visit there I have felt a +great interest in Mr. Gibbons. But we’ll have to make haste, there’s some wind +coming before long.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_121'></a>121</span>The girl was right. A filmy mist, like a veil, had spread over +the stars, dimming their bright lamps, and a wind was beginning to sigh in the +trees under them.</p> + +<p>But they had not reached Gid Gibbons’s place, or rather a location above it, +when an astonishing thing happened. From the ground a red light and a green +light set at some distance apart began to rise. Up and up they climbed through +the night in long, swinging circles. Between them was dimly visible the dark +outlines of some fabric.</p> + +<p>“An aeroplane!” cried the boy and girl, simultaneously.</p> + +<p>“Fan Harding’s aeroplane!” cried Peggy, an instant later.</p> + +<p>“And—oh, Roy—it can fly!” she added, admiringly.</p> + +<p>“No doubt of that,” was the rather grudging reply, as the red and green +lights soared up and up.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_122'></a>122</span>“Keep clear of it, sis, we don’t want a collision,” warned +Roy.</p> + +<p>“Oh, I’d like to get close and see it,” breathed Peggy. “I never would +have credited Fan Harding with being able to do it.”</p> + +<p>“Nor I,” exclaimed Roy, his dislike of Fan Harding giving place to +admiration—genuine admiration—of the other’s ingenuity.</p> + +<p>“Well, he’s beaten me out at my own particular specialty,” he exclaimed +presently, after an interval in which the lights had climbed far above the +Golden Butterfly. “That’s a better machine than ours, Peg.”</p> + +<p>“I guess we’ll have to admit that,” rejoined the girl, with a sigh. “I +wonder if he’ll enter for the prize?”</p> + +<p>“Of course. With a craft like that he’d be foolish if he didn’t. Odd that +he’s trying it out at night, though.”</p> + +<p>“I suppose he wants to keep secret what it can do and then spring it on an +astonished <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_123'></a>123</span>world,” rejoined Peggy. “Good gracious!” she +broke off hurriedly.</p> + +<p>The aeroplane had given a sudden lurch, and at the same instant a sharp puff +of wind struck them both in the face. Peggy’s hands fairly flashed among her +levers, and she averted what might have been a bad predicament.</p> + +<p>Involuntarily, at the same instant, Roy had glanced up at the other aeroplane +to see how it was faring. To his astonishment the lights did not seem to +waver.</p> + +<p>“Wow, Peg!” he cried, “that puff didn’t even bother Fan Harding’s +craft. It was uncanny to see her weather it.”</p> + +<p>“There’s something uncanny about it altogether,” sniffed Peggy; “it’s +a regular phantom airship.”</p> + +<p>“That’s just what it is,” agreed Roy, “but I’m afraid it is a +substantial enough phantom to carry off that $5,000 prize.”</p> + +<p>Another puff prevented Peggy from replying just then. Once more the Golden +Butterfly careened <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_124'></a>124</span>violently, and then, under Peggy’s skillful +handling, righted herself. But this time the puff was followed by a steady rush +of wind.</p> + +<p>“Better turn, Peg, before it gets any worse,” advised Roy; “we’re off +our course now.”</p> + +<p>“I—I tried to,” exclaimed Peggy, desperately, “but the wind won’t let +me. I don’t dare to.”</p> + +<p>“We must,” exclaimed Roy, with a serious note in his voice; “if this +wind freshens much more we won’t be able to turn at all.”</p> + +<p>He leaned forward and took the wheel from his sister. But the instant he +tried to steer the aeroplane round, the wind, rising under one wing tip, +careened her to a perilous angle.</p> + +<p>“No go,” he said; “we’ve got to keep on going.”</p> + +<p>“But where can we land?” asked Peggy, a little catch in her voice.</p> + +<p>“We’ll have to take chances on that,” decided Roy. “It would be +suicidal to try to buck this wind.”</p> + +<p>The breeze had now freshened till it was singing <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_125'></a>125</span>an Aeolian song +in every wire and brace of the Golden Butterfly. Brother and sister could feel +the stout fabric vibrate under the strain of the blast.</p> + +<p>The aeroplane was moving swiftly now. But it was the toy of the wind, which +grew stronger every minute. The dark landscape beneath fairly flew by under +them. Neither of them thought to look back at the red and green lights in the +sky behind them.</p> + +<p>All at once, Roy, who had leaned over his sister’s shoulder and glanced at +the compass, gave a sharp cry.</p> + +<p>“We’ve got to turn, sis,” he said, in a tense, sharp voice.</p> + +<p>“What do you mean, Roy? Are we in any very serious danger?”</p> + +<p>The girl’s voice shook nervously in response to the anxiety expressed in her +brother’s tone.</p> + +<p>“Danger!” echoed Roy. “Girlie, we are being blown out to sea!”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_126'></a>126</span>Blown out to sea! The words held a real poignant terror for +Peggy.</p> + +<p>“Oh, Roy, we must do something!” she cried, helplessly.</p> + +<p>“Yes, but what? We can’t, we daren’t turn about. The machine would tip like +a bucket. No, we must keep on and trust to luck.”</p> + +<p>Peggy shuddered. Hurtled along in the wind-driven darkness, brother and +sister sat in silence, waiting for the first warning that they were approaching +the sea.</p> + +<p>In the blackness it was impossible to see anything ahead, and the starlight, +which, dim as it was, might have helped, had been overcast by a filmy covering +of light clouds.</p> + +<p>Once or twice as they were hurried helplessly along, the propeller beating +desperately against the wind, they saw, far below them, the cheerful lights of +some farmhouse. Further off a glare against the sky indicated the lights of +Sandy Bay.</p> + +<p>How they wished that they were safe and <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_127'></a>127</span>sound at home, as they +were blown onward by the wind, going faster and faster every minute.</p> + +<p>Roy, his pulses beating hard, and every nerve at tension, had taken the wheel +from his sister, even at the risk of careening the aeroplane when they shifted +their positions. Every now and then he tried to turn ever so little, but each +time a tip at a dangerous angle warned him not to attempt such a thing.</p> + +<p>All at once Peggy uttered a shrill cry.</p> + +<p>“Oh, Roy! The sea!”</p> + +<p>Above the screeching of the wind and the hum of the motor they could now hear +another sound, the thunder of the surf on the beach.</p> + +<p>Straining his eyes ahead Roy could see now the white gleam of the breakers as +they broke in showers of spray on the seashore. A real sense of terror, such as +he had never felt before, clutched at his heart as he heard and saw.</p> + +<p>But controlling his voice, he turned to Peggy.</p> + +<p>“Be brave, little sister,” he said; “we’ll pull through all right.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_128'></a>128</span>Peggy said nothing in response. She dared not trust her voice to +speak just at that moment. White faced and with staring, fixed eyes, she sat +motionless and silent, as the Golden Butterfly was driven out above the roaring +surf and the tossing waves. To her alarmed imagination the sea seemed to be +reaching up hungry arms for the two daring young aviators.</p> + +<p>Suddenly she was half blinded by a brilliant flash of light which bathed the +aeroplane in a flood of radiance. The next instant it was gone, but they could +see the great shaft of radiance sweeping around the compass.</p> + +<p>“It’s the light!” cried Roy. “The Rocky Point light!”</p> + +<div class='chapter'> +<a id='ref_ak'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_129'></a>129</span> +<p class='cln0'>CHAPTER XI.</p> +<p class='cln1'>IN DIREST PERIL.</p> +</div> + +<p>“Oh, if we could only work round and land on the point,” exclaimed +Peggy. “There’s a fine, smooth field there; in fact, it’s all bare ground, +without rocks or trees.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, and Jeff Stokes is wireless operator there, too,” rejoined her +brother. “Hullo,” he exclaimed an instant later, “the wind is shifting a +bit. I almost got her head round that time.”</p> + +<p>“Then there is a chance, Roy!”</p> + +<p>“Yes, sis, but don’t count too much on it.”</p> + +<p>Like a skillful jockey handling a restive horse, Roy worked the Golden +Butterfly about on the shifting air currents. If once he could turn her nose +toward the land he was sure that he would be able to make the ground by driving +the aeroplane down on a slanting angle.</p> + +<p>Once or twice, while he strove with hand and <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_130'></a>130</span>brain against the +elements, he caught his breath with a gasping intake—so near had they come to +overturning. But, thanks to the wind eddies of the point, it was possible, after +a deal of breathless maneuvering, to get the aeroplane headed for the land.</p> + +<p>The instant he found himself in this position Roy threw on all his power and +then, “bucking” the wind, like a ship beating up to windward, he rushed +down through the night upon the point. As he did so the rays of the slowly +revolving light flashed brightly upon the laboring aeroplane. In the radiance it +looked like some struggling night bird beating its way against the storm and +darkness.</p> + +<p>As Peggy had said, the point was clear of rocks or brush, and a landing was +made without much difficulty once the aeroplane had been turned. Just as a ship +can face the waves with comparative security, so an aeroplane, being driven into +the teeth of a gale, is secure so long as she does not “broach to”; in +other words, get <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_131'></a>131</span>sidewise to the blast. It was touch and go with +the Golden Butterfly for several minutes, though, during that struggle with the +elements, and two more thankful young hearts rarely beat than Peggy’s and Roy’s +as they stepped from the machine and made it fast by pointed braces provided for +the purpose.</p> + +<p>Hardly had she touched the ground before a door in the lower part of the +lighthouse opened and the form of Jeff Stokes emerged. He told them that the +struggle with the wind had been seen by the light-keeper and himself, and he was +warm in his congratulations of the daring young aviators. The light-keeper, a +grizzled man named Zeb. Beasley, followed close on Jeff’s heels.</p> + +<p>“Come right into the house and hev some supper,” he said warmly. “It’s +only rough fare, but you’re welcome. My misses will be glad to have you.”</p> + +<p>Truth to tell, both Peggy and her brother were almost famished and worn out +after the tension <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_132'></a>132</span>of the struggle with the wind. This being so, +they were glad enough to accept the light-keeper’s kind invitation.</p> + +<p>Peggy’s first action, however, was to hasten to the ’phone in the lighthouse +and call up their aunt. Miss Prescott, who had been badly worried over their +prolonged absence, was much relieved to learn that they were safe and sound.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Beasley, a motherly woman of middle age, took charge of Peggy while Jeff +Stokes entertained Roy. Jeff said that he liked the life at the light, lonesome +as it grew sometimes. When he felt blue he used to relieve the monotony by +talking, by means of invisible waves, with other operators. He wiled many a +weary hour away in this manner, he said.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, in the midst of their talk, he excused himself and hastened to the +small room in which his instruments were. The place, filled with shiny, +mysterious apparatus and networked above with wires, was as neat as a pin.</p> + +<p>“Some one’s calling,” Jeff explained.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_133'></a>133</span>His quick ear had caught the faint “tick-tick” hardly +audible to the untrained ears, which told him that a message was vibrating +through the night. Slipping over his head a metallic apparatus, not unlike the +telephone receivers worn by “Central,” Jeff began listening intently. +Drawing a pad toward him, he was soon writing down the message as it was ticked +off. Presently it was completed, by which time Peggy was one of his +audience.</p> + +<p>“‘Steamer Valiant, Captain Briggs, of London, wishes to be reported as +passing Rocky Point, bound for Boston,’” read off Jeff. “Hum—nothing +very exciting there.”</p> + +<p>“What are you going to do now?” asked Peggy, as Jeff, the message in his +hand, turned to another table, one on which were arranged some ordinary +telegraph instruments.</p> + +<p>“Send it by ordinary wire telegraphy into the head office in New York,” +he said.</p> + +<p>“Why not send it by wireless?” asked Peggy.</p> + +<p>“Too much chance of delay and getting cross <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_134'></a>134</span>currents,” +explained Jeff. “We found that for quick transmission of ordinary business, +that the wire is best, unless the atmospheric conditions are just right.”</p> + +<p>Suddenly, one of the telegraph instruments began to crackle and click +loudly.</p> + +<p>“Phew!” said Jeff, listening intently; “here’s something that will +interest you folks.”</p> + +<p>“What is it?” asked Peggy, eagerly.</p> + +<p>“It’s—wait a minute till I catch the last<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>” Jeff listened a few +seconds more and then faced about. “Why, that message was a despatch from the +Sandy Bay correspondent of the New York Planet to his paper,” he said. “It +was an article telling that Fanning Harding has completed a successful aeroplane +which made a wonderful flight to-night in a stiff wind. He says that Harding has +formed a company and means to manufacture similar craft. Then there was a lot of +taffy about what a fine young fellow Harding is, and how bright, and so on. +Wonder if it’s true?”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_135'></a>135</span>“I can vouch for that,” said Peggy. “I’ve seen his +factory. It’s out by Gid Gibbons’s shop.”</p> + +<p>“So that’s where Gid is getting all his money,” exclaimed Jeff. “I saw +him spending it like water in Sandy Bay the other day. Hester’s got a lot of new +dresses and hats, too.”</p> + +<p>Peggy’s heart beat a little faster. This sounded like a corroboration of her +suspicions. Where could such a man as Gid Gibbons be getting such large amounts +of money as he seemed to have recently? But before she could ask any more +questions Mrs. Beasley announced supper. Speculation was rife in Peggy’s mind as +they sat down to the broiled sea bass, freshly caught, home-grown potatoes and +string beans and other good things which the light-keeper had designated as +“rough fare.” Peggy was fain to admit afterward, and so was Roy, that never +had she enjoyed anything so much as that meal in the old lighthouse with the +wind roaring about it and the rough, kindly faces of their entertainers smiling +on them.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_136'></a>136</span>Good-natured Mrs. Beasley soon after arranged sleeping +accommodations for her young guests, and that night the young aviators slumbered +peacefully, while above them the great revolving light swept steadily in slow +circles, warning vessels passing up and down the Sound of the dangerous +proximity of Rocky Point.</p> + +<p>The next day dawned bright and fair. The sea lay like a sheet of blue glass, +with scarcely a ripple to mar its polished surface. The last trace of the wind +had died down.</p> + +<p>“We’ll have no more breeze till sundown,” announced Mr. Beasley at +breakfast. Like most men of his profession, he was an earnest and accurate +student of the weather. After breakfast Jeff Stokes, who had been on duty all +night, was relieved by his assistant, a young man who boarded in the village and +rode over to his duty on a motor-cycle.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Roy, after they had thanked their good-hearted entertainers +warmly, “I guess it’s time for us to be getting home.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_137'></a>137</span>But Peggy had noted a wistful look in Jeff Stokes’s eyes as he +stood by the side of the aeroplane, which an examination had already shown to be +none the worse for its buffeting of the night before.</p> + +<p>“Would you like to try a little flight, Jeff?” she asked.</p> + +<p>“Would I?” echoed the youth; “will a duck swim?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, I believe so,” laughed Roy, “and so can a certain young wireless +operator fly.”</p> + +<p>“Gee, Roy, you mean it?”</p> + +<p>“Of course, if you’re not scared.”</p> + +<p>There was a mischievous twinkle in Roy’s eye as he bent over the engine.</p> + +<p>“How would you like a ride, Mr. Beasley?” asked Peggy presently, while +Roy adjusted the engine.</p> + +<p>The weather-beaten old fellow fairly threw up his hands.</p> + +<p>“Land of Goshen, miss!” he exclaimed, “I’ve lived on the earth and +sea, man and boy, for <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_138'></a>138</span>fifty years, and I ain’t agoin’ ter tempt +Providence by embarking in a sky clipper at this late day.”</p> + +<p>“You bet you ain’t,” put in Mrs. Beasley with deep conviction. “Why, +if you ever done such a thing we’d be like to be read out of church—not but +what it’s all right for young folks if they know how to manage the +contraptions.”</p> + +<p>“Now, then, Jeff, if you are ready will you get in?” said Roy +presently.</p> + +<p>The slender young wireless operator hopped into the chassis with alacrity. +But his face was a bit pallid from excitement at the idea of the new method of +locomotion he was about to test.</p> + +<p>Last good-byes were said, and the motor began to whirr like a gigantic +locust. There was a grinding and buzzing as the gears meshed and the aeroplane +began to scud off.</p> + +<p>“Fer all ther world like some big, pesky grasshopper,” declared Mrs. +Beasley, as it scudded off across the smooth turf.</p> + +<p>But if the good lady was astonished, then it <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_139'></a>139</span>was nothing to her +amazement when a moment later the Butterfly soared up into the air, lifting as +gently on the windless atmosphere as a bit of drifting gossamer.</p> + +<p>Up and up it swept in graceful hawk-like circles.</p> + +<p>“Dear Suz!” shrieked Mrs. Beasley presently, “if they ain’t agoin’ out +ter sea!”</p> + +<p>“Just what they air,” shouted her husband, shading his eyes with a +wrinkled hand. “I never thought ter have lived ter have seen such a +thing!”</p> + +<p>Roy had been unable to resist the temptation to take a little spin out above +the glassy, scarcely heaving water. The gulls, soaring above it, viewed with +amazement the invasion of their realm by this buzzing, angry looking monster. +They flew about it shrieking.</p> + +<p>“Goodness, I hope they don’t attack us,” exclaimed Peggy.</p> + +<p>“Not likely,” was Roy’s response. “They think <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_140'></a>140</span>we are some +kind of big bird, I guess, and want to have a game with us.”</p> + +<p>As they swept on, all agreed that never had they felt such a feeling of +exhilaration as came to them as they swooped and swung above the glistening blue +water, for all the world like some huge bird. Once or twice motor boats went by +beneath them, and the occupants looked up at first in wonderment and then in +enthusiasm at the sight the Golden Butterfly and her three young occupants +presented.</p> + +<p>But all at once the steady song of the engine began to grow different. It +“skipped” and sputtered and coughed. Blue smoke rolled from the exhausts. +The aeroplane began to waver and sag.</p> + +<p>Jeff Stokes turned rather pale.</p> + +<p>“What is the matter?” he gasped, steadying his voice as much as he could +as the aeroplane began to drop steadily down toward the water beneath them.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_141'></a>141</span>“The gasolene’s given out,” rejoined Roy in a voice which +was full of anxiety.</p> + +<p>“Oh, Roy, what shall we do?”</p> + +<p>Peggy gasped as the aeroplane, its propeller beating the air more and more +feebly, began to descend with greater rapidity.</p> + +<p>“We’ll have to volplane to some land if we can, and if we can’t we must +take our chances for it in the water,” was Roy’s grim reply.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> +<a id='ref_al'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_142'></a>142</span> +<p class='cln0'>CHAPTER XII.</p> +<p class='cln1'>WHAT HAPPENED ON THE ISLAND.</p> +</div> + +<p>“Look,” cried Peggy suddenly, “isn’t that a small island below there? +Maybe we can make that?”</p> + +<p>“I’ll try to,” was the answer, as Roy gripped the steering wheel more +firmly.</p> + +<p>At the same instant the motor, with a gasp and a sputter, gave out +altogether. But Roy knew how to volplane; that is, to reach the earth by +swinging the aeroplane in circles so that her stability was maintained even with +the power cut off.</p> + +<p>He began to execute this maneuver now. The island which Peggy had indicated +was a small spot of land some five miles off the shore. It was sandy and barren +looking on one side, though at the further end from them there grew some trees +and scrubby looking bushes.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_143'></a>143</span>If he could only keep the aeroplane from sagging down into the +sea Roy was confident he could land at the place in safety. But it was still +some distance off and the aeroplane was still dropping with much greater +rapidity than seemed comfortable. Both Roy and his sister were expert swimmers, +and the boy knew that Jeff was at home in the water. But at the same time, if +they struck the surface of the sea, there was the chance that they might become +entangled in the aeroplane and drowned before they had an opportunity to save +themselves. So it was with a keen sense of apprehension that the boy exercised +all the air craft of which he was master in bringing his sky cruiser +downward.</p> + +<p>“Oh!” cried Peggy suddenly as the Golden Butterfly gave a sickening +downward drop like a stone plunging to vacancy.</p> + +<p>But the empty “air pocket” which the craft had struck was a small one, +and the next instant the atmosphere caught the broad wings and buoyed +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_144'></a>144</span>the aeroplane up from what seemed to be destined to be a disastrous +fall.</p> + +<p>The drop had, however, had one good effect. It had thrown the aeroplane +almost on end, and in that manner drained a few last driblets of gasolene from +the depleted tank into the feed pipes.</p> + +<p>It was only a little fuel, but it was enough to cause the engine to resume +operations for a couple of minutes. Taking advantage of this lucky accident, Roy +drove forward, and as the propeller came once more to a standstill the Golden +Butterfly sank down into a bed of sand which made her almost at once +stationary.</p> + +<p>“Well, we are—aerial Robinson Crusoes,” exclaimed Peggy as, having +clambered out of the chassis, she stood surveying the little island which they +had so fortunately landed upon.</p> + +<p>“Yes, and if we don’t get some gasolene pretty quick we’ll be Crusoes in a +mighty uncomfortable sense,” commented Roy, moodily gazing about at the +surrounding sea, smooth as a sheet of <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_145'></a>145</span>glass and without the sign of +a boat upon it. Far off on the horizon there hung a three-masted schooner, all +her sails set, in the flat calm. But she was too far off to aid them even had +she been able to.</p> + +<p>“Tell you what we’ll do, let’s explore the island,” said Jeff Stokes +suddenly.</p> + +<p>“Of course,” cried Peggy, clapping her hands, “that’s what everybody +does in story books when they are stranded on a desert island, and right after +that they always find just what they want, even down to a silver-mounted +manicure set.”</p> + +<p>“I’d like to see a tin-mounted can of gasolene,” grunted Roy. +Nevertheless after seeing to the engine of the aeroplane he was willing enough +to set out with the others to explore this little spot of land in the Sound.</p> + +<p>It was so small that it did not take them long to reach the summit of the low +peak into which it rose in the centre.</p> + +<p>“Oh, there’s a little hut!” cried Peggy, suddenly.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_146'></a>146</span>Sure enough, below them, and half overgrown with tall weeds and +scrub growth, was a half ruined hut. It was doubtless the relic of some +fisherman who had once used the island as headquarters. But it had, apparently, +long lapsed into disuse.</p> + +<p>Hardly had they spied it before Roy made another discovery. Drawn up in a +miniature cove not far from the hut was a trim and trig white motor boat, +seemingly, from her long narrow shape and powerful engines, capable of great +speed.</p> + +<p>Here was a discovery! A motor boat meant gasolene and companionship.</p> + +<p>With a soft cry of joy Peggy was dashing forward toward the hut, from which +they could now hear proceeding the hum of human voices, when Roy suddenly +checked her. From the doorway there had suddenly issued the figure of Morgan, +the Bancrofts’ butler. He gazed about him with a look of half alarmed suspicion +on his flabby face. The young aviators instinctively crouched <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_147'></a>147</span>back +behind a screen of green brush. They felt a suddenly aroused premonition that +everything was not as it should be.</p> + +<p>“H’its nothink,” said Morgan, addressing someone within the hut, after +he had gazed about a little more without seeing anything to further alarm his +suspicions.</p> + +<p>“All right, if that’s the case come back in here,” came another voice +from inside the hut.</p> + +<p>“Giles!” recognized the astonished Peggy. But another and a greater +surprise was yet in store for them when they heard another voice strike into the +conversation. There was no mistaking the tones for any others than Fanning +Harding’s.</p> + +<p>“You chaps are nervous as kittens,” he was saying, “who on earth would +come to this island? We are as private here as if we were in the South Seas. Now +go ahead, Morgan, with what you were saying.”</p> + +<p>“Well, what h’I says is this,” spoke up the English butler, “a fair +diwision and no favoritism. You say you want a third? You ain’t +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_148'></a>148</span>h’entitled to h’it. H’it was h’only by h’accident that you found +h’out h’our secret h’and h’I thinks you ought to be content with what you can +get.”</p> + +<p>“Very well,” was the rejoinder, “but as you fellows know, I’ve got you +in my power. You daren’t make a move without consulting me. If you try any +monkey tricks I’ll crush you so quick you won’t know what struck you. The police +are still carrying on their investigation, and<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>But here the voices sank so low that the eager young listeners could hear no +more. But their eyes shone as they exchanged glances. Somehow both Peggy and Roy +felt that the conversation had related to the mysterious vanishing of the +jewels. This at least appeared clear from Fanning Harding’s reference to the +police.</p> + +<p>“We’d better get back to the other side of the island before they come out +and see us,” counseled Peggy. “If they were to find out we had been spying +on them they might get frightened and spirit the jewels away from wherever they +have them concealed, for I’m just as sure now <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_149'></a>149</span>that they are all +three mixed up in it as I am that—that<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>“We have no gasolene,” put in Roy.</p> + +<p>“But you have no proof and nothing to go upon,” objected Jeff Stokes who +was, like most folks around Sandy Bay, familiar with the details of the strange +occurrence.</p> + +<p>“That’s just the trouble,” said Peggy, “and it is just as impossible +to go ahead in the case as it is for us to fly without fuel.”</p> + +<p>“Peg!” cried Roy, suddenly, “look at that!”</p> + +<p>“That” was a ten gallon can of gasolene standing on the beach by the +side of the motor boat. Evidently, to drag her bow up on the beach, they had +lightened the craft so as to make the task easier, for several ropes, water jars +and other bits of marine tackle lay about.</p> + +<p>“If we could only get it,” sighed Peggy.</p> + +<p>“Yes, if,” was the rejoinder from Roy, “but we can’t steal it, and, as +you say, it might spoil everything if Fanning Harding thought that we had +overheard any of his talk.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_150'></a>150</span>“Look out!” warned Jeff Stokes in a whisper the next +instant. The warning did not come a bit too soon. The door of the hut opened and +the party which had been in conference inside emerged. They made straight for +the motor boat, which Jeff Stokes had, in the meantime, recognized as one that +was for hire at Sandy Bay.</p> + +<p>“Come on, boys, we’ve got to be getting back,” urged Fanning moving +quickly and preparing to shove the craft off.</p> + +<p>“Wait till I chuck some of this truck in,” grumbled Giles.</p> + +<p>He stooped and rapidly threw in the ropes and other gear scattered about. +Then as Fanning Harding and the flabby-faced butler shoved the craft off he made +a hasty scramble for the boat’s bow, leaping in as she floated free of the +beach.</p> + +<p>“H’I soy,” shouted Morgan, “you forgot the bloomin’ gasolene.”</p> + +<p>“Better put back and get it,” growled Giles; “if you fellows had +helped me a bit instead of <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_151'></a>151</span>givin’ advice it wouldn’t have bin +forgotten.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, we can’t bother with it now,” struck in Fanning, impatiently, +“we’ve plenty in the tank to take us back. I’m not going to delay any +longer.”</p> + +<p>He spun over the fly wheel as he spoke and the motor boat began to cut +rapidly through the water headed for Sandy Bay. As soon as it had gone a safe +distance the three stranded young adventurers joined hands and executed a wild +war dance of joy. By a means almost miraculous they had fallen across the very +thing they needed.</p> + +<p>“It’s just like the story books!” cried Peggy, delightedly.</p> + +<p>They raced down toward the coveted can, which was half full of the precious +fuel. Enough to get them ashore at any rate. Before returning to the stranded +aeroplane they examined the hut, but found nothing in it but a few broken-down +bits of furniture.</p> + +<p>“Queer,” commented Jeff, “I half expected to find something.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_152'></a>152</span>“Not likely,” laughed Roy, “they’re too foxy for +that.”</p> + +<p>“What do you suppose they came to the island for?” asked Peggy.</p> + +<p>“To get a quiet place to talk where they would not be observed by any one +who knew them, I guess,” rejoined her brother. “Oh, if only we could solve +the mystery. It's tantalizing to be so close to it and yet with so many tangled +ends left ravelled.”</p> + +<p>“Be patient,” advised Peggy, “it will all come out in time. And now +I’m as famished for lunch as the Golden Butterfly is, so lets fill up the tank +and then head for home.”</p> + +<p>“Second the motion,” laughed Jeff Stokes.</p> + +<p>Half an hour later the Golden Butterfly once more rose, and without incident +or mishap winged her way back to Rocky Point.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> +<a id='ref_am'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_153'></a>153</span> +<p class='cln0'>CHAPTER XIII.</p> +<p class='cln1'>JUKES DADE APPEARS.</p> +</div> + +<p>The aviation field at Acatonick a few days before the big contests for +juvenile aviators was alive with action and color. The spot selected was a flat, +smooth field of some fifty acres on the outskirts of the town.</p> + +<p>The grass spread a green carpet, thickly sprinkled with wild flowers, while +at one side of the place was a row of green-painted sheds known as the +“hangars.”</p> + +<p>“Hangar is French for shed,” Peggy had explained to a group of friends +from Sandy Bay whom she was showing over the grounds, “and I think that +<i>shed</i> is a whole lot better word than ‘Ongar,’ which is the way you +are supposed to pronounce it.”</p> + +<p>One of the sheds—as in deference to Peggy we shall call them—was of a +different color, and <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_154'></a>154</span>stood somewhat apart from the rest. It was +also much larger and bore in consequential-looking letters over its door the +words:</p> + +<p style='text-align: center;'>“Harding Aeroplane Company. Keep Out.”</p> + +<p>And to see that this notice was enforced to the letter, Fanning Harding had +installed a red-nosed watchman with a formidable club at the portal. +Considerable secrecy, in fact, had been observed concerning his aeroplane. +Several large boxes had arrived one night and been hustled as quickly as +possible into the shed.</p> + +<p>The shed assigned to Roy Prescott, happened, by an odd coincidence, to be +next door to the Harding one. The second day of their stay at Acatonick, Roy, on +coming down to the field from the hotel at which he and Peggy and Miss Prescott +were stopping, was much surprised to be greeted by Fanning, with some +effusiveness.</p> + +<p>After a lot of preliminary hemming and hawing, Fanning broached to Roy once +more the proposition of selling the Golden Butterfly.</p> + +<p>“But I thought you had a fine type of aeroplane <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_155'></a>155</span>of your +own,” said Roy, wondering at this renewal of Fanning’s offer.</p> + +<p>“So I have,” was the rejoinder, “but now that I have established my +business on a paying business basis I can handle another type. You know mine is +a biplane model.”</p> + +<p>Roy nodded. He had no liking for Fanning, but the other was so effusive that +he felt it was incumbent on him to meet the other lad half way, as the saying +is.</p> + +<p>“I’d like to have a look at your craft sometime,” he said.</p> + +<p>“Not much you won’t,” rejoined Fanning, quickly, “you’ll see her on +the day she wins the big prize and not before.”</p> + +<p>“You seem to have it won already,” rejoined Roy, rather +contemptuously.</p> + +<p>“Oh, yes,” was the confident reply, “I’m going to simply fly rings +round you and the rest, so you’d better take up my offer now, for after the race +your Golden Butterfly stock won’t be worth a penny.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_156'></a>156</span>“I’m not so certain about that,” was the answer.</p> + +<p>“Then you won’t take up my offer. I’ll raise it another two +hundred.”</p> + +<p>Roy smiled and shook his head. Something in his refusal angered the other +lad.</p> + +<p>“Well as you wish,” he said, strolling off, “but dad has been pretty +lenient with you up to date. As you won’t meet us half way, though I’m going to +advise him to force you to sell the Golden Butterfly.”</p> + +<p>“How?”</p> + +<p>“By foreclosing that mortgage without further delay.”</p> + +<p>Fanning whipped the words out with a vicious intonation. All his mean nature +surged up into his face as he spoke. Roy breathed a little quicker. But +outwardly he was calm and cold as ice.</p> + +<p>“That’s your privilege,” he said shortly, turning away, but that night +he and Peggy had a troubled discussion about ways and means, and <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_157'></a>157</span>it +became more than ever evident to them how much depended on winning the five +thousand dollar prize.</p> + +<p>There were several aspirants in the juvenile class on the grounds as well as +fliers of more mature years, for Mr. Higgins had interested some other +capitalists, and it had been decided to make quite an event out of the aerial +meet.</p> + +<p>On the day before the race, which meant so much to them, Peggy and Roy +decided to take a practice spin across country in their ’plane. The capable +looking machine excited much favorable comment when it was wheeled out of its +shed. Several of the other competitors gathered about it while the engine was +being tuned up. Among them was a surly looking chap with a dark, roughly-shaven +chin and a pair of shifty eyes. He stood beside Fanning Harding, who was also in +the crowd about the Golden Butterfly.</p> + +<p>The Sandy Bay boy gazed on with a sneering look while our two young aviators +got everything <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_158'></a>158</span>in readiness. This took some time for everybody was +anxious to take a hand in the work, and it was quite a task to kindly, but +steadfastly, reject these offers, well meant as they were.</p> + +<p>At last everything appeared to be in good shape and with a buzz and a whirr +the engine was tried out. It worked perfectly, and before the crowd had had time +to cheer, the aeroplane shot up from the ground in front of its shed with hardly +any preliminary run. Then came a belated cheer.</p> + +<p>“That’s the craft that wins the big prize,” said a stout, good-natured +looking man.</p> + +<p>“Don’t you be so certain,” snapped out Fanning Harding, who stood close +by, and to whom the words were gall.</p> + +<p>“Why, what’s the matter with you, my young friend,” asked the jovial +man; “you must be meaning to get it yourself.”</p> + +<p>“That’s right,” was the confident reply.</p> + +<p>“Well, don’t count your aerial chicks before they’re hatched,” was the +merry rejoinder. A <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_159'></a>159</span>laugh at Fanning’s expense went up from the +crowd. The boy flushed angrily and strode off in the direction of his +hangar.</p> + +<p>“Confound that young Jackanapes of a Roy Prescott,” he muttered, as he +went; “he gets ahead of me every time. But I’ll fix him. Pop needs that land, +and if Roy wins this race the Prescotts can pay off that mortgage and be on the +road to riches. Well, I guess I’ll settle all that. But I’ll have to act +quickly.”</p> + +<p>“You seem to be sore on that Prescott boy,” came a voice at his shoulder +suddenly.</p> + +<p>Fanning turned quickly to find himself confronted by the unprepossessing +individual who had stood at his side during the start of the Golden Butterfly, +which was by this time almost out of sight in the eastward.</p> + +<p>“Why, what do you know about it?” he asked, sharply.</p> + +<p>“Well,” was the rejoinder, “being an observing sort of an individual I +figured out that you <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_160'></a>160</span>were not best pleased at seeing what a fine +aeroplane that kid has. Right, ain’t I?”</p> + +<p>He coolly took from his pocket a disgusting-looking cigar stump and proceeded +to light it, leering impudently into Fanning’s face the while.</p> + +<p>“Well, may be you are and then again you may not be,” was the Sandy Bay +youngster’s cautious reply; “but how does it interest you?”</p> + +<p>“Because I haven’t any more use for him than you have, and if you make it +worth my while I’ll give you a bit of information that will be of value to +you.”</p> + +<p>“What do you mean?” inquired Fanning, beginning to listen with more +attention than he had hitherto shown.</p> + +<p>“Just this, that I’m Jukes Dade, who used to work for Mr. Prescott years +ago, but he discharged me for—for—well for a little fault of drinking I had. +Come now, don’t you recognize me?”</p> + +<p>“By George, I do,” exclaimed Fanning; “but it was so many years ago +you were with Mr. <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_161'></a>161</span>Prescott that I hardly knew you. You have changed +greatly.”</p> + +<p>“I may have,” was the reply in bitter tones. “I’ve been through +enough. But there’s one thing I ain’t never forgotten in all these years, and +that is my resolve to get even on old man Prescott.”</p> + +<p>“But he is dead,” put in Fanning, wondering at the baleful expression of +hatred that had come into the man’s face.</p> + +<p>“All true enough. I heard that some time ago. But if I can injure the son +in any way, I’d like to do it. I’ve got a wrong to avenge, and if you want to +pay well to have Roy Prescott put out of the race to-morrow I’m your +man.”</p> + +<p>“Hush, don’t talk so loud. Some folks over there are looking at us.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, well, if you’re afraid to<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>“No, no, that isn’t it. I must prevent Roy winning that race to-morrow at +all hazards. Come into my hangar and we can talk quietly.”</p> + +<p>“Ah, that’s the talk,” was the rejoinder, and <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_162'></a>162</span>Jukes Dade +chuckled with grim delight. “You want a little job of work done to settle our +friend’s hash. Well, you’ve come to the right shop when you meet up with old +Jukes Dade who has an axe of his own to grind.”</p> + +<div class='chapter'> +<a id='ref_an'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_163'></a>163</span> +<p class='cln0'>CHAPTER XIV.</p> +<p class='cln1'>A GIRL AVIATOR’S ADVENTURE.</p> +</div> + +<p>In the meantime, Peggy and Roy, the former at the steering wheel and +controls, were skimming through the air above the charming country surrounding +Acatonick. The exhilaration of flying, the thrill and zest of it, were strong +upon them as they glided along, and they made an extended flight.</p> + +<p>“She is working like a three-hundred-dollar watch,” cried Roy joyously +as the speedy monoplane flew onward.</p> + +<p>“She’s a darling,” was Peggy’s enthusiastic response. “I’m sure that +if nothing happens you’ll win that race to-morrow, Roy.”</p> + +<p>“I hope so, little sister,” was the response, “for there’s a whole lot +depending on it.”</p> + +<p>“But just think. If you only do we shall be at the end of our troubles.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_164'></a>164</span>“Not quite, sis,” Roy reminded her, “that affair of the +missing jewels is still a mystery, and as long as it stays so some folks will +always be suspicious of me.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, Roy, don’t say such things. Nobody but the horridest of the horrid +would<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>“Unluckily,” struck in the boy, “there are a lot of the horridest of +the horrid in this world, and some of them are in Sandy Bay.”</p> + +<p>He laughed and then went on more seriously:</p> + +<p>“It’s a pretty nasty feeling, I can tell you, to know that you are unjustly +suspected by several folks of—of—er—knowing more about an affair of that kind +than you tell.”</p> + +<p>“What can have become of the jewels?”</p> + +<p>“Ah, that’s just it. Of course we have our suspicion, based really on +nothing, that Fanning Harding knows something about them. But if he did why +would he place that wallet on the porch of Jess’s home?”</p> + +<p>“It’s beyond me.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_165'></a>165</span>“And beyond me, too. I’m quite sure that nobody was about the +place when the accident happened, and I could not have been unconscious more +than a few seconds. Now who could have stolen the wallet in that time?”</p> + +<p>“It will all come out in time. I’m sure of it, Roy, dear,” said Peggy, +earnestly. “Perhaps it will turn out to be not such a mystery after +all.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t know,” was Roy’s rejoinder. “Mr. Bancroft has had some of the +cleverest detectives in the country on the case, and a description of the +jewels, some of which were heirlooms, has been wired everywhere broadcast. But +up to date none of them have turned up at any pawnshops or other likely +places.”</p> + +<p>For some moments more they talked in this strain, when Peggy suddenly gave a +cry and pointed below. They were passing over a tiny lake surrounded by steeply +sloping banks, wooded with beautiful trees. It was an isolated spot, no human +habitation being near at hand apparently.</p> + +<p>“Oh, isn’t that pretty?” cried Peggy delightedly. <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_166'></a>166</span>“It +looks as if it might have come out of a picture book.”</p> + +<p>“And the sight of that water reminds me that I’m terribly thirsty,” said +Roy. “I bet there are some springs by that lake, or if there are not maybe the +water is good to drink from the lake itself.”</p> + +<p>“Let’s go down and see,” said Peggy, with a bright smile, and setting +over a lever and twisting a couple of valves she began to depress the +aeroplane.</p> + +<p>“There’s a good landing place off there to the right of the end of the +lake,” cried Roy, indicating a bare spot where some land seemed to have been +cleared at one time.</p> + +<p>“All right, my brilliant brother,” laughed Peggy merrily. “I saw it at +least five minutes ago. Hold tight, I’m going to drop fast.”</p> + +<p>To any one less accustomed to aerial navigation than our two young friends, +the downward plunge would have been alarming in its velocity. But to them it was +merely exciting. Within a <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_167'></a>167</span>few feet of the ground, just when it +seemed they must dash against the surface of the earth with crushing force, +Peggy set the planes on a rising angle and the Golden Eagle settled to earth as +gracefully as a tired bird.</p> + +<p>“Well, here we are,” exclaimed Roy, looking about him at the sylvan +scene as they alighted; “and now what comes next?”</p> + +<p>“A hunt for the spring, of course,” cried Peggy, placing one hand on her +brother’s shoulder and nimbly leaping from the chassis to the soft, springy +ground. And off they set toward the margin of the little lake below them.</p> + +<p>“Reminds me of Ponce de Leon’s hunt for a spring,” laughed Roy, who felt +in high spirits over the fine way the Golden Butterfly had conducted +herself.</p> + +<p>“But he was looking for the Fountain of Eternal Youth,” said Peggy, +quickly.</p> + +<p>“Wonder if he’d have been any happier if he’d found it,” murmured Roy, +philosophically.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_168'></a>168</span>“If he’d been a woman he would,” said Peggy.</p> + +<p>“Would what? Have found it?”</p> + +<p>“No, you goose, but have been perfectly happy if he had attained perpetual +youth. Why, I think<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>Why, whatever was that?”</p> + +<p>The girl broke off short in her laughing remarks and an expression of +startled astonishment crept over her features.</p> + +<p>“Why, it’s some one groaning,” cried Roy, after a brief period of +listening.</p> + +<p>“Yes. Some one in pain, too. It’s off this way. Come on, Roy, let us find +out what is the matter.”</p> + +<p>Without a thought of personal danger, but with all her warm girlish sympathy +aroused, plucky Peggy plunged off on to a path, from a spot along which it +appeared the injured person must be groaning. But Roy caught her arm and pulled +her back while he stepped in front of her.</p> + +<p>“Let me go first, sis,” he said; “we don’t know what may be the +matter.”</p> + +<p>Peggy dutifully tiptoed along behind, as with <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_169'></a>169</span>hearts that beat +somewhat faster than usual they made their way down the narrow path which led +them into the deep gloom of the deeper woods. All at once Roy halted. They had +arrived on the edge of a little clearing in the midst of which stood a tiny and +roughly built hut with a big stone chimney at one end. Although the place was +primitive it was scrupulously neat.</p> + +<p>Painted white with green shutters, with a bright flower garden in front, it +was a veritable picture of rural thrift.</p> + +<p>The boy hesitated for an instant as they stood on the opposite edge of the +cleared ground. There was no question but that they had reached the place whence +the groans had proceeded. As they stood there the grim sounds began once more, +after being hushed for an instant. Now, however, they took coherent form.</p> + +<p>“Oh, help me! Help me!”</p> + +<p>Roy was undetermined no longer. Directing Peggy to remain outside till he +summoned her, he walked rapidly, and with a firm step, up the <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_170'></a>170</span>path +leading to the hut, and entered. It was so dark inside that at first he could +see nothing. But pretty soon he spied a huddled form in one corner.</p> + +<p>“Oh, don’t hurt me! I’m only a harmless old man! I have no money,” cried +the cringing figure, as Roy entered.</p> + +<p>“I don’t want to hurt you,” said the boy kindly; “I want to help +you.”</p> + +<p>He now saw that the form in the corner was that of an old man with a silvery +beard and long white hair. From a gash on his forehead blood was flowing, and +the wound seemed to have been recently inflicted.</p> + +<p>“What is the matter? What has happened?” asked Roy, gently, as he raised +the old man to a chair into which he fell limply.</p> + +<p>“Water! water!” he cried, feebly.</p> + +<p>Roy hastened outside saying to himself as he went:</p> + +<p>“This is a case for Peggy.”</p> + +<p>Summoning her he hastily related what had <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_171'></a>171</span>occurred and the +warm-hearted girl, with many exclamations of pity, hastened to the wounded man’s +side.</p> + +<p>“Get me some water quick, Roy,” she exclaimed, tearing a long strip from +her linen petticoat to serve as a bandage. Outside the hut, Roy soon found a +spring, back of a rickety stable in which the old man had a horse and a +ramshackle buggy.</p> + +<p>When he returned with the water the poor old fellow took a long draught from +a cup Peggy held to his lips and the girl then deftly washed and bandaged his +wound. This done the venerable old man seemed to rally, and sitting up in his +chair thanked his young friends warmly. Roy, in the meantime, had been looking +about the hut and saw that it was furnished in plain, but tidy style. Over the +great open fireplace, at one end, hung a big picture. Evidently the canvas was +many years old. It was the portrait of a fine, self-reliant looking young man in +early manhood. His blue eyes gazed confidently out <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_172'></a>172</span>from the picture +and a smile of seeming satisfaction quivered about his lips.</p> + +<p>“I’ll bet that’s a fellow who has got on in the world,” thought Roy to +himself as he scanned the capable, strong features.</p> + +<p>“Ah,” said the old man, observing the lad’s interest in the painting, +“that picture is a relic of old, old days. It is a portrait of my brother +James. He<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>But I must tell you how I came to be in the sad condition in which +you found me. Have you a comfortable chair, miss? Yes, very well, then I will +tell you what happened this afternoon in this hut, and will then relate to you +something of my own story for I was not always a hermit and an outcast.”</p> + +<div class='chapter'> +<a id='ref_ao'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_173'></a>173</span> +<p class='cln0'>CHAPTER XV.</p> +<p class='cln1'>THE HERMIT OF THE WOODS.</p> +</div> + +<p>“My name is Peter Bell,” began the old man, “and many years ago I was +like any other happy, care-free young man, who is the son of well-to-do parents. +I had a brother named James Bell, who was much younger than me. We were very +fond of each other and inseparable.</p> + +<p>“Our home was on the Long Island coast and we often went boating. One day +when we were out in my boat a storm came up and she capsized. I tried to save my +brother who was a poor swimmer. But in the midst of my efforts the bulwark of +the wave-tossed boat struck my head and rendered me insensible. It seems, +however, I must have clung to the boat, for when I came to myself I had almost +been blown ashore, and, striking out, I soon reached it.</p> + +<p>“But to my horror I soon saw that people <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_174'></a>174</span>shunned me. In some +way the story got about that I had saved myself at the expense of my brother’s +life. Such stories are always readily credited among the majority of people in a +small town and the tale spread like wildfire with exaggerations. Driven half +wild by the general contempt which I met on every side I left home one night, +and having a sum of money in my own right I decided to live the life of a +recluse.</p> + +<p>“I recollected this spot to which I had come on hunting expeditions in +brighter days. Not long after, grief over my brother’s death resulted in my +mother’s life coming to a close, and shortly afterward my father’s demise +occurred.</p> + +<p>“They left but little, but I managed to secure that portrait of my brother +you see hanging up there and a few bits of favorite furniture associated with +happier times.</p> + +<p>“I have lived here ever since and have become reconciled to my fate. From +time to time I used to advertise for news of my brother, offering rewards, but +long ago I stopped that, and have <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_175'></a>175</span>no doubt that he perished in the +storm, although for a time I comforted myself by thinking that he might, by some +strange chance, have been saved.</p> + +<p>“In some way a rumor has spread through the countryside that I have much +wealth hidden here, and this afternoon four masked men entered the hut and when +I protested, in reply to their demands, that I had no money, they struck me down +and searched the house. Then cursing me for a fraud and an impostor because they +found no gold they left, leaving me to my fate.”</p> + +<p>“You have no idea who the men were?” asked Roy who, like Peggy, had +listened with close attention to the old man’s story.</p> + +<p>“Yes, I think they were young men of bad reputation from a neighboring +village; however, I am not sure. I am certain that I recollected hearing the +voice of one of them when I was in the market in that village some time +ago.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, then, you do go into town sometimes?” asked Roy.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_176'></a>176</span>“Oh, yes,” rejoined the hermit, “but no more than I can +help. I have long since departed from the ways of the world and the habitations +of men. But I gather herbs in the woods for miles about and sell them to folks +in the villages.”</p> + +<p>“I suppose that is why you have the horse and cart?” put in Peggy, who +had been gazing out of the window and had noticed the tumbledown barn.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” rejoined the old man. “I am not as active as I was once and my +old bones will not carry me as far as they used to. So I drive old Dobbin when I +have a journey of any length to make.”</p> + +<p>The hermit would not hear of any help being summoned for him. He said that he +was in no danger of a second attack, as the search of his little property had +been thorough and had resulted in the rascals, who had invaded his haunts, +getting nothing for their pains. Refusing some refreshment the old man offered, +the young aviators soon after left the hut, promising to call in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_177'></a>177</span>again in a few days and give the hermit an opportunity to see the +aeroplane in which he was much interested. The old man asked them many questions +about the races of the next day and seemed interested in hearing the +details.</p> + +<p>The Golden Butterfly they found just as they had left her, and clambering on +board they were soon winging their way back to Acatonick where, as you may +imagine, they had an interesting story of the incidents of the afternoon to +relate to Miss Prescott that evening.</p> + +<p>“I never saw such children for adventures in all my born days,” she +declared, “but I have a letter here which I must show you. I am afraid it +means that we shall have to leave the old home.”</p> + +<p>She drew an envelope from her handbag which lay on a table of the hotel room +and handed it to Roy. On opening it, he found that it contained a formal notice +from the Sandy Bay Bank, that unless the accumulated interest and other moneys +owing them were paid up within <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_178'></a>178</span>a week that foreclosure proceedings +would be taken. The boy gave a disconsolate whistle as he finished reading the +letter aloud and handed it back.</p> + +<p>He had hardly done so when there came a rap on the door of the room. “I +wonder who that can be so late?” thought Roy, getting up and going to the +door.</p> + +<p>A bellboy stood there with a note.</p> + +<p>“A messenger just brought this from the aviation grounds,” he said. +“Any answer?”</p> + +<p>“Wait a minute,” said Roy, skimming hastily through the note. It was +typewritten and signed:—James Jarvis, Superintendent of Arrangements.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>“Dear sir: You are requested to report at the executive tent at once. +An important meeting will take place affecting the competitors in the races to-morrow.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>This was what Roy read. Then he turned to the bellboy and told the lad to +inform the messenger <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_179'></a>179</span>that he would be there as soon as +possible.</p> + +<p>“Queer though,” he said to Peggy and his aunt. “I didn’t know of any +meeting that was scheduled to take place to-night. I guess it’s one that’s been +called at the eleventh hour to make some arrangements.”</p> + +<p>“That must be it,” agreed Peggy. “Shall I come with you?”</p> + +<p>“No, thanks, sis,” rejoined the boy; “you’d better get to bed. It’s +going to be an exciting day to-morrow for us all.”</p> + +<p>The boy snatched up his cap and with a hasty good-bye, was off.</p> + +<p>Downstairs in the lobby of the hotel he found the messenger awaiting him,—a +shifty-eyed man with a blue chin. It was, in fact, Jukes Dade, who, in a +different suit of clothes and with a clean shave and haircut, looked a trifle +more presentable than he had earlier in the day when he made himself known to +Fanning.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_180'></a>180</span>“This way, sir,” he said, with a fawning sort of bow.</p> + +<p>“Out of this door is the quickest,” said Roy quickly, with a feeling +that he would rather walk to the grounds alone than with such a companion.</p> + +<p>“But we’re not going to walk, sir. The committee has sent an auto for +you.”</p> + +<p>“A car, eh?” said Roy; “well, that’s considerate of them. I’ll tell my +sister. She might like to come along, too.”</p> + +<p>The messenger shook his head.</p> + +<p>“Sorry, sir; but we’ve got to pick up some other aviators on our way and +every bit of room in the car will be taken.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, very well, then,” said Roy, “lead on.”</p> + +<p>The blue-chinned Dade shuffled across the lobby with a furtive air.</p> + +<p>“Funny,” thought Roy. “I’ve seen that chap some place before, but to +save my life I can’t place him.”</p> + +<p>Cudgelling his brains to try to recall where he <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_181'></a>181</span>had met the man, +Roy passed through the hotel lobby and out into the street. In the lamplight he +saw a big car standing at the curb, shaking as its ungeared engine puffed and +chugged. A chauffeur, with an auto mask and goggles on, sat on the front seat. +Roy got in behind in the tonneau while the messenger took his seat by the +chauffeur.</p> + +<p>He said something in a low whisper to the driver and the next instant there +was a grinding whirr as the gears were connected and the car rolled forward.</p> + +<p>“Well, they’ve got a good fast car here,” thought Roy, as the machine +sped along over the roads. “At this rate we ought to be at the grounds +in<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>But what was this? Surely the road they were on was not the right one. +Leaning forward he touched the chauffeur on the shoulder.</p> + +<p>“This isn’t the road to the grounds,” he said.</p> + +<p>“Oh, yes it is,” put in the messenger; “it’s a short cut, though. +Isn’t it, Fred?”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_182'></a>182</span>The chauffeur did not speak but merely nodded his head.</p> + +<p>Although by no means satisfied with the explanation, Roy made no immediate +comment. In the meantime they had passed the outskirts of the little town and +were now whizzing along an unlighted road bordered with big trees. On and on +they went, and Roy, every minute, grew more uneasy. Where could they be taking +him?</p> + +<p>“Where are you going?” he demanded suddenly, his suspicion showing in +his tone as he rose in the tonneau and leaned forward. “I want you to know +that<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>But before he could utter another word the blue-chinned messenger did an +astonishing thing. With a quick, imperceptible movement he produced a revolver +and thrust its gleaming barrel up under Roy’s nose.</p> + +<p>“Sit back and keep quiet,” he warned, “and you’ll be all right. If you +make a holler you’ll get what’s in this barker.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_183'></a>183</span>As he spoke the auto began to slow down, and presently a dark +form stepped from the shadows of the trees ahead and stood awaiting its coming.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> +<a id='ref_ap'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_184'></a>184</span> +<p class='cln0'>CHAPTER XVI.</p> +<p class='cln1'>THE ENEMY’S MOVE.</p> +</div> + +<p>Roy’s first feeling was one of indignation at the fellow’s impudence.</p> + +<p>“What do you mean by such conduct,” he blurted out angrily. “Take me +to the aviation grounds at once, or<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>“That’s just where we are taking you away from, young fellow,” sneered +the man behind the pistol. “Ah! Don’t move. I’m very nervous and if I get +excited this pistol might go off. It’s very light on the trigger.”</p> + +<p>As he spoke the auto slowed down almost to a standstill, and the man who had +evidently been waiting for it, swung himself on the running board and joined the +others on the front seat. Like the driver, he wore a motoring mask and goggles +which effectively concealed his features, and yet to Roy there was something +familiar even <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_185'></a>185</span>about the muffled up figure. Once the third man was +aboard, the auto plunged forward once more at breakneck speed. It rocked from +side to side on the rough road as it flew along. But the man with the pistol +kept his weapon levelled at Roy throughout all its jouncings and joltings.</p> + +<p>Like a wise boy, Roy had concluded that it would be worse than foolish to +attempt any resistance to his abductors. So he sat motionless and silent as the +car tore onward through the night. He had not the least idea where they were, +nor for what place they could be bound. Nor had he yet had time to think over +the reason for this bold kidnapping.</p> + +<p>Now, however, it was plain that the object of the trip was to take him to +some place and hold him prisoner till the aero race was over. It struck him with +cruel force that, unless he could manage to escape, the object of the expedition +seemed very likely to prove successful.</p> + +<p>All at once the car struck a bump in the road with a violent wrenching thud. +It leaped into the <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_186'></a>186</span>air like a live thing while a frightened shout +burst from the throats of the men on the front seat. Mechanically Roy gripped +the sides of the tonneau to avoid being thrown out like a missile.</p> + +<p>The next instant, with a rasping grind and a sickening swaying and jouncing +the car tore full tilt down the side of the road, which, at this point, was +banked, and fetched up motionless and hub-deep in a pool of dark water.</p> + +<p>“Don’t let the kid escape,” came a shout from the man who had boarded +the car on the roadside, as the auto ceased to move.</p> + +<p>But before the words had left his lips Roy had perceived that the water in +the pond was not much more than knee high. Quick as a cat he was out of the +tonneau before any of the others had time to collect their wits. As the man +shouted his warning the lad struck out through the oozy ground, seeking, with +every ounce of his strength, to shroud himself in the darkness at the pond edge +before the pistol wielder could locate him.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_187'></a>187</span>But he had not gone more than a few steps when—</p> + +<p>Bang!</p> + +<p>A red flash cut the night behind him and a bullet whistled by his ear.</p> + +<p>“Look out, you fool, you don’t want to kill him,” came a voice behind +him.</p> + +<p>“Gid Gibbons,” flashed through Roy’s mind. He was almost at a thick +clump of alders now. As he heard the splashing of the bodies of the abductors, +as they took to the water after him, he plunged into the coppice and pushed +rapidly on into its intricacies.</p> + +<p>Shouts and cries came from behind him, and suddenly a blinding shaft of white +radiance cut through the blackness. They had turned on the searchlight of the +car in a determined effort to locate their escaped prisoner.</p> + +<p>As the light penetrated among the maze of alder trunks, Roy threw himself +flat. While his pursuers hunted about, muttering and angrily discussing the +situation, he crouched in his shelter, <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_188'></a>188</span>hardly daring to breathe. +After what seemed an eternity of suspense he heard one of the men, whose voice +he seemed to recognize as that of the pistol carrier, angrily declaiming.</p> + +<p>“Aw, what’s ther use, ther kid is a mile off by this time, worse +luck.”</p> + +<p>“Hush, don’t talk so loud,” came another voice. “You don’t know who +may be about.”</p> + +<p>“Well, we’d better be getting that car out of the mud and making ourselves +scarce,” came in the tones which Roy was certain were those of Gid Gibbons. +“If there’s a hue and cry raised about this and they find that car stranded +here they can easy trace us.”</p> + +<p>“That’s so,” was the response in the voice of Jukes Dade. “Come on, +boys, we’ll get her out of this confounded slough if we can, and get back to +town.”</p> + +<p>The voices died away as they retreated, splashing like water animals through +the mud and ooze.</p> + +<p>As silence fell once more Roy straightened up <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_189'></a>189</span>from his +unpleasant situation and looked about him. The night was starry, and above his +head he could see The Dipper. He knew that the outside stars of this +constellation pointed to the North Star and he soon had the latter located. This +gave him the points of the compass, and figuring that Acatonick must lie to the +east of his present position, he struck out in that direction as nearly as he +could.</p> + +<p>He had no idea of the time, to his great chagrin, for in his haste to obey +the forged summons to the flying track he had forgotten to bring his watch. In +fact, in his hurry, he had slipped into an old coat, the pockets of which +contained nothing more useful to him than a packet of chewing gum. He slipped a +wad of this into his mouth to “keep him company” as he expressed it to +himself, and grittily went forward.</p> + +<p>The wood ended presently, and he found himself in a field with woods on all +three sides, except that on which the swamp impinged. Little as he liked the +idea of plunging into pathless woods, <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_190'></a>190</span>with nothing to guide him but +the stars, as he glimpsed them through the trees, there was no help for it. Go +on he must. Crossing the field rapidly he soon reached the border of the tangle +and entered its black shadows. Keeping as straight a line as he could he +hastened forward, and to his great delight, soon saw that the trees were +beginning to thin out, and that beyond lay, apparently, open country.</p> + +<p>“Hooray, I’m bound to strike a road before long now,” thought Roy +gleefully and quickened his pace.</p> + +<p>He had not gone more than a few paces, however, when through the trees he +heard a strange sound. It was a clinking sound like the rattling of a chain.</p> + +<p>The boy was bold enough, but the mysterious sound on the edge of that dark +wood caused his pulses to beat a bit quicker. What could it be?</p> + +<p>Gradually, as he stood still among the trees, the sound drew closer.</p> + +<p>“Ghosts in story books always clank chains,” <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_191'></a>191</span>thought Roy, +to himself. “Now if I believed in such things, I<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>He stopped short abruptly, as, from behind a clump of brush in the direction +from whence the clanking had proceeded, there suddenly emerged a tall form all +in white.</p> + +<p>“Good gracious!” cried Roy, considerably startled by the sight of this +sudden apparition. “I do believe<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>But at the sight of the white form he had involuntarily given a backward +step. Without the slightest warning he felt the ground suddenly give way under +his feet, and his body shot down through space.</p> + +<p>Down, down he shot, a hundred mad thoughts twisting dizzily in his head.</p> + +<p>All at once his progress was arrested. Before he could realize what had +happened he felt a flood of icy cold water close over his head and a mighty +ringing and roaring in his ears.</p> + +<p>But Roy was used to diving, and he automatically, almost, held his breath +till he shot to <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_192'></a>192</span>the surface again. Then he extended his hands and +found that his fingers encountered a rough stone wall of some kind.</p> + +<p>“I’m in an old well,” gasped the boy as the truth suddenly flashed +across him. He looked upward. Far above him, as if seen through a telescope, he +could see the glittering stars. They were reflected, also, in the agitated water +about him.</p> + +<p>Somewhat to his astonishment, for the thought of death itself had been in his +mind as he hurtled downward, Roy found that he was unhurt. But his present +position was by no means one to invite congratulations. At the bottom of an old +well in the midst of lonely fields he might stay a long time before rescue would +arrive.</p> + +<p>And in the meantime,—but Roy bravely put such thoughts resolutely out of his +head, and began to feel about him to see if it was not possible to find some +rough places in the sides of the excavation by which he might clamber to the +surface. But his fingers only encountered stonework <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_193'></a>193</span>set far too +smoothly to be of any service to him.</p> + +<p>Then he suddenly noticed what he had not observed before, and that was that a +rope depended from above, trailing its end down into the water. It was too thin +to bear his weight, but the boy thought he could utilize it to keep himself +above the surface without effort.</p> + +<p>Tying a loop knot in it he thrust an arm through the noose and found that he +could sustain himself very comfortably. Then he began to shout. Loudly at +first—and then more feebly as his voice grew tired. But no answering sound came +back to him.</p> + +<p>For the first time since he had found himself in his predicament cold fear +clutched at the young aviator’s heart.</p> + +<p>What if nobody heard him and he was compelled to remain at the bottom of the +old well?</p> + +<p>As this thought shot through his mind Roy noticed, too, that a deadly chill +was beginning to creep up his limbs. He shivered waist deep in the chilly water +as if he had an ague.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> +<a id='ref_aq'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_194'></a>194</span> +<p class='cln0'>CHAPTER XVII.</p> +<p class='cln1'>A COWARD AND HIS WAYS.</p> +</div> + +<p>Peggy awoke the next day with a feeling of distinct uneasiness. She and her +aunt had sat up till after midnight awaiting Roy’s return, but, as we know, the +lad was in a position from which he could not extricate himself. An attempt had +been made to communicate with the aviation grounds, but an unlucky aeroplane had +blundered against the telephone wire during an afternoon flight, snapping the +thread of communication.</p> + +<p>In spite of the late hour at which they had retired, however, Miss Prescott +and her niece were up betimes. But early as it was they found the little town +all astir. Excursion trains were already pouring their crowds into the place and +the streets were fairly alive with humanity. Peggy’s first act on awaking was to +gaze out <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_195'></a>195</span>of the window, beneath which some fine trees grew. Not a +breath of wind stirred their leaves. The air was as clear and undisturbed as it +was possible for it to be.</p> + +<p>Donning a white duck skirt and a plain shirt waist, and dressing her hair in +a becomingly simple style, Peggy hastened to the office of the hotel, and going +to the telephone switchboard asked the operator to put her in communication with +Roy’s room. But after several minutes spent in a vain attempt to obtain an +answer Central had to inform the anxious girl that there was no reply.</p> + +<p>Thinking that after his late absence of the night before Roy might have +overslept, Peggy despatched a bellboy to his room. But the report came back +that the room was empty and that Roy’s bed had not been slept in.</p> + +<p>“See if you can get the executive office on the aviation grounds,” said +Peggy to the ’phone girl. But although the wire had been repaired and +communication was easily established, there <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_196'></a>196</span>was no news of Roy. +Worse still for Peggy’s peace of mind, she learned now, for the first time, that +there had been no meeting at the aviation field the night before.</p> + +<p>“If your brother got a note to that effect it was a forgery,” said the +official who answered the call.</p> + +<p>Peggy fairly flew upstairs to her aunt’s room. Rapidly she informed Miss +Prescott of what had happened.</p> + +<p>“Oh, I’m certain now that that hateful Fanning Harding has something to do +with it,” she almost sobbed.</p> + +<p>“Hush, dear,” said her aunt, although in the gentle lady’s breast a +great fear had arisen, “everything may be all right. At any rate, I do not +believe that any one, no matter how anxious they were that you should not +compete in the race, would dare to resort to such methods to keep Roy out of the +contest.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t know so much about that, auntie,” rejoined the girl. “I was +in our hangar yesterday <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_197'></a>197</span>afternoon and I noticed a horrid looking +man prowling about with Fanning Harding. If it had not been too improbable I +should say that I knew the man’s face.”</p> + +<p>“My dear!” exclaimed the good lady in astonishment.</p> + +<p>“Well,” rejoined Peggy with conviction, “I’m almost sure that the man +was Jukes Dade, a workman who once was employed in his laboratory and workshop +by my father. He was a skillful mechanic, but dad had to discharge him because +he drank fearfully. He swore at the time that he would get even with us in some +way. But we never heard any more of him. Yet if that really was him with Fanning +Harding yesterday I’m awfully afraid that there is some mischief +stirring.”</p> + +<p>“What you say, my dear, makes me also very anxious,” responded Miss +Prescott. “Perhaps we had better communicate with the police at once.”</p> + +<p>“Not yet, aunt,” breathed Peggy; “you see, <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_198'></a>198</span>Roy may turn +up in time for the race, and if he does, everything will be all right.”</p> + +<p>“But, Peggy<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>“On the other hand, if we spread an alarm that he is missing we shall be +declared out of the contest.”</p> + +<p>“I see what you mean, my dear,” was the response, “and I suppose that +what you say is best. I feel positive, somehow, that we shall have news of Roy +before long, and that no harm has come to him.”</p> + +<p>But the morning wore on, and no word came. In the meantime, every available +source of information had been canvassed thoroughly without result. Roy Prescott +had totally vanished; or so it seemed.</p> + +<p>Peggy, as in duty bound, spent all she could spare of the morning at the +aviation field, putting the finishing touches on the Golden Butterfly. The big +contest was not to be held till the afternoon, and in the meantime, some of the +smaller events were flown off. But Peggy was <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_199'></a>199</span>too heartsick to watch +the aeroplanes thunder around the course, which was marked out by red and white +“pylons” or signal towers.</p> + +<p>Instead, she remained in the hangar and kept a watchful eye on Fanning +Harding, who, with some mechanics and the same man she had noticed about the +hangar the day before, was very busy over his machine, apparently. But no one +obtained even a glimpse of Fanning’s air craft, for it was not wheeled out, and, +except when one or the other of his party dodged in or out, the doors of his +hangar were closed.</p> + +<p>In the course of the morning Fanning’s father arrived, and not long after, to +Peggy’s unbounded delight, Jess and Jimsy and a party of friends drove up to the +Prescott hangar.</p> + +<p>“Why, Peggy, what is the matter with you? You look +positively—er—er—dowdy!” exclaimed Jess, gazing at her friend after first +greetings were over.</p> + +<p>“And Roy, where is Roy?” demanded Jimsy.</p> + +<p>“Yes, where is he? We want him to explain <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_200'></a>200</span>the points of this +gasolene turkey-buzzard to us,” cried Ed. Taylor, one of the gay party.</p> + +<p>“I expect him here any minute,” rejoined Peggy, and then drawing Jess +and Jimsy aside she related to them, in a voice that shook in spite of herself, +the mysterious occurrences of the night, and Roy’s total disappearance.</p> + +<p>“I’m going right over now and ask Fanning if he knows anything about +it,” announced Jimsy indignantly as soon as the girl had concluded.</p> + +<p>“Oh, don’t, please don’t,” begged his sister.</p> + +<p>“I don’t think it would be wise to, now,” put in Peggy.</p> + +<p>But Jimsy was not to be shaken in his purpose. Fanning was outside his hangar +smoking a cigarette and swaggering about when Jimsy approached him. Perhaps the +self-assertive youth felt a bit alarmed at the look in Jimsy’s eye as he stepped +up, but he assumed an impudent expression and blew out a puff of smoke which he +did not try to avert from Jimsy’s face.</p> + +<p>“Good morning, Fanning,” said Jimsy, bottling <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_201'></a>201</span>up his temper +at the other’s insulting manners, “can you give me a few minutes of private +conversation?”</p> + +<p>“Hum, well I don’t know. What’s it about?” inquired Harding more +impudently than ever.</p> + +<p>“It’s about Roy, Fanning,” said Jimsy seriously. “I want you to tell +me on your word of honor that you don’t know where he is.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, you do, eh? Well, you have an awful nerve to come to me with such +questions. How do I know where he is?”</p> + +<p>This question was somewhat of a poser for Jimsy. That impetuous youth had +approached the other more or less on an impulse, and now that the direct +question was put to him he felt that he could not, for the life of him, put his +suspicions into so many words.</p> + +<p>“Well—er—you see,” he said somewhat confusedly, “I had an idea that +you might have seen him.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I haven’t, and what’s more I don’t want to,” snapped Fanning +aggressively. He <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_202'></a>202</span>was quite cool now that he saw that Jimsy had +nothing definite against him in his mind, but only a vague suspicion.</p> + +<p>“You really mean that, Fanning?” rejoined Jimsy earnestly. “His sister +is terribly worried. He hasn’t been seen since last night.”</p> + +<p>“Is that so?” asked Fanning with a sudden accession of interest; “then +he can’t race to-day, can he?”</p> + +<p>“I wasn’t thinking about the race,” said Jimsy; “it was Roy himself I +was worrying about.”</p> + +<p>“Well, you may as well stop your anxiety,” chuckled Fanning; “how do +you know he isn’t off on a little spree, and<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>“That’s enough, Fanning. Roy Prescott does not do such low-down things. +He<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>“Oh, you mean to imply that I do, eh?”</p> + +<p>Fanning came forward pugnaciously.</p> + +<p>“I’ll tell you what it is, Jim Bancroft, you just take yourself away from +this hangar as quickly as possible. I don’t want anything to do with you, do you +understand? It’s none of my business <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_203'></a>203</span>if Roy goes off and forgets to +tell you where to find him. How do you know he hasn’t gone off with those +jewels?”</p> + +<p>“What do you mean?”</p> + +<p>Jimsy’s tone was as angry in reality now as Fanning Harding’s had been for +effect a few seconds before.</p> + +<p>But Fanning, in his bitter enmity toward Roy, could not see the danger +signals in Jimsy’s honest gray eyes.</p> + +<p>“What do I mean?” he drawled; “why, just this, that the investigation +of the police has taken a new turn in the last few days, and that Roy is likely +to be arrested within the next twenty-four hours for robbery. I’ll bet he got +wind of it and skipped out. I’ll bet<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>“How dare you?”</p> + +<p>Peggy, eyes aflame, stepped up. Her bosom heaved angrily.</p> + +<p>“How dare you say such things? You—you coward.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_204'></a>204</span>“Well, I ain’t coward enough to steal a girl’s jewels and +then<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>“Hold on there, Fanning. Stop right there.”</p> + +<p>It was Jimsy’s turn. But Fanning was too much worked up in his vindictive +anger to stop.</p> + +<p>“I won’t stop,” he shouted. “I’ll say it right out. Roy Prescott is +a<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>But before he could utter another word Jimsy’s fist had shot out, and +Fanning’s chin happening to be in the way he felt himself suddenly propelled off +his feet and elevated into the air. He sought to recover his balance as he +reeled, but his foot caught in a bit of turf, and whirling his arms about like +one of those figures on the top of a barn he measured his length.</p> + +<p>“Had enough?” asked Jimsy mildly, rolling up his sleeves.</p> + +<p>“No, you despicable young whelp!” roared Fanning, utterly throwing aside +all prudence. “I haven’t.”</p> + +<p>He leaped to his feet and rushed toward Jimsy. As he did so Jess gave a +shriek. In the <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_205'></a>205</span>angry, half-crazed youth’s hand there glistened a +long clasp knife.</p> + +<p>“Jimsy! Look out!” cried the girl.</p> + +<p>But before the frenzied Fan could spring upon Jimsy, who was utterly +unprepared for the production of the deadly weapon, a dainty foot in white +canvas outing shoes and silk stockings flashed out from under Peggy’s skirt. It +caught Fanning as he sprang, and the next instant, for the second time that day, +he fell sprawling on the ground.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> +<a id='ref_ar'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_206'></a>206</span> +<p class='cln0'>CHAPTER XVIII.</p> +<p class='cln1'>THE DARING OF PEGGY.</p> +</div> + +<p>By the time he had risen to his feet several of the officials of the track +were seen approaching, and Fanning, with a scowl of deep disgust at our party, +who paid little attention to him, shuffled off. At first Peggy thought that the +officials had seen something of the trouble and would be angry. But it turned +out that they were only coming to announce a few minor changes in the rules +governing the race, and to distribute printed copies of the same.</p> + +<p>As they passed on one of them turned and remarked casually:</p> + +<p>“By the way, as the wind is so light we have decided to have the big +contest an hour earlier than was announced, and eliminate the girls’ contest, so +that everybody can get home from the grounds in good time for dinner.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_207'></a>207</span>He hastened on to join his companions on their journey down the +line of hangars, outside of which aeroplanes were sputtering and smoking, and +excited aviators and mechanics hustling about.</p> + +<p>All at once a big biplane was wheeled out and soared into the air. It carried +a blue and gold streamer.</p> + +<p>“That’s Steiner of the Agassiz High School in New York City,” explained +Jimsy; “he’s confident of winning the big prize.”</p> + +<p>Peggy made some reply. She didn’t know just what. Her mind was throbbing with +the idea that Roy’s inexplicable absence meant that harm had come to him, and +that even if he were safe the advancing of the hour of the race would put them +out of it if he did not make haste.</p> + +<p>“Look, there goes Banker of the Philadelphia Polytechnic, and Rayburn of +the Boston Tech,” cried Jimsy the next instant as a biplane and a graceful +white-winged monoplane shot aloft on trial trips, their motors exploding loudly +and a <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_208'></a>208</span>tail of blue smoke streaming out behind them. A slight cheer +came from the grand stands, which were already beginning to fill, as the boy +aviators shot upward.</p> + +<p>“Oh, Roy! Roy, where are you?” sighed Peggy to herself, as she watched +the young aspirants for aerial honors swinging around the course.</p> + +<p>“I’m going over to the stand and ’phone to the police station,” said +Jimsy presently; “they may have news of him over there by this time.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, yes, please do,” cried Peggy, as Jimsy hastened off.</p> + +<p>When he had gone the two girls turned troubled countenances to each +other.</p> + +<p>“You poor honey,” cried Jess, “I know how you are suffering. But don’t +worry, Peggy, I’m sure it will come out all right.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, but—but you don’t know what depends on Roy’s winning this race,” +cried Peggy. “I am sure that some of our rivals in the race—I +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_209'></a>209</span>need not mention who—have something to do with his +disappearance.”</p> + +<p>“What do you mean by saying ‘a lot depends on it,’ girlie?” asked +Jess, drawing Peggy’s arm within her own.</p> + +<p>With brimming eyes Peggy told her friend frankly and fully what she had not +before, namely, the exact circumstances of the Prescott family and the threat +which old Harding held above their heads.</p> + +<p>“So, you see, Jess,” she concluded sadly, “this could not have +happened at a worse time for us.”</p> + +<p>“I see that,” gently rejoined the other girl, “but listen, dear, you +may have a chance to win it after all if you will trust to us to find +Roy.”</p> + +<p>“Trust to you?” repeated Peggy in a puzzled tone. “Trust to you to +find Roy?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, my dear, while you—go in and win the race!”</p> + +<p>“Why, what are you talking about?” gasped Peggy.</p> + +<p>“A brilliant idea that has just occurred to me. <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_210'></a>210</span>You are about +Roy’s height, and if your hair was cut short you’d look enough like him to be +his twin brother instead of his sister. But that doesn’t matter, for you wear +goggles and a helmet in driving that thing, anyway, don’t you?”</p> + +<p>“Yes. But,—oh, Jess, I couldn’t do that.”</p> + +<p>“Not even for your aunt’s sake, Peggy, and to show those whom you suspect +that they could not put a Prescott out of the race, however hard they tried? +Come into the shed with me. I am going to persuade you, if I can, to do a brave +thing.”</p> + +<p>With their arms about each other’s waists the girls walked toward the hangar +and entered it. As they did so the figure of Jukes Dade glided from a place of +concealment close at hand, and slipping behind some low bushes he gained the +rear of the Prescott shed unperceived. Once there he placed an ear to a crack in +the structure, from within which could be heard the murmur of girlish +voices.</p> + +<p>Whatever he heard seemed to strike him with <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_211'></a>211</span>astonishment at +first and then with a malicious glee.</p> + +<p>“So,” he muttered, “that’s your scheme, is it? Well, I guess we’ll be +able to head that off. That aeroplane of yours won’t go in that race if I can +help it, and even if it did I know enough now to head you off from getting the +big prize. That young Harding ought to pay me well for this.”</p> + +<p>So saying, Jukes Dade shuffled off toward Fanning’s hangar, still chortling +evilly to himself.</p> + +<p>Jimsy returned to the shed without any good news. In fact, the doleful +expression on his usually merry face would have told them that long before he +opened his mouth. In the midst of the general gloom a merry face was suddenly +obtruded through the swinging doors.</p> + +<p>“Hullo! hullo! young folks, what’s the trouble? You look as if you were +going to attend a funeral.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_212'></a>212</span>They looked up to see the figure of Hal Homer, clad in white +flannels, and with a checked cap on his curly head, standing in the doorway.</p> + +<p>“Can I come in?” he asked, and without waiting for an answer in he +came.</p> + +<p>“Oh, Mr. Homer,” cried Jess, fairly pouncing on him, “we’re so glad +you’ve come; we are in a dreadful fix.”</p> + +<p>“A dreadful fix? Why, my dear young lady, I read in the local paper that I +bought on my way from the depot that Roy’s machine, judging from the trials, was +going to have things all her own way.”</p> + +<p>“So much so,” struck in Jimsy, “that it looks as if some of Roy’s +enemies have spirited him away.”</p> + +<p>“What? I’m afraid I hardly understand.”</p> + +<p>The aviation instructor looked at Jimsy in a puzzled way, rather as if he +thought the youth might be having some fun with him.</p> + +<p>“No, no, this is serious. I mean it,” spoke Jimsy quickly. “Roy has +gone!”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_213'></a>213</span>“Gone!”</p> + +<p>“Yes. He vanished last night. But sit down and we’ll tell you all about it. +Maybe you can help us out.”</p> + +<p>Absolutely “flabbergasted,” to use his own expression, the good-looking +young flying man sank down on an upturned case, while Jimsy went on to relate +all that had occurred, with Peggy every now and then striking in with additions +and corrections.</p> + +<p>Another ear also took in the conversation—that of Jukes Dade—who had seen +the arrival of the well-dressed young aviator, and had instantly slipped back to +his eavesdropping post to learn what the newcomer’s business might be.</p> + +<p>It might have been an hour later that a chauffeur, summoned by ’phone from +the grandstand, brought the Bancrofts’ car up to the hangar and Hal Homer, +Jess and Jimsy emerged.</p> + +<p>“Drive to the police station,” ordered Hal Homer as he stepped in, +leaving Jess and Jimsy behind.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_214'></a>214</span>Jukes Dade, peering around a corner of the hangar, heard the +order and grew pale.</p> + +<p>“Looks bad,” he muttered as the car rolled off; “I wonder if they know +anything. If they do, I’m off. This isn’t a healthy part of the country for +Jukes Dade from the minute that kid is found. He didn’t recognize Gid or young +Harding, but he knew me all right. I could tell it by the way he looked at me, +and if he’s found the first man they’ll hunt for is me.”</p> + +<p>With snake-like caution he glided behind the hangar once more.</p> + +<p>It was not long after this that the Golden Butterfly was wheeled out by some +of the mechanicians attached to the track, whose services were furnished free by +the aviation officials.</p> + +<p>Jess and Jimsy emerged from the hangar at the same time, in company with a +boyish figure in aviator’s clothing, leather trousers cut very baggily, +fur-lined leather coat and big helmet of leather, well padded, completely +obscuring the <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_215'></a>215</span>features. After a few words in a low tone with its +companions, this figure clambered lightly into the aeroplane, leaned forward, +adjusted some levers, and the next instant, amidst a shout from several hastily +gathered onlookers, the Golden Butterfly skyrocketed upward, her engine roaring +like an angry giant hornet.</p> + +<p>All this was watched by Fanning Harding, Jukes Dade, and Gid Gibbons.</p> + +<p>“A nice mess you’ve made of it,” growled Harding angrily to his +companions. “You’ve succeeded in getting me suspected, and in trouble, while +the boy is safe and sound and on the scene.”</p> + +<p>“Wonder how he got back,” grunted Gid speculatively; “he must have +looked a sight when he crawled out of that swamp.”</p> + +<p>“Say, Dade, you’d better be off,” said Fanning suddenly; “you were the +only one of us whose face wasn’t covered. He would swear to you.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I ain’t worrying yet,” grinned Dade easily.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_216'></a>216</span>“You’re not, eh? Well, you are a cool hand,” rejoined Gid +admiringly. “If I were in your shoes I’d clear out before that aeroplane lands +again.”</p> + +<p>“You would, eh?” scoffed Dade. “Well, what would you say if I told you +that that ain’t Roy Prescott in the Golden Butterfly at all?”</p> + +<p>“That you were crazy with the heat,” was the prompt and impolite +answer.</p> + +<p>“Then you’d be crazy yourself. That’s his sister in that aeroplane, and if +he don’t show up in time for the race she’s going to fly it herself and win +it.”</p> + +<p>If a bombshell had fallen at Fanning’s feet he could not have been more +thunderstruck. But he recovered in an instant.</p> + +<p>“If she does I’ll protest to the judges,” he said angrily; “they can’t +prove that I know anything about her brother’s disappearance, and that Golden +Butterfly won’t win this race if I can help it.”</p> + +<div class='chapter'> +<a id='ref_as'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_217'></a>217</span> +<p class='cln0'>CHAPTER XIX.</p> +<p class='cln1'>BROTHER AND SISTER.</p> +</div> + +<p>The first gleam of the summer dawn shining into Roy’s place of imprisonment +at the bottom of the old well revealed to him only too clearly into what a trap +he had fallen. The well seemed to be about fifty feet or more in depth, and the +sides were smooth and slippery.</p> + +<p>The chill he had felt spreading through his limbs earlier was gone now, but a +numb sensation was setting in which did not leave them even when the boy +wriggled his legs about.</p> + +<p>“Phew!” thought Roy. “I stand a fair chance of being turned into a +pollywog or something if I stay here long enough.”</p> + +<p>Somehow, with the coming of daylight, the buoyant spirits of youth had +returned to the boy and his predicament did not seem nearly so serious as it had +during the dark hours.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_218'></a>218</span>But it was bad enough, as Roy realized. From time to time he +tried shouting, but no one came to the edge of the well and peered over, +although he anxiously kept his eyes riveted on the disc of sky above him. How +long this went on Roy had no idea, but he had sunk into a sort of semi-doze when +a sudden sound aroused him.</p> + +<p>A tinkling, metallic sound, not unlike the rattling of the chain the night +before that had, in reality, caused his trouble.</p> + +<p>“Help! Help!” shouted Roy.</p> + +<p>It was perhaps the five hundredth time he had uttered the cry since he had +tumbled into the well. But this time there came a response.</p> + +<p>“What is it? What’s the trouble?”</p> + +<p>The voice sounded rather shaky, and as if the utterer of the words was +somewhat scared.</p> + +<p>“It’s a boy who has fallen into the well,” shouted Roy. “I’m almost +exhausted. Get me out.”</p> + +<p>A face suddenly projected over the well curb—a <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_219'></a>219</span>face which Roy +recognized with astonishment as that of old Peter Bell, the hermit.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Bell, it’s Roy Prescott,” he shouted; “can you get a rope and get +me out?”</p> + +<p>“Good heavens!” cried the hermit; “it’s the boy whose sister was so +kind to me. However did you—but never mind that now. Can you hold on for a +time?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, but my strength is almost gone.”</p> + +<p>“Well, summon up all your courage. There is a farm house not far off. I’ll +go there and get a rope and be back as quick as I can.”</p> + +<p>Without wasting more words the old man hastened to his little cart. He had +been out since dawn gathering herbs and roots and had taken a short cut home +through the field in which the old well was located. Muttering excitedly to +himself, he climbed somewhat stiffly into his rickety conveyance and urged his +old horse forward with gently spoken commands. As the animal broke into a trot +the little bell about its neck began to jangle not unmusically. This was the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_220'></a>220</span>sound which, fortunately for him, had notified Roy that some human +being was at hand.</p> + +<p>In the near distance, half hidden in trees, could be seen the red-roofed +gable of a farm house. Toward this old Peter Bell directed his way. Farmer +Ingalls was only too glad, when he heard of the accident, to secure a long rope, +used in hoisting hay to the top of his big barns.</p> + +<p>“Bless my soul!” he exclaimed, “a lad tumbled into my well! +Mommer,” turning to a motherly-looking, calico-clad woman, “you always told +me to cover that well up, and I never did, and now thar’s a poor young chap +tumbled into it.”</p> + +<p>“Hurry,” urged old Peter Bell; “he was almost exhausted, poor lad. We +must get back as quick as possible.”</p> + +<p>Summoning his two hired men the farmer set off at a run across the fields, +easily keeping pace with old Peter’s decrepit horse. As they neared the well +they began shouting, and a feeble cry from the depths answered them.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_221'></a>221</span>“Cheer up, my lad, we’ll have you out of that in a +brace-of-shakes,” cried Farmer Ingalls encouragingly, as they reached the curb and +peered over into the dark hole.</p> + +<p>“I hope you will,” cried Roy. “It’s getting pretty monotonous, I can +tell you.”</p> + +<p>“Don’t know what mon-ount-on-tonous means, but I’d hate to change places +with you,” agreed the farmer.</p> + +<p>Presently the rope came snaking down, with a loop in its lower end. Roy was +directed to place his foot in the loop and hold on tight. When this had been +done he shouted up:</p> + +<p>“All right! Haul away!”</p> + +<p>The stalwart farmer and his two assistants began to heave with all their +might, while old Mr. Bell encouraged them. Before long, by dint of hard +exertions, they succeeded in dragging Roy to the surface, and dripping and +shivering he could stand once more in the blessed air and sunlight.</p> + +<p>“But how in the world did you come to get <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_222'></a>222</span>in there?” asked +the farmer, as he paced along by the side of the hermit’s little cart, in which +the half-exhausted Roy had been placed.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said the lad with a rather shamefaced laugh, “I’m really half +ashamed to say. But it was this way. Some bad men who have an interest in +putting me out of an aeroplane contest, of which Mr. Bell knows, had run off +with me in an automobile. It was wrecked, and I escaped. I struck out toward +town, as I thought, but as I came through that patch of woods by the wall I saw +something that startled me so much that I stepped back and fell down the +well.”</p> + +<p>“What did you see, my lad?” asked the farmer with half a twinkle in his +eye.</p> + +<p>“Something like a story-book ghost,” smiled Roy; “it was tall and all +in white and clanked a chain.”</p> + +<p>“Ha! ha! ha!” roared the farmer; “I half suspected as much. Why, that +ghost was my old white mule Boxer. He managed somehow <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_223'></a>223</span>to snap his +chain last night and we found him careening around the fields this morning. +Don’t color up, my boy,” for poor Roy’s face had turned very red, as the +hired men guffawed loudly; “older men than you have been startled at far less. +And now, here’s the farm, and I’ll bet mommer has a fine breakfast all ready for +you.”</p> + +<p>The half-famished boy ate hungrily of the substantial farmhouse fare Mrs. +Ingalls provided for him, and as he ate he made inquiries about the distance to +the aviation grounds, which, he found to his dismay, were further distant than +he had imagined.</p> + +<p>“I’ll never be able to make it in time without an automobile,” moaned +Roy to himself; “what shall I do?”</p> + +<p>He cast about in his mind for some way out of his difficulty, but he could +find none. Nor could the farmer help him. There were no automobiles in that part +of the country, and in a <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_224'></a>224</span>horse-drawn vehicle he would never be able +to make it in time.</p> + +<p>All at once a queer sound filled the air. The atmosphere seemed to vibrate +with it as it does on a still summer day when a threshing machine is buzzing +away in a distant field.</p> + +<p>“Land o’ Goshen, what’s that?” cried Mrs. Ingalls running to the +door.</p> + +<p>“Lish! Lish! come here quick!” she shouted the next instant.</p> + +<p>Followed by the old hermit and Roy, Mr. Ingalls ran to the door. But his +exclamations at the sight he saw were drowned by Roy’s amazed cry:</p> + +<p>“It’s the Golden Butterfly!”</p> + +<p>“An aeroplane!” shouted the farmer. “By gosh, she’s like a pretty +bird.”</p> + +<p>“It’s my—our aeroplane,” went on Roy; “who can be in it? Oh, if it’s +only Peggy I may not be too late after all.”</p> + +<p>He ran out into the door yard of the farm house and, snatching off his coat, +began waving <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_225'></a>225</span>it desperately. Would the occupant of the aeroplane +see his frantic signals? With a beating heart Roy watched the winged machine as +it droned far above him.</p> + +<p>All at once he gave a delighted shout. The aeroplane was beginning to +descend. Down it came in big circles, while the farmer, his wife and the old +hermit gazed open mouthed at it, as if half inclined to run.</p> + +<p>But as it drew closer to the ground Roy noted a puzzling thing. A helmeted +and goggled person was driving it, evidently a boy or man and not Peggy at all. +Who could it be? For an instant a queer thought flashed through his head. +Possibly somebody had stolen it and was making off across country with it so as +to put it out of the race.</p> + +<p>More and more rapidly the aeroplane began to drop as it neared the ground, +and before many minutes it alighted in the patch of meadow in front of the farm +house, gliding gracefully for several feet before it stopped.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_226'></a>226</span>But the rubber-tired landing wheels had not ceased revolving +before Roy was at its side.</p> + +<p>“Say, who are you, and what are you doing with my aeroplane?” he +demanded in heated tones, for the helmeted aviator had not yet even deigned to +notice him, but seemed to be busy with various levers and valves.</p> + +<p>“Well, are you going to answer me?” sputtered Roy, while the farmer, his +wife, the old hermit and the hired men gazed on curiously.</p> + +<p>For answer the mysterious aviator raised his helmet and a cloud of golden +curls fell about a milk-and-roses face.</p> + +<p>“By gum, a gal and a purty one!” cried the farmer capering about.</p> + +<p>“Peggy!” shouted Roy.</p> + +<p>“Yes, Peggy,” cried the girl. “Oh, Roy, what has happened to you? When +you didn’t come back Jess and Jimsy persuaded me to put on your clothes and at +least try the Butterfly out. But I was so miserable that I could not try her +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_227'></a>227</span>out on the track, so I flew off across country. I saw you waving +far below me and—oh, Roy!”</p> + +<p>Peggy could go no further and half collapsed in Roy’s arms as he tenderly +lifted her out.</p> + +<p>“Great hopping water millions!” cried the farmer, “if this ain’t a day +of wonders. This must be ther lad’s sister he told us about, and ter think she +come flopping down out of ther sky like a seventeen-y’ar locust.”</p> + +<p>Peggy was quickly her usual strong, self-reliant self again. With indignation +blazing in her kind eyes she heard Roy’s account of the happenings of the night. +At its conclusion she announced with decision:</p> + +<p>“We must defeat them, Roy.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, but how? There’s only a scant half hour before starting time if you +said they’d changed it.”</p> + +<p>“Even so you can make it. You must take these clothes, get into the +aeroplane and fly back to the track. If you go alone the ’plane will be light +and you can make it in time.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_228'></a>228</span>“But you, Peggy?”</p> + +<p>“I guess I can borrow a dress from Mrs. Ingalls here,” said the girl +briskly.</p> + +<p>“Of course, you kin,” put in Mrs. Ingalls, but surveying her own ample +form rather doubtfully the while.</p> + +<p>“You kin give her one of daughter Jenny’s dresses,” said the farmer.</p> + +<p>“Then that is settled, thanks to you,” said Peggy with characteristic +decision.</p> + +<p>They all entered the farm house, from which, a few seconds later, Roy +emerged, clad in the garments his sister had donned a short time before. He +climbed into the aeroplane amid the admiring comments of the farm hands, who, by +this time, had come in from the fields, drawn by the wonderful airship, and +stood all about it gaping and wondering.</p> + +<p>Peggy, in a dress belonging to the farmer’s daughter, who was away on a +visit, stepped quickly to Roy’s side as, after glancing at the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_229'></a>229</span>clock attached to the front of the aeroplane, he started the +engine.</p> + +<p>As it started its uproarious song, the farm hands jumped back in affright. +But Peggy clasped her brother’s hand.</p> + +<p>“Win that prize, Roy,” she said.</p> + +<p>“I’ll do my best, little sister.”</p> + +<p>And that was all, but as Peggy Prescott gazed a few minutes later at the fast +diminishing form of the speeding aeroplane she felt that all she had braved and +dared that day had not been in vain.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> +<a id='ref_at'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_230'></a>230</span> +<p class='cln0'>CHAPTER XX.</p> +<p class='cln1'>IN THE NICK OF TIME.</p> +</div> + +<p>Excitement had reached its topmost pitch on the aviation field. It was but a +few minutes to starting time for the great contest, and already four young +aviators had their winged craft in line before the judge’s stand.</p> + +<p>Engines were belching clouds of acrid blue smoke heavily impregnated with +oily, smelling fumes. The roar of motors shook the air. Folks in the grandstand +and on the crowded lawns excitedly pointed out to one another the different +machines, all of which bore large numbers.</p> + +<p>Excited officials, red-faced and perspiring, bustled about importantly, while +from the top of the judge’s stand a portly man bellowed occasional announcements +through a megaphone.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_231'></a>231</span>Suddenly he made an announcement that caused a hum of +interest.</p> + +<p>“Machine number seven—mach-ine num-ber sev-en! Fanning Harding, owner, has +withdrawn from the race,” he announced.</p> + +<p>A buzz of comment went through the crowd. Jess, Jimsy and Hal Homer, standing +in a group by the empty Prescott hangar, exchanged astonished glances as they +heard the news. What did that mean? Fanning had been swaggering about, boasting +of his wonderful aeroplane, and now it appeared at the eleventh hour he had +decided not to enter it.</p> + +<p>“Must have had an accident,” opined Jimsy.</p> + +<p>“Maybe he gave it one of those pleasant looks of his,” suggested +Jess.</p> + +<p>“Wherever can Peggy be,” exclaimed the girl the next minute; “she’s +been gone for more than an hour. I do hope nothing has happened to her.”</p> + +<p>“Not likely,” rejoined Jimsy, although he <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_232'></a>232</span>looked a little +troubled over the non-appearance of the Golden Butterfly.</p> + +<p>“The police said they had a dragnet out in every part of the vicinity,” +volunteered Hal Homer, who had returned only a few minutes before from the +station house.</p> + +<p>Bang!</p> + +<p>A bomb had been shot skyward and now exploded in a cloud of yellow smoke.</p> + +<p>“Three minutes to starting time,” cried Hal Homer anxiously; “where +can Miss Prescott be?”</p> + +<p>“Look!” cried Jess suddenly, dancing about. “Oh, Glory! Here she +comes!”</p> + +<p>Far off against the sky a speck was visible. Rushing toward them at +tremendous speed it swiftly grew larger. The crowd saw it now and great +excitement prevailed. The word flew about that the machine was the missing +Number Six. Would it arrive in time to participate in the start and thus +qualify? This was the question on every lip.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_233'></a>233</span>Hal Homer jumped into the auto and sped over to the judge’s +stand.</p> + +<p>“Can’t you delay the start for five minutes?” he begged.</p> + +<p>“Impossible,” was the reply.</p> + +<p>“But that aeroplane, Number Six, has been delayed by some accident. If you +start the race on time it may not arrive in time to take part.”</p> + +<p>“Can’t be helped. Young Prescott—that’s the name of the owner, isn’t +it?—shouldn’t have gone off on a cross country tryout.”</p> + +<p>Back to the hangar sped Hal, where Jess and Jimsy, almost beside themselves +with excitement, were watching the homing aeroplane.</p> + +<p>“She’ll be on time,” cried Jimsy as the graceful ship swept over the +distant confines of the course and came thundering down toward the starting +point.</p> + +<p>A great cheer swept skywards as the aeroplane came on.</p> + +<p>“She’ll make it.”</p> + +<p>“She won’t.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_234'></a>234</span>“Where has the thing been?”</p> + +<p>“Why is it so late?”</p> + +<p>These and a hundred other questions and remarks went from mouth to mouth all +through the big crowd.</p> + +<p>“It’s all off,” groaned Jimsy suddenly.</p> + +<p>He had seen the signal corps man, whose duty it was to fire the bombs, +outstretching himself on the ground awaiting the signal to touch off the +starting sign.</p> + +<p>But even as Jimsy spoke, the Golden Butterfly made a swift turn and, amid a +roar from the crowd, shot whirring past the grandstand and alighted in front of +the stand on the starting line.</p> + +<p>Hardly had the wheels touched the ground before the judge in charge of the +track raised his hand. A flag fell and the signal corps man jerked his arm back, +firing the bomb that announced the start.</p> + +<p>B-o-o-o-o-m!</p> + +<p>As the detonation died out the aeroplanes shot <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_235'></a>235</span>forward, rising +into the still air almost in a body, like a flock of birds. It was a spectacle +never to be forgotten, and the crowd appreciated it to the full.</p> + +<p>But up in the grandstand, in inconspicuous places, sat three persons who did +not look as well pleased as those about them.</p> + +<p>“So the girl is going to take a chance,” muttered Fanning Harding; +“well, so much the worse for her. If she wins I’ll put in a protest and compel +her to unmask.”</p> + +<p>“Won’t that Prescott and Bancroft bunch be astonished when they find out +that we are on to their little game,” chuckled Jukes Dade; “it’ll be as +good as a play.”</p> + +<p>“That’s what it will,” grinned Gid.</p> + +<p>“They’ll find out that they can’t humiliate me and not suffer for it,” +grated out Fanning.</p> + +<p>“Wonder where that girl went to on her tryout spin?” inquired Dade.</p> + +<p>“It doesn’t make much difference where, but <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_236'></a>236</span>she certainly came +back with a grandstand play,” rejoined Gid.</p> + +<p>“Well, if she wins the race it will be our turn,” Fanning assured +him.</p> + +<p>They then turned their attention to the contest, two laps of which had been +made while they were talking.</p> + +<p>Number One, a small white Bleriot type of monoplane, seemed to be making the +pace for the rest, and word flew about that it had gained half a lap on Number +Four, its nearest competitor so far.</p> + +<p>“But it will be a long contest,” said the wiseacres in the crowd, “and +accidents may happen at any time.”</p> + +<p>On the fourth lap Number One was seen to descend over by the hangars. +Something had gone wrong with its lubricating valve. By the time the difficulty +was adjusted it was hopelessly out of the race. Number Three was the next to +drop out. This machine was driven by one of the high school lads, and his +contingent of rooters <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_237'></a>237</span>in the grandstand set up a woeful noise as he +dropped to earth in the middle of the course. A broken stay had made it +dangerous for him to remain longer in the air.</p> + +<p>This left number Six, the Prescott machine, Numbers Two, Four and Five still +in the air.</p> + +<p>“Number Six has gained a lap on Number Five!” went up the cry presently +as Number Five, so far the leader, was seen to lose speed on the fifteenth +lap.</p> + +<p>The Golden Butterfly was in truth doing magnificently, but try as her +operator would it did not seem possible to shake off Number Five, another +high school boy’s machine, which clung persistently to its stern. Number Four +alighted for more gasolene on the twentieth lap and lost a round of the course +thereby. A few seconds later Number Two was also forced to descend with heated +cylinders. This practically left the race between Number Five and the Golden +Butterfly. Round and round they tore, neither of them gaining or losing a foot +apparently. The <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_238'></a>238</span>thunder of their engines grew deafeningly +monotonous and the crowds watched them as if hypnotized by the whirring aerial +monsters.</p> + +<p>All at once, though, a mighty roar proclaimed that something was happening, +and gazing down toward the further end of the track it could be seen that Number +Six, the Golden Butterfly, had made a daring attempt to gain on the other +machine, and had succeeded.</p> + +<p>So close did the two aeroplanes edge to the end pylon in the effort to secure +the inside plane that for an instant it looked as if a crash must result.</p> + +<p>A thunder of cheers greeted the Golden Butterfly as she swept by the +grandstand on the next lap.</p> + +<p>“That girl can drive all right,” grudgingly admitted Fanning +Harding.</p> + +<p>“Yes, and she’s pretty as a picture, too,” put in Gid Gibbons; “guess +you were stuck on her once, weren’t you, Fan?”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_239'></a>239</span>“Oh, shut up,” growled Fanning angrily. “It makes no +difference to you, does it?”</p> + +<p>The aeroplanes had been racing for an hour now, and neither showed any signs +of slacking speed. On the contrary, as they “warmed up,” they seemed to go +the quicker. All at once an incident occurred which brought the crowd to its +feet yelling and cheering as if wild.</p> + +<p>The driver of Number Five, as the two machines passed the grandstand, had +made a deliberate attempt to prevent the Golden Butterfly overhauling him by +jamming his aeroplane over toward a pylon and directly in front of the +Butterfly. For an instant it looked as if a crash must be inevitable, but just +as the spectators were beginning to turn pale and the more timid to hide their +eyes, the Butterfly was seen to make a graceful dip and dive clean under the +other aeroplane. It was a magnificent bit of aerial driving, and the crowd +appreciated it to the full. A roar and a shout went up, to which the driver of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_240'></a>240</span>Number Six responded with a wave of a gloved hand.</p> + +<p>Ten minutes later Number Five, two laps behind, and with a leaking radiator, +dropped out of the race, leaving the Golden Butterfly the winner. Fanning +Harding was white as a sheet as he saw an official with a black and white +checkered flag step out into the field. This was the signal to the Golden +Butterfly, which was still in the air, that the race was over.</p> + +<p>As the Prescott aeroplane dropped to earth in front of the grandstand amid +rapturous plaudits, the son of the Sandy Bay banker deliberately arose and made +his way toward the judges’ stand, to which Hal Homer and the Bancrofts, the core +of a shouting, yelling mob of enthusiasts, were already conducting the daring +driver of Number Six.</p> + +<p>Special policemen made a path for the aviator and his friends, while cries +of:</p> + +<p>“Take off your helmet!”</p> + +<p>“We want to see you!”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_241'></a>241</span>“What’s the matter with Number Six?” and a hundred other +cries arose.</p> + +<p>But the driver of Number Six did not respond, and with his helmet still on +his head was conducted before the judges to receive their congratulations. The +helmet was still in place when Fanning Harding came shoving through the crowd +and finally reached the little group.</p> + +<p>“As a competitor I demand that Number Six take off his helmet!” he +cried.</p> + +<p>The judges turned to him in astonishment.</p> + +<p>“This is most unseemly, sir,” said one of them; “no doubt in good time +Mr. Prescott will take off his helmet.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, no, he won’t,” shouted Fanning, at whom all the group was now +gazing. “He won’t, I tell you, and for a good reason, too. <i>That’s not Roy +Prescott at all, but his sister Peggy.</i>”</p> + +<p>But the words had not left his lips before Jimsy, with a quick motion, jerked +off the aviator’s helmet and disclosed the handsome, perspiring features of Roy +himself.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_242'></a>242</span>In the few minutes he had had, Roy had found time briefly to +explain how he and his sister had changed garments.</p> + +<p>“Well, I guess that settles that question,” cried Jimsy triumphantly, as +a mighty shout went up.</p> + +<p>“It certainly does,” said one of the officials. “Where is that young +scamp? Officer, find the young man who made that accusation and bring him here +to explain himself.”</p> + +<p>But the disgruntled Fanning had dived off into the crowd the instant he saw +into what a tremendous blunder he had fallen. And although a strict search was +made for him he was not to be found.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> +<a id='ref_au'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_243'></a>243</span> +<p class='cln0'>CHAPTER XXI.</p> +<p class='cln1'>THE PHANTOM AIRSHIP.</p> +</div> + +<p>In the midst of the hum and excitement and the crossfire of questions which +immediately followed, there occurred a startling interruption. From the further +side of the grounds there arose a cry, which swelled in volume as it +advanced.</p> + +<p>“Fire! One of the hangars is on fire!”</p> + +<p>The group immediately broke up and orders and commands flew thick and fast. +In the midst of the excitement Roy and his chums found an opportunity to slip +away.</p> + +<p>“There’s the fire. Off by our hangar!” shouted Hal Homer, pointing +across the field.</p> + +<p>By the side of the Prescott’s green aero shed a big cloud of smoke was +ascending, mingled with yellow flames. It seemed to be a hot blaze.</p> + +<p>“It’s Fanning Harding’s hangar!” cried Roy <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_244'></a>244</span>suddenly; +“come on, let’s go over and see what the matter is.”</p> + +<p>“I’ve got the car right here,” said Jimsy. “I’ll get you over in a +jiffy.”</p> + +<p>Soon they were speeding across the field toward the blaze. In the meantime an +emergency fire corps, composed of men employed on the grounds, had attached a +line of hose to a hydrant and were drenching the flames. Such good work did they +do that it was not long before they had the fire under control.</p> + +<p>As soon as it was out our party, which had managed to get through the lines +formed to keep back the curious, gazed into the ruins with some interest.</p> + +<p>“Why, say!” cried Jimsy suddenly, “the place was empty.”</p> + +<p>“So it was!” cried Roy in astonished tones, “except for that big box +kite over in the corner there. Whatever kind of a game of bluff has Fanning +Harding been playing?”</p> + +<p>“I guess I can imagine it,” struck in Hal <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_245'></a>245</span>Homer. “From +what you have told me his little game was to bluff you into thinking he had a +fine airship that could beat yours, and in that way induce you to sell out to +him.”</p> + +<p>“By George, I never thought of that!” exclaimed Roy, “but—hullo, here +comes Peggy in the farmer’s wagon!”</p> + +<p>He ran through the crowd to the side of the wagon, which had been driven in +by Farmer Ingalls.</p> + +<p>“You dear, dear boy, I’ve heard all about it already,” cried Peggy, +throwing her white arms about Roy’s neck, while Miss Prescott, whom they had +picked up at the hotel, sat by, hardly knowing whether to laugh or to cry, as +she expressed it later.</p> + +<p>I am not going to describe that reunion by the side of Fanning Harding’s +burned hangar, but each reader can imagine for herself what a joyous one it +was.</p> + +<p>“I know a place in town where they sell the bulliest sodas and sundaes,” +cried Jimsy suddenly. <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_246'></a>246</span>“Everybody come up there in the car and +we’ll celebrate!”</p> + +<p>“In one moment, Jimsy,” said Roy. “There’s one thing still I don’t +understand about this whole business, and that is this. It is clear enough that +Fanning Harding was bluffing about having an aeroplane in that shed, but how was +it that he made a night ascent with red and green lanterns?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, you mean the time you saw him in the air at night, the time we went to +Washington?” asked Jimsy.</p> + +<p>“That’s it. How do you account for it?”</p> + +<p>“Give it up,” rejoined the other lad.</p> + +<p>“Perhaps this may help to explain it.”</p> + +<p>Hal Homer came up carrying two much scorched lanterns he had found in the +debris of the hangar. One was red, the other was green.</p> + +<p>“I don’t quite see,” said Peggy, but Hal, with an apology interrupted +her.</p> + +<p>“It’s plain as day to me,” he said; “these two lanterns attached to +that big box kite on a breezy <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_247'></a>247</span>night would certainly give any one +the impression that an aeroplane was sailing about. Harding knew you would be +flying home in that vicinity on that night and rigged up this contrivance to +delude you.”</p> + +<p>“A phantom airship!” cried Peggy.</p> + +<p>“That’s about the size of it,” put in the slangy Jimsy, “and I think +that friend Homer here has hit on the correct solution.”</p> + +<p>“But if that were so, why did Fanning fit up a shop out at Gid Gibbons’s +place?” asked Jess in a puzzled tone.</p> + +<p>“I guess that shop had no more in it than this hangar,” was Roy’s reply. +“Gid Gibbons is a bad character who would do anything for money, and I think +it likely that he fell in with Harding’s schemes because he had no great liking +for any of us.”</p> + +<p>“Looks that way,” agreed Jimsy.</p> + +<p>“But that doesn’t explain that ruby which Hester was wearing,” thought +Peggy to herself as the laughing party of young folks drove off <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_248'></a>248</span>up +the town, followed by Farmer Ingalls and his good wife, who had been invited to +take part in the little celebration of their triumph. Here and there they were +recognized and cheered, but among the crowds on the sidewalks all discussing the +thrilling race, there were three that took no part in the good-natured +jubilation. Who these were we can guess.</p> + +<p>Jukes Dade at Fanning’s side had to listen to some savage abuse as they slunk +along, avoiding as far as possible the crowds.</p> + +<p>“I told you to burn up the hangar so that there would be no trace left of +the bluff we had been putting up,” he growled.</p> + +<p>“Well, didn’t I soak the place with gasolene,” protested Dade; “how +was I to know a kid would come along and give the alarm before it got fairly +alight?”</p> + +<p>“It’s been a dismal failure all the way through,” lamented Harding, as +if he had been engaged on some praiseworthy enterprise.</p> + +<p>“Incidentally,” purred Jukes Dade, but with <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_249'></a>249</span>a menace under +his silky tones, “I’d like to see some of that money you’ve been promising me +all along.”</p> + +<p>“You’ll have to wait till I see my father,” snapped out Fanning +savagely.</p> + +<p>“Well, see him quick then, or I may have to take other means of getting +it,” snarled Dade.</p> + +<p>“What do you mean?”</p> + +<p>“Why, by telling a few things I know. About the loss of a certain lady’s +jewels, for instance.”</p> + +<p>Fanning went white as ashes.</p> + +<p>“You sneak! You’ve been listening at keyholes!” he cried.</p> + +<p>Dade returned him look for look defiantly.</p> + +<p>“Well, what if I have?” he snarled. “I’ve got a hold on you now, +Master Harding. I’ve got you where I want you and I’m going to keep you +there.”</p> + +<div class='chapter'> +<a id='ref_av'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_250'></a>250</span> +<p class='cln0'>CHAPTER XXII.</p> +<p class='cln1'>JIM BELL OF THE WEST.</p> +</div> + +<p>Some days after the events described in the last chapter, and following the +receipt by Roy of a pink check for $5,000.00, a strange visitor arrived at the +Prescott home—their very own home now, for the mortgage had been paid off, much +to Mr. Harding’s disgust.</p> + +<p>The stranger was a bronzed man and wore a broad-brimmed sombrero which would +have marked him anywhere as a Westerner. Of Miss Prescott, who, in a new +lavender silk dress, came to the door, he inquired if he could see Mr. Roy +Prescott.</p> + +<p>Miss Prescott smiled at this ceremonial way of mentioning her young nephew, +but directed the stranger with the breezy Western manner to the workshop at the +rear of the house, where <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_251'></a>251</span>Roy and Peggy were “fussing,” as Jess +called it, with their beloved Golden Butterfly.</p> + +<p>“Good morning,” he said, doffing his sombrero with a sweep and a +flourish; “can I have a word with you?”</p> + +<p>“Certainly. Two or three if you want them,” rejoined Roy, while Peggy +gazed in some surprise at the queer-mannered newcomer.</p> + +<p>“The fact is,” went on the stranger, “that I’m in the market for +aeroplanes such as yours. I happened to be on the train some nights ago when you +came flying through the air with two belated young passengers. Well, sir, thinks +I, if such a machine can make a train on schedule time it ought to be good for +other purposes. I took the liberty of making some inquiries about you from your +two young friends after the train had started, but asked them not to mention the +matter to you yet awhile.</p> + +<p>“In New York I looked up my partner and we discussed the plan and he agreed +with me that it was a good one. Now, I’m down here this <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_252'></a>252</span>morning to +offer you $10,000 outright for the use of half a dozen of your aeroplanes, and a +salary of $5,000 as instructor to the aviators I shall have to have to run them. +How does the offer strike you?”</p> + +<p>“I—er—well, I hardly know what to say,” responded Roy; “you see, +it’s a bit sudden. It rather takes my breath away.”</p> + +<p>“Well, that’s a way we have in the West,” was the response, “but maybe +I’d better tell you a little more about myself. My name is Jim Bell. I’m worth a +couple of million or thereabouts. You can verify that by referring to the First +National Bank of ’Frisco, or the East Coast Bank of New York City. I’ve got +interests in cattle, wool and mines, but the very best mining proposition I ever +struck I ran across out on the Nevada alkali desert in a range of barren hills. +We were prospecting there when I was told about it. After untold hardships I +found the spot and staked it out. But there arose the difficulty of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_253'></a>253</span>transportation. There was the gold all right, but how was I to get +it out?”</p> + +<p>“I came East to see if I couldn’t get some sort of automobile built that +would travel the desert, but when I saw that aeroplane of yours droop down at +that jerkwater junction, I realized I had found what I wanted. Now, are you +on?”</p> + +<p>“You’ll have to give us a little time to think, sir,” rejoined Roy; +“it’s a very flattering offer and I’d like to accept it, but I’ll have to +think it over.”</p> + +<p>“Quite right, quite right,” rejoined the other, “nothing like thinking +it over. If every one did that fewer accidents and mishaps would occur in life. +Take my own life, for instance. I’ve often thought I’d go back to see the old +folks, but in that case I thought it over too long, for when I went to the old +home the other day it was all gone. Not a stick or stone remained. My parents +were dead and my only brother was no-one-knew-where.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_254'></a>254</span>Jim Bell’s voice shook strangely. He blinked his eyes once or +twice and then resumed briskly: “You see, I left home in a mighty queer way. I +was out in a boat with my brother when it got overturned. He was drowned, I +guess, but anyway I found myself drifting about on the Sound. I managed to seize +hold of a bit of floating driftwood and in that way kept my head above water +till a ship came along and picked me up.</p> + +<p>“She was a big vessel bound for China and her captain was a brute. On our +arrival in the Far East he bound me out as a sort of apprentice to a rich +Chinaman living in the interior. I was with him for ten years before I escaped. +I worked my way to the coast, got another ship and headed for +California.</p> + +<p>“On the way across there was a mutiny and I saved the life of a wealthy +passenger, who turned out to be a mining man and who, when he died two years +later, left me most of his property. That gave me my start in life, and now I’m +a millionaire. But I’d give it all if I could <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_255'></a>255</span>get some news of poor +brother Peter and find out if he is dead or alive.”</p> + +<p>“Maybe we can help you,” cried Peggy, her eyes shining and her white +hands clasped excitedly.</p> + +<p>While the rugged Westerner had been talking the story of the old hermit came +back to her.</p> + +<p>“What do you mean?” asked the other; “do you know where my brother +is?”</p> + +<p>“I’m not certain,” cried Peggy, “but the old hermit, Peter Bell, is he +almost beyond a doubt.”</p> + +<p>“My brother a hermit!” cried the wealthy mining man.</p> + +<p>“If it is your brother,” put in Roy, “I hope for your sake it is. But +his story tallies absolutely with yours. He told us that after he had missed you +in the water he thought that you were drowned. Returning home he was shunned on +every side, for the villagers accused him of having deserted you to save his own +life.”</p> + +<p>“My poor Peter,” breathed the miner.</p> + +<p>“Miserable and made morose by the contempt <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_256'></a>256</span>he met with on +every side he became a hermit and now lives in a hut near the town of +Acatonick.”</p> + +<p>“How long does it take to get there? I must lose no time in finding +out,” exclaimed Jim Bell.</p> + +<p>“You can get there in two or three hours from here if you can catch a +train,” said Roy. “If you like I’ll phone for you and find out.”</p> + +<p>“Say, boy, that would be mighty white of you. I tell you it hurts to think +of poor Peter living all alone like that in poverty while I’ve been rich all +these years. But it wasn’t for lack of trying to locate him, for I’ve advertised +and had detectives searching every likely place.”</p> + +<p>Roy found that there would be a train to Acatonick in about half an hour, and +their new found friend hastened off, after warm farewells, to catch it. He +promised to be back within a few days and let them know of his success, and also +inform them of any further arrangements he might be prepared to make about his +offer.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Roy, after he had gone, “the skies are beginning to +clear, sis.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_257'></a>257</span>Peggy sighed.</p> + +<p>“Yes, but there is still one thing to be cleared up, Roy,” she said.</p> + +<p>“I know—the disappearance of those jewels,” rejoined Roy. “Oh, if +only we had something more to go upon than mere suspicions.”</p> + +<p>“Perhaps we will have before long,” said Peggy, musingly.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> +<a id='ref_aw'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_258'></a>258</span> +<p class='cln0'>CHAPTER XXIII.</p> +<p class='cln1'>LIKE THIEVES IN THE NIGHT.</p> +</div> + +<p>“Heard anything of Fanning Harding?” asked Jimsy, one bright morning, as +he stopped his car at the Prescotts’ gate and he and Jess got out.</p> + +<p>“Not a thing since that day at Acatonick,” responded Roy, who with his +sister had hastened to meet the other two. “Why, Jess, how charming you look +this morning.”</p> + +<p>“Meaning that you notice the contrast with other mornings,” laughed Jess +merrily; “oh, Roy, you are not a courtier.”</p> + +<p>“No, I guess not yet—whatever a courtier may be,” was the laughing +rejoinder; “but I always like to pay deserved compliments.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, that’s better,” cried Jess; “but have you heard anything more +from Mr. Bell?”</p> + +<p>For, of course, Jimsy and Jess by this time knew about the visit of the +mining man. Mr. <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_259'></a>259</span>Bancroft had looked up his standing and character +and had found both of the highest. On his advice Roy had about decided to accept +the unique offer made him by the Western millionaire.</p> + +<p>Peggy shook her head in response to Jess’s question.</p> + +<p>“No, dear, not one word,” she said; “isn’t it queer? However, I guess +we shall, before long. Oh, I do hope that that poor old hermit turns out to be +Mr. Jim Bell’s brother.”</p> + +<p>“So do I, too,” agreed Jimsy. “It would be jolly for you and Roy to +think that you and your aeroplane had been the means of righting such a +succession of mishaps.”</p> + +<p>“Indeed it would,” agreed Peggy, warmly; “but now come into the house +and have some ice cream. It’s one sign of our new prosperity that we are never +without it now.”</p> + +<p>“I’ve eaten so much of it I’m ashamed to look a freezer in the face,” +laughed Roy, as they <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_260'></a>260</span>trooped in, to be warmly welcomed by Miss +Prescott.</p> + +<p>In the midst of their merry feast the sound of wheels was heard and a rig +from the station drove up. Out of it stepped a venerable old gentleman in a +well-fitting dark suit, with well blackened shoes and an altogether neat and +prosperous appearance.</p> + +<p>Peggy and Jess who had run to the window at the sound of wheels saw him +assisted to the ground by a younger man whom they both recognized with a cry of +astonishment.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Jim Bell. But who is the old gentleman?”</p> + +<p>“Why it’s—it’s the hermit!” cried Roy.</p> + +<p>“Good gracious, is that fashionable looking old man a hermit?” gasped +Jimsy.</p> + +<p>“He was, I guess, but he won’t be any more,” laughed Peggy, happily, as +she tripped to the door to welcome the visitors. The Prescotts had a maid now; +but Peggy preferred to be the first to greet the newly united brothers for it +was <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_261'></a>261</span>evident that Jim Bell’s quest had been successful.</p> + +<p>What greetings there were to be sure, when the two brothers were inside the +cool, shady house! The old hermit’s eyes gleamed delightedly as he gallantly +handed Miss Prescott to a chair. As for Jim Bell, he was happy enough to +“dance a jig,” he said.</p> + +<p>“I’ll play for you, sir,” volunteered Jimsy, going toward the piano.</p> + +<p>“No, no,” laughed Jim Bell; “I’m too old for that now. But not too old +for Peter and I to have many happy days together yet, eh, Peter?”</p> + +<p>He turned tenderly toward the old man whose eyes grew dim and moist.</p> + +<p>“I wish dad and mother could see us now,” he said, sadly, as his +thoughts wandered back over the long bitter years he had spent in solitude.</p> + +<p>“Perhaps they can,” breathed Peggy, softly; “let us hope so.”</p> + +<p>“Thank you,” said the old hermit, with a sigh.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_262'></a>262</span>But the conversation soon turned to a merrier vein. And then it +drifted into business. Mr. Bancroft happened to stop in on his way into town and +after a long talk with Jim Bell he seriously advised Roy to accept the mining +man’s proposal.</p> + +<p>“I’ll put you up a factory any place you say,” said the millionaire, +“and you can turn out all that we require. I’ve a notion, too, that they might +be used as general freight carriers over arid stretches of country where there +are no railroads, and feed and water for stock is scarce.”</p> + +<p>“Not a doubt of it,” said Mr. Bancroft.</p> + +<p>Before he left the preliminary papers had been drawn up and signed, and Roy +Prescott found himself fairly launched in business. But in all this success he +did not forget how much he owed to Peggy. Recent events had softened the boy’s +character and reduced his conceit wonderfully.</p> + +<p>“I owe it all to you, little sis,” he said that evening.</p> + +<p>“I don’t know about all,” cried Jimsy, who was <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_263'></a>263</span>present; +“but you do owe a whole lot to her, old man, and I’m glad to see you +acknowledge it at last.”</p> + +<p>“I always have,” cried Roy, turning rather red, though.</p> + +<p>“Hum,” commented Jimsy; “I’m not so sure about that.”</p> + +<p>But Peggy put her hand over his mouth and it took Jimsy what seemed an unduly +long time to remove it. As for Jess, she stalwartly declared that if it hadn’t +been for Peggy there would have been no Golden Butterfly, no five thousand +dollar prize, and, as she said, “no nothing.” But to this loyal little +Peggy would not assent. In her eyes Roy would always remain the most wonderful +brother in the world.</p> + +<p>Soon after this Jimsy and Jess took their leave and it was not long before +the last light was extinguished in the happy little household and deep silence +reigned. About midnight, as nearly as she could judge, Peggy awoke to find the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_264'></a>264</span>moonlight streaming into her room and upon her face.</p> + +<p>“Good gracious, I’ll get moonstruck,” she thought, and throwing on a +wrap she went to the window to pull down the shade which had been raised to +admit the cool air.</p> + +<p>The window commanded a view of the workshop, in which the Golden Butterfly +was kept, and Peggy, as she looked out, was astonished to see that the door of +the work shop which housed the precious craft was open.</p> + +<p>“Goodness!” thought the girl, “how careless of whoever left it that +way. The night air will rust the stay-wires and the steel parts of the motor +terribly. I guess I had better slip downstairs and close it.”</p> + +<p>Partially dressing herself the girl noiselessly tiptoed down the stairs and +out into the moonlit night.</p> + +<p>For one instant she was startled as she thought she saw a dark form dodge +swiftly behind a corner of the workshop as she appeared.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_265'></a>265</span>“I must be getting as nervous as poor Roy when the mule +frightened him down the well,” she thought to herself as she advanced toward +the shed. Reaching it she raised her hand to shut the door when, to her +astonishment, she discovered that it had apparently been locked,—at least a +broken bit of the padlock dangling from the portal seemed to indicate this.</p> + +<p>“Somebody’s filed that through,” was Peggy’s thought. But before she +could make any further investigation a pair of hands grasped her from behind, +pinioning her arms to her side. At the same instant an old coat was flung over +her head and pulled close, stifling her outcries.</p> + +<p>“We won’t hurt you if you keep quiet,” hissed a voice in her ear, “but +if you don’t, look out for trouble.”</p> + +<p>“What are you going to do?” cried Peggy, through the muffling medium of +the coat.</p> + +<p>“You’ll soon find out,” was the rejoinder. “Jukes, bring her inside +the shed and keep her quiet.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_266'></a>266</span>Jukes! The name struck a familiar chord in Peggy’s memory. She +knew now why the face and form of the man hanging about Fanning’s “Phantom” +hangar at the aviation field had seemed so familiar to her. It <i>was</i> Jukes +Dade, the man her father had peremptorily discharged. Peggy could not repress a +shudder as she thought of the desperate character of the man.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, as her captors half dragged, half carried her into the workshop, +her body grew limp, and she fell in an insensible heap forward. She would have +struck the ground had not a pair of hands caught her.</p> + +<p>“She’s fainted,” cried Jukes, alarmedly.</p> + +<p>“So much the better,” growled out his companion; “she won’t give us +any trouble now. We can do what we’ve got to do and get away. Got the +files?”</p> + +<p>“Here they are,” responded Jukes; “just let me lay her down here while +I hand ’em to you.”</p> + +<p>He deposited Peggy’s limp form on a long box on which some sacks had been +strewn. The <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_267'></a>267</span>next instant the sharp rasping of a file could be heard +in the silent workshop.</p> + +<p>“I guess this Golden Butterfly will have its wings clipped for some time to +come,” chuckled Jukes’ companion, whom Peggy, of course, had not yet +seen.</p> + +<p>“I guess that’s right,” laughed the other; “just wait a jiffy while I +lay down this gun of mine and I’ll give you a hand.”</p> + +<p>He stepped over and put down a wicked-looking pistol on the rough bench on +which Peggy lay. Then he turned and began to help his companion. The two worked +by the light of a dark lantern which they had brought with them on their +rascally expedition to ruin the Golden Butterfly.</p> + +<p>But suddenly a slight noise behind him made Jukes turn his head. As he did so +he gave a startled yell. Peggy, her eyes bright and wild-looking, was standing +up behind them. In her hand was the pistol which Jukes had laid down beside her +when she had seemed to faint a few <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_268'></a>268</span>moments before. But Peggy’s +faint had been a simulated one. Realizing that harm was meant to the Golden +Butterfly, she had imitated unconsciousness as a means to possible escape and +giving the alarm.</p> + +<p>“Don’t move, either of you,” said Peggy, in a firm voice. “I’m only a +girl, but I can use a pistol.”</p> + +<p>But Jukes and his companion, with a wild yell, made a dash for the door.</p> + +<p>“Good gracious, I can’t shoot them,” thought Peggy.</p> + +<p>“Help! help!” she began to cry at the top of her voice.</p> + +<p>But the next instant the whirr and roar of a motor from the road apprised her +that the two rascals had made their escape in an auto and that pursuit was +useless. Thus it was that when the aroused household came pouring excitedly out +of the house they found a brave, if a rather tremulous, girl awaiting them with +a pistol in her <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_269'></a>269</span>hand on the stock of which were engraved the +initials “F. H.”</p> + +<p>“So that’s who Jukes’s companion was,” exclaimed Roy, angrily. “Oh, if +you had only awakened me, sis.”</p> + +<p>“My dear Roy,” rejoined Peggy, with dignity, “don’t you think that I +am capable of taking care of myself?”</p> + +<div class='chapter'> +<a id='ref_ax'></a> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_270'></a>270</span> +<p class='cln0'>CHAPTER XXIV.</p> +<p class='cln1'>HESTER MAKES AMENDS—CONCLUSION.</p> +</div> + +<p>A few days later Peggy borrowed Jess’s car and went out for a long, lonely +spin along the country roads. She wanted to think. Roy and Jimsy were at home +repairing the damage wrought to the Golden Butterfly, which, it turned out, was +very slight.</p> + +<p>She was driving along a pretty stretch of road when she came across a +veritable fairyland of delicate pink wild roses intertwined with honeysuckle and +woodbine.</p> + +<p>“Oh,” cried Peggy, who simply worshipped flowers, “how beautiful; I +must take some of these home. They’ll make all our garden things look mean and +shabby.”</p> + +<p>Stopping the car she alighted and was soon deep in her occupation of +gathering the fragrant posies. Suddenly she was startled by the sound +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_271'></a>271</span>of a sobbing voice close at hand, and the next minute an angry male +voice could be heard also.</p> + +<p>“I tell you I’ll do nothing of the sort,” the man was saying; “why +should I go and own up that I’m a thief or the next thing to it? At any rate +they’d have me put in jail for all the attempts I’ve made to interfere with +their aeroplane.”</p> + +<p>“It’s Fanning Harding!” gasped Peggy, amazedly, “and Hester +Gibbons,” she added the next instant as the girl’s voice sobbed out:</p> + +<p>“Well, if you won’t, I will. I’ve been weak and foolish but I’m not wicked. +I’m going to tell Peggy Prescott all about it to-day and ask her to forgive +me.”</p> + +<p>“You’d better not,” Fanning Harding’s tone was threatening now.</p> + +<p>“Well, what if I do?”</p> + +<p>“You won’t, I tell you. I’ll have you locked up and charged with the theft +yourself.”</p> + +<p>“You wouldn’t dare.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_272'></a>272</span>“Oh, yes, I would. You’ve got that ruby and that is pretty +good proof that you stole it.”</p> + +<p>“It isn’t so and you know it. I have been a weak, silly girl, that’s all, +but I see it all now. And just to think if I hadn’t overheard you and my father +talking that I might have gone on admiring you.”</p> + +<p>“Tell me you won’t go to the Prescotts with the story or I’ll<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>“Help! Help!”</p> + +<p>The shrill cry came in Hester’s tones.</p> + +<p>Without quite realizing what she was doing, Peggy stooped and picked up a +heavy bit of stick that lay in the road beside her. Then she stepped forward +around a bend which had hitherto hidden the other two from her sight. As she +appeared Fanning had his hand on Hester’s wrist and was wrenching it +cruelly.</p> + +<p>“Oh! oh! Fanning, please let go!” Hester was crying.</p> + +<p>“I will if you’ll promise not to tell.”</p> + +<p>“There’s no need for her to promise that, <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_273'></a>273</span>Fanning,” said +Peggy, “for I have already heard enough for me to know that she has some +connection with the disappearance of the Bancroft diamonds.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, Peggy!” cried Hester, running to her side.</p> + +<p>“See here,” began Fanning, swaggering forward threateningly toward the +two girls.</p> + +<p>“My brother is just ’round that corner,” said Peggy, boldly; “he’ll be +here in a minute. If you don’t wish to be arrested for what you did the other +night you had better get away from here, Fanning Harding.”</p> + +<p>A scared look crossed Fanning’s face and he turned and fairly took to his +heels.</p> + +<p>“Now, Hester,” said Peggy, kindly, “come with me to my car. It’s just +’round the corner.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, Peggy, I’ve been a bad, wicked girl, but I’m not a thief. Truly I’m +not.”</p> + +<p>“I believe that,” said Peggy, “but what do you know about the +disappearance of the diamonds?”</p> + +<p>“That I have them all here. Not one is gone,” <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_274'></a>274</span>was the +amazing reply, and Hester, drawing a handkerchief from her bosom, unfolded it +and displayed to Peggy’s amazed eyes a glittering collection of gems. In the +midst of the flashing gems gleamed the big ruby which Peggy had once seen Hester +so carefully conceal.</p> + +<p>“Hester, you have a duty before you,” said Peggy slowly; “get in my +car and come with me to my home and then tell me all about this mystery which +has puzzled us so long.”</p> + +<p>But the girl shrank back.</p> + +<p>“I can’t. Oh, Peggy, with you it’s different, but before, the others. Your +brother<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>“Poor fellow, he has been under unjust suspicion on account of these very +jewels,” Peggy reminded the agitated girl.</p> + +<p>“Oh, give me time. Not now. I<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>“No, it must be now,” said Peggy, with gentle insistence. +“Come!”</p> + +<p>Something in her manner seemed to strike the girl.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_275'></a>275</span>“You’ll promise no harm will come to me or my father through +this?” she said.</p> + +<p>“Is your father very deeply implicated in the matter?” asked Peggy +seriously, looking straight into the other’s eyes.</p> + +<p>“No. On my word of honor, no,” was the response.</p> + +<p>“Then I’ll promise,” said Peggy.</p> + +<p>“Very well, then, I’ll tell you all I know about the matter,” said +Hester, as the girls got into the car.</p> + +<p>An hour later, in the library of the Prescott’s home, Peggy, Roy, Jimsy and +Jess were gathered listening to Hester’s story. Her eyes were red from crying +and she hesitated frequently, but her manner showed that she was telling the +truth.</p> + +<p>On a table lay the glistening jewels. Jess had counted them and found that +they were all there.</p> + +<p>“I didn’t find out about the jewels till one night Fanning, who has always +said he admired me,” said Hester, with downcast eyes, “gave me that big +ruby there. At least he didn’t give it to me <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_276'></a>276</span>but he said I could +wear it. Of course I had heard about the disappearance of the jewels from the +auto, but somehow I didn’t associate this token of Fanning’s with it.</p> + +<p>“It was not till a week ago that I learned the true state of affairs. I +overheard a conversation of Fanning’s with my father in which he threatened him +with arrest if he, father, didn’t give him some money Fanning said he had +hoarded up. I knew dad didn’t have any and I asked him after Fanning had gone to +tell me all about it.</p> + +<p>“He isn’t such a bad man at bottom and when I pleaded with him he told me +the whole story. On the day of the jewel robbery, for it was a robbery, Morgan +and Giles<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span>”</p> + +<p>“Our butler and groom!” cried Jess.</p> + +<p>“Yes. Well, they were taking a stroll in the fields and happened along just +as the car was wrecked. They knew from servants’ gossip that you had been to +town to get the gems and when they saw you lying unconscious and the wallet +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_277'></a>277</span>near at hand, the temptation was too much for them and they stole +it.</p> + +<p>“They determined to hide it in some woods near my father’s place; but as +they entered them Fanning Harding came along on his bicycle. He saw them enter +the woods and became suspicious. Leaning his bicycle against a tree he followed +them and saw them bury the gems under a tree which they marked.</p> + +<p>“He noted the tree, too, and then, without their seeing him he remounted +his motor-cycle and came on to see my father about that business of the hoax +aeroplane. He said he wanted to bluff you into selling the Butterfly to +him.</p> + +<p>“Well, father agreed, for a fair sum of money, to help him, and we started +right into town. At that time I thought it was a good joke, and we were both +laughing as we came in sight of the scene of the accident.”</p> + +<p>“So that’s what they were laughing at,” thought Roy, recollecting how +mystified he had been when he saw them together.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_278'></a>278</span>“I don’t know whether it was Fanning’s manner or what,” +said Hester resuming, “but my father began to suspect that he might know +something about the jewels, and one day he followed him into the woods when he +went to see if the jewels were still under the tree. Father made him own up when +he caught him red-handed like that, but in the meantime Morgan and Giles also +had arrived. Well, the four of them were all equally guilty, so they agreed to +stick together and say nothing till the excitement about the loss had blown +over. But Fanning in the meantime said that he must have the ruby to let me +wear.</p> + +<p>“I guess he wanted to show me that he was as rich as he was always +pretending to be.</p> + +<p>“A few days later they had a terrible fright. Morgan, who carried the +leather wallet in his pocket for lack of a better place to put it, dropped it on +the porch of the Bancrofts’ house where, as you know, it was found before he +realized his loss and could recover it.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_279'></a>279</span>“When Fanning came back from the aviation meet and began +boasting of the mean tricks he had played you and how he had kidnapped Roy, I +began to see what a despicable fellow he was. Then, too, he was always +threatening dad, and so I decided to make a clean breast of it all and save poor +dad any more trouble, for Fanning has dictated to him ever since they shared the +secret.</p> + +<p>“I went to the wood and found the marked tree I had heard them talk about +so often and with the jewels in my hand I started for your home, Peggy, for I +didn’t dare to go to the Bancrofts’. But Fanning, it seems, had got suspicious, +and followed me. He overtook me at the spot where you encountered us.”</p> + +<p>“Does he know you have the jewels?” asked Roy.</p> + +<p>“Not yet,” rejoined Hester; “I believe if he had he would have been +violent.”</p> + +<p>“Well, Hester,” said Peggy, as the girl concluded her strange narrative, +“you have cleared up a puzzling mystery.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_280'></a>280</span>“Did you ever hear such a yarn in all your born days?” +asked Jimsy.</p> + +<p>“And every one of the jewels is there,” cried Jess. “I tell you what +I’ll do, I’ll just call up the house and tell mother about it. Won’t she be +pleased?”</p> + +<p>But Mrs. Bancroft was not at home, and<span style='white-space: nowrap'>––</span></p> + +<p>“Oh, miss,” gasped the servant, who answered the ’phone, “we’re all +upset. Morgan has run off, miss, and so has Giles. They took some of the silver +with them. Mary and me tried to stop ’em but they pointed a pistol at us and +scared us inter high strikes.”</p> + +<p>“I’ll ’phone the police at once,” cried Jess, indignantly. “They might +have got off if it hadn’t been for that.”</p> + +<p>But although a good description was furnished, Morgan and Giles were not +captured and Mr. Bancroft was not ill pleased.</p> + +<p>“They will not venture into this part of the country again,” he said, +“and we are well rid of such rascals.”</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_281'></a>281</span>Hester, in whom Mrs. Bancroft took an interest after the girl +had told her with her own lips her strange story, is now at a girls’ boarding +school, having been sent there at Mrs. Bancroft’s expense.</p> + +<p>As for Fanning Harding, his father sent him West soon after the lad’s innate +rascality had been revealed, and from reports Fanning is working hard to redeem +the past and make himself a good and useful man.</p> + +<p>“And so the mystery of the phantom airship and the missing jewels is all +cleared up,” said Peggy to Jess one day a short time after the events just +described had transpired.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” rejoined her chum, “and the air seems clearer and fresher +somehow. It is terrible to have a dark cloud of suspicion hanging over +one.”</p> + +<p>“It is, indeed,” rejoined Peggy; “and now, as Roy leaves in a few days +for the West, let’s all take a good long spin. You and I will go in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_282'></a>282</span>the Golden Butterfly while the boys can run along below us in the +auto.”</p> + +<p>But Jess looked a bit doubtful.</p> + +<p>“Wouldn’t Roy like to go in the aeroplane?” she said.</p> + +<p>Peggy broke into merry laughter.</p> + +<p>“Oh, you sly puss,” she exclaimed. “Very well, then you and Roy in the +Golden Eagle and Jimsy and I in the auto.”</p> + +<p>“Suits me,” cried Jimsy, throwing his arm around his sister’s waist, +“but I thought you were the girl aviator of the family, Peggy.”</p> + +<p>“So I am,” laughed Peggy, “but I am willing to yield my place for +once.”</p> + +<p>“Well, if you’ll excuse my horrid slang,” laughed Jimsy, “I think I +may say we’ve all been ‘up in the air’ for the last few weeks. But it’s all +over now and we’ll settle down to humdrum life once more.”</p> + +<p>“It’s been jolly, though,” protested Peggy.</p> + +<p>“With some parts left out,” put in Jess.</p> + +<p>But although no adventures just like those <span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_283'></a>283</span>we have related +happened again to the Girl Aviators, they were due to encounter some more +strange experiences. In fact, both Peggy and Roy and their friends were on the +brink of some odd happenings, the narration of which must be postponed to +another volume of this series.</p> + +<p>What these complications and adventures, both merry and perilous, proved to +be will be set down in full detail in “The Girl Aviators on Golden Wings,” +a breezy tale of our aerial maids.</p> + +<p class='end'>THE END.</p> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Girl Aviators and the Phantom +Airship, by Margaret Burnham + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL AVIATORS *** + +***** This file should be named 33605-h.htm or 33605-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/6/0/33605/ + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.fadedpage.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Girl Aviators and the Phantom Airship + +Author: Margaret Burnham + +Release Date: September 1, 2010 [EBook #33605] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL AVIATORS *** + + + + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.fadedpage.net + + + + + +THE GIRL AVIATORS + +AND + +THE PHANTOM AIRSHIP + +BY + +MARGARET BURNHAM + +M. A. DONOHUE & COMPANY + +CHICAGO--NEW YORK + +Made in U.S.A. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +The Girl Aviators and the Phantom Airship + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE GOLDEN BUTTERFLY. + + +"Roy! Roy! where are you?" + +Peggy Prescott came flying down the red-brick path, a rustling newspaper +clutched in her hand. + +"Here I am, sis,--what's up?" + +The door of a long, low shed at the farther end of the old-fashioned +garden opened as a clattering sound of hammering abruptly ceased. Roy +Prescott, a wavy-haired, blue-eyed lad of seventeen, or thereabouts, +stood in the portal. He looked very business-like in his khaki trousers, +blue shirt and rolled up sleeves. In his hand was a shiny hammer. + +Peggy, quite regardless of a big, black smudge on her brother's face, +threw her arms around his neck in one of her "bear hugs," while Roy, +boy-like, wriggled in her clasp as best he could. + +"Now, just look here," cried Peggy, quite out of breath with her own +vehemence. She flourished the paper under his nose and, imitating the +traditional voice of a town crier, announced: + +"Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye! Roy Prescott or any of the ambitious +aviators--now is your chance! Great news from the front! Third and last +call!" + +"You've got auctioneering, the Supreme Court and war times, mixed up a +bit, haven't you?" asked Roy with masculine condescension, but gazing +fondly at his vivacious sister nevertheless. + +Peggy made a little face and then thrust forth the paper for his +examination. + +"Read that, you unenthusiastic person," she demanded, "and then tell me +if you don't think that Miss Margaret Prescott has good reason to feel +somewhat more enthusiastic than comports with her usual dignity and +well-known icy reserve--ahem!" + +"Good gracious, sis!" exclaimed the boy, as he scanned the news-sheet, +"why this is just what we were wishing for, isn't it? It's our chance if +we can only grasp it and make good." + +"We can! We will!" exclaimed Peggy, striking an attitude and holding one +hand above her glossy head. "Read it out, Roy, so that Monsieur Bleriot +can hear it." + +M. Bleriot, a French bull-dog, who had dignifiedly followed Peggy's mad +career down the path, gazed up appreciatively, as Roy read out: + + "Big Chance for Sky Boys! + + "Ironmaster Higgins of Acatonick Offers Ten Thousand Dollars + In Prizes for Flights and Planes." + +"Ten thousand dollars, just think!" cried Peggy, clasping her hands one +minute and the next stooping to caress M. Bleriot. "Oh, Roy! Do you think +we could?" + +"Could what? you indefinite person?" parried Roy, although his eyes were +dancing and he knew well enough what his vivacious sister was driving at. + +"Could win that ten thousand dollars, of course, you goose." + +Roy laughed. + +"It's not all offered in a lump sum," he rejoined. "Listen; there is a +first prize of five thousand dollars for the boy under eighteen who makes +the longest sustained flight in a plane of his own construction--with the +exception of the engine, that is; and here's another of two thousand five +hundred dollars to the glider making the best and longest sustained +flight, and another of one thousand five hundred to the boy flying the +most carefully constructed machine and the one bearing the most ingenious +devices for perfecting the art of flying and--and--oh listen, Peggy!" + +"I am--oh, I am!" breathed Peggy with half assumed breathlessness. + +"There's a prize offered for girls!" + +"No!" + +"Yes. Now don't say any more that girls are downtrodden and neglected by +the bright minds of the day. Here it is, all in black and white, a prize +of a whole thousand to the young lady who makes a successful flight. +There, what do you think of that?" + +"That Mr. Higgins is a mean old thing," pouted Peggy, "five thousand +dollars to the successful boy and only one thousand to the successful +girl. It's discrimination, that's what it is. Don't you read every day in +the papers about girls and women making almost as good flights as the +men? Didn't a--a Mademoiselle somebody-or-other make a flight round the +bell tower at Bruges the other day, and hasn't Col. Roosevelt's daughter +been up in one, and isn't there a regular school for women fliers at +Washington, and--and----?" + +"Didn't the suffragettes promise to drop 'Votes for Women' placards from +the air upon the devoted heads of the British Parliament, you up to date +young person?" finished Roy, teasingly. + +Peggy made a dash for him but the boy dodged into the shed, closely +followed by his sister. + +But as she crossed the threshold Peggy's wild swoop became a decorous +stroll, so to speak. She paused, all out of breath, beneath a spreading +expanse of yellow balloon silk, braced and strengthened with brightly +gleaming wires and stays,--one wing of the big monoplane upon which her +brother had spent all his spare time for the past year. The flying thing +was almost completed now. It stood in its shed, with its scarab-like +wings outspread like a newly alighted yellow butterfly, which, by a +stroke of ill luck, had found itself installed in a gloomy cage instead +of the bright, open spaces of its native element. + +In one corner of the shed was a large crate surrounded by some smaller +ones. The large one had been partially opened and Peggy gave a little +squeal of delight as her eyes fell on it. + +"Oh, Roy, that's it?" + +"That's it," rejoined the boy proudly, lifting a bit of sacking from the +contents of the opened crate, "isn't it a beauty?" + +The lifted covering had exposed a gleam of bright, scarlet enamel, and +the glint of polished brass. To Roy the contents of that crate was the +splendid new motor for his aeroplane. But to Peggy, just then, it was +something far different. A bit of a mist dimmed her shining eyes for an +instant. Her voice grew very sober. + +"Three thousand dollars--oh, Roy, it scares me!" + +Roy crossed the shed and threw an arm about his sister's neck. + +"Don't be frightened, sis," he breathed in an assuring tone, "it's going +to be all right. Why, can't you see that the very first thing that +happens is a chance to win $5,000?" + +"I know that. But that contest is not to come off for more than a month +and--and supposing someone should have a better machine than you?" + +For an instant that air of absolute assurance, which truth to tell, had +made Roy some enemies, and which was his greatest fault, left him. His +face clouded and he looked troubled. But it was as momentary as the +cloud-shadow that passes over a summer wheat field. + +"It'll be all right, sis," he rejoined, confidently, "and if it isn't, I +can always sell out to Simon Harding. You know he said that his offer +held good at any time." + +"I know that, Roy," rejoined Peggy, seriously, "but we could never do +that. We could neither of us go against father's wishes like that. +He--well, Roy, it's not to be thought of. Poor dad----" + +Her bright eyes filled with tears as her mind travelled back to a scene +of a year before when Mr. Prescott had ceased from troubling with the +affairs of this world, and commended his children to the care of their +maiden aunt--his sister with whom, since their mother's death some years +before, the little family had made their home. + +Poor Mr. Prescott had been that hopelessly impracticable creature--an +inventor. Fortunately for himself, however, he had a small fortune of his +own so that he had been enabled to carry on his dreaming and planning +without embarrassing his family. Roy and Peggy had both been sent to good +boarding schools, and had known, in fact, very little of home life after +their mother's death which had occurred several years before, as already +said. + +Mr. Prescott, in his dreamy, abstract way, had cared dearly for his +children. But those other children of his--the offsprings of his +brain--that surrounded him in his workshop, had, somehow, seemed always +to mean more to him. And so the young Prescotts had grown up without the +benefit of home influences. + +On Peggy's naturally sweet, vivacious character, this had not made so +much difference. But Roy had developed, in spite of his real sterling +worth and ability, into a headstrong, rather self-opinionated lad. His +success at school in athletics and the studies which he cared about +"mugging" at had not tended to decrease these qualities. + +It had come as a shock to both of them a year before when two telegrams +had been despatched--one to Peggy's school up the Hudson, and the other +to Roy up in Connecticut, telling them to return to the Long Island +village of Sandy Bay at once. Their father--that half-shadowy being--was +very ill. + +The messages had not exaggerated the seriousness of the situation. Three +days after his children reached his side Mr. Prescott gently breathed his +last, dying, as he had lived, so quietly, that the end had come before +they realized it. But in those last brief moments Roy came to know his +father better than ever before. He learned that the dream of his parent +had been to produce an aeroplane free from the defects of its +forerunners,--a safe vehicle for passengers or freight. How far he had +progressed in this there was no time for him to tell before the end came. +But Roy, interested already in aeronautics at school, where he had been +president of "The High Fliers"--a model aeroplane association,--eagerly +took up his father's desire that he would try to carry on his work, and +began to take lessons in flying. + +In the shed which had been Mr. Prescott's workshop the framework of an +aeroplane already stood. And with the aid of what money his father had +left him, Roy had carried on the work till now it was almost completed. +But the three thousand dollars which had gone for the motor had +completely exhausted the lad's legacy. As Peggy put it, all their eggs +were in an "aerial basket." + +But how much Peggy had aided him, in what had, in the last few months +possessed all his thoughts, Roy did not guess. To what extent her +encouragement had spurred him on to surmount seemingly unconquerable +difficulties, and how she had actually aided him in constructing the +machine, his ambition never realized. Not innately selfish, Roy was yet +too used to having his own way to attribute his success to any one but +himself. + +Sometimes, brave, loyal little Peggy, try as she might, could not +disguise this from herself, and it pained her a good deal. But she had +uncomplainingly, ungrudgingly, aided her brother, without hoping for, or +expecting, the appreciation she sometimes felt she was really entitled +to. But her great love for her brother kept Peggy from ever betraying to +him or any one else an iota of her inner feelings. + +So intent had the brother and sister been on their talk that neither of +them had noticed, while they conversed, that a big four-door touring car, +aglitter with gleaming maroon paint, and with a long, low hood concealing +a powerful engine, had glided up to the white gate in the picket fence +surrounding Miss Prescott's old fashioned cottage. + +From it a frank, pleasant-faced lad and an unusually striking girl, tall, +slender and with a glossy mass of black hair coiled attractively on her +shapely head, had alighted. + +Hearing the sound of voices from the open door of the shed in which The +Golden Butterfly, as Peggy had christened it, was nearing completion, +they, without ceremony, at once made their way toward it. Peggy, glancing +up from her sad reverie at the sound of footsteps, gave a glad little cry +as she beheld the visitors standing framed in the sunlight of the open +door. While she and the tall, dark-haired girl mingled their contrasting +tresses in an exuberant school-girl caress, the lad and Roy Prescott, +were, boy fashion, slapping one another on the back and shaking hands +with just as much enthusiasm. + +"Why, if this isn't simply delightful, Jess, you dear old thing," cried +the delighted Peggy, as, with both hands on her chum's shoulders, she +held Jess Bancroft off at arm's length, the better to scrutinize her +handsome face, "and Jimsy, too," as she turned to the lad with a bright +smile of welcome; "wherever did you two come from?" + +"From the clouds?" demanded Roy. + +"No, hardly, although I don't wonder at your asking such a question," +laughed Jess, merrily, exchanging greetings with Roy. "Roy Prescott, +positively I can see your wings sprouting." + +They all laughed heartily at this, while Jess ran on to explain that she +and her brother were stopping for the summer at Seaview Towers, a summer +estate which their father, a Wall Street power, had leased for the +season. Of course, explained the merry girl, who had been Peggy's closest +chum at school, her first thought had been to take a spin over in her new +motor car and look up her friends, for Roy and James--or Jimsy--Bancroft +had been almost as close chums as the girls. + +"And so this is the wonderful Golden Butterfly that you wrote to me +about?" exclaimed Jess enthusiastically after the first buzz of +conversation subsided. + +"Yes, this is it," said Roy with great satisfaction in his tones, "and +I'm proud of it, I can tell you. I think I've made a success of it." + +Jess and Jimsy exchanged glances. And then Jess stole a look at Peggy, +but no cloud had crossed the face of Roy's sister. + +"Oh, you darling," thought Jess, "you're too sweet for anything. I just +know how much you contributed to the Golden Butterfly's existence, and +yet you won't detract a bit from Roy's self satisfaction." + +As for Jimsy Bancroft, he said nothing. He glanced rather oddly at Roy +for an instant. Then his eyes turned to Peggy's face. Perhaps they dwelt +there for rather a long period of time. At any rate, they were still +fixed on her brave beauty when a sudden shadow fell across the stream of +sunlight that poured into the open portal of the workshop. + +"Ah! So this is the place in which young genius finds its habitation;" +grated out a rather harsh, unpleasant voice. + +They all looked up. Perhaps none of them--Jimsy least of all--was pleased +at the interruption. The newcomer was a tall, angular man, with a +withered, clean-shaven face,--what Peggy called a "money making face"; +and surely that described Simon Harding, as he stood there in his black, +none-too-new garments, and his square-toed shoes. One could fairly catch +the avaricious glint in his eyes as he squinted rapidly over the new +aeroplane's outlines. + +By his side stood a youth who was, so far as dress went at any rate, the +exact opposite of the elder man. Fanning Harding--or Fan as he was +usually called--was dressed in elaborate motoring costume. His goggles, +of the latest and most exaggerated design, were shoved up off his +countenance now, exposing to view a good-looking browned face. It was +marred, however, by the same restless, strained look that could be seen +on his father's visage. + +"We're not intruding, I hope," he hastened to say, coming forward with a +cordiality that seemed somewhat forced. + +"Not in the least," said Peggy, hastily, realizing that none of them had +perhaps looked very cordial, "won't you come in?" + +Fan Harding, bestowing an admiring glance on her, seemed to be about to +accept. His father, however, struck in: + +"I'll leave you with the young folks, my boy, while I go up to the house. +I have some business with Miss Prescott." + +As he shuffled off, Peggy and Roy exchanged somewhat uneasy glances. What +business could this old man--in some respects a power financially and +otherwise in Sandy Beach--have with their aunt? + +"Say Peggy," spoke up Fan Harding, suddenly, "ain't you going to +introduce me to your friends? And how about inviting us all to have some +of those strawberries Pop and I noticed as we came down the path?" + +"Well, he isn't a bit backward about coming forward!" thought Jess as the +young people, with due formality, went through the ceremony of +introductions. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +SUSPENSE AND ACHIEVEMENT. + + +It was a week after Fan Harding's visit to the Prescott home, on one +windless, steamy morning, when the pearl-gray mist still lay in the +smooth hollows running back from the coast, that The Golden Butterfly was +wheeled out of her cocoon--so to speak--and dragged up the hillside at +the back of the white, green-shuttered cottage. Miss Prescott, a +sweet-faced old lady, whose cheek was still blooming despite the passage +of the years, stood on the back porch of the house watching the process. + +If Miss Prescott's face had been somewhat less cheerful than usual since +her talk with Mr. Harding, all the clouds had been chased from it now. +She watched as eagerly as a girl while Roy and Peggy, aided by Jess and +Jimsy and two other lads, friends of Roy's from the village, dragged the +brand new aeroplane up the hillside. + +The excited chatter and laughter of the young folks rang out merrily as +they worked--for it was work to get the 'plane, light as it was, up the +grade. Fortunately--for Roy had no desire of a crowd to witness his +initial ascent in the new 'plane--the Prescott house was some distance +out of the village, and there were no near neighbors. The place had, in +fact, once been a farm house, and although the acreage still was in the +possession of Miss Prescott it was not worked. + +A more ideal place for flying could not be imagined. Smooth +slopes--unwooded, except in clumps--were all about. To the north +glimmered the sparkling waters of Long Island Sound, while to the south +stretched fertile farming land, devoted to crop-raising and pasturage. + +Very business-like the young people looked as they hauled the monoplane +up the hill. Roy and Jimsy wore leather puttees, trousers fashioned +somewhat like riding breeches, and leather coats. On their heads were +caps of the latter material, well padded within and provided with visors +pierced with goggles. + +The girls wore shirt waists, outing skirts and "sensible" walking boots. +Jess had on her "Shaker" motoring bonnet, in which she looked very +captivating indeed. Peggy's glossy hair, unadorned, but tightly confined +in a net, formed her hair covering. Both girls were all a-tiptoe with +excitement, for although Roy had had experience with aeroplanes, and so, +in a limited way, had Jimsy, this feature of the sport was new to them. + +At last the summit was reached, and Roy, after calling a halt, took a +brief but comprehensive survey of the Golden Butterfly. This done, he +climbed into the chassis--or body--of the thing, and leaning over the +machinery he rapidly tested all the adjustments and examined the +lubricating devices to see that all was in order. Everything appeared to +be. + +"Well," said Roy, with some self complacency, stepping out of the +machine, "everything seems to be ready for the initial flight of the +Golden Butterfly, my lords and gentlemen." + +"And ladies, if you please," put in Jess, in a voice that was vibrant +with excitement, despite her endeavor to keep calm. + +"And ladies," added Roy, with a gallant bow in her direction. + +Peggy in the meantime, like an anxious little mother fussing over dolls, +had been examining the aeroplane once more. Suddenly she gave a little +cry. The exclamation interrupted Roy who was explaining, with great +satisfaction, that everything was all right. + +"I've looked it over and if there had been anything wrong it couldn't +have escaped my notice," he observed rather pompously. + +"Oh, Roy! Just look here! The spring of this landing wheel is all slack!" + +This was the exclamation from Peggy that brought up Roy somewhat shortly +in the midst of his self-confident harangue. + +"By George, so it is, sis!" exclaimed Roy, reddening a little, while Lem +Sidney, one of his chums, observed with a chuckle to Jeff Stokes, that +Peggy appeared to know as much, if not more, about the machine than did +Roy. + +The spring was soon tightened by means of a monkey wrench. But that did +not prevent them all realizing that had it not been for Peggy's acute +observation a serious accident might have occurred. This done, even +Peggy's anxious glances could not detect any other flaw in the machine. + +"What time did that aviator fellow say he would show up?" then demanded +Jimsy, abruptly. + +"He should be here now," rejoined Roy. "I've half a mind to start anyhow. +I can manage the machine I am very certain." + +"Oh, Roy!" cried Peggy, reprovingly, "you know you promised aunty that +you wouldn't do anything till Mr. Hal Homer got here." + +"All right, sis," put in Roy, hastily, "don't be scared. I'll stick to my +word." + +"Hullo!" cried Jimsy, suddenly, "there comes an auto now." + +"So it is," exclaimed the others, as a black touring car came whizzing +down the road below them. It soon halted, and a figure in leather +garments with gaitered legs alighted and hastened across the fields +toward the party clustered about the aeroplane. The car was left in +charge of the chauffeur. + +As Jimsy had guessed, the new arrival proved to be Hal Homer, the +well-known cross country flier, from whom Roy had taken some vacation +time aviation lessons. + +"He's awfully good looking," whispered Jess to Peggy, after introductions +to the dapper young aviator had been extended by Roy. + +"Oh, so--so," rejoined Peggy, with a toss of her head. + +"Maybe you know some one who is handsomer?" questioned Jess with a +mischievous side glance of her fine eyes. + +Peggy flushed under her fair skin. But Jess laughed with good-humored +raillery. + +"Jimsy surely is a good-looking boy," she said, "if he hadn't a pug nose." + +"A pug nose!" flared up Peggy. "Oh, Jess, how can----" + +Then she stopped short in confusion while Jess laughed the more at her +discomfiture. + +Young Mr. Homer lost no time in starting operations. He ordered his +helpers to secure the machine to a small tree growing nearby by means of +a stout rope Roy had brought with him. This done, and the monoplane thus +secured from flying away when her engine was started, he set the sparking +and gasolene levers and threw in the switch. Roy and Jimsy, the latter +acting under Roy's instructions, flew to the propeller. + +The Golden Butterfly being a monoplane, this was in front of the machine. + +"Be careful when you feel it start, to leap aside," warned Roy, "or you +might be beheaded." + +"I never lose my head in an emergency," joked Jimsy. + +But just the same his heart beat, as did those of all of them but Hal +Homer's, as he and Roy started to swing the great shiny wooden driving +appliance. + +Once, twice, three times they swung it round, exerting all their force. +The fourth time they were rewarded by a feeble sigh from the engine--a +sixty horse power motor. + +All at once--Bang! + +"Let go!" yelled Roy, jumping backward. + +Jimsy in his hurry to obey stumbled and fell backward in a heap. He +rolled some distance down the hill unnoticed, before he succeeded in +stopping his motion. In the meantime the others--even Peggy--were too +absorbed in the sight before them to watch Jimsy. + +Simultaneously with the sharp report the propeller had whirled around +swiftly. The next instant it was a mere gray blur, while a furious wind +from its revolving blades swept the onlookers. Blue smoke spurted from +the exhausts, mingled with flame, and the uproar was terrific. + +The Golden Butterfly, like a thing of life, struggled at her moorings. +The rope stretched and strained, taut as a violin string, under the pull. +But it held fast, and after a while Aviator Homer slowed down the engine +and finally stopped it, after adjusting a miss-fire in one of the +cylinders. As the propeller became once more visible and then came to a +stop, the boys broke into cheers, while the girls, too, voiced their +enthusiasm. + +"Oh, Peggy, isn't it a darling!" cried Jess. + +"Aeroplanes are not usually called 'darlings,'" responded Peggy with +assumed severity, "but--oh, Jess, it's--it's--a jewel and----" + +"I'm dying for a ride in it!" burst in Jess. + +"Then if you will consent to live a little longer I hope to have the +pleasure of saving your life," put in Roy, gallantly. + +"Oh, Roy! I can ride in it now!" gasped Jess, while Peggy clasped her +hands and snuggled up close to her chum. + +"Well, no, hardly just yet," laughed Roy, "but after Homer has tested her +thoroughly out I guess you girls can take a spin." + +"You know I'm going to learn to handle one," declared Peggy, as Roy made +off once more. "I know a good deal about the theoretical part of it +already." + +"Well, theory wouldn't do you much good in a mile-long tumble," quoth +Jess, sagely. + +"Nonsense," rejoined Peggy. "Mr. Homer says one is as safe in an +aeroplane, if one is careful, as in an auto." + +"Safer I guess, the way that brother of mine drives sometimes," replied +Jess. "He calls it 'burning up the road.' But--oh, look, they're casting +off, or whatever it is you do to an airship when you turn her loose. Oh!" + +Snatching off her motoring bonnet Jess began waving it furiously. While +they had been talking the rope had been cast loose, and now, with Mr. +Homer himself at the driving wheel, in cap and goggles, the engine was +being started once more. + +In wrapt excitement both girls stood breathless. So intent were they on +the scene transpiring before them that they had not noticed the approach +of a second auto on the road below. From it Fan Harding had alighted and +hastened up the hill, after "parking" his machine, as if in fear that he +would be too late to view the proceedings. + +A sneering look was on his rather handsome face as he rapidly climbed the +hill. He reached a position behind the two girls just as the aviator gave +the signal to let go of the machine--to the rear structure of which Lem +Sidney and Jeff Stokes were perspiringly clinging, their heels digging +into the soft turf to steady themselves. + +As Mr. Homer's hand swung backward and downward they let go. Instantly, +like an arrow from a bow, the monoplane--the work of Peggy and Roy--was +off. How it scudded across the hill top! Blue smoke and flame shot from +its exhaust. Its operator sat hunched over his machinery looking, with +his goggles, like some creature of the lower regions. Peggy clasped her +hands and stood a-tiptoe breathlessly as it scudded along. + +"Oh, will it rise?" she breathed, her color coming and going in her +excitement. + +"I'll bet ten dollars it won't fly any more than an earthworm." + +Peggy turned swiftly, indignantly. Her color flamed and her eyes blazed +angrily. Jess, hardly less indignant at the sneering tone and words, also +faced about. + +"Good morning, girls," said Fan Harding, easily, raising his motoring cap +nonchalantly, "I came to see the ascension, but I'm afraid that it's +going to be a descension." + +"I think you're hateful to talk like that," cried Peggy, angrily, +stamping her foot. "Our aeroplane will rise. It just will, I tell +you--oh, gracious!" + +She broke off in confusion and stood aghast for a moment. The swiftly +scudding aeroplane had stopped its skittering over the grass and had come +to an abrupt stop at a distance of about five hundred yards. + +Already the boys were running across the turf toward it at top speed. The +girls could see Mr. Homer clambering out of the chassis as the machine +came to a standstill. + +"Ha! Ha! just as I thought," chuckled Fan Harding, viciously, "that thing +is a dead failure." + +Poor Peggy, tears in her eyes at this seeming disaster, was stung fairly +out of herself. She switched round on Fan Harding with a suddenness that +made her skirt fly out and that young gentleman step precipitately +backward. + +"It isn't a failure, Fan Harding," she cried, with blazing eyes. "How +dare you come here to sneer at us. We didn't invite you. Oh, I could----" + +But Jess had seized her arm and succeeded in checking Peggy just in time. +She whispered something to the indignant girl, who, with a scornful look +at Fan Harding, turned and, with her friend, ran lightly off toward the +stranded aeroplane. + +"By Jove, I really thought for a minute she was going to slap my face," +chuckled Fan Harding to himself. "How pretty she is when she is angry. +But I guess if she knew what I do about certain affairs she wouldn't be +quite so fresh with me." + +He cast a glance at the aeroplane around which the anxious young people +were now clustering thickly. + +"If that thing is a success," he mused, as he strode off to join them, +"so much the better for me. I think I could use an aeroplane. I don't see +why I should let Roy Prescott beat me out at anything. Ah! They've +started the engine again and--by ginger, she's rising! She's going up! +She's flying!" + +The small irregularity in the working of the engine, which had brought +the plane to a stop, had been quickly remedied. Even Fan Harding, little +as he liked Roy, could not help but join in the cheers as the Golden +Butterfly, swinging in an easy circle, began to climb--higher and higher +toward the fleecy clouds that flecked the blue dome above. + +As for Peggy, she jumped up and down in her enthusiasm till her golden +hair was tumbling in a tangle about her pink shells of ears. + +"Oh, goody! goody! goody!" she squealed in the intensity of her joy. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE CLOUDS GATHER. + + +"And so unless we can raise that money somehow within a short time we +shall have to leave dear old Shadyside!" + +It was Roy who spoke, in troubled tones, some days after the successful +flight of the Golden Butterfly. They were seated in the cool-looking +living room of Miss Prescott's home. The sun filtering in through the +Venetian blinds, fell in patches on the polished floors--Peggy's work, +for Miss Prescott's circumstances had been for some time too straitened +to afford the servants she formerly had. But she had kept all knowledge +of her struggle from her nephew and niece, until now the time had arrived +when she felt that she could conceal no longer the object of old Sam +Harding's visit to her. + +The old man, among other things, was President of the Sandy Bay Bank. +This bank, although the children did not know it, had long held a +mortgage on Miss Prescott's property. The kindly, sweet-souled lady had +incurred the debt to forward her brother's dreams. For poor Mr. Prescott +had always been "just on the verge of making a fortune." Mr. Harding's +errand was to state that the interest being long overdue and there being +no immediate prospect of settlement the bank would have to foreclose. The +real reason for this anxiety, which of course Miss Prescott, +simple-minded lady, could not know, was, that a real estate concern +wanted to purchase the property to erect a summer colony. + +"But what of my securities in----and----and----?" inquired poor Miss +Prescott, who really knew no more of business than Peggy's French +bull-dog. + +"In the depressed state of the market that class of securities are worth +nothing, madam," was the response, "in addition, though I have refrained +from telling you so till now, your account at the bank is much overdrawn. +However," he had continued, "to show you that we mean to be fair with you +we will say nothing about that, but unless the bank gets its interest we +must have the land." + +It was Miss Prescott's relation of the true state of affairs to Roy and +Peggy that sunny afternoon that had brought forth Roy's exclamation +recorded at the beginning of this chapter. + +"But, auntie," burst out Peggy, blankly, "does the man mean to say that +there is nothing, absolutely nothing, on which we can realize anything?" + +Miss Prescott shook her head slowly. + +"There is nothing we can do," she rejoined, sadly. "We shall have to +leave dear old Shadyside and the land will be cut up and sold to +strangers. Land which the first Prescott settled on and which has been in +the family ever since. Oh, dear!" and Miss Prescott, never the most +strong-minded of women, drew out her handkerchief and began to sniff +ominously. Peggy, looking bewitchingly pretty in a simple muslin frock, +wrinkled her forehead seriously. + +"It can't--it simply can't be as bad as all that," she persisted. "We can +raise the money somehow." + +"Five thousand dollars!" cried Miss Prescott. + +"Phew! That is a lot of money," from Roy. But Peggy had jumped up from +her chair. + +"The contest, Roy! The contest!" she was exclaiming. "We must write this +very day for particulars. If the Golden Butterfly can win that prize----" + +"By Jove, sis, it's five thousand dollars, isn't it?" burst out Roy, +almost equally excited. "I'd forgotten all about it up till now. What an +idiot I am. If only----" + +He stopped short suddenly, struck by a depressing thought. Probably there +were plenty of machines, most of them far better than the Golden +Butterfly, entered in the contest which they had read about. His +enthusiasm died away--as was the way with Roy--almost as quickly as it +had flamed up. + +But Peggy would not hear of hesitation. She made Roy sit down that very +night and write to the committee in charge of the Higgins' prize. Under +her brave, independent urgings things began to look brighter. It was a +fairly cheerful party that sat down to a simple supper that evening. + +"Oh, dear," sighed Peggy, in the course of the meal, "if only I knew some +one who needed a bright young woman to run an aeroplane, how I'd jump at +the job." + +"You ought to get a high salary at it anyhow," rather dolefully joked Roy. + +"And make a high jump, too," laughed Peggy; "but seriously, auntie, I can +run the Butterfly almost as well as Roy. Mr. Homer said so before he +left. He said: 'Well, Miss Prescott, I've taught you all I know about an +aeroplane. The rest lies with you, of course.'" Peggy went on modestly: +"I could run an auto before. I learned on the one that Jess had at +school, so it really wasn't hard to get to understand the engine. Don't +you think I'm almost as good a--" Peggy paused for a word--"a--sky +pilot!" she cried triumphantly, "as good a sky pilot as you are, Roy?" + +"Almost," modestly admitted Roy, his mouth full of strawberry shortcake, +"but never mind about that now, sis. There are more important things to +be thought of than that. I'm going into town to-morrow for two things. +One is to see Mr. Harding myself. It takes a man to tackle these +things----" + +"Oh, dear!" sniffed Peggy. + +"The other bit of business I have to attend to," went on Roy, "is to get +a position. It's time I was a breadwinner." Roy thought that sounded +rather well and went on--"a breadwinner." + +"Oh, Roy!" cried his aunt, admiringly, "do you think you'll be able to +get a position?" + +"Without a doubt, aunt," rejoined Roy, confidently; "no doubt several +business houses would be glad--to have me with them," Roy was going to +say but he thought better of it and concluded, "to give me a chance." + +Peggy said nothing, which rather irritated the boy. He concluded, +however, that being a girl, she could hardly be expected to appreciate +the responsibilities of the man of the household. For since that +afternoon and its disclosures, Roy had, in his own mind, assumed that +important position. + +Somewhat to Roy's surprise he found no difficulty in obtaining access to +Mr. Harding at the bank. On the contrary, had he been expected he could +not have been ushered into the old man's presence with greater +promptness. He stated his business briefly and straightforwardly. + +"Now, Mr. Harding," he concluded, "is there no way in which this matter +can be straightened out?" + +The old man, in the rusty black suit, picked up a pen and began drawing +scrawly diagrams on the blotter in front of him. Apparently he was in +deep thought. But had Roy been able to penetrate that mask-like face he +would have been startled at what was passing in Simon Harding's mind. At +last he spoke: + +"I understand that you have built an aeroplane which is a success?" he +questioned. + +"That's right, sir," said Roy, flushing proudly; "but the ideas we put +into it were my father's--every one of them. He practically made it his +life work, you see, and----" + +"And you beggared yourself carrying those ideas out, eh?" snarled the old +man. "Oh, you need not look astonished. I know all about your affairs. +More than you think for. And now having expended a wicked sum for the +engine of this flying thing where do you expect to reap your profit?" + +Roy was rather taken aback. In the past days--since the first wonderful +flight of the Golden Butterfly--he had not given much thought to that +part of it. He realized this now with a rather embarrassed feeling. Old +Harding eyed him keenly. + +"Why--father, before he died, spoke of the government, sir. He wanted the +United States to have the benefit of the machine if it proved successful." + +"Bah!" sneered old Harding, scornfully, "a mere visionary dream of an +inventor. Now I have a business proposition to make to you. I myself am +interested in aeroplanes--or rather in their manufacture." + +"You, Mr. Harding!" Roy looked his astonishment. The last vehicle in the +world one would have thought of in connection with "Old Money Grubber," +as he was sometimes called, was an aeroplane. If he had been given to +such things Roy would have concluded the old man was joking. + +"Yes, sir," snapped Mr. Harding, "I am. But not directly. It's on +Fanning's account. He tells me that he has a chance to organize a company +to give aeroplane exhibitions and also to manufacture them. But he has +not been able to find a suitable machine, or one that was not fully +covered by patents till he saw yours in flight the other day." + +Suddenly he raised his voice: + +"Fanning! Come here a minute." + +Almost immediately, through a door which Roy had not hitherto noticed, +but which evidently led into an adjoining office, the figure of Simon +Harding's son appeared. To his chagrin, Roy realized that almost every +word he had said to the father must have been overheard by the son. + +Young Harding, who was dressed in a flashy gray suit, with trousers +rolled up very high to exhibit electric blue socks of the same hue as his +necktie, greeted Roy, who felt suddenly very shabby and insignificant, +with a patronizing nod. + +"Sorry you're in difficulties, Roy," he said, "but you never were a +business chap even at school." + +The memory of certain monetary transactions in which young Harding had +been concerned occurred to Roy. The other's patronizing air angered him. +He would have liked to make some sharp, meaning retort. But the thought +of Peggy and his aunt restrained him. Roy was beginning to learn fast. + +"You needn't bother to tell me anything about the case," went on the +younger Harding. "I accidentally overheard all that you said. Now, Roy, +my father has stated the case to you correctly. I've got a chance to make +money with aeroplanes if I can only get hold of a new model. You've got +just what I want." + +"Come to the point, my boy, come to the point," urged his father. + +"I'm getting there, ain't I?" snarled the dutiful son. "Well, Roy, you're +in pretty tight straits. We can foreclose on that mortgage any day we +want to. But we won't do it if you give us a square deal. Forget the +government. Make a deal with us consigning to me the right to manufacture +and exhibit those aeroplanes and I'll set aside that mortgage and give +you a thousand dollars to boot." + +"And suppose I won't accept that offer?" asked Roy, slowly. + +"Then we shall have to go ahead and foreclose. We want that land anyhow, +but I am even more anxious to set up my son in a paying business," +exclaimed old Harding. "Our offer is a fair one. It amounts to giving you +six thousand dollars for a thing of canvas, wire and clockwork." + +"Rather more than that, sir," said Roy, in a steady voice, although he +was inwardly blazing. + +"Well, what do you say?" asked Fanning, eagerly. "We'll draw up the +papers right now if you say so." + +But Roy was learning fast. He knew that the offer just made him had been +an inadequate one. + +"I'd like to have time to think it over," he said, hesitatingly. + +"Take all the time you want," said old Harding, with a wave of his +shrivelled, claw-like hand. + +But Fanning did not seem so pleased. It flashed across his mind that Roy +wanted to consult with Peggy, and somehow Fanning felt that in that case +his offer would meet with refusal. He therefore resolved to put in a +heavy blow. + +"But I want to start at once," he said. "I can't wait any length of time. +When you think that if you don't accept my offer you'll all be without a +roof over your heads I should think that for the sake of your sister and +your aunt you'd accept." + +"They'll never be in that position while I can work," rejoined Roy, with +a flushed face. He rose and picked up his hat. Somehow he felt that he +could not stand Fanning very many minutes more. + +"Yes, very fine talk, but what can you do?" snarled Simon Harding. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +JESS AND ROY. + + +Roy flung back some sort of answer and hastened out of the office. As he +made his way up the sunny street outside, however, he could not get out +of his mind the words of Simon Harding. After all, they were true; "what +could he do?" Mentally, as he walked along, Roy ran over the list of his +accomplishments. He came to the conclusion that aeroplane building and +flying was where his greatest strength lay. But how was he to proceed to +make money with his knowledge? + +At this point in his meditations, when, unnoticed, he had almost reached +the end of the elm-shaded village street, a loud "Honk! Honk!" suddenly +startled him. + +He looked up, and his gloom vanished like a summer cloud as he saw +smiling down on him from the driver's seat of the big auto which had just +rolled up beside him, the sunny countenance of Jess Prescott. She was in +automobile attire and looked unusually attractive. + +"Oh, I am so glad I've run across you," she exclaimed. + +"You almost did," laughed Roy. + +"Did what?" + +"Run across me, of course," was the response. "But what are you doing in +town? And driving your own car, too. Where is Jimsy?" + +"Oh, he had to do an errand for father." + +"And so you are acting as chauffeur?" + +"Yes, don't I make a nice one?" + +"You certainly do," rejoined the lad with a great deal of emphasis. + +"Well, that being the case, you are commanded to jump in by me at once. +I've got an errand or two to do and then I'm driving home. We'll go by +your place and I can drop you there." + +"That's very good of you----" began Roy, but Jess cut him short. + +"It's really selfish," she exclaimed. "I was looking for an escort. I +really need one. You haven't got a revolver with you, have you?" + +"Good gracious," exclaimed the astonished boy as he climbed into the big +car; "no, of course not. Whatever do you want one for?" + +"Why," confided Jess, as they sped along, "I'm on my way to the bank. +Mother is going to a big dinner party to-night and I volunteered to fetch +out her jewels for her from the safe deposit vault where she keeps them." + +"And you were afraid of robbers holding you up?" + +"Of course not," laughed the girl, skillfully dodging a vagrant dog that +sped across the road in front of the big car; "but just the same, I'm +glad to have a nice big boy like you with me. You see, some of the jewels +are very valuable, and one never knows what might happen." + +"No," agreed Roy; "but in broad daylight, on the road between Sandy Bay +and your home, there could hardly be any risk. For instance, who would +know that you had valuables in the car?" + +"Nobody, except some of the servants at home probably," responded Jess. +"But here's the bank." + +As she spoke she skillfully manipulated her levers and pedals and brought +the car to a stop against the curb as neatly as any driver could have +accomplished it. + +The car had hardly come to a stop before the bank door flew open and +Fanning Harding emerged, his features drawn up into what he meant to be a +pleasing smile, but which more resembled a smirk. + +Jess, ignoring his proffered hand, leaped lightly to the sidewalk and, +responding somewhat frigidly to his pleasantries, made her way into the +bank. A cold nod was all that had passed between Fanning and Roy, though +young Harding had looked astonished at beholding the other in Jess's car. +Before long the girl tripped out of the building once more. But this time +she carried with her a black leather case. Fanning was once more at her +side and insisted on helping her into the car, holding her arm rather +tightly as he did so. + +"I wish I could accompany you," he said. "Ten thousand dollars' worth of +jewels is a rather risky thing to carry about." + +"Oh, I have a splendid escort, thank you," spoke up Jess, frigidly. She +drew on her gauntlets and began fumbling with the levers. Roy was already +out of the car and cranking up. + +"It would be the pleasure of the ride," said Fanning, in a low voice. "If +I were with you I could almost wish somebody would try to hold us up so +that I could show you what I could do in your defence." + +"Just as you did that day at school when poor little Henry Willis was +being beaten by that big bully Hank Jones?" asked Jess, quietly. +Fanning's glances, and the emphasis he threw into what he said, were very +distasteful to her, and she took what proved an effectual means of +squelching him. + +"You know I had a sore wrist that day and couldn't get into a fight with +Hank," said Fanning, but his eyes were downcast and he had not much more +to say. Presently the auto chugged off, leaving the disgruntled youth +standing on the sidewalk following it with his eyes. + +"So you're trying to win out Jess Bancroft, are you?" the over-dressed +lad thought to himself. "Well, Roy Prescott, I guess that settles you. +I've never liked you, and now that I've a chance to get the upper hand of +you I'm going to use it. You'll regret this auto ride to-day in days to +come, or I'm very much mistaken." + +He turned and reentered the bank, but presently emerged again in a +leather coat of black material, black leggings and black cap and goggles. +Hauling out his motor-cycle from a rack in front of the bank he wheeled +it into the street, and with an admiring crowd of small boys looking on, +started the swift, four-cylindered machine. In a cloud of dust he +vanished in the same direction as had Jess Bancroft's car. + +Jess, once the confines of the village were past, "let the car out." They +sped along, chatting merrily. The roads about Sandy Bay were ideal for +automobiling, and perhaps neither of the young occupants of the car +noticed how fast they were going when the vehicle topped a small rise and +began descending a long steep grade at the bottom of which the railroad, +which approached on a curve, was visible in two shining parallel streaks +of metal. + +Suddenly there came a shrill, long drawn whistle. + +"Hullo, a train!" exclaimed Roy. "Must be a freight; there's no regular +passenger scheduled to run at this time of day." + +"That's right," agreed Jess. "I guess I'll slow down a bit till we see +how close it is to the crossing." + +She pressed her foot on the brake pedal and shoved hard. + +But to her astonishment there was no diminution in the speed of the car. +It plunged forward down the hill, gaining impetus every second. + +"Better slow up, Jess," warned Roy, who had not noticed the girl grow +white and faint, as the possibility of what might occur if she could not +control the car flashed before her. + +"I--I can't!" she gasped. + +"The emergency brake!" almost shouted Roy. Below them he had seen a +swiftly moving column of white smoke. It was the approaching train. Now +it whistled once more. That meant it was close upon the crossing toward +which the car was racing at terrific speed. + +"I've--I've tried it. It's jammed or something! Oh, Roy! the train!" + +Before she could say any more Roy had risen from his seat, and gently, +but firmly, removed the girl's trembling hands from the steering wheel. +With might and main he tried to check the car. But all he did was in +vain. Drops of perspiration stood out upon his forehead. Jess, utterly +unnerved, sank back in her seat and hid her face with her gloved hands. + +Above the roar of the on-dashing car could be heard the sharp puffing of +the approaching locomotive. Roy tugged as if he would tear his muscle out +at the brake lever, but it refused to budge. A sort of desperate coolness +came over him. But Jess, who had uncovered her eyes for an instant, gave +a sudden shrill scream. + +"Oh, we'll be killed! Look,--the train! We'll crash into it!" + +"Sit down, Jess," ordered Roy, sternly, for the excited girl had seemed +to be on the point of jumping from the car as it swayed and bumped toward +what seemed certain annihilation, at a terrific rate. + +Roy glanced desperately about him. The hill was enclosed by steepish +banks with hedgerows at the top. But at one point he thought he saw a +chance of escape. + +As he despairingly changed the direction of the car two figures sprang +from behind the hedge and gazed in amazement at the runaway auto. + +"They'll be killed to a certainty!" cried one. + +Indeed it seemed so. With Jess in a dead faint and Roy looking straight +into the dark face of danger the uncontrolled car tore onward toward the +train. The engineer saw it now and blew his whistle shrilly. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +A NARROW ESCAPE. + + +But Roy's quick eye had noted one loophole of escape,--a gap in the bank. + +Truly it was taking a terrible risk to dash the car through it. The boy +did not know what lay beyond, and in taking the chance he was running +almost as great a risk of annihilation as if he kept straight on. But to +have done the latter would have been to crash into a solid wall of moving +freight cars as they bumped across the grade crossing. + +It was almost certain that they would be thrown out and maybe injured. +But Roy did not hesitate. With a quick twist of his steering wheel he +sent the car spinning on two wheels for the gap. For an instant it seemed +as if the vehicle would capsize under the sudden change of direction. But +it did not, although it tilted over at a dangerous angle. + +Whiz-z-z-z-z! + +In a flash they were through the gap, the landscape blurring, so terrific +was the speed. + +The next instant there was a sickening shock. Instinctively Roy threw out +an arm to protect his fair companion. Hardly had he done so before he +felt himself impelled through the air as if from a catapult, and all grew +blank. + +When Roy came to himself his head ached as if it would burst. It was some +few seconds, in fact, before he realized what had occurred. When he did +he looked about him. A few paces away lay the still form of Jess +Bancroft. She was stretched out on a cushion upon which she must have +fallen. For an instant, as he gazed at her features as pale as marble, +and her closed eyes, a dreadful thought flashed across Roy's mind. What +if she were dead? + +But to his great relief he speedily ascertained that the girl was +breathing. An ugly bruise on her forehead may have accounted for her +continued swoon although she had fainted with terror the instant the +train appeared beneath them on the crossing. + +The car, its hood crumpled up as if it had been made of paper instead of +metal, stood at the foot of a tree not far off. + +"No wonder we were thrown out," thought Roy, as he gazed at the wreck and +considered the speed at which they had encountered the obstruction. "The +wonder is we escaped with our lives." + +After a brief and ineffectual attempt to arouse the girl the boy looked +about him for some means of assistance. The cowardly train crew had not +stopped when they saw the accident. Visions of damage suits and summary +discharges may have drifted through their minds, for extra freights were +supposed to send flagmen to the crossing to warn all traffic of the +train's approach. + +Suddenly Roy recollected the two men he had seen spring from behind the +hedge as the runaway auto approached the gap. What had become of them? +Apparently they had taken to their heels also, for not a sign was to be +seen of them. + +"Odd," thought the boy to himself; "one would think the first instinct of +a human being at seeing an accident like this would be to stay and help. +But, hold on, maybe they've gone for a doctor. A retired physician, Dr. +Mays, lives not far from here. In the meantime if I could only get some +cold water." + +Suddenly he spied a small brook at the foot of the hill. Ill and dazed as +he felt Roy sprinted toward it, and wetting his handkerchief hastened +back to Jess. Kneeling by her side he bathed her forehead. He was +rewarded in a few moments by beholding her eyelids flutter and open. In a +few seconds more she was fully conscious, but weak and shaken. Roy +collected the scattered cushions from the wreck, and placing them like a +mattress laid the girl upon them. + +She thanked him with a wan smile and then lay still once more. Roy wisely +did not speak. He judged that perfect quiet was what she wanted at that +moment. + +While he sat by her side meditating what to do a sudden noise caused him +to look upward. + +It was a noise like the drone of a giant bumble bee. It came from +directly above his head. + +"The Golden Butterfly!" shouted Roy, springing to his feet. + +Above him, at an elevation of some thousand feet, the yellow wings of the +Prescott aeroplane were outlined against the blue, like the form of one +of her namesakes. + +Roy shouted and waved frantically. Presently he was rewarded by the +flutter of a handkerchief from the chassis of the 'plane. At the same +instant it was swung about, and revolving in graceful circles began to +spiral down to the earth. + +"Hooray! It's Peggy and Jimsy!" cried Roy. "I recollect now Jess told me +that Jimsy was to have a lesson to-day." + +Ten minutes later the aeroplane lighted in the field not a hundred yards +from the wreck. As it reached the ground Peggy started the engine at +reduced speed. The aerial marvel began to scoot across the field toward +Roy as obediently as if it had been an automobile under perfect control. + +Agitated as he was Roy could not help feeling enthusiastic as the huge, +glittering, flying thing came closer, its engine roaring and its +propeller whirring angrily, and yet, the dainty girl in the motor bonnet +who was driving it had it under perfect control every second. Throwing +back a lever and cutting off the spark and the gasolene, Peggy brought +the aeroplane to a stop with a jerk. + +Jimsy, with alarmed questions on his lips, sprang out, while Roy helped +his sister to alight. + +"Good gracious, whatever has happened?" gasped the girl, as she stood on +the ground and viewed the still form of her chum Jess, over which Jimsy +was bending in genuine alarm. + +"It's all right, sis," Roy assured her, "Jess is not badly hurt. See--she +is looking up at you." + +Peggy sped lightly over the turf to her chum's side. + +"Oh, Peggy, dear, I'm so glad you've come. It was dreadful. But Roy was +so brave. I'm sure I owe my life to him, for the last thing I recollect +we were heading direct for the train." + +She would have said more, but Peggy held up an admonitory finger. Turning +to Roy she sought an explanation of all that occurred. It was soon told, +and then the question of summoning a physician came up. + +In the midst of the discussion Peggy gave a glad little cry. + +"The aeroplane! I can fly over to Doctor Mays' house. There's a dandy big +pasture in the rear in which to alight." + +"By George, that's so," agreed Roy, "and I guess, although it sounds a +bit startling, it's the only thing to do. We can't run the car and nobody +will be along here for hours perhaps. This road isn't travelled much." + +But Peggy, with that quick decision which was characteristic of her, was +already half way to the aeroplane. A moment more and she was in the +chassis, and slipping into the driver's seat began adjusting the motor. + +"I'll leave you to look after Jess," said Roy to Jimsy, "while I go along +with Peggy. I'm not sure that she is as expert in managing an aeroplane +as she thinks she is." + +"Well, she brought me over here at a great rate, anyhow," put in Jimsy, +loyally. + +"And in the nick of time, too," said Roy, warmly pressing the other's +hand. + +"Oh, do be back as quickly as possible, my foot hurts dreadfully," moaned +poor Jess, "and my head feels as if a thousand dwarfs were hammering away +inside it." + +"We'll be back before you expect us," Roy said, cheerily. Jimsy shouted +something, but his words were drowned in the roar of the motor as Roy +clambered into the Golden Butterfly and Peggy started the engine. + +The aeroplane dashed forward over the smooth turf and then seemed to take +the air as lightly and easily as a bit of gossamer. Straight up it +soared, high above the tree tops, and was speedily reduced to a fast +diminishing speck in the northwest in which direction lay Doctor Mays' +home. Looking downward from the speeding flyer the boy and girl aviators +could see, spread out below them like a checkerboard, the fertile Long +Island landscape. + +Through it ran the railroad, looking like a glittering ribbon of steel. +Off to the north the sea sparkled, a few white sails dotting its surface. +The Black Rock lighthouse, painted in bands of red and white, formed a +conspicuous object. + +All at once, on the road beneath them, Roy spied a solitary motor-cyclist +whom, even at the height to which they had now risen, he recognized as +Fanning Harding. He called his sister's attention to the rider. + +"He must have passed right by where the accident happened," he remarked; +"that road has no outlet for some distance. Funny that he didn't come to +help us." + +"You must remember that the banks and hedge hid the place from the road," +Peggy reminded him. "Even Fanning Harding wouldn't have willfully passed +by you when you were in such straits." + +"I don't think so, either," agreed Roy, "and come to think of it, bending +over his handlebars as he is, he would not be likely to have noticed the +gap we ploughed through." + +"Look," cried Peggy suddenly, "he's stopping." + +The girl was right. The motor-cycling boy, whose pace had hitherto been +as fast as that of the aeroplane, could now be seen to slacken his +machine and finally stop it. Leaning it against a fence he clambered into +an adjoining field, and with every evidence of extreme caution he crept +toward a patch of woods at no great distance. + +"What can he be doing?" exclaimed Peggy. + +As she spoke they saw the boy below them take something from his hip +pocket. + +"A pistol!" cried Roy. + +The next instant Fanning Harding had vanished into the patch of woods +without having noticed the aerial observers, or, at least, so it appeared. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +A ROADSIDE MYSTERY. + + +"Now, what could he be up to?" Roy wondered as they sped on. + +"Give it up," laughed Peggy, "unless he was going rabbit shooting." + +"Rabbit shooting with a pistol--and in June--oh, Peggy, I thought you +were more of a sport than that." + +"Well, can you suggest any solution?" + +"Frankly--no. But I've been forgetting something which the sight of +Fanning Harding reminded me of," and Roy at once plunged into an account +of his interview with the banker and his son. + +To his great relief Peggy agreed with him that on no account must the +aeroplane be turned over to the Hardings, but her mind was sadly +troubled, nevertheless, by what her brother told her concerning Simon +Harding's attitude. + +"It looks as if he was bent on hounding us," she sighed. + +"It surely does," agreed Roy, "but look, sis--there's Doctor Mays' house +off there. You'll have to make a landing in that field back of the barn." + +Peggy nodded and deftly touched a lever or two. The aeroplane began to +descend. + +"Want me to take the helm?" inquired Roy. + +If Peggy had dared to turn her head she would have flashed an indignant +glance at her brother. As it was she had to content herself with a very +haughty, "No, indeed." + +Roy laughed. + +"You surely are the original Girl Aviator," he exclaimed. + +"Huh!" cried Peggy, "by no means the original one, my dear. There are +lots of them in Europe and there soon will be in this country, too." + +"I hope so," responded Roy, "riding with a pretty girl in an aeroplane +just suits me." + +But Peggy did not reply, and for a good reason. They were now just above +the pasture lot in which she meant to descend, and below them, as they +dropped, an amusing scene was transpiring. + +The Doctor's horse, old Dobbin, was dashing madly around in circles, +faster than he had gone in twenty years of solid respectability; the two +cows, and an old mother pig with her family, joined him as the strange +whirring thing from the sky dropped lowering above them. As for the +chickens, they flew wildly in every direction, clucking as if they had +gone mad. + +In the midst of the turmoil a rear door opened and a kindly-faced old man +with white whiskers and a pair of big spectacles perched on his nose, +emerged, to see what could be causing all the disturbance. He fairly +dropped the big book he was holding, in his astonishment as he beheld a +glistening object, like a huge yellow and spangled bird, dropping in his +very back yard, so to speak. But the next instant he recovered himself. + +"Bless my soul," exclaimed Dr. Mays, for it was the retired physician +himself, "I thought for a moment that the fabled days of the gigantic +Roc, with which Sinbad the sailor had his adventures, had returned. + +"It must be those Prescott children. Ah!" he exclaimed, as the aeroplane +alighted and came to a standstill, "it is! Dear me, what a century we are +living in! Boys and girls flying about like--like--my chickens!" + +He "clucked" reassuringly to the terrified birds as he hastened toward +the now stationary machine. Roy and his sister came forward to greet the +venerable old doctor as he approached. + +Roy hastily explained their errand, being interrupted constantly by the +physician's exclamations of astonishment. + +"Go back with you? Of course, I will, my children. Will one of you help +me catch old Dobbin and harness him? My man Jake is in town to-day." + +"Oh, doctor," cried Peggy, entreatingly, "can't we persuade you to go +back with us in the Golden Butterfly?" + +"To fly! Good heavens!" + +The aged physician threw up his hands at the idea. + +"It is perfectly safe, sir," put in Roy. "Safer than old Dobbin in his +present frame of mind, I should imagine." + +They all had to laugh as they looked at the hitherto staid and sober +equine careening about the pasture with his tail held high, and from time +to time emitting shrill whinnies of terror at the sight of the strange +thing which had landed in his domain. + +"I don't know, I really don't," hesitated Dr. Mays. "The very idea of an +old man like me riding in an aeroplane. It's--it's----" + +"Just splendid," laughed Peggy, merrily, "and, doctor, I've often heard +you say to father that it was a physician's duty to keep pace with modern +invention." + +"Quite right! Quite right! I often told your poor father so," cried Dr. +Mays. "Well, my dear, it may be revolutionary and unbecoming to a man of +my years, but I actually believe I will brave a new element in that +flying machine of yours. More especially as we can reach my young patient +much quicker in that way." + +While Dr. Mays, who was a widower and childless, went to hunt up an old +cap, as headgear for his novel journey, Roy obtained permission to use +the doctor's telephone. He called up Jess's home and related briefly to +Mrs. Bancroft what had occurred, and asked that an automobile be sent to +the scene of the accident. + +Mrs. Bancroft, who at first had been seriously alarmed, was reassured by +Roy's quiet manner of breaking the news to her, and promised to come over +herself at once. By this time Doctor Mays was ready, and the young people +noted, not without amusement, that under his assumed air of confidence +the benevolent old gentleman was not a little worried at the idea of +braving what was to him a new element. + +The Golden Butterfly was equipped with a small extension seat at the +stern of her chassis, and into this Roy dropped after it had been pulled +out. Dr. Mays was seated in the centre, as being the heaviest of the +party, while Peggy resumed her place at the steering and driving +apparatus. + +"All ready behind?" she called out, laughingly, as they settled down. + +"All right here, my dear," responded the doctor with an inward conviction +that all was wrong. + +"Go ahead, sis," cried Roy. "Hold tight, doctor, to those straps on the +side." + +With a roar and a whirring thunder of its exhausts the motor was started +up. Dr. Mays paled, but, as Roy afterward expressed it, "he was dead +game." Forward shot the aeroplane across the hitherto peaceful pasture +lot which was now turned into a crazy circus of terrified animals. + +"Wh-wh-when are we going up?" + +The doctor asked the question rather jerkily as the aeroplane sped over +the uneven ground, jolting, and jouncing tremendously despite its +chilled-steel spiral springs. + +"In a moment," explained Roy; "the extra weight makes her slower in +rising than usual." + +"Look out, child!" yelled the doctor, suddenly, "you'll crash into the +fence." + +He half rose, but Roy pulled him back. + +"It's all right, doctor," he said reassuringly. + +But to the physician it seemed far otherwise. The fence he had alluded +to, a tall, five-barred, white-washed affair, loomed right up in front of +them. It seemed as if the aeroplane, scudding over the ground like a +scared jackrabbit, must crash into it. + +But no such thing happened. + +As the 'plane neared the obstruction something seemed to impel it upward. +Peggy pulled a lever and twisted a valve, and the motor, beating like a +fevered pulse, answered with an angry roar. + +The Golden Butterfly rose gracefully, just grazing the fence top, like a +jumping horse. But, unlike the latter, it did not come down upon the +other side. Instead, it soared upward in a steady gradient. + +The doctor, his first alarm over, gazed about him with wonder, and +perhaps a bit of awe. Many times had he and his dead friend, Mr. +Prescott, talked over aerial possibilities, and he had always listened +with interest to what the inventor had to say. But that he should +actually be riding in such a marvellous craft seemed like a dream to this +venerable man of science. + +After his first feeling of alarm had worn off the physician found that +riding in an aeroplane after the preliminary run with its bumps and +jouncings is over, is very like drifting gently over the fleeciest of +clouds in a gossamer car, if such a thing can be imagined. In other +words, the Golden Butterfly seemed not to be moving fast, but to be +floating in the crystal clear atmosphere. But a glance over the edge of +the high-sided chassis soon showed the physician that she was tearing +along at a great rate at a height of about five hundred feet. Fields, +woods, streams and small farmhouses swam by beneath their keel. + +"Well, doctor, how do you like it?" Roy ventured, after a few moments. + +"Like it!" repeated the physician; "my lad, it's--it's--it's bully!" + +And thus did his dignity fall like a mantle from Doctor Mays after a few +moments in Peggy Prescott's, the girl aviator's, Golden Butterfly. + +A few moments later they came in sight of the field in which they had +left poor Jess lying by the side of the wrecked automobile. + +Hardly had they alighted before Jimsy, a rather worried look on his face, +was at the side of the aeroplane. + +"Say, Roy," he exclaimed, "you didn't happen to put that jewel case in +your pocket for safe keeping after the accident, did you?" + +"Why, no. Jess had it and slipped it under the seat while she was +driving," cried Roy. "Why?" + +"Because it's gone!" exclaimed Jimsy, somewhat blankly. + +"Gone! Impossible!" protested Roy. + +"But it is. I've searched the field thoroughly in the vicinity of the +car, and I can't find a single trace of it." + +"It couldn't have been stolen." + +It was Peggy who spoke. + +Roy thought a moment. All at once the recollection of Fanning Harding's +queer actions when they had seen him on the road below them flashed into +his mind. The road, as he had observed, led past the scene of the +accident. + +Would it have been possible for Fanning to enter the field while they lay +unconscious there? After an instant's figuring Roy had to dismiss the +idea. Had such been the case, the son of the banker would have been much +further off when they observed him from the aeroplane than he had been. +The speed he was making would have carried him far from the wrecked auto +had he been near it at the time the accident occurred. + +What, then, could have become of the jewel case? + +"It must be here," exclaimed Roy, positively; "nobody could have taken +it." + +While Dr. Mays bent over Jess and examined her injured ankle the others +searched the field in every reasonable direction. But not a trace of the +jewel case could they find. + +All at once, the noise of a horse's hoofs coming at a rapid trot was +heard from the road. Roy, thinking it might be some one of whom he might +make inquiries, hastened to the hedge and peered over. He saw, coming +toward him, a disreputable-looking old ramshackle rig, driven by a +red-haired man of big frame who was slouchily dressed. His chin had once +been shaven, but now the hair stood out on it like bristles on an old +tooth brush. By the side of this individual was seated none other than +the immaculate Fanning Harding, in his motor-cycling clothes. + +"Why, that's Gid Gibbons, the most disreputable character about here," +exclaimed Roy, in amazement. "What can Fan Harding be doing with him?" + +He now noted, to his further astonishment and perplexity, that there was +a third person in the rig--Gid Gibbon's daughter, a pretty girl in a +coarse way, and given to loud dressing. She had plenty of black hair and +a pair of dark eyes that might have been beautiful if they had not had a +certain hard, defiant look in them. + +As they drew near Fan Harding turned and seemed to whisper something to +the girl, whose name was Hester, at which they both laughed heartily. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +PEGGY IS PUZZLED. + + +"Hello, Gid," hailed Roy, thinking that perhaps the ne'er-do-well, who +conducted a small blacksmith shop some distance off, might be able to +throw some light on the mystery. + +"Hello, yourself," was the response in a harsh, gutteral voice as Gid +drew in his reins and the conveyance came to a stop. Roy raised his hat +to Hester Gibbons and nodded coldly to Fan Harding. + +"Good gracious, what's been happening?" shrilled out the girl. + +"An accident," said Roy, and went on rapidly to explain what had occurred. + +"And the worst of it is," the boy went on, "that besides the accident +Miss Bancroft has suffered a serious loss. A wallet containing valuable +jewelry has vanished entirely." Roy watched Fan Harding closely as he +spoke and thought that he saw him change color. It might have likewise +been fancy, but he could have sworn that the girl, too, looked confused. +Gid puckered up his lips and emitted a whistle. + +"Lost a wallet with jewelry in it, eh?" he repeated. + +"Have you looked everywhere for it?" asked Fan Harding, with an +appearance of great solicitude. + +"Everywhere we can think of," rejoined Roy. He turned to Jimsy, who had +just joined him. Jimsy looked despondent and worried. A glance at his +countenance convinced Roy that the jewel case was still missing. + +"I'll get out and help you look for it myself," said Fan Harding +suddenly. "It's awfully queer. Miss Bancroft remarked when she left the +bank that she would take particular care of the jewels." + +"I wonder if any one passed on this road while we were unconscious?" +queried Roy, looking narrowly at Fan. + +To his surprise, the other answered with a great show of frankness. + +"It's very odd," he exclaimed, "but I myself must have gone by this place +not more than a few moments after the smash-up. I was on my way to Gid +Gibbons's blacksmith shop to get a part of my motor-cycle fixed up. I +guess if I hadn't been bending over my brakes as I rode down hill I'd +have seen the place myself." + +"Guess so," struck in Gid, with a grin; "no one never accused you of +being blind." + +"My motor-cycle was in worse repair than I thought," went on Fan, "and so +I left it at Gid's place and accepted his offer to ride into town with +him." + +This all sounded plausible enough. Yet Roy noted that Fan had not +mentioned his little excursion into the wood with the pistol. What was he +trying to conceal? What had been his mission there? + +While these thoughts flashed through Roy's mind Gid and his daughter had +followed Fan's example and now joined the searchers. By this time, Jess, +under the doctor's ministrations, was able to sit up. Her face was pale +as marble, partly from suffering, for her ankle still gave her +considerable pain, and partly from agitation at the loss of the jewels. + +There was a sudden puffing of an auto, and presently Mrs. Bancroft +herself, in a smaller car than the wrecked one, was driven into the group +by one of the employees of her husband's estate. As gently as possible, +after first explanations had been made, Jess broke the news to her. Mrs. +Bancroft, a tall, stately woman, went white as she heard. + +"One of those jewels, a ruby, was an heirloom that has been in the family +for years," she exclaimed. "I would not have lost it for all the others. +Has every place been searched thoroughly?" + +"Everywhere, mamma," responded Jess. + +"Bin over ther ground with a fine tooth comb, mum," said the uncouth Gid. + +Mrs. Bancroft raised her lorgnette and regarded the unabashed Gid with a +look tinged with some disgust. But Gid merely showed his yellow fangs, in +what he intended to be a pleasant smile, in reply, and lifted his hat +with clumsy gallantry. + +"What was the last you saw of the jewels?" asked Mrs. Bancroft of her +daughter, after Jess had been tenderly carried to the other auto and made +comfortable. + +"It was just before we started down the hill," was the reply. "I felt to +see if it was safe under the seat just before the car got away from me." + +"Then they were there just before the accident, of course," put in Mrs. +Bancroft. "And now they are missing in this mysterious way." + +"Well, they couldn't have walked off," said Fan; "somebody may have taken +them while you were unconscious. Unless----" + +He stopped and glanced at Roy, who felt his face flushing angrily. There +had been a queer intonation in Fan Harding's tones. + +"Unless what?" put in Jess, looking at Fan Harding directly in the eyes. +His dropped under the scrutiny of the straightforward girl. + +"I suppose you mean unless I took them," struck in Roy, angrily. There +was a hard note of defiance in his tones which sounded strange there. + +Fan Harding glanced at him quickly and then said in a low voice: + +"Well, it does look odd, you know, and----" + +"Don't dare to say another word like that!" + +Peggy, her soft eyes blazing, stepped forward before Mrs. Bancroft could +stop her. Gid Gibbon's daughter watched the angry girl with a +contemptuous smile. But Fan Harding went white and shrank back. + +"I--I didn't mean anything," he stammered. + +"Children! Children!" exclaimed Mrs. Bancroft, "no more of this. It seems +that there is a mystery here, and perhaps some day it will be solved. But +in the meantime I wish no suspicion, or doubt even, cast on any one." + +If they had been watching Fan Harding they would have seen his face +brighten up at this. Muttering something in an undertone to Gid, he slunk +off, accompanied by his disreputable blacksmith companion and the +latter's daughter, Hester, as she went, flung back a glance of contempt +at the others, of which they took not the slightest notice. + +Dr. Mays elected to return home by means of Mrs. Bancroft's auto. He +declared, laughingly, that he had had quite enough excitement that +morning for a man of his years. A few moments after the departure of Fan +and his strange companions therefore, Mrs. Bancroft's auto, towing the +injured car by means of a rope brought along for that purpose, set out on +its return journey. Jimsy rode beside his sister, who made a brave effort +to bid a cheery good-bye to the young aviators. + +But, somehow, all of them felt that a constraint had been suddenly born +among them, arising out of the mystery of the missing jewels. The next +day posters, announcing a reward for the recovery of the jewels, were +hurriedly struck off at Sandy Bay printing office, and distributed +throughout the town and the surrounding country. In due course the +Prescott household, of course, received one, and the perusal of it did +not add to their cheerfulness. + +The bills gave a description of the accident and the circumstances, and +Roy could not but feel that any logical person reading the things would +come to the conclusion that Roy Prescott probably knew more about the +facts of the case, at least, than any one else. + +In addition to the disconcerting bills the regular police officials of +Sandy Bay visited the Prescott home and interrogated Roy, to Peggy's huge +indignation. But worse was to come; private detectives also came and +questioned and cross-questioned him at great length. Roy could not but +feel with all this that he was an object of suspicion, but he bravely +went about as before and tried to hide his inner thoughts as closely as +possible. + +Jess soon recovered and was up and about once more. The four young folks +interchanged visits and motored and "aeroed" together as freely as +before, but they somehow all felt that the air was charged with some +influence that made things quite different to what they had been before +the accident and the subsequent mysterious vanishing of the jewels. + +Peggy privately made up her mind, with a truly feminine intuition, that +Fanning Harding had something to do with the affair. Recalling his +strange visit to the wood, she even visited the place by herself one day +to see if she could light upon any clew that might serve to clear things +up. But, as might have been expected, she found nothing. + +Her trip over had been made in the Golden Butterfly. Disappointed at her +lack of success, for she had almost allowed herself to believe that she +would, in some queer fashion, happen upon a clew, the girl was preparing +to return, when something happened. + +A rod, connecting a warping lever with the right wing of the monoplane, +snapped with a sharp crack. + +"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Peggy to herself, "what shall I do?" + +She looked about her as if seeking for information from her surroundings. +All at once she became aware that two men had emerged from the wood +behind her and were watching her closely. + +Plucky as the girl was, she felt her heart beat a little quicker as she +gazed. There was something so very piercing in their scrutiny. + +Suddenly one of them stepped forward, and Peggy saw, to her astonishment, +that she knew him. More astonishing still, the man was trembling and +whitefaced as if in alarm at something. + +It was Morgan, the butler at Mrs. Bancroft's. + +"Why, Morgan, whatever are you doing here?" exclaimed Peggy as she +breathed more freely. + +The man hesitated. His companion, whom Peggy could now see was an employe +about the Bancroft stables, came to his rescue. + +"Why, miss, we've been doin' a bit of trapping in the woods there." + +"Yes, miss, that's hit," struck in Morgan, a stout, puffy-faced +Englishman with "side burns." + +"A bit o' poaching, as you might say, miss. I 'opes you won't tell on +hus." + +"Good gracious, no," laughed Peggy, immensely relieved to find that the +two men were not strangers. "I thought you looked scared when you saw me, +Morgan." + +"Yes, miss. You see, I haint used in hold England ter see young ledies a +flyin' round like bloomin'--bloomin' pertater bugs, hif you'll pardon the +comparison, miss. But 'as yer 'ad han h'accident?" + +"I have," rejoined Peggy, restraining an impulse to say "I 'ave." "It's +not much. If there was a blacksmith shop round here I could get it fixed +in a jiffy. It's just this rod that's snapped." + +"Why, miss," puffed Morgan, "Gid Gibbon's place isn't more than a few +paces, as you might say, from 'ere. Why don't you take that rod there? +Hi'll h'escort yer." + +"Why, that's so," agreed Peggy, "how stupid of me not to have thought of +it. Gid can fix it in a few minutes." + +Selecting a small wrench from the tool box Peggy deftly unbolted the +broken rod, and then, with Morgan and his companion as guides, she set +off across the fields for Gid's shop, which she now recalled was a short +distance up the road, but hidden from the spot where the Butterfly had +dropped by a patch of woods. + +"By the way, Morgan," the girl asked, suddenly, "has anything more been +heard of the missing jewels?" + +To Peggy's astonishment the man started and stammered. + +"Yes, miss--that is--no, miss. I means, miss, that there ain't been no +news, miss, hof hany kind, miss." + +Peggy nodded without appearing to note the man's confusion. + +"It's a queer affair, miss," put in Morgan's companion, whose name was +Giles. + +"It is, indeed," rejoined Peggy. "I do wish it could all be cleared up." + +"Same 'ere, miss, hi'm sure," struck in Morgan, mopping his puffy face. +He seemed to have, in great part, recovered his composure. + +"Well, there is the blacksmith shop," said the other man presently, as +they emerged from the fields upon the road through a sliding gate. He +pointed to a long, low, ramshackle structure at the cross-roads. Beside +it stood a fairly neat cottage and beyond this again a brand new shed, +from which proceeded a great sound of hammering. + +As Morgan and Giles left her, to make a shortcut home across lots, Peggy +set off at a brisk pace, holding the broken rod in her hands. She almost +dropped the bits of metal an instant later in a great surprise that she +encountered. + +The door of the brand new building opened and out stepped Fanning +Harding, in overalls and jumper. Suddenly he became aware of Peggy's +advancing figure and halted, staring at her. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +HESTER'S RUBY. + + +The door of the shed had been opened wide, but Fanning closed it swiftly +as if in great anxiety to conceal what was within. Then it was that Peggy +first became aware of something she had not noticed before. Above the +portal was a signboard upon which was painted in staring red letters: + + "Office and Works of the Fanning Harding Aeroplane Co." + +Hardly had Peggy digested this astonishing sign before Fanning, his look +of startled surprise replaced by a smile, advanced, cap in hand, to meet +her. + +"Why, what ever brings you here?" he asked, with the air of easy +familiarity which Peggy disliked so much. "I guess that that sign gave +you a kind of a start, eh?" + +"It certainly did," agreed Peggy, "and it gives me even more of a start +to see you working, Fanning." + +"Huh," grunted the youth, beneath whose blue overalls were visible a pair +of gaudy socks of the kind he affected, "I guess you think that I can't +make good as well as any one else when I try. Roy wouldn't go into a deal +with me on that aeroplane of his, so I just got busy and started a +concern of my own." + +"Do you mean you are actually building an aeroplane?" + +"Yes. Got orders for several of them," rejoined the swaggering youth. "So +far I've only had Gid to help me, but I guess I'll have to enlarge the +plant pretty soon. You see that Roy would have been wiser to sell me that +'plane of his at the start-off. As things are now, the Harding Aeroplane +Company is going to discount anything in its line." + +"Well, I am glad of that," said Peggy, briskly, and with some trace of +asperity. Fanning's conceited, confident air jarred upon her sadly. "But +I came over here to find Mr. Gibbons. I want him to repair this rod for +me." + +"Why, that's off an aeroplane!" exclaimed Fanning, eagerly; "you must +have come to earth in the Golden Butterfly quite close to here." + +"Why, yes. In that field yonder," rejoined Peggy, some instinct telling +her not to disclose the true object of her visit there; "my motor went +wrong and I had to descend." + +"What field did you come down in? That one by the clump of woods round +the bend in the road?" asked Fanning, with just a trace of anxiety in his +tone. + +"Yes. It was lucky I was so close. Morgan and Giles----" + +"What, Morgan and Giles were there?" + +Fanning seemed tremendously excited all of a sudden. + +"Why, yes. What of it?" + +But Fanning had pulled himself together. + +"Oh, nothing," he said, in a matter-of-fact tone. "I only thought they +were a long way from home, that's all. But here comes Gid now. Hey, Gid! +Miss Prescott wants a rod welded. Can you do it for her right away?" + +"Sure," responded the ill-favored blacksmith, shuffling up. His chin was +more bristly than ever, and his shifty blue eyes blinked like a rat's +beady orbs as he took the bits of metal. + +"A flaw," he declared, examining them; "wonder it didn't break sooner. +Come on to the forge, miss, and I'll fix it for you in a brace-of-shakes." + +Off he shuffled toward the ramshackle forge, Peggy following. Behind her +came Fanning. As they passed the cottage Hester Gibbons came flying down +the path, but stopped at a sign from Fanning. The youth dropped further +behind, and as Peggy followed Gid into the forge and the bellows began +roaring, they began to talk in low tones. + +"Do you think she can suspect anything?" asked Hester at one point. + +"Not a thing," was the confident response. "That pale-faced old gopher, +Morgan, was in the wood this afternoon, though. She told me that. The +existence of the Harding Aeroplane Company has become known rather before +I wanted it to, also. However, they may as well know now as any other +time that they aren't the only fliers in the air. I guess the Harding +aeroplane will beat anything in its line ever seen." + +"I guess it will," laughed Hester, and then, for some unknown reason, +they both burst into fits of immoderate laughter. Evidently something +connected with Fanning's new enterprise was deemed highly amusing by both +of them. + +Peggy left without seeing Hester, although from behind a blind in the +cottage, the girl watched her closely enough. Gid, whatever his other +shortcomings might have been, was a good blacksmith, and the rod was well +repaired. Peggy soon had it adjusted, and was about to clamber into the +chassis and start home when a shout from the road made her look up. An +automobile stood there, and in it were Jess and Jimsy. They hailed her +excitedly, and Peggy hastily threw out the switch which she had just +adjusted and hastened across the field to them. + +She soon saw that Jess was waving a leather pocket case above her head +and that her face was flushed and excited. + +"My dear Jess, whatever has happened?" she cried, as she came up to the +side of the auto. + +"Happened!" echoed Jess. "Why, my dear, the most extraordinary, +inexplicable thing you ever heard of." + +"In other words, 'we are up in the air,'" quoth the slangy Jimsy, "even +if we don't own an aeroplane." + +"You see this case," cried Jess, extending the leather wallet for Peggy's +inspection. "Well, that's the case that held mamma's jewels. It was +returned most strangely to us this afternoon. We found it on the porch +after lunch. + +"Oh, Jess! the jewels were in it. I'm so glad." + +"No, girlie, it was empty." + +"Empty!" echoed Peggy, "and nobody knows how it came there?" + +"No, we must have been at lunch at the time. None of the servants know +anything about the matter, either. It's a real, dark and deep mystery." + +"It's all of that, my dear Watson," proclaimed Jimsy, folding his arms +and scowling in imitation of a famous detective of fiction. "Why on earth +should the thief want to return the wallet? You'd think he'd dodge such a +risk of being arrested." + +But Peggy had been looking at the wallet which had so amazingly +reappeared. + +"Why, Jess," she cried, "it's all mud-stained. It looks as if it had been +buried somewhere." + +"It certainly does," agreed Jimsy, "but even that doesn't give us any +more to go on than the theory that the jewels have been buried some +place." + +"And been dug up again," put in Peggy, quickly. + +After some more conversation the group was about to break up, when Jess +exclaimed suddenly: + +"Oh, by the way, did you hear about Jeff Stokes? No, I see you haven't. +Well, he's been appointed wireless operator at Rocky Point." + +"Oh, I'm so glad," cried Peggy, impulsively; "that's been his ambition +for a long time." + +Rocky Point was a projecting neck of land about two miles east of Sandy +Bay. It was quite an important signalling station for ships passing up +and down the Sound. The position which Jeff Stokes had secured was a +lucrative one in a way, and, at any rate, was in direct line of promotion. + +The two Bancrofts waited to watch Peggy take the air in her now staunch +aeroplane. It was not until she had vanished with a whirr and a whiz that +Jimsy thought of starting his own car. + +"Gracious," cried Jess, as they sped along, "how I wish that the mystery +of those jewels could be cleared up." + +As she spoke they were passing by the cottage occupied by Gid Gibbons. + +"Oh, look, there's that horrid Fanning Harding and Gid Gibbons's daughter +at the gate," cried Jess. + +At the same instant as she uttered the exclamation, Hester Gibbons looked +up in time to see Jess's gaze concentrated upon her. She whisked about, +her skirts swinging as she did so. But she did not turn quickly enough +for Jess's sharp eyes not to see that she snatched at something she had +been wearing at her throat. + +The millionaire's daughter was almost certain that the object Hester +snatched at in such a hurry was a ruby brooch, or at least an imitation +of one. She had distinctly caught a ruddy flash as Hester's hand moved to +her throat. + +Jimsy, too, had noticed it, it seemed, for he suddenly observed: + +"Seems queer for Hester to be wearing jewelry. Her father must be making +money fast nowadays." + +"Yes," said Jess, but her voice was distant and preoccupied. She was +certain that her eyes had not deceived her. It had been a ruby that +Hester Gibbons had pulled off and hastened to conceal. Obeying an +impulse, she turned and gazed back over the top of the tonneau. + +Through the dust cloud behind the car she could see that Hester and +Fanning Harding were once more in deep conversation at the gate. She +wondered what they could find so engrossing to talk about, and also +speculated on several other things. She, however, avoided mentioning her +suddenly aroused suspicions to Jimsy. He was so hasty. Inwardly she made +a resolve to seek out Peggy the first thing the next day and compare +notes with her. She could not help feeling that matters were assuming a +very complicated aspect. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +A RACE AGAINST TIME. + + +One evening, a week later, Peggy and her brother were tightening up some +braces on the Golden Butterfly after an afternoon's flight along the +coast, when the sharp "honk! honk!" of an automobile from the road +attracted their attention. Running to the door, Peggy saw Jimsy and his +sister in the "Gee Whizz," as their red auto had been christened. + +But that there was something the matter with the Gee Whizz was evident. +The motor, ungeared, was coughing and gasping in a painful manner. Jimsy +shouted as he saw the two young Prescotts. + +"Say, you aviators, come here and see what you can do to doctor a poor +creeping earthworm of an auto." + +Laughing at his tone and words, Peggy and her brother hastened down the +path and through the gate. + +"Something's wrong with the transmission," explained Jimsy. + +"What's the trouble?" asked Roy. + +"What a question, you goose?" cried Jess; "if we knew we'd have fixed it +long ago." + +"It's doubly annoying," said Jimsy, in an impatient voice, "because we +got a wire from father to-night, saying that he would take us on a trip +to Washington with him if we arrived in New York by eight-thirty." + +"Oh, you poor dears," exclaimed Peggy, "and if you don't get there at +that time?" + +"We can't go, that's all," said Jess, tragically clasping her gloved +hands. + +"Bother the luck," muttered Jimsy, with masculine grumpiness. "Found out +what's the trouble, Roy?" + +"Yes," was the response; "one of your gears is stripped. I'm afraid that +there'll be no Washington trip for you folksies." + +The tears rose in Jess's fine eyes. Jimsy looked cross, and an abrupt +silence fell. + +It was Peggy who broke it with a suggestion. + +"There's a train leaves Central Riverview junction at six, isn't there?" + +"I believe so," rejoined Jess, in a doleful voice; "we took it one night, +I remember, when we missed the through cars from Sandy Bay." + +"It's five now," nodded Peggy, examining the dial of a tiny watch, one of +the last presents her father had given her. + +"Fat chance of getting this old hurdy-gurdy fixed up in time to make it," +grumbled Jimsy. + +"You don't have to," cried Peggy, with a note of triumph. + +"Don't have to!" + +It was Jess who echoed the remark. + +"No, indeed. Our aerial express will start for the junction in a few +minutes, and----" + +But the rest was drowned in an enthusiastic shout. Jess threw her arms +about her chum and fairly hugged her. + +"You darling. We can make it?" + +"We must," was the business-like rejoinder. "Roy, you get the Butterfly +out and fill the lubricator tank. We've got enough gasolene." + +Roy and Jimsy, arm in arm, hastened off to the shed. The two girls +followed more leisurely. It was not long before everything was in +readiness, but fast as they worked it was nearly half an hour before +preparations were all complete. + +Then they climbed in and Peggy started the engine. But the next instant +she shut it off again. + +"The second cylinder is missing fire," she pronounced. + +Roy bent over the refractory part of the motor and soon had it adjusted. +Then the motor settled down to a steady tune, the regular humming throb +that delights the heart of the aviator. + +"All ready?" inquired Peggy, adjusting her hood and goggles and turning +about. + +"Right Oh!" hailed Jimsy. + +"Now, boys and girls, prepare for a long run," warned Peggy; "with this +load it will take a long time to rise." + +The aeroplane was speeded up and soon traversed the slope leading from +the back of the shed to the summit of the little hill at the rear of the +Prescott place. As it topped the rise Peggy turned on full power. The +Golden Butterfly dashed forward and then, after what seemed a long +interval, began to rise. Up it soared, its motor laboring bravely under +its heavy burden. In the dusk blue flames could be seen occasionally +spurting from the exhausts. It would have been a weird, perhaps a +terrifying sight to any one unused to it--the flight of this roaring, +flaming, sky monster, through the evening gloom. + +"We've got half an hour to make the twenty miles," shouted Roy, from his +seat beside his sister. Peggy set her little white even teeth and nodded. + +"I'm going to make for the tracks and follow them. That's the quickest +way," she said. + +It seemed only a few seconds later that the red and green lights of a +semaphore signal flashed up below them. + +"Bradley's Crossing," announced Roy. + +Swinging the aeroplane about, Peggy began flying directly above the +tracks. + +"No sign of the train yet--we may make it," said Jimsy, pulling out his +watch. It showed a quarter to six, and they had fifteen miles to travel, +or so Roy estimated the distance. + +"Let her out for a mile-a-minute," he exclaimed. + +Peggy only nodded. She was far too busy getting all the work she could +out of the motor. An extra passenger makes a lot of difference to an +aeroplane, and the Butterfly was only built to accommodate three. But she +was answering gallantly to the strain. + +On she flew above the tracks, every now and then roaring above some +astonished crossing keeper or track-walker. + +Suddenly, from somewhere behind them, they heard a long, moaning whistle. + +"The train!" shouted Jess. + +In her excitement she gripped Roy's arm tightly and peered back. + +All at once, around a curve, the locomotive came into view--black smoke +spouting from its funnel and a column of white steam pouring from its +safety valves. + +"She'll beat us," cried Jimsy, despairingly, as the thunder of the +speeding train grew louder. The setting sun flashed on the varnished +sides of the cars. + +The engineer thrust his head out of the cab window and gazed upward. His +attention had been attracted by the roaring of the motor overhead. + +He broke into a yell and waved his hand as he saw the flying aeroplane +dashing along above him. The next instant his hand sought the whistle +cord. + +"Toot! toot! toot!" + +The occupants of the aeroplane waved their hands. To their chagrin, +however, they saw that, overloaded as the aeroplane was, the train was +gaining on them in leaps and bounds. Its windows were black with heads +now as passengers, regardless of the danger of encountering some +trackside obstacle, leaned out and gazed up at the Golden Butterfly +roaring along like some great Thunder Lizard of the dark ages. + +"Don't they stop anywhere between here and the junction?" gasped Jimsy. + +Roy shook his head. + +"It's a through train from Montauk," he said; "they make all the speed +they can." + +"Two minutes," cried Jess, suddenly; "we won't do it." + +But Peggy had suddenly swung off the tracks and was cutting across +country. She had seen that the track took a long curve just before it +entered the junction. By taking a direct "crow flight" across country she +might beat it after all. + +And she did. As the train came thundering into the station and stopped +with a mighty screaming of brakes and hiss of escaping steam, the +aeroplane came to earth in the flat park-like space in front of the depot. + +"Tumble out quick!" shouted Roy, "she only stops a jiffy." + +Jess and Jimsy lost no time in obeying. + +"Good-bye, you darlings!" cried Jess, as she sped after her brother +toward the station. + +"We'll get our tickets on the train!" shouted Jimsy, as they vanished. + +"All ab-o-a-r-d!" + +The conductor's voice ran peremptorily out. He had seen the race between +the aeroplane and the train, but even that could not disturb a +conductor's desire to start on time. + +As the wheels began to revolve, Jimsy and Jess swung on to the steps of +the rear parlor car. As they did so the passengers broke into an +involuntary cheer. The shouts of approval at the up to date manner in +which the young folks had "made their train," mingled with the puffing of +the locomotive as it sped off. + +Among the spectators of the sensational feat had been a broad-shouldered, +bronzed man in a big sombrero hat, who sat in the same parlor car which +Jimsy and Jess had entered. He looked like a Westerner. As the train +gathered headway he suddenly, after an interval of deep thought, struck +one big brawny hand upon his knee and exclaimed to himself: + +"It's the very thing--the very thing. With a fleet of those I could +develop the Jupiter and astonish the mining world." + +He rose, with the slowness of a powerful man, and made his way back to +where Jimsy and Jess were sitting. Raising his broad-brimmed hat with +old-fashioned courtesy, he addressed himself to Jimsy and was soon deep +in conversation with him. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE RIVAL AEROPLANE. + + +In the meanwhile, the exciting race against time had resulted in +overheating the Golden Butterfly's cylinders, and a stop of an hour or +more at the junction was necessary. Thus it was quite dark when the young +Prescotts were ready to make for home. A small crowd had gathered to see +them start, for there was a little community of houses scattered about +the junction. + +They decided to go the way they had come, namely, to follow the tracks to +the crossing and then turn off for home. It was their first experience in +night piloting, and when they were ready Peggy switched on the tiny +shaded bulb that illuminated the compass. This done, she started the +engine, and the Golden Butterfly shot into the air under its reduced load +with an almost buoyant sense of freedom. + +The crossing was reached in several minutes less than it had taken them +to reach the junction on the going trip. Peggy turned off as she marked +the glowing lights beneath her, and presently the Golden Butterfly was +skimming along above dark woodlands and gloom-enshrouded meadows. There +was something awe inspiring about this night flying. Above them the +canopy of the stars stretched like a mantle spangled with silver sequins. +Below, the earth showed as a black void. + +They were flying slowly to avoid overheating the cylinders again. +Suddenly a bright glare shot up against the night from below, and a +little ahead of them. It died down almost instantly, only to flash up +once more. + +"Gid Gibbons's forge!" exclaimed Roy. "Let's fly over by there and see +what he's doing." + +"All right," agreed Peggy; "ever since my visit there I have felt a great +interest in Mr. Gibbons. But we'll have to make haste, there's some wind +coming before long." + +The girl was right. A filmy mist, like a veil, had spread over the stars, +dimming their bright lamps, and a wind was beginning to sigh in the trees +under them. + +But they had not reached Gid Gibbons's place, or rather a location above +it, when an astonishing thing happened. From the ground a red light and a +green light set at some distance apart began to rise. Up and up they +climbed through the night in long, swinging circles. Between them was +dimly visible the dark outlines of some fabric. + +"An aeroplane!" cried the boy and girl, simultaneously. + +"Fan Harding's aeroplane!" cried Peggy, an instant later. + +"And--oh, Roy--it can fly!" she added, admiringly. + +"No doubt of that," was the rather grudging reply, as the red and green +lights soared up and up. + +"Keep clear of it, sis, we don't want a collision," warned Roy. + +"Oh, I'd like to get close and see it," breathed Peggy. "I never would +have credited Fan Harding with being able to do it." + +"Nor I," exclaimed Roy, his dislike of Fan Harding giving place to +admiration--genuine admiration--of the other's ingenuity. + +"Well, he's beaten me out at my own particular specialty," he exclaimed +presently, after an interval in which the lights had climbed far above +the Golden Butterfly. "That's a better machine than ours, Peg." + +"I guess we'll have to admit that," rejoined the girl, with a sigh. "I +wonder if he'll enter for the prize?" + +"Of course. With a craft like that he'd be foolish if he didn't. Odd that +he's trying it out at night, though." + +"I suppose he wants to keep secret what it can do and then spring it on +an astonished world," rejoined Peggy. "Good gracious!" she broke off +hurriedly. + +The aeroplane had given a sudden lurch, and at the same instant a sharp +puff of wind struck them both in the face. Peggy's hands fairly flashed +among her levers, and she averted what might have been a bad predicament. + +Involuntarily, at the same instant, Roy had glanced up at the other +aeroplane to see how it was faring. To his astonishment the lights did +not seem to waver. + +"Wow, Peg!" he cried, "that puff didn't even bother Fan Harding's craft. +It was uncanny to see her weather it." + +"There's something uncanny about it altogether," sniffed Peggy; "it's a +regular phantom airship." + +"That's just what it is," agreed Roy, "but I'm afraid it is a substantial +enough phantom to carry off that $5,000 prize." + +Another puff prevented Peggy from replying just then. Once more the +Golden Butterfly careened violently, and then, under Peggy's skillful +handling, righted herself. But this time the puff was followed by a +steady rush of wind. + +"Better turn, Peg, before it gets any worse," advised Roy; "we're off our +course now." + +"I--I tried to," exclaimed Peggy, desperately, "but the wind won't let +me. I don't dare to." + +"We must," exclaimed Roy, with a serious note in his voice; "if this wind +freshens much more we won't be able to turn at all." + +He leaned forward and took the wheel from his sister. But the instant he +tried to steer the aeroplane round, the wind, rising under one wing tip, +careened her to a perilous angle. + +"No go," he said; "we've got to keep on going." + +"But where can we land?" asked Peggy, a little catch in her voice. + +"We'll have to take chances on that," decided Roy. "It would be suicidal +to try to buck this wind." + +The breeze had now freshened till it was singing an Aeolian song in every +wire and brace of the Golden Butterfly. Brother and sister could feel the +stout fabric vibrate under the strain of the blast. + +The aeroplane was moving swiftly now. But it was the toy of the wind, +which grew stronger every minute. The dark landscape beneath fairly flew +by under them. Neither of them thought to look back at the red and green +lights in the sky behind them. + +All at once, Roy, who had leaned over his sister's shoulder and glanced +at the compass, gave a sharp cry. + +"We've got to turn, sis," he said, in a tense, sharp voice. + +"What do you mean, Roy? Are we in any very serious danger?" + +The girl's voice shook nervously in response to the anxiety expressed in +her brother's tone. + +"Danger!" echoed Roy. "Girlie, we are being blown out to sea!" + +Blown out to sea! The words held a real poignant terror for Peggy. + +"Oh, Roy, we must do something!" she cried, helplessly. + +"Yes, but what? We can't, we daren't turn about. The machine would tip +like a bucket. No, we must keep on and trust to luck." + +Peggy shuddered. Hurtled along in the wind-driven darkness, brother and +sister sat in silence, waiting for the first warning that they were +approaching the sea. + +In the blackness it was impossible to see anything ahead, and the +starlight, which, dim as it was, might have helped, had been overcast by +a filmy covering of light clouds. + +Once or twice as they were hurried helplessly along, the propeller +beating desperately against the wind, they saw, far below them, the +cheerful lights of some farmhouse. Further off a glare against the sky +indicated the lights of Sandy Bay. + +How they wished that they were safe and sound at home, as they were blown +onward by the wind, going faster and faster every minute. + +Roy, his pulses beating hard, and every nerve at tension, had taken the +wheel from his sister, even at the risk of careening the aeroplane when +they shifted their positions. Every now and then he tried to turn ever so +little, but each time a tip at a dangerous angle warned him not to +attempt such a thing. + +All at once Peggy uttered a shrill cry. + +"Oh, Roy! The sea!" + +Above the screeching of the wind and the hum of the motor they could now +hear another sound, the thunder of the surf on the beach. + +Straining his eyes ahead Roy could see now the white gleam of the +breakers as they broke in showers of spray on the seashore. A real sense +of terror, such as he had never felt before, clutched at his heart as he +heard and saw. + +But controlling his voice, he turned to Peggy. + +"Be brave, little sister," he said; "we'll pull through all right." + +Peggy said nothing in response. She dared not trust her voice to speak +just at that moment. White faced and with staring, fixed eyes, she sat +motionless and silent, as the Golden Butterfly was driven out above the +roaring surf and the tossing waves. To her alarmed imagination the sea +seemed to be reaching up hungry arms for the two daring young aviators. + +Suddenly she was half blinded by a brilliant flash of light which bathed +the aeroplane in a flood of radiance. The next instant it was gone, but +they could see the great shaft of radiance sweeping around the compass. + +"It's the light!" cried Roy. "The Rocky Point light!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +IN DIREST PERIL. + + +"Oh, if we could only work round and land on the point," exclaimed Peggy. +"There's a fine, smooth field there; in fact, it's all bare ground, +without rocks or trees." + +"Yes, and Jeff Stokes is wireless operator there, too," rejoined her +brother. "Hullo," he exclaimed an instant later, "the wind is shifting a +bit. I almost got her head round that time." + +"Then there is a chance, Roy!" + +"Yes, sis, but don't count too much on it." + +Like a skillful jockey handling a restive horse, Roy worked the Golden +Butterfly about on the shifting air currents. If once he could turn her +nose toward the land he was sure that he would be able to make the ground +by driving the aeroplane down on a slanting angle. + +Once or twice, while he strove with hand and brain against the elements, +he caught his breath with a gasping intake--so near had they come to +overturning. But, thanks to the wind eddies of the point, it was +possible, after a deal of breathless maneuvering, to get the aeroplane +headed for the land. + +The instant he found himself in this position Roy threw on all his power +and then, "bucking" the wind, like a ship beating up to windward, he +rushed down through the night upon the point. As he did so the rays of +the slowly revolving light flashed brightly upon the laboring aeroplane. +In the radiance it looked like some struggling night bird beating its way +against the storm and darkness. + +As Peggy had said, the point was clear of rocks or brush, and a landing +was made without much difficulty once the aeroplane had been turned. Just +as a ship can face the waves with comparative security, so an aeroplane, +being driven into the teeth of a gale, is secure so long as she does not +"broach to"; in other words, get sidewise to the blast. It was touch and +go with the Golden Butterfly for several minutes, though, during that +struggle with the elements, and two more thankful young hearts rarely +beat than Peggy's and Roy's as they stepped from the machine and made it +fast by pointed braces provided for the purpose. + +Hardly had she touched the ground before a door in the lower part of the +lighthouse opened and the form of Jeff Stokes emerged. He told them that +the struggle with the wind had been seen by the light-keeper and himself, +and he was warm in his congratulations of the daring young aviators. The +light-keeper, a grizzled man named Zeb. Beasley, followed close on Jeff's +heels. + +"Come right into the house and hev some supper," he said warmly. "It's +only rough fare, but you're welcome. My misses will be glad to have you." + +Truth to tell, both Peggy and her brother were almost famished and worn +out after the tension of the struggle with the wind. This being so, they +were glad enough to accept the light-keeper's kind invitation. + +Peggy's first action, however, was to hasten to the 'phone in the +lighthouse and call up their aunt. Miss Prescott, who had been badly +worried over their prolonged absence, was much relieved to learn that +they were safe and sound. + +Mrs. Beasley, a motherly woman of middle age, took charge of Peggy while +Jeff Stokes entertained Roy. Jeff said that he liked the life at the +light, lonesome as it grew sometimes. When he felt blue he used to +relieve the monotony by talking, by means of invisible waves, with other +operators. He wiled many a weary hour away in this manner, he said. + +Suddenly, in the midst of their talk, he excused himself and hastened to +the small room in which his instruments were. The place, filled with +shiny, mysterious apparatus and networked above with wires, was as neat +as a pin. + +"Some one's calling," Jeff explained. + +His quick ear had caught the faint "tick-tick" hardly audible to the +untrained ears, which told him that a message was vibrating through the +night. Slipping over his head a metallic apparatus, not unlike the +telephone receivers worn by "Central," Jeff began listening intently. +Drawing a pad toward him, he was soon writing down the message as it was +ticked off. Presently it was completed, by which time Peggy was one of +his audience. + +"'Steamer Valiant, Captain Briggs, of London, wishes to be reported as +passing Rocky Point, bound for Boston,'" read off Jeff. "Hum--nothing +very exciting there." + +"What are you going to do now?" asked Peggy, as Jeff, the message in his +hand, turned to another table, one on which were arranged some ordinary +telegraph instruments. + +"Send it by ordinary wire telegraphy into the head office in New York," +he said. + +"Why not send it by wireless?" asked Peggy. + +"Too much chance of delay and getting cross currents," explained Jeff. +"We found that for quick transmission of ordinary business, that the wire +is best, unless the atmospheric conditions are just right." + +Suddenly, one of the telegraph instruments began to crackle and click +loudly. + +"Phew!" said Jeff, listening intently; "here's something that will +interest you folks." + +"What is it?" asked Peggy, eagerly. + +"It's--wait a minute till I catch the last----" Jeff listened a few +seconds more and then faced about. "Why, that message was a despatch from +the Sandy Bay correspondent of the New York Planet to his paper," he +said. "It was an article telling that Fanning Harding has completed a +successful aeroplane which made a wonderful flight to-night in a stiff +wind. He says that Harding has formed a company and means to manufacture +similar craft. Then there was a lot of taffy about what a fine young +fellow Harding is, and how bright, and so on. Wonder if it's true?" + +"I can vouch for that," said Peggy. "I've seen his factory. It's out by +Gid Gibbons's shop." + +"So that's where Gid is getting all his money," exclaimed Jeff. "I saw +him spending it like water in Sandy Bay the other day. Hester's got a lot +of new dresses and hats, too." + +Peggy's heart beat a little faster. This sounded like a corroboration of +her suspicions. Where could such a man as Gid Gibbons be getting such +large amounts of money as he seemed to have recently? But before she +could ask any more questions Mrs. Beasley announced supper. Speculation +was rife in Peggy's mind as they sat down to the broiled sea bass, +freshly caught, home-grown potatoes and string beans and other good +things which the light-keeper had designated as "rough fare." Peggy was +fain to admit afterward, and so was Roy, that never had she enjoyed +anything so much as that meal in the old lighthouse with the wind roaring +about it and the rough, kindly faces of their entertainers smiling on +them. + +Good-natured Mrs. Beasley soon after arranged sleeping accommodations for +her young guests, and that night the young aviators slumbered peacefully, +while above them the great revolving light swept steadily in slow +circles, warning vessels passing up and down the Sound of the dangerous +proximity of Rocky Point. + +The next day dawned bright and fair. The sea lay like a sheet of blue +glass, with scarcely a ripple to mar its polished surface. The last trace +of the wind had died down. + +"We'll have no more breeze till sundown," announced Mr. Beasley at +breakfast. Like most men of his profession, he was an earnest and +accurate student of the weather. After breakfast Jeff Stokes, who had +been on duty all night, was relieved by his assistant, a young man who +boarded in the village and rode over to his duty on a motor-cycle. + +"Well," said Roy, after they had thanked their good-hearted entertainers +warmly, "I guess it's time for us to be getting home." + +But Peggy had noted a wistful look in Jeff Stokes's eyes as he stood by +the side of the aeroplane, which an examination had already shown to be +none the worse for its buffeting of the night before. + +"Would you like to try a little flight, Jeff?" she asked. + +"Would I?" echoed the youth; "will a duck swim?" + +"Yes, I believe so," laughed Roy, "and so can a certain young wireless +operator fly." + +"Gee, Roy, you mean it?" + +"Of course, if you're not scared." + +There was a mischievous twinkle in Roy's eye as he bent over the engine. + +"How would you like a ride, Mr. Beasley?" asked Peggy presently, while +Roy adjusted the engine. + +The weather-beaten old fellow fairly threw up his hands. + +"Land of Goshen, miss!" he exclaimed, "I've lived on the earth and sea, +man and boy, for fifty years, and I ain't agoin' ter tempt Providence by +embarking in a sky clipper at this late day." + +"You bet you ain't," put in Mrs. Beasley with deep conviction. "Why, if +you ever done such a thing we'd be like to be read out of church--not but +what it's all right for young folks if they know how to manage the +contraptions." + +"Now, then, Jeff, if you are ready will you get in?" said Roy presently. + +The slender young wireless operator hopped into the chassis with +alacrity. But his face was a bit pallid from excitement at the idea of +the new method of locomotion he was about to test. + +Last good-byes were said, and the motor began to whirr like a gigantic +locust. There was a grinding and buzzing as the gears meshed and the +aeroplane began to scud off. + +"Fer all ther world like some big, pesky grasshopper," declared Mrs. +Beasley, as it scudded off across the smooth turf. + +But if the good lady was astonished, then it was nothing to her amazement +when a moment later the Butterfly soared up into the air, lifting as +gently on the windless atmosphere as a bit of drifting gossamer. + +Up and up it swept in graceful hawk-like circles. + +"Dear Suz!" shrieked Mrs. Beasley presently, "if they ain't agoin' out +ter sea!" + +"Just what they air," shouted her husband, shading his eyes with a +wrinkled hand. "I never thought ter have lived ter have seen such a +thing!" + +Roy had been unable to resist the temptation to take a little spin out +above the glassy, scarcely heaving water. The gulls, soaring above it, +viewed with amazement the invasion of their realm by this buzzing, angry +looking monster. They flew about it shrieking. + +"Goodness, I hope they don't attack us," exclaimed Peggy. + +"Not likely," was Roy's response. "They think we are some kind of big +bird, I guess, and want to have a game with us." + +As they swept on, all agreed that never had they felt such a feeling of +exhilaration as came to them as they swooped and swung above the +glistening blue water, for all the world like some huge bird. Once or +twice motor boats went by beneath them, and the occupants looked up at +first in wonderment and then in enthusiasm at the sight the Golden +Butterfly and her three young occupants presented. + +But all at once the steady song of the engine began to grow different. It +"skipped" and sputtered and coughed. Blue smoke rolled from the exhausts. +The aeroplane began to waver and sag. + +Jeff Stokes turned rather pale. + +"What is the matter?" he gasped, steadying his voice as much as he could +as the aeroplane began to drop steadily down toward the water beneath +them. + +"The gasolene's given out," rejoined Roy in a voice which was full of +anxiety. + +"Oh, Roy, what shall we do?" + +Peggy gasped as the aeroplane, its propeller beating the air more and +more feebly, began to descend with greater rapidity. + +"We'll have to volplane to some land if we can, and if we can't we must +take our chances for it in the water," was Roy's grim reply. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +WHAT HAPPENED ON THE ISLAND. + + +"Look," cried Peggy suddenly, "isn't that a small island below there? +Maybe we can make that?" + +"I'll try to," was the answer, as Roy gripped the steering wheel more +firmly. + +At the same instant the motor, with a gasp and a sputter, gave out +altogether. But Roy knew how to volplane; that is, to reach the earth by +swinging the aeroplane in circles so that her stability was maintained +even with the power cut off. + +He began to execute this maneuver now. The island which Peggy had +indicated was a small spot of land some five miles off the shore. It was +sandy and barren looking on one side, though at the further end from them +there grew some trees and scrubby looking bushes. + +If he could only keep the aeroplane from sagging down into the sea Roy +was confident he could land at the place in safety. But it was still some +distance off and the aeroplane was still dropping with much greater +rapidity than seemed comfortable. Both Roy and his sister were expert +swimmers, and the boy knew that Jeff was at home in the water. But at the +same time, if they struck the surface of the sea, there was the chance +that they might become entangled in the aeroplane and drowned before they +had an opportunity to save themselves. So it was with a keen sense of +apprehension that the boy exercised all the air craft of which he was +master in bringing his sky cruiser downward. + +"Oh!" cried Peggy suddenly as the Golden Butterfly gave a sickening +downward drop like a stone plunging to vacancy. + +But the empty "air pocket" which the craft had struck was a small one, +and the next instant the atmosphere caught the broad wings and buoyed the +aeroplane up from what seemed to be destined to be a disastrous fall. + +The drop had, however, had one good effect. It had thrown the aeroplane +almost on end, and in that manner drained a few last driblets of gasolene +from the depleted tank into the feed pipes. + +It was only a little fuel, but it was enough to cause the engine to +resume operations for a couple of minutes. Taking advantage of this lucky +accident, Roy drove forward, and as the propeller came once more to a +standstill the Golden Butterfly sank down into a bed of sand which made +her almost at once stationary. + +"Well, we are--aerial Robinson Crusoes," exclaimed Peggy as, having +clambered out of the chassis, she stood surveying the little island which +they had so fortunately landed upon. + +"Yes, and if we don't get some gasolene pretty quick we'll be Crusoes in +a mighty uncomfortable sense," commented Roy, moodily gazing about at the +surrounding sea, smooth as a sheet of glass and without the sign of a +boat upon it. Far off on the horizon there hung a three-masted schooner, +all her sails set, in the flat calm. But she was too far off to aid them +even had she been able to. + +"Tell you what we'll do, let's explore the island," said Jeff Stokes +suddenly. + +"Of course," cried Peggy, clapping her hands, "that's what everybody does +in story books when they are stranded on a desert island, and right after +that they always find just what they want, even down to a silver-mounted +manicure set." + +"I'd like to see a tin-mounted can of gasolene," grunted Roy. +Nevertheless after seeing to the engine of the aeroplane he was willing +enough to set out with the others to explore this little spot of land in +the Sound. + +It was so small that it did not take them long to reach the summit of the +low peak into which it rose in the centre. + +"Oh, there's a little hut!" cried Peggy, suddenly. + +Sure enough, below them, and half overgrown with tall weeds and scrub +growth, was a half ruined hut. It was doubtless the relic of some +fisherman who had once used the island as headquarters. But it had, +apparently, long lapsed into disuse. + +Hardly had they spied it before Roy made another discovery. Drawn up in a +miniature cove not far from the hut was a trim and trig white motor boat, +seemingly, from her long narrow shape and powerful engines, capable of +great speed. + +Here was a discovery! A motor boat meant gasolene and companionship. + +With a soft cry of joy Peggy was dashing forward toward the hut, from +which they could now hear proceeding the hum of human voices, when Roy +suddenly checked her. From the doorway there had suddenly issued the +figure of Morgan, the Bancrofts' butler. He gazed about him with a look +of half alarmed suspicion on his flabby face. The young aviators +instinctively crouched back behind a screen of green brush. They felt a +suddenly aroused premonition that everything was not as it should be. + +"H'its nothink," said Morgan, addressing someone within the hut, after he +had gazed about a little more without seeing anything to further alarm +his suspicions. + +"All right, if that's the case come back in here," came another voice +from inside the hut. + +"Giles!" recognized the astonished Peggy. But another and a greater +surprise was yet in store for them when they heard another voice strike +into the conversation. There was no mistaking the tones for any others +than Fanning Harding's. + +"You chaps are nervous as kittens," he was saying, "who on earth would +come to this island? We are as private here as if we were in the South +Seas. Now go ahead, Morgan, with what you were saying." + +"Well, what h'I says is this," spoke up the English butler, "a fair +diwision and no favoritism. You say you want a third? You ain't +h'entitled to h'it. H'it was h'only by h'accident that you found h'out +h'our secret h'and h'I thinks you ought to be content with what you can +get." + +"Very well," was the rejoinder, "but as you fellows know, I've got you in +my power. You daren't make a move without consulting me. If you try any +monkey tricks I'll crush you so quick you won't know what struck you. The +police are still carrying on their investigation, and----" + +But here the voices sank so low that the eager young listeners could hear +no more. But their eyes shone as they exchanged glances. Somehow both +Peggy and Roy felt that the conversation had related to the mysterious +vanishing of the jewels. This at least appeared clear from Fanning +Harding's reference to the police. + +"We'd better get back to the other side of the island before they come +out and see us," counseled Peggy. "If they were to find out we had been +spying on them they might get frightened and spirit the jewels away from +wherever they have them concealed, for I'm just as sure now that they are +all three mixed up in it as I am that--that----" + +"We have no gasolene," put in Roy. + +"But you have no proof and nothing to go upon," objected Jeff Stokes who +was, like most folks around Sandy Bay, familiar with the details of the +strange occurrence. + +"That's just the trouble," said Peggy, "and it is just as impossible to +go ahead in the case as it is for us to fly without fuel." + +"Peg!" cried Roy, suddenly, "look at that!" + +"That" was a ten gallon can of gasolene standing on the beach by the side +of the motor boat. Evidently, to drag her bow up on the beach, they had +lightened the craft so as to make the task easier, for several ropes, +water jars and other bits of marine tackle lay about. + +"If we could only get it," sighed Peggy. + +"Yes, if," was the rejoinder from Roy, "but we can't steal it, and, as +you say, it might spoil everything if Fanning Harding thought that we had +overheard any of his talk." + +"Look out!" warned Jeff Stokes in a whisper the next instant. The warning +did not come a bit too soon. The door of the hut opened and the party +which had been in conference inside emerged. They made straight for the +motor boat, which Jeff Stokes had, in the meantime, recognized as one +that was for hire at Sandy Bay. + +"Come on, boys, we've got to be getting back," urged Fanning moving +quickly and preparing to shove the craft off. + +"Wait till I chuck some of this truck in," grumbled Giles. + +He stooped and rapidly threw in the ropes and other gear scattered about. +Then as Fanning Harding and the flabby-faced butler shoved the craft off +he made a hasty scramble for the boat's bow, leaping in as she floated +free of the beach. + +"H'I soy," shouted Morgan, "you forgot the bloomin' gasolene." + +"Better put back and get it," growled Giles; "if you fellows had helped +me a bit instead of givin' advice it wouldn't have bin forgotten." + +"Oh, we can't bother with it now," struck in Fanning, impatiently, "we've +plenty in the tank to take us back. I'm not going to delay any longer." + +He spun over the fly wheel as he spoke and the motor boat began to cut +rapidly through the water headed for Sandy Bay. As soon as it had gone a +safe distance the three stranded young adventurers joined hands and +executed a wild war dance of joy. By a means almost miraculous they had +fallen across the very thing they needed. + +"It's just like the story books!" cried Peggy, delightedly. + +They raced down toward the coveted can, which was half full of the +precious fuel. Enough to get them ashore at any rate. Before returning to +the stranded aeroplane they examined the hut, but found nothing in it but +a few broken-down bits of furniture. + +"Queer," commented Jeff, "I half expected to find something." + +"Not likely," laughed Roy, "they're too foxy for that." + +"What do you suppose they came to the island for?" asked Peggy. + +"To get a quiet place to talk where they would not be observed by any one +who knew them, I guess," rejoined her brother. "Oh, if only we could +solve the mystery. It's tantalizing to be so close to it and yet with so +many tangled ends left ravelled." + +"Be patient," advised Peggy, "it will all come out in time. And now I'm +as famished for lunch as the Golden Butterfly is, so lets fill up the +tank and then head for home." + +"Second the motion," laughed Jeff Stokes. + +Half an hour later the Golden Butterfly once more rose, and without +incident or mishap winged her way back to Rocky Point. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +JUKES DADE APPEARS. + + +The aviation field at Acatonick a few days before the big contests for +juvenile aviators was alive with action and color. The spot selected was +a flat, smooth field of some fifty acres on the outskirts of the town. + +The grass spread a green carpet, thickly sprinkled with wild flowers, +while at one side of the place was a row of green-painted sheds known as +the "hangars." + +"Hangar is French for shed," Peggy had explained to a group of friends +from Sandy Bay whom she was showing over the grounds, "and I think that +_shed_ is a whole lot better word than 'Ongar,' which is the way you are +supposed to pronounce it." + +One of the sheds--as in deference to Peggy we shall call them--was of a +different color, and stood somewhat apart from the rest. It was also much +larger and bore in consequential-looking letters over its door the words: + + "Harding Aeroplane Company. Keep Out." + +And to see that this notice was enforced to the letter, Fanning Harding +had installed a red-nosed watchman with a formidable club at the portal. +Considerable secrecy, in fact, had been observed concerning his +aeroplane. Several large boxes had arrived one night and been hustled as +quickly as possible into the shed. + +The shed assigned to Roy Prescott, happened, by an odd coincidence, to be +next door to the Harding one. The second day of their stay at Acatonick, +Roy, on coming down to the field from the hotel at which he and Peggy and +Miss Prescott were stopping, was much surprised to be greeted by Fanning, +with some effusiveness. + +After a lot of preliminary hemming and hawing, Fanning broached to Roy +once more the proposition of selling the Golden Butterfly. + +"But I thought you had a fine type of aeroplane of your own," said Roy, +wondering at this renewal of Fanning's offer. + +"So I have," was the rejoinder, "but now that I have established my +business on a paying business basis I can handle another type. You know +mine is a biplane model." + +Roy nodded. He had no liking for Fanning, but the other was so effusive +that he felt it was incumbent on him to meet the other lad half way, as +the saying is. + +"I'd like to have a look at your craft sometime," he said. + +"Not much you won't," rejoined Fanning, quickly, "you'll see her on the +day she wins the big prize and not before." + +"You seem to have it won already," rejoined Roy, rather contemptuously. + +"Oh, yes," was the confident reply, "I'm going to simply fly rings round +you and the rest, so you'd better take up my offer now, for after the +race your Golden Butterfly stock won't be worth a penny." + +"I'm not so certain about that," was the answer. + +"Then you won't take up my offer. I'll raise it another two hundred." + +Roy smiled and shook his head. Something in his refusal angered the other +lad. + +"Well as you wish," he said, strolling off, "but dad has been pretty +lenient with you up to date. As you won't meet us half way, though I'm +going to advise him to force you to sell the Golden Butterfly." + +"How?" + +"By foreclosing that mortgage without further delay." + +Fanning whipped the words out with a vicious intonation. All his mean +nature surged up into his face as he spoke. Roy breathed a little +quicker. But outwardly he was calm and cold as ice. + +"That's your privilege," he said shortly, turning away, but that night he +and Peggy had a troubled discussion about ways and means, and it became +more than ever evident to them how much depended on winning the five +thousand dollar prize. + +There were several aspirants in the juvenile class on the grounds as well +as fliers of more mature years, for Mr. Higgins had interested some other +capitalists, and it had been decided to make quite an event out of the +aerial meet. + +On the day before the race, which meant so much to them, Peggy and Roy +decided to take a practice spin across country in their 'plane. The +capable looking machine excited much favorable comment when it was +wheeled out of its shed. Several of the other competitors gathered about +it while the engine was being tuned up. Among them was a surly looking +chap with a dark, roughly-shaven chin and a pair of shifty eyes. He stood +beside Fanning Harding, who was also in the crowd about the Golden +Butterfly. + +The Sandy Bay boy gazed on with a sneering look while our two young +aviators got everything in readiness. This took some time for everybody +was anxious to take a hand in the work, and it was quite a task to +kindly, but steadfastly, reject these offers, well meant as they were. + +At last everything appeared to be in good shape and with a buzz and a +whirr the engine was tried out. It worked perfectly, and before the crowd +had had time to cheer, the aeroplane shot up from the ground in front of +its shed with hardly any preliminary run. Then came a belated cheer. + +"That's the craft that wins the big prize," said a stout, good-natured +looking man. + +"Don't you be so certain," snapped out Fanning Harding, who stood close +by, and to whom the words were gall. + +"Why, what's the matter with you, my young friend," asked the jovial man; +"you must be meaning to get it yourself." + +"That's right," was the confident reply. + +"Well, don't count your aerial chicks before they're hatched," was the +merry rejoinder. A laugh at Fanning's expense went up from the crowd. The +boy flushed angrily and strode off in the direction of his hangar. + +"Confound that young Jackanapes of a Roy Prescott," he muttered, as he +went; "he gets ahead of me every time. But I'll fix him. Pop needs that +land, and if Roy wins this race the Prescotts can pay off that mortgage +and be on the road to riches. Well, I guess I'll settle all that. But +I'll have to act quickly." + +"You seem to be sore on that Prescott boy," came a voice at his shoulder +suddenly. + +Fanning turned quickly to find himself confronted by the unprepossessing +individual who had stood at his side during the start of the Golden +Butterfly, which was by this time almost out of sight in the eastward. + +"Why, what do you know about it?" he asked, sharply. + +"Well," was the rejoinder, "being an observing sort of an individual I +figured out that you were not best pleased at seeing what a fine +aeroplane that kid has. Right, ain't I?" + +He coolly took from his pocket a disgusting-looking cigar stump and +proceeded to light it, leering impudently into Fanning's face the while. + +"Well, may be you are and then again you may not be," was the Sandy Bay +youngster's cautious reply; "but how does it interest you?" + +"Because I haven't any more use for him than you have, and if you make it +worth my while I'll give you a bit of information that will be of value +to you." + +"What do you mean?" inquired Fanning, beginning to listen with more +attention than he had hitherto shown. + +"Just this, that I'm Jukes Dade, who used to work for Mr. Prescott years +ago, but he discharged me for--for--well for a little fault of drinking I +had. Come now, don't you recognize me?" + +"By George, I do," exclaimed Fanning; "but it was so many years ago you +were with Mr. Prescott that I hardly knew you. You have changed greatly." + +"I may have," was the reply in bitter tones. "I've been through enough. +But there's one thing I ain't never forgotten in all these years, and +that is my resolve to get even on old man Prescott." + +"But he is dead," put in Fanning, wondering at the baleful expression of +hatred that had come into the man's face. + +"All true enough. I heard that some time ago. But if I can injure the son +in any way, I'd like to do it. I've got a wrong to avenge, and if you +want to pay well to have Roy Prescott put out of the race to-morrow I'm +your man." + +"Hush, don't talk so loud. Some folks over there are looking at us." + +"Oh, well, if you're afraid to----" + +"No, no, that isn't it. I must prevent Roy winning that race to-morrow at +all hazards. Come into my hangar and we can talk quietly." + +"Ah, that's the talk," was the rejoinder, and Jukes Dade chuckled with +grim delight. "You want a little job of work done to settle our friend's +hash. Well, you've come to the right shop when you meet up with old Jukes +Dade who has an axe of his own to grind." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +A GIRL AVIATOR'S ADVENTURE. + + +In the meantime, Peggy and Roy, the former at the steering wheel and +controls, were skimming through the air above the charming country +surrounding Acatonick. The exhilaration of flying, the thrill and zest of +it, were strong upon them as they glided along, and they made an extended +flight. + +"She is working like a three-hundred-dollar watch," cried Roy joyously as +the speedy monoplane flew onward. + +"She's a darling," was Peggy's enthusiastic response. "I'm sure that if +nothing happens you'll win that race to-morrow, Roy." + +"I hope so, little sister," was the response, "for there's a whole lot +depending on it." + +"But just think. If you only do we shall be at the end of our troubles." + +"Not quite, sis," Roy reminded her, "that affair of the missing jewels is +still a mystery, and as long as it stays so some folks will always be +suspicious of me." + +"Oh, Roy, don't say such things. Nobody but the horridest of the horrid +would----" + +"Unluckily," struck in the boy, "there are a lot of the horridest of the +horrid in this world, and some of them are in Sandy Bay." + +He laughed and then went on more seriously: + +"It's a pretty nasty feeling, I can tell you, to know that you are +unjustly suspected by several folks of--of--er--knowing more about an +affair of that kind than you tell." + +"What can have become of the jewels?" + +"Ah, that's just it. Of course we have our suspicion, based really on +nothing, that Fanning Harding knows something about them. But if he did +why would he place that wallet on the porch of Jess's home?" + +"It's beyond me." + +"And beyond me, too. I'm quite sure that nobody was about the place when +the accident happened, and I could not have been unconscious more than a +few seconds. Now who could have stolen the wallet in that time?" + +"It will all come out in time. I'm sure of it, Roy, dear," said Peggy, +earnestly. "Perhaps it will turn out to be not such a mystery after all." + +"I don't know," was Roy's rejoinder. "Mr. Bancroft has had some of the +cleverest detectives in the country on the case, and a description of the +jewels, some of which were heirlooms, has been wired everywhere +broadcast. But up to date none of them have turned up at any pawnshops or +other likely places." + +For some moments more they talked in this strain, when Peggy suddenly +gave a cry and pointed below. They were passing over a tiny lake +surrounded by steeply sloping banks, wooded with beautiful trees. It was +an isolated spot, no human habitation being near at hand apparently. + +"Oh, isn't that pretty?" cried Peggy delightedly. "It looks as if it +might have come out of a picture book." + +"And the sight of that water reminds me that I'm terribly thirsty," said +Roy. "I bet there are some springs by that lake, or if there are not +maybe the water is good to drink from the lake itself." + +"Let's go down and see," said Peggy, with a bright smile, and setting +over a lever and twisting a couple of valves she began to depress the +aeroplane. + +"There's a good landing place off there to the right of the end of the +lake," cried Roy, indicating a bare spot where some land seemed to have +been cleared at one time. + +"All right, my brilliant brother," laughed Peggy merrily. "I saw it at +least five minutes ago. Hold tight, I'm going to drop fast." + +To any one less accustomed to aerial navigation than our two young +friends, the downward plunge would have been alarming in its velocity. +But to them it was merely exciting. Within a few feet of the ground, just +when it seemed they must dash against the surface of the earth with +crushing force, Peggy set the planes on a rising angle and the Golden +Eagle settled to earth as gracefully as a tired bird. + +"Well, here we are," exclaimed Roy, looking about him at the sylvan scene +as they alighted; "and now what comes next?" + +"A hunt for the spring, of course," cried Peggy, placing one hand on her +brother's shoulder and nimbly leaping from the chassis to the soft, +springy ground. And off they set toward the margin of the little lake +below them. + +"Reminds me of Ponce de Leon's hunt for a spring," laughed Roy, who felt +in high spirits over the fine way the Golden Butterfly had conducted +herself. + +"But he was looking for the Fountain of Eternal Youth," said Peggy, +quickly. + +"Wonder if he'd have been any happier if he'd found it," murmured Roy, +philosophically. + +"If he'd been a woman he would," said Peggy. + +"Would what? Have found it?" + +"No, you goose, but have been perfectly happy if he had attained +perpetual youth. Why, I think----Why, whatever was that?" + +The girl broke off short in her laughing remarks and an expression of +startled astonishment crept over her features. + +"Why, it's some one groaning," cried Roy, after a brief period of +listening. + +"Yes. Some one in pain, too. It's off this way. Come on, Roy, let us find +out what is the matter." + +Without a thought of personal danger, but with all her warm girlish +sympathy aroused, plucky Peggy plunged off on to a path, from a spot +along which it appeared the injured person must be groaning. But Roy +caught her arm and pulled her back while he stepped in front of her. + +"Let me go first, sis," he said; "we don't know what may be the matter." + +Peggy dutifully tiptoed along behind, as with hearts that beat somewhat +faster than usual they made their way down the narrow path which led them +into the deep gloom of the deeper woods. All at once Roy halted. They had +arrived on the edge of a little clearing in the midst of which stood a +tiny and roughly built hut with a big stone chimney at one end. Although +the place was primitive it was scrupulously neat. + +Painted white with green shutters, with a bright flower garden in front, +it was a veritable picture of rural thrift. + +The boy hesitated for an instant as they stood on the opposite edge of +the cleared ground. There was no question but that they had reached the +place whence the groans had proceeded. As they stood there the grim +sounds began once more, after being hushed for an instant. Now, however, +they took coherent form. + +"Oh, help me! Help me!" + +Roy was undetermined no longer. Directing Peggy to remain outside till he +summoned her, he walked rapidly, and with a firm step, up the path +leading to the hut, and entered. It was so dark inside that at first he +could see nothing. But pretty soon he spied a huddled form in one corner. + +"Oh, don't hurt me! I'm only a harmless old man! I have no money," cried +the cringing figure, as Roy entered. + +"I don't want to hurt you," said the boy kindly; "I want to help you." + +He now saw that the form in the corner was that of an old man with a +silvery beard and long white hair. From a gash on his forehead blood was +flowing, and the wound seemed to have been recently inflicted. + +"What is the matter? What has happened?" asked Roy, gently, as he raised +the old man to a chair into which he fell limply. + +"Water! water!" he cried, feebly. + +Roy hastened outside saying to himself as he went: + +"This is a case for Peggy." + +Summoning her he hastily related what had occurred and the warm-hearted +girl, with many exclamations of pity, hastened to the wounded man's side. + +"Get me some water quick, Roy," she exclaimed, tearing a long strip from +her linen petticoat to serve as a bandage. Outside the hut, Roy soon +found a spring, back of a rickety stable in which the old man had a horse +and a ramshackle buggy. + +When he returned with the water the poor old fellow took a long draught +from a cup Peggy held to his lips and the girl then deftly washed and +bandaged his wound. This done the venerable old man seemed to rally, and +sitting up in his chair thanked his young friends warmly. Roy, in the +meantime, had been looking about the hut and saw that it was furnished in +plain, but tidy style. Over the great open fireplace, at one end, hung a +big picture. Evidently the canvas was many years old. It was the portrait +of a fine, self-reliant looking young man in early manhood. His blue eyes +gazed confidently out from the picture and a smile of seeming +satisfaction quivered about his lips. + +"I'll bet that's a fellow who has got on in the world," thought Roy to +himself as he scanned the capable, strong features. + +"Ah," said the old man, observing the lad's interest in the painting, +"that picture is a relic of old, old days. It is a portrait of my brother +James. He----But I must tell you how I came to be in the sad condition in +which you found me. Have you a comfortable chair, miss? Yes, very well, +then I will tell you what happened this afternoon in this hut, and will +then relate to you something of my own story for I was not always a +hermit and an outcast." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE HERMIT OF THE WOODS. + + +"My name is Peter Bell," began the old man, "and many years ago I was +like any other happy, care-free young man, who is the son of well-to-do +parents. I had a brother named James Bell, who was much younger than me. +We were very fond of each other and inseparable. + +"Our home was on the Long Island coast and we often went boating. One day +when we were out in my boat a storm came up and she capsized. I tried to +save my brother who was a poor swimmer. But in the midst of my efforts +the bulwark of the wave-tossed boat struck my head and rendered me +insensible. It seems, however, I must have clung to the boat, for when I +came to myself I had almost been blown ashore, and, striking out, I soon +reached it. + +"But to my horror I soon saw that people shunned me. In some way the +story got about that I had saved myself at the expense of my brother's +life. Such stories are always readily credited among the majority of +people in a small town and the tale spread like wildfire with +exaggerations. Driven half wild by the general contempt which I met on +every side I left home one night, and having a sum of money in my own +right I decided to live the life of a recluse. + +"I recollected this spot to which I had come on hunting expeditions in +brighter days. Not long after, grief over my brother's death resulted in +my mother's life coming to a close, and shortly afterward my father's +demise occurred. + +"They left but little, but I managed to secure that portrait of my +brother you see hanging up there and a few bits of favorite furniture +associated with happier times. + +"I have lived here ever since and have become reconciled to my fate. From +time to time I used to advertise for news of my brother, offering +rewards, but long ago I stopped that, and have no doubt that he perished +in the storm, although for a time I comforted myself by thinking that he +might, by some strange chance, have been saved. + +"In some way a rumor has spread through the countryside that I have much +wealth hidden here, and this afternoon four masked men entered the hut +and when I protested, in reply to their demands, that I had no money, +they struck me down and searched the house. Then cursing me for a fraud +and an impostor because they found no gold they left, leaving me to my +fate." + +"You have no idea who the men were?" asked Roy who, like Peggy, had +listened with close attention to the old man's story. + +"Yes, I think they were young men of bad reputation from a neighboring +village; however, I am not sure. I am certain that I recollected hearing +the voice of one of them when I was in the market in that village some +time ago." + +"Oh, then, you do go into town sometimes?" asked Roy. + +"Oh, yes," rejoined the hermit, "but no more than I can help. I have long +since departed from the ways of the world and the habitations of men. But +I gather herbs in the woods for miles about and sell them to folks in the +villages." + +"I suppose that is why you have the horse and cart?" put in Peggy, who +had been gazing out of the window and had noticed the tumbledown barn. + +"Yes," rejoined the old man. "I am not as active as I was once and my old +bones will not carry me as far as they used to. So I drive old Dobbin +when I have a journey of any length to make." + +The hermit would not hear of any help being summoned for him. He said +that he was in no danger of a second attack, as the search of his little +property had been thorough and had resulted in the rascals, who had +invaded his haunts, getting nothing for their pains. Refusing some +refreshment the old man offered, the young aviators soon after left the +hut, promising to call in again in a few days and give the hermit an +opportunity to see the aeroplane in which he was much interested. The old +man asked them many questions about the races of the next day and seemed +interested in hearing the details. + +The Golden Butterfly they found just as they had left her, and clambering +on board they were soon winging their way back to Acatonick where, as you +may imagine, they had an interesting story of the incidents of the +afternoon to relate to Miss Prescott that evening. + +"I never saw such children for adventures in all my born days," she +declared, "but I have a letter here which I must show you. I am afraid it +means that we shall have to leave the old home." + +She drew an envelope from her handbag which lay on a table of the hotel +room and handed it to Roy. On opening it, he found that it contained a +formal notice from the Sandy Bay Bank, that unless the accumulated +interest and other moneys owing them were paid up within a week that +foreclosure proceedings would be taken. The boy gave a disconsolate +whistle as he finished reading the letter aloud and handed it back. + +He had hardly done so when there came a rap on the door of the room. "I +wonder who that can be so late?" thought Roy, getting up and going to the +door. + +A bellboy stood there with a note. + +"A messenger just brought this from the aviation grounds," he said. "Any +answer?" + +"Wait a minute," said Roy, skimming hastily through the note. It was +typewritten and signed:--James Jarvis, Superintendent of Arrangements. + + "Dear sir: You are requested to report at the executive tent at once. + An important meeting will take place affecting the competitors in + the races to-morrow." + +This was what Roy read. Then he turned to the bellboy and told the lad to +inform the messenger that he would be there as soon as possible. + +"Queer though," he said to Peggy and his aunt. "I didn't know of any +meeting that was scheduled to take place to-night. I guess it's one +that's been called at the eleventh hour to make some arrangements." + +"That must be it," agreed Peggy. "Shall I come with you?" + +"No, thanks, sis," rejoined the boy; "you'd better get to bed. It's going +to be an exciting day to-morrow for us all." + +The boy snatched up his cap and with a hasty good-bye, was off. + +Downstairs in the lobby of the hotel he found the messenger awaiting +him,--a shifty-eyed man with a blue chin. It was, in fact, Jukes Dade, +who, in a different suit of clothes and with a clean shave and haircut, +looked a trifle more presentable than he had earlier in the day when he +made himself known to Fanning. + +"This way, sir," he said, with a fawning sort of bow. + +"Out of this door is the quickest," said Roy quickly, with a feeling that +he would rather walk to the grounds alone than with such a companion. + +"But we're not going to walk, sir. The committee has sent an auto for +you." + +"A car, eh?" said Roy; "well, that's considerate of them. I'll tell my +sister. She might like to come along, too." + +The messenger shook his head. + +"Sorry, sir; but we've got to pick up some other aviators on our way and +every bit of room in the car will be taken." + +"Oh, very well, then," said Roy, "lead on." + +The blue-chinned Dade shuffled across the lobby with a furtive air. + +"Funny," thought Roy. "I've seen that chap some place before, but to save +my life I can't place him." + +Cudgelling his brains to try to recall where he had met the man, Roy +passed through the hotel lobby and out into the street. In the lamplight +he saw a big car standing at the curb, shaking as its ungeared engine +puffed and chugged. A chauffeur, with an auto mask and goggles on, sat on +the front seat. Roy got in behind in the tonneau while the messenger took +his seat by the chauffeur. + +He said something in a low whisper to the driver and the next instant +there was a grinding whirr as the gears were connected and the car rolled +forward. + +"Well, they've got a good fast car here," thought Roy, as the machine +sped along over the roads. "At this rate we ought to be at the grounds +in----" + +But what was this? Surely the road they were on was not the right one. +Leaning forward he touched the chauffeur on the shoulder. + +"This isn't the road to the grounds," he said. + +"Oh, yes it is," put in the messenger; "it's a short cut, though. Isn't +it, Fred?" + +The chauffeur did not speak but merely nodded his head. + +Although by no means satisfied with the explanation, Roy made no +immediate comment. In the meantime they had passed the outskirts of the +little town and were now whizzing along an unlighted road bordered with +big trees. On and on they went, and Roy, every minute, grew more uneasy. +Where could they be taking him? + +"Where are you going?" he demanded suddenly, his suspicion showing in his +tone as he rose in the tonneau and leaned forward. "I want you to know +that----" + +But before he could utter another word the blue-chinned messenger did an +astonishing thing. With a quick, imperceptible movement he produced a +revolver and thrust its gleaming barrel up under Roy's nose. + +"Sit back and keep quiet," he warned, "and you'll be all right. If you +make a holler you'll get what's in this barker." + +As he spoke the auto began to slow down, and presently a dark form +stepped from the shadows of the trees ahead and stood awaiting its coming. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE ENEMY'S MOVE. + + +Roy's first feeling was one of indignation at the fellow's impudence. + +"What do you mean by such conduct," he blurted out angrily. "Take me to +the aviation grounds at once, or----" + +"That's just where we are taking you away from, young fellow," sneered +the man behind the pistol. "Ah! Don't move. I'm very nervous and if I get +excited this pistol might go off. It's very light on the trigger." + +As he spoke the auto slowed down almost to a standstill, and the man who +had evidently been waiting for it, swung himself on the running board and +joined the others on the front seat. Like the driver, he wore a motoring +mask and goggles which effectively concealed his features, and yet to Roy +there was something familiar even about the muffled up figure. Once the +third man was aboard, the auto plunged forward once more at breakneck +speed. It rocked from side to side on the rough road as it flew along. +But the man with the pistol kept his weapon levelled at Roy throughout +all its jouncings and joltings. + +Like a wise boy, Roy had concluded that it would be worse than foolish to +attempt any resistance to his abductors. So he sat motionless and silent +as the car tore onward through the night. He had not the least idea where +they were, nor for what place they could be bound. Nor had he yet had +time to think over the reason for this bold kidnapping. + +Now, however, it was plain that the object of the trip was to take him to +some place and hold him prisoner till the aero race was over. It struck +him with cruel force that, unless he could manage to escape, the object +of the expedition seemed very likely to prove successful. + +All at once the car struck a bump in the road with a violent wrenching +thud. It leaped into the air like a live thing while a frightened shout +burst from the throats of the men on the front seat. Mechanically Roy +gripped the sides of the tonneau to avoid being thrown out like a missile. + +The next instant, with a rasping grind and a sickening swaying and +jouncing the car tore full tilt down the side of the road, which, at this +point, was banked, and fetched up motionless and hub-deep in a pool of +dark water. + +"Don't let the kid escape," came a shout from the man who had boarded the +car on the roadside, as the auto ceased to move. + +But before the words had left his lips Roy had perceived that the water +in the pond was not much more than knee high. Quick as a cat he was out +of the tonneau before any of the others had time to collect their wits. +As the man shouted his warning the lad struck out through the oozy +ground, seeking, with every ounce of his strength, to shroud himself in +the darkness at the pond edge before the pistol wielder could locate him. + +But he had not gone more than a few steps when-- + +Bang! + +A red flash cut the night behind him and a bullet whistled by his ear. + +"Look out, you fool, you don't want to kill him," came a voice behind him. + +"Gid Gibbons," flashed through Roy's mind. He was almost at a thick clump +of alders now. As he heard the splashing of the bodies of the abductors, +as they took to the water after him, he plunged into the coppice and +pushed rapidly on into its intricacies. + +Shouts and cries came from behind him, and suddenly a blinding shaft of +white radiance cut through the blackness. They had turned on the +searchlight of the car in a determined effort to locate their escaped +prisoner. + +As the light penetrated among the maze of alder trunks, Roy threw himself +flat. While his pursuers hunted about, muttering and angrily discussing +the situation, he crouched in his shelter, hardly daring to breathe. +After what seemed an eternity of suspense he heard one of the men, whose +voice he seemed to recognize as that of the pistol carrier, angrily +declaiming. + +"Aw, what's ther use, ther kid is a mile off by this time, worse luck." + +"Hush, don't talk so loud," came another voice. "You don't know who may +be about." + +"Well, we'd better be getting that car out of the mud and making +ourselves scarce," came in the tones which Roy was certain were those of +Gid Gibbons. "If there's a hue and cry raised about this and they find +that car stranded here they can easy trace us." + +"That's so," was the response in the voice of Jukes Dade. "Come on, boys, +we'll get her out of this confounded slough if we can, and get back to +town." + +The voices died away as they retreated, splashing like water animals +through the mud and ooze. + +As silence fell once more Roy straightened up from his unpleasant +situation and looked about him. The night was starry, and above his head +he could see The Dipper. He knew that the outside stars of this +constellation pointed to the North Star and he soon had the latter +located. This gave him the points of the compass, and figuring that +Acatonick must lie to the east of his present position, he struck out in +that direction as nearly as he could. + +He had no idea of the time, to his great chagrin, for in his haste to +obey the forged summons to the flying track he had forgotten to bring his +watch. In fact, in his hurry, he had slipped into an old coat, the +pockets of which contained nothing more useful to him than a packet of +chewing gum. He slipped a wad of this into his mouth to "keep him +company" as he expressed it to himself, and grittily went forward. + +The wood ended presently, and he found himself in a field with woods on +all three sides, except that on which the swamp impinged. Little as he +liked the idea of plunging into pathless woods, with nothing to guide him +but the stars, as he glimpsed them through the trees, there was no help +for it. Go on he must. Crossing the field rapidly he soon reached the +border of the tangle and entered its black shadows. Keeping as straight a +line as he could he hastened forward, and to his great delight, soon saw +that the trees were beginning to thin out, and that beyond lay, +apparently, open country. + +"Hooray, I'm bound to strike a road before long now," thought Roy +gleefully and quickened his pace. + +He had not gone more than a few paces, however, when through the trees he +heard a strange sound. It was a clinking sound like the rattling of a +chain. + +The boy was bold enough, but the mysterious sound on the edge of that +dark wood caused his pulses to beat a bit quicker. What could it be? + +Gradually, as he stood still among the trees, the sound drew closer. + +"Ghosts in story books always clank chains," thought Roy, to himself. +"Now if I believed in such things, I----" + +He stopped short abruptly, as, from behind a clump of brush in the +direction from whence the clanking had proceeded, there suddenly emerged +a tall form all in white. + +"Good gracious!" cried Roy, considerably startled by the sight of this +sudden apparition. "I do believe----" + +But at the sight of the white form he had involuntarily given a backward +step. Without the slightest warning he felt the ground suddenly give way +under his feet, and his body shot down through space. + +Down, down he shot, a hundred mad thoughts twisting dizzily in his head. + +All at once his progress was arrested. Before he could realize what had +happened he felt a flood of icy cold water close over his head and a +mighty ringing and roaring in his ears. + +But Roy was used to diving, and he automatically, almost, held his breath +till he shot to the surface again. Then he extended his hands and found +that his fingers encountered a rough stone wall of some kind. + +"I'm in an old well," gasped the boy as the truth suddenly flashed across +him. He looked upward. Far above him, as if seen through a telescope, he +could see the glittering stars. They were reflected, also, in the +agitated water about him. + +Somewhat to his astonishment, for the thought of death itself had been in +his mind as he hurtled downward, Roy found that he was unhurt. But his +present position was by no means one to invite congratulations. At the +bottom of an old well in the midst of lonely fields he might stay a long +time before rescue would arrive. + +And in the meantime,--but Roy bravely put such thoughts resolutely out of +his head, and began to feel about him to see if it was not possible to +find some rough places in the sides of the excavation by which he might +clamber to the surface. But his fingers only encountered stonework set +far too smoothly to be of any service to him. + +Then he suddenly noticed what he had not observed before, and that was +that a rope depended from above, trailing its end down into the water. It +was too thin to bear his weight, but the boy thought he could utilize it +to keep himself above the surface without effort. + +Tying a loop knot in it he thrust an arm through the noose and found that +he could sustain himself very comfortably. Then he began to shout. Loudly +at first--and then more feebly as his voice grew tired. But no answering +sound came back to him. + +For the first time since he had found himself in his predicament cold +fear clutched at the young aviator's heart. + +What if nobody heard him and he was compelled to remain at the bottom of +the old well? + +As this thought shot through his mind Roy noticed, too, that a deadly +chill was beginning to creep up his limbs. He shivered waist deep in the +chilly water as if he had an ague. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +A COWARD AND HIS WAYS. + + +Peggy awoke the next day with a feeling of distinct uneasiness. She and +her aunt had sat up till after midnight awaiting Roy's return, but, as we +know, the lad was in a position from which he could not extricate +himself. An attempt had been made to communicate with the aviation +grounds, but an unlucky aeroplane had blundered against the telephone +wire during an afternoon flight, snapping the thread of communication. + +In spite of the late hour at which they had retired, however, Miss +Prescott and her niece were up betimes. But early as it was they found +the little town all astir. Excursion trains were already pouring their +crowds into the place and the streets were fairly alive with humanity. +Peggy's first act on awaking was to gaze out of the window, beneath which +some fine trees grew. Not a breath of wind stirred their leaves. The air +was as clear and undisturbed as it was possible for it to be. + +Donning a white duck skirt and a plain shirt waist, and dressing her hair +in a becomingly simple style, Peggy hastened to the office of the hotel, +and going to the telephone switchboard asked the operator to put her in +communication with Roy's room. But after several minutes spent in a vain +attempt to obtain an answer Central had to inform the anxious girl that +there was no reply. + +Thinking that after his late absence of the night before Roy might have +overslept, Peggy despatched a bellboy to his room. But the report came +back that the room was empty and that Roy's bed had not been slept in. + +"See if you can get the executive office on the aviation grounds," said +Peggy to the 'phone girl. But although the wire had been repaired and +communication was easily established, there was no news of Roy. Worse +still for Peggy's peace of mind, she learned now, for the first time, +that there had been no meeting at the aviation field the night before. + +"If your brother got a note to that effect it was a forgery," said the +official who answered the call. + +Peggy fairly flew upstairs to her aunt's room. Rapidly she informed Miss +Prescott of what had happened. + +"Oh, I'm certain now that that hateful Fanning Harding has something to +do with it," she almost sobbed. + +"Hush, dear," said her aunt, although in the gentle lady's breast a great +fear had arisen, "everything may be all right. At any rate, I do not +believe that any one, no matter how anxious they were that you should not +compete in the race, would dare to resort to such methods to keep Roy out +of the contest." + +"I don't know so much about that, auntie," rejoined the girl. "I was in +our hangar yesterday afternoon and I noticed a horrid looking man +prowling about with Fanning Harding. If it had not been too improbable I +should say that I knew the man's face." + +"My dear!" exclaimed the good lady in astonishment. + +"Well," rejoined Peggy with conviction, "I'm almost sure that the man was +Jukes Dade, a workman who once was employed in his laboratory and +workshop by my father. He was a skillful mechanic, but dad had to +discharge him because he drank fearfully. He swore at the time that he +would get even with us in some way. But we never heard any more of him. +Yet if that really was him with Fanning Harding yesterday I'm awfully +afraid that there is some mischief stirring." + +"What you say, my dear, makes me also very anxious," responded Miss +Prescott. "Perhaps we had better communicate with the police at once." + +"Not yet, aunt," breathed Peggy; "you see, Roy may turn up in time for +the race, and if he does, everything will be all right." + +"But, Peggy----" + +"On the other hand, if we spread an alarm that he is missing we shall be +declared out of the contest." + +"I see what you mean, my dear," was the response, "and I suppose that +what you say is best. I feel positive, somehow, that we shall have news +of Roy before long, and that no harm has come to him." + +But the morning wore on, and no word came. In the meantime, every +available source of information had been canvassed thoroughly without +result. Roy Prescott had totally vanished; or so it seemed. + +Peggy, as in duty bound, spent all she could spare of the morning at the +aviation field, putting the finishing touches on the Golden Butterfly. +The big contest was not to be held till the afternoon, and in the +meantime, some of the smaller events were flown off. But Peggy was too +heartsick to watch the aeroplanes thunder around the course, which was +marked out by red and white "pylons" or signal towers. + +Instead, she remained in the hangar and kept a watchful eye on Fanning +Harding, who, with some mechanics and the same man she had noticed about +the hangar the day before, was very busy over his machine, apparently. +But no one obtained even a glimpse of Fanning's air craft, for it was not +wheeled out, and, except when one or the other of his party dodged in or +out, the doors of his hangar were closed. + +In the course of the morning Fanning's father arrived, and not long +after, to Peggy's unbounded delight, Jess and Jimsy and a party of +friends drove up to the Prescott hangar. + +"Why, Peggy, what is the matter with you? You look +positively--er--er--dowdy!" exclaimed Jess, gazing at her friend after +first greetings were over. + +"And Roy, where is Roy?" demanded Jimsy. + +"Yes, where is he? We want him to explain the points of this gasolene +turkey-buzzard to us," cried Ed. Taylor, one of the gay party. + +"I expect him here any minute," rejoined Peggy, and then drawing Jess and +Jimsy aside she related to them, in a voice that shook in spite of +herself, the mysterious occurrences of the night, and Roy's total +disappearance. + +"I'm going right over now and ask Fanning if he knows anything about it," +announced Jimsy indignantly as soon as the girl had concluded. + +"Oh, don't, please don't," begged his sister. + +"I don't think it would be wise to, now," put in Peggy. + +But Jimsy was not to be shaken in his purpose. Fanning was outside his +hangar smoking a cigarette and swaggering about when Jimsy approached +him. Perhaps the self-assertive youth felt a bit alarmed at the look in +Jimsy's eye as he stepped up, but he assumed an impudent expression and +blew out a puff of smoke which he did not try to avert from Jimsy's face. + +"Good morning, Fanning," said Jimsy, bottling up his temper at the +other's insulting manners, "can you give me a few minutes of private +conversation?" + +"Hum, well I don't know. What's it about?" inquired Harding more +impudently than ever. + +"It's about Roy, Fanning," said Jimsy seriously. "I want you to tell me +on your word of honor that you don't know where he is." + +"Oh, you do, eh? Well, you have an awful nerve to come to me with such +questions. How do I know where he is?" + +This question was somewhat of a poser for Jimsy. That impetuous youth had +approached the other more or less on an impulse, and now that the direct +question was put to him he felt that he could not, for the life of him, +put his suspicions into so many words. + +"Well--er--you see," he said somewhat confusedly, "I had an idea that you +might have seen him." + +"Well, I haven't, and what's more I don't want to," snapped Fanning +aggressively. He was quite cool now that he saw that Jimsy had nothing +definite against him in his mind, but only a vague suspicion. + +"You really mean that, Fanning?" rejoined Jimsy earnestly. "His sister is +terribly worried. He hasn't been seen since last night." + +"Is that so?" asked Fanning with a sudden accession of interest; "then he +can't race to-day, can he?" + +"I wasn't thinking about the race," said Jimsy; "it was Roy himself I was +worrying about." + +"Well, you may as well stop your anxiety," chuckled Fanning; "how do you +know he isn't off on a little spree, and----" + +"That's enough, Fanning. Roy Prescott does not do such low-down things. +He----" + +"Oh, you mean to imply that I do, eh?" + +Fanning came forward pugnaciously. + +"I'll tell you what it is, Jim Bancroft, you just take yourself away from +this hangar as quickly as possible. I don't want anything to do with you, +do you understand? It's none of my business if Roy goes off and forgets +to tell you where to find him. How do you know he hasn't gone off with +those jewels?" + +"What do you mean?" + +Jimsy's tone was as angry in reality now as Fanning Harding's had been +for effect a few seconds before. + +But Fanning, in his bitter enmity toward Roy, could not see the danger +signals in Jimsy's honest gray eyes. + +"What do I mean?" he drawled; "why, just this, that the investigation of +the police has taken a new turn in the last few days, and that Roy is +likely to be arrested within the next twenty-four hours for robbery. I'll +bet he got wind of it and skipped out. I'll bet----" + +"How dare you?" + +Peggy, eyes aflame, stepped up. Her bosom heaved angrily. + +"How dare you say such things? You--you coward." + +"Well, I ain't coward enough to steal a girl's jewels and then----" + +"Hold on there, Fanning. Stop right there." + +It was Jimsy's turn. But Fanning was too much worked up in his vindictive +anger to stop. + +"I won't stop," he shouted. "I'll say it right out. Roy Prescott is a----" + +But before he could utter another word Jimsy's fist had shot out, and +Fanning's chin happening to be in the way he felt himself suddenly +propelled off his feet and elevated into the air. He sought to recover +his balance as he reeled, but his foot caught in a bit of turf, and +whirling his arms about like one of those figures on the top of a barn he +measured his length. + +"Had enough?" asked Jimsy mildly, rolling up his sleeves. + +"No, you despicable young whelp!" roared Fanning, utterly throwing aside +all prudence. "I haven't." + +He leaped to his feet and rushed toward Jimsy. As he did so Jess gave a +shriek. In the angry, half-crazed youth's hand there glistened a long +clasp knife. + +"Jimsy! Look out!" cried the girl. + +But before the frenzied Fan could spring upon Jimsy, who was utterly +unprepared for the production of the deadly weapon, a dainty foot in +white canvas outing shoes and silk stockings flashed out from under +Peggy's skirt. It caught Fanning as he sprang, and the next instant, for +the second time that day, he fell sprawling on the ground. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE DARING OF PEGGY. + + +By the time he had risen to his feet several of the officials of the +track were seen approaching, and Fanning, with a scowl of deep disgust at +our party, who paid little attention to him, shuffled off. At first Peggy +thought that the officials had seen something of the trouble and would be +angry. But it turned out that they were only coming to announce a few +minor changes in the rules governing the race, and to distribute printed +copies of the same. + +As they passed on one of them turned and remarked casually: + +"By the way, as the wind is so light we have decided to have the big +contest an hour earlier than was announced, and eliminate the girls' +contest, so that everybody can get home from the grounds in good time for +dinner." + +He hastened on to join his companions on their journey down the line of +hangars, outside of which aeroplanes were sputtering and smoking, and +excited aviators and mechanics hustling about. + +All at once a big biplane was wheeled out and soared into the air. It +carried a blue and gold streamer. + +"That's Steiner of the Agassiz High School in New York City," explained +Jimsy; "he's confident of winning the big prize." + +Peggy made some reply. She didn't know just what. Her mind was throbbing +with the idea that Roy's inexplicable absence meant that harm had come to +him, and that even if he were safe the advancing of the hour of the race +would put them out of it if he did not make haste. + +"Look, there goes Banker of the Philadelphia Polytechnic, and Rayburn of +the Boston Tech," cried Jimsy the next instant as a biplane and a +graceful white-winged monoplane shot aloft on trial trips, their motors +exploding loudly and a tail of blue smoke streaming out behind them. A +slight cheer came from the grand stands, which were already beginning to +fill, as the boy aviators shot upward. + +"Oh, Roy! Roy, where are you?" sighed Peggy to herself, as she watched +the young aspirants for aerial honors swinging around the course. + +"I'm going over to the stand and 'phone to the police station," said +Jimsy presently; "they may have news of him over there by this time." + +"Oh, yes, please do," cried Peggy, as Jimsy hastened off. + +When he had gone the two girls turned troubled countenances to each other. + +"You poor honey," cried Jess, "I know how you are suffering. But don't +worry, Peggy, I'm sure it will come out all right." + +"Yes, but--but you don't know what depends on Roy's winning this race," +cried Peggy. "I am sure that some of our rivals in the race--I need not +mention who--have something to do with his disappearance." + +"What do you mean by saying 'a lot depends on it,' girlie?" asked Jess, +drawing Peggy's arm within her own. + +With brimming eyes Peggy told her friend frankly and fully what she had +not before, namely, the exact circumstances of the Prescott family and +the threat which old Harding held above their heads. + +"So, you see, Jess," she concluded sadly, "this could not have happened +at a worse time for us." + +"I see that," gently rejoined the other girl, "but listen, dear, you may +have a chance to win it after all if you will trust to us to find Roy." + +"Trust to you?" repeated Peggy in a puzzled tone. "Trust to you to find +Roy?" + +"Yes, my dear, while you--go in and win the race!" + +"Why, what are you talking about?" gasped Peggy. + +"A brilliant idea that has just occurred to me. You are about Roy's +height, and if your hair was cut short you'd look enough like him to be +his twin brother instead of his sister. But that doesn't matter, for you +wear goggles and a helmet in driving that thing, anyway, don't you?" + +"Yes. But,--oh, Jess, I couldn't do that." + +"Not even for your aunt's sake, Peggy, and to show those whom you suspect +that they could not put a Prescott out of the race, however hard they +tried? Come into the shed with me. I am going to persuade you, if I can, +to do a brave thing." + +With their arms about each other's waists the girls walked toward the +hangar and entered it. As they did so the figure of Jukes Dade glided +from a place of concealment close at hand, and slipping behind some low +bushes he gained the rear of the Prescott shed unperceived. Once there he +placed an ear to a crack in the structure, from within which could be +heard the murmur of girlish voices. + +Whatever he heard seemed to strike him with astonishment at first and +then with a malicious glee. + +"So," he muttered, "that's your scheme, is it? Well, I guess we'll be +able to head that off. That aeroplane of yours won't go in that race if I +can help it, and even if it did I know enough now to head you off from +getting the big prize. That young Harding ought to pay me well for this." + +So saying, Jukes Dade shuffled off toward Fanning's hangar, still +chortling evilly to himself. + +Jimsy returned to the shed without any good news. In fact, the doleful +expression on his usually merry face would have told them that long +before he opened his mouth. In the midst of the general gloom a merry +face was suddenly obtruded through the swinging doors. + +"Hullo! hullo! young folks, what's the trouble? You look as if you were +going to attend a funeral." + +They looked up to see the figure of Hal Homer, clad in white flannels, +and with a checked cap on his curly head, standing in the doorway. + +"Can I come in?" he asked, and without waiting for an answer in he came. + +"Oh, Mr. Homer," cried Jess, fairly pouncing on him, "we're so glad +you've come; we are in a dreadful fix." + +"A dreadful fix? Why, my dear young lady, I read in the local paper that +I bought on my way from the depot that Roy's machine, judging from the +trials, was going to have things all her own way." + +"So much so," struck in Jimsy, "that it looks as if some of Roy's enemies +have spirited him away." + +"What? I'm afraid I hardly understand." + +The aviation instructor looked at Jimsy in a puzzled way, rather as if he +thought the youth might be having some fun with him. + +"No, no, this is serious. I mean it," spoke Jimsy quickly. "Roy has gone!" + +"Gone!" + +"Yes. He vanished last night. But sit down and we'll tell you all about +it. Maybe you can help us out." + +Absolutely "flabbergasted," to use his own expression, the good-looking +young flying man sank down on an upturned case, while Jimsy went on to +relate all that had occurred, with Peggy every now and then striking in +with additions and corrections. + +Another ear also took in the conversation--that of Jukes Dade--who had +seen the arrival of the well-dressed young aviator, and had instantly +slipped back to his eavesdropping post to learn what the newcomer's +business might be. + +It might have been an hour later that a chauffeur, summoned by 'phone +from the grandstand, brought the Bancrofts' car up to the hangar and Hal +Homer, Jess and Jimsy emerged. + +"Drive to the police station," ordered Hal Homer as he stepped in, +leaving Jess and Jimsy behind. + +Jukes Dade, peering around a corner of the hangar, heard the order and +grew pale. + +"Looks bad," he muttered as the car rolled off; "I wonder if they know +anything. If they do, I'm off. This isn't a healthy part of the country +for Jukes Dade from the minute that kid is found. He didn't recognize Gid +or young Harding, but he knew me all right. I could tell it by the way he +looked at me, and if he's found the first man they'll hunt for is me." + +With snake-like caution he glided behind the hangar once more. + +It was not long after this that the Golden Butterfly was wheeled out by +some of the mechanicians attached to the track, whose services were +furnished free by the aviation officials. + +Jess and Jimsy emerged from the hangar at the same time, in company with +a boyish figure in aviator's clothing, leather trousers cut very baggily, +fur-lined leather coat and big helmet of leather, well padded, completely +obscuring the features. After a few words in a low tone with its +companions, this figure clambered lightly into the aeroplane, leaned +forward, adjusted some levers, and the next instant, amidst a shout from +several hastily gathered onlookers, the Golden Butterfly skyrocketed +upward, her engine roaring like an angry giant hornet. + +All this was watched by Fanning Harding, Jukes Dade, and Gid Gibbons. + +"A nice mess you've made of it," growled Harding angrily to his +companions. "You've succeeded in getting me suspected, and in trouble, +while the boy is safe and sound and on the scene." + +"Wonder how he got back," grunted Gid speculatively; "he must have looked +a sight when he crawled out of that swamp." + +"Say, Dade, you'd better be off," said Fanning suddenly; "you were the +only one of us whose face wasn't covered. He would swear to you." + +"Oh, I ain't worrying yet," grinned Dade easily. + +"You're not, eh? Well, you are a cool hand," rejoined Gid admiringly. "If +I were in your shoes I'd clear out before that aeroplane lands again." + +"You would, eh?" scoffed Dade. "Well, what would you say if I told you +that that ain't Roy Prescott in the Golden Butterfly at all?" + +"That you were crazy with the heat," was the prompt and impolite answer. + +"Then you'd be crazy yourself. That's his sister in that aeroplane, and +if he don't show up in time for the race she's going to fly it herself +and win it." + +If a bombshell had fallen at Fanning's feet he could not have been more +thunderstruck. But he recovered in an instant. + +"If she does I'll protest to the judges," he said angrily; "they can't +prove that I know anything about her brother's disappearance, and that +Golden Butterfly won't win this race if I can help it." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +BROTHER AND SISTER. + + +The first gleam of the summer dawn shining into Roy's place of +imprisonment at the bottom of the old well revealed to him only too +clearly into what a trap he had fallen. The well seemed to be about fifty +feet or more in depth, and the sides were smooth and slippery. + +The chill he had felt spreading through his limbs earlier was gone now, +but a numb sensation was setting in which did not leave them even when +the boy wriggled his legs about. + +"Phew!" thought Roy. "I stand a fair chance of being turned into a +pollywog or something if I stay here long enough." + +Somehow, with the coming of daylight, the buoyant spirits of youth had +returned to the boy and his predicament did not seem nearly so serious as +it had during the dark hours. + +But it was bad enough, as Roy realized. From time to time he tried +shouting, but no one came to the edge of the well and peered over, +although he anxiously kept his eyes riveted on the disc of sky above him. +How long this went on Roy had no idea, but he had sunk into a sort of +semi-doze when a sudden sound aroused him. + +A tinkling, metallic sound, not unlike the rattling of the chain the +night before that had, in reality, caused his trouble. + +"Help! Help!" shouted Roy. + +It was perhaps the five hundredth time he had uttered the cry since he +had tumbled into the well. But this time there came a response. + +"What is it? What's the trouble?" + +The voice sounded rather shaky, and as if the utterer of the words was +somewhat scared. + +"It's a boy who has fallen into the well," shouted Roy. "I'm almost +exhausted. Get me out." + +A face suddenly projected over the well curb--a face which Roy recognized +with astonishment as that of old Peter Bell, the hermit. + +"Mr. Bell, it's Roy Prescott," he shouted; "can you get a rope and get me +out?" + +"Good heavens!" cried the hermit; "it's the boy whose sister was so kind +to me. However did you--but never mind that now. Can you hold on for a +time?" + +"Yes, but my strength is almost gone." + +"Well, summon up all your courage. There is a farm house not far off. +I'll go there and get a rope and be back as quick as I can." + +Without wasting more words the old man hastened to his little cart. He +had been out since dawn gathering herbs and roots and had taken a short +cut home through the field in which the old well was located. Muttering +excitedly to himself, he climbed somewhat stiffly into his rickety +conveyance and urged his old horse forward with gently spoken commands. +As the animal broke into a trot the little bell about its neck began to +jangle not unmusically. This was the sound which, fortunately for him, +had notified Roy that some human being was at hand. + +In the near distance, half hidden in trees, could be seen the red-roofed +gable of a farm house. Toward this old Peter Bell directed his way. +Farmer Ingalls was only too glad, when he heard of the accident, to +secure a long rope, used in hoisting hay to the top of his big barns. + +"Bless my soul!" he exclaimed, "a lad tumbled into my well! Mommer," +turning to a motherly-looking, calico-clad woman, "you always told me to +cover that well up, and I never did, and now thar's a poor young chap +tumbled into it." + +"Hurry," urged old Peter Bell; "he was almost exhausted, poor lad. We +must get back as quick as possible." + +Summoning his two hired men the farmer set off at a run across the +fields, easily keeping pace with old Peter's decrepit horse. As they +neared the well they began shouting, and a feeble cry from the depths +answered them. + +"Cheer up, my lad, we'll have you out of that in a brace-of-shakes," +cried Farmer Ingalls encouragingly, as they reached the curb and peered +over into the dark hole. + +"I hope you will," cried Roy. "It's getting pretty monotonous, I can tell +you." + +"Don't know what mon-ount-on-tonous means, but I'd hate to change places +with you," agreed the farmer. + +Presently the rope came snaking down, with a loop in its lower end. Roy +was directed to place his foot in the loop and hold on tight. When this +had been done he shouted up: + +"All right! Haul away!" + +The stalwart farmer and his two assistants began to heave with all their +might, while old Mr. Bell encouraged them. Before long, by dint of hard +exertions, they succeeded in dragging Roy to the surface, and dripping +and shivering he could stand once more in the blessed air and sunlight. + +"But how in the world did you come to get in there?" asked the farmer, as +he paced along by the side of the hermit's little cart, in which the +half-exhausted Roy had been placed. + +"Well," said the lad with a rather shamefaced laugh, "I'm really half +ashamed to say. But it was this way. Some bad men who have an interest in +putting me out of an aeroplane contest, of which Mr. Bell knows, had run +off with me in an automobile. It was wrecked, and I escaped. I struck out +toward town, as I thought, but as I came through that patch of woods by +the wall I saw something that startled me so much that I stepped back and +fell down the well." + +"What did you see, my lad?" asked the farmer with half a twinkle in his +eye. + +"Something like a story-book ghost," smiled Roy; "it was tall and all in +white and clanked a chain." + +"Ha! ha! ha!" roared the farmer; "I half suspected as much. Why, that +ghost was my old white mule Boxer. He managed somehow to snap his chain +last night and we found him careening around the fields this morning. +Don't color up, my boy," for poor Roy's face had turned very red, as the +hired men guffawed loudly; "older men than you have been startled at far +less. And now, here's the farm, and I'll bet mommer has a fine breakfast +all ready for you." + +The half-famished boy ate hungrily of the substantial farmhouse fare Mrs. +Ingalls provided for him, and as he ate he made inquiries about the +distance to the aviation grounds, which, he found to his dismay, were +further distant than he had imagined. + +"I'll never be able to make it in time without an automobile," moaned Roy +to himself; "what shall I do?" + +He cast about in his mind for some way out of his difficulty, but he +could find none. Nor could the farmer help him. There were no automobiles +in that part of the country, and in a horse-drawn vehicle he would never +be able to make it in time. + +All at once a queer sound filled the air. The atmosphere seemed to +vibrate with it as it does on a still summer day when a threshing machine +is buzzing away in a distant field. + +"Land o' Goshen, what's that?" cried Mrs. Ingalls running to the door. + +"Lish! Lish! come here quick!" she shouted the next instant. + +Followed by the old hermit and Roy, Mr. Ingalls ran to the door. But his +exclamations at the sight he saw were drowned by Roy's amazed cry: + +"It's the Golden Butterfly!" + +"An aeroplane!" shouted the farmer. "By gosh, she's like a pretty bird." + +"It's my--our aeroplane," went on Roy; "who can be in it? Oh, if it's +only Peggy I may not be too late after all." + +He ran out into the door yard of the farm house and, snatching off his +coat, began waving it desperately. Would the occupant of the aeroplane +see his frantic signals? With a beating heart Roy watched the winged +machine as it droned far above him. + +All at once he gave a delighted shout. The aeroplane was beginning to +descend. Down it came in big circles, while the farmer, his wife and the +old hermit gazed open mouthed at it, as if half inclined to run. + +But as it drew closer to the ground Roy noted a puzzling thing. A +helmeted and goggled person was driving it, evidently a boy or man and +not Peggy at all. Who could it be? For an instant a queer thought flashed +through his head. Possibly somebody had stolen it and was making off +across country with it so as to put it out of the race. + +More and more rapidly the aeroplane began to drop as it neared the +ground, and before many minutes it alighted in the patch of meadow in +front of the farm house, gliding gracefully for several feet before it +stopped. + +But the rubber-tired landing wheels had not ceased revolving before Roy +was at its side. + +"Say, who are you, and what are you doing with my aeroplane?" he demanded +in heated tones, for the helmeted aviator had not yet even deigned to +notice him, but seemed to be busy with various levers and valves. + +"Well, are you going to answer me?" sputtered Roy, while the farmer, his +wife, the old hermit and the hired men gazed on curiously. + +For answer the mysterious aviator raised his helmet and a cloud of golden +curls fell about a milk-and-roses face. + +"By gum, a gal and a purty one!" cried the farmer capering about. + +"Peggy!" shouted Roy. + +"Yes, Peggy," cried the girl. "Oh, Roy, what has happened to you? When +you didn't come back Jess and Jimsy persuaded me to put on your clothes +and at least try the Butterfly out. But I was so miserable that I could +not try her out on the track, so I flew off across country. I saw you +waving far below me and--oh, Roy!" + +Peggy could go no further and half collapsed in Roy's arms as he tenderly +lifted her out. + +"Great hopping water millions!" cried the farmer, "if this ain't a day of +wonders. This must be ther lad's sister he told us about, and ter think +she come flopping down out of ther sky like a seventeen-y'ar locust." + +Peggy was quickly her usual strong, self-reliant self again. With +indignation blazing in her kind eyes she heard Roy's account of the +happenings of the night. At its conclusion she announced with decision: + +"We must defeat them, Roy." + +"Yes, but how? There's only a scant half hour before starting time if you +said they'd changed it." + +"Even so you can make it. You must take these clothes, get into the +aeroplane and fly back to the track. If you go alone the 'plane will be +light and you can make it in time." + +"But you, Peggy?" + +"I guess I can borrow a dress from Mrs. Ingalls here," said the girl +briskly. + +"Of course, you kin," put in Mrs. Ingalls, but surveying her own ample +form rather doubtfully the while. + +"You kin give her one of daughter Jenny's dresses," said the farmer. + +"Then that is settled, thanks to you," said Peggy with characteristic +decision. + +They all entered the farm house, from which, a few seconds later, Roy +emerged, clad in the garments his sister had donned a short time before. +He climbed into the aeroplane amid the admiring comments of the farm +hands, who, by this time, had come in from the fields, drawn by the +wonderful airship, and stood all about it gaping and wondering. + +Peggy, in a dress belonging to the farmer's daughter, who was away on a +visit, stepped quickly to Roy's side as, after glancing at the clock +attached to the front of the aeroplane, he started the engine. + +As it started its uproarious song, the farm hands jumped back in +affright. But Peggy clasped her brother's hand. + +"Win that prize, Roy," she said. + +"I'll do my best, little sister." + +And that was all, but as Peggy Prescott gazed a few minutes later at the +fast diminishing form of the speeding aeroplane she felt that all she had +braved and dared that day had not been in vain. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +IN THE NICK OF TIME. + + +Excitement had reached its topmost pitch on the aviation field. It was +but a few minutes to starting time for the great contest, and already +four young aviators had their winged craft in line before the judge's +stand. + +Engines were belching clouds of acrid blue smoke heavily impregnated with +oily, smelling fumes. The roar of motors shook the air. Folks in the +grandstand and on the crowded lawns excitedly pointed out to one another +the different machines, all of which bore large numbers. + +Excited officials, red-faced and perspiring, bustled about importantly, +while from the top of the judge's stand a portly man bellowed occasional +announcements through a megaphone. + +Suddenly he made an announcement that caused a hum of interest. + +"Machine number seven--mach-ine num-ber sev-en! Fanning Harding, owner, +has withdrawn from the race," he announced. + +A buzz of comment went through the crowd. Jess, Jimsy and Hal Homer, +standing in a group by the empty Prescott hangar, exchanged astonished +glances as they heard the news. What did that mean? Fanning had been +swaggering about, boasting of his wonderful aeroplane, and now it +appeared at the eleventh hour he had decided not to enter it. + +"Must have had an accident," opined Jimsy. + +"Maybe he gave it one of those pleasant looks of his," suggested Jess. + +"Wherever can Peggy be," exclaimed the girl the next minute; "she's been +gone for more than an hour. I do hope nothing has happened to her." + +"Not likely," rejoined Jimsy, although he looked a little troubled over +the non-appearance of the Golden Butterfly. + +"The police said they had a dragnet out in every part of the vicinity," +volunteered Hal Homer, who had returned only a few minutes before from +the station house. + +Bang! + +A bomb had been shot skyward and now exploded in a cloud of yellow smoke. + +"Three minutes to starting time," cried Hal Homer anxiously; "where can +Miss Prescott be?" + +"Look!" cried Jess suddenly, dancing about. "Oh, Glory! Here she comes!" + +Far off against the sky a speck was visible. Rushing toward them at +tremendous speed it swiftly grew larger. The crowd saw it now and great +excitement prevailed. The word flew about that the machine was the +missing Number Six. Would it arrive in time to participate in the start +and thus qualify? This was the question on every lip. + +Hal Homer jumped into the auto and sped over to the judge's stand. + +"Can't you delay the start for five minutes?" he begged. + +"Impossible," was the reply. + +"But that aeroplane, Number Six, has been delayed by some accident. If +you start the race on time it may not arrive in time to take part." + +"Can't be helped. Young Prescott--that's the name of the owner, isn't +it?--shouldn't have gone off on a cross country tryout." + +Back to the hangar sped Hal, where Jess and Jimsy, almost beside +themselves with excitement, were watching the homing aeroplane. + +"She'll be on time," cried Jimsy as the graceful ship swept over the +distant confines of the course and came thundering down toward the +starting point. + +A great cheer swept skywards as the aeroplane came on. + +"She'll make it." + +"She won't." + +"Where has the thing been?" + +"Why is it so late?" + +These and a hundred other questions and remarks went from mouth to mouth +all through the big crowd. + +"It's all off," groaned Jimsy suddenly. + +He had seen the signal corps man, whose duty it was to fire the bombs, +outstretching himself on the ground awaiting the signal to touch off the +starting sign. + +But even as Jimsy spoke, the Golden Butterfly made a swift turn and, amid +a roar from the crowd, shot whirring past the grandstand and alighted in +front of the stand on the starting line. + +Hardly had the wheels touched the ground before the judge in charge of +the track raised his hand. A flag fell and the signal corps man jerked +his arm back, firing the bomb that announced the start. + +B-o-o-o-o-m! + +As the detonation died out the aeroplanes shot forward, rising into the +still air almost in a body, like a flock of birds. It was a spectacle +never to be forgotten, and the crowd appreciated it to the full. + +But up in the grandstand, in inconspicuous places, sat three persons who +did not look as well pleased as those about them. + +"So the girl is going to take a chance," muttered Fanning Harding; "well, +so much the worse for her. If she wins I'll put in a protest and compel +her to unmask." + +"Won't that Prescott and Bancroft bunch be astonished when they find out +that we are on to their little game," chuckled Jukes Dade; "it'll be as +good as a play." + +"That's what it will," grinned Gid. + +"They'll find out that they can't humiliate me and not suffer for it," +grated out Fanning. + +"Wonder where that girl went to on her tryout spin?" inquired Dade. + +"It doesn't make much difference where, but she certainly came back with +a grandstand play," rejoined Gid. + +"Well, if she wins the race it will be our turn," Fanning assured him. + +They then turned their attention to the contest, two laps of which had +been made while they were talking. + +Number One, a small white Bleriot type of monoplane, seemed to be making +the pace for the rest, and word flew about that it had gained half a lap +on Number Four, its nearest competitor so far. + +"But it will be a long contest," said the wiseacres in the crowd, "and +accidents may happen at any time." + +On the fourth lap Number One was seen to descend over by the hangars. +Something had gone wrong with its lubricating valve. By the time the +difficulty was adjusted it was hopelessly out of the race. Number Three +was the next to drop out. This machine was driven by one of the high +school lads, and his contingent of rooters in the grandstand set up a +woeful noise as he dropped to earth in the middle of the course. A broken +stay had made it dangerous for him to remain longer in the air. + +This left number Six, the Prescott machine, Numbers Two, Four and Five +still in the air. + +"Number Six has gained a lap on Number Five!" went up the cry presently +as Number Five, so far the leader, was seen to lose speed on the +fifteenth lap. + +The Golden Butterfly was in truth doing magnificently, but try as her +operator would it did not seem possible to shake off Number Five, another +high school boy's machine, which clung persistently to its stern. Number +Four alighted for more gasolene on the twentieth lap and lost a round of +the course thereby. A few seconds later Number Two was also forced to +descend with heated cylinders. This practically left the race between +Number Five and the Golden Butterfly. Round and round they tore, neither +of them gaining or losing a foot apparently. The thunder of their engines +grew deafeningly monotonous and the crowds watched them as if hypnotized +by the whirring aerial monsters. + +All at once, though, a mighty roar proclaimed that something was +happening, and gazing down toward the further end of the track it could +be seen that Number Six, the Golden Butterfly, had made a daring attempt +to gain on the other machine, and had succeeded. + +So close did the two aeroplanes edge to the end pylon in the effort to +secure the inside plane that for an instant it looked as if a crash must +result. + +A thunder of cheers greeted the Golden Butterfly as she swept by the +grandstand on the next lap. + +"That girl can drive all right," grudgingly admitted Fanning Harding. + +"Yes, and she's pretty as a picture, too," put in Gid Gibbons; "guess you +were stuck on her once, weren't you, Fan?" + +"Oh, shut up," growled Fanning angrily. "It makes no difference to you, +does it?" + +The aeroplanes had been racing for an hour now, and neither showed any +signs of slacking speed. On the contrary, as they "warmed up," they +seemed to go the quicker. All at once an incident occurred which brought +the crowd to its feet yelling and cheering as if wild. + +The driver of Number Five, as the two machines passed the grandstand, had +made a deliberate attempt to prevent the Golden Butterfly overhauling him +by jamming his aeroplane over toward a pylon and directly in front of the +Butterfly. For an instant it looked as if a crash must be inevitable, but +just as the spectators were beginning to turn pale and the more timid to +hide their eyes, the Butterfly was seen to make a graceful dip and dive +clean under the other aeroplane. It was a magnificent bit of aerial +driving, and the crowd appreciated it to the full. A roar and a shout +went up, to which the driver of Number Six responded with a wave of a +gloved hand. + +Ten minutes later Number Five, two laps behind, and with a leaking +radiator, dropped out of the race, leaving the Golden Butterfly the +winner. Fanning Harding was white as a sheet as he saw an official with a +black and white checkered flag step out into the field. This was the +signal to the Golden Butterfly, which was still in the air, that the race +was over. + +As the Prescott aeroplane dropped to earth in front of the grandstand +amid rapturous plaudits, the son of the Sandy Bay banker deliberately +arose and made his way toward the judges' stand, to which Hal Homer and +the Bancrofts, the core of a shouting, yelling mob of enthusiasts, were +already conducting the daring driver of Number Six. + +Special policemen made a path for the aviator and his friends, while +cries of: + +"Take off your helmet!" + +"We want to see you!" + +"What's the matter with Number Six?" and a hundred other cries arose. + +But the driver of Number Six did not respond, and with his helmet still +on his head was conducted before the judges to receive their +congratulations. The helmet was still in place when Fanning Harding came +shoving through the crowd and finally reached the little group. + +"As a competitor I demand that Number Six take off his helmet!" he cried. + +The judges turned to him in astonishment. + +"This is most unseemly, sir," said one of them; "no doubt in good time +Mr. Prescott will take off his helmet." + +"Oh, no, he won't," shouted Fanning, at whom all the group was now +gazing. "He won't, I tell you, and for a good reason, too. _That's not +Roy Prescott at all, but his sister Peggy._" + +But the words had not left his lips before Jimsy, with a quick motion, +jerked off the aviator's helmet and disclosed the handsome, perspiring +features of Roy himself. + +In the few minutes he had had, Roy had found time briefly to explain how +he and his sister had changed garments. + +"Well, I guess that settles that question," cried Jimsy triumphantly, as +a mighty shout went up. + +"It certainly does," said one of the officials. "Where is that young +scamp? Officer, find the young man who made that accusation and bring him +here to explain himself." + +But the disgruntled Fanning had dived off into the crowd the instant he +saw into what a tremendous blunder he had fallen. And although a strict +search was made for him he was not to be found. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +THE PHANTOM AIRSHIP. + + +In the midst of the hum and excitement and the crossfire of questions +which immediately followed, there occurred a startling interruption. From +the further side of the grounds there arose a cry, which swelled in +volume as it advanced. + +"Fire! One of the hangars is on fire!" + +The group immediately broke up and orders and commands flew thick and +fast. In the midst of the excitement Roy and his chums found an +opportunity to slip away. + +"There's the fire. Off by our hangar!" shouted Hal Homer, pointing across +the field. + +By the side of the Prescott's green aero shed a big cloud of smoke was +ascending, mingled with yellow flames. It seemed to be a hot blaze. + +"It's Fanning Harding's hangar!" cried Roy suddenly; "come on, let's go +over and see what the matter is." + +"I've got the car right here," said Jimsy. "I'll get you over in a jiffy." + +Soon they were speeding across the field toward the blaze. In the +meantime an emergency fire corps, composed of men employed on the +grounds, had attached a line of hose to a hydrant and were drenching the +flames. Such good work did they do that it was not long before they had +the fire under control. + +As soon as it was out our party, which had managed to get through the +lines formed to keep back the curious, gazed into the ruins with some +interest. + +"Why, say!" cried Jimsy suddenly, "the place was empty." + +"So it was!" cried Roy in astonished tones, "except for that big box kite +over in the corner there. Whatever kind of a game of bluff has Fanning +Harding been playing?" + +"I guess I can imagine it," struck in Hal Homer. "From what you have told +me his little game was to bluff you into thinking he had a fine airship +that could beat yours, and in that way induce you to sell out to him." + +"By George, I never thought of that!" exclaimed Roy, "but--hullo, here +comes Peggy in the farmer's wagon!" + +He ran through the crowd to the side of the wagon, which had been driven +in by Farmer Ingalls. + +"You dear, dear boy, I've heard all about it already," cried Peggy, +throwing her white arms about Roy's neck, while Miss Prescott, whom they +had picked up at the hotel, sat by, hardly knowing whether to laugh or to +cry, as she expressed it later. + +I am not going to describe that reunion by the side of Fanning Harding's +burned hangar, but each reader can imagine for herself what a joyous one +it was. + +"I know a place in town where they sell the bulliest sodas and sundaes," +cried Jimsy suddenly. "Everybody come up there in the car and we'll +celebrate!" + +"In one moment, Jimsy," said Roy. "There's one thing still I don't +understand about this whole business, and that is this. It is clear +enough that Fanning Harding was bluffing about having an aeroplane in +that shed, but how was it that he made a night ascent with red and green +lanterns?" + +"Oh, you mean the time you saw him in the air at night, the time we went +to Washington?" asked Jimsy. + +"That's it. How do you account for it?" + +"Give it up," rejoined the other lad. + +"Perhaps this may help to explain it." + +Hal Homer came up carrying two much scorched lanterns he had found in the +debris of the hangar. One was red, the other was green. + +"I don't quite see," said Peggy, but Hal, with an apology interrupted her. + +"It's plain as day to me," he said; "these two lanterns attached to that +big box kite on a breezy night would certainly give any one the +impression that an aeroplane was sailing about. Harding knew you would be +flying home in that vicinity on that night and rigged up this contrivance +to delude you." + +"A phantom airship!" cried Peggy. + +"That's about the size of it," put in the slangy Jimsy, "and I think that +friend Homer here has hit on the correct solution." + +"But if that were so, why did Fanning fit up a shop out at Gid Gibbons's +place?" asked Jess in a puzzled tone. + +"I guess that shop had no more in it than this hangar," was Roy's reply. +"Gid Gibbons is a bad character who would do anything for money, and I +think it likely that he fell in with Harding's schemes because he had no +great liking for any of us." + +"Looks that way," agreed Jimsy. + +"But that doesn't explain that ruby which Hester was wearing," thought +Peggy to herself as the laughing party of young folks drove off up the +town, followed by Farmer Ingalls and his good wife, who had been invited +to take part in the little celebration of their triumph. Here and there +they were recognized and cheered, but among the crowds on the sidewalks +all discussing the thrilling race, there were three that took no part in +the good-natured jubilation. Who these were we can guess. + +Jukes Dade at Fanning's side had to listen to some savage abuse as they +slunk along, avoiding as far as possible the crowds. + +"I told you to burn up the hangar so that there would be no trace left of +the bluff we had been putting up," he growled. + +"Well, didn't I soak the place with gasolene," protested Dade; "how was I +to know a kid would come along and give the alarm before it got fairly +alight?" + +"It's been a dismal failure all the way through," lamented Harding, as if +he had been engaged on some praiseworthy enterprise. + +"Incidentally," purred Jukes Dade, but with a menace under his silky +tones, "I'd like to see some of that money you've been promising me all +along." + +"You'll have to wait till I see my father," snapped out Fanning savagely. + +"Well, see him quick then, or I may have to take other means of getting +it," snarled Dade. + +"What do you mean?" + +"Why, by telling a few things I know. About the loss of a certain lady's +jewels, for instance." + +Fanning went white as ashes. + +"You sneak! You've been listening at keyholes!" he cried. + +Dade returned him look for look defiantly. + +"Well, what if I have?" he snarled. "I've got a hold on you now, Master +Harding. I've got you where I want you and I'm going to keep you there." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +JIM BELL OF THE WEST. + + +Some days after the events described in the last chapter, and following +the receipt by Roy of a pink check for $5,000.00, a strange visitor +arrived at the Prescott home--their very own home now, for the mortgage +had been paid off, much to Mr. Harding's disgust. + +The stranger was a bronzed man and wore a broad-brimmed sombrero which +would have marked him anywhere as a Westerner. Of Miss Prescott, who, in +a new lavender silk dress, came to the door, he inquired if he could see +Mr. Roy Prescott. + +Miss Prescott smiled at this ceremonial way of mentioning her young +nephew, but directed the stranger with the breezy Western manner to the +workshop at the rear of the house, where Roy and Peggy were "fussing," as +Jess called it, with their beloved Golden Butterfly. + +"Good morning," he said, doffing his sombrero with a sweep and a +flourish; "can I have a word with you?" + +"Certainly. Two or three if you want them," rejoined Roy, while Peggy +gazed in some surprise at the queer-mannered newcomer. + +"The fact is," went on the stranger, "that I'm in the market for +aeroplanes such as yours. I happened to be on the train some nights ago +when you came flying through the air with two belated young passengers. +Well, sir, thinks I, if such a machine can make a train on schedule time +it ought to be good for other purposes. I took the liberty of making some +inquiries about you from your two young friends after the train had +started, but asked them not to mention the matter to you yet awhile. + +"In New York I looked up my partner and we discussed the plan and he +agreed with me that it was a good one. Now, I'm down here this morning to +offer you $10,000 outright for the use of half a dozen of your +aeroplanes, and a salary of $5,000 as instructor to the aviators I shall +have to have to run them. How does the offer strike you?" + +"I--er--well, I hardly know what to say," responded Roy; "you see, it's a +bit sudden. It rather takes my breath away." + +"Well, that's a way we have in the West," was the response, "but maybe +I'd better tell you a little more about myself. My name is Jim Bell. I'm +worth a couple of million or thereabouts. You can verify that by +referring to the First National Bank of 'Frisco, or the East Coast Bank +of New York City. I've got interests in cattle, wool and mines, but the +very best mining proposition I ever struck I ran across out on the Nevada +alkali desert in a range of barren hills. We were prospecting there when +I was told about it. After untold hardships I found the spot and staked +it out. But there arose the difficulty of transportation. There was the +gold all right, but how was I to get it out?" + +"I came East to see if I couldn't get some sort of automobile built that +would travel the desert, but when I saw that aeroplane of yours droop +down at that jerkwater junction, I realized I had found what I wanted. +Now, are you on?" + +"You'll have to give us a little time to think, sir," rejoined Roy; "it's +a very flattering offer and I'd like to accept it, but I'll have to think +it over." + +"Quite right, quite right," rejoined the other, "nothing like thinking it +over. If every one did that fewer accidents and mishaps would occur in +life. Take my own life, for instance. I've often thought I'd go back to +see the old folks, but in that case I thought it over too long, for when +I went to the old home the other day it was all gone. Not a stick or +stone remained. My parents were dead and my only brother was +no-one-knew-where." + +Jim Bell's voice shook strangely. He blinked his eyes once or twice and +then resumed briskly: "You see, I left home in a mighty queer way. I was +out in a boat with my brother when it got overturned. He was drowned, I +guess, but anyway I found myself drifting about on the Sound. I managed +to seize hold of a bit of floating driftwood and in that way kept my head +above water till a ship came along and picked me up. + +"She was a big vessel bound for China and her captain was a brute. On our +arrival in the Far East he bound me out as a sort of apprentice to a rich +Chinaman living in the interior. I was with him for ten years before I +escaped. I worked my way to the coast, got another ship and headed for +California. + +"On the way across there was a mutiny and I saved the life of a wealthy +passenger, who turned out to be a mining man and who, when he died two +years later, left me most of his property. That gave me my start in life, +and now I'm a millionaire. But I'd give it all if I could get some news +of poor brother Peter and find out if he is dead or alive." + +"Maybe we can help you," cried Peggy, her eyes shining and her white +hands clasped excitedly. + +While the rugged Westerner had been talking the story of the old hermit +came back to her. + +"What do you mean?" asked the other; "do you know where my brother is?" + +"I'm not certain," cried Peggy, "but the old hermit, Peter Bell, is he +almost beyond a doubt." + +"My brother a hermit!" cried the wealthy mining man. + +"If it is your brother," put in Roy, "I hope for your sake it is. But his +story tallies absolutely with yours. He told us that after he had missed +you in the water he thought that you were drowned. Returning home he was +shunned on every side, for the villagers accused him of having deserted +you to save his own life." + +"My poor Peter," breathed the miner. + +"Miserable and made morose by the contempt he met with on every side he +became a hermit and now lives in a hut near the town of Acatonick." + +"How long does it take to get there? I must lose no time in finding out," +exclaimed Jim Bell. + +"You can get there in two or three hours from here if you can catch a +train," said Roy. "If you like I'll phone for you and find out." + +"Say, boy, that would be mighty white of you. I tell you it hurts to +think of poor Peter living all alone like that in poverty while I've been +rich all these years. But it wasn't for lack of trying to locate him, for +I've advertised and had detectives searching every likely place." + +Roy found that there would be a train to Acatonick in about half an hour, +and their new found friend hastened off, after warm farewells, to catch +it. He promised to be back within a few days and let them know of his +success, and also inform them of any further arrangements he might be +prepared to make about his offer. + +"Well," said Roy, after he had gone, "the skies are beginning to clear, +sis." + +Peggy sighed. + +"Yes, but there is still one thing to be cleared up, Roy," she said. + +"I know--the disappearance of those jewels," rejoined Roy. "Oh, if only +we had something more to go upon than mere suspicions." + +"Perhaps we will have before long," said Peggy, musingly. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +LIKE THIEVES IN THE NIGHT. + + +"Heard anything of Fanning Harding?" asked Jimsy, one bright morning, as +he stopped his car at the Prescotts' gate and he and Jess got out. + +"Not a thing since that day at Acatonick," responded Roy, who with his +sister had hastened to meet the other two. "Why, Jess, how charming you +look this morning." + +"Meaning that you notice the contrast with other mornings," laughed Jess +merrily; "oh, Roy, you are not a courtier." + +"No, I guess not yet--whatever a courtier may be," was the laughing +rejoinder; "but I always like to pay deserved compliments." + +"Oh, that's better," cried Jess; "but have you heard anything more from +Mr. Bell?" + +For, of course, Jimsy and Jess by this time knew about the visit of the +mining man. Mr. Bancroft had looked up his standing and character and had +found both of the highest. On his advice Roy had about decided to accept +the unique offer made him by the Western millionaire. + +Peggy shook her head in response to Jess's question. + +"No, dear, not one word," she said; "isn't it queer? However, I guess we +shall, before long. Oh, I do hope that that poor old hermit turns out to +be Mr. Jim Bell's brother." + +"So do I, too," agreed Jimsy. "It would be jolly for you and Roy to think +that you and your aeroplane had been the means of righting such a +succession of mishaps." + +"Indeed it would," agreed Peggy, warmly; "but now come into the house and +have some ice cream. It's one sign of our new prosperity that we are +never without it now." + +"I've eaten so much of it I'm ashamed to look a freezer in the face," +laughed Roy, as they trooped in, to be warmly welcomed by Miss Prescott. + +In the midst of their merry feast the sound of wheels was heard and a rig +from the station drove up. Out of it stepped a venerable old gentleman in +a well-fitting dark suit, with well blackened shoes and an altogether +neat and prosperous appearance. + +Peggy and Jess who had run to the window at the sound of wheels saw him +assisted to the ground by a younger man whom they both recognized with a +cry of astonishment. + +"Mr. Jim Bell. But who is the old gentleman?" + +"Why it's--it's the hermit!" cried Roy. + +"Good gracious, is that fashionable looking old man a hermit?" gasped +Jimsy. + +"He was, I guess, but he won't be any more," laughed Peggy, happily, as +she tripped to the door to welcome the visitors. The Prescotts had a maid +now; but Peggy preferred to be the first to greet the newly united +brothers for it was evident that Jim Bell's quest had been successful. + +What greetings there were to be sure, when the two brothers were inside +the cool, shady house! The old hermit's eyes gleamed delightedly as he +gallantly handed Miss Prescott to a chair. As for Jim Bell, he was happy +enough to "dance a jig," he said. + +"I'll play for you, sir," volunteered Jimsy, going toward the piano. + +"No, no," laughed Jim Bell; "I'm too old for that now. But not too old +for Peter and I to have many happy days together yet, eh, Peter?" + +He turned tenderly toward the old man whose eyes grew dim and moist. + +"I wish dad and mother could see us now," he said, sadly, as his thoughts +wandered back over the long bitter years he had spent in solitude. + +"Perhaps they can," breathed Peggy, softly; "let us hope so." + +"Thank you," said the old hermit, with a sigh. + +But the conversation soon turned to a merrier vein. And then it drifted +into business. Mr. Bancroft happened to stop in on his way into town and +after a long talk with Jim Bell he seriously advised Roy to accept the +mining man's proposal. + +"I'll put you up a factory any place you say," said the millionaire, "and +you can turn out all that we require. I've a notion, too, that they might +be used as general freight carriers over arid stretches of country where +there are no railroads, and feed and water for stock is scarce." + +"Not a doubt of it," said Mr. Bancroft. + +Before he left the preliminary papers had been drawn up and signed, and +Roy Prescott found himself fairly launched in business. But in all this +success he did not forget how much he owed to Peggy. Recent events had +softened the boy's character and reduced his conceit wonderfully. + +"I owe it all to you, little sis," he said that evening. + +"I don't know about all," cried Jimsy, who was present; "but you do owe a +whole lot to her, old man, and I'm glad to see you acknowledge it at +last." + +"I always have," cried Roy, turning rather red, though. + +"Hum," commented Jimsy; "I'm not so sure about that." + +But Peggy put her hand over his mouth and it took Jimsy what seemed an +unduly long time to remove it. As for Jess, she stalwartly declared that +if it hadn't been for Peggy there would have been no Golden Butterfly, no +five thousand dollar prize, and, as she said, "no nothing." But to this +loyal little Peggy would not assent. In her eyes Roy would always remain +the most wonderful brother in the world. + +Soon after this Jimsy and Jess took their leave and it was not long +before the last light was extinguished in the happy little household and +deep silence reigned. About midnight, as nearly as she could judge, Peggy +awoke to find the moonlight streaming into her room and upon her face. + +"Good gracious, I'll get moonstruck," she thought, and throwing on a wrap +she went to the window to pull down the shade which had been raised to +admit the cool air. + +The window commanded a view of the workshop, in which the Golden +Butterfly was kept, and Peggy, as she looked out, was astonished to see +that the door of the work shop which housed the precious craft was open. + +"Goodness!" thought the girl, "how careless of whoever left it that way. +The night air will rust the stay-wires and the steel parts of the motor +terribly. I guess I had better slip downstairs and close it." + +Partially dressing herself the girl noiselessly tiptoed down the stairs +and out into the moonlit night. + +For one instant she was startled as she thought she saw a dark form dodge +swiftly behind a corner of the workshop as she appeared. + +"I must be getting as nervous as poor Roy when the mule frightened him +down the well," she thought to herself as she advanced toward the shed. +Reaching it she raised her hand to shut the door when, to her +astonishment, she discovered that it had apparently been locked,--at +least a broken bit of the padlock dangling from the portal seemed to +indicate this. + +"Somebody's filed that through," was Peggy's thought. But before she +could make any further investigation a pair of hands grasped her from +behind, pinioning her arms to her side. At the same instant an old coat +was flung over her head and pulled close, stifling her outcries. + +"We won't hurt you if you keep quiet," hissed a voice in her ear, "but if +you don't, look out for trouble." + +"What are you going to do?" cried Peggy, through the muffling medium of +the coat. + +"You'll soon find out," was the rejoinder. "Jukes, bring her inside the +shed and keep her quiet." + +Jukes! The name struck a familiar chord in Peggy's memory. She knew now +why the face and form of the man hanging about Fanning's "Phantom" hangar +at the aviation field had seemed so familiar to her. It _was_ Jukes Dade, +the man her father had peremptorily discharged. Peggy could not repress a +shudder as she thought of the desperate character of the man. + +Suddenly, as her captors half dragged, half carried her into the +workshop, her body grew limp, and she fell in an insensible heap forward. +She would have struck the ground had not a pair of hands caught her. + +"She's fainted," cried Jukes, alarmedly. + +"So much the better," growled out his companion; "she won't give us any +trouble now. We can do what we've got to do and get away. Got the files?" + +"Here they are," responded Jukes; "just let me lay her down here while I +hand 'em to you." + +He deposited Peggy's limp form on a long box on which some sacks had been +strewn. The next instant the sharp rasping of a file could be heard in +the silent workshop. + +"I guess this Golden Butterfly will have its wings clipped for some time +to come," chuckled Jukes' companion, whom Peggy, of course, had not yet +seen. + +"I guess that's right," laughed the other; "just wait a jiffy while I lay +down this gun of mine and I'll give you a hand." + +He stepped over and put down a wicked-looking pistol on the rough bench +on which Peggy lay. Then he turned and began to help his companion. The +two worked by the light of a dark lantern which they had brought with +them on their rascally expedition to ruin the Golden Butterfly. + +But suddenly a slight noise behind him made Jukes turn his head. As he +did so he gave a startled yell. Peggy, her eyes bright and wild-looking, +was standing up behind them. In her hand was the pistol which Jukes had +laid down beside her when she had seemed to faint a few moments before. +But Peggy's faint had been a simulated one. Realizing that harm was meant +to the Golden Butterfly, she had imitated unconsciousness as a means to +possible escape and giving the alarm. + +"Don't move, either of you," said Peggy, in a firm voice. "I'm only a +girl, but I can use a pistol." + +But Jukes and his companion, with a wild yell, made a dash for the door. + +"Good gracious, I can't shoot them," thought Peggy. + +"Help! help!" she began to cry at the top of her voice. + +But the next instant the whirr and roar of a motor from the road apprised +her that the two rascals had made their escape in an auto and that +pursuit was useless. Thus it was that when the aroused household came +pouring excitedly out of the house they found a brave, if a rather +tremulous, girl awaiting them with a pistol in her hand on the stock of +which were engraved the initials "F. H." + +"So that's who Jukes's companion was," exclaimed Roy, angrily. "Oh, if +you had only awakened me, sis." + +"My dear Roy," rejoined Peggy, with dignity, "don't you think that I am +capable of taking care of myself?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +HESTER MAKES AMENDS--CONCLUSION. + + +A few days later Peggy borrowed Jess's car and went out for a long, +lonely spin along the country roads. She wanted to think. Roy and Jimsy +were at home repairing the damage wrought to the Golden Butterfly, which, +it turned out, was very slight. + +She was driving along a pretty stretch of road when she came across a +veritable fairyland of delicate pink wild roses intertwined with +honeysuckle and woodbine. + +"Oh," cried Peggy, who simply worshipped flowers, "how beautiful; I must +take some of these home. They'll make all our garden things look mean and +shabby." + +Stopping the car she alighted and was soon deep in her occupation of +gathering the fragrant posies. Suddenly she was startled by the sound of +a sobbing voice close at hand, and the next minute an angry male voice +could be heard also. + +"I tell you I'll do nothing of the sort," the man was saying; "why should +I go and own up that I'm a thief or the next thing to it? At any rate +they'd have me put in jail for all the attempts I've made to interfere +with their aeroplane." + +"It's Fanning Harding!" gasped Peggy, amazedly, "and Hester Gibbons," she +added the next instant as the girl's voice sobbed out: + +"Well, if you won't, I will. I've been weak and foolish but I'm not +wicked. I'm going to tell Peggy Prescott all about it to-day and ask her +to forgive me." + +"You'd better not," Fanning Harding's tone was threatening now. + +"Well, what if I do?" + +"You won't, I tell you. I'll have you locked up and charged with the +theft yourself." + +"You wouldn't dare." + +"Oh, yes, I would. You've got that ruby and that is pretty good proof +that you stole it." + +"It isn't so and you know it. I have been a weak, silly girl, that's all, +but I see it all now. And just to think if I hadn't overheard you and my +father talking that I might have gone on admiring you." + +"Tell me you won't go to the Prescotts with the story or I'll----" + +"Help! Help!" + +The shrill cry came in Hester's tones. + +Without quite realizing what she was doing, Peggy stooped and picked up a +heavy bit of stick that lay in the road beside her. Then she stepped +forward around a bend which had hitherto hidden the other two from her +sight. As she appeared Fanning had his hand on Hester's wrist and was +wrenching it cruelly. + +"Oh! oh! Fanning, please let go!" Hester was crying. + +"I will if you'll promise not to tell." + +"There's no need for her to promise that, Fanning," said Peggy, "for I +have already heard enough for me to know that she has some connection +with the disappearance of the Bancroft diamonds." + +"Oh, Peggy!" cried Hester, running to her side. + +"See here," began Fanning, swaggering forward threateningly toward the +two girls. + +"My brother is just 'round that corner," said Peggy, boldly; "he'll be +here in a minute. If you don't wish to be arrested for what you did the +other night you had better get away from here, Fanning Harding." + +A scared look crossed Fanning's face and he turned and fairly took to his +heels. + +"Now, Hester," said Peggy, kindly, "come with me to my car. It's just +'round the corner." + +"Oh, Peggy, I've been a bad, wicked girl, but I'm not a thief. Truly I'm +not." + +"I believe that," said Peggy, "but what do you know about the +disappearance of the diamonds?" + +"That I have them all here. Not one is gone," was the amazing reply, and +Hester, drawing a handkerchief from her bosom, unfolded it and displayed +to Peggy's amazed eyes a glittering collection of gems. In the midst of +the flashing gems gleamed the big ruby which Peggy had once seen Hester +so carefully conceal. + +"Hester, you have a duty before you," said Peggy slowly; "get in my car +and come with me to my home and then tell me all about this mystery which +has puzzled us so long." + +But the girl shrank back. + +"I can't. Oh, Peggy, with you it's different, but before, the others. +Your brother----" + +"Poor fellow, he has been under unjust suspicion on account of these very +jewels," Peggy reminded the agitated girl. + +"Oh, give me time. Not now. I----" + +"No, it must be now," said Peggy, with gentle insistence. "Come!" + +Something in her manner seemed to strike the girl. + +"You'll promise no harm will come to me or my father through this?" she +said. + +"Is your father very deeply implicated in the matter?" asked Peggy +seriously, looking straight into the other's eyes. + +"No. On my word of honor, no," was the response. + +"Then I'll promise," said Peggy. + +"Very well, then, I'll tell you all I know about the matter," said +Hester, as the girls got into the car. + +An hour later, in the library of the Prescott's home, Peggy, Roy, Jimsy +and Jess were gathered listening to Hester's story. Her eyes were red +from crying and she hesitated frequently, but her manner showed that she +was telling the truth. + +On a table lay the glistening jewels. Jess had counted them and found +that they were all there. + +"I didn't find out about the jewels till one night Fanning, who has +always said he admired me," said Hester, with downcast eyes, "gave me +that big ruby there. At least he didn't give it to me but he said I could +wear it. Of course I had heard about the disappearance of the jewels from +the auto, but somehow I didn't associate this token of Fanning's with it. + +"It was not till a week ago that I learned the true state of affairs. I +overheard a conversation of Fanning's with my father in which he +threatened him with arrest if he, father, didn't give him some money +Fanning said he had hoarded up. I knew dad didn't have any and I asked +him after Fanning had gone to tell me all about it. + +"He isn't such a bad man at bottom and when I pleaded with him he told me +the whole story. On the day of the jewel robbery, for it was a robbery, +Morgan and Giles----" + +"Our butler and groom!" cried Jess. + +"Yes. Well, they were taking a stroll in the fields and happened along +just as the car was wrecked. They knew from servants' gossip that you had +been to town to get the gems and when they saw you lying unconscious and +the wallet near at hand, the temptation was too much for them and they +stole it. + +"They determined to hide it in some woods near my father's place; but as +they entered them Fanning Harding came along on his bicycle. He saw them +enter the woods and became suspicious. Leaning his bicycle against a tree +he followed them and saw them bury the gems under a tree which they +marked. + +"He noted the tree, too, and then, without their seeing him he remounted +his motor-cycle and came on to see my father about that business of the +hoax aeroplane. He said he wanted to bluff you into selling the Butterfly +to him. + +"Well, father agreed, for a fair sum of money, to help him, and we +started right into town. At that time I thought it was a good joke, and +we were both laughing as we came in sight of the scene of the accident." + +"So that's what they were laughing at," thought Roy, recollecting how +mystified he had been when he saw them together. + +"I don't know whether it was Fanning's manner or what," said Hester +resuming, "but my father began to suspect that he might know something +about the jewels, and one day he followed him into the woods when he went +to see if the jewels were still under the tree. Father made him own up +when he caught him red-handed like that, but in the meantime Morgan and +Giles also had arrived. Well, the four of them were all equally guilty, +so they agreed to stick together and say nothing till the excitement +about the loss had blown over. But Fanning in the meantime said that he +must have the ruby to let me wear. + +"I guess he wanted to show me that he was as rich as he was always +pretending to be. + +"A few days later they had a terrible fright. Morgan, who carried the +leather wallet in his pocket for lack of a better place to put it, +dropped it on the porch of the Bancrofts' house where, as you know, it +was found before he realized his loss and could recover it. + +"When Fanning came back from the aviation meet and began boasting of the +mean tricks he had played you and how he had kidnapped Roy, I began to +see what a despicable fellow he was. Then, too, he was always threatening +dad, and so I decided to make a clean breast of it all and save poor dad +any more trouble, for Fanning has dictated to him ever since they shared +the secret. + +"I went to the wood and found the marked tree I had heard them talk about +so often and with the jewels in my hand I started for your home, Peggy, +for I didn't dare to go to the Bancrofts'. But Fanning, it seems, had got +suspicious, and followed me. He overtook me at the spot where you +encountered us." + +"Does he know you have the jewels?" asked Roy. + +"Not yet," rejoined Hester; "I believe if he had he would have been +violent." + +"Well, Hester," said Peggy, as the girl concluded her strange narrative, +"you have cleared up a puzzling mystery." + +"Did you ever hear such a yarn in all your born days?" asked Jimsy. + +"And every one of the jewels is there," cried Jess. "I tell you what I'll +do, I'll just call up the house and tell mother about it. Won't she be +pleased?" + +But Mrs. Bancroft was not at home, and---- + +"Oh, miss," gasped the servant, who answered the 'phone, "we're all +upset. Morgan has run off, miss, and so has Giles. They took some of the +silver with them. Mary and me tried to stop 'em but they pointed a pistol +at us and scared us inter high strikes." + +"I'll 'phone the police at once," cried Jess, indignantly. "They might +have got off if it hadn't been for that." + +But although a good description was furnished, Morgan and Giles were not +captured and Mr. Bancroft was not ill pleased. + +"They will not venture into this part of the country again," he said, +"and we are well rid of such rascals." + +Hester, in whom Mrs. Bancroft took an interest after the girl had told +her with her own lips her strange story, is now at a girls' boarding +school, having been sent there at Mrs. Bancroft's expense. + +As for Fanning Harding, his father sent him West soon after the lad's +innate rascality had been revealed, and from reports Fanning is working +hard to redeem the past and make himself a good and useful man. + +"And so the mystery of the phantom airship and the missing jewels is all +cleared up," said Peggy to Jess one day a short time after the events +just described had transpired. + +"Yes," rejoined her chum, "and the air seems clearer and fresher somehow. +It is terrible to have a dark cloud of suspicion hanging over one." + +"It is, indeed," rejoined Peggy; "and now, as Roy leaves in a few days +for the West, let's all take a good long spin. You and I will go in the +Golden Butterfly while the boys can run along below us in the auto." + +But Jess looked a bit doubtful. + +"Wouldn't Roy like to go in the aeroplane?" she said. + +Peggy broke into merry laughter. + +"Oh, you sly puss," she exclaimed. "Very well, then you and Roy in the +Golden Eagle and Jimsy and I in the auto." + +"Suits me," cried Jimsy, throwing his arm around his sister's waist, "but +I thought you were the girl aviator of the family, Peggy." + +"So I am," laughed Peggy, "but I am willing to yield my place for once." + +"Well, if you'll excuse my horrid slang," laughed Jimsy, "I think I may +say we've all been 'up in the air' for the last few weeks. But it's all +over now and we'll settle down to humdrum life once more." + +"It's been jolly, though," protested Peggy. + +"With some parts left out," put in Jess. + +But although no adventures just like those we have related happened again +to the Girl Aviators, they were due to encounter some more strange +experiences. In fact, both Peggy and Roy and their friends were on the +brink of some odd happenings, the narration of which must be postponed to +another volume of this series. + +What these complications and adventures, both merry and perilous, proved +to be will be set down in full detail in "The Girl Aviators on Golden +Wings," a breezy tale of our aerial maids. + +THE END. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Girl Aviators and the Phantom +Airship, by Margaret Burnham + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRL AVIATORS *** + +***** This file should be named 33605.txt or 33605.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/6/0/33605/ + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.fadedpage.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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