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diff --git a/old/54579-0.txt b/old/54579-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 97658ea..0000000 --- a/old/54579-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5753 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Stolen Aeroplane, by Ashton Lamar - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Stolen Aeroplane - or, How Bud Wilson Made Good - -Author: Ashton Lamar - -Illustrator: M. G. Gunn - -Release Date: April 20, 2017 [EBook #54579] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STOLEN AEROPLANE *** - - - - -Produced by Donald Cummings and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - The Aeroplane Boys Series - - The Stolen Aeroplane - OR - How Bud Wilson Made Good - - - - -The Aeroplane Boys Series - -By ASHTON LAMAR - - - I. IN THE CLOUDS FOR UNCLE SAM - Or, Morey Marshall of the Signal Corps. - - II. THE STOLEN AEROPLANE - Or, How Bud Wilson Made Good. - - III. THE BOY AVIATOR’S GRIT - Or, The Aeroplane Express. - - IV. THE BOY AVIATORS’ CLUB - Or, Flying For Fun. - -OTHER TITLES TO FOLLOW - -These stories are the newest and most up-to-date. All aeroplane details -are correct. Fully illustrated. Colored frontispiece. Cloth, 12mos. - -Price, 60c Each. - - -The Airship Boys Series - -By H. L. SAYLER - - - I. THE AIRSHIP BOYS - Or, The Quest of the Aztec Treasure. - - II. THE AIRSHIP BOYS ADRIFT - Or, Saved by an Aeroplane. - - III. THE AIRSHIP BOYS DUE NORTH - Or, By Balloon to the Pole. - - IV. THE AIRSHIP BOYS IN BARREN LANDS - Or, The Secret of the White Eskimos. - -These thrilling stories deal with the wonderful new science of aerial -navigation. Every boy will be interested and instructed by reading -them. Illustrated. Cloth binding. Price, $1.00 each. - - -The above books are sold everywhere or will be sent postpaid on receipt -of price by the - - Publishers The Reilly & Britton Co. Chicago - -_Complete catalog sent, postpaid, on request_ - - - - -[Illustration: “STOP! IN THE NAME OF THE LAW!”] - - - - - The Stolen - Aeroplane - - OR - - How Bud Wilson Made Good - - - BY - ASHTON LAMAR - - - [Illustration: _The_ - AEROPLANE - BOYS - SERIES] - - - Illustrated by M. G. Gunn - - - Chicago - The Reilly & Britton Co. - Publishers - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1910, - by - THE REILLY & BRITTON CO. - - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - - - THE STOLEN AEROPLANE - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAP. PAGE - I AN IDLE BOY GETS A JOB 9 - II THE HERO OF THE GRAVEL PIT 21 - III SCOTTSVILLE’S FAIR SECURES AN AVIATOR 33 - IV A MIDNIGHT LUNCH 44 - V MADAME ZECATACAS READS THE FUTURE 57 - VI THE GYPSY QUEEN’S TALISMAN 70 - VII A FOOLHARDY TRICK IN AN AEROPLANE 84 - VIII AMATEUR VERSUS PROFESSIONAL 95 - IX BUD MAKES A STRANGE CONTRACT 106 - X THE FLIGHT IN THE DARK 117 - XI DUMPED INTO THE MARSH 131 - XII THE ROMNEY RING BRINGS NEWS 143 - XIII A UNIQUE STARTING DEVICE 155 - XIV AN EXHIBITION UNDER DIFFICULTIES 169 - XV THE ENEMY OUTWITTED ONCE MORE 182 - XVI BUD DISCOVERS A FRIEND 197 - XVII THE PRIVATE OFFICE OF THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK 211 - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - “Stop! In the name of the law!” _Frontispiece_ - - Bud bargains for coffee. 53 - - The start from the flume. 165 - - Mr. Camp drew out an envelope. 201 - - - - - The Stolen Aeroplane - OR, - How Bud Wilson Made Good - - - - -CHAPTER I - -AN IDLE BOY GETS A JOB. - - -“Here she comes.” - -Doug’ Jackson, the driver of the Scottsville House ’bus, rose from the -edge of the depot platform, hitched up his trousers, and motioned the -usual depot loungers back to safety. All were waiting for passenger -train No. 22, west bound, due at 11:15 A. M., and late, as usual. - -“She’s made up seven minutes,” Doug’ announced authoritatively after -consulting a large silver watch. “She’s fannin’--git back there, you -kids.” - -No one else yet saw or heard the approaching train, whose proximity was -only detected by Doug’s long experience in such matters; but all necks -were craned toward the grade east of town and the curve at its far end. - -One of these anxious watchers was Mr. Josiah Elder, a man just beyond -middle age, who shaved every morning down to a round patch of whiskers -on a prolonged chin, and whose white starched shirt and heavy gold -watch chain proclaimed him a person of affairs. Just at present, a -heavy coat of dust on a new, black, soft hat and on his dark trousers -suggested that the morning had been spent out of doors, where the -September drought had coated the town and country with suffocating dust. - -Mr. Elder was president of the Scottsville First National Bank. He -was also president of the Scott County Joint Stock Agricultural and -Trotting Association. And this was Wednesday morning of fair week. The -president was hot, dusty, and had an anxious look. - -“Hello, Mr. Elder,” exclaimed Doug’ hastily, lifting his cap with his -badge as “runner” on it, and glancing hastily along the track to be -sure that his announcement had not been premature. “Train’ll be here -right away.” - -“Morning,” replied the anxious fair official, looking toward a dusty, -side-bar buggy and a lively looking horse hitched just beyond the ’bus. -“Keep your eye on my rig, Doug’.” - -Just then a hollow whistle sounded far up the track, and a moment -later, beneath a puff of white steam that drifted around the curve, a -billow of black smoke told that No. 22 was “fanning” down grade toward -the town. - -“I’m lookin’ for a man named Dare--T. Glenn Dare. If you see him, he -ain’t goin’ to the hotel. He’s goin’ with me.” - -“What’s the prospec’s fur fair week?” asked Doug’, indicating that he -understood. “I reckon that airship’ll bring out a fine attendance ’bout -Thursday.” - -“We hope so,” replied Mr. Elder impressively. “It is a novel attraction -of great educational value. And it is an expensive feature. The people -o’ Scott County should recognize our enterprise and turn out liberally.” - -“I reckon it’s goin’ to kind o’ crowd you to git everything in shape -on time, ain’t it? All the boxes and the injine is over there in the -freight house yit.” - -“We are waiting for Mr. Dare. He’s the manufacturer’s agent and -operator.” - -The oncoming train was already pounding over the switch track frogs at -the town limits. Doug’ mustered up his courage, crowded a little closer -to the disturbed fair official and exclaimed, nervously: - -“All right, Mr. Elder, I’ll keep my eye out fur him. And your rig’ll be -all safe. Say, Mr. Elder, you couldn’t spare me a ticket fur the fair, -could ye?” - -But this appeal was lost. The mogul engine, hissing as if annoyed at -its enforced stop in Scottsville, slid to a grinding stop, panted a -few times, and then with a sharp clang of its bell and a deep snort, -was off again. The crowd, always anxious to see the train come in, -edged forward, fell back and grouped itself about a dozen arrivals. Two -traveling men, or “drummers,” Doug’ captured. The others were either -not strangers to the depot crowd or easily identified by their luggage -and costume as visitors from near by towns. Mr. T. Glenn Dare was not -among those who alighted. - -Having made sure of this fact, President Elder’s strained look at once -turned into one of complete annoyance. - -“I reckon yer man didn’t git here,” remarked the talkative ’bus driver. -“Maybe he’ll be on seventeen.” - -One look at the official’s face convinced Doug’ that it was not the -time to renew his request for a free ticket. Mr. Elder hurried into the -depot, and with no attempt to restrain his anger, called up the ticket -office of the fair association on the telephone. - -To some one, he rapidly explained that Mr. T. Glenn Dare, the expert -who was to set up and operate the aeroplane for the fair directors had -not arrived. The boxed and crated airship had been in the depot freight -house for a week. It was now Tuesday of the week of the fair, and a -flight had been advertised for Wednesday afternoon at three o’clock. -Operator Dare, who was to make this at the rate of fifty dollars a day, -had been expected Tuesday morning. - -“Yes, I know,” answered the president to the person with whom he had -been talking, “we’ve saved one hundred dollars, but that ain’t it. -We’ve got to exhibit our aeroplane to-morrow, or let the people know we -can’t. We’ve paid one thousand eight hundred dollars in good money for -the thing, and it ain’t worth a nickel to us over there in the freight -depot.” - -There was more talk, and then President Elder ended the conversation by -announcing: - -“There isn’t any use to haul the boxes out to the ground, if the man -don’t come. We’ll wait until the night train. If he ain’t on that, -we’ll send out bills callin’ the show off. Then we’ll ship the machine -back East and sue the company for failure to keep its contract. They -agreed to have a competent man here, and they’ve thrown us down.” - -As the perspiring Mr. Elder came out of the hot ticket-office of the -musty-smelling station and paused on the platform to wipe his red -face, his eye fell on the freight-house across the tracks from the -station. He glanced at his horse to see that it was all right, and then -sprang across to the freight-depot. He had not yet seen the valuable -crates consigned to him. The freight-agent had already gone to dinner. -Entering the long shed, he glanced inquiringly about. It was half dark. - -“Lookin’ for your aeroplane, Mr. Elder?” exclaimed a pleasant boyish -voice from somewhere in the gloom. - -The banker and fair president traced the sounds to their source. At the -far end of the room and opposite a rear door stood a mound of carefully -packed and braced skeleton-like frames. On the edge of a heavy square -box bound with steel bands, sat a boy of perhaps seventeen or eighteen. -Although it was hot, the lad was wearing a heavy blue flannel shirt, a -red neck tie, and a cheap, sailor hat. His low shoes were worn and old, -and his socks gave signs of needing a mother’s care. He was slowly -fanning himself with a big blue handkerchief. - -“If you are,” added the boy, springing to his feet, “here it is; and it -looks like the real thing.” - -Instead of examining the aeroplane crates, Mr. Elder’s eye swept the -boy from hat to shoes. - -“Aren’t you Bud Wilson?” he asked at last. - -“Yes, sir. Attorney Cyrus Stockwell is my foster father.” - -“I thought so,” rejoined the banker tartly. “I’ve heard of you. Lafe -Pennington, of our bank, has told me about you.” - -The boy laughed--he had already taken off his discolored hat. - -“Then you didn’t hear much good about me, that’s certain.” - -“No,” soberly answered the elder man, “to tell you the truth, I’ve -never heard much good about you.” - -The boy laughed again, but in an embarrassed way, showed his confusion, -and then said: - -“Lafe and I never got along. But, he may be right. I’ve got a bad name.” - -“What are you doing here? You are old enough to be at work.” - -“That’s it,” went on Bud, “I ought to be. I have a job promised me -when I want it, out in the country. But I’ve been waitin’ to see this.” - -He pointed toward the dismantled airship. - -“What do you want to see? You haven’t any business loafing in here. -Have you been monkeyin’ with the machinery?” - -“Oh! I know ’em around here. And I ain’t hurt nothing. No fear o’ that.” - -“Well, what’s your interest?” - -“I want to see it. I’ve been waiting every day since it came. I want to -be here when you move it. I want to help unpack it.” - -“You? What do you know about aeroplanes?” - -“Nothing--that is, almost nothing. But I guess I know a little. You -know I ran Mr. Greeley’s automobile nearly all summer. I understand -motors. And--well, I do know something about aeroplanes. I tried to -make one this summer.” - -A look of sudden interest showed in the banker’s face. - -“Oh, I remember now, you are the youngster that nearly broke his neck -trying to fly.” - -“I suppose Lafe Pennington told that,” answered Bud, looking up. “Well, -I didn’t. I fell, but I lit on my feet, and I didn’t even harm my -aeroplane.” - -President Elder was looking over the big crates, and peering through -the frames. Suddenly, he turned to Bud again. - -“What do you mean by _your_ aeroplane?” - -“It wasn’t really an aeroplane. That is, I didn’t have an engine; but I -made the wings; and I flew one hundred and fifty feet in them, too, out -at Greeley’s gravel pit.” - -“Then you know how an aeroplane is made?” - -“I think I do. They are all pretty much alike. When I see this one, -I’ll know a lot more.” - -An idea was plainly working in President Elder’s brain. He made a -searching examination of the lad before him. Then he asked: - -“Didn’t you and Lafe Pennington work on this airship idea together?” - -Bud laughed outright. - -“Hardly,” he answered, “Lafe wouldn’t work with any one. He knows too -much. I worked alone.” - -President Elder looked at his watch. It was just noon. - -“Do you think you could put this airship together?” - -“Certainly, I put my own together.” - -“Bud, meet me here at one o’clock. I may have a job for you.” - -While the banker’s smart rig went clattering up the brick street, Bud -started for home on a run. - -Long before one o’clock, Bud was at the freight-house again. In a short -time, a dray and an express wagon appeared. About the time that a large -farm wagon, drawn by two horses, came in sight, Mr. Elder reappeared. -In the buggy with him was the young man referred to several times by -Mr. Elder and Bud an hour before--Lafe Pennington. As they sprang from -the vehicle, Bud was on the freight-house platform. Lafe passed the boy -with a condescending smile; but Mr. Elder stopped. - -“Bud,” he began, “I had a kind of a notion that I had a job for you, -but I guess that’s all off.” - -“I hoped you had. I hurried back.” - -“Well, it’s this way. I forgot that our clerk, Mr. Pennington, had -some knowledge of aeroplanes. We are in a sort of a box, and after I -talked to you, I decided to try to get this machine ready. The man who -ought to do it isn’t here. Even if he comes to-night, he won’t have -time to set it up. So, while I talked to you, I decided to try to put -it together and have it ready when he came. I was going to get you to -help.” - -“Can’t I?” asked the boy eagerly. - -“I don’t think we’ll need you now. I’ve got Mr. Pennington. He says he -can do it without any trouble. And you know he’s in the bank, and I -know him. He’s one of our clerks.” - -“I reckon he can do it, perhaps,” answered Bud in a disappointed tone, -“but I’d like to help too. I’d work for nothing.” - -“I suggested that, but Mr. Pennington says he’d rather work alone.” - -Mr. Elder was about to pass on when Bud touched his sleeve. - -“Mr. Elder,” he said, “Lafe said that because he knew I was the only -person in Scottsville who could help. I haven’t anything against Lafe, -but you ought to know the facts--I know more about aeroplanes than -he does. He may be able to do what you want, and he may not. You may -think I’m knocking Lafe, but I’m not. I’m just giving you the truth: he -thinks he knows more about airships than he really does.” - -“You seem to feel sure you know it all,” almost sneered the banker. - -“I should say not,” answered the boy promptly. “I know hardly -anything, and Lafe knows less.” - -“Well, if we get stuck, I suppose we can call on you.” - -“I’ll be right there, waiting.” - -“Pshaw,” exclaimed the banker laughing, “we need plenty of help. Mr. -Pennington may not want you, but I do. Turn in and give us a lift. -Between us, we’ll see what we can do. We are going to move these boxes -out to the fair-ground, and see if we can put our aeroplane together. -You’re hired to help.” - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE HERO OF THE GRAVEL PIT. - - -The Scott County Fair-grounds were a mile and a half from Scottsville. -A little after two o’clock, the “aeroplane” cavalcade was on its way -there from the freight-house. In front, rode President Elder of the -fair association, with Lafayette, or Lafe, Pennington, the bank clerk -and amateur dabbler in aeronautics, by his side. Then came a dray with -the four-cylinder, 25-horse power, 190 lb. Curtiss engine elaborately -crated. Next was an express wagon with boxed engine accessories, such -as gasoline tank, water cooler, chain drives, and the dismounted -propeller blades. In the rear, in the big farm wagon, rode proud Bud -Wilson, busy preserving the balance of the spruce sections of the -aeroplane surfaces. - -In the excitement attendant upon the fair, the procession attracted -little attention. Buggies and passenger hacks raised clouds of dust -in which wagons laden with belated exhibits made their way toward -the great enclosure within whose high white fence Scott County’s -agricultural exhibit was fast getting into final order. At the sight -of President Elder, the gate attendants threw the white portals wide -open, and Bud had a new joy--he was working for the fair, and didn’t -have to pay to get in. - -“I never did pay,” laughed Bud, speaking to the driver of the wagon, -“but this is the first time I ever went in at the main gate.” - -Winding their way among the plows, self-binders and threshing-machines -already in place, and then directly between the two lines of peanut, -pop, candy, cider and “nigger baby” stands--already making a -half-hearted attempt to attract trade--the aeroplane wagons passed -through the heart of the grounds. Near the “grand stand,” where for ten -cents extra, one might view the trotting and running races, President -Elder alighted and personally superintended the unlocking of the gates -leading onto the race-track. Across this, the three vehicles made their -way. - -At the far end of the space within the smooth half-mile race-track was -a newly built shed, made according to directions forwarded from the -aeroplane factory in New Jersey. In front of this, the wagons halted. -There were not many persons in attendance that day on the fair, but -there were enough to make an audience of several hundred at once. The -aeroplane shed was a temporary structure--a shed with a board top and -canvas sides. Willing hands soon had the different sections of the car -either in the house or near by in front. - -Lafe Pennington’s coat was off, and he superintended the unloading with -a great show of authority. By this time, a carpenter and a machinist -had arrived, and the officious bank clerk announced that spectators had -better be dispersed in order that he might work undisturbed. - -“What do you want Bud to do?” asked President Elder. - -Lafe smiled feebly. - -“Nothing just now,” he answered. “He can stay outside and see that we -are not disturbed. I don’t think it will take us very long.” - -The confident clerk started to enter the shed. - -“How about the starting track and the derrick for the drop weight?” -asked Bud innocently. “I don’t see any material here for those.” - -Lafe stopped suddenly, and looked up in surprise. - -“Yes, of course,” he faltered, “where are they?” - -“I don’t know what you mean,” said President Elder. “I guess -everything’s here.” - -Pennington made a quick survey. - -“Oh, they are not here,” explained Bud. “I discovered that some days -ago.” - -“You’re right,” conceded Lafe. “They must have forgotten them. We’ll -have to telegraph for them.” - -“Telegraph nothing,” blurted the president. “We’ve no time for -telegraphing. They can’t get ’em here in time. If it’s something you -have to have, I guess we are stuck.” - -“Perhaps,” suggested Bud, “the manufacturers expected you to make this -apparatus on the ground. The ropes and automatic release block are -here.” - -“How can we do that?” sneered Pennington, already irritated at the turn -affairs were taking. - -“Very easily, I imagine,” replied Bud, “if they sent specifications. -The manufacturer sent word how to build a shed and how big to make it. -Didn’t they send a letter?” he asked, turning to President Elder. - -“Letter? Why, yes--I forgot that--a big letter,” exclaimed Mr. Elder, -reaching into his inside pocket. - -Pennington took it, glanced it over hurriedly, and exclaimed: - -“Sure, here it is, sketch, measurement, and all.” - -“Couldn’t I look after that?” asked Bud turning from the president to -Lafe. - -“That’s carpenters’ work,” answered Pennington at once. “We’ll have the -carpenters see to that. They can order the stuff by ’phone at once.” - -He turned again to begin the work of uncrating the aeroplane. - -“How long do you figure it’s going to take to put the car together, -Lafe?” asked Bud. - -“I don’t know,” retorted Pennington sharply, “but I’ll get along all -the faster if I’m not stopped to talk about it.” - -“It ought to be done to-night, shouldn’t it?” queried Bud, turning to -the president and showing no irritation. - -“Certainly, if possible.” - -“Then we ought to get some lights--three or four gasoline flares. That -work can’t be done before dark. It’s going to take all night. It’s a -tejous job. And after the frame is set up and made fast, the engine -must be tested and anchored and the shafts set.” - -“Hadn’t we better get the lights ready?” asked Mr. Elder of Pennington. - -“Of course, we’ll need them,” answered Pennington, who had in reality -not thought of them. “Better let Bud go to town for them.” - -“All right. Here Bud, take my horse and buggy and go to town, and get -what’s needed at Appleton’s hardware store. I’ll be at the ticket -office when you get back.” - -Pennington had disposed of his rival temporarily, but Bud took his -defeat cheerfully. However, he could not resist the temptation to turn -the tables once more. - -“Want anything else?” he asked casually as he climbed into the rig. - -“Nothing more now,” answered Pennington, turning away for the third -time. - -“You want gasoline for the lamps, don’t you?” suggested Bud. - -“Certainly--and matches, too,” said Lafe with another sneer. - -“Well, how about some gasoline for the engine?” - -Lafe grew red in the face, and turned away impatiently. - -“And some oil for the engine?” - -“You don’t expect a fellow to think of everything at once, do you?” -snorted Lafe. “I haven’t been hanging over this thing for a week. I’ve -had something else to think about.” - -“Seems as if Bud had done a good deal of thinking,” suggested President -Elder. “Hurry back, Bud, we may need you again.” - -Bud Wilson had long been pointed out as the prize example of juvenile -perverseness. Many persons, including Lafe Pennington, were in the -habit of referring to him as a “bad” boy. But in this, they were wrong. -Bud’s differences from other boys of better reputation meant no more -than that he was headstrong and so full of ideas that the routine of -school went hard with him. The boy often shocked his teacher. Instead -of the old-fashioned speaking pieces, Bud was apt to select some -up-to-date newspaper story or verse. Once he even ventured to recite -some poetry of his own, in which Miss Abbott, the teacher, did not -particularly shine. - -When he was left an orphan and went to live with Attorney Cyrus -Stockwell, the lively youngster gave up most of his school hours to -drawing engines. At that time, he planned to be an engineer. Succeeding -that, he aspired to be a detective. In this new ambition, he read a -great deal of literature concerning crime. But this new profession -was soon forgotten with the advent of aeroplanes. From the moment Bud -realized what a heavier-than-air flying-machine meant, he was a rapt -disciple of the world’s new aviators. - -Verses of his own and detective stories were now forgotten. Given the -task of writing an essay, by Miss Abbott, for some lapse of discipline, -he produced a wonderful composition on “The Airship.” It was so full -of Jules Verne ideas that Miss Abbott visited Bud’s foster father, and -suggested that something be done with the boy. - -The something that Attorney Stockwell did was to take Bud out of school -and put him at work on rich Mr. Greeley’s farm, where, for a time, -he labored in a gravel pit shovelling. Learning to operate the steam -shovel, he became the engineer, and after that, for some months in the -summer, he had been Mr. Greeley’s chauffeur. Just now he was back home -without a job, and a half promise of another try at school when it -opened. - -Lafe Pennington was everything Bud wasn’t. He graduated from the -high-school, and was a clerk in the First National Bank. He was popular -with the young ladies, and already wore a moustache. Lafe’s interest -in aeronautics was older than Bud’s, but his knowledge was largely -superficial. Young Pennington’s information did not extend much further -than what he had written in an essay he read before the Scottsville -Travel and Study Circle. This paper, entitled “The Development of the -Aeroplane,” had been printed in the Globe-Register. Ever since its -publication, Lafe had been trying to live up to the reputation it had -brought him. - -When Bud Wilson read the article, he at once pronounced it a -“chestnut,” and declared that it was copied almost wholly from a -magazine and an old one at that. Bud repeated this statement to Lafe -himself on the memorable occasion when the aeroplane or glider dumped -Bud. - -While running the steam shovel at Greeley’s gravel pit, Bud had the -long summer evenings to himself. There was a tool house, plenty of -lumber, and, what prompted the manufacture of the small aeroplane, -several long, steep switch tracks running down into the pit. After -several weeks of work, based on a mass of magazine photographs, -newspaper clippings, and scientific paper detailed plans, Bud finally -constructed a pretty decent looking bi-plane airship, complete in all -respects except as to the engine. It was a combination of the Curtiss -planes and the Wright rudders, with some ideas of Bud’s in the wing -warping apparatus. - -This work was done in the abandoned engine house on the slope of the -gravel hill above the pit. Lafe learned of the experiment through Mr. -Greeley, who was rather proud of his young engineer, and who did not -fail to talk about the amateur airship to those in the bank. - -As chief aviation authority in Scottsville, Lafe felt it his duty to -investigate. And, to Bud’s annoyance, the bank clerk made his first -visit to the gravel pit on a Saturday afternoon just as Bud was about -to make a trial flight. - -“What do you think of her?” asked Bud proudly. - -Lafe screwed up his mouth. - -“Pretty fair, for a kid. But what’s the sense of it? You haven’t an -engine, and I reckon you never will have one.” - -“What’s the good of it?” repeated Bud. “I suppose you know the -heavier-than-air car--the aeroplane--was developed before the -experimenters had any power. If the Wright Brothers had waited for an -engine, they’d never had a machine. The thing is to know how to fly. -You can only learn by flying.” - -Lafe smiled in a superior way. - -“All right,” he laughed. “Go ahead. I’ll see that you have a decent -funeral.” - -Lafe even helped Bud carry the fragile frame down to the head of the -switch track grade where Bud had a small tool car--no larger than a -hand car. On this the motorless planes were deposited, and when Bud had -taken his place on his stomach on the lower frame, an idle workman gave -the car a shove. - -To young Pennington’s gratification, the experiment was a fiasco. -Even after several trials, it was found that the car would not get up -sufficient momentum. The model would not leave the moving platform. -Finally, Bud got grease for the car wheels, and then stood up with his -arm pits resting on the light framework. As the car reached the bottom -of the incline, the boy sprang forward. For one moment, the surfaces -caught and held the air and the planes seemed about to rise. Then, with -a sudden twist, the frame sprang sideways and downward. Bud’s feet -struck the gravel and he stumbled. To keep from mixing up with the car, -he hurled it from him. The aeroplane sank down with only a few strains, -but Bud landed on the side of his face. - -The following Saturday, as a sort of a challenge, Bud invited Lafe and -a reporter for the Globe-Register to witness his second attempt. This -time he abandoned the car. The gravel pit had been cut into the side -of the hill. At the edge of the pit, there was a sharp drop of nearly -fifty feet. When his guests were ready, Bud had them raise the light -car--only twenty feet long--on his shoulders. Balancing the planes, he -gripped the lower struts, and before Lafe or the reporter had time to -protest, he ran a few feet down the slope--the car had been removed to -the old engine house on the hill at the brink of the pit--and stumbled -over the precipice. - -His guests caught their breaths. But Bud did not fall. When he reached -the gravel bed at the bottom, he had flown one hundred and fifty feet, -and he came down easily and safely. It was the account of this in the -Globe-Register, under the title of “First Aeroplane in Scott County” -that cemented Lafe’s jealousy of Bud’s nerve. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -SCOTTSVILLE’S FAIR SECURES AN AVIATOR. - - -When Bud returned from town, he had a buggy full of material--three -large cans of gasoline, three gasoline flare torches, oil, waste, -and--what proved to be most essential--his scrap book of airship -pictures and plans. Everything was confusion in the airship shed. The -crowd had pretty well cleaned out, but Lafe Pennington and his two -assistants did not seem to be working with any more ease because of -this. - -On top of a box, the manufacturer’s drawings and directions were spread -out. One thing only seemed to have been accomplished; everything was -uncrated. - -“Put the stuff down, and don’t bother us,” exclaimed Lafe at once. -“There are too many in here now. I won’t need you any more.” - -Before he took his departure, Bud made a hasty examination. Apparently -everything was being done backward. Pennington’s eagerness to unpack -and to knock boxes apart had made a chaos out of the shed interior. -There were no signs of work on the ascending track and weight derrick. - -“Sure you don’t want me to get that track started?” Bud asked. - -“See here, Bud, you seem to have that track on the brain. I’ll set it -up in a couple of hours when I get around to it.” - -“Oh,” answered Bud, with a smile, “I thought it might take longer.” The -dismissed boy re-entered the buggy, and drove to the ticket office at -the gate. Mr. Elder appeared in a short time with the Superintendent of -the Grounds. The possibility of keeping faith with the public by flying -the aeroplane the next afternoon was under discussion. - -“There’s a powerful lot to be done, even if Mr. Dare gets here -to-night,” commented Superintendent Perry. - -“How does it look to you, Bud?” asked President Elder, turning to the -boy--they were all standing by the buggy. Bud said nothing. - -“That’s what I think, too,” spoke up the superintendent. “I’ve been -over to the shed twice this afternoon. Mr. Pennington may be a fine -bank clerk--and I guess he’s all right at that--but he don’t strike me -as no aeroplaner. I’m afeared we’ve bit off more’n we can chew in this -deal.” - -“Is he going to be able to finish the job?” asked Mr. Elder, turning to -Bud again. - -“Perhaps. If he works all night.” - -“All night?” exclaimed Superintendent Perry. “Them mechanics’ll not -stick all night. They’re gettin’ ready to quit now.” - -Mr. Elder sighed. - -“Well, let him go ahead until the eight o’clock train gets here. If the -expert ain’t on it, I guess we’ll call it off. We made a big mistake -not hirin’ that Roman Hippodrome and Wild West Congress, but it’s too -late now.” - -Bud rode to town with Mr. Elder, after watching his horse for an hour, -and went sorrowfully home. But he was by no means as despondent as the -Fair Association President. His brain had been working all afternoon. -When the eight o’clock train came in without the eagerly longed for Mr. -Dare, Bud was at Mr. Elder’s elbow. The president was boiling mad. - -“I see he didn’t come yit,” ventured the all-observing ’bus driver, -Doug’ Jackson. “Ef he gits here on the one o’clock, I reckon I’d better -call you up and let ye know?” - -This willingness to oblige was leading up to another appeal for a pass, -but Doug’ got a cold reception. - -“Needn’t bother,” responded Mr. Elder curtly. “I’m done with these -easterners and Mr. Dare.” - -He was hurrying to his buggy when Bud touched him on the arm. - -“Mr. Elder,” said the boy, in a businesslike tone, “I’m pretty young to -make any suggestions to you, but I can help you out of your trouble. -I’m sure of it.” - -The angry fair official paused. - -“Lafe Pennington is doing what he’s always done--when it comes to this -airship business--” - -“Four flushin’,” interrupted Mr. Elder. “I know that.” - -“I wouldn’t put it that way,” added Bud, “but he’s doin’ what Mr. Perry -says--he’s bit off more’n he can chew.” - -“Well, what then? It don’t matter much. Our flyin’ man ain’t here, and -don’t look as if he’d be here.” - -“I can chew it.” - -Mr. Elder shrugged his shoulders. - -“From what I hear, you and Lafe are always knockin’ each other,” he -commented. - -“That’s right. I’ve got a reason, and he hasn’t. I can deliver the -goods, and he can’t. That’s all.” - -“What are you tryin’ to git at?” - -“Put me in charge of that work out there, and by noon to-morrow, I’ll -have that aeroplane ready to fly.” - -“Alone?” said the man, after a moment’s thought and turning on the boy -suddenly. - -“By noon, if I have carpenters to do what I need, and earlier if Lafe -will help.” - -“Would you work with Mr. Pennington?” - -“Certainly. He’s all right if he has some one with him who knows. I -know--I’ve figured this all out.” - -The puzzled official was plainly in a quandary. Then he shook his head. - -“What if you did? What’s the use of all this fussin’ and rushin’ around? -This feller to run it ain’t here, and we can’t count on him now.” - -“I’ll do it.” - -Mr. Elder’s mouth opened. - -“You mean go up in the machine?” - -“Yes.” - -“And risk breakin’ your neck?” - -“Hundreds are doing that every day. Hasn’t been but two men broken -their necks yet.” - -“You’re foolish.” - -“May be. But I’ll do it if you’ll give me the chance.” - -The suggestion was too daring for President Elder to pass on at once -and alone. He lit a cigar, looked at his watch, examined Bud in the -glare of the depot light, and then went into the station and telephoned -to some one. When he came out, he motioned the boy to follow him, -unhitched his horse and told Bud to jump into the buggy. Before he -spoke they were on their way to the fair-grounds once more. - -“What makes you think you can do this? I thought you had to be an -expert?” - -“Experts always have to have a first experience. There isn’t any half -bites. It’s whole hog or none,” answered Bud. - -“You had a half bite when you tumbled in the gravel pit,” laughed his -companion. - -“No, sir,” answered the boy. “That was riskier than this. I took more -chances when I jumped off the hill than I’ll be takin’ here.” - -“You’ll have to git your father’s consent,” suggested the president as -that thought struck the cautious banker. “If we try it, we can’t afford -to be sued for damages.” - -“I haven’t any father.” - -“Well, your guardian’s--I forgot. You’ll have to sign an agreement -waiving all claims.” - -“I’ll do that, and I’ll do more. This expert was to get fifty dollars -a day. I’ll work for nothing.” - -“Why?” - -Bud was silent a little spell. Then he answered. - -“Because every one says I’m a tough kid just because I ‘ditched’ school -a few times. I’ve never had a chance. I couldn’t even get work except -in a gravel pit. I’m anxious to ‘make good’ in this town.” - -The road to the fair-ground was now pretty well deserted. Inside the -exhibition enclosure, the white tents and the little fires glowing here -and there under the trees gave the place the appearance of a hunter’s -camp in the woods. Hastening forward in the dark, Mr. Elder drove at -once into the center of the race track. To his and to Bud’s surprise, -there was no glare of light from the airship shed. They had expected to -find the place the center of activity. - -“I reckon Mr. Pennington’s gone to supper,” suggested Bud. - -“Maybe he’s given up,” said the president. - -“You’re both wrong,” exclaimed a voice out of the blackness. “I’ve just -been over trying to get you or Superintendent Perry on the ’phone,” -went on the unseen speaker, who was easily recognized as Pennington. -“I can finish the job all right, but to be dead sure, I guess I ought -to have some help.” - -A few minutes later, they were at the shed, and Lafe and the watchman -lit the lanterns. - -“That’s what we concluded,” said Mr. Elder in a decisive tone. “And -I’ve brought Bud back. I guess you fellows had better work together.” - -“That’s all right,” replied Lafe. “I was going to suggest Bud.” - -The latter was already at work; his hat was off, his shirt was off and -his undershirt sleeves were rolled up to the elbows. He was heating and -lighting the gasoline torches. - -“Oh, it’s all right now, Mr. Elder. We’ll get along fine together, and -you can go home and rest in peace. We’ll deliver the machine on time,” -began Bud enthusiastically. “You won’t disappoint the people.” - -“Did Mr. Dare come?” asked Lafe, already greatly relieved in getting -out of his mess so easily. - -Mr. Elder shook his head. - -“No. And I ain’t countin’ on him now. Looks like we won’t need him.” - -“How’s that?” asked Lafe, puzzled. - -“If it comes to the worst, Bud says he can fly the thing.” - -“Bud?” - -“Why not? I’m sort o’ persuaded he can. I’m goin’ to see the directors -about it to-night. He’s willing to try.” - -Lafe’s face turned red and white with anger and surprise. He stammered -and trembled. - -“I think that’s a pretty raw deal, Mr. Elder, after what I’ve done. If -any one gets that chance, I think I ought.” - -“Did you want to go up in it?” - -“Of course. I had no other idea, if the operator didn’t come. I was -going to ask as soon as it was certain he couldn’t get here. I think -I’ve had a pretty hard turn down.” - -He was lying, and his indignation was largely assumed. But his jealousy -of Bud made him desperate. - -Mr. Elder was puzzled. He looked from one lad to the other. - -“How about it, Bud?” he asked at last. “Looks as if you were sort of -second fiddle, don’t it?” - -Bud hesitated, wiped his hands on a bit of waste and then smiled. - -“You didn’t say I could do it,” he answered at last, “though I’m ready -to try. If you’d rather have Lafe, all right. I’ll help get her ready -just the same. Don’t let me make any trouble.” - -The fair official looked relieved. From a dearth of aviators, he now -had an over supply of them. - -“Maybe Judge Pennington won’t consent to your reskin’ your neck, Lafe,” -he commented. - -“I’m of age,” answered Lafe, “and can do what I like.” - -“And you think you can work it?” - -There was a plain sneer on Lafe’s face. - -“I guess I know as much about it as any one around here, even if I -haven’t fallen out of one.” - -“Maybe your fall’s comin’,” interrupted Bud, with a broad grin. - -“Well, settle it between you. We’ll count on one of you. I’ll go to -town and tell the other directors.” - -“Give it to him--give Lafe the chance if he wants it,” volunteered Bud -suddenly and significantly. - -“You give up quick enough, I notice,” exclaimed Lafe somewhat -nervously. “I reckon you ain’t afraid, are you?” - -“Not so you can notice it,” retorted Bud. - -“Then we’ll count on you, Lafe,” concluded President Elder. - -“Much obliged,” was Lafe’s answer, but it lacked a good deal of being -enthusiastic. - -As soon as Mr. Elder’s buggy disappeared in the darkness, Lafe wheeled -toward Bud. - -“You did that on purpose, Bud Wilson, just to get me in a box.” - -“You jump out, and let me in,” was Bud’s sober rejoinder. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -A MIDNIGHT LUNCH. - - -“When you see me doing that, just tell me,” retorted Lafe, with another -sneer. - -“All right,” answered Bud, “I will.” - -Surrounded by a wilderness of odds and ends, the youthful rivals stood -and faced each other. Finally, Bud reached out his hand. - -“What’s the use of scrappin’ Lafe? I guess we don’t like each other any -too well, but we ought not let our grouch interfere with our chance.” - -“What chance have you?” asked the bank clerk. - -“Just a chance to get my hands on a real aeroplane. And that’s all I -want. But I won’t have that if we don’t stop quarrelin’ and get to -work.” - -“Looks to me as if you thought I’d back out.” - -“That’s up to you,” went on Bud. “I didn’t say so.” - -“Are you willing to take orders and do as I say?” - -“Sure,” answered Bud. “All I want is to see the thing fly. And, since -you are the aviator, I say ‘Good luck to you.’” - -Lafe had ignored the proffered hand, but he now relented a little. - -“I want to be fair,” he said half-heartedly, “and I’ll meet you half -way. But I don’t intend to work all night to give you a chance to show -off to-morrow.” - -“Never fear,” answered Bud. “I had hopes for a minute, but they were -like all my other chances.” And he whistled. “You’re it and I’m nit. -Come on, let’s forget our troubles.” - -As he smiled and held out his hand again, Lafe had not the heart to -refuse it. - -“Now,” went on Bud enthusiastically as the two lads limply clasped -hands, “we’re on the job. What’s doin’?” - -Within a few minutes, the rivalry was forgotten, at least temporarily. -The only headway made so far was in the mounting or setting up of a few -sections of the frame. More than half of the work was yet to be done; -the front and rear rudders were to be attached and levers adjusted; -the vulcanized silk covering of the two planes had to be put in place -and stretched; the landing skids bolted on; the engine, gasoline tank, -and water cooler put in place and tested; the batteries wired; the -propellers and shafts located; the chain gears and guards attached, -and, possibly most important, the starting rail and weight derrick -constructed. And it was then nine o’clock. - -“Let’s get started right,” suggested Bud, “now that you have everything -unpacked. Before we go any further let’s see where we stand.” - -As a result of a nearly thirty-minute conference, these were the -conclusions: A mechanic must be found at once, if possible, to adjust -the engine, oil it and get it running; a carpenter must also be secured -to start to work by midnight on the starting track; these things -arranged for, the two amateurs agreed that, together, they could have -the aeroplane itself so far set up by daylight as to give assurance to -the fair directors that the day’s program could be carried out. - -“And then,” suggested Lafe, “I suppose T. Glenn Dare will sail in on -the noon train and steal our thunder.” - -“He can’t steal mine,” laughed Bud. “I’ll have been through this thing -by that time from top to bottom. That’s all I want--that, I can get,” -he added with another laugh. - -The first stumbling block was the launching device. This essential -part of any aeroplane flight is usually a single wooden rail about -eight inches high, faced with strap iron. As it is necessary with most -modern aeroplanes to make a run before sufficient sustention is secured -to force the machine into the air, it is evident that this starting -impulse must be secured through an outside force. - -The specifications forwarded with the airship purchased by the fair -authorities, called for the long wooden rail. On this the aeroplane -was to be balanced on a small two-wheeled truck. At the rear end of -the rail, the plans called for a small derrick, pyramidal in form, -constructed of four timbers each twenty-five feet long and two inches -square braced by horizontal frames and wire stays. - -At the top and at the bottom of this, were two, pulley blocks with a -rope passing around the sheaves a sufficient number of times to provide -a three-to-one relation between a 1500-pound weight suspended from the -top pulley and the movement of the aeroplane on the track. - -The rope, which passes around the pulley at the bottom of the derrick, -is carried forward to and around a pulley at the front end of the -rail, and thence back to the aeroplane, to which it is attached with -a right-angled hook. When everything is ready for an ascension and -the operator is in place, the propellers are set to work. When they -have reached their maximum revolution and the car begins to feel -their propelling force, the weight, usually several bags of sand, -is released, the tightened rope shoots through the pulleys and the -balanced aeroplane springs forward on its car. By the time it has -traveled seventy-five or one hundred feet, the impulse of the falling -weight and the lift of the propellers sends it soaring. Thereupon, the -hook drops off and the free airship begins its flight. - -“We have the plans for the derrick and the track, the pulley blocks, -rope and hook,” declared Bud at once. “But we haven’t the little car.” - -“Couldn’t we make one?” ventured Lafe. - -“Certainly, but hardly in the time we have.” - -“I’ve heard of aeroplanes ascending by skidding along over the grass,” -suggested the bank clerk. - -“But they weren’t in the hands of amateurs. We’d better stick to the -rail. I’ve been thinking over this--down there in the freight-house.” - -“Did you know the track car wasn’t here?” - -“Well, I didn’t see it. Here is the idea. The aeroplane has two light, -smooth landing runners or skids. Lumber is cheap. Instead of a track -for the wheels we haven’t got, we’ll make two grooves just as long as -the proposed track. We’ll stake these out on the ground and set the -landing runners in them after we’ve greased the grooves with tallow. -The weight, rope and hook will work exactly as if we had a single -track--’n possibly better. Anything the matter with that suggestion?” - -Lafe was skeptical a few moments while Bud made a sketch of the new -device. Then he conceded that he could see no reason why it wouldn’t -work. - -“All right,” exclaimed Bud, in a businesslike way, “now, you go ahead, -and I’m off for town for the timber and the men we need. You can’t do -much single handed, of course, but do what you can. I’ll be back before -midnight. Then we’ll get down to business.” - -The boy had no vehicle to carry him the two miles to Scottsville, so he -walked. The night was dark, and almost starless, and the pike or road -was soft with heavy dust; but, with his coat on his arm, Bud struck out -with the stride of a Weston. Covered with dust and perspiration, in -about half an hour, he reached the edge of the town. Entering the first -open place he found, a sort of neighborhood grocery, he called up Mr. -Elder by telephone. - -It required some minutes to fully explain the situation, but finally -he convinced the fair official that the things he suggested were -absolutely necessary and must be done at once. As a result, by the time -Bud reached the town public square, Mr. Elder was waiting for him in -the office of the hotel. - -The usual “fair week” theatrical entertainment was in progress in the -town “opera-house,” fakers were orating beneath their street torches, -and the square was alive with Scottsville citizens and those already -arrived for the fair. It was not difficult for President Elder to -start things moving. Within a half hour he had found, and for extra -pay, arranged for two carpenters and an engineer to report at the -fair-grounds at once. - -The securing of the lumber was not so easy and called for some -persistent telephoning. Finally an employe of the “Hoosier Sash, -Door and Blind Co.” was found, and he in turn secured a teamster. At -ten-thirty o’clock, Bud was in the lumber yard selecting the needed -material with the aid of a smoky lantern, and before eleven o’clock the -one-horse wagon was on its way to the fair-grounds. The two carpenters -reached the airship shed about eleven-thirty in a spring wagon with -their tools, and a little after twelve o’clock the engineer arrived on -foot with a hammer, a wrench and a punch in his pocket. - -Before work really began, Bud startled Pennington with a cheery -question. - -“Say, Lafe, I’m hungry as a chicken, and I’ve only got a dime. Got any -money?” - -Lafe was not celebrated for generosity. - -“I don’t see what good money’ll do out here. There’s no place to buy -stuff. And it’s midnight anyway.” - -“If you’ll produce, I’ll get something to eat,” said Bud with a grin. - -“Here’s a quarter,” answered Pennington slowly. - -“Gimme a dollar,” exclaimed Bud. “I’ll pay it back. I forgot to speak -of it to Mr. Elder.” - -“What do you want with a dollar?” asked his associate, somewhat -alarmed. Bud’s credit wasn’t the sort that would ordinarily warrant -such a loan. - -“Why, for all of us, of course. We can’t work all night on empty -stomachs. And there’s five of us.” - -Thereupon, Lafe rose to the occasion and handed Bud a two-dollar bill. - -“You can bring me the change,” he suggested promptly. “I’ll charge it -up to the fair officers.” - -Bud was off in the dark. His hopes of securing something to eat were -based on what he had seen passing through the grounds on his way back -with the lumber. In several groups under the big trees, he had seen -camp-fires. “Concession” owners and their attendants who remained on -the grounds during the night had turned the vicinity of the silent -tents and booths into a lively camp. In one place, the proprietor of a -“red hot” stand had a bed of charcoal glowing, and a supply of toasting -sausages on the grill. These were in apparently steady demand by -watchmen, hostlers, live stock owners and many others who had not yet -retired. - -On his way to this stand, Bud passed what he had not observed before. -In the rear of a dirty, small tent, an old woman, a man and a woman -of middle age were squatted about the dying embers of a fire. Almost -concealing both the tent and group was a painted picture, worn and -dingy, displayed like a side-show canvas. On this, above the attempt -to outline an Egyptian female head, were the words: “Madame Zecatacas, -Gypsy Queen. The Future Revealed.” - -[Illustration: BUD BARGAINS FOR COFFEE.] - -Bud could not resist the temptation to stop a moment. The man greeted -him with a stare, but the old woman held out a skinny hand. Her brown, -wrinkled face was almost repulsive. A red and yellow handkerchief was -wound around her head, and her oily, thin black hair was twisted into -tight braids behind her ears, from which hung long, brassy-looking -earrings. In spite of her age, she was neither bent nor feeble. - -As the low fire played on the gaudy colors of her thick dress, she -leaned forward, her hand still extended. - -“Twelve o’clock, the good-luck hour,” she exclaimed in a broken voice. -“I see good fortune in store for the young gentleman. Let the Gypsy -Queen read your fate. Cross Zecatacas’ palm with silver. I see good -fortune for the young gentleman.” - -There was something uncanny in the surroundings, and Bud was about to -beat a retreat, when the man exclaimed: - -“Got a cigarette, Kid?” - -In explaining that he had not, Bud’s eyes fell on the rest of the -group. A little girl lay asleep with her head in the middle-aged -woman’s lap. The man held a tin cup in his hand. On the coals of the -fire stood a coffee pot. - -“Got some coffee, there?” asked Bud abruptly. - -The man grunted in the negative. The old woman punched the coals into a -blaze. - -“Give you fifty cents, if you’ll make me a pot full,” said Bud. - -The little girl’s mother looked up with interest. - -“What kind o’ money?” drawled the man. - -“Part of this,” said Bud displaying Lafe’s two-dollar bill. - -The man reached out his hand. - -“Got the change?” Bud inquired. - -The old woman reached under her dress and withdrew her hand with a bag -of silver coin. - -“We’re over in the track working on the airship,” explained Bud with -no little pride. “When it’s ready bring it over. You can see the -aeroplane.” - -In the matter of food, Bud secured not only “red hots,” sandwiches -and dill pickles, but a few cheese and ham sandwiches. Altogether he -expended a dollar and twenty-five cents of Lafe’s money. - -“Here you are,” he exclaimed on his return, while the new workmen -grinned and chuckled, “hot dogs and ham on the bun. Coffee’ll be here -in a few minutes.” - - - - -CHAPTER V - -MADAME ZECATACAS READS THE FUTURE. - - -The workmen assisting Lafe and Bud did not wait for the coffee. The -last of the appetizing sandwiches had disappeared when the male member -of Madame Zecatacas’ outfit came shambling along with the pot of -neither very fragrant nor very strong coffee. - -“Help yourselves, boys,” suggested Bud, offering the workmen their -only drinking vessel--a tin water cup. “We’ll try to have a better -breakfast.” - -Lafe, who had worked steadily and energetically all night, was sitting -on a box taking a breathing spell. Bud, as a further reward to the -coffee bearer, was attempting to show the sour-looking stranger some -details of the aeroplane and hastening in his explanation, for there -was plenty of work to be done. About the time he had finished, there -was a sharp exclamation just outside the shed. - -“Move on. What are you doing hanging around here?” - -It was Pennington speaking in a brusque voice. - -“Twelve o’clock, the good-luck hour,” a woman’s voice responded. “I see -good fortune in store for the young gentleman. Let the Gypsy Queen read -your fate. Cross Zecatacas’ palm with silver. I see good fortune for -the young gentleman.” - -“Get out, you faker,” exclaimed Lafe. - -“She’s all right,” interrupted Bud. “She’s the Gypsy Queen. She’s Queen -Zecatacas, and she made the coffee for us.” - -“Well, it’s no good anyway,” retorted Lafe. “And I reckon we’ve had -enough visitors for one day.” - -The old woman seemed not to hear the words. She was looking beyond -Pennington and into the brilliantly lighted airship house, where, in -the glare of the torches and lanterns, the fragile and graceful frame -of the aeroplane had at last assumed shape. - -“Beat it,” added Lafe authoritatively, “and don’t bother us any more. -We’re busy.” - -The aged gypsy did not take her eyes from the skeleton of the airship. -To Bud, the shadowed fortune teller seemed like a person in a trance. -Without replying to Lafe or moving, she spoke, suddenly, in a strange -tongue, to the man with her. He answered angrily in the same language. -She stretched forth a bare, lean arm and pointing toward the aeroplane -spoke again. The man replied, more at length this time, and as if in -explanation. - -“She wants to know what it’s all about,” volunteered one of the -carpenters who was nearest the apparently transfixed woman. - -The man laughed with a sort of sneer. - -“Don’t you fool yourself. She reads. She knows. But she never seen one.” - -“Well, we ain’t on exhibition now,” spoke up Lafe. “You and the old -lady have your pay. We’ll excuse you.” - -“What you so sore about, Lafe?” interrupted Bud. “I don’t see that -they’re doin’ any harm. I think we ought to thank ’em for makin’ us a -pot of coffee at midnight.” - -Before Pennington could make reply to this, Zecatacas, the Queen of -the Gypsies, took a step forward. Something seemed to make her look -bigger--perhaps it was the light, which now fell full on her face. Bud -stepped back. It was a face full of creepy power. Chanting, the woman -spread her long fingers before her and mumbled: - -“The old Gypsy Queen has read the Book of Fate many years. Across the -seas, she foretold how man would soar like a bird. What she foretold -has come to pass. Not for gold nor silver did the Book of the Future -open to her. She dreamed the dream of what would come to pass. -To-morrow Zecatacas will look upon what she foretold across the seas.” - -“Sure,” interrupted Bud, anxious to change the subject, “come to me, -and I’ll get you a front seat--free. When did you predict that there’d -be airships?” - -“Rubbish,” exclaimed Lafe, glaring at the old fortune teller. “If you -feel better now, you’d better duck and get to bed.” - -To neither of these speeches did the gypsy seem to give the slightest -heed. - -“What is written in the Book of the Future will be. I see men flying -over forest and mountain. Faster than birds they mount into the clouds. -The clouds are dark, the sky is black. I see--the Gypsy Queen sees -death.” - -“Get out, you old hag,” roared Lafe, angered at last beyond control, -“or I’ll fire you out.” - -With a cat-like spring, the gypsy leaped forward, caught Lafe’s -extended arm in a vice-like grip, and before the young man knew what -she was doing, or could prevent it, she had opened his clenched fist -and shot a lightning-like glance at his exposed palm. As the half -frightened and trembling Lafe jerked his hand from her grasp, the -fortune teller hissed at him: - -“You spit upon the Gypsy Queen. She puts upon you no curse. But the -Line of Fate tells much. Beware! Zecatacas tells nothing. For him who -spits upon her, she sees all evil and woe. There is more, the sky is -black, but old Zecatacas tells nothing. Beware!” - -With the last word, the old woman disappeared into the darkness. Before -Lafe could make reply to her, the man, picking up his coffee pot, -exclaimed: - -“I was just goin’ to hand you a swipe for your freshness, young fellow, -but I guess the old woman has given you enough to think about.” - -“What do you mean?” blurted out Lafe, making a show of resentment and -swaggering up to the man. The latter reached out a brawny hand and -pushed Pennington aside. - -“I mean what I said. I ain’t no Romney. But, I don’t cross the old -lady. She ain’t handin’ out no hoodoo curses; but--well, the long and -short of it is, she’s got her fingers crossed on you. Them gypsies has -sure got somethin’ up their sleeves we ain’t an’, whatever it is, I -wouldn’t give you a nickel for your luck while she’s sore on you.” - -Then he too was gone. The same talkative carpenter, for all had -suspended work while the incident was taking place, felt called upon to -make a remark. - -“I knowed a Gypsy ’at put a charm on a feller I worked with onct an’ he -fell off’n a roof an’ purt nigh kilt hisself.” - -“And I heard of a colored voodoo doctor,” broke in Bud, “who put a -curse on a coon, and the doctor himself was arrested for chicken -stealin’. So you see there ain’t much to be scared about.” He attempted -to liven things with a peal of laughter. But no one joined him. “And as -for this old Zecatacas, or Gypsy Queen as she calls herself,” he went -on, “she makes me tired. Give ’em a quarter and you’re goin’ to have -good luck and money; turn ’em down, as Lafe kind o’ had to do, an’ they -make an awful bluff about doin’ you dirt some way.” - -“She don’t scare me a bit,” remarked Pennington, who was yet white and -trembling. - -“You’d be a fool if she did,” added Bud consolingly. “Any way, it’s all -over now. Let’s fall to and get busy.” - -Pennington had already worked nine hours, and it was not strange that -he was tired and nervous. He was restless and irritable, and every now -and then took occasion to say how little he cared for old Zecatacas’ -words. Bud did what he could to belittle the gypsy’s disturbing speech. -At three o’clock, Lafe lay down and slept until six, when he, Bud -and the three men closed the shed and, on another advance from Lafe, -managed to secure an early breakfast at a boarding tent erected for the -stock attendants. Newly fortified with food and a wash up, they were -back to work at seven o’clock. - -Pennington had grown a little more affable, and as the end of their -labors now came in sight, he was even at times in a good humor. But -Bud saw that either old Zecatacas’ speech or something else disturbed -Lafe. At eight o’clock, when President Elder arrived, it was seen that, -whether expert Dare arrived or not, the aeroplane would be ready by -about eleven o’clock. - -“How did you young fellows settle it?” were Mr. Elder’s first words, -after a gratified look into the airship shed. - -“Mr. Pennington has it,” answered Bud promptly. - -“No hard feelings?” added the official with a smile. - -“Smooth as pie,” explained Bud. “Only, if the chance ever comes, I’d -like a try at it--when I ain’t in any one’s way.” - -“Still think you can sail her?” said Mr. Elder, turning to Pennington. - -“Yes,” replied the latter, “it looks easy enough. Of course, there is -a certain risk, but I’ll chance that. Only,” and he spoke as if the -thought had just come to him, “I wish I’d had more rest last night. I’m -pretty tired, and you know a fellow ought to be at his best.” - -“Yes,” explained Bud, “he worked a good deal longer than the rest of -us.” He didn’t say anything, however, about Pennington’s three hours’ -sleep. “Of course, he feels it more.” - -“Perhaps you’d better wait until to-morrow, Lafe, when you’ve had a -good night’s sleep. How would it do for Bud to make the first trial? He -seems fresh enough.” - -“Oh, I’m all right--I guess,” answered Pennington. “You can count on -me. By the way, you didn’t hear from Mr. Dare, did you?” - -“Not a peep.” - -“I’ll be ready.” - -Before nine o’clock, two more directors appeared, almost together. They -were Lafe’s father, Judge E. Pennington (in reality only a Justice of -the Peace), and Bud’s foster father, Attorney Cyrus Stockwell. - -“Bud,” began Attorney Stockwell angrily, “why didn’t you send us word -you were going to stay out all night?” - -“To tell you the truth,” answered Bud without any great alarm, “I -didn’t know it when I left home, and after I got out here, I didn’t -have a chance.” - -“They tell me you offered to go up in this thing,” continued the -attorney, jerking his thumb toward the now practically completed air -craft. - -“Offered!” exclaimed Bud. “I begged to. But I got left. Lafe beat me to -it.” - -“Lafe?” exclaimed Judge Pennington. “Lafe going up in the airship?” - -“I agreed to,” exclaimed young Pennington. “If the operator don’t come, -they’ve got to have some one. And I know more about it than any one -else around here.” - -“And you’ve promised to commit suicide in that death trap?” added Judge -Pennington hastily. - -“I--I didn’t see what else I could do,” faltered Lafe. - -“Well, I can,” broke in his father, “and mighty quick. You can stay out -of it.” - -“Judge,” interrupted Attorney Stockwell, “I don’t see any cause to -worry. Bud tells me he is anxious to take Lafe’s place.” - -“Bud Wilson?” sneered the Judge. “What call has he to try such a thing?” - -“Oh, none, except he’s been up in one once. I never heard that Lafe -had,” retorted the piqued lawyer. Attorney Stockwell had no particular -concern for Bud and certainly no affection for him. Later, Judge -Pennington said he reckoned the lawyer rather wanted Bud to turn -aviator and break his neck in the bargain. But, this morning, the -lawyer resented Lafe’s superiority. - -“I guess if Lafe had tried to fly, he wouldn’t have tumbled out on his -head,” snorted the Judge. “I don’t approve of sending boys up just -because we made this fool arrangement. But, when it comes down to who’s -entitled to do the thing and who’s got the real grit, I guess it’ll be -my own boy.” - -Bud was watching Lafe. He expected to see his rival swell up with pride -and elation. On the contrary, he was sure that he detected signs of -disappointment in young Pennington. - -“He don’t seem to be hankerin’ after the job,” was the attorney’s next -shot. - -“Lafe,” exclaimed his father belligerently, “did Mr. Elder select you -for this work?” - -“He did.” - -“Then you do the job, or I’ll know why.” - -“I thought it was all settled,” interposed Bud in a calm voice. “I -ain’t makin’ any fuss about it. I ain’t claimin’ the right.” - -“Then you won’t be disappointed,” snapped the judge, and he bustled -angrily away. - -“Bud?” asked the Attorney in a low voice, as Lafe walked away, “how -much are you to get for workin’ all night?” - -“Not a cent. It’s like goin’ to school to me.” - -“You’re crazy. Workin’ all night for nothin’? Why that’s expert -service, an’ it ought to be double pay, too.” - -“I did it for fun,” explained Bud, with a laugh. - -“Fun?” snapped the lawyer. “You wouldn’t think it so funny if you had -to pay for your board and clothes.” - -“I never asked you to do either,” replied Bud. “I don’t know why you -do. You just took me in. If you’re tired of me, I’ll stay away. But I -haven’t any money to pay you.” - -“Stay away,” sneered the lawyer. “Where’d you stay? You haven’t a home.” - -“Wherever there’s aeroplanes,” answered Bud calmly, “that’s my job now.” - -“Still,” said the Attorney in a milder tone, “I don’t want to be hard -on you. You had better come back to us until you are able to care for -yourself.” - -“Thank you,” answered Bud. “I hope that won’t be long.” - -When his foster father had followed after Judge Pennington, Bud turned -to Lafe. The latter was lying on a long packing case. - -“Sleepy?” asked Bud. - -“Pretty tired,” replied Lafe. “Do you think you can finish up now? -I believe I ought to go home and go to bed for an hour or so before -afternoon. I’ve got to be on edge, you know.” - -“Sure,” said Bud sympathetically. “You do that. I’ll put the last -touches on everything. If you get back here by two o’clock, that’s time -enough?” - -Just before twelve o’clock, President Elder drove up to the airship -shed. - -“Well,” he announced, “he didn’t come. Our expert failed to arrive. -It’s up to Lafe. Where is he?” - -“He’ll be here,” answered Bud. “We’re all ready, and he’s gone home for -a little rest.” - -About one-thirty o’clock, President Elder visited the aeroplane -headquarters again. Bud was greasing the starting grooves. - -“Bud,” began the fair official with a faint smile, “I knew it all the -time. It’s you or no exhibition. Lafe Pennington is in bed, sick. He’s -got a nervous chill.” - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE GYPSY QUEEN’S TALISMAN. - - -Thursday and Friday were usually the big days at the fair in point -of attendance; but, owing no doubt to the novel exhibition so widely -advertised to begin this day, long before noon it was apparent that the -directors had made a wise investment when they spent eighteen hundred -dollars for an aeroplane. The pike leading to the fair-ground lay -beneath a cloud of dust, the hitch racks were full, and, on the basis -of number of visitors, the exhibition was really in full blast a day -ahead of time. - -The last touches were hastily put on the exhibits in the Agricultural, -Floral and Machinery Halls; the ice cream, candy, peanut and red -lemonade stands made a brave show of their wares; the “nigger baby” and -cane rack barkers began appealing to young and old alike to try their -luck, and by noon, thousands of pushing, tired and perspiring people -attested that the fair was already in full swing. - -The “three minute” trot and “free for all” running races were carded -for the afternoon, beginning at two o’clock; and the big event, the -startling, stupendous and spectacular flight of the “Twentieth Century -Marvel,” the aeroplane, was to occur about three o’clock between heats -of the races. - -The curious spectators did not bother themselves about the airship -until after the dinner hour. But, just about the time President Elder -announced to Bud that Lafe would not be able to operate the airship, -the crowd began to drift toward the field within the race track. By -two o’clock, the pressure became so great that Bud, the talkative -carpenter who was yet with him, and a special policeman detailed by -Superintendent Perry, were forced to drop the canvas side over the -front of the house, and devote their time to protecting the starting -track or rails. - -When the carpenter learned that Lafe was sick and would be unable to -direct the flight, he did not hesitate to express his opinion. - -“Humph!” he exclaimed. “I guess he’s sick, all right. And he began -gettin’ sick right after that old Gypsy spoke her piece. I don’t blame -him, neither.” - -“What’d you mean?” asked Bud, apparently surprised. “You don’t mean the -old woman scared him?” - -“She nigh scart me. You bet she did. Mr. Pennington ain’t sick o’ -overwork. The Gypsy Queen jes’ nacherly scart him into a chill.” - -“I don’t believe it,” said Bud. “He may be scared--I rather thought -myself he was weakenin’ this morning, but he’d be a fool to let a woman -put over such a bluff.” - -The carpenter shook his head. - -“I don’t know no law agin’ his bein’ a fool,” he added. - -Bud made no answer. He knew well enough that the carpenter’s theory -was right. Whether Lafe had the physical courage to trust himself in -the aeroplane Bud had no way of knowing. But his own eyes told him -that Pennington had not the moral courage to throw off the prophecy of -Zecatacas, the Gypsy Queen. In his heart, he felt sorry for Lafe, for -he himself had a most distinct and disagreeable recollection of the -Gypsy’s depressing prediction. - -The first thump of horses’ feet on the race track when the “three -minute” trotters came out to warm up and the “ding,” “ding,” “ding,” of -the warning bell in the judges’ stand took away a part of the crowd, -but enough remained to put the starting track in constant danger. -Finally, Bud managed to secure a long rope, and the carpenter staked -off a pen in front of the shed. This protected the apparatus, but it -made Bud conspicuous, and the crowd began to hail comment on him. - -“Hey, there, Bud Wilson,” shouted a young man. “They’re a givin’ it out -over yender that you’re goin’ up in the airship.” - -Bud smiled and nodded his head. The crowd pushed forward. - -“I reckon yer likely to come down right smart faster nor ye go up,” -exclaimed a rural humorist. - -“Not none o’ thet in mine,” added another voice. “Not fur love nur -money.” - -“What won’t they be a doin’ nex?” exclaimed a fourth. - -Bud smiled and said nothing. But, just at this time, seeing a familiar -figure in the crowd, he sprang forward, lifted the rope and beckoned -Madame Zecatacas, the Gypsy Queen, to come inside. She did so, and, -while a hubbub of protest and inquiry arose from the crowd, Bud led -the picturesquely bedecked fortune teller to the airship shed, lifted -the canvas flap and signed to her to enter. The old woman had now none -of the creepy, malignant look she exhibited the night before. She was -rather fawning than otherwise. - -“Look a’ here, Madame Zecatacas,” Bud began at once. “I reckon you -don’t know what a commotion you made last night. They say you scared my -friend sick.” - -“The Gypsy Queen sees all things--knows all,” began the old woman in -her usual singsong. “He who spits on--” - -“Oh, see here,” interrupted Bud. “He didn’t spit on you, and didn’t -mean anything agin’ you. You’re a little touchy ain’t you?” - -Madame Zecatacas gave him something like the look she gave Lafe the -night before. Then her face relaxed into a smile. She ignored the -question. - -“The young gentleman has a good hand. Money, and the Gypsy Queen will -bring him good fortune.” - -“I ain’t got but ten cents,” laughed Bud. - -The Gypsy scowled. - -“Here,” he exclaimed hastily. “Don’t begin that with me. Don’t put any -high sign on me. I ain’t got time to have a chill.” - -“The Gypsy Queen can do much.” - -“I can see that, good enough,” answered Bud promptly, thinking of Lafe, -“but I haven’t the price. If I had, I’d try you a whirl. I never had my -fortune told. See here, Mrs. Zecatacas, what do I get for lettin’ you -in here free gratis for nothin’? Right next the airship, too? I’d think -you’d tell me a few good things just to show there’s no hard feelin’.” - -The Gypsy tried to scowl again, but Bud’s exuberance was too much for -her. She reached forward and took his hand. - -“Look out now,” urged Bud. “Nothin’ bum. Don’t give me the willies. I -got to do my flyin’ stunt in a few minutes.” - -“Long life,” began the Gypsy. - -“Bully for you,” exclaimed Bud. “Now, just tell me I’ll get an -education and travel, and have money enough to buy an aeroplane, and -we’ll call it square.” - -“And much trouble--” - -“Shut her off,” interrupted the boy, with assumed concern. “Come to -think of it, I don’t need my fortune read. I’m goin’ to make my own.” - -“A strange man will bring you much trouble--” - -“Beware of a dark stranger,” laughed Bud. “That’s all right, Mrs. -Zecatacas, I’ll watch for him. Now, I’ll show you around a bit and then -I guess you’d better be going.” - -For a few minutes, Bud explained, as well as he could, the general -features of the aeroplane. In the midst of this, he heard animated talk -just outside the canvas door, and, as it was quickly thrown aside, the -Scottsville Chief of Police, Matthew Marsh, or Mat Marsh, as he was -universally known, stepped inside the tent. - -“Hello, Bud,” he began. “Heard you was in charge here. An’ got company, -too. Don’t want to make no disturbance, but I’m lookin’ fur your -friend.” He looked at Madame Zecatacas, and motioned her toward him. “I -want you,” he added officially. “I got a warrant for you.” - -The old woman gazed at him in astonishment, and then appealingly at Bud. - -“Got a warrant for her!” exclaimed the boy. “What for?” - -“Assault and battery,” answered Chief Marsh laconically. - -“Who’s she assaulted?” - -“Judge Pennington issued it on complaint o’ his boy.” - -“Lafe?” - -“Yep. Lafe says the old lady jumped on him las’ night and assaulted -him. Guess it’s right. He’s home in bed.” - -“That’s a lie,” retorted Bud angrily, “and I don’t believe Lafe ever -said so. I saw it all. It’s a lie.” - -“You seen it?” commented the Chief. - -“All of it--right here. But there wasn’t any fight. Nothin’ like it.” - -“I reckon the old lady and her son-in-law better subpoena you fur a -witness.” - -“Has the man been arrested, too?” - -The Chief nodded his head. - -“When’s the trial?” asked Bud indignantly. - -This time, the Chief shook his head the other way. - -“You let me know,” exclaimed Bud. “I’m beginnin’ to get onto this deal. -I want to be there and testify. These people didn’t do a thing out of -the way. There’s four of us’ll swear to it. This is Judge Pennington’s -doings.” - -The Chief wiped his perspiring bald head. - -“How do ye figure that?” he said at last. - -Bud was silent a few moments, and in each one of these he became more -angry. Finally, he burst out in his indignation. - -“I ain’t blamin’ Lafe,” he said, “but he talked pretty raw to Mrs. -Zecatacas last night, and she handed it right back. An’ gypsy-like -she talked about hard luck and trouble and things like that ’til Lafe -kind o’ got cold feet on reskin’ anything to-day. That’s what I think -anyway. Now he’s home in bed, sick or scared or both. An’ when he -told his father about what took place out here, the Judge didn’t do a -thing but fake up this complaint just to get even. He’s sore because -I’ve got the chance an’ Lafe ain’t. I didn’t expect to do no knockin’, -but that’s just the way it’ll all figure out. You can take it right -straight from me.” - -The Chief looked knowingly at Bud, and then closed one eye. - -“Bein’ an officer o’ the law, I ain’t takin’ sides an’ I don’t have no -opinion. But I heerd what you said. Come on, old lady.” - -Madame Zecatacas straightened up and glared at the policeman. Bud -stepped over and patted her on the shoulder. - -“You can’t get out of it--now--Mrs. Zecatacas. Go along quietly, and if -you want me for a witness or any of the men who were here last night, -you tell Mr. Marsh. I’ll come and testify for you.” - -The gypsy caught his hands in hers, pressed them, and then with a swift -movement laid two brown fingers on Bud’s forehead. With another swift -motion, she pointed to the aeroplane and exclaimed: - -“The Gypsy Queen gives you good luck.” - -This happened in an instant, but before Bud could recover from his -surprise, the withered dame reached forth her hand once more, and -forced into Bud’s palm a small object. Then, without further word, she -followed the Chief of Police. - -In his fingers, Bud found a heavy ring--dull of color, and yet, -apparently not brass. Sunk in the top of it, was a worn, opaque, green -stone in the shape of a bug. Bud did not know it, but the stone was a -sacred Egyptian scarab. - -“Good luck from the Gypsy Queen,” repeated Bud, a little upset. “Well, -anyway, good or bad, here goes,” and he slipped the worn ring upon his -third finger. - -Outside the shed, Bud found the waiting crowd almost too much for the -men on guard, with a new stream thronging toward the aviation grounds -from the race-track. At the head of this, marched President Elder, -Superintendent Perry and the other officials. Bud knew his part of the -day’s program was due. He glanced skyward. There was almost no breeze. - -“Everything ready?” asked Mr. Elder, in a quick businesslike tone. -“It’s just been announced from the judges’ stand.” - -“Ought to hear ’em yell when I told ’em how Mr. Bud Wilson, a product -of our own city, would operate the machine,” added the Superintendent. - -Bud was too busy to parry personal compliments. While Superintendent -Perry and the President lifted the canvas front and drove the crowd -back, Bud tested the ignition battery, re-oiled the shaft bearings, -looked a last time for possible leaks in the gasoline reservoir and -then for an instant only, set the engine in motion. As it stopped and -the vibrating frame settled back on its trusses, he knew of nothing -more to be done. - -Outside he could hear the President and the Superintendent shouting -commands and exhortations. - -“Git back there, now, all o’ you, ’at don’t want to git hurt. Mr. -Wilson’s got to have room. Anybody ’at gits hit’ll be killed. Git back -there, everybody. You can all see. ’Taint no horse race. Stand back! -The aeroplane will circle around the track. You kin all see. Give us -room here,” the superintendent kept crying. - -“Ladies and gentlemen,” added President Elder, mounting the lower -brace of the weight derrick. “It is only proper for me to announce -once more that we are only able to make this exhibition to-day through -the kindness of a Scottsville boy, Mr. Bud Wilson. The expert who was -to operate our aeroplane disappointed us. But, rather than disappoint -you, Mr. Wilson has volunteered to risk his life in exhibiting this -wonderful invention. I hope you will help him by giving us ample room, -and that you will refrain from rushing forward, if there happens to -be an accident. We must have no interference, and, on behalf of Mr. -Wilson, I ask absolute silence while he is adjusting the aeroplane for -its hazardous plunge into space.” - -A murmur ran through the crowd which, in a moment, died away into an -awed silence. The speech and the silence that fell immediately upon -the thousands present attracted Bud’s attention. He turned from his -lingering look at the craft that meant so much to him just in time to -find President Elder motioning to him. He stepped to the official’s -side. As he did so, Mr. Elder sprang from the derrick and laid his hand -on Bud’s shoulder. - -“Ladies and gentlemen,” shouted the president in a voice that could be -heard at the far edge of the expectant jam, “I take great pleasure in -presenting to you Mr. Bud Wilson, our aviator. Good luck and success -to you, Bud,” he added, melodramatically taking the boy’s hand. - -A woman in the crowd sobbed and Bud, red with embarrassment, hastened -into the shed. - -“What’d you do that for?” exclaimed Bud, as the President joined him. - -“Do what?” laughed Mr. Elder. - -“Why shake hands that way and say that. I ain’t no circus.” - -“Excuse me,” answered the fair official. “That’s just what you are. -This is a show. And we want to make it worth our eighteen hundred -dollars.” - -“Oh, I see.” - -“And that isn’t all. The real performance is yet to come. You don’t -suppose you’re just going to shoot away in silence. Did you ever see -’em ‘loop the loop’ in a circus? Well, we’ve got that beat a mile. -Listen. I’ll release the weight that starts you. When you are ready to -get into the car, I’ll get up and tell ’em that any sound may distract -you and cause a fatal accident. When they are absolutely still, you’ll -take your seat and I’ll take my place at the weight cord. Then I’ll say -in a solemn voice: ‘When you are ready, Mr. Wilson, say Go.’ You’ll -look about, settle yourself, wait a few moments and then, sharp and -quick, shout ‘Go!’ Then if you do go, the crowd’ll feel it has its -twenty-five cents’ worth.” - -Bud laughed. - -“Funny you didn’t bring a pair of tights,” he commented. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -A FOOLHARDY TRICK IN AN AEROPLANE. - - -For one moment, a feeling of doubt swept over Bud--not fear of an -accident--it was only the first dread of all amateurs--apprehension -that his performance might not go off all right. When he glanced out -over the thousands waiting to see what was he going to do and realized -that all these people were waiting for him--it was enough to give a -youngster stage fright. While he paused, he felt Madame Zecatacas’ -ring, her good luck charm. - -“What more does a fellow need?” Bud said to himself. “All ready,” he -exclaimed aloud, suddenly reassured, and springing to the center of the -aeroplane frame between the engine section and the rear rudder struts, -he directed the others in the shed to places along the truss. Then -as gently as if moving a man with a broken leg, the long, wiry white -planes of the airship were carried out into the full view of the crowd. - -The “Ohs” and “Ahs” were soon lost in the noise of the shuffling, eager -audience. Men and women crowded forward, clouds of dust arose, and -the rope barrier broke before the clamoring spectators. Those carrying -the machine could only call out threats until the aeroplane had been -deposited over the starting track and the landing skids fitted into the -greased grooves. Then Bud sprang onto the fragile frame work. Waving -his hand at the people, he shouted: - -“The aeroplane is going to shoot straight along this track fast as an -engine. If any of you folks get in its way, you’ll be smashed. There -ain’t goin’ to be no start until you all get back and stay back.” - -Then he sprang to the ground and for five minutes, he, the president, -superintendent and the others helping, struggled with the slowly -receding flood of people. At last the rope barrier was re-established -and Bud, hot and perspiring, felt that the trial might be safely -attempted. As a precaution, he went into the shed and put on his coat. -This one act seemed to calm the crowd. - -“Goin’ to be cold up in the clouds?” inquired one facetious onlooker. - -For answer, Bud fastened the right-angled hook attached to the end -of the starting rope to the lowest cross brace of the forward rudder -frame and then, with the help of the carpenter and the superintendent, -pushed the aeroplane backward on the two tracks until the rope was -taut. The bags of sand weighing 1500 pounds were already at the top -of the derrick, and the release cord was ready for President Elder’s -manipulation. - -“Don’t forget the program,” whispered that official, as he stepped by -Bud. - -“I’ll go you one better,” answered the boy, with a smile. Then, -recalling what he had often seen in circuses, Bud stepped a few paces -forward and looked the car over critically. This was wholly for effect, -but with a most concerned face, the young aviator squinted at the ship -of the air from two or three angles. Then he mounted the end of the -starting rail and looked critically into the sky, even holding up his -hand as if to test the air. - -“Purty resky business,” volunteered one man in the front line. - -“Ain’t agoin’ to take no chances,” suggested another. - -Then, Bud ignoring, but drinking in with great satisfaction these and -many other nervous comments, walked rapidly to the aeroplane, and, with -well assumed professional rapidity, felt and shook several braces. - -“I reckon he knows what he’s about, all right,” Bud heard some one say, -and the boy, losing his smile for a moment, wondered if he did. - -“Ain’t no use puttin’ it off longer,” he said to himself, and he waved -his hand toward the fair president. Mr. Elder at once ascended to the -derrick cross brace, and removing his hat with a flourish, shouted: - -“Ladies and gentlemen: Mr. Wilson announces that all is ready for his -daring flight into the clouds. I must ask that each and every one of -you maintain complete silence. Any undue noise may divert the attention -of the operator and the slightest disturbance may mean his instant -death.” - -The mob seemed to sink back in awe. Bud and President Elder were -perhaps the only persons present whose hearts were not, figuratively, -in their mouths. The bareheaded president raised his hand. You might -have heard a pin drop. - -“When you are ready, Mr. Wilson, say ‘Go.’” - -Throwing on the ignition and giving the balance wheel a turn, Bud saw -the white propellers begin to revolve. As they gathered speed and the -engine was fully in motion--the car beginning to tremble under the -impact--Bud sprang into the little seat, thrust his feet into the -hanging supports and grasped the levers. - -As his lips framed themselves to give the final signal, a flying figure -shot into his sight. A man panting, and with his hat in his hand was -rushing across the cleared space closely pursued by one of the special -policemen. Hardly able to speak, his arm wildly gesticulating, the new -arrival was shouting: - -“Stop, stop. I just got here. What are you doin’?” - -“Get out o’ the way,” shouted Bud in reply. “Get off that track.” - -“I’m Dare,” panted the man. “Who’s tryin’ to run this? Stop!” - -“Get off that track,” shouted Bud again. - -“You’ll break your neck,” the breathless man managed to get out. But he -saw the car trembling for the start, and he began moving aside. - -“Where’s Mr. Elder?” he cried. “Wait a minute. I’ll make the flight. -Hold on!” - -“Go,” rang out from the boy in the aeroplane. - -It came like a pistol shot, clear and distinct. But President Elder at -the weight rope hesitated. - -“Go,” came once more. - -There was a note of command in the one word that startled the -official. Whatever his judgment was at the moment, President Elder -mechanically jerked the cord. With a crashing creak of the derrick -and a thud of falling sand bags, the starting rope whipped over the -pulleys; there was a spray of melted tallow thrown fifty feet into the -air by the flying skids; five thousand spectators gasped and fell back -as if panic stricken, and the aeroplane smoked forward as if rushing -into a vacuum. - -Half way along the track, the rocking aeroplane seemed to lose headway -for an instant. The pressure of the air in front and the force of the -propellers behind had equalled and overcome the force of gravity. As -the starting rope hook fell from the frame, the two great planes, like -a kite in the wind, darted into a giant leap ahead. - -Hundreds of spectators, still lingering in the path of the airship, -threw themselves onto the ground just in time. The aeroplane almost -touched the earth as the leap seemed to slacken, but this Bud had been -anticipating. He did not know whether the first dart of the car would -be up or down, to the right or left. But he did know that there was not -one chance in a thousand that the flight would be straight ahead and -upward. What professional aviators had learned by long experience, Bud -knew he had to get by sheer cool headed pluck. - -He had thought over this idea so constantly that his muscles were set -and ready like springs. Not even the narrow escape of the people in -front of him rattled the boy. His body was cold from a realization of -the great risk he was taking, but this did not disconcert him. When Bud -shouted the word that was to hurl him into the air, he dismissed every -thought from his mind but this: “up, down, right, left.” - -It was all done in a second, but Bud’s thinking apparatus responded. -“Down,” his whole being cried out, and his muscles responded like a -spring. Almost before the boy could realize what he was doing, he had -thrown the front, horizontal rudder up. In another instant he knew he -was going to fly; the ground dropped beneath him, and then a tremendous -roar sounded in his ears. He gasped. But the sound was only the wild -cheers of the multitude beneath. He _was_ flying--the aeroplane -was soaring swiftly upward. It was like falling in a dream. With -nervous dread, the boy looked about. Then came his third shock--the -fair-grounds were already behind him. He had passed beyond the -territory in which he was to operate. He was at least three hundred -feet in the air. - -Suddenly all fear, apprehension and nervousness left Bud. - -“It’s all over now,” he said to himself. “These things don’t fall like -rocks. If the engine stops, I’ll come down like a parachute. Here goes -to do my stunt.” - -A minute later, Bud was directing the aeroplane along the back stretch -of the race track about one hundred and fifty feet above the ground. It -all seemed so easy that he wondered why he had had any apprehension. In -the midst of a chorus of yells and hurrahs from the hundreds who were -vainly trying to keep pace with the aeroplane, Bud at last heard one -positive voice: - -“Get nearer the ground, you fool.” - -The boy could not distinguish the man calling, but he recognized the -voice. It was that of the stranger--the expert, T. Glenn Dare. So far, -Bud had not time to think over the sudden appearance of the long waited -for man. But he smiled as the episode came back to him. - -“That must have been the Gypsy Queen’s ring,” he thought to himself. -“Any way, I got my chance. I’m satisfied.” - -Then he wondered: “What will Mr. Dare do when he makes a flight -to-morrow. I wonder if he’ll stay close to the ground. He’s only -jealous,” concluded Bud. - -Prompted by that foolish idea and more than eager to take full -advantage of his opportunity, the gritty boy decided that he was not -satisfied--he determined, on a wild impulse, to test the airship to its -limit. - -Circling the half-mile track, he dropped down nearer the ground as he -passed the crowded grand stand, but he was too intent on his work to -give any heed to the applause that greeted him. The dusty track was -packed with spectators throwing their hats into the air and shouting: -“Let her out,” “Gimme a ride,” “Good boy, Bud,” and such expressions -rang in his ears, but they did not draw even a smile. - -Again, the wonderful craft, true to her steering gear and responding -to her propellers in the almost dead calm, circled the track. But this -time, as Bud reached the lower turn, he veered off to the left. As the -inclined planes moved forward toward the center of the track, Bud put -his indiscreet resolution into effect. - -By the time he reached the far end of the track he was five hundred -feet in the air. Then, instead of turning, he held his course beyond -the enclosure out over the adjoining fields and pastures. Here, with -a long sweep in the air, he turned and headed over the grounds once -more. By the time he had passed the grand-stand again, he was at least -a thousand feet in the air. - -At that moment, the boy began to regret his foolhardiness. To turn -at that height, with the sinking swing that always followed such an -operation, was enough to try the nerve of the most experienced. And, to -make matters worse, Bud perversely held to his ascending flight. When -the limits of the grounds had been again passed, the novice was, it was -afterwards estimated, fourteen hundred feet in the air. - -“Now,” muttered Bud, “it’s sink or swim.” - -Closing his eyes, with one hand he threw the vertical lever slowly -over for the turn, and at the same moment, he threw up the plane tips -with the warping lever. It was almost sickening, the long swoop that -followed, but, as Bud felt the warped surface checking the dip, he -breathed again. Then he opened his eyes. The airship shed fell on his -vision dead ahead and not far below. - -Gritting his teeth to keep up his courage, the youngster made ready -to complete his program. As the aeroplane steadied, Bud pushed the -horizontal planes downward, and as the bird-like craft began to -descend, he turned and shut off the engine. - -“They say any one can fly,” said Bud to himself, “but that it takes -judgment to make a landing. I’ll either make or break right here.” - -As the swiftly whirling blades of the propellers stopped, the -aeroplane’s flight slackened. Then the ivory-winged truss began to -settle like a softly falling leaf. A mass of black heads appeared -beneath. Suddenly, they separated, and Bud saw the ground rising as if -to meet him. It was the crucial moment. The horizontal rudders sprang -up, the airship seemed to pause, then with a feeble response to her -steering gear, it rose a few feet and drifted along over the trodden -grass. Then the landing skids touched the ground--there was a slight -rebound, and Bud’s flight was at an end. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -AMATEUR VS. PROFESSIONAL. - - -Every one in the yelling, pushing crowd seemed to be trying to get hold -of the aeroplane. But again the policemen forced the spectators back -and Bud saw, even before he alighted, and a good deal to his disgust, -that Mr. Dare seemed to be in charge of the situation. As the young -aviator climbed from the frame, the professional and President Elder -confronted him: - -“Young man,” said the former, in a very superior tone, “you’re in luck -to be alive. Haven’t you any sense?” - -Bud looked him over. The man was about thirty-five years old, rather -nattily dressed in grey clothes, a blue scarf and a chauffeur’s cap. -Two or three sharp replies occurred to Bud, but he suppressed them, and -turned to Mr. Elder. The latter walked into the tent, and motioned to -Bud to follow. Then the boy suddenly realized that the fair president -was trembling with anger. - -“Bud,” he began at once, trying to be calm, “didn’t I tell you what -to do? Didn’t I give you your program? Wasn’t you to fly three times -around the track and then come down?” - -“And you don’t like it because I varied it a little? Because I gave ’em -a good run for their money?” - -Mr. Elder shook his finger before the boy’s face. - -“Mr. Dare tells me it was one chance in a thousand that you didn’t -smash the machine.” - -“Didn’t worry about my breaking my neck at the same time, did he?” -asked Bud with a smile. - -“We risked two thousand dollars’ worth of property in your possession, -and you took every chance you could with it--” - -“Including the risk of my own life,” retorted Bud. “Look here, Mr. -Elder, I wouldn’t get excited over what T. Glenn Dare thinks. He has -good reason to find fault with me.” - -The fair official made a new gesture of impatience. - -“That’s neither here nor there. Going up that way was a crazy thing to -do, and you ought to be ashamed of yourself.” - -Bud looked at the ground a moment. Then he said: - -“That’s my usual luck, Mr. Elder. I don’t make any excuses. I see I’m -in the wrong, and I’ll take the short cut out. I haven’t hurt your -airship, and there she is. Mr. T. Glenn Dare is here ready to take -charge of it. I thank you for the chance you gave me.” - -Bud started away. - -“Here, Bud! Come here!” - -Bud paused, but he did not return. “I guess we don’t need you any more, -but there ain’t no call to go ’way mad.” - -“You said I ought to be ashamed of myself. I’m going where I can feel -ashamed without attracting attention.” - -Bud smiled, and Mr. Elder looked a little embarrassed. - -“I reckon if your fifty-dollar-a-day man had gone up there and done -what I did, you’d all be pattin’ him on the back. Like as not there’d -be a piece in the paper about it.” - -Mr. Elder was even more embarrassed. - -“When he goes up to-morrow,” went on Bud, “I reckon you’d better insist -that he skim around over the ground. I tell you what I think, Mr. -Elder,” said Bud, suddenly growing more serious, “a big bluff goes a -long ways. You wouldn’t dare to criticise your professional aviator. -Why? Because he’s an expert. And yet there isn’t one of you knows -whether he knows more about aeroplanes than I do. He’ll get the glad -hand. I get a good swift kick. Good bye.” - -Mr. Elder was at Bud’s side before he could leave the shed. - -“You certainly are a touchy boy,” he said in a not unkind voice. “I -don’t see why I should apologize to you,” he added, “but I’d like to do -one thing--here’s ten dollars for helping us out.” - -Bud looked up with a peculiar expression. Never before in his life had -he earned so much money in practically one day. For a moment, he worked -his foot back and forth in the dust. Then he said: - -“That just proves what I said. It’s the bluff that gets the money and -the praise. I told you I’d do what I could for nothing. I’m satisfied -if you are. But, if I took any pay, why shouldn’t I have as much as -your professional?” - -Mr. Elder grew red in the face. - -“He is to get fifty dollars a day. What can he do that I haven’t done? -I’m much obliged to you, Mr. Elder, and I don’t want you to put me down -as a smart aleck. I either work for nothing or I’m worth as much as the -fellow who is no better.” - -The disturbed official became restless. - -“You mean you want fifty dollars?” he exclaimed, almost in consternation. - -“I should say not,” retorted Bud, “but,” and he laughed outright, “if -you offer me anything, don’t make it a cent less.” - -Before the perplexed official could say anything, Bud was gone. The -crowd was in a thick ring around the aeroplane, and the boy had no -trouble in making his way almost unobserved out of the race-track -field. With ten cents in his pocket and tired and sleepy, he hurried -toward the entrance. No one seemed to recognize in him the “hero of the -aeroplane,” the skilled and daring aviator who had just made a record -breaking flight of 1400 feet in the air. - -Money came too hard with Bud to permit him to spend his ten cents for -a ride to town in a hack. For that reason, although it was not yet -much after four o’clock, he set out on foot to cover the two-mile -walk to his home--or Attorney Cyrus Stockwell’s house. This was -not a pretentious building, but, being on the edge of town, it had -considerable ground around it, and the old two-story frame structure -had been Bud’s home for nearly ten years. - -Bud’s father had at one time owned a small foundry in Scottsville; but, -his health failing, he disposed of it, moved to the country, and tried -farming on a small scale. Mrs. Wilson was a cousin of Mrs. Stockwell’s, -and when both Bud’s parents died the same winter, the boy, at Mrs. -Stockwell’s suggestion, went to live with the Stockwells. There he had -been ever since. - -Reaching the house, Bud found it locked tight as wax. Undoubtedly the -lawyer and his wife had gone to the fair. The key, usually hidden under -the strip of rag carpet on the front porch, was not there. But this -did not interfere much with Bud. In the rear was a summer kitchen with -an adjoining grape arbor. On this arbor, Bud had more than once made -nocturnal ascents and descents to and from the kitchen roof, and thus -to the window of his own room. - -Shinning up the arbor, he easily entered the house through the window -of his room. It was dark and close within, but the returned wanderer -was hungry and he hurried at once to the kitchen. Mrs. Stockwell did -not mind Bud “piecing,” but she was particular about the neatness of -her kitchen. So, instead of leaving traces of his attack on the larder, -Bud used no dishes. He found milk in the ice box. A dipperful of that -was consumed, and the dipper washed and returned to its hook. - -Then with a slice of cold boiled ham, the back, two wings and the neck -of some fried chicken, six doughnuts, two pieces of bread covered with -new grape jelly, and an apple, Bud went to his room. Long before his -foster parents returned from the fair, Bud, his hunger satisfied, had -undressed, washed himself and gone to bed. - -About seven o’clock, Attorney Stockwell, who had been reading the local -paper on the front porch, stuck his head into the kitchen and asked if -supper would soon be ready. - -“I kind o’ been waitin’ thinkin’ maybe Bud’d come home this evening,” -was Mrs. Stockwell’s answer. - -“You don’t need to count on him, I reckon,” answered her husband. “He -probably won’t think much about home long as that airship is on his -mind.” - -“It’s funny to me,” added Mrs. Stockwell, stirring the potatoes, “that -he wouldn’t take no pay. Goodness knows he could use it. The boy ain’t -got hardly a whole shirt to his back.” - -“He’ll have to be doin’ something soon,” said the attorney. “I can’t -keep him here for nothin’ all his life. An’ he’s nearly grown now.” - -His wife sighed: - -“He’s been a purty good boy at that. An’ he’s been quite a help to me. -I dunno how I’d get along without him.” - -“Well, you better not wait for him. He’s gettin’ altogether too smart. -If he’s too proud to take the money he earned, I ain’t. President Elder -gave it to me to hold for him, _in trust_, but I guess Bud owes me a -good deal more’n that.” - -The Stockwells ate their supper without Bud, although there was enough -talk about him. That evening the lawyer made inquiries in the boy’s -usual haunts, but no one had seen him since the aeroplane landed. So -the evening passed until nine o’clock, at which hour Attorney Stockwell -was summoned by telephone to come at once to Mr. Elder’s private office -in the First National Bank. Here he found a hastily called conference -of fair directors. The president was there with Judge Pennington and -Mr. Waldron, a country member. - -“Here it is in a nutshell,” explained President Elder. “We either call -this fellow’s bluff, or let him ‘play horse’ with us. What’ll it be?” - -The situation was this: Mr. T. Glenn Dare, the aeroplane expert, gave -as a reason for his failure to appear that he had not expected to -reach Scottsville until noon of the previous day. The work of setting -up the airship, he explained, would have required but a few hours. -The reason for his non-arrival at noon of the day before was because -he had gone to Scottsville, Kentucky, a small and out-of-the-way -place requiring a drive across country, and having no telephone or -telegraph. Returning to Cincinnati, he had “wired” the fair officials, -after telegraphing east to his employers for instructions, and had -then hastened to Scottsville, making the last stage of his journey by -trolley car. - -This explanation was not satisfactory to Mr. Elder. Mr. Dare confessed -he had not seen any letters to his firm from the fair officials, and -had started west with only a memorandum of his destination. He would -not concede that his firm had made a mistake, and boldly asserted that -the mix up was probably due to carelessness on the part of the fair -committee. - -“All right,” Mr. Elder had said. “You say you were in Cincinnati early -to-day. Why didn’t you send us word you’d be here? No telegram reached -any of us.” - -“How do I know that?” impudently asked Mr. Dare. “Looks to me as if you -people were trying to beat me out of a job.” - -“And it looks to me, to speak right out,” replied Mr. Elder in -considerable heat, “as if you might have been drunk for two or three -days.” - -Instead of indignantly resenting this suggestion, Mr. Dare only got -red in the face and offered to produce innumerable affidavits that he -had been wandering around the country since Monday morning looking for -Scottsville and that he never indulged in intoxicating beverages. - -This interview between Mr. Elder and Expert Dare had taken place on the -fair-grounds just after Bud disappeared and the car had been housed -for the night. It left anything but cordial relations between the two -men. But the explosion came later. As Mr. Elder was instructing the -watchmen concerning the care of the airship during the night, Mr. Dare -approached. - -“In order that we have no further misunderstanding, I’d like to have a -check for one hundred and fifty dollars--the three days I’ve already -lost.” - -The president, put out over his encounter with Bud, and disgruntled -over the conduct of the expert, whirled like a wild man. - -“A check for one hundred and fifty dollars?” - -“You don’t suppose I’m coming all the way out here for fun, do you?” -sneeringly answered Mr. Dare. - -“Just put this in your pipe and smoke it,” snorted the fair president, -shaking his finger in the expert’s face. “You’ll get paid when you go -to work--that’s the contract. There wasn’t a thing said about comin’ -or goin’. For the three days left this week, we’ll pay you just fifty -dollars each day. Not a cent more.” - -“That aeroplane won’t move a foot till I get my money. And since this -controversy about it, you’d better pay in advance--three hundred -dollars. No money, no exhibition.” - -“We got along without you so far.” - -“Violating your contract, yes. Part of the agreement of sale was that I -was to operate the car. We don’t turn out aeroplanes to every Tom, Dick -and Harry. Under your contract, that car don’t go up unless I’m in it, -and I don’ go in it till I have my money. There’s plenty of law to fix -that. Do I get my money?” - -“Not a cent,” snapped Mr. Elder. “Bud Wilson will go up in that machine -to-morrow.” - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -BUD MAKES A STRANGE CONTRACT. - - -President Elder told all this to the assembled directors. A storm broke -at once. Naturally, Attorney Stockwell approved what the president had -done. He did it for two reasons: he was anxious to get Bud a profitable -job, and he saw at once that Judge Pennington was opposed to the action -taken by Mr. Elder. In the lively discussion, the other director, Mr. -Waldron, sided with Mr. Elder because Attorney Stockwell had once -opposed him in a lawsuit. - -Judge Pennington argued that Mr. T. Glenn Dare would undoubtedly sue -the association. - -“Let him,” exclaimed President Elder. “We can beat him. He didn’t -report, and I’m convinced he was on a spree somewhere. Look at the -advantage. If we pay him what he demands, it will be six days at fifty -dollars a day. That’s three hundred dollars. We can save that.” - -“This young Wilson won’t work for nothing, will he?” asked Mr. Waldron. - -President Elder felt compelled at this point to relate his experience -with Bud. He told of offering to pay their amateur operator; how the -boy had refused the money, and how Attorney Stockwell had finally -accepted the sum to hold in trust. - -Judge Pennington laughed outright. - -“An’ that’s what we’re up against, is it?” he asked, with a chuckling -sneer. “Wouldn’t take ten dollars an’ wants fifty dollars? And yet -you’re takin’ the risk o’ a lawsuit just to give him a job.” - -“But,” insisted the president, “you forget. He’ll do in a pinch what he -won’t do for wages. He won’t work for ten dollars a day, but he’ll work -for nothing.” - -“Ef he’ll do that,” promptly suggested Director Waldron, “I vote we -give him the job.” - -“That ain’t treatin’ the boy right,” chimed in Attorney Stockwell. “Be -fair with him. He’ll listen to reason. It’s worth more’n ten dollars -to risk your life that way. If you’ll call it twenty-five dollars I’ll -undertake to see that he does the work.” - -“My Lafe would do it for nothin’ as a matter o’ pride, if he wasn’t -sick,” urged Judge Pennington. - -“But he is sick,” broke in Mr. Elder. “We’ve fired our expert, an’ -we’ve got to get some one or cut out the performance. I agree with -Director Stockwell. If we call it twenty-five dollars--and that’ll only -be for three more days--I’m convinced Bud will help us out.” - -But Judge Pennington and Director Waldron were stubborn. The matter -was argued for nearly an hour, and finally a compromise was reached. -President Elder was authorized to pay to Bud not over twenty dollars -a day to attempt another ascent. Then the meeting adjourned. At its -conclusion, Attorney Stockwell hurried off home to find Bud and tell -him of his good fortune. - -Strangely enough, the lawyer had hardly disappeared when the other -three directors met again on the bank steps. - -“That’s all we could do afore Stockwell,” said Judge Pennington at -once. “Ef we’d said any more, Attorney Stockwell would have put a bug -in the boy’s ear an’ they’d have worked together. What you want to do, -Mr. Elder, is to get the boy alone. I ain’t no love for him, but I will -say he gave us a good show, and I reckon he can do it agin. Ef he won’t -work for twenty dollars, give him what’s necessary.” - -“I understand,” replied President Elder, “Stockwell is a good deal on -the make. If he thought we’d stand for any more, he’d see that the boy -holds out for the highest figure.” - -“Better give him fifty dollars,” slowly conceded Director Waldron, -“ruther than put off the show. An’ we’ll make money at that. But it’s -ridic’lous for a boy o’ his age.” - -“Get him at any figure in reason,” urged Judge Pennington. “I want -the fair to go off with a boom. An’ if it’s up to the kid to make it -go--all right. But it’ll swell him up awful.” - -Before Attorney Stockwell reached his home, Mrs. Stockwell had -discovered Bud’s presence, although she had not disturbed him. When her -husband reached the house and learned that his adopted son was safe in -bed, he was greatly relieved. He went at once to Bud’s room. It was -after eleven o’clock. Arousing the sleeping boy, he prepared to close -the deal between Bud and the fair association. - -Bud’s first response was to pull the covers over his head and snore -lustily. - -“Wake up, Bud, I want to talk to you.” - -“I have been here all the time,” sleepily responded the boy. “I ain’t -done nothin’. Is it morning?” - -Attorney Stockwell shook him again until the lad was fully awake. Then -he asked him, somewhat brusquely, what he meant “by riding such a high -horse” with Mr. Elder and refusing to take the ten dollars. - -“Because I said I’d work for nothing,” said Bud, crawling from under -his sheet and sitting on the bedside. - -“But they are willing to pay you, and pay you well. Men don’t work for -nothing. I work all day for ten dollars,” added the lawyer. - -“That’s it,” said Bud. “I don’t want to work all my life for ten -dollars a day. I want nothing or what I’m worth.” - -“Rubbish,” snorted the lawyer. “You talk pretty swell for a boy who -ain’t never yet made enough to keep him.” - -“I reckon I owe you a good deal of money,” exclaimed Bud, still -blinking his sleepy eyes and then looking at his foster father sharply. - -“We ain’t talkin’ about that,” answered the lawyer evasively. - -“I know ‘_we_’ ain’t,” said Bud. “But _I_ am. You never talk about it -when I want to. Why did you take me in? Did my father leave me any -property?” - -“The courts’ll take care o’ that at the right time,” replied Attorney -Stockwell pompously. - -“All right,” replied Bud, sleepily. “When they do, you just take out -all I’ve cost you and quit throwin’ it up to me ever’ day.” - -The lawyer rose and walked about a moment in an embarrassed way. - -“That’s all right, Bud. We won’t quarrel about that. I ain’t puttin’ -you out o’ house an’ home. I didn’t wake you up to talk o’ that. I got -ten dollars here President Elder gave me to give to you.” - -“Keep it yourself,” yawned Bud, “and I won’t owe you so much.” - -“We’ve fired that Mr. Dare,” exclaimed the lawyer, playing his trump -card, “and we held a meeting to-night to get another operator. We -elected you.” - -“Me?” exclaimed Bud, at last fully awake. “Elected me?” - -“Yes,” went on the lawyer. “He got gay with us--wanted pay for six -days, and we discharged him.” - -“And the fair people want me to sail the aeroplane again?” continued -Bud jubilantly. - -“That’s what was voted.” - -Bud sat up on the edge of the bed, his eyes snapping and his face -wreathed in smiles. - -“I guess Mr. Elder must have changed his mind,” Bud commented. “He -told me I ‘ought to be ashamed of myself.’” - -“He has. We’re all agreed. And we’ve agreed, too, that you’re to have -twenty-five dollars a day for your work.” - -The boy straightened up as if he had been struck. From smiles, his face -became set, and finally rebellious. He picked at the bed clothes a -moment, and then said: - -“I’m sorry they did that. I’d have done it for nothing to help out. But -when it comes to a price, I’m worth just as much as Mr. Dare. If they -want to pay me, it’s fifty dollars a day.” - -“You won’t do for twenty-five dollars a day what you’ll do for nothing?” - -“That’s it. I said I wouldn’t. That’s all there is to it.” - -“You refuse,” said the lawyer, growing red in the face. - -“You’ve said it.” - -Attorney Stockwell fumbled at his collar as if he were choking. Then he -sputtered: - -“You can think this over till morning. If you don’t get some sense into -your head by that time, you’d better find some other place to live.” - -“Meaning I’m kicked out,” replied Bud instantly and springing to his -feet. - -“You can sleep over it,” added the lawyer. “Don’t need to act hastily. -But it’s no use us trying to get along together if you’re too proud to -help out when I get you a good job.” - -“I don’t need to sleep over it,” answered Bud promptly. “My sleepin’ is -done for to-night. If that’s the verdict, we’ll call it quits.” - -The lawyer was palpably embarrassed. He was afraid to put Bud out for -reasons best known to himself, but he felt like it. - -“I’ll see you later,” he snapped suddenly, and left the room. - -Bud’s sleeping wasn’t as nearly finished as he thought. With youthful -agility, he turned in again, and did not awaken until daylight. The -Stockwells breakfasted early, but Bud’s chores were done when his -foster father appeared. Somewhat to Bud’s surprise, the affair of the -night before was not recalled, and the boy was about to escape from the -breakfast table when he was surprised to see President Elder’s well -known rig dash up to the house. - -“You won’t listen to me,” explained the lawyer, in no very good humor, -“so Mr. Elder has come to reason with you.” - -“I’ll do it for fifty dollars or nothing,” stoutly insisted Bud. - -When Mr. Elder appeared on the porch--and it was apparent that he was -not overflowing with good humor--he wasted very little time. After -greeting the lawyer and his wife, he said: - -“Bud, we worked together pretty well yesterday. Come with me. I want to -see you.” - -“Go along,” exclaimed Attorney Stockwell, in a tone of authority. But -this was not needed. Bud needed no urging. With a smile, he led the way -to the buggy. - -The fair official started toward the center of the town. Before he -could open negotiations, Bud exclaimed: - -“Mr. Elder, I reckon I know what you want. You’ve fallen out with the -guy that threw us down and you want me to do the aeroplane stunt again.” - -President Elder smiled. - -“You know what I said yesterday,” went on Bud. “I don’t like to break -my word. But don’t you think you people are makin’ me purty cheap?” - -“Perhaps not as cheap as you think!” - -“Mr. Stockwell told me I’m to get twenty-five dollars.” - -“And you think that ain’t enough?” - -“Fifty dollars,” said Bud with a smile, “or nothing.” - -The thrifty official grasped at this straw. - -“Are you willing to do it for nothing?” - -“Yes. But I’ll do it as a favor, and I want a favor in return.” - -“What’s that?” asked Mr. Elder suspiciously. - -“Well,” went on Bud, with some embarrassment, “you’re a big man in this -town, Mr. Elder. You can get about anything you want. I reckon Judge -Pennington would do you a favor if you asked.” - -“Are you in trouble with Judge Pennington?” - -“I’m not. But two of my friends are. See that, Mr. Elder,” continued -Bud, showing the ring Madame Zecatacas had given him. His companion -gazed at it intently. - -“That’s a charm,” explained Bud. “It was given to me by an old gypsy -who hadn’t any other way to show me she was my friend. It’s a good luck -piece. I don’t know as it helped me any, but the old woman who gave it -to me wanted it to.” - -“I don’t see,” began Mr. Elder. - -“This old woman and her son-in-law made Lafe Pennington mad. It wasn’t -their fault. It was his. Yesterday, Judge Pennington had ’em arrested -for assaultin’ Lafe, which they hadn’t. They yanked ’em off’n the -fair-grounds and locked ’em up. They’re goin’ to have a trial to-day. -They ain’t done nothin’, but they are my friends, in a kind of a way. -If you’ll persuade Judge Pennington to let ’em go, I’ll work the -airship all week for nothin’.” - -President Elder laughed. Then he slapped the boy on the back. - -“Bud,” he said laughing heartily, “you are certainly a strange boy. -That’s a go. I’ll promise.” - -“Let ’em out right away,” continued Bud, “so they can get in a full day -tellin’ fortunes.” - -“Right away,” laughed the fair president. - -“Then I guess I’ll take the first hack out to the grounds and get busy.” - -“I suppose you won’t mind my paying your expenses,” suggested the -president, when they reached the square. - -“Got to have hack fare and dinner money,” said Bud, with a smile. And -accepting a five dollar bill, Bud was off to the fair-grounds and -airship shed again. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -THE FLIGHT IN THE DARK. - - -At twelve o’clock that day, while Bud was busy on the aeroplane, Mr. T. -Glenn Dare and Attorney Cyrus Stockwell suddenly appeared before the -airship shed. Mr. Dare walked in briskly, took off his coat, and gave -every sign of taking charge of the apparatus. Bud shook his head. - -“Strangers not allowed in here, sir.” - -The expert laughed. - -“Since I’ve a contract that calls for my being here, I was about to say -the same thing to you, young man.” - -“I guess we understand ourselves,” replied Bud, with composure. -“President Elder has been in here several times this morning. He left -orders for me to keep all strangers out.” - -“Perhaps you’re goin’ to put me out,” smiled Mr. Dare. - -“I would if I had time,” answered Bud. “But I’m busy. Any way, that -ain’t the program. I’m just to tell you to get out.” - -Mr. Dare laughed outright. - -“Put me out,” he said banteringly. - -“Jim,” called out Bud, good naturedly, and resuming his work on the -engine, “accommodate the gentleman. He wants to be put out.” - -Jim Hoarr, the night watchman, who was curled up in a corner of the -shed, slowly arose and hitched up his trousers. Jim was not tall, but -his tight undershirt exposed such a mass of rounded muscle and chest -that Mr. Dare at once stepped back. - -“Wot gent?” asked Jim sleepily, glancing first at Mr. Dare and then at -Attorney Stockwell. - -“Bud,” exclaimed Attorney Stockwell angrily, “come here.” - -“I’m busy,” said Bud, polishing the engine industriously. - -The lawyer stepped over to Bud and caught him by the shoulder. The next -moment, Attorney Stockwell was sliding over the worn and dusty grass -outside the shed and Jim was hurrying back for another victim. But his -services were not needed. Mr. T. Glenn Dare had caught up his coat and -escaped beneath the canvas on the far side of the tent. - -With difficulty Bud refrained from laughing. But he ran out after his -foster father. - -“I want to apologize for that,” he began. “Jim didn’t understand.” - -Attorney Stockwell was boiling with rage. - -“I thought you told me you wouldn’t do this again,” he almost shouted, -“for less than fifty dollars a day.” - -“Or nothing,” added Bud. - -The lawyer’s face grew white. - -“You ungrateful whelp,” he almost hissed. “Don’t you set your foot in -my house again.” - -“Good-bye,” said Bud indifferently, turning away. - -Attorney Stockwell was too full of rage to talk. As Mr. Dare joined -him, they turned and hastened away. - -“That’s all we wanted,” said the lawyer at last when he found his -tongue. “Now you’ve got to come back when it’s time to make the flight -and offer to take charge. Have a witness with you, and if they refuse -to accept your services, you have a plain case. I’ll arrange with Judge -Clark to issue a writ this afternoon. As for this watchman, we’ll have -him locked up before night and discharged to boot.” - -“How about the kid?” asked the expert. - -Attorney Stockwell shook his head ominously. - -“I’ll attend to him all right. Never fear as to that.” - -Which meant that he was already sorry that he had ordered Bud away from -his house. - -Attorney Stockwell represented a type of lawyers found in all small -towns. Without reputation for pronounced legal ability, he undertook -all cases that came his way and what he had told Bud was true; often -enough he gave his services for ten dollars a day when he could get no -more. Therefore, when T. Glenn Dare had called on him that morning and -offered him fifty dollars to protect his interests in the aeroplane -dispute, the lawyer forgot local pride--even overlooked the fact that -he might be called on to take action against his fellow fair directors. - -If he had any compunctions on this score, they disappeared when he -learned that President Elder had induced his foster son to accept -service once more without recompense. - -“Your redress is very clear,” Attorney Stockwell told Mr. Dare when the -latter explained all the facts in the case. “The contract of sale calls -for one thousand eight hundred dollars for the aeroplane, but it also -stipulates that you are to be employed for six days at fifty dollars a -day. The cost of the machine, is, therefore, two thousand one hundred -dollars. So far, I understand, nothing has been paid on the machine.” - -“Not a cent,” explained the representative of the manufacturers. “The -First National Bank guaranteed the payment on the aeroplane proving -satisfactory. I’ve had no chance to demonstrate this.” - -“That’s all that is necessary,” sagely commented the lawyer. “If the -directors do not give you that chance this afternoon, we will go before -the county court, secure a writ of replevin, turn it over to the -sheriff, and to-night, a deputy sheriff will levy on the machine. If -the directors do not then comply with their contract, you will have a -right to remove the aeroplane.” - -At two-thirty in the afternoon, Mr. Dare reappeared at the fair-grounds, -but he kept aloof from the airship shed until he saw President Elder -appear. To the latter, he formally made application to be permitted to -make the flight. - -“You’re four days too late, young man. You didn’t keep your contract, -and we won’t keep ours.” - -“Then you refuse?” asked Mr. Dare, turning to the ’bus driver, Doug’ -Jackson, who was with the aviator and on a pass which he had at last -secured. - -“Is Doug’ your witness?” asked Mr. Elder, smiling. - -Doug’ threw out his chest. - -“Mr. Stockwell told me to come along,” he explained. “He give me a -pass.” - -While this conversation was in progress, Jim Hoarr, the muscular night -watchman, had caught sight of Mr. Dare. Still eager to be of service, -he had approached the group. Seeing him, President Elder laughed. - -“Jim,” he said, “Doug’ has a pass that’ll take him out o’ the grounds, -but I think Mr. Dare might like help.” - -Before even Jim could get busy, the alarmed aviator had disappeared in -the fast gathering crowd. - -A little after three o’clock, Bud made his second flight. The news of -the previous day’s exploit had spread not only through the town but -even into the near-by country, and the crowd was immense. The flight -was not as spectacular as that of the day before, but it was longer and -not less successful. Four times the perfectly working car circled the -half-mile track. The time, taken with great ceremony by the trotting -and running horse judges assembled in their stand, was officially -announced as four minutes. This, considering the turns, was remarkably -fast. Bud offered at the end of the flight to make another short -flight with a passenger but this was vetoed. - -Hardly had Bud alighted when two eager figures pushed their way -forward. They were Madame Zecatacas and her son-in-law. - -“Look here, Kid,” began the latter at once and extending an awkward -hand, “me an’ the ole lady has come to tell you we’re much obliged to -you.” - -“For what?” asked Bud, pretending ignorance. - -“Never you mind about that,” continued the man gruffly. - -“We’re on all right. They didn’t make no bones about it. You squared it -all right. How ’bout it, ole lady?” - -The Gypsy Queen reached out her brown hands, took Bud’s hand in one of -hers and tapped the ring, which he still wore, with the other. - -“The Gypsy Queen sees good fortune for the young gentleman. Wear old -Zecatacas’ ring--it will bring good luck. She can give no more.” - -Bud was sure he saw tears in the old woman’s eyes; but, pressing his -hand in hers, she said no more. - -“It’s all right, Kid,” went on the man, “that means a lot. I’d rather -have it than money. We ain’t got nothin’--we’re poor people, but when -Jack Stanley kin do ye a turn it’ll be done. That’s all.” - -How well Jack Stanley and Madame Zecatacas kept their word, Bud soon -found out. - -The aeroplane trial at an end, every one seemed to forget Bud. Homeless -at last, he did not care much. So long as his engagement with the fair -officials lasted, he determined to stay in the aeroplane shed, which -he now began to call the “aerodrome.” His only regret was that he had -had no opportunity to say good-bye to Mrs. Stockwell. But he would send -her a letter. Meanwhile, with Mr. Elder’s five dollars in his pocket -to provide for his meals, he whistled at hard luck and counted himself -content. - -Yet, as evening came on, the thought of Mrs. Stockwell bothered him. -So long as he belonged in her home, a failure to return at night did -not bother him a great deal. Now that he was not going back again, he -had a longing to tell her “good-bye.” Besides there were a few clothes, -his parents’ pictures, some airship drawings and a couple of books that -he felt he would like to have before Attorney Stockwell might take a -notion to destroy them. - -One of these books Bud was determined not to lose. This was a new -story--“In the Clouds for Uncle Sam or Morey Marshall of the Signal -Corps.” Anything relating to aeroplanes interested Bud, and this book -was wholly about the new flying machines, but, in Morey Marshall’s -adventures, he had just reached the most exciting part. - -“Whatever happens,” said Bud to himself, “I’ve got to find out what -came of the blue packet Morey found in his father’s old desk and what -happened to Morey and Amos when they ran away from home.” - -But it was some days before Bud had a chance to renew his reading of -this tale. - -In the early evening, he knew that the lawyer always spent a few hours -“up town.” - -Allowing a reasonable time after the usual supper hour, Bud stealthily -approached the Stockwell residence from the rear, and entered the yard -through the garden gate. There was a light in the kitchen, but Mrs. -Stockwell was not there. Tiptoeing around the house, he heard voices on -the porch. One was that of a stranger. But he easily made out that of -the lawyer, too, and he stepped back. Mrs. Stockwell was not in sight. - -“I’ll at least get my things,” he said to himself. - -Making his way to the grape arbor, he shinned up to the summer kitchen -roof, and, in bare feet, entered his room. Without venturing to strike -a light, he felt around, got the articles he had come for, and then, -stooping in a corner, by the light of a few matches, he wrote a note on -the fly leaf of one of his few books. - - “_Dear Mother Stockwell,” it ran, “your husban’ has drove me - away, and I got to go, but I’ll be back to see you some time - you have been good to me and I’ll be good to you when I can so - no more at presence from_ - - “_Bud._” - -Opening the book on the table, he softly escaped over the roof. He was -about to drop onto the grape arbor, when voices sounded immediately -beneath him. - -“Now, don’t wait for me, Mother,” said one of them--easily distinguished -as that of the lawyer himself. “I’ll be out late on business.” - -“’Tain’t about Bud, is it?” asked the other--Mrs. Stockwell. - -“No,” sharply replied her husband. “But he caused it. It’s legal -business. You can’t understand it.” - -“I wonder why the child don’t come home?” said Mrs. Stockwell. - -“Oh, he’ll be home all right. I’m going to send for him. I knew you -would worry about him again, so I told ’em to tell him you wanted to -see him.” - -“Cyrus,” added his wife, “I don’t think you’re treatin’ Bud right. He’s -a good boy if he has half a chance.” - -“Well,” retorted the lawyer, “you can treat him well to-night by -keepin’ him in after he gets here. I’m goin’ out to the fair-ground -to-night with a deputy sheriff and levy on the aeroplane that’s turned -his head. We got a writ of replevin this afternoon and a deputy sheriff -is goin’ to take the machine for Mr. Dare, who’s out on the front -porch. If Bud gets in the way or interferes, he’ll be locked up for his -pains.” - -“Lands sakes, Cyrus, Bud ain’t done no crime, has he?” - -“No, but he’s made a fool of himself. And he’s tryin’ to make one o’ -me. I’m goin’ up town now for a while, and I reckon I’ll be home ’bout -midnight. You keep Bud here when he comes.” - -“I’ll lock him in his room,” exclaimed Mrs. Stockwell nervously. - -As the two passed into the kitchen, Bud slipped down onto the arbor, -recovered his shoes, glanced into the empty kitchen, reached into the -window and captured a generous slice of jelly cake from a near-by -table, and was off down the garden path. - -By half past eight, he was again on the fair-grounds. He had had a half -hour’s walk in which to think over the thing he had heard. Out of all -the projects that flashed into his busy brain, one only remained. It -was a daring idea, but the more he thought it over, the more determined -he was to execute it. Before going to the “aerodrome,” he went to the -tent of the Gypsy Queen. When he left it, Jack Stanley was with him. - -Bud and Madame Zecatacas’ son-in-law made a quick tour among some of -Stanley’s friends, all of whom, after a brief talk, seemed highly -amused. And when Bud at last made his way across the dark enclosure -within the race-track, Jack and four of his husky friends were gathered -in a knot in the shadow of the judges’ stand. - -Approaching the aeroplane shed, Bud broke into a run and arrived, -apparently, out of breath. - -“Jim,” he panted, “there’s trouble. Go right over to the ticket office -and get Mr. Elder on the telephone. When you get him read him this -message. Got to get busy.” - -Finding a piece of paper, Bud laboriously wrote a few lines. Then, -taking the vigilant watchman out into the dark where he could not see -the message until he reached the office nearly a half mile away, Bud -folded the scrap of paper, shoved it into the waiting watchman’s hand -and pushed him forward. - -“You’ll watch things while I’m gone?” called the hurrying messenger -over his shoulder. - -“You bet I will, Jim. I’ll not leave her. You can trust me.” - -As the flying watchman passed the judges’ stand, Jack Stanley and his -pals slipped around the little structure to keep out of his sight, and -then the highly amused group rushed toward the airship shed. - -The perspiring Jim had some trouble in getting President Elder on the -wire, but when he did so, he read the fair official this note: - - “_Mr. Eldur_ - - “_They have got up a skeme to take the air plane, and I can - beet em by takin it away where they aint no one knows where it - is. Dont worry about us, for I ll be on hand promp tomorrow at - reglar time for the show. Dont have no fear of nuthin for I m - all O. K._ - - “_Bud Wilson._” - -When, in response to President Elder’s forceful injunction, Jim, the -watchman, reached the airship shed again, the canvas front was up, -the shed was empty, and only a smell of gasoline told of the stolen -aeroplane. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -DUMPED INTO THE MARSH. - - -Plunging through the dark in an aeroplane, two hundred feet or more -above the earth and in a moonless night, was Bud’s predicament. Up -to that time, at least, neither the Wright Brothers, Mr. Farman, Mr. -Latham, nor Mr. Curtiss had had such an experience. When the chill -night breeze struck the boy’s face and he found himself sailing into -what was like a black cave, for a moment he was panic stricken. - -Of course, he had not taken such a hazardous chance without a plan. In -a vague way, he had outlined what he hoped to do. But it was easier to -lay that plan out in his mind while on the firm ground than it was to -put it into execution high up in the impenetrable and chill air. - -The thing that almost rattled Bud was the fact that he could not see -the ground. He could not even make out the lines of the fences beneath -him. It was like smoking a cigar in the dark when you can only tell -that it is going by the fire on the end. The lack of vibration in an -aeroplane is most pronounced in the dark. Like a soaring bird, the -ship glides forward with hardly a whirr or rattle to mark its flight. -But the breeze on Bud’s face and the spinning propellers told him he -was advancing, and with the speed of a train. - -“I got to strike the Little Town pike first thing,” said Bud to himself -at last, as he began to get his wits together. “If I can’t do that, I’m -up a stump. That’s my only guide to where I got to go.” - -The scattered lights of the edge of Scottsville were just rushing -beneath the aeroplane. - -“I’ll follow the edge of town to the north,” went on Bud, talking -almost aloud to himself. “When I come to the river and the bridge, -I’ll head north and get down low enough to see the road. That’ll be my -guide.” - -Five miles to the north of Scottsville, lay Little Town--three saloons, -a postoffice, a store and an elevator. Northwest from Little Town, a -road reached into the “hills.” In any other part of the country these -hills would have been hardly noticeable. But in Scott County, Indiana, -they were comparatively mountains. Bud knew them as the scenes of many -picnics and excursions. - -At Camp’s Mill, about three miles from Little Town on the “hill road,” -where a creek, a mill race and a head-gate afforded small water-power -for a flour and saw mill, a dirt road turned sharply off to the north. -Within a mile and in a thickly wooded region, the “hills” suddenly -opened to enclose a pond. Little Town people called it Camp’s Lake. -Visitors from larger places usually described it as a “frog pond.” - -In the spring and summer, the shores of this little body of water--scarce -a quarter of a mile long--were swamps full of cattails and spearmint. As -Bud figured it, the damp, flat vegetation would now be dead and dry. To -this secluded and seldom visited point, the youngster had decided to -attempt to carry the stolen aeroplane. This was not wholly because the -place was far from Scottsville. Bud had figured on all the problems he -would have to face. That of making an ascent the next day bothered him a -good deal more than the concealment of the airship. Here, he thought, he -might be able to put into execution the only device he could figure out -for starting the car on its flight again. - -A sudden rumble beneath the car struck on Bud’s ears. - -“That’s the bridge,” he said to himself. “It’s a team crossing the -bridge.” - -He could not mistake that sound; nor would any other Scottsville boy. -Bridges may look a good deal alike, but no two of them sound alike. The -hollow noise of a wagon on a bridge always strikes the same note. That -note Bud had known for ten years. And, though the structure was out of -sight, the boy brought the aeroplane as sharply about as if it had been -day. It was now a straightaway course of five miles to Little Town due -north. - -When the town lights were a half mile or so behind him, the determined -lad inclined his horizontal rudders until the ship sank close enough to -the ground to reveal forms. A little lower, the dusty, white turnpike -unwound beneath him, and then he steadied the craft. Not until then did -he begin to feel somewhat composed. - -So far, the only thing that had bothered him was the fear that he might -not be able to get away with the aeroplane successfully. Now he had -time to think of something just as important. - -“I wonder what they’ll think?” Bud finally asked himself. Then he -recalled how President Elder had reprimanded him for taking chances -with the car. - -“Whew,” whistled the lad, as the thought came back to him, “like as -not, he’ll be sore all over now. And what if I do land her all right -and get her going again to-morrow? I can’t come down at the fair-ground -or the sheriff’ll nab me. I might as well have stayed. If I go back and -give the show and sail away again without landin’--and that’s the only -thing to do--where’ll I go? They can watch me and follow me. I can get -more gasoline somewhere, but I can’t hide out another night with the -sheriff and Mr. Stockwell and Mr. Dare on my track.” - -With this new trouble bothering him, he held his course toward Little -Town. Once, like a great, black, groaning bird, he shot over a buggy. -The horse shied, and there were several alarmed imprecations from the -occupants. - -“Lucky they didn’t shoot,” thought Bud. “But I can’t fly higher and -know where I am.” - -Bud’s selection of Camp’s Lake as a desirable spot for his purpose -showed how familiar he was with the country in all directions about -Scottsville. His familiarity with this particular place was due to the -fact that his father’s farm had been just south of Little Town. Camp’s -Mill and its old-fashioned water wheel had always been Bud’s joy. And -Josh Camp was still one of his boy chums. Or he would have been had -Bud remained near Little Town. - -He and Josh had, in earlier years, a firm belief that fish existed in -Camp’s Lake. They had never been able to absolutely prove this, but -many a night’s work with a lantern had proven that, if the pond were -devoid of fish, it was infested with bull frogs of giant girth. The -final argument in bringing the flying boy to his old stamping grounds -was this. - -Camp’s Lake, whether lake or pond, was never devoid of water. Even -beyond its margins, the swampy cattail beds oozed moisture. At the head -of the body of water was a spring which flowed ceaselessly. At the foot -of the lake, at one time, the surplus water drained away through the -lower marsh ground to the creek feeding the mill-pond, a mile away at -Camp’s Mill. - -As the country cleared up and the supply of water in the creek -became less certain, Josh’s father--who owned the land about Camp -Lake--determined to utilize the supply going to waste there. Accounts -of water storage in western irrigation districts had inspired this. -The last time Bud saw the place, he found that Mr. Camp had dammed up -the spillway at the end of the lake. In the center of the dam, he had -built a head-gate; and, from this, leading over the marsh, he had -constructed a flume about four feet wide leading to the creek below. - -“The place behind the hills is a good place to hide,” thought Bud, -reviewing the situation, “the flat shores of the pond are the best -place to land without breaking anything, and the old flume is the best -starting apparatus I can think of.” - -He knew there was an old flat-bottom boat and a skiff on Camp’s -Lake. On these, with Josh’s help, if he could get it, and any other -assistance that he could procure, he meant to carry the aeroplane -to the dam. It was a part of his plan to place the flat boat in the -flume. Balancing the aeroplane on this, he was counting on Mr. Camp’s -permission to throw open the head-gate, suddenly flood the flume with -the pent up water, and, as the boat rushed forward, to gain an impetus -that would start him on a new flight. - -Bud’s first sight of Little Town was the green railroad switch light -at the settlement limits. He headed toward it, and, cutting out the -village, passed diagonally over the adjacent fields in search of the -road leading to the mill. At first, he missed it. The strain had made -him nervous. Although he had not been in the air over fifteen minutes, -he felt as if he had been up an hour. He had thoughtlessly started in -his shirt sleeves, and was chilled. - -Everything seemed so desolate and quiet that there was an almost -compelling temptation to make a descent and trust to luck. But the boy -dismissed the idea, gritted his teeth, and, clutching the levers with -his benumbed fingers, made another attempt to find the dark, winding -country road. - -“What am I goin’ to do when I got to strike off over the woods from the -mill?” thought Bud. “This ought to be pie compared to that.” - -Dropping lower and lower, the nervous young aviator finally brushed -something light that rattled. He was over a field of corn in the shock. -As he gasped and threw the car upward, again he heard the unmistakable -“thud,” “thud” of a horse’s hoofs. Judging that they were on the unseen -road, he continued his upward flight until he was out of possible -sight, and then altered his course to bring him over the newly located -road. - -In a few moments, the sound of the horse and vehicle were far behind. -Then he dropped down again until two dark lines marked the shrubbery -lined lane. - -“Now for the old mill,” murmured Bud, greatly relieved. - -It does not take long to cover three miles in an aeroplane. Almost -before he could believe it, the sharp turn in the road, the wide -clearing, the dark pile that he knew was the mill, and then the almost -phosphorescent sheen of the dark mill-pond marked the end of the second -stage of Bud’s wild flight. - -“If there’s anything in the old gypsy’s ring, I can use it now,” -muttered Bud. “It’s all blind from this on, but I reckon I know the -way. Here goes, any way.” - -With a bound upward, Bud headed the aeroplane over the trees beyond the -mill-pond. Three hundred feet over the forest, he steadied the airship. -But only for a moment. All was dark beneath, and yet Bud knew that the -open marsh and lake were just ahead. From that point, he might as well -have closed his eyes. It was all luck and instinct now. - -Catching his breath, the boy lowered his horizontal rudders. With -his eyes glued on the seemingly endless black beneath him, he leaned -further and further forward. Twice he started upright, twice he -hesitated, and then, with feverish speed, his hand shot out and shut -off the engine. The propellers died away, but the car plunged ahead -with its speed apparently unchecked. - -Lower and lower sank the drifting aeroplane. Again Bud leaned nervously -forward to catch some sign of the margin of the water. What had -happened? He had surely gone a mile! In the still night air came a -sudden splash. With it, rose the guttural honk of a bull frog. The -sound was dead ahead and almost beneath him. - -With renewed energy, he swung his vertical rudder lever and the car -drifted quickly to the right. Under the impulse of the turn, it darted -downward. There was a rasping brush against the tall, dry swamp -vegetation and the aeroplane, touching first with its starboard end -on the soft marsh bed, settled with a dragging jolt on the weeds and -grasses. - -There was a breaking creak, as the end of the framework struck, but -when Bud knew the flight was at an end he sank back into his seat with -a gulp of relief. - -“I’m here,” he sighed, “right among the snakes and frogs. Maybe the -machine’s busted, and maybe not. Anyway, I’ve got a fine long job of -waitin’ for day.” - -He was breathing as if he had just finished a race. When he had got -around to normal again, he made an attempt to get his bearings. With -his hands on the framework, he crawled from the car. His feet sank into -the soft ground and water oozed into his deep foot prints. Then he -listened. He fancied he heard the soft lap of water just ahead. That -meant the lake. But it was useless to try to reach it. The margin led -nowhere and it would be softer than where he was. - -A good deal of the romance of his adventure disappeared at once. It was -exciting enough to navigate an aeroplane through the pathless black -sky; but it was far from interesting or comfortable to sit up all night -with the chill air benumbing his coatless body and keep sleepless -company with bugs, frogs and snakes in a damp marsh. - -“And I ain’t goin’ to,” exclaimed Bud. “The marsh gets softer toward -the lake, but it gets firmer toward the hill.” - -He debated and hesitated for an hour, growing colder and more miserable -all the time, and then, in desperation, he got stiffly out of the chair -on which he had been cramped and plunged through the bog toward the -high ground. - -The mucky swamp was bad enough and, more than once, Bud thought -himself hopelessly mired. But in the end, exhausted, his face and hands -scratched with the weeds he had fallen against and his trousers and -shoes a coat of clayey black mud, he fell over a boulder and tumbled -out onto dry land. - -What turned out to be as great a strain was the effort to make his -way through the woods to Camp’s Mill. Bud was no coward, but there is -something about a journey at midnight through an owly, twig-snapping -wood that is apt to give any one the creeps. When the double darkness -of the thick trees finally gave way to a more open gloom, and Bud knew -the Camp home was somewhere just ahead, he broke into a dead run, a -cold perspiration thick all over his body. - -And, as he at last found the gate of Josh’s home and a deep-barking -dog lunged at him, he was about ready to pronounce Madame Zecatacas’ -ring a failure. But his troubles for the night were over. Josh’s -father, responding to the watchdog’s bark, demanded to know what was -wanted. In a few moments, Bud was taken in. It was hard to explain the -situation, but Bud’s condition was almost explanation enough. In an -hour, refreshed with milk, bread and butter and cold ham, the airship -thief was put to sleep in the spare room. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -THE ROMNEY RING BRINGS NEWS. - - -“Hello, Josh. What time is it?” called Bud, sticking his head out of -the window of the spare room. The sun was high in the sky, and Bud, -just awake, had caught sight of his friend crossing the dooryard with a -milk pail in his hand. - -“Time the milkin’ was over,” answered Josh. “But I ain’t had hardly no -time yet. I been over to see her, Bud. She’s a jim dandy.” - -Bud, in Josh’s rough but freshly ironed night shirt, leaned further -out of the window. His eyes were yet blinking, but the mention of -“her” brought him to his full senses at once. He had slept late, worn -with the exertion and strain of the night before, and Mr. Camp had not -awakened him. The near-by mill was already groaning with its daily -grist, and breakfast was undoubtedly over. - -“She ain’t broke anywhere is she?” asked Bud eagerly. - -“How’d I know? I been down there to the lake, but you don’t reckon I -been over where she is? But she looks fine as silk.” - -“You’ve got to help me to-day, Josh,” went on Bud, beginning to skin -off his chum’s long night gown. - -Josh had come up to the window and was peering into the sacred -precincts of the spare room. - -“That’s what I calklated,” he said, setting down his steaming milk -pail. “An’ that’s why I didn’t dig over in the mud when I was down to -see her. We got trompin’ enough ’thout lookin’ for more.” - -The bedroom was cool and grateful; the high feather bed, with its blue -and white tasseled counterpane looked more than tempting, but Bud had -only two thoughts now--he smelled frying ham, and he was anxious to see -whether his airship was injured. - -“Where’s my clothes?” he exclaimed, looking for them in vain. - -“Oh, yes, I forgot,” explained Josh. “They’re dryin’. You can’t wear -them pants afore noon. I dunno as yo’ kin wear ’em then.” - -“But my shoes?” - -“Them’s as bad. We got oats in ’em dryin’ ’em out. Mother washed your -pants first thing this mornin’.” - -Bud laughed. - -“That’s mighty good o’ you folks. But I can’t stay here. I got a lot -to do. I mean _we_ have.” - -“We figured that all out,” laughed Josh. “Your things’ll be dry by -noon. This mornin’ yo’ kin have my plow shoes an’ ole mill pants.” - -When Bud emerged from the dustless and spotless bedroom to go to the -basin bench out near the well, he was attired as if for a masquerade. -Josh’s pants were so long that they had to be rolled up, and his old -shoes were much too large. After a good wash up and an elaborate -combing of his hair, he responded to Mrs. Camp’s smiling call to -breakfast. - -“It certainly is good fur sore eyes,” commented Josh’s mother as Bud -sat down to breakfast--all alone--“to see Bud Wilson agin. I ain’t seen -hide n’r hair o’ you in ten year, I reckon. An’ how air ye?” - -Bud, between mouthfuls of fried ham, biscuits and pancakes, told of his -life since he went to live with Attorney Stockwell. It took some time. - -“An’ who’s on your pa’s farm?” asked Mrs. Camp. - -Bud shook his head. - -“I guess it’s been sold,” he ventured. - -“Must a brought a good price,” suggested Mrs. Camp. “It was a good -piece o groun’, as I recollec’.” - -Bud shook his head again. - -“I don’t know,” he said, his mouth full of cakes and maple syrup, “like -as not. Only I didn’t see none o’ the money ef it was.” - -Mrs. Camp eyed him closely. Then she shook her head in turn. - -“I reckon ye ain’t old enough yet to be told. But somepins comin’ to -you, Bud. Don’t ye fergit that. It was a good piece o’ land and it’d -bring a good price.” - -“Oh, that’ll work out all right,” laughed Bud, with boyish -indifference--but drinking in every one of Mrs. Camp’s words just the -same. “This charm is goin’ to bring me good luck.” - -Then he explained the part that Madame Zecatacas, the Gypsy Queen, -had played in his recent experiences, and exhibited his ring. At that -moment, Josh’s father, Mr. Camp--“Stump” Camp--as he was generally -known, entered the kitchen from the mill. He was a small man, with -large and bushy tobacco-stained whiskers and considerable curiosity. -Bud repeated the story of the ring. - -“Jack _Stanley_,” exclaimed Mr. Camp with a hearty guffaw. “Why, I’m -sprized, Bud, ye don’t know him. He ain’t no gypsy, an’ he ain’t no -Stanley, ’though all them horse traders give out they’re gypsies, an’ -most o’ ’em say they’re Stanleys. You know him, Mother,” he said, -turning to his wife. “He’s ole Bill Reed’s boy ’at run off with Red -Stanley’s gang. I knowed ’em all. Red Stanley’s wife set up fur a great -fortune teller, an’ she had a sign sayin’ she was Madame Somepin or -Ruther.” - -“Madame Zecatacas?” interrupted Bud. - -“That’s it,” said Mr. Camp. “I seen her three years ago to the fair. -I knowed ’em all. They traded through this country a good many years. -They used to camp over nigh Little Town. That’s where John Reed, old -Bill Reed’s boy, fell in with Stanley’s girl, an’ followed the gang -away.” - -“Shore,” commented Mrs. Camp, “I recollec’. And want it ole man Reed -’at sold that sixty acres to Bud’s pa?” - -Mr. Camp knit his brows a moment, expectorated slowly into the wood -box, and then nodded his head. - -“How ’bout that, Bud?” he exclaimed suddenly. “How did that trouble -’bout your pa’s farm ever come out?” - -“I didn’t know there was any trouble about it,” answered Bud. “What do -you mean?” - -Mr. Camp looked surprised. Then he slapped his knee. - -“Bud,” he almost chuckled, “you hang onto that ring and hang on to John -Reed, or ‘Jack Stanley’ as he calls hisself. Ef I ain’t mistook, he kin -do ye some good.” - -Bud was alert. - -“I feel it in my bones he is goin’ to help me somehow. What is it?” - -“I kin see that lawyer as took ye in never told you. But everybody -up this way knows the facks. I ain’t desirin’ to make no trouble fur -nobody, and may be ’tain’t my say, but facks is facks.” - -“You mean ’bout the deed?” interrupted the rotund Mrs. Camp, who was -one of those country women who know what is going on around them. - -Mr. Camp nodded his head. Then he scratched his chin through his -luxuriant whiskers and remarked, in a slow, judicial tone: - -“Bud, when your pa bought that sixty acres o’ ole man Reed, he give -eighty dollars a acre fur it. Bein’ a easy-goin’ man not used to that -sort o’ business, he took the deed and stuck it away when he ought a’ -took it to the courthouse an’ recorded it. One day when your ma’s -cousin, Lawyer Stockwell, was visitin’ him and he was complainin’, they -took out the papers an’, lo an’ behold, they discivered that Mrs. Reed, -ole Bill’s wife, hadn’t jined in the transfer.” - -“The lawyer took the paper, as your pa told me more’n onct, fur I -knowed him well, an’ set out to get Mrs. Reed’s name to the dockyment. -That’d been easy enough like as not on’y it was jest about the time -Mrs. Reed and Bill fell out and sepyrated. She’d gone to Indinoplis -and afore the lawyer could ketch her, she was off to Calyfornee. Mr. -Stockwell went clean out there to find her onct, but he never did.” - -Bud remembered the time. It was just after his father’s death. But his -foster father had never told him that the trip concerned him or his -father’s farm. - -“What difference did that make?” asked Bud. - -“Made jest this. Ole Bill Reed died, and there wa’nt really no good -deed to your pa. He was dead, too, then. The place was yours because -your pa paid for it with hard cash, but the title was bad. Ain’t no one -ever goin’ to buy the place from you--an’ its worth a hundred dollars a -acre now o’ any man’s money, lessen you go get your title cleared up.” - -Bud smiled. - -“That all sounds right,” he said, “and I reckon I ought to understand -it. But I don’t.” - -Mr. Camp laughed, too, and looked at his wife. - -“Lawyer Stockwell understands it all right, mother,” he said chuckling. -“It’s this way, Son. There’s only two persons who kin give you a clean -title to that land which you heired from your pa. An’ that’s them as is -Ole Bill Reed’s heirs. An’ ef you want to know who them air, it’s Jack -Stanley an’ his wife.” - -Bud sat up trying to understand. - -“Ef any one has claims on that farm besides you,” Mr. Camp continued, -“it’s John Reed and his wife. An’ they ain’t got no genoine claim -except to do the fair and square thing and that’s what ole Bill and his -wife didn’t. Ef they’re your friends, they’ll do it. An’ when they do -an’ give you a deed to what your pa hones’ly paid fur, Bud Wilson’ll -have as clean an’ tidy a bit o’ ground as they is in Scott County.” - -The boy’s brow was wrinkled. - -“You say my foster father understands? What do you mean? How is he -interested in all this?” - -“Far be it from me to make reflections,” said Mr. Camp slowly, “but -lawyers has more tricks an’ one. I ain’t sayin’ he’d do it. But what -ef he or some one else’d buy that sixty acres o’ Jack Stanley. Where’d -you come in?” - -“I see,” answered Bud, “but I can’t think you’re right. Any way,” he -added, “I’ll keep my eyes open. As for this,” and he whirled the dull, -brassy circle on his finger, “I guess it’s workin’ all right. It ain’t -brought me anything bad yet--exceptin’ my muddy pants and the swamp.” - -Mr. Camp’s return to the house had been prompted by curiosity. When Bud -had asked a few more questions about his father and the farm, Mr. Camp -suggested that it would be well to hurry to the stranded aeroplane. - -“Will you help me?” asked Bud eagerly. - -“Will we?” answered Josh, speaking for his father and himself. “When a -real show comes right out here in our front yard without no charge to -see it--I guess we’ll see it ef we have to shet down the mill.” - -“It’s most as good as goin’ to the fair,” chuckled his father. - -Mrs. Camp gave a sigh of disappointment. - -“You ain’t a goin’ to miss it, Mrs. Camp,” spoke up Bud promptly. “I’m -goin’ to start back to town about twenty minutes of three o’clock. You -be waitin’ out in the yard. I’ll sail right over the house. Don’t be -scared if I come close to you. I’ll do it so you can see the airship.” - -“I jes can’t nacherly believe it,” exclaimed the good-natured woman. - -“And if you’ll let me, I’ll come back and stay with you again -to-night,” added Bud. “That is, if you’ll let me pay for my board an’ -lodgin’.” - -“Pay?” exclaimed Mrs. Camp indignantly. - -“Come on and quit your foolish talk,” added her husband. - -A curious and laughable sight in his borrowed clothes, Bud, Josh and -Mr. Camp set out for the lake. - -“She’s right down among the cattails,” explained Josh. “An’ mighty nigh -in the pond. You had a close call a gittin’ ducked.” - -This was true, as Bud soon discovered. The day was fine, with only -a light September haze in the air. Standing on the slope of the -hill--which completely concealed the machine from a possible traveler -on the wood road--Bud and the two Camps began speculating on the best -way to approach the aeroplane. No one was anxious to plow through the -deep mire of the swamp unless it was necessary. The solution was easy. - -The skiff and flat boat were moored at the bottom of the pond near the -closed head-gate. To reach these, there was a board path or footway -running along the flume from the creek. A half mile detour brought the -party there. In a few moments more, they were all at the dam and the -boats. Bud had explained his plans for moving the aeroplane by loading -it onto the boats and floating it to the head of the flume. Mr. Camp -reckoned the project feasible. - -But, when the two boats had been brought as near the stranded machine -as they would float, and Bud, stripped of his trousers, underclothes, -shoes and socks, had crawled through the weeds and mud to the airship, -his fears were realized. Although the starboard end of the car was -partly buried in the mud, the keen-eyed lad at once discovered that the -bottom cross piece of the frame was broken. - -Making further examination of the craft, his eye fell upon the gasoline -tank. A sudden alarm came over him. He knew he had enough fuel to carry -him safely back to the fair-grounds; but that would not suit all his -needs. He meant to return to the fair, give the advertised exhibition -by flying three times around the race-track, and then escape once more. -If he could do this, he would keep the aeroplane hidden until the next -day, which was Saturday. When he returned that day, he would come down. -The fair would be over. - -But to do this meant more gasoline. He returned to his waiting friends -and reported. There was a hasty consultation, and this program was -agreed upon: Josh was to hook up a horse to the spring wagon and -proceed at once to Little Town for five gallons of gasoline; Bud was -to return to the mill and secure a few pieces of wood and some wire to -repair the broken cross piece; Mr. Camp was to stay by the aeroplane -and clear away the interfering weeds as well as he could. - -“And,” volunteered Mr. Camp, as the boys left, “sense we’re all a -goin’ to be workin’ purty hard this mornin’ tell Mother to get us up -a pot-pie dinner with mashed potatoes. Ef any one asts fur me at the -mill, tell ’em we’re shet down.” - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -A UNIQUE STARTING DEVICE. - - -“Anyway,” exclaimed Bud, after he had returned with his supplies and -made another examination of the aeroplane, “the engine is in good -shape. The landing skids kept it above the weeds and it’s as dry as a -bone.” - -Half naked, the boy went to work on the airship, and, with no little -annoyance from mosquitoes and sunburn, he soon had the broken -cross-piece mended. - -Meanwhile, the two mill hands had managed to secure a couple of -substantial fence planks, each about ten feet long. While Bud tested -each brace in the car--fortunately the front and rear rudders and the -two propellers escaped without a scratch--Mr. Camp and his hands beat -down the tangle of cattails and flags. By using the fence boards to -walk on, a temporary tramway was made and when the busy young aviator -was ready to move his car, the planks were laid ready for the first -ten-foot lift. - -“Now then,” called out Mr. Camp, as the three men and Bud took their -places, “right up to yer shoulder and then all together.” - -With Mr. Camp and Bud in front and the others just behind them--all -standing on the narrow boards--they slowly raised the frame into the -air. At the end of the improvised walk, the car was gently eased to -the beaten-down weeds and the boards were shoved forward. Again, the -aeroplane was lifted and carried another ten feet. The next lift would -bring the frame to the water’s edge. - -Before this was made, Bud lined up the two boats about fifteen feet -apart and anchored them between oars and sticks stuck in the mud. Then, -every one removing his shoes and trousers, the airship squad got its -shoulders under the machine once more, and, splashing and slipping in -the shallow water and mud, carefully laid the aeroplane on the boats. - -“This is all new business to me,” said Mr. Camp, slapping at the -mosquitoes, thick on his unprotected legs, “but I’m ketchin’ on. An’ I -got an idee a’ready,” he added knowingly. “I see what you’re figgerin’ -on, Bud. Ef ye git back here to-night, don’t land on the marsh. Ef -ye’ll jest make a landin’ over yender on the slope o’ the hill ye can -git out o’ all this trouble.” - -“But I’d have as much trouble gettin’ the car over to the flume to -raise it again,” suggested Bud. - -“That’s where you’re mistaken, an’ that’s where my idee comes in. I -reckon ye _kin_ start in the flume, but that’s fur frum bein’ the -easiest way.” - -“What would you do?” asked Bud, with rather a patronizing smile. - -“Well, as I figger it out,” said Mr. Camp, parting his flowing beard -to expectorate, “all ye want is a run fur yer money. There’s more ways -o’ gettin’ a runnin’ start than on a boat. When you git back to-night, -I’ll have an old spring wagon I got up thar nigh the top o’ the hill. -An’ I’ll have her greased good an’ plenty. Tomorrer we’ll put the -flying-machine on the wagon an’ Josh in the shafts. When he gits goin’ -down hill ef he don’t beat this ole flat-boat I’m a liar.” - -“Mr. Camp,” laughed Bud, approvingly, “if it wasn’t for gettin’ the -aeroplane over the marsh and on the hill, I’d try it to-day. That’s a -bird of a way.” - -“Oh, I’m purty handy that away,” remarked the mill owner in a satisfied -tone. - -Mr. Camp and one of the men climbed into the boats to balance the long -frame, while the other man and Bud, keeping within wading distance of -the shore, began the task of pushing the boats the quarter of a mile -or more to the dam. Before they reached the lower end of the pond, -Josh could be seen making his way laboriously up the plank walk along -the flume, pushing a wheelbarrow loaded with the wood-encased can of -gasoline. - -It was nearly noon, and, by the time the aeroplane had been lifted -from its floating foundation and deposited safely upon the clay dam or -levee, the distant but welcome sound of Mr. Camp’s dinner bell could be -heard. - -“There don’t seem to be any risk in leaving it here,” suggested Bud. -“There isn’t a living thing in sight except birds. And, anyway, I’ve -got to get my clothes, to say nothing of that chicken potpie.” - -“I don’t know about that,” said Josh doubtfully. “Mebbe I better stay. -They been a telephonin’ ever’ where ’bout a lost flyin’ machine. -Somebody called up the store in Little Town this mornin’ while I was -there, astin’ ef any one had heerd o’ a lost flyin’ machine.” - -Bud showed some alarm. - -“Don’t be skeered, son,” exclaimed Mr. Camp. “Thet ain’t because they -think it’s up this way. They probable been telephonin’ all over the -county.” - -It was finally agreed that Josh should remain on guard, and that his -dinner should be brought to him. After getting into their clothes, the -others started for the house. On the way, Bud was in a deep study. He -had no concern about his return to the fair-ground and no fear but -what he would give a successful exhibition, but what was to follow? -Certainly Attorney Stockwell and Mr. Dare and the deputy sheriff would -be on the watch for him. - -And, if they were looking out for the stolen aeroplane, they would -not only see it approaching, but they would see the direction it took -on leaving. On a fast horse, a man might almost keep close enough on -the track of the retreating car to see it come down. After that, it -might be only a question of a few hours search. You can’t well hide a -forty-foot wide expanse of white canvas. - -“Mr. Camp,” said Bud, at last, as they hurried along over the wood -road, “you figured out that starting apparatus so well, maybe you can -help me out of some other trouble.” - -He related his predicament as he saw it. The old man wagged his jaws -and stroked his long whiskers. - -“Gimme a little time,” he replied at last. “That’s a purty tough -problem, but mebbe I kin git some answer to it.” - -At the house, it was like a holiday. - -“Seems jes like Sunday with the mill shet down,” remarked Mrs. Camp, -opening a can of pickled pears. “You all git ready right away. Dinner’s -all dryin’ up.” - -Bud changed his clothes--Mrs. Camp had even pressed his pants--and -the four men soused and scrubbed themselves, and all took turns with -the hanging comb. Then they filed in to dinner. It wasn’t a question -of light or dark meat of the chicken with Mr. Camp when he served the -pot-pie. The half spoon and half dipper plunged into the smoking soup -tureen came up charged with gravy, dumplings and meat. Into the center -of this, went the mashed potatoes, with butter melting on top of the -pile. - -In the midst of the dinner, Mr. Camp suddenly balanced his knife on his -hand, struck the table with the butt of his fork and exclaimed: - -“I’ve got her, Bud.” - -“Got what, Pa?” broke in Mrs. Camp, nervously, as she sprang up and -looked into the pot-pie bowl. - -Her husband smiled, pounded the table again, and went on: - -“Sure as shootin’, Bud, them fellers is agoin’ to foller you. Mebbe -you could go right back there to the lake an’ never be discivered, and -mebbe not. ’Tain’t no use takin’ chances. Jest you hold yer horses, -finish yer pie, an’ I’ll put a bug in yer ear.” - -“You’ve got a way to hide me?” exclaimed Bud eagerly. - -“I hev that. An’ it’s simple as A. B. C.” - -With most profuse thanks to Mrs. Camp for all she had done for him -and many promises to come and see her later if anything prevented -his return that night, Bud took farewell of his hostess. The men had -already left with Josh’s dinner. Out in the open space between the -dooryard and the mill, Mr. Camp, helping himself to an ample supply of -Kentucky twist, explained to Bud the details of his plan for concealing -the aeroplane that night. It did not have to be told twice. The -exuberant boy chuckled with delight. - -“Mr. Camp,” exclaimed Bud, “if I ever get my farm, I’m goin’ to buy an -aeroplane. It’s goin’ to be a two-seater, too. An’ the first passenger -’at rides with me’ll be you.” - -“Well, sir,” replied the farmer mill owner, twisting a lock of his -whiskers about his horny finger and shaking his head, “don’t you worry -about me bein’ afeered.” - -It wasn’t an hour after the working squad reached the dam and head -gates again until the aeroplane was ready for flight. The gasoline tank -was full, the oil cups were charged and the engine--to the joy of Mr. -Camp and his hands--had been tested and found in order. The flat boat -had been lifted over the head-gate and was on the flume ready to dart -away upon the rushing flood of water when the head-gate was raised. -Finally, the bird-like framework had been balanced on the thwarts of -the flat boat, and nothing remain but to wait for the time to start. - -It was then a quarter after two o’clock. Nearly a half hour remained -before leaving time. In spite of the plan proposed by Mr. Camp, Bud, -it was further suggested, ought to lose no opportunity to mislead his -almost certain pursuers. This meant that he should arrange his flight -from the fair-grounds so that he would head west. That would take him -away from Scottsville and toward a bit of low ground about four miles -west of the fair-ground. Both sides of this were heavily timbered. - -“Ef ye kin git down thar in the ‘slashins’ afore they git too clost to -ye,” explained Mr. Camp, “an’ it ain’t too dangersome to git clost to -the groun’, ye kin make a quick turn an’ shoot along in the valley till -ye come to the ole Little Town road. An’ that’ll take ye furder in the -hills. Like as not ye kin git clean away unbeknownst to ’em.” - -“I’ll try it,” exclaimed Bud. “But I reckon it don’t matter much. We -got ’em cinched if I ever get back here. And I’ll be here about a -quarter to four,” he added. - -Mr. Camp’s plan did credit to the old man’s ingenuity. This is how he -explained it to Bud: - -“Ye see the saw house down there?” he began. “Well, sir, ’at’s fifty -feet long, or more. An’ ye see that track? They’s a car ’at runs on -that to haul the logs into the shed to be sawed. When ye git back, -ye’ll come right here and land afore the mill. Me an’ Josh an’ the -hands’ll be waitin’ an’ the log car’ll be all ready. Afore ye kin say -Jack Robison, we’ll have thet flying-machine on the log car an’ in the -shed.” - -“And the doors closed,” added Bud enthusiastically. - -“Not by no means. That would be suspicious like ’cause they ain’t never -shet. This afternoon, they’ll be two pulleys rigged up in the comb o’ -the shed all ready to yank the flyin’-machine up agin the roof--clear -o’ the car.” - -“But they’ll see it!” - -“They’ll be some pieces o’ timber all sawed to run acrost under the -machine like as if it was a kind of a second floor. An’ they’ll be -plenty o’ loose boards all stacked to lay on them jice. I been kind o’ -needin’ a attic there any way,” laughed the grizzled mill owner. “An’ -ef them jice is old timber an’ the floor is old boards, I reckon ain’t -no one goin’ to suspicion it’s all been made suddent like. An’ it don’t -’pear to me any one’s goin’ to take the trouble to look up in the attic -fur no airplane.” - -It was at this point that Bud had chuckled. Then his enthusiasm cooled. - -“How about getting another start?” he asked suddenly. - -Mr. Camp chuckled in turn. - -“Didn’t I tell you about the hill and the spring wagon and Josh for a -engine?” - -“And we’ll carry it over there?” - -[Illustration: THE START FROM THE FLUME.] - -“The log wagon can be made thirty feet long,” drawled Mr. Camp with -another laugh. “We’ll haul it there like one o’ them poles they raise -at the rallies.” - -As these details were gone over again, the old mill owner kept a close -eye on his thick silver watch. At twenty-five minutes of three, he -arose with the importance of Dewey at Manila. - -“Well, Bud,” he exclaimed, extending his gnarled hand--his jaws working -vigorously, as they always did in moments of excitement, “time’s up. -An’ good luck to ye.” - -It was an exhilarating moment for Bud. Stationing Josh and one of the -men at either end of the balanced airship, he knocked the block from -under the front of the flat boat, while the other mill hands held the -stern of the boat. Then, tightening his hat, Bud took his seat, and -rapidly tested all levers. - -“Hold on, boys,” he said soberly, “until I yell ‘Go.’” - -“Air ye all ready?” exclaimed Mr. Camp standing over the head-gate with -the lever that swung it up in his hand. - -Bud turned in his seat, set the engine going, and then watched the -propellers begin to whirl. As their speed increased and the car began -to tremble, he said in a low voice to Mr. Camp: - -“Turn her on!” - -As the heavy-muscled man threw himself upon the lever and the gates -slowly rose, the banked up water rolled out beneath them like a wave -of oil. As the released flood shot under the car, Bud was firm in -his seat, both hands on the levers. There was a bob of the flat boat -upward, and the boy shouted, “Go!” - -For a moment only, the boat seemed to pause like a chip on the brink -of an angry waterfall, and then, carried upon the crest of the new -torrent, it shot forward like a rock falling. There was time only for -a few swift blows on the sides of the flume, and then the aeroplane, -rising from the impetus of its unique flight, leaped forward and began -to rise. Bud did not turn, but he waved his hand in jubilation. The -airship was safely afloat. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -AN EXHIBITION UNDER DIFFICULTIES. - - -It would require considerable space to describe what took place when -President Josiah Elder reached the fair-ground, after receiving Bud’s -message, and found the airship shed empty. A good share of his anger he -took out on poor Jim Hoarr, the watchman. And yet, Jim could give no -better explanation than that Bud Wilson had suddenly appeared, out of -breath, a short time before, handed him the message, and sent him on -the run to the telephone in the ticket office. - -Mr. Elder then read the message at first hand. After that, while he -still berated the watchman, he began to think. What did it all mean? -Who were “they?” And why were “they” attempting to take the aeroplane. -After all, it could mean only one thing. It must mean Mr. Dare. The -angered expert was probably up to some trick. And if he was, the thing -had probably not yet been attempted. Sending his horse and buggy away, -the fair official withdrew to the airship shed, dropped the front -curtain, lit a cigar and sat down to await developments. Under a box, -he hid a lighted lantern. - -About ten o’clock he was rewarded. Under instructions, the watchman -remained quiet, when stealthy footsteps approached and the front -curtain was raised. Waiting until three figures had crawled into the -shed, Mr. Elder suddenly drew his lantern from its shelter. Before him -stood the discomfited Attorney Stockwell, Mr. T. Glenn Dare and the -deputy sheriff. - -“Good evening, gentlemen,” exclaimed the waiting president. “Anything I -can do for you?” - -Attorney Stockwell put on a bold front. At the same time, he looked -about in open surprise. The aeroplane was gone. - -“We’re here on an order of the Court, Josiah,” began the lawyer. “I’ve -been retained by Mr. Dare to protect his rights.” - -“What rights?” - -“That’s not for me to pass on. It’s in the hands of the Court. Mr. Dare -has made affidavit that the aeroplane we bought hasn’t been paid for, -and that he’s entitled to its possession. The Court, so far, agrees -with him. The officer of the Court is here with a writ to take charge -of the apparatus.” - -“All right,” replied Mr. Elder. “Help yourself.” - -“It isn’t necessary for me to say this is no laughing matter, Josiah. -It ain’t what you and me think. The Court has ordered the sheriff to -take charge of the machine.” - -“I recognize the power of the Court,” responded the president. “I -shan’t interfere.” - -“If you knew of this writ and have concealed Mr. Dare’s property, of -course, you know you can be cited for contempt.” - -“I didn’t know of it, and I haven’t concealed the aeroplane,” answered -Mr. Elder, with a smile. - -“Where is it?” demanded the lawyer. - -Mr. Elder shook his head. - -“Some one stole it,” he added, with an increasing smile. - -“Stole it?” exclaimed the lawyer and Mr. Dare together. - -“This is all I know about it,” added Mr. Elder. “And you are entitled -to know it, too, as a director of the fair.” - -He handed the perplexed and angry lawyer Bud’s note. Attorney Stockwell -read it, Mr. Dare looking over his shoulder. When he had finished, the -lawyer, white with sudden anger, folded the bit of paper and put it -into his vest pocket. - -“You’ll notice, Stockwell, that that note is addressed to me.” - -“I’ll just keep it as evidence. It may come in handy.” - -Mr. Elder slowly put his lantern on the ground and then stepped close -to the lawyer’s side. Holding out his hand he said, in a tone that made -Jim, the watchman, also step forward: - -“Hand me that note.” - -The lawyer stepped back. Then he weakened. Drawing the scrap of paper -from his pocket, he handed it to his fellow director. - -“Are you backin’ him up in this?” - -“Stockwell,” answered Mr. Elder, “in the last two or three days, I’ve -seen a good deal of your adopted son, and to-night, I’ve seen a good -deal of you. I don’t know any more about what Bud has done or is going -to do than this note tells. But I do know this. From this time on, when -it comes to ‘backin’ him up, I think I’ll back him in any fight he -makes against you.” - -“Thank you,” sneered the lawyer. “All I can say is, you’re goin’ to -have your hands full. An’ you can begin your meddlin’ just the minute -this young thief lands on these grounds to-morrow. He’ll be arrested -and charged with larceny. If you interfere, I’ll give you all the fight -you want.” - -Mr. Elder turned to the silent expert. - -“I ought to tell you, Mr. Dare,” he said, ignoring the lawyer’s threat, -“that I telegraphed to your company to-day all the facts concerning -your conduct. I also sent them a draft for the cost of the aeroplane, -minus your fee. If they won’t settle on that basis, you are welcome to -the property.” Then he laughed, “The next time you have a job like this -and think you can come a confidence game on the country jakes, you’d -better select some town that hasn’t a Bud Wilson in it.” - -“Come on, Mr. Dare,” said Attorney Stockwell pompously, “this fight’s -just began. We’ll have our innings to-morrow. There’ll be no exhibition -of our property on Saturday, at least. And that’s the big day.” - -“If there isn’t,” replied Mr. Elder, good naturedly, “it’ll be the -first day your foster son has fallen down. He seems a little swift for -you, Cyrus.” - -Before Mr. Elder could say more, the lawyer and his two companions -stalked out of the shed. - -It was always a question in Scottsville, whether Friday or Saturday -would be the banner day at the fair. From the looks of the grounds -at ten o’clock the next morning, it was apparent that either the -fine weather, good crops, or the aeroplane was working wonders. -The enclosure was packed. Men, women and children swayed back and -forth; ice cream, candy, “hoky poky,” peanuts, toy balloons, whips, -“tin-types,” photographs, dusty shoes all told that the fair was -in full swing. The “Wheel of Fortune” operators; the barkers at -the “side shows;” the cries of the hatted Wild West young men who -besought onlookers to “hit a baby and get a seegar,” or informed -others vociferously that “the cane you ring is the cane you get,” made -a hubbub the endless keynote of which was the shrill organ at the -“merry-go-round.” - -“She’ll run twelve thousand people to-day,” suggested Superintendent -Perry to President Josiah Elder as the two came out of the ticket -office. - -“And half of ’em are here to see our flyin’-machine,” answered Mr. -Elder. “What do you ’spose that kid’s expectin’ to do?” - -“What are _you_ expectin’ to do?” answered the superintendent, with -a half smile. “Ye don’t need to fear but he’ll be here. But after -his show--what then? Ye kin be sure Stockwell’ll be ready to grab the -outfit. An’ then--how about to-morrow?” - -Mr. Elder shook his head. Then he explained to Mr. Perry what the -directors had done in the matter of offering to settle with the -manufacturers. - -“We’ve telegraphed them that our eighteen hundred dollars is on the -way, and told ’em how this expert o’ theirs fell down. We’re expectin’ -an answer any time to-day callin’ him off. If it don’t come, we’ll -fight ’em as best we can. But we’re all agreed we ain’t a goin’ to be -held up. We won’t pay Mr. T. Glenn Dare one cent. He can break up the -show to-morrow, but we won’t weaken.” - -At two o’clock it looked as if another person could hardly be crowded -into the fair-grounds--at least, not near the exhibition buildings and -concession tents. With the first tap of the bell in the judge’s stand, -like a field of snow slipping in a body down a mountain side, the -heaving mass of humanity moved toward the race track. The five hundred -dollar purse for the two-twenty pace marked the big feature of the -speed contests and a new record was set for “grandstand” receipts. - -But three men were not concerning themselves with this event. Sitting -complacently together, on a knoll under the only trees within the race -track, were Attorney Cyrus Stockwell, T. Glenn Dare, the aviator, and -Deputy Sheriff Pusey. They were waiting to see how Bud Wilson was going -to keep his word. One heat of the big race, delayed as usual, had been -run, and the first heat of the next event “green trotters without a -record” had been disposed of when two other men left the judges’ stand -and made their way toward the empty airship shed or “aerodrome.” These -were President Elder and Superintendent Perry. They were the reverse of -complacent. - -It was only a few minutes of three o’clock and the space about the -aeroplane house was black with people. Jim Hoarr, the watchman, keeping -the canvas front of the shed closed to conceal the fact that there was -no aeroplane within the house, wondered what would happen when the -curious crowd learned that the house about which they were crowded was -empty. - -As the packed spectators gave way before Superintendent Perry’s badge, -Attorney Stockwell and his friends fell in the wake of the president -and superintendent. The little party reached the shed together. - -“Good afternoon, Josiah,” exclaimed the lawyer, touching his fellow -director on the arm. “You see we’re right on time. I hope Bud makes -good his promise.” - -Mr. Elder scowled. - -“If he don’t,” continued Attorney Stockwell, “what explanation are you -going to make? I see you have quite an audience.” - -He waved his hand about him, to include perhaps ten thousand persons -who had paid their money to see the airship. - -Mr. Elder looked at his watch, swept the horizon with his eyes and -scowled again. It was just three o’clock. “I reckon you’re in it -as deep as I am, as far as the crowd knows,” the president finally -replied, in a low voice. “I--” - -A sudden murmur ran through the surging crowd. Mr. Elder paused and -looked quickly about. He saw nothing approaching, but before he could -continue, an arm shot out from the field of spectators and pointed -almost directly overhead. Then the mass of people began to melt away -with thousands of “Ahs,” and “Ohs” and “There she comes.” - -At least fifteen hundred feet in the air, Bud’s stolen aeroplane -was rushing forward to make its advertised exhibition. Where it had -come from, no one seemed to know. Not one of the men most interested -had seen it until that moment, and it was swooping down upon the -fair-grounds as if it had come from above the clouds. So high was it -that, at the angle it was traveling, it had to pass over the grounds. -The sight set the crowd off in a frenzy of excitement. In a cloud of -dust, the eager spectators ran forward as if to follow the aeroplane. -In its wake were the lawyer, his client, and the deputy sheriff. - -Mr. Elder stood as if transfixed. - -“I guess I’ll wait developments right here,” he said, turning to Jim -Hoarr. “Get the shed ready.” - -“I seen it,” said Jim, “but I thought it was a bird.” - -“Where did he come from?” asked the fair official. - -“Plumb out o’ the north, but about a mile high. An’ it sailed right -over the ground afore it turned. Not fur me,” added Jim, shaking his -head. - -Having passed out over the grounds again, the aeroplane was seen -sweeping in a long curve on the turn. The scrambling crowd slackened, -and the airship, five hundred feet above the trees, headed back again. -For an instant, it darted upward, and then, settling once more, made a -curving swing toward the waiting thousands. - -“Here she comes,” rose in a deafening roar. - -Bud’s face could be made out for the first time. It wore neither -smile nor alarm. It was as placid as marble. With his feet close -together in his stirrups, his body erect and tense, his blue flannel -shirt fluttering in the breeze, he held his course with the ease of a -locomotive engineer. - -“Now,” exclaimed Attorney Stockwell to Deputy Pusey, “get your writ -ready an’ keep your eyes peeled. Nab him the minute he lights.” - -Once over the mob of upturned faces--gathered now mainly on the long -stretch of the race-track--Bud’s body swayed and his machine veered. -In another moment, the aeroplane had altered its course and was on its -way circling the grounds just above the track. Ten thousand people -rushed forward in spontaneous excitement. Just off the track, Attorney -Stockwell watched, breathed hard, and waited. - -On the back stretch of the track, the aeroplane sank lower and lower -until by the time the upper turn was reached, it was just over the -heads of the spectators. Then, came the flight down the track, over -the crowd and in front of the grand-stand. - -“I’ll show ’em I can travel where I please,” said Bud to himself. “Hold -on to your hats,” he yelled suddenly, as he smiled for the first time. - -With a dart, the car skimmed toward the jam of humanity like a swallow -skims over a pond. Falling over each other, pushing, knocking and -yelling, the crowd attempted to clear the track. There was a crash, -and, as Bud swept onward, not over twenty feet above the ground, the -track fence gave way, and the panic stricken crowd sank in confused -heaps. - -“Keep off the track,” yelled Bud warningly. - -From the judges’ stand, the figure of Superintendent Perry suddenly -leaped forward. In his hand, he waved his big black hat warningly. - -“Git back there, git back,” he called in a loud voice. “Git back, an’ -keep back, or some one’ll get killed.” - -At that instant, the aeroplane, like a yacht in a gale, swept by the -grand-stand. There was the low hum of propellers, and the whirr of the -engine, but not a creak from the car itself, and not a word or look -from the gritty young aviator. A buzz of relieved admiration seemed to -rise like a breeze from the grand-stand, the thousands on the dust -deep race-track caught their breath, and Bud had passed. His first -circuit of the course had been made. - -From the airship house on the center of the track, three figures were -rushing forward. They had just made a discovery. - -“Mr. Stockwell,” Deputy Pusey had suddenly exclaimed as he saw Bud -enter on his second lap, “do you know what he’s a goin’ to do?” - -The attorney had just suspected, but he was watching the flying car as -if fascinated. - -“He’s goin’ to beat us after all,” shouted the deputy, grabbing the -lawyer’s arm. “He ain’t a goin’ to land. He’s a goin’ to fly away agin.” - -An awful word came from Mr. T. Glenn Dare’s lips, and Attorney -Stockwell, his face red with new anger, sprang forward as if to -intercept the flying boy. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -THE ENEMY OUTWITTED ONCE MORE. - - -Just within the race-track enclosure and in the shade of the judges’ -stand, stood Deputy Sheriff Pusey’s side-bar buggy and his famous -roadster. The rig was known all over the county. Its appearance usually -meant the service of a writ, a subpoena or a warrant. It was a forlorn -hope, but, before the aeroplane had reached the far end of the track -again, the deputy and Attorney Stockwell were in the buggy and the -county official, his big official badge blazing on his blue coat and -his official voice demanding that the crowd give way, were forcing a -path through the packed crowd. - -Before the horse could make much headway, the aeroplane was racing down -the “stretch” once more--this time even nearer the ground. As the whirr -of the engine struck on the horse’s ears and the wide white planes of -the car filled the width of the track just above, the horse reared, -lunged forward, and the aeroplane had passed once more. - -“Hello,” rang out from the aeroplane at once. “Want me, Mr. Stockwell?” - -There was a mutter of enraged words in the buggy, and then, the crowd, -alarmed at the horse’s actions, fell back in confusion. With a quick -command, the lawyer spoke to his companion, and, with a glance at the -aeroplane, already on the far side of the race-track on its next round, -the frightened horse was forced through the crowd toward the head of -the “stretch” down which the flying-machine would come on its next lap. - -The turn was reached just before Bud arrived from the opposite -direction. - -“Now, Pusey,” exclaimed the lawyer, grabbing the lines and whirling the -horse about, “get on the seat and serve him ef you can. Get your writ -ready. Ef he comes clost enough, grab him and hold on. I’ll take care -of the horse.” - -Attorney Stockwell, whip in hand, headed the rearing animal down the -track, yelling to the crowd to get out of the way. The massed people -saw what was coming. Between the low-flying aeroplane and the galloping -horse, a second injunction was not needed. As the track opened up -before the snorting animal, already on a dead run, with its ears laid -back, Deputy Pusey sprang to the seat of the buggy, and began to wave -his writ. - -Bud understood the situation as well as if it had been explained to -him. A provoking smile came on his face, and with a reckless daring -he headed the car straight at the deputy’s head. Down the stretch -together, came the foaming, galloping horse and the swiftly moving -aeroplane. Holding with one hand to Attorney Stockwell’s shoulder, the -deputy sheriff--he had already lost his official hat--waved his writ -and yelled: - -“Hey, there, Bud Wilson, in the name of the law, Stop!” - -“Busy,” cried out Bud. “See you to-morrow. Can’t stop to-day.” - -“You’re under arrest,” shouted Attorney Stockwell. - -The temptation was too great. Without answering, Bud gave the -horizontal rudder a slight turn, and the speeding car shot at the -deputy’s wobbling form. - -“Grab him,” shouted the lawyer, as the car dropped. - -Spurred on by the jeers and hoots of the thousands watching the strange -contest, the county officer made a feeble effort to respond. As he -threw his body up in a half-hearted effort to catch the car, now just -overhead, the aeroplane sprang up once more. - -“Good-bye,” shouted Bud, “you’re too slow. See you later.” - -Deputy Pusey balanced himself for a second, and then tumbled forward -between the foam-flecked horse and the light buggy. A dozen men grabbed -the bridle of the horse, and the lawyer, with an effort pulled the -deputy into the buggy. - -As the machine sped by the judges’ stand, Bud heard a voice: - -“Good boy, Bud,” it sounded jubilantly. - -Bud glanced quickly, and saw President Elder, Superintendent Perry, and -a crowd of other laughing and excited fair officials. - -“Be back at three o’clock to-morrow,” sang out the boy in response. - -In another instant, his obedient craft was on the lower turn, and, with -the shouts and cheers of the assembled multitude ringing in his ears, -Bud prepared to make his escape. At the extreme end of the track, he -threw the lever of the vertical rudder over so sharply that the car -almost capsized. Like a bird with a wounded wing, the framework fell -partly on its side. Bud’s heart thumped. The ground seemed rushing up -to meet him. To even scrape the surface meant ruin to the car. - -The boy retained his presence of mind and did the right thing. But -the car had lost so much headway that it did not respond at once. -It wavered, tried to recover itself and then, almost balanced, fell -within five or six feet of the earth. Escape did not seem possible. The -aeroplane was yet on an angle, and the low end of the frame was just -escaping the ground. If it struck, Bud’s work was over. Like lightning, -the thought came to him that he must jump to escape the wreckage. - -Just then, with the spring of an animal, a man’s crouched form hurled -itself from the ground beneath the dragging end. Bud’s dry lips tried -to cry out, but there was no time. His eye was quicker than his tongue. -He saw the bronzed face of Jack Stanley, his gypsy friend, but no sound -came from the boy’s lips. As the gypsy’s face flashed before him, -something seemed to strike the car. A shock ran through the frame, and -then, as if caught by a gale of wind, the dragging end of the frame -flew up--the aeroplane, gathering speed, darted ahead, and the ship -righting herself, began once more to climb skyward. - -“Go it, Kid--yer all right!” - -These words followed after Bud as he renewed his flight, and he -realized that once again Jack Stanley had helped him over a crisis. Or, -was it Madame Zecatacas’ magic ring? - -“If it’s the ring,” thought Bud, “I’m goin’ to have still more use fur -it. It’s got to make Jack and his wife sign the deed for me.” - -Straight west over the “aerodrome,” the aeroplane took its new course -as steadily and easily as if had not just escaped destruction. Several -hundred feet in the air, Bud set the car on a level keel headed for the -“slashings”--the valley some miles ahead. - -He was well out of the grounds when Attorney Stockwell and the deputy -untangled themselves from the dense crowd. But at no time, was he -out of the lawyer’s sight. To the indignation of the spectators, Mr. -Stockwell forced the deputy’s horse through the crowd and hurried -toward the fair-ground entrance. There was no rear entrance leading -in the direction Bud had flown, and in hastening to the main gate, -the buggy had nearly a half mile to cover before passing from the -enclosure. This was under trees and behind buildings that at once cut -off the view of the disappearing aeroplane. - -The road leading to the fair-grounds from the main thoroughfare or -pike, ran north. Finally reaching the east-and-west road, the deputy’s -horse was put to a run. It was then a half mile further before the -flying car could possibly be seen, as, for that distance, the main -road ran between trees. It was not until ten minutes after the excited -lawyer and the bruised deputy had started on their chase that they came -out into the open road. - -“There he goes,” exclaimed Deputy Pusey, when they did. - -“Giddap,” shouted the lawyer, hitting the already galloping animal with -the end of the lines. “He’s goin’ like all sixty.” - -Almost directly ahead, and perhaps four miles away, the aeroplane hung -like a bird. Without knowledge of what it really was, the object could -not have been picked out for other than a bird in flight. - -“I’m afeered he’s given us the slip,” added the deputy. - -“He ain’t goin’ far,” replied the panting lawyer, still slapping the -already jaded horse. - -“You’re right,” sang out his companion. “He’s lightin’ a’ready.” - -It seemed that this was true. The aeroplane, which was no great -distance in the air, was dropping slowly toward a distant line of trees. - -“Comin’ down in the woods,” said Attorney Stockwell. - -“Ain’t that the aidge o’ the ‘slashins’?” exclaimed the deputy. - -“Looks like it. Well, there ain’t any place there to hide. It’s all -marsh or medder or underbrush,” argued the lawyer. “Anyway, keep your -eyes peeled to see ’at he don’t come up again on the fur side.” - -Twenty minutes later, the pursuers mounted the high ground concealing -the valley beyond. There was a final quick dash down the gully road, -and the low ground spread out before them. The aeroplane was nowhere in -sight. - -“Well,” began the deputy, “there ye are--all for nothin’.” - -The lawyer pointed his whip ahead. An old man, apparently in charge of -a solitary cow whose bell had attracted the attorney’s attention, was -slowly coming toward them. The pursuers hastened ahead to meet the man. - -“D’you see an airship sailing out here?” called out the attorney. - -The herdsman looked up blankly. On a venture, Deputy Pusey addressed -him in German. Some intelligence came into the old man’s face. Then he -nodded his head and pointed north. - -“He thought it was a big bird,” explained the deputy with a sneer. “And -he says it flew low like a hawk.” - -He questioned the man some minutes, and then added: - -“As near as I can make out, the kid kept down below the trees and then -disappeared in them. That means he probably kept going till he struck -the Little Town pike about two miles north. He couldn’t fly into the -trees. He’s took the Little Town road. Like as not he’s headed for -Little Town.” - -The lawyer looked at his watch. It was three-forty-five. - -“It’s no use to hurry now,” he explained. “We’ll go on till we come to -the section road and cross over to the Little Town pike. Then we’ll -go to Little Town. We’ll probably meet some one who’s seen him. If we -don’t we’ll get supper at that place an’ do some telephonin’. He can’t -hide that thing out in the open country.” - -Some minutes before Bud’s estimated return, Josh Camp, perched upon the -roof of the mill, set up a shout. - -“Here he comes,” was his cry to those waiting below, and almost before -Josh could reach the ground, the bird-like craft was slowly drifting -to rest in the mill place--the engine shut off, and the propellers -at rest. Eager hands caught it and eased it to the ground, and Bud, -trembling under the strain, climbed stiffly from his seat. - -“I’ve had the time of my life,” he began abruptly. “Old Andy Pusey -chased me around the track with some kind of a paper--said I was under -arrest.” - -“Are they after you?” interrupted Mr. “Stump” Camp at once. - -“Sure,” went on Bud. “Mr. Stockwell and Andy had a buggy and Pusey’s -big bay horse. You can bet they’re after me. But I don’t believe they -saw me after I got in the ‘slashins.’ I didn’t see them.” - -Bud’s hands trembled so that he could scarcely assist in disposing -of the aeroplane. But he was hardly needed. Before five o’clock, the -airship had been hauled into the sawing shed on the log car, drawn to -the roof by means of the waiting tackles and the false floor put into -place. To the uninformed, a glance into the shed suggested as unlikely -a place for hiding a forty-foot aeroplane as the top of a haystack. - -It was yet an hour before supper time, and the irrepressible Bud and -Josh set out at once to select a place for the next day’s flight. - -“An’ don’t be late,” called out Mrs. Camp. “We got fried chicken, sweet -potato pie and hickorynut cake.” - -About the time the Camps, Bud, and the hired hands were attacking a big -platter of fried chicken, Attorney Stockwell and Deputy Sheriff Pusey -were making the best supper they could out of yellow cheese, dried beef -and crackers in the Little Town general store. This accomplished, the -lawyer, tracing in a general way on a county map the probable course -of the lost aeroplane, called by telephone those farmers who, in his -judgment, might have seen the airship. - -Fortunately for Bud, the Camp’s Mill telephone was out of order. The -operator in Scottsville could not tell what was the matter. She had -no way of knowing that the wily mill owner had taken the instrument -off the hook just after Josh announced the returning aeroplane was in -sight. Josh’s report that there had been telephoning in Little Town the -day before was tip enough to the unlearned but crafty farmer. - -But, unfortunately for Bud, an incident occurred in the general store -a little later that set the lawyer to thinking. - -“Hey, Phil,” called out the proprietor, “I don’t see no charge o’ that -five gallon o’ gasoline Josh Camp got this mornin’.” - -Phil’s excuse was lost on Attorney Stockwell. He looked at Deputy Pusey -significantly. The moment the officer’s horse had finished his oats, -the two men were in the buggy hurrying toward Camp’s Mill, a locality -as well known to both of them as to Bud. At seven o’clock, it was -growing dusk. When the buggy turned from the road into the open space -before the mill, Mr. Camp, Josh, and Bud were sitting on the porch, the -former with his cob pipe. Mr. Camp nudged Bud, who rolled off the edge -of the porch onto the grass and crawled around the house. - -The greeting between the deputy and the mill owner was that of old -friends, but Attorney Stockwell did not stop for civilities. He became -officious at once. - -“Say, Camp,” he exclaimed, “we have reason to believe you know -something about some stolen property.” - -Before he could say more, the deputy interrupted his companion to -explain in detail what had happened. Then he added why they had come -to the mill, telling of Josh’s gasoline purchase. - -“Well,” said Mr. Camp, drawing on his not very fragrant pipe. “Can’t I -buy gasoline if I like?” - -“Don’t beat around the bush,” broke in Attorney Stockwell. - -“Look a’ here, Stockwell,” exclaimed old “Stump.” “I never did have -the best opinion o’ you. I don’t like to say right out I think you’re -a shyster cause I ain’t lookin’ to start nothin’. An’ that’s more -considerate than some bluffers I know.” - -“Have you seen the machine?” put in the deputy again, anxious to avoid -trouble. - -“I don’t know much about the law,” drawled the mill owner, “but I got a -hunch I don’t have to answer that less’n I want to.” - -“Don’t lose time with him,” sneered the lawyer. “You have the -authority. Search the place. I’ll help you.” - -“So’ll I,” volunteered Mr. Camp. “Ef ye find any flyin’-machine on this -place or round about, yer welcome to it. Mr. Deputy, you do your duty. -An’ when you’re convinced, git.” - -The lawyer and the deputy began rather unsystematically to look about -the premises, starting first for the lumber piles below the mill. - -“Better look in the mill afore it’s too dark,” suggested Mr. Camp, -pointing to the sawing shed. - -The lawyer sneered again. - -“I reckon we’ll look amongst them piles of timber,” he exclaimed. - -Deputy Pusey followed the mill owner up the little track to the long, -open shed and peered inside. - -“Like to climb up into the attic?” asked Mr. Camp, carefully filling -his pipe, and nodding upward. - -The officer smiled, turned and shook his head. When it was completely -dark and the two searchers had returned to the buggy empty handed, Mr. -Camp was sitting on the fence, his pipe sputtering and glowing in the -black night. - -“Camp,” exclaimed Attorney Stockwell angrily, “I think you know a good -deal more’n you’re lettin’ on.” - -“I reckon that’s right, Mr. Stockwell,” drawled the mill owner, without -changing his position. “I wouldn’t be supprized ef I told all I knowed -’at a certain lawyer might take to the woods. D’you find any airships?” - -With a curse, the lawyer sprang into his buggy and drove rapidly away. -Before the buggy was out of sound, a small figure seemed to appear out -of the grass back of the silent man on the fence. It was Bud, a little -nervous, but with a wide smile. - -“Say, Mr. Camp,” he exclaimed, “I was kind o’ scart when you askt ole -Pusey to git up there in the attic where the machine was.” - -“How’s that?” asked the old man. - -“’Cause I was up there, hidin’.” - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -BUD DISCOVERS A FRIEND. - - -Even the fragrant restfulness of Mrs. Camp’s spare bedroom did not make -Bud sleep soundly that night. For almost the first time in his life, he -was restless. In the morning, he was far from as lively as he had been -the day before. - -“What’s ailin’ ye, Son?” began Mr. Camp when they sat down to the usual -ham, eggs and biscuits. “You don’t seem very peart to-day. Ain’t afeerd -air ye?” - -Bud only shook his head and tried to smile. - -“I didn’t sleep well,” was his answer. “I reckon I’m tired o’ all this -excitement.” - -Mr. Camp looked at him closely, but said no more. When breakfast was -over and Bud started toward the sawing shed, Mr. Camp followed him. - -“Now ye better git it offen yer mind, Bud. Tell me yer troubles.” - -The boy made another feeble effort to say he was all right. Then, his -voice trembling a little, he said hastily: - -“I’m kind o’ lonesome, Mr. Camp. An’ you folks have been so good to me -that it makes me all the lonesomer.” - -The grizzled mill owner laughed. - -“I don’t see why yer botherin’ ’bout that. We ain’t seen nur heerd much -o’ ye fur a good many years. But your folks was purty good friends o’ -mother an’ me. An’ ye knowed Josh. Why, Bud, it seems almost like as ye -was related to us. We’ll be glad to hev ye come out here whenever ye -like.” - -“I thank you, Mr. Camp. But I didn’t mean that exactly. I ain’t got no -home now. An’ I ain’t got no education. An’ I’m purt near too old to go -to school ef I could.” - -“Ain’t got no home?” - -Bud related how he had been cast out by Attorney Stockwell; how all his -worldly possessions were in the little bundle he had brought with him -the night before; and how he had now in his pocket just five dollars. - -Mr. Camp’s whiskers worked violently. He tried to ask two or three -questions at once. Mainly, why Bud hadn’t told him this, and how -it happened that he was working for nothing in such a dangerous -enterprise. The boy satisfied him as well as he could. - -“Now,” interrupted the old man, at last, “I ain’t got but one thing -to say. Yer a goin’ to turn over this craft this evenin’ to the fair -folks, air ye?” - -Bud nodded his head. - -“An’ ye’ll quit without no wages and without no home?” - -Bud nodded his head again. - -“Well, I’ve give Josh leave to take the old sorrel and drive his mother -to the fair to-day--I got to be the startin’ engine myself. They’ll be -there long afore you git there. When yer’s flyin’ ’s all over, ye’ll -git right into the spring wagon with ’em and come right out here to old -‘Stump’ Camp’s. This here’ll be yer home till ye git another.” - -The tears came into Bud’s eyes. - -“I can’t do that, Mr. Camp. I haven’t any money--” - -“Don’t I need hands?” interrupted Mr. Camp, with assumed gruffness. - -“If you’ll let me work for you?” began Bud. But again he was -interrupted. - -“Ye don’t need to do that long,” Mr. Camp hastened to say. “Your -gaurdeen, Mr. Stockwell, didn’t spare me none last night. If I ain’t -mistook there’s somepin comin’ to ye, Bud. An’ I’m goin’ to make it my -business to see ’at ye git yer jest dues.” - -“You mean the farm?” exclaimed Bud. - -“Sure’s yer born,” continued Mr. Camp, rubbing his chin. “An’ mebbe -more. I’ve heered a good deal I ain’t said nothin’ about to you.” - -“But there’s Jack Stanley and his wife! They are the only ones who can -help me, aren’t they? You said they could give me a clear title to my -property. I’ve got to see them before they leave the fair to-night.” - -The old man slowly winked at the lad. - -“Ketched,” he chuckled. “I didn’t mean to tell ye about it, Bud. But -after Mr. Stockwell got so fresh with me las’ night, I jes made up my -mind to hand him somepin’ an’ help you a little at the same time.” - -The sawmill owner reached into the hip pocket of his trousers and drew -out an envelope. On it, addressed in an awkward hand, were these words: - - “Mr. John Reed or Jack Stanley, - Fair Grounds.” - -“That’s why Josh an’ mother air a goin’ to the fair,” he chuckled -again. “An’ ef this don’t bring my old friend Stanley’s wife and -son-in-law out to Camp’s Mill by to-morrer, I miss my guess.” - -[Illustration: MR. CAMP DREW OUT AN ENVELOPE.] - -“And you are doin’ this to try to get them to fix my property for me?” -Bud asked, his lip quivering. - -“Oh, I’m jes doin’ it--that’s all,” answered Mr. Camp. “Now, you set -yer mind at ease. I ain’t askin’ no credit. I jes want to hear Cy -Stockwell swear. That’s all.” - -When two o’clock came that day, Josh and Mrs. Camp were on the -fair-grounds. Instead of the somewhat stiff mill owner, one of the mill -hands had been substituted as the motive power to start the spring -wagon down hill. Mr. Camp, the two hands and Bud had safely conveyed -the aeroplane through the wood road, up over the hill (knocking down -two fences in the process) and the greased spring wagon stood like an -Atlas with the waiting airship balanced on its body. - -In all its history there had been no such attendance on the Scott -County fair as poured through the gates on this Saturday. The story of -what Bud had done had at last become public, and the entire town was -alive with gossip and comment. The details became such a sensation and -were so well known that it wasn’t “Goin’ out to the grounds?” that -day. The morning salutation was, “Goin’ out to see Bud Wilson this -afternoon?” - -Lafe Pennington, now fully recovered, had been a spectator of Bud’s -return and escape. He had the good taste to make no comment, but it -was a sore trial to his pride. After Bud’s spectacular exhibition and -flight the day before, President Elder, all smiles over his defeat of -the enemy, was hastening from the judges’ stand when he espied Lafe. - -“Hello, Lafe,” called out the jubilant official. Lafe wanted to escape, -but he couldn’t. “Do you know what they’re all sayin’, Lafe?” continued -Mr. Elder, edging up to the embarrassed bank clerk. “They’re talkin’ it -around town that the old gypsy scared you. Folks say you were scar’t to -run the airship.” - -“Well, let ’em,” retorted Lafe. “Talk’s cheap. They’d be tellin’ -another story if they knew the facts. It ain’t much to guide an -aeroplane. But I’d like to see any one else in this town set one up and -get it ready.” - -“Well,” continued President Elder, “you can shut ’em up next week if -you want to. If we get our dispute adjusted over the flyin’-machine, we -got an offer to make an exhibition at the State Fair. It’s gone all -over the state. Biggest thing any fair ever had.” - -Lafe was visibly disturbed. - -“How’d you like to try your hand up to the State Fair?” asked Mr. -Elder, with pretended seriousness. - -“You gentlemen have made your choice,” faltered Lafe. “You’ve picked -out your operator. I ain’t takin’ none of Bud Wilson’s leavin’s.” - -As Lafe hurried away, Mr. Elder smiled. Although Lafe was again in the -crowd the next day, he took good care to avoid the president. - -Bud, now eager to escape from his responsibility, was a little ahead -of time in reaching the grounds on his last flight. But he did not -arrive before the crowd. The grand-stand, race track, and part of -the enclosure were jammed again. The nervous eagerness, the restless -scanning of the sky in all directions and the spectators’ impatience -were rewarded about five minutes before three o’clock, when the dark, -oblong aeroplane was made out in the sky north of the grounds. - -This day, the band was prepared, and as Bud whirled into the course, -the vociferous musicians struck up La Poloma--more appropriate than -the leader knew, as the translation of the Spanish means “The Dove.” -But Bud wasn’t a white dove that day. Old “Stump” Camp, either from a -sense of humor or a love for the beautiful, had proposed and actually -decorated the bare aeroplane framework with flowers. - -The gaudiest blooms in Mother Camp’s garden had been tied to the car -uprights, and right and left of the young aviator were bunches of pink, -red and white hollyhocks that met almost in an arch over Bud’s head. At -each end, there was single, mammoth sunflowers. Even across the track -enclosure, the decorations could be made out, and the usual “Ahs” and -“Ohs” soon swelled into a wave of amused admiration. - -Again the crowd surged forward and back, horses backed and reared, and -the band umpahed and quavered. - -With knowledge born of the previous day’s experience, the crowd parted -as the circling car came into the head of the stretch on its first -lap, and Bud had no occasion to call out warnings. He was greeted with -salutations of all kinds. This time, with growing confidence, he felt -able to look about. His eyes sought eagerly for his foster father, Mr. -Dare, or the deputy sheriff. - -Then he smiled and the crowd yelled. But Bud was smiling because his -quick eyes had detected what he hoped to find. Over in front of the -deserted “aerodrome,” he saw the three men. He had guessed right. Since -the fair would conclude that day, Bud realized that there was no longer -any object in trying to hide the aeroplane. Whatever legal fight was -to be made could now be carried on without embarrassment to the fair -association. - -“My work’s done,” Bud had said to himself. “All I want to do now is to -turn over the machine and get away. And I’m goin’ to get away quick. -They said I was under arrest. Not if I know it.” - -Then the aeroplane approached the crowded grand-stand. As it did so, -Bud threw his vertical lever slightly to the starboard and brought -the car just in front of the packed seats. Every one sprang up, -open-mouthed and curious. As the graceful car drifted by the structure, -the young aviator, smiling, reached out to the nearest of his vertical -frames and jerked loose a large pink bundle. With another swift motion, -the mass of pink went whirling through the air toward the spectators. -Hundreds of spicy, clove-pinks separated and fluttered among the -outstretched hands. - -At considerable risk, Bud jerked off his hat and leaned forward. - -“For the ladies,” he shouted, “with the compliments of Mr. Elder.” - -In the roar of thousands of voices, yelling and laughing, the aeroplane -shot by. On the back stretch of the track, Bud again made sure that Mr. -Stockwell and Deputy Pusey were at the airship shed. As he passed on -his second round, the cries were deafening. - -“What’s the matter with the hollyhocks?” - -“Give us a sunflower?” - -“Have ’em all in a few minutes,” thought Bud. - -As the third round began, Bud set himself for his finish. - -“They’ll certainly figure that I’m going to come down to-day,” he said -to himself. “And I am. But not where they’re waitin’ for me.” - -The natural thing for the aviator to do would be to pass by the -grand-stand, thus completing his third circuit, and then, at the lower -end of the track, to make a quick turn and head directly up the center -of the enclosure to the shed. What every one expected, Bud did not do. -He didn’t propose to stop for explanations or to be arrested. - -As the aeroplane approached the grand-stand, Bud made a sweeping turn -into the track enclosure, shut off his power, and, with a graceful dip -over the heads of the spectators, sank swiftly toward the ground where -the crowd had thinned into groups. - -In the crowd was one young man who noted every movement of Bud’s with -a trained eye. Neither Bud nor those standing next to the square -shouldered young stranger knew that Sergeant Morey Marshall of the U. -S. Signal Corps, stationed at Omaha, had been rushed to Scottsville on -the first express to observe and report on the daring flight of the -amateur aviator. If Bud Wilson had known it part of his composure might -have left him for, to the Hoosier lad, Morey Marshall, the hero of “In -the Clouds for Uncle Sam,” stood along side such operators as Wright -and Curtiss in skilful daring as an aviator. There came a time when the -two boys met and were glad to know each other. - -“Ketch her,” cried Bud sharply. Almost before any one knew what had -taken place, twenty willing hands had the sinking car in their grip. -While it was still in the air, supported by the proud volunteers, Bud -drew his feet from his stirrups, caught the framework and dropped -nimbly to the ground. Hundreds of persons were already massed around -the mysterious craft. One after another turned to speak to or shake the -hand of Bud, but, somehow, when President Elder at last reached the -spot, out of breath, Bud was gone. - -And, strangely enough, although it was early in the afternoon, the -aeroplane had no sooner landed than Mrs. “Stump” Camp and her son, -Josh, made their way to the hitch racks and hooked up the old sorrel. -Another strange thing--they did not go home by way of Scottsville, but -took the longer way east to the “slashings.” About a half mile east of -the road leading into the fair-ground, the old sorrel drew up, and Bud -Wilson, considerably puffed by his long run through the intermediate -cornfields, stepped out of a fence corner and climbed into the rear -seat. - -About eight o’clock the same evening, two boney horses drawing a -gaudily-painted gypsy van passed over the Scottsville bridge toward -Little Town. It was Jack Stanley on his way to take Sunday dinner with -old “Stump” Camp. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -THE PRIVATE OFFICE OF THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK. - - -The following Monday morning, an odd little caravan marched around the -Scottsville public square toward the First National Bank. Old “Stump” -Camp, in his black Sunday hat, and freshly shaven down to his lower -cheeks where his wide-spreading whiskers began, led the group. By his -side was Madame Zecatacas, the Gypsy Queen, her long earrings bobbing. -Behind them, walked “Jack Stanley,” her son-in-law, and his wife. Their -child was, at that moment, assisting Mother Camp to sugar doughnuts, -eight miles away at Camp’s Mill. - -“Stump” Camp was not ignored at the First National Bank, and when he -escorted his followers into that austere financial institution and -asked to see President Elder, he was led into the latter’s private -office at once. What followed behind the closed door in the next twenty -minutes or so was a question that more than worried the bookkeeper, -cashier and clerk, Lafe Pennington, in the outside room. - -“I don’t want to borry no money,” began Mr. Camp when President Elder -greeted him with the usual banker’s coolness. “Nor I ain’t come to pay -none.” - -The banker made courteous offers of chairs to all. - -“These air some ole friends o’ mine,” went on the mill owner, selecting -a chair near a cuspidor, “an’ they’re a goin’ to help me help some one -else.” - -“Well, Camp, what can I do for you? Tradin’ horses again?” - -The farmer-miller shook his head. - -“Me an’ you knowed Bud Wilson’s father, Josiah.” - -“Very well,” responded the banker. “And I’ve just come to know the boy.” - -“So’ve I,” exclaimed Mr. Camp, drawing over and using the cuspidor. -“That’s the pint. An’ to keep to the pint, I got to tell you somepin’ -mebbe ye don’t know. Bud’s father was a neighbor o’ mine, as ye might -say. An’ we farmers sort o’ keep clost watch o’ each other. When ye -knowed Mr. Wilson, he lived in town.” - -“Then he bought a farm out your way--out about Little Town.” - -“He did. An’ what’s curious, he paid for it--cash--four thousand eight -hundred dollars for eighty acres.” - -The bank president seemed to be thinking. - -“I suppose it’ll be Bud’s when the boy’s of age?” he suggested, at last. - -“They ain’t no title to it,” remarked old Camp, with a judicial air. - -“That’s what I was trying to recall,” said Mr. Elder. “Seems to me I’ve -heard Attorney Stockwell say so.” - -“There ye air,” exclaimed the bewhiskered mill owner, rising and -striking the table. “Stockwell! There ye said it. He’s this boy’s -gardeen an’ ought to be lookin’ out fur him ef all’s on the square. Why -ain’t he cleared the title to that land? Why ain’t he, the old skin? -I’ll tell ye why, Mr. Elder. He don’t want to.” - -“How’s that,” asked the bank president, leaning forward, with interest. - -“Anybody goin’ to buy that land offen the boy when he gits it ’thouten -a title?” - -“I reckon not,” ventured Mr. Elder. - -“There ye said it,” snapped Mr. Camp, his whiskers vibrating in -his excitement. “No one exceptin’ his gardeen mebbe fur little nor -nuthin’.” - -“You mean that the boy’s guardian has neglected this to injure the -title to the property?” - -“When the boy comes o’ age, the farm’ll be his. He ain’t no farmer, -nur don’t want to be. He’ll put the track up fur sale. Who’ll buy it? -Nobody--exceptin’ the gardeen--Mr. Lawyer Cyrus Stockwell, an’ at his -own price.” - -“Well,” asked Mr. Elder, leaning back into his chair, “what good will -it do him? Won’t be worth any more to him, will it?” - -“Onless he turns around an’ finds the persons ’at kin give him a title. -But he won’t. Them folks is right here. They air a goin’ to make a deed -right here this mornin’, an’ it’ll run to Bud Wilson. They air a goin’ -to sign the dockyment right here that’ll make Bud’s farm worth one -hundred and twenty-five dollars an acre o’ any man’s money.” - -Then, while the interested banker followed old “Stump’s” explanation -eagerly, Mr. Camp told how Jack Stanley and his wife, the direct heirs -of William Reed and his wife, who had failed to properly transfer the -property to Bud’s father, were ready and even eager to see justice -done. They were prepared to sign a deed at once. - -The keen, business man drew a long breath, and looked long and hard at -the silent gypsies. - -“Camp,” he said at last, “how’d you work this out?” - -“Jack Stanley” spoke, for the first time. - -In his rough way he told of his brief acquaintance with Bud from the -time the boy came to him at midnight for coffee; how Bud had interfered -to protect his mother-in-law from insult; how the boy had treated them -as “white people,” and finally recalled to the bank officer and fair -director how Bud had come to the rescue of himself and old Madame -Zecatacas when they had been so unjustly arrested. - -“That’s right,” mused Mr. Elder, “we couldn’t do a thing with him till -we got you out. He’d work for us for nothin’, but not till we got you -out of jail.” - -“Didn’t I tell you,” exclaimed Jack to old Zecatacas. “Ain’t he on the -square for fair? Dat’s why, mister.” - -The wrinkled Gypsy Queen smiled. - -“He is our friend,” she added in a broken voice. “To his friend, the -gypsy gives all.” - -“I ain’t no Romney,” added the man, shaking his head, “but the kid’s -all right. It’s comin’ to him, and we’re goin’ to see he gets a square -deal.” - -President Elder sat silent for a few moments, and then drew Mr. Camp -to the far side of the room. - -“Camp,” he began, curiously, “what’s your interest in this boy?” - -It was Mr. Camp’s chance. While the tobacco-chewing and illiterate mill -owner rapidly related the story of the last two days, the dignified -bank president chuckled, grinned, and finally burst into loud guffaws. - -“And the joke of it is,” he said, when Mr. Camp had finished, “that -Bud’s fright on the last day was altogether unnecessary. The machine -is ours. The company accepted our offer by telegraph, waived their -representative’s fee and called him off.” - -“But Bud seen him waitin’ with the deputy,” insisted the mill owner. - -“And I had the telegram to call him off in my pocket,” explained Mr. -Elder. - -“Then he wa’n’t goin’ to be arrested?” - -Mr. Elder shook his head, and laughed again. - -“Well,” said Mr. Camp dolefully, “ye might as well kill a feller as -skeer him to death.” - -Mr. Elder paced the floor a few moments. Then he asked: - -“Where is Bud?” - -“I’d a brung him, but we was scart he’d be put in jail. He’s down to -the livery stable.” - -“Can’t you all come back here in an hour,” asked Mr. Elder after -another pause, “and bring Bud with you?” - -“That’s our business to-day,” chuckled Mr. Camp. - -When they had gone, the bank president sat back in his chair as if in -deep thought for some minutes. Then he took his hat and walked hastily -out of his room and through the bank. Mr. Elder went directly to the -county courthouse. There, after using the telephone, he was joined by a -lawyer--but not Attorney Cyrus Stockwell. Then the two men hastened to -the private office of the judge of the county court, after which they -went to the office of the attorney who had been summoned by telephone. - -From this office, another telephone message was sent out, and in -response to that, Attorney Cyrus Stockwell was soon hastening toward -Mr. Elder’s lawyer’s office. Here there was apparently an animated -conference. When President Elder finally made his way back to his own -office, it was fifteen minutes after the appointed time. “Stump” Camp, -Bud and their gypsy friends were waiting patiently under the bank -awning. - -With only a hasty grip of Bud’s hand, Mr. Elder led the party into -the private office once more. He motioned them to chairs, and then, -with a quick business air, drew out a deed, legally describing the -Reed-Wilson farm and arranged it for the Stanleys to sign. They did it -with apparent pleasure. Then he read it aloud. The consideration named -was one hundred and fifty dollars. Bud pricked up his ears. - -“Mr. Stanley,” explained the banker, “your friend Bud has some peculiar -business ideas. He has just saved our fair association a good deal -of trouble. He didn’t save us any money, but we’ve concluded that he -saved our pride, and we agreed Saturday night to pay him three hundred -dollars for what he’d done.” - -Bud tried to speak. - -“’Tain’t your time, yet, young man,” interrupted the banker. “I’m goin’ -to pay these honest people one hundred and fifty dollars for their -trouble in comin’ in here.” - -Mr. Elder stepped out into the banking room, and a moment later -returned with two packages of one hundred and fifty dollars each. One -he handed to “Jack Stanley.” - -“And now,” he added to the gypsies, “if you folks would like to do a -little shoppin’ before you start back to the country, I’d like a few -minutes’ talk with Bud and Mr. Camp.” - -Stanley hesitated and looked at his mother-in-law, Madame Zecatacas. -The latter turned toward Bud. The boy, hardly knowing what to do, -paused a moment, and then, holding out his hand, pointed to his “good -luck” ring, which he still wore. Stepping to Stanley, Bud took the -package of money and pressed it into Madame Zecatacas’ hand. - -“Here, Mrs. Zecatacas, I don’t hardly know what this all means, but -this is from me to you. And ‘good luck’ with it.” - -With dignity, the three gypsies slowly left the room. - -For a moment, President Elder sat and drummed on the table with his -fingers. - -“Bud,” he said at last, “you seem to have the sudden faculty of making -good friends. These good people--including my old friend Camp here--are -no better friends of yours than I am. When I see any one gettin’ the -worst of it, I want to give ’em a lift. That right ‘Stump’?” - -“That’s my motto.” - -“Well,” went on the banker, “you’ve been gettin’ the worst of it, Bud. -You’re eighteen years old, and you’ve got the stuff in you to do -things. But you’ve got to get an education.” - -Bud smiled and shook his head doubtfully. - -“Mr. Camp tells me Mr. Stockwell has put you out of his house, and that -you are going to live with him.” - -“If he’ll let me,” said Bud. “But he can’t keep me for nothing. I’ll -have to work, and while I’m workin’ I can’t go to school.” - -“Are you through the grammar school?” - -“That’s all,” confessed Bud, his face reddening. “I never seemed to get -ahead. I was always in trouble, and whenever I seemed to be gettin’ a -start, Mr. Stockwell would take me out an’ put me to work a spell. Even -ef I had the money, I ain’t never goin’ to the high school here. I’m -too old.” - -“What would you like to do?” - -“I could go to the normal school, over to Green County, in the winter -an’ work for Mr. Camp in the summer.” - -“What’d that cost you?” - -“Cost him ’bout eight dollars a week. Josh figured on it,” answered Mr. -Camp. - -“Well,” said Mr. Elder, throwing himself back into his chair, “you can -do that!” - -Bud gulped. - -“I been doin’ a little hasty investigatin’ while I was out. What I -found out I got to look into further, but it’s nigh enough right I -reckon to make it worth tellin’. Mr. Stockwell, as your guardian and -the executor of your father’s estate, ain’t made but one report to -the court in ten years. Two years after your father died, he reported -that he’d been rentin’ the farm at six dollars an acre, cash rent. -That meant four hundred, and eighty dollars a year, or nine hundred -and sixty dollars for the two years. Agin that, he offset one hundred -and twenty dollars for taxes, five hundred and twenty dollars for -your board and clothes, and two hundred and forty dollars ‘for fences -an’ repairs.’ The court allowed it. Since that time, he ain’t made no -report.” - -Bud wrinkled his brow in an effort to comprehend. But old “Stump” Camp -understood and chuckled. - -“The fences don’t need rebuildin’ very often,” went on Mr. Elder, “and, -allowin’ the same amount for your board an’ clothes, I figure that Mr. -Stockwell must owe you considerable more than one thousand dollars.” - -“He hasn’t got it to pay,” exclaimed Bud at once thinking of Mrs. -Stockwell. “An’, besides, I don’t want it. He wasn’t very bad to me.” - -“That’s for the Court to say,” continued Mr. Elder. “At least, since -you’re not living with him now, there’s anyway over five hundred -dollars a year comin’ to you from that land from now on.” - -“And,” added Mr. Camp, crossing the room to the cuspidor, and parting -his flowing beard, “in three years, when you git yer edication, -there’ll be the eighty acres. I’ll give you ten thousand dollars fur -it.” - -“Mr. Elder,” said Bud at last, his voice choking, “I told you one day -last week I wanted to do something in this town because I wanted to -‘make good.’” - -The pleased and smiling banker looked at him. Then he pointed to the -package of one hundred and fifty dollars on the table. - -“That shows you made good with us,” he said, as Bud stood looking at -the money. - -“I didn’t mean that,” Bud exclaimed with feeling. “I wanted to ‘make -good’ with some one that counted. If I ‘made good’ with you and with -Mr. Camp, I’m satisfied--I’m happy.” - -“Let’s all go down to my house for dinner,” said Mr. Elder, turning -away abruptly as if to change the subject. - -“I can’t,” answered Bud, picking up the package of bills. “I want to go -right out and give this to Mrs. Stockwell. Mr. Camp,” he added, as he -grasped the old man’s hand, “I’ll be waitin’ at the livery stable fur -you as soon as I kin git back.” - - - The book you have just read is the second volume of The - Aeroplane Boys Series. The first story is “In the Clouds for - Uncle Sam, or, Morey Marshall of the Signal Corps.” It can be - bought wherever books are sold as can the other new titles - listed on page two. - - - THE AIRSHIP BOYS SERIES, by H. L. Sayler, are the best “flying - machine” stories to be found. See advertisement on page two. - - - - -_Other Books for Boys_ - - - The - Boy Fortune Hunters - Series - - By FLOYD AKERS - - - The Boy Fortune Hunters in Alaska - The Boy Fortune Hunters in Panama - The Boy Fortune Hunters in Egypt - The Boy Fortune Hunters in China - The Boy Fortune Hunters in Yucatan - -Mr. Akers, in these new books, has at a single bound taken front rank -as a writer for boys. The stories are full of adventure, yet clean, -bright and up-to-date. The first volume tells of the exciting scenes -in the early days of the Alaskan gold fields. The next book takes -“The Boy Fortune Hunters” to the “Canal Zone,” and the third story is -filled with stirring incidents in a trip through Egypt. The fourth book -relates thrilling adventures in the Flowery Kingdom, while the last -story carries the youthful heroes through further exciting times in -Yucatan. - -_Illustrated 12mos. Uniform cloth binding, stamped in three colors._ - -Price 60 cents each - - - - - Transcriber’s Notes: - - --Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_). - - --Punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently corrected. - - --Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved. - - --Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved. - - --The Chapter IX title in the Table of Contents (Bud Wilson Makes a - Strange Contract) was changed to reflect the title within the - contents (Bud Makes a Strange Contract). - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Stolen Aeroplane, by Ashton Lamar - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STOLEN AEROPLANE *** - -***** This file should be named 54579-0.txt or 54579-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/4/5/7/54579/ - -Produced by Donald Cummings and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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