BOOKS BY ARTHUR M. WINFIELD

THE ROVER BOYS SERIES

THE ROVER BOYS AT SCHOOL
THE ROVER BOYS ON THE OCEAN
THE ROVER BOYS IN THE JUNGLE
THE ROVER BOYS OUT WEST
THE ROVER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES
THE ROVER BOYS IN THE MOUNTAINS
THE ROVER BOYS IN CAMP
THE ROVER BOYS ON LAND AND SEA
THE ROVER BOYS ON THE RIVER
THE ROVER BOYS ON THE PLAINS
THE ROVER BOYS IN SOUTHERN WATERS
THE ROVER BOYS ON THE FARM
THE ROVER BOYS ON TREASURE ISLE
THE ROVER BOYS AT COLLEGE
THE ROVER BOYS DOWN EAST
THE ROVER BOYS IN THE AIR

(Other volumes in preparation.)

THE PUTNAM HALL SERIES

THE PUTNAM HALL CADETS
THE PUTNAM HALL RIVALS
THE PUTNAM HALL CHAMPIONS
THE PUTNAM HALL REBELLION
THE PUTNAM HALL ENCAMPMENT
THE PUTNAM HALL MYSTERY

12mo, Cloth. Illustrated
Price, per volume, 60 cents, postpaid

GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, New York

Copyright, 1912, by

EDWARD STRATEMEYER

[iii]

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION[v]

My Dear Boys: This is a complete story in
itself, but forms the sixteenth volume issued under
the general title of “Rover Boys Series for
Young Americans.”

This line was started thirteen years ago by the
publication of the first three volumes, “The Rover
Boys at School,” “On the Ocean,” and “In the
Jungle.” I hoped that the young people would
like the stories, but I was hardly prepared for the
very warm welcome the volumes received. The
three books were followed by a fourth, “The
Rover Boys Out West,” and then, yearly, by
“On the Great Lakes,” “In Camp,” “On Land
and Sea,” “On the River,” “On the Plains,” “In
Southern Waters,” “On the Farm,” “On Treasure
Isle,” “At College,” and then by “Down East,”
where we last left our heroes and their friends.

Of course, as is but natural, Dick, Tom and
Sam are older than when we first met them. Indeed,
Dick is thinking of getting married and settling
down, and with such a nice girl as Dora
[vi]
Stanhope, who could blame him? All of the boys
are at college, finishing their education, and all are
as wideawake as ever, and Tom is just as full of
merriment. They have some strenuous times,
and take a trip through the air that is a good deal
out of the ordinary. They meet some of their
old enemies, and prove that they are heroes in
the best meaning of that much-abused term.

The publishers report a sale of this series of
books of over a million copies! This is truly
amazing to me, and again, as in the past, I thank
my many young friends for their cordial reception
of what I have written for them. I trust the
present story will interest them and prove of
benefit.

THE ROVER BOYS IN THE AIR

CHAPTER I

THE BOYS AND THE BIPLANE

“Fo’ de land sakes, Massa Dick, wot am dat
contraption yo’ boys dun put togedder back ob
de bahn yesterday?”

“Why, Aleck, don’t you know what that is?”
returned Dick Rover, with a smile at the colored
man. “That’s a biplane.”

“A biplane, eh?” repeated Alexander Pop, the
colored helper around the Rover homestead. He
scratched his woolly head thoughtfully. “Yo’
don’t mean to say it am lak a plane a carpenter
man uses, does yo’, Massa Dick? ‘Pears lak to
me it was moah lak some ship sails layin’ down,—somethin’
lak dem ships we see over in Africy,
when we went into dem jungles to find yo’
fadder.”

“No, it has nothing to do with a carpenter’s[2]
plane, Aleck,” answered Dick, with a laugh. “A
biplane is a certain kind of a flying machine.”

“Wat’s dat? A flyin’ machine? Shorely,
Massa Dick, yo’ ain’t gwine to try to fly?” exclaimed
Aleck, in horror.

“That is just what I am going to do, Aleck,
after I have had a few lessons. I hope to fly
right over the house, just like a bird.”

“No! no! Don’t you try dat, Massa Dick!
You’ll break yo’ neck suah! Don’t yo’ try it!
I—I can’t allow it nohow—an’ yo’ aunt won’t
allow it neither!” And the colored man shook his
head most emphatically.

“Now, don’t get excited, Aleck,” said Dick,
calmly. “I won’t go up until I am sure of what
I am doing. Why, don’t you know that flying in
the air is getting to be a common thing these
days? Tom and Sam and I bought that biplane
in New York last week, and a man who knows
all about flying is coming out to the farm to teach
us how to run it. After we know how to sail
through the air we’ll take you up with us.”

“Me!” ejaculated the colored man, and rolled
his eyes wildly. “Not in a thousand years, Massa
Dick, an’ not fo’ all dat treasure yo’ dun brung
home from Treasure Isle! No, sah, de ground
am good enough fo’ Aleck Pop!” And he backed[3]
away, as if afraid Dick Rover might carry him
off then and there.

“Hello, Aleck!” cried a merry voice at this
moment, and Tom Rover came into view. “Want
to take a sail through the clouds for a change?”

“Massa Tom, am yo’ really thinking ob goin’ up
in dat contraption?” demanded the colored man,
earnestly.

“Sure thing, Aleck. And you’ll want to go,
too, before long. Think of flying along like a
bird!” And Tom Rover spread out his arms and
moved them slowly up and down. “Oh, it’s
grand!”

“Yo’ won’t be no bird when yo’ come down
ker-flop!” murmured Aleck, soberly. “Yo’ will
be all busted up, dat’s wot yo’ll be!”

“We won’t fall, don’t you worry,” continued
Tom. “This biplane is a first-class machine, warranted
in all kinds of weather.”

“If it am a flyin’ machine wot fo’ you call it
a biplane?” asked the colored man curiously.

“Bi stands for two,” explained Dick. “A bicycle
means two cycles, or two wheels. A biplane
means two planes, or two surfaces of canvas.
This biplane of ours, as you can see, has
two surfaces, or decks, an upper and a lower. A
monoplane has only one plane, and a triplane has
three. Now you understand, don’t you, Aleck?”[4]

“I dun reckon I do, Massa Dick. But look yeah,
boys, yo’ take my advice an’ don’t yo’ try to sail
frough de air in dat bicycleplane, or wot yo’ call
it. ‘Tain’t safe nohow! Yo’ stick to de hosses,
an’ dat autermobile, an’ de boat on de ribber. A
boy wasn’t meant to be a bird nohow!”

“How about being an angel, Aleck?” asked
Tom, slyly.

“Huh! An angel, eh? Well, if yo’ go up in
dat bicycleplane maybe yo’ will be an angel after
yo’ fall out, even if yo’ ain’t one when yo’ starts.”
And with this remark Aleck Pop hurried away to
his work in the house.

“That’s one on you, Tom,” cried Dick, with a
broad smile. “Poor Aleck! he evidently has no
use for flying machines.”

“Well, Dick, now the machine is together, it
does look rather scary,” answered Tom Rover,
slowly. “I want to see that aviator try it out
pretty well before I risk my neck going up.”

“Oh, so do I. And we’ll have to have a good
many lessons in running the engine, and in steering,
and all that. I begin to think running a flying
machine is a good deal harder than running an
auto, or a motor boat.”

“Yes, I guess it is. Come on down and let us
see how the engine works. We can do that easily[5]
enough, for it’s a good deal like the engine of an
auto, or a motor boat,” went on Tom.

“Where is Sam?”

“He took the auto and went down to the Corners
on an errand for Aunt Martha. He said
he’d be back as soon as possible. He’s as crazy
to get at the biplane as either of us.”

The two boys walked to where the biplane had
been put together, in a large open wagon shed
attached to the rear of the big barn. The biplane
has a stretch from side to side of over thirty feet,
and the shed had been cleaned out from end to
end to make room for it. There was a rudder
in front and another behind, and in the centre was
a broad cane seat, with a steering wheel, and
several levers for controlling the craft. Back of
the seat was the engine, lightly built but powerful,
and above was a good-sized tank of gasoline.
The framework of the biplane was of bamboo,
held together by stays of piano wire, and the
planes themselves were of canvas, especially prepared
so as to be almost if not quite air proof.
All told, the machine was a fine one, thoroughly
up-to-date, and had cost considerable money.

“We’ll have to get a name for this machine,”
remarked Tom. “Have you any in mind?”

“Well, I—er—thought we might call her
the[6]—er——” And then his big brother stopped
short and grew slightly red in the face.

“I’ll bet an apple you were going to say Dora,”
cried Tom quickly.

“Humph,” murmured Dick. “Maybe you were
going to suggest Nellie.”

“No, I wasn’t,” returned Tom, and now he got
a little red also. “If I did that, Sam might come
along and want to name it the Grace. We had
better give the girls’ names a rest. Let’s call her
the Dartaway, that is, if she really does dart
away when she flies.”

“All right, Tom; that’s a first-class name,” responded
Dick. “And Dartaway she shall become,
if Sam is willing. Now then, we’ll fill that
gasoline tank and let the engine warm up a bit.
Probably it will need some adjusting.”

“Can we use the same gasoline as we use in the
auto?”

“Yes, on ordinary occasions. In a race you can
use a higher grade, so that aviator said. But then
you’ll have to readjust the magneto and carburetor.”

“Gracious, Dick! You’re not thinking of an
air race already, are you!”

“Oh, no! But we might get in a race some day,—and
such things are good to know,” answered
Dick, as he walked off to the garage, where there[7]
was a barrel of gasoline sunk in the ground, with
a pipe connection. He got out a five-gallon can
and filled it, and then poured the gasoline in the
tank of the biplane.

“She’ll hold more than that,” said Tom, watching
him. “Here, give me the can and I’ll fill the
tank while we are at it. We’ll want plenty of
gas when that aviator gets here.”

In a few minutes more the gasoline tank was
full, and then the two lads busied themselves putting
the engine in running order, and in filling
up the lubricating oil box. They also oiled up
the working parts, and oiled the propeller bearings
and the steering gear.

“Now, I guess she is all ready to run,” remarked
Dick, at length. “My, but isn’t she a
beauty, Tom! Just think of sailing around in
her!”

“I’d like to go up right now!” answered the
brother. “If only I knew more about airships,
hang me if I wouldn’t try it!”

“Don’t you dream of it, yet!” answered Dick.
“We’ve got to learn the art of it, just like a baby
has got to learn to walk. If you went up now
you’d come down with a smash sure.”

“Maybe I would,” mused Tom. “Well, let us
try the engine anyhow. And maybe we can try[8]
the propellers,” he added, with a longing glance
at the smooth, wooden blades.

“One thing at a time,” answered Dick, with a
laugh. “We’ll try the engine, but we’ll have to
tie the biplane fast, or else it may run into something
and get smashed.”

“Let us run her out into the field first. It’s too
gloomy in the shed. I’ll hammer in some stakes
and tie her.”

The biplane rested on three small rubber-tired
wheels, placed in the form of a triangle. Thus
it was an easy matter to roll the big machine from
the shed to the level field beyond. Then Tom
ran back and procured some stakes, several ropes,
and a hammer, and soon he had the biplane staked
fast to the ground, after the manner of a small
circus tent.

“Now she can’t break loose, even if you do
start the engine and the propellers,” said he, as he
surveyed his work. “Go ahead, Dick, and turn
on the juice!” he cried impatiently.

Dick Rover was just as anxious to see the
engine work, and after another critical inspection
he turned on the battery and then walked to one
of the propellers.

“We’ll have to start the engine by turning
these,” he said.

“All right!” cried Tom, catching hold of the[9]
other wooden blades. “Now then, all ready?
Heave ahoy, my hearty!” he added, in sailor
fashion.

Four times were the wooden blades “turned
over” and still the engine refused to respond. It
was hard work, and both of the lads perspired
freely, for it was a hot day in early September.

“Got that spark connected all right?” panted
Tom, as he stopped to catch his breath.

“Yes,” was the reply, after Dick had made an
inspection. “The engine is cold, that’s all.”

“Humph, well I’m not! But come on, let us
give her another twist.”

The brothers took hold again, and, at a word
from Dick, each gave the wooden paddles of the
propellers a vigorous turn. There came a sudden
hiss, followed by a crack and a bang, and then
off the engine started with the loudness of a
gattling gun.

“Hurrah! she’s started!” yelled Tom, triumphantly.
“Say, but she makes some noise, doesn’t
she?” he added.

“I should say yes. That’s because airship engines
don’t have mufflers, like autos,” yelled back
Dick, to make himself heard above the explosions.

“And see those propellers go around!” went on
Tom, in deep admiration. “All you can see is a[10]
whirr! We sure have a dandy engine in this
craft, Dick!”

“Looks so, doesn’t it?” returned Dick, also in
admiration. “I reckon the Dartaway will give a
good account of herself, when she is properly
handled. Now, I had better stop the propellers,
I guess,” he added, moving toward the front of
the biplane to do so.

“Yes! yes! stop em!” yelled Tom, suddenly.
“Hurry up, Dick! See how she is straining to
break the ropes! Say, she wants to go up!”

Dick was startled and with good reason. Even
while his brother was speaking there came a sudden
snap, and one of the ropes flew apart. Then
up out of the ground came the stake holding
another rope. The big biplane, thus released on
one side, slewed around, and Tom was knocked
flat. Then came another snap and two more
ropes flew apart.

“She’s going! stop her!” screamed Tom, from
where he lay, and the next moment he saw Dick
struck full in the face by the machine. Down
went the youth backwards, and as he fell, with a
rush and a roar, the biplane sped over the level
ground for a distance of two hundred feet and
then went sailing into the air, headed almost
point blank for the Rover homestead, less than
fifty rods away!

CHAPTER II

SOMETHING ABOUT THE ROVER BOYS

“Oh, Dick, are you hurt?”

The cry came from Tom, as he turned over on
the ground and struggled to his feet. He had
seen his brother hurled backwards, and he saw
that Dick made no move to arise. He had been
struck in the head, and blood was flowing from a
wound over his left ear.

“Oh, maybe he’s killed!” gasped poor Tom, and
then, for the moment he forgot all about the flying
machine, that was rushing so madly through
the air towards the Rover homestead. He hurried
to his brother’s side, at the same time calling for
others to come to his assistance.

To my old readers the lads already mentioned
will need no introduction. For the benefit of
others let me state that the Rover boys were three
in number, Dick being the oldest, fun-loving Tom
coming next, and sturdy Sam being the youngest.
They were the sons of Anderson Rover, a widower,
and when at home, as at present, lived with[12]
their father and their Uncle Randolph and Aunt
Martha at a pleasant place known as Valley
Brook farm, in New York state.

While their father was in Africa on a mission
of importance, the three boys had been sent by
their uncle to boarding school, as related in the
first volume of this series, entitled, “The Rover
Boys at School.” The place was Putnam Hall
Military Academy, and there the lads had made
many friends and also a few enemies.

From school the boys had made a short trip
on the ocean, and then another trip into the jungle
after their father. Then had followed a trip
out West, and another on the Great Lakes. Later
the youths had camped out in the mountains during
the winter, shooting quite some game. Then
they had returned to school, to go into camp during
the summer with the other cadets.

The boys by this time thought their adventures
at an end, but more were soon to follow. There
came a long trip on land and sea, and then a voyage
down the Ohio River, and soon after this the
Rovers found themselves on the plains, where
they had some adventures far out of the ordinary.
From the plains they went further south,
and in southern waters—the same being the Gulf
of Mexico—they solved the mystery of the deserted
steam yacht.[13]

“Now back to the farm for me!” Sam had said
at this time, and all were glad to go back, and
also to return to Putnam Hall, from which seat
of learning they presently graduated with honors.
Then Mr. Anderson Rover got word of a valuable
treasure, and he and the boys, with a number
of their friends, went to Treasure Isle in search
of it. They were followed by some of their
enemies and the latter did all in their power to
cause trouble.

Although the boys had finished at Putnam
Hall, their days of learning were not yet over,
and soon they set off for Brill College, a high-grade
seat of learning located in one of our middle-western
states. They had with them an old
school chum named John Powell, usually called
“Songbird,” because of his habit of making up
and reciting so-called poetry, and were presently
joined by another old school companion named
William Philander Tubbs, a dudish chap who
thought more of his dress and the society of
ladies than he did of his studies. Tom loved to
play jokes on Tubbs, who was generally too
dense to see where the fun came in.

From the college the boys had taken another
trip, as related in the fifteenth volume of this
series, called “The Rover Boys Down East.”
There was a mystery about that trip, of which the[14]
outside world knew little, but as that trip has
something to do with the events which are to follow
in this story, I will here give such details as
seem necessary.

When the Rover Boys went to Putnam Hall
they met three girls, Dora Stanhope and her two
cousins, Nellie and Grace Laning. Dora’s mother
was a widow, living not far from the school, and
it was not long before a warm friendship sprang
up between Dick and Dora,—a friendship that
grew more and more intimate as the days went
by. Dick thought the world of Dora, and the two
were now practically engaged to be married. As
for Tom and Sam, they had taken to the two
Laning girls from the start, and though Tom
was too full of fun to pay much attention to
girls, yet whenever Nellie was mentioned, he
would grow red in the face; and it was noticed
that whenever Grace was present Sam was usually
on hand to keep her company.

The treasure unearthed on Treasure Isle had belonged
to the Stanhope estate, the bulk of it going
to Mrs. Stanhope and Dora and the remainder to
the Lanings, because Mrs. Laning was Mrs. Stanhope’s
sister. But the treasure had been claimed
by a certain rascal named Sid Merrick and his
nephew, Tad Sobber, and when Merrick lost his
life during a hurricane at sea, Sobber continued[15]
to do all he could to get the money and jewels
into his possession.

“It’s mine!” he told Dick Rover one day. “It’s
mine, all mine, and some day I’m going to get it!”

“You keep on, Tad Sobber, and some day
you’ll land in prison,” had been Dick’s answer.
“We found that treasure, and the courts have
decided that it belongs to the Stanhope estate,
and you had better keep your hands off.”

But Tad Sobber was not satisfied, and soon he
made a move that caused the worst kind of
trouble. There was a learned but unscrupulous
man named Josiah Crabtree who had once been a
teacher at Putnam Hall, but who had been discharged
and who had, later on, been sent to
prison for his misdeeds. This Josiah Crabtree
had once sought to marry Mrs. Stanhope, thinking
thereby to get control of her money and the
money she held in trust for Dora. The lady was
weak and sickly, and the teacher had tried to
hypnotize her into getting married, and had
nearly succeeded, but the plot was nipped in the
bud by the Rover boys.

Tad Sobber met Josiah Crabtree and the pair
hatched out another plot, this time to abduct Mrs.
Stanhope, getting the lady at the time to bring a
good share of the treasure with her under the
impression that it was to be invested by her[16]
friends. The lady was carried off to an island
in Casco Bay, off the coast of Maine, and thither
the Rover boys and some others followed them.
There was a good deal of excitement; but in the
end the lady was rescued and the treasure brought
back. An effort was made to capture Tad Sobber
and Josiah Crabtree, but the two evildoers
managed to get away.

The home-coming of the boys with Mrs. Stanhope
had been a time of great rejoicing. Dora
had embraced Dick over and over again for what
he had done for her mother, and Nellie and Grace
had not been backward in complimenting Tom
and Sam on their good work. There had been a
general jubilee which had lasted several days.

“Splendid work, boys, splendid work!” Anderson
Rover had said. “I am proud of you!”

“Better work than the authorities could do,”
had come from Uncle Randolph.

“Now that treasure had better be placed where
no outsider can get his hands on it,” Mr. Rover
had added. And soon after that it was put in
the strong box of a safe deposit company, there
to remain until it could be properly invested.

At Brill College the Rover boys had fallen in
with a number of fine fellows, including Stanley
Browne and a German-American student named
Max Spangler. They had also encountered some[17]
others, among whom were Dudd Flockley, Jerry
Koswell and Bart Larkspur. Led by Koswell,
who was a thoroughly bad egg, the three last-named
students had tried to get the Rover boys
into trouble, and had succeeded. But they overreached
themselves and were exposed, and in
sheer fright Koswell and Larkspur ran away and
refused to return. Dudd Flockley was repentant
and was given another chance.

While on the hunt for Mrs. Stanhope, the
Rovers had fallen in with Koswell and Larkspur.
But instead of getting aid from the pair, the latter
did what they could to help old Crabtree and
Sobber. This brought on a fight, and Koswell
and Larkspur received a thrashing they would
long remember. The former college students
might have been arrested, but, like Crabtree and
Sobber, they kept out of sight.

“They are sure a bunch of bad ones,” had been
Dick Rover’s comment, when referring to Crabtree,
Sobber, Koswell and Larkspur. “I wish
they were all in jail.”

“I reckon we all wish that,” had been Sam
Rover’s reply. “It’s an awful shame that we
didn’t capture at least one of ’em.”

“Well, we might have caught old Crabtree and
Sobber if we hadn’t broken the engine of the
motor-boat,” put in Tom.[18]

“Well, the engine was broken in a good cause,”
came from Dick. And he spoke the truth, as my
old readers well know.

Following the home-coming of the boys, and
the general jubilee, our heroes had settled down
to enjoy themselves before going back to Brill.
They had intended to take it easy on the farm,
but when a great aviation meet was advertised to
take place at the county seat they could not resist
the temptation to be present.

At this meet there were five flying machines,—three
biplanes, a monoplane, and a dirigible balloon.
All made good records, and the Rover boys
became wildly enthusiastic over what they saw.

“Say, this suits me right down to the ground!”
cried Tom.

“What fun a fellow could have if he had a
flying machine and knew how to run it!” had
come from Sam.

“Exactly—if he knew how to run it,” had been
Dick’s words. “But if he didn’t know—well, he
might have a nasty tumble, that’s all.”

“Pooh, Dick! If those fellows can run these
machines, so can we,” had been Tom’s confident
words.

“We know all about autos and motor-boats,”
Sam had put in.

“That’s true, Sam. But a monoplane or a bi[19]plane,
or any kind of an aeroplane, isn’t an auto
or a motor-boat.”

“Are you afraid?” demanded Tom.

“Oh, no! Only if we got a flying machine we’d
have to be careful about what we tried to do.”

“Hurrah! It’s settled!” cried Tom, who went
headlong into everything. “We’ll get a machine
to-morrow! How much do they cost?”

“I don’t know—several thousand dollars, I
fancy,” answered his elder brother.

“Boiled umbrellas, Dick! As much as that?”

“I think so.”

“Why look at some of ’em,” declared Sam.
“Nothing but bamboo poles and a few wires, and
canvas,—and the engine!”

“Yes, but the poles, wires and canvas have to
be put together just right, Sam, and those engines
are as powerful as they are light. And then don’t
forget the propellers, and the steering outfit, and
the other things.”

“Come on and ask one of the men about them,”
came from Tom; and a little later they had a
long talk with an aviator named Captain Colby,
who proved to be a relative to Larry Colby, one
of their former chums at Putnam Hall. He had
heard about the Rover boys and some of their
doings, and willingly told them all they wanted
to know.[20]

The boys went home with their minds full of
flying machines, and as the Rovers were all well-to-do,
and as the three lads had in the past proved
capable of taking care of themselves, it was not
a very difficult matter for them to persuade their
father to let them buy a biplane. Then, through
Captain Colby, they learned where the flying
machine could be obtained, and the very next day
bought the affair and had it shipped to the farm,
and also arranged with the aviator to visit them
and give them a number of lessons.

“We’ve got three weeks before we have to go
back to college,” Tom had said. “If we are quick
to learn we can have lots of fun in that time.”

“Yes, and if we do learn, perhaps we can take
the biplane to college with us and astonish some
of the students and the faculty,” Dick had added.

“That’s the talk!” cried the youngest Rover.
“We’ll take it along!”

That morning Sam had gone off on an errand
as already mentioned. Then Dick and Tom had
gotten out the flying machine and started up the
engine and the propellers. The ropes holding
the biplane had broken or torn loose from the
ground, and now the machine had gone off with
a wild swoop, hurling poor Dick flat on his back
and injuring him, how seriously was still to be
learned.

CHAPTER III

SAM BRINGS NEWS

As Tom ran over to his brother’s side he could
not help but give a glance at the flying machine,
which was rising higher and higher in the air,
with a noise from the engine that sounded like a
battery of gattling guns in action.

“Hi! hi! Wot’s that?” came in a startled voice
from the other side of the barn, and Jack Ness,
the Rovers hired man, came running into view.
“By gum, if them boys ain’t gone an’ flew without
waitin’ fer that man to show ’em! Who’s
doin’ it? I don’t see nobuddy.” And the hired
man blinked in amazement at the sight before
him. “Is Sam in there?”

“Nobody is in the machine,” answered Tom,
who was kneeling beside his brother. “Oh,
gracious! Look at that!” he exclaimed.

“There goes the chimbley!” roared Jack Ness,
as the biplane swooped just high enough to clear
the roof of the Rover homestead. One of the[22]
wheels underneath struck a chimney a glancing
blow, hurling the bricks in all directions. As
they came clattering down, from the house out
ran Mrs. Rover, followed by her husband and the
hired help. Anderson Rover was away on business.

“What is the matter—is it a—er—a cyclone?”
gasped Randolph Rover.

“I don’t know, I’m sure,” answered Mrs.
Rover. “But it’s a terrible noise.”

“Look! look!” shrieked the cook, pointing upward.
“Saints preserve us!” she moaned. “‘Tis
the end of the world!”

“A flying machine!” murmured Randolph Rover.
He gazed around hurriedly. “Can it be the boys?”

“Oh, those boys! They will surely kill themselves!”
groaned Mrs. Rover. “They know nothing
about airships!”

“Say, dar ain’t nobuddy in dat contraption!”
came suddenly from Aleck Pop. “It am flyin’ all
by itself!”

“By itself?” repeated Randolph Rover. “Impossible,
Alexander! A flying machine cannot
run itself. There must be somebody to steer,
and manipulate the engine, and——”

“Oh, maybe whoever was in it fell out!”
screamed Mrs. Rover, and now she looked ready
to faint.[23]

“We must find out about this!” returned her
husband quickly. “They had the machine in the
shed back of the barn.” And he ran in that direction,
followed by the colored man, and then
by his wife and the cook. In the meantime the
biplane soared on and on, ever rising in the air
and moving off in the direction of the river.

When the others arrived they found that Tom
had carried poor Dick to the wagon shed and
placed him on a pile of horse blankets, and was
washing his wounded head with water. At the
sight of her nephew lying there so still Mrs.
Rover gave a scream.

“Oh, Tom, is he—is he——” she could not go
on.

“He’s only stunned, I guess, Aunt Martha,”
was the reply. “But he got a pretty good crack.”

“Did the flying machine do it?” queried Randolph
Rover.

“Yes. We had it tied fast, but when we started
the engine and the propellers it broke loose and
ran right over Dick.”

“I dun tole you boys to be careful,” burst out
Aleck. “It’s a suah wondah yo’ ain’t bof killed.
Wot kin I do, Massa Tom?” And he got down
on his knees beside Dick, for he loved these lads,
who had done so much for him in the past.

“He’s only stunned, I think—and he’s coming[24]
around now,” answered Tom, and at that moment
Dick commenced to stir. Then he gave a gasp,
opened his eyes, and suddenly sat up.

“Stop her! Stop her, Tom!” he murmured.

“Dick! Dick, my poor, dear boy!” burst out
Mrs. Rover, and got down beside him. “Oh, I
am so thankful that you weren’t killed!”

“Why—er—why!” stammered the oldest
Rover boy. “Say, what’s happened?” he went
on, looking from one to another of the group.
“Where’s the biplane?”

“Flew away,” answered Tom. “You got
struck and knocked down, don’t you remember?”

“Ah!” Dick drew a deep breath. “Yes, I
remember now. Oh, how my head aches!” He
put up his hand and noticed the blood. “Got a
pretty good rap, didn’t I? What did the machine
do, Tom; go to smash?”

“I don’t know. The last I saw of her she was
sailing over the house.”

“She kept right on a-sailin’,” answered Aleck.
“Went on right ober de woods along de ribber.”

“You don’t say! Then we’ll have a time of it
getting her back.” Dick gritted his teeth.
“Phew! how my head hurts!”

“Bring him to the house, and we’ll bind his
head up,” said Mrs. Rover. “I’ll wash the wound
first and we can put on some witch hazel.”[25]

“Yes, that or some peroxide of hydrogen,”
added Randolph Rover, who was a scientific
farmer and something of a chemist. “That will
kill any germs that may lodge there.”

Dick was half led and half carried to the house
and placed on a couch in the sitting room, and
then his aunt went to work to make him comfortable.
The cut was not a deep one, and the youth
was suffering more from shock than from anything
else.

“I’ll be all right by to-morrow,” he assured
his Aunt Martha. “I only got a knock-down
blow, that’s all.”

“The machine didn’t fight fairly,” added Tom,
who had to have his little joke. “It hit Dick before
he was ready.”

“Well, I am thankful it was no worse,” answered
Mrs. Rover. “But it is bad enough.”

“And we’ll have to have a mason here to mend
the chimney,” added Randolph Rover.

“I’ll get a man from the Corners to-morrow,”
said Tom. “But say, I’d like to know where the
biplane went to,” he continued anxiously.

“Maybe it landed on some other house,” mused
Randolph. “If it did you may have more to pay
for than a dismantled chimney.”

“Oh, houses are few and far between in that
direction, Uncle Randolph. What I am afraid[26]
of is, that the biplane came down in the trees or
on the rocks and got smashed. That would be a
big loss.”

“That is true.”

“I can send Jack Ness and Aleck Pop out to
look for the machine,” went on Tom. “And I
can go out myself with Sam, when he returns.”

“Yes, you’d better do that,” answered Dick.
“And I’ll go out with you to-morrow, if you
can’t locate the machine to-day.”

“Better take it easy, Dick,” cautioned his aunt.

“Oh, I’ll be all right by to-morrow, Aunt
Martha. A good night’s sleep will be sure to set
me on my feet again. And I can fix this cut up
with a bit of adhesive plaster.”

“Did you have much gasoline on board?”
queried Randolph Rover.

“The tank was full,” answered Tom. “Oh,
the Dartaway could go a good many miles, if she
wanted to,” he added, dubiously.

“The Dartaway? Was that the name of the
craft?”

“Yes, and she did dart away, didn’t she?” and
Tom grinned.

“For all we know, she may have gone fifty or
a hundred miles,” continued Dick. “But I doubt
it. With nobody to steer she’d be bound to turn
turtle or something before long.”[27]

“Well, if she’s busted, she’s busted, that’s all,”
answered Tom, philosophically. Yet the thought
of the beautiful biplane being a wreck caused him
to sigh.

A few minutes later the honk of an automobile
horn was heard in the lane leading to the house,
and Sam Rover appeared, driving the family car.
He was alone on the front seat and in the tonneau
had a variety of things purchased in the village
for his aunt and the others.

“Hello! what does this mean?” cried Sam, as
he came into the sitting room and saw Dick with
his head bound up. “What did you do? Did
you get that fussing with the biplane?”

“I did, Sam,” was the answer.

“We both had a set-to with her ladyship,” put
in Tom. “And the biplane floored us on the first
round.” And then he told his younger brother
of what had occurred.

“Humph! that’s too bad!” murmured Sam.
He took Dick’s hand. “Not hurt much, really?”
he asked in a lower voice.

“No, Sam, I’ll soon be O. K.”

“Jumping lobsters! But this beats all!” went
on the youngest Rover. “I don’t know if I had
better tell you or not.” And he looked around,
to see if anybody but his brothers was present.
The grown folks had left the room.[28]

“Tell us what?” demanded Tom, who quickly
saw that Sam had something on his mind.

“Tell you the news.”

“What news?” asked Dick.

“Maybe you can’t stand it, Dick. It will keep
till to-morrow.”

“See here, Sam, I’m not a baby,” retorted the
oldest Rover boy. “If you’ve got anything worth
telling tell it.”

“But it may make your head ache worse, Dick.”

“No, it won’t. Now, what’s the news? Out
with it.”

Instead of answering at once, Sam Rover
walked over to the door and closed it carefully.

“No use of worrying the others about it,” he
half whispered.

“But what is it?” demanded Tom, and now he
showed that he was as impatient as was Dick.

“I got a letter from Grace Laning,” went on
Sam, slowly, and turned a bit red. “She told me
a piece of news that is bound to upset you, Dick.”

“Is it about the Stanhopes—about Dora?”
questioned Dick, half rising from the couch on
which he rested.

“Yes,—and about some others, too. But don’t
get excited. Nothing very bad has happened,
yet.”[29]

“What did happen, Sam? Hurry up and tell
us,—don’t keep us in suspense!” cried Dick.

“Well; then, if you want it in a few words, here
goes. Grace was visiting the Stanhopes a few
days ago and she and Dora went to Ithaca to do
some shopping. While in that town, coming
along the street leading to the boat landing, they
almost ran into Tad Sobber and old Josiah Crabtree.”

“What! Those rascals in that town—so near
to the Stanhope home!” exclaimed Dick. “And
after what has happened! We must have them
arrested!”

“I don’t think you can do it, Dick—not from
what Grace says in her letter.”

“What does she say?”

“She says she and Dora were very much frightened,
especially when they discovered that both
Sobber and old Crabtree had been drinking freely.
The two got right in front of the girls and commenced
to threaten them and threaten us. Nobody
else was near, and the girls didn’t know
what to do. But at last they got away and ran for
the boat, and what became of Sobber and old
Crabtree they don’t know.”

“What did the rascals say to them?” questioned
Tom, who could see that his brother had not told
all of his tale.[30]

“They said that they were going to square up
with Dora and with Mrs. Stanhope, and said they
would square up with us, too, and in a way we
little expected. Grace wrote that Sobber pulled
a big roll of bank bills out of his pocket and
flourished it in her face. ‘Do you see that?’ he
asked. ‘Well, I can get more where that came
from, and I am going to use that and more, too,
just to get even with the Rovers. I’m getting my
trap set for them, and when they fall into it they’ll
wish they had never been born! I’ll blow them
and their whole family sky-high, that’s what I’ll
do.'”

“Sobber said that?” asked Dick, slowly.

“So Grace writes. No wonder she and Dora
were scared to death.”

“Oh, maybe he was only blowing, especially if
he had been drinking too much,” came from Tom.

“I don’t know about that,” answered Dick, with
a long sigh. “With such a rascal at liberty,—and
with money in his pocket—there is no telling what
will happen.”

“What do you suppose he meant by blowing us
sky-high?” asked Tom. But this question was not
answered, for at that moment Mrs. Rover came
into the room, and the course of the conversation
had to be changed,—the lads not wishing to worry
her with their new troubles.

CHAPTER IV

AT THE TELEPHONE

Tom and Sam spent the balance of the day in
looking for the missing biplane, walking down to
the river, and even visiting Humpback Falls,
where the youngest Rover had once had such a
thrilling adventure.

“Don’t seem to be in sight,” remarked Tom,
after they had tramped through the woods and
over the rocks until they were tired.

“Looks to me as if the Dartaway had gone further
than we supposed possible,” replied Sam.
“Maybe she’s a hundred miles from here.”

“Oh, she may have gone clean over to the ocean
and dropped in,” said Tom. “But I don’t see how
she could—with nobody to steer. How long
would an auto keep to the road without somebody
steering?”

“Do you know what I think we ought to do?
Go back home and telephone to the villages and
towns in the direction the biplane took. Some[32]body
must have seen the craft,—if she kept in the
air.”

“By Jove, Sam, that’s the idea! Why didn’t
you think of that before? It would have saved
us quite a tramp.”

The two boys turned back, and reached home a
little after the supper hour. The meal had been
held back for them.

“Any luck?” asked Dick, who sat in an easy
chair on the front piazza. His cuts had been
plastered up and he felt quite like himself again.

“No luck; but Sam has an idea,” answered
Tom, and mentioned what it was.

“You must have supper first,” said Mrs. Rover.
“Then you can do all the telephoning you please.”
And so it was agreed.

During the past few months the telephone service
in the neighborhood of Dexter’s Corners had
been greatly improved and the lines could be connected
with nearly all of the villages and towns
roundabout.

“I’ll try Carwood first,” said Sam. “I’ll call
up Tom Bender. He’s a wideawake fellow and
would know if an airship had been seen.”

Carwood was soon had on the wire and Sam
presently was talking to the boy he had mentioned—a
lad who worked in the general store with his
father.[33]

“See an airship?” cried Tom Bender. “We
sure did—scooting over this burgh like a streak,
too! Was it your machine? Who was running
it? I tried to make out but couldn’t.”

“Nobody was running it,” answered Sam. “It
ran away on its own account, from back of our
barn. Where did it go to?”

“Ran away! Suffering toadstools, Sam, you
don’t mean it! I don’t know where it went, it
went so fast.”

“Which way was it headed? Try to tell me as
nearly as you can.”

“It was headed over Bear Hill, near the Spring.
That would about take it over Rayville.”

“Thank you, Tom; then I’ll call up somebody in
Rayville. Good-bye.”

“Oh, say, Sam, hold on a minute. You say the
machine broke away. How was that?” Tom
Bender was all curiosity.

“We were trying the engine and propellers,
that’s all. I’ll tell you the rest when I see you,”
answered the youngest Rover, and rang off.
“Tom would keep me answering questions for a
year if I let him,” he added, to his brothers.

He next tried the Rayville general store, but
could get no information concerning the missing
biplane. Then he tried several farmers who were[34]
utter strangers to him but whose names were in
the telephone directory.

“Airship, eh?” queried one farmer, a man
named Peter Marley. “Well, we sure did see an
airship, fer it came nigh onto rippin’ off the roof
o’ the barn. Ef I had the feller here as was runin’
it I’d give him a dose o’ buckshot! He nigh
scart my wife into a fit, he did!”

“Which way did the airship go, Mr. Marley?”

“Went right over into Rocker’s Woods,—over
where the old saw mill used to be.”

“Did the airship come down, do you think?”

“I guess so—leas’wise she looks like she was
goin’ to come down. But who was the crazy loon
as was runnin’ her?”

“Nobody was running the craft—she ran away
on her own hook.”

“By gum! Ye don’t tell me! No wonder she
acted so blamed crazy like! Any reward fer her?”
And the farmer’s voice betrayed a sudden interest.

“I don’t know—I’ll find out,” answered Sam,
and then consulted hastily with his brothers.

“Tell him the biplane is ours and if he will help
locate it and get it to a safe place we will pay him
well for his services,” said Dick.

“When can we go to Rayville?”

“First thing in the morning. There’s a good[35]
road, and we can make the sixteen miles in the
auto in no time.”

“All right,” said Sam, and told Peter Marley
of what had been said. The farmer agreed to remain
around his house until they arrived and then
do all in his power to help locate the Dartaway.

“Dick, do you think you’ll be able to take that
trip?” questioned Randolph Rover. “Hadn’t you
better remain behind? I can go with Tom and
Sam if necessary.”

“Oh, I’ll be all right in the morning,” was the
reply.

“But you’ve got to let me and Sam run the machine,”
put in Tom. “No use of your doing that.”

“All right,” answered the eldest Rover boy.

That night, when the others had gone to bed,
the three Rover boys gathered in Dick’s room to
discuss further the news regarding Josiah
Crabtree and Tad Sobber.

“Do you suppose it is possible that Sobber
thinks to come here and blow the house up?”
queried Tom.

“He might be equal to it,” answered Dick,
soberly. “We’ll have to keep our eyes peeled, and,
when we go back to Brill, we’ll have to warn dad
and Uncle Randolph.”

“Do you know, dad looked worried when he
went away,” put in Sam.[36]

“I noticed it, Sam. Did he say anything to you
about business?”

“Not a word. Why, do you think it’s that?”

“There is some trouble out west—has been ever
since there was a strike at that Golden Horseshoe
mine in which dad invested so heavily last
summer. They had a strike, and now one crowd is
trying to get the control from another crowd. I
don’t know the particulars, but I guess dad is
worried.”

“Dick, don’t you think you ought to help him
in these affairs?” came suddenly from Sam.
“Uncle Randolph is too absorbed in his books
and in scientific farming to pay any attention, and—well,
dad isn’t as young as he used to be—and
we are growing older.”

“I’ve been thinking of that, Sam. I wish I was
through college, I’d jump right into the game and
try to take the load from his shoulders.”

“Are you going to take the full course?”

“No, I talked it over with dad last week and
I’m going to take the shorter course. He said you
two could take the long course if you wanted to.”

“Not much! The short course for yours truly!”
cried Tom.

“Ditto here!” came from Sam.

“I want to settle down and get into business,”
went on Tom.[37]

“He thinks Nellie won’t wait much longer,” remarked
Sam, with a wink at Dick.

“Huh! I guess, you think Grace won’t wait!”
snorted Tom. “Didn’t I see you looking over that
furniture and picture catalogue the other day?
Ha! I caught you, Sammy, my boy!”

“Rats!” cried Sam, growing suddenly red in
the face. “I was thinking of buying a new chair
and maybe a picture or two for our quarters at
Brill. The old ones are pretty punk, if you’ll remember.
Besides, we’ve got to wait until Dick
and Dora step off, you know,” went on the youngest
Rover.

“That’s so—so we have,” added Tom, with
more of a grin than ever. “By the way, Dick,
how much longer are you going to linger before
you scrape up money enough to pay the minister’s
fee?”

“Just long enough to hammer some common-sense
into the heads of two brothers of mine!”
cried Dick, and threw a book at Tom and a pillow
at Sam. “Now go to bed and don’t forget to
wake up early, for we want to be in Rayville by
eight o’clock, so we can have all day, if necessary,
to locate the biplane.” And then he chased Tom
and Sam out of the bedroom and locked the door
on them.

Left to himself, Dick walked slowly across the[38]
room to where the bureau stood. On the top was
a small, framed picture of Dora Stanhope, that
had been taken only a few months before. Dick
could not help but take up the portrait and gaze at
it long and earnestly.

“Dear, dear Dora!” he murmured fondly.
“The best girl in all this wide world! Some day
you are going to be Mrs. Dick Rover, and that
day can’t come any too soon for me. Oh, I hope
those rascals don’t do anything more to harm
you!”

Dick was still holding the picture when there
came a soft knock on the door.

“Who is it? What do you want?” he asked, as
he put the picture down.

“Dick, my child,” came in a whisper from the
fun-loving Tom. “Be careful and don’t kiss all
the glaze off that photo. She’s a sweet girl, warranted
all silk and a yard wide, but the glaze may
be poisonous, and——”

“Tom, if you don’t get to bed I’ll—I’ll throw a
pitcher of water over you!” cried Dick, and
started to unlock the door. With a merry laugh
Tom ran off; and that was the last seen or heard
of him that night.

Before retiring Dick gave his wounded head
another application of liniment, and in the
morning he was gratified to find that much of the sore[39]ness
was gone. The cuts, of course, remained,
and he bound these up with extra strips of adhesive
plaster. The three lads had an early breakfast,
and by half-past seven o’clock were in the
touring car, bound for Rayville.

“How are you going to get the biplane back
here, even if you do find it?” questioned their
uncle, before they started off.

“I don’t know,” answered Dick. “It will depend
on what condition the Dartaway is in. She
may be so broken up as to be unfit for anything,
and then it wouldn’t pay to move her.”

“Well, better not attempt to fly in the craft,”
cautioned Randolph Rover.

“Hardly,” said Tom. “Maybe we’ll telephone
for Captain Colby to come and get her.”

Tom was at the wheel of the touring car and,
once the farm was left behind, and they were on
a fairly good country road, he advanced the
spark and the gasoline control until they were
running at twenty-five and then thirty miles an
hour.

“Now, don’t get gay, Tom!” warned Dick.
“This road wasn’t built for racing.”

“Pooh, what’s thirty miles an hour!” declared
the fun-loving Rover, who just then felt like “letting
out.” “You know this machine can make
fifty and better, Dick.”[40]

“I know it, but you’ve got to have a safer road
than this, Tom.”

“Beware of the turn!” cried Sam, who sat on
the front seat with Tom, while Dick was alone
in the tonneau. “It’s a bad one!”

“I know it, but I’ll make it,” answered Tom,
and then the touring car reached a bend in the
road, and went whizzing around it with a sudden
lurch that made Sam cling desperately to the seat
and sent Dick flying from one side of the tonneau
to the other.

“Tom, be careful!” cried Sam. “Do you want
to pitch me out on my head?”

“Do that again, and I’ll make you let Sam
drive,” came from Dick.

“It was the brake—it didn’t act just right,”
answered Tom, just a little frightened. “I think
it’s loose.”

“Better stop and look at it,” answered Dick,
promptly.

“Oh, I guess it’s all right,” said Tom. The
touring car continued to move along, up a
winding hill. Then came a level stretch for half a
mile, and then a sharp descent, leading into Carwood.

“Now be careful——” commenced Dick. And
then stopped short, for a sudden snapping sound
reached his ears.[41]

“What’s that?” cried Sam, in alarm.

“The brake—it’s broken!” answered Tom.
And then he set his teeth grimly, to try to guide
the heavy touring car down the steep hill without
disaster.

CHAPTER V

LOOKING FOR THE LOST FLYING MACHINE

It was the foot brake that had given away.
The hand brake was still fit for use, but each of
the Rover boys remembered with dismay that this
brake had been loose for some time. They had
thought to tighten it up, but other matters had
claimed their attention, and they had not deemed
it absolutely necessary before taking the short trip
to Rayville, since on starting the other brake had
seemed to be in good order.

“Can you do it, Tom?” asked Dick, quickly, as
the big car gathered headway on the steep hill.

“I’ll try!” was Tom’s reply. “But it’s some
hill.”

“If only we don’t meet anything,” put in Sam.
“Blow the horn, Dick!”

The oldest Rover boy did as requested, leaning
over from the back seat to do so, and thus leaving
Tom free to manipulate the steering wheel. Dick
also set the hand brake a notch tighter, but this
did little good, since it was the bands that were
worn.[43]

On and on bounded the touring car, down the
long hill. On both sides the road was bound by
rocks and trees, with nasty gullies in several spots.
Here and there were “resting spots” for teams,
and over these indentations flew the automobile
with jolts that threatened to break all the springs
at once.

“The turn! Beware of the turn!” cried Sam
and Dick together, when about three-quarters of
the hill had been passed.

Tom nodded but said not a word. He had
thrown the motive power to the low gear, and
thus the engine was doing something towards
holding the car back.

Suddenly Dick uttered a cry, and the next minute
Sam saw him dive down to the bottom of the
tonneau and bring up several long ropes to which
were attached a number of hooks. He had placed
these in the automobile for possible use in getting
the Dartaway out of the woods or from among
the rocks.

With care Dick took the hooks and threw them
out of the machine. At the same time he leaned
over and allowed the ends of the ropes to catch on
the swiftly-revolving wheels of the machine.

“Maybe they’ll hold something—anyway I hope
so,” he said.

They had now reached the turn. Tom was run[44]ning
as closely as possible to the inner side and
Dick had commenced to toot the horn again.
With a slipping and sliding, the touring car went
over the dirt and stones, rushing nearer and
nearer to the gully on the outer edge of the highway.

“Look! Look!” screamed Sam, a second later.
“A carriage, and three ladies in it!”

He was right, and the carriage was less than a
hundred yards ahead. But just now Tom could
think of nothing but the turn, for the machine was
running closer than ever to the gully. If they
went down in that the touring car would most
likely turn turtle, and they might all be killed.

But they did not go down into the gully. By
sheer good luck Tom managed to throw the automobile
back into the roadway, two wheels for a
second spinning in midair. Then he had to reckon
with the other danger—that of hitting the carriage
with the three ladies.

The ladies had heard the tooting of the auto
horn and had tried to draw up to the side of the
road. But the incline was still steep and the two
horses evidently did not like the looks of that
gully.

“You can’t pass them!” groaned Sam, and just
then came a grinding from underneath the touring
car. This was followed by a series of jerks,[45]
and then came one final jerk that brought the automobile
to a standstill and all but sent the Rover
boys flying over the engine hood.

“Well, we’ve stopped!” panted Tom, when he
could catch his breath. “I guess the brake held
somehow.”

“No, it didn’t,” answered Sam. “It’s another
brake, one that Dick heaved overboard.” And
he pointed to the ropes and hooks. One hook,
the biggest, had caught in a rock lining the gully,
and the ropes were in a mess around the wheels
and the rear axle.

“Good for you!” murmured Tom. “It saved
us from running into that carriage.”

“Are you men going on?” cried one of the
ladies, noticing that the automobile had come to
a stop.

“Not just yet!” sang out Dick. “You can go
ahead if you wish. We’ll wait until you get down
to the bottom of the hill—and maybe we’ll wait
longer,” he added in an undertone.

“You scared us nearly to death,” said another
of the ladies, tartly; and then the carriage went
on and was soon lost to sight on a side road.

The three youths alighted, and after blocking
the wheels with stones, so that it might not get
away unexpectedly, commenced an inspection of
the car.[46]

“The ropes wouldn’t do much damage but the
hooks might,” said Dick. “But I couldn’t think
of anything else to do.”

“It was grand of you to do that,” answered
Tom, warmly. “I was a fool to let her out as I
did,” he added bluntly. “I’ll know better next
time.”

That was Tom, often headstrong but quick to
acknowledge a fault.

Not without much difficulty did the three youths
manage to get the ropes disentangled from the
rear wheels and the back axle. It was found that
one of the hooks had gone into a tire, causing
a blowout that, in the general excitement, nobody
had noticed. But otherwise everything seemed
to be all right, apart, of course, from the broken
brake rod, and the boys were thankful.

“I guess we can manage to run to the nearest
blacksmith shop,” said Dick, “and there we can
get the rod mended.”

“What a lucky thing that big hook caught in
the rock!” cried Sam.

“It’s the one thing that saved us from going into
the carriage,” returned Tom, and his face was
very sober as he spoke. For a time being he did
not feel like running the car further and readily
agreed to let Sam take hold, after another tire
had been adjusted. To keep the automobile from[47]
going down the remainder of the hill too rapidly,
they allowed one of the ropes to remain on the
rear axle, and to this tied a small fallen tree, that
made an excellent drag.

When the level roadway was gained once
more they made good time to Carwood, and
there called on the blacksmith to repair the broken
brake rod. While waiting they ran into Tom
Bender, and the boy was very anxious to know all
about the lost aeroplane.

“Say, but you fellows have a cinch!” he said,
in admiration. “You get what you please. Wish
I was in your shoes!”

“You’d not want to be in our shoes when that
brake rod broke,” answered Sam bluntly. “Eh,
Tom?”

“Not much!” replied his brother.

At last they were on the way again. They had
telephoned to Peter Marley, so that the farmer
would know the cause of the delay. Sam did the
driving and now the machine went along well, and
almost before they knew it they were at Rayville
and asking the way to the Marley farm. This
was on a back road, but the way was good and
they reached the farm without trouble, excepting
that they had to slow down to let a herd of cows
pass them.

“Got here at last, have ye!” cried Peter Marley,[48]
as he came out to greet them. “You kin put that
‘mobile under the wagon shed if ye want to,” he
added.

“Can’t we use it to go after the biplane?” questioned
Dick.

“No, there hain’t no fit road. If ye say so, we
can go on hosses—if ye want to pay fer ridin’,”
added the farmer shrewdly. He was a good man,
but close, and never allowed a chance to make an
honest cent slip by.

“All right, we’ll ride,” said Dick. “The horses
may come in handy for hauling the biplane,—and
besides, we can’t carry these ropes and hooks if
we walk.”

So it was arranged; and a little later the party
of four set off on horseback, the farmer and Tom
carrying the ropes and hooks, and Sam keeping
beside Dick, who looked a trifle pale in spite of
his efforts to appear all right. The knock-down
blow from the flying machine had been harder
than the eldest Rover boy was willing to admit.

Rocker’s Woods proved to be a large patch of
scrub timber, all the large trees having been cut
down to feed the old saw-mill, which still stood on
the bank of a good-sized stream. The saw-mill
had not been used for nine years and the timber
was gradually coming up once more.

“This is exactly the way thet airship tuk,” said[49]
Peter Marley, as he led the way. “An’ as she
wasn’t runnin’ very fast I guess she must a-come
down not very fur off.”

“I hope so,” answered Dick. “And I hope, too,
she came down gently.”

“Huh! How could she come down any other
way? Ain’t much to ’em, is there, ‘ceptin’ sticks
an’ cloth.”

“The engine weighs several hundred pounds.”

“Gee shoo! Several hundred pounds! Say, if
thet’s so, it’s great how they kin stay up!” burst
out the farmer in admiration. “Ain’t no bird as
weighs as much as thet!”

As they advanced through the woods, all of the
party looked to the right and the left for some
sign of the missing biplane.

“Here’s a tree top down!” cried Tom, when
they were close to the river on which the old saw
mill was located. “This looks as if it might have
been done by the machine.”

“Gracious, I wonder if the airship went into
the river!” burst out Sam.

“That might be a good thing, if it did,” answered
Dick. “It might save it from being
wrecked, and we might be able to tow it ashore.”

In a moment more they came to a halt at the
edge of the river, which was broad and smooth
at this point. In the middle the stream was ten[50]
to twelve feet deep, and the bottom was of sand
and smooth rocks.

“I don’t see anything that looks like a flying
machine,” said Sam after a long look around.

“Maybe after all it went over into the woods
on the other side,” returned Dick.

“That must be it,” said Peter Marley. “I’m
afraid we’ll have to go up the stream a bit to get
across. We can’t ford here.”

“How far to a good ford?” asked Dick.

“About quarter o’ a mile tudder side o’ the old
mill.”

“Say, look over there!” cried Tom at this moment.
“What does that look like to you, Sam?”

He pointed with his hand, and all in the party
gazed in the direction indicated, a point close to
the opposite shore, where some brushwood overhung
the river.

“Why that looks to me like one of the planes
of the flying machine!” cried the youngest Rover.

“Just what I thought,” exclaimed Tom. “What
do you say, Dick?”

“It certainly does look like one of the planes,”
answered the older brother. “But don’t be too
sure, or we may be disappointed.”

“Too bad we can’t get over here,” murmured
Sam. “Supposing I swim it?” he continued.

“No, don’t bother, Sam,” replied Dick. “We’ll[51]
all go around by way of the ford. You can’t do
anything alone anyway.”

“But I might make sure if it was the machine,”
insisted Sam.

“Never mind; we want to get over there anyway—to
continue the search—if that isn’t the
machine.”

Again Peter Marley led the way, along a trail
that ran past the old mill. The boys came close
at his heels, and as they advanced Tom questioned
the farmer concerning the place.

“It belongs to a lumber company, but it’s been
closed up fer years,” said Peter Marley. “Once
in a while tramps hang out there, but thet’s all.”

Presently they found themselves close to the
mill, which was almost ready to fall down from
disuse and neglect. As they rode up Tom chanced
to glance towards a side window and was surprised
to catch sight of a man looking curiously
at them. As soon as he saw that he was discovered
the man stepped out of sight.

“Well, I never!” gasped Tom. “Did you see
him?”

“See who?” asked his brothers.

“That man at the window of the mill! Unless
I am greatly mistaken it was Josiah Crabtree!”

CHAPTER VI

TWO OLD ENEMIES

“Josiah Crabtree!” came simultaneously
from Dick and Sam Rover.

“Yes,” returned Tom.

“How can he be here, in this out-of-the-way
place?” demanded Sam.

“You must be mistaken, Tom,” came from the
eldest Rover boy. “Old Crabtree must be around
Cedarville or in Ithaca. He would have no call
to come to a place like this.”

“Did you say Josiah Crabtree?” questioned
Peter Marley, curiously. All had come to a halt
on their horses.

“Yes,” returned Tom quickly. “Do you know
him?”

“I used to know him—fact is, he once stopped
at my place to git a ride—when he was a-visitin’
thet old mill.”

“Then he visits the mill!” exclaimed Dick.
“Tom, you must have been right.”[53]

“But why does he come here?” questioned Sam.

“Why as near as I know, some relative o’ his’n
used to have an interest in the lumber company
as run the mill,” replied the farmer. “It was a
man named Foxwell. He’s dead now. Maybe he
left his share o’ the place to this man Crabtree.
He was a teacher, wasn’t he?”

“He was, years ago. Since then he has been
a jailbird,” answered Tom.

“A jailbird!”

“Yes, he was in jail for a number of years—and
since he has been out he has been trying his
best to make trouble for us and for some of our
friends,” went on Tom. “Come on, let’s go after
him, instead of talking,” he added, as he dismounted.

“That’s the talk!” cried Sam. “The biplane
can wait.”

Dick was as willing as his brothers to go after
the former teacher of Putnam Hall, and leaving
the farmer to take care of the horses, all three
ran up to the door of the old mill. It was unlocked,
and one of the hinges was broken, and it
was an easy matter for them to push their way
into the building.

“Do you think Tad Sobber is with old Crabtree?”
asked Sam, in a low voice.[54]

“It may be—since they were together when the
girls saw them,” returned Dick.

“We ought to have armed ourselves,” put in
Tom. The boys had no weapons of any kind.

“Here are some old barrel staves,” said Tom.
“They are better than nothing.” And he picked
up a stave and his brothers followed suit.

With caution the three Rover boys advanced
through the old mill, which, because of the closed
doors and dirty windows, was a gloomy place in
spite of the brightness of the day outside. All
listened intently, but not a sound reached their
ears, excepting Mr. Marley’s voice as he talked
to the restless horses.

“Supposing I call to him?” suggested Dick.

“It can’t do any harm,” answered Sam.

“Hello, Mr. Crabtree!” sang out Tom, without
waiting for his brother. “Where are you? Why
don’t you show yourself?”

All waited after this call. But no reply came
back, and then Dick and Sam called.

“He’s a bit bashful,” was Tom’s grinning
comment. “Wants to be hauled out by the coattails,
I guess. Come on, we’ll soon locate him,” and he
started forward.

“Be careful, Tom!” warned his elder brother.
“He may set a trap for you! You know he and
Sobber are not to be trusted.”[55]

“I’ve got my eyes open,” answered the fun-loving
Rover sturdily.

With the barrel staves in hand, the three Rover
boys advanced further and further into the old
mill, going from one room to another. Occasionally
they stumbled over bits of lumber and piles
of sawdust, for when the place had been shut
down no attempt had been made to clean up.
Even some of the machinery had been left and
this was now so rusted that it was practically unfit
for use.

“Say, Mr. Crabtree, why don’t you show yourself?”
called out Dick. “Are you afraid?”

“You get out of here!” came the unexpected
answer, from a small toolroom, the door to which
was split but tightly closed. “You Rovers have
no right on this property!”

The boys recognized the harsh and dictatorial
voice of Josiah Crabtree,—less pleasant now than
it ever had been. They saw the former teacher
glaring at them from the split in the toolroom
door.

“Mr. Crabtree, come out here and let us talk to
you,” said Dick, quietly but firmly.

“I don’t want to talk to you—I want you to
leave these premises,” snarled the man.

“Why should we leave?” asked Tom.

“Because this is my property.”[56]

“Your property?” cried Sam. “How so?”

“It was left to me by a distant relative. I
won’t have you on the place.”

“Mr. Crabtree, do you know that we can have
you arrested?” said Dick, sharply.

“Arrested? What for?”

“For the abduction of Mrs. Stanhope.”

“I didn’t abduct her—she went along of her
own free will—I can prove it.”

“You know that statement is false. You carried
her off against her will—and did what you could
to hypnotize her into marrying you. Mr. Crabtree,
you are a villain, and you ought to be
returned to the prison from which you came.”

“Don’t you dare to talk to me like that! Don’t
you dare!” fairly shrieked Josiah Crabtree. “I
know my rights, and some day I’ll have the law on
you boys! You are responsible for my being sent
to prison, and but for you Mrs. Stanhope would
have married me long ago. Now I want you to
leave these premises, and don’t you dare to come
back.”

“Is Tad Sobber with you?” asked Tom.

“I am not here to answer questions, Tom
Rover. I want to leave, and at once.”

“Mr. Crabtree, you listen to me,” said Dick,
stepping closer to the crack in the door. “We are
not afraid of you, and we want you and Tad Sob[57]ber
to know it. Were it not for the unpleasant
publicity for Mrs. Stanhope and her daughter,
we’d have you in the lock-up inside of twenty-four
hours. We understand that you and Sobber
have been threatening the Stanhopes and the Lanings
again, and also threatening us. Now these
threats have got to stop, and you have got to behave
yourself. If you don’t behave yourself we
are going to make it our business to see that you
are arrested, and we’ll do our level best to have
you placed behind the bars for a long term of
years.”

“I—I—will—er——” stammered the former
teacher of Putnam Hall. He did not know how
to proceed.

“Ah, don’t you get scared!” came in a low voice
from inside the toolroom. “You know what the
Rovers are.”

“It must be Tad Sobber!” cried Tom. “Sobber,
if you are in there why don’t you show yourself?
Are you scared?”

“Of course he is scared,” put in Sam.

“I’m not scared!” roared the bullying voice of
the youth who had claimed the fortune from
Treasure Isle. “I am not scared and you know
it.”

“So you are really there, Sobber,” put in Dick.[58]
“I thought as much. Well, you heard what I said
to Crabtree. It applies to you as well.”

“Bah, Dick Rover, you can’t scare me!” returned
Tad Sobber savagely. “Just now you
think you are on top. But wait, that’s all. That
treasure belongs to me and I mean to have it.
And I mean to square up for the way you have
treated me, too.”

“Are you two going to settle down here?”
asked Sam, just for something to say.

“That is none of your business,” answered
Josiah Crabtree. “Now I want you to leave.”

“Sobber, what has become of Jerry Koswell
and Bart Larkspur?” asked Dick, wishing to
know something of those former good-for-nothing
students of Brill College.

“Never you mind what has become of them,”
answered Sobber. “But don’t think you have
seen the last of them, Dick Rover. They haven’t
forgotten how you treated them on Chesoque
Island and elsewhere, and they mean to even up
that score.”

“Are they here with you?”

“No. But I’m going to keep in touch with
them, and some day we—— But never mind now.
Just you wait, that’s all!” finished Tad Sobber,
meaningly.

“You’ll try to play us foul,—just as you tried[59]
in the past,” said Dick. “Very well, I’ll remember
that, Sobber. And you remember what I told
you. The next time there is trouble we’ll fight it
out to the bitter end.”

There was a moment of silence.

“I want you to go away,” said Josiah Crabtree,
and there was just a trace of nervousness in
his tones. Evidently Dick’s firm words had had
some effect.

“We are going,” answered Dick. “Both of
you remember what I said.” And then he motioned
to his brothers; and all three left the old mill.

“Well, did ye find the feller ye was after?”
queried Peter Marley, as the boys came out to
where he stood with the horses.

“We did,” answered Dick, and nudged his
brothers, to keep them quiet. “It’s Josiah Crabtree
all right. And we had quite a talk with him.”

“Wot’s he going to do here?”

“He says it is his property—left to him by a
distant relative. He ordered us away.”

“Must have been Foxwell left him the place.
Is he going to start the mill up ag’in?”

“He didn’t say.”

“If he’s a jailbird I’ll hate to see him in these
parts,” went on the farmer soberly.

“Well, it won’t hurt you to keep an eye on
him, Mr. Marley,” answered Dick, and then,[60]
struck with a sudden idea, he continued: “And
if you see or hear anything wrong about him,
will you do us the favor to let us know at once,
over the telephone, or otherwise? I’ll pay you
for the calls.”

“Sure I’ll let you know—if I hear anything.”

“I might as well tell you that he is down on us
and down on some of our friends, and he and a
young fellow with him named Tad Sobber may
try to play us foul in some way. So, if you hear
of anything strange, let us know by all means.”

“You can depend on it, I will,” replied Peter
Marley.

“And now to see if that really was the biplane!”
cried Tom, when the party was once more on
horseback. “Let us try to forget old Crabtree
and Sobber. One trouble at a time is enough.
If that was the flying machine, I hope she isn’t
damaged much,” he added, wistfully, for he had
hoped to get a good deal of sport out of sailing
the Dartaway.

“Well, if that was the biplane, she must have
landed in the river, and that would break the
shock some,” said Sam, hopefully.

“Yes, especially if she came down on a slant,”
added Dick. “Maybe she struck the water and
scaled along like a clamshell.”

Along the river they proceeded for quite a dis[61]tance
and then came to the spot that the farmer
said was the ford.

“Not so very shallow either,” was Dick’s comment.
“Mr. Marley, are you sure of the footing?”

“Yes, I’ve been across any number of times,”
was the answer. “I’ll lead the way. Be careful,
fer the rocks is slippery an’ if a hoss goes down
he might give ye a nasty tumble.”

And then Peter Marley urged his steed into
the river and one by one the Rover boys followed
him.

CHAPTER VII

THE RUNAWAY HORSES

In the middle of the river the ford was so
deep that the water almost touched the feet of
the riders. But fortunately the current was sluggish,
so the horses managed to keep their footing.
They were allowed to take their own time, so it
took several minutes to gain the opposite shore.

“Well, I’m glad we are out of that,” was Tom’s
comment, as they reached a trail on the other
bank.

“We’ll have to endure it again, to get back,”
said Sam. “And what about the biplane?”

“Just wait till we find the machine first,”
answered Dick, with a faint smile. “You know
the old saying, ‘Don’t count your chickens——'”

“Before they are fried,” finished Tom, with
a grin. “You see, somebody might lift them from
the henroost before you had a chance to cook
them,” he went on soberly.

“By gum! thet ain’t no joke nuther!” burst in
[63]Peter Marley. “Many a chicken I’ve lost through
tramps an’ wuthless niggers.”

They had to go around several walls of rocks
and through a tangle of brushwood, and then
came to a small clearing where was located the
remains of a wood-cutter’s hut. Not far beyond
was the locality where they had seen the object
that looked like one of the biplane’s wings.

It must be confessed that the hearts of the
three boys beat a bit faster as they drew closer.
Would they find the flying machine, and if so,
would it be in serviceable condition or so smashed
up as to be worthless?

“There she is!” burst from Tom’s lips, and he
pointed out into the water.

“Right down between half a dozen big rocks,”
added Sam. “Is she smashed much? How about
the engine, Dick?”

“The engine is there, but I can’t tell if it’s
broken or not. We’ll soon find out.”

The big biplane lay among some rocks and
bushes, the latter overhanging the water, which
at this spot was less than two feet deep. By taking
off their shoes and socks, and rolling up their
trousers, the boys were able to wade out to the
flying machine and make an inspection.

“One of the planes is broken,” said Dick. “But
as the bamboo poles are merely split I think they[64]
can be repaired with some fine wire,—just as we
repair a split baseball bat.”

“But the engine?” asked Sam, impatiently.

“I think the engine is all right—at least it looks
all right to me. Of course we can’t be sure until
we clean it up and try it.”

“Then she must have struck the water on the
slant and that must have broken the shock,” said
Tom; and this surmise was undoubtedly correct,
for had the Dartaway come down squarely on the
rocks the planes and the engine must have been
broken to bits.

“Do you think we can get her ashore?” asked
Sam.

“Sure we can, by the aid of the hooks and
ropes, and the horses. But we want to be careful
how it’s done. There is no sense in breaking the
machine still more.”

“We might get some planks from that old hut
and roll the wheels up on them,” suggested Tom.
“I don’t believe anybody uses the hut.”

“No, that ain’t been used for years,” said Peter
Marley. “Ye can tear down the hull thing if ye
want to.”

The boys and the farmer set to work, and
presently they had several rough planks taken
from the sides of the hut. They had the horses
drag these down to the water, and by hard work[65]
managed to get the planks under the flying machine.
As the planks were of wood they aided
in floating the affair.

“By jinks! I’ve got an idea!” suddenly cried
Dick. “We’ll want the machine on the other side
of the river. Why not build a raft and float her
over instead of bringing her ashore here? There
is plenty of stuff in that old hut.”

“That’s the ticket!” answered Tom. “Hurrah
for a life on the rolling deep!”

“It’s a good idee,” was the farmer’s comment.
“I was wonderin’ how we’d git over with the contraption.
You kin keep on shovin’ planks an’ logs
under till she floats, an’ tie them together with
the ropes ye brung along. A good idee.”

It was not until noon that they had the so-called
raft built and the biplane fastened to it.
The work had made them all hungry and they
were glad that they had brought along a substantial
lunch. They sat down in the shade of the
woods to eat, washing the meal down with some
water from a spring back of the old hut,—or
rather of what was now left of the structure.
While the boys ate they talked about Josiah Crabtree
and Tad Sobber and the others who were
their enemies.

“They’ll surely try to do something,” said Dick.[66]
“But what it will be I can’t guess. We’ll have to
keep on guard.”

“Who is going to go on the raft?” asked Sam.
“It won’t carry all of us.”

“I’ll pole it over,” answered Dick. “The rest
of you will have to go around by the ford.”

“Don’t you want any help?” asked Tom.

“No, I think I can do it alone. If two of us
got on the raft it might sink too deep and get
stuck on the rocks.”

So it was arranged, and a few minutes later
Dick set off. Peter Marley had cut for him a
slender but tough pole, which he was to use in
shoving the novel craft across the stream.

“Don’t go overboard!” cried Sam.

“I’m going to take off the most of my clothing,”
answered the older brother. “You can
carry the things for me—and don’t drop them at
the ford.”

Soon Dick was on the way, standing behind
the biplane and using the long pole as best he
could. He was in water up to his ankles and as
the planks were slippery he had to watch his
footing. Once he came close to going overboard
but saved himself by clutching one of the wire
stays of the machine.

In the middle of the stream the current caught
the raft and forced it down the river for quite a[67]
distance. But Dick had expected this, and kept
his eyes on a sandy stretch still further below.
He poled along with vigor, and did what he could
to avoid the rocks and shallows. Once the raft
caught fast, but soon he had it loose again, and
a few minutes later the sandy stretch was gained
and he sent the raft shoreward with all his force.
It came up on the sand and there it stuck; and
the voyage was at an end. Somewhat out of
breath, Dick sat down to await the coming of the
others.

“Safe and sound, eh?” cried Tom, as he
galloped up from the ford. “Good enough!”

“Now what’s the next move?” asked Sam,
who was at his brother’s heels.

“We’ll let the horses pull the whole concern
up into the meadow,” answered Dick. And as
soon as Peter Marley arrived this was done, and
then the biplane was unfastened from the raft
and rolled still further inland, to a level, grassy
field belonging to a farm of the vicinity.

The boys were anxious to learn if the engine
of the flying machine was in running order, and
all set to work at once, drying and cleaning the
parts. Fortunately the gasoline tank had remained
airtight. While Tom looked over the
spark plugs and Sam tried the oil feed, Dick
adjusted the carburetor and magneto.[68]

“Now I guess we can try it,” said the eldest
Rover boy, at last. “But we’ll tie her down first,”
he added, with a grin.

“Yes, and good and hard this time,” added
Tom.

“Rope her to the raft,” suggested Sam. “And
drive a few stakes in the ground, too,” and this
was done.

It was a wonder that none of the propeller
blades had been broken, yet such was a fact.
They were scratched and nicked, but a coat of
varnish would soon remedy all that.

Dick turned on the spark, adjusted the gasoline
feed, and then he and Tom took hold of the propeller
blades. Half a dozen turns proved unavailing
and the boys looked glumly at each other.
Had the engine been damaged after all?

“Give her another,” said Dick, and this was
done. Then the engine suddenly responded, and
there followed those gatling-gun like explosions
that set the horses to prancing wildly.

“Hi! hi! let up with thet racket!” yelled Peter
Marley. “If ye don’t them hosses will run away!”

“All right, I’ll stop her and you can take the
horses up into the field,” answered Dick.

He sprang to the front of the biplane to stop
the engine, but ere he could do so one of the
horses broke away and galloped madly away in[69]
the direction of the woods. Then another followed.

“There they go!” bawled the farmer, lustily.
“Stop ’em!”

Sam and Tom leaped to do as bidden. But
they were too late, and so was Peter Marley.
Across the field dashed the horses, badly frightened
by the noise, and in a few seconds they disappeared
into the timber.

“Well, by gum! Now what’s to be did?” asked
the farmer helplessly.

“Let’s go after ’em!” answered Tom, running
for the horse he had ridden. “We ought to be
able to catch them, Mr. Marley. Dick and Sam
can stay here.”

“All right, we’ll try it,” answered the farmer.
“But them critters is powerful runners, I can
tell ye thet! That black don’t like no better fun
than to run away.”

“Take care of yourself, Tom,” called Dick,
who had now stopped the engine. And then he
and Sam watched their brother and the farmer as
they went riding away at top speed after the runaway
steeds.

“Well, anyway, the engine seems to be O. K.,”
remarked Sam, after the others had disappeared.
“And the propellers go around like circular saws.
Now all we’ve got to do is to have those bamboo[70]
sticks bound up, or replaced by new ones.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could go home in this
machine!” he added, enthusiastically.

The boys inspected the split poles and the canvas,
which had been punctured in several places,
and then tried the engine once more.

“Makes a lot of noise,” was Sam’s comment.
“You’d think it was half a dozen Fourths of
July rolled into one.”

Presently they saw a farmer approaching, accompanied
by two boys. The farmer had a shotgun
in his hands, and each of the boys carried a
club.

“Wot’s this noise about, an’ wot’s that thing?”
demanded the farmer, and he showed his nervousness
by the way he handled his gun.

“This is an airship,” answered Dick, pleasantly.
“I was trying the engine, that’s all.”

“Gosh all hemlock! An airship, eh? I thought
it was a company o’ soldiers firin’ their rifles!
Wot be you a’doin’ here in my pasture lot?”

“Is this your lot?”

“It sure is, an’ has been for forty years.”

“We came here with Mr. Marley, of Rayville,
to get the machine. It got away from us and
landed in the river. We dragged it over here,”
explained Dick. “We’ll make it right with you
for using the lot,” he added, with a smile.[71]

“Oh, so thet’s it, eh? Well, you’re welcome to
use the lot,” said John Snubble. “I’m glad o’
the chanct to see an airship. Boys, this is one
of them airships you read about in the papers,”
he went on to his two sons. “Ain’t no danger o’
an explosion, is there?” he asked anxiously, as he
slowly drew closer.

“I don’t think so,” answered Dick. And then
he explained to Mr. Snubble how the two horses
had become frightened and run away, and how
Mr. Marley and Tom had gone after the runaway
steeds.

“It’s too bad it’s broke,” said one of the
farmer’s sons. “I’d like to see her go up.”

“So would I,” added the other.

“Perhaps you’ll see her go up when she’s
mended,” said Sam.

“If this is your farm, could you rent me a
shed in which to store this biplane until she is
mended?” said Dick, to the farmer.

“Maybe I can,” was the slow answer. “But
we’d have to keep the thing out o’ sight o’ the
hosses an’ cattle, or they’d cut up wuss nor them
hoses did wot run away,” the man added soberly.

CHAPTER VIII

TRIAL FLIGHTS

It was a full hour before Tom and Peter Marley
came back and even then they did not bring
the runaway horses in the field where the biplane
was located.

“Won’t take no more chances,” said the farmer.
“I kin tie ’em down here on the edge o’ the woods
jest as well.” And this was done.

“Well, we may as well store the machine here
for the present,” said Dick. “We’ll have to get
some piano wire for those broken poles.”

“Aren’t you going to try to take it home?”
asked Tom, in surprise.

“What’s the use? This is a good field to fly
from. We can mend the Dartaway here and then,
if Captain Colby is willing, he can sail her from
here to our farm.”

A big wagon shed was cleaned out, and John
Snubble and his sons aided the others in rolling
the biplane under the roof. Some old blankets
were thrown over the engine.[73]

“Do you think she’d be safe here?” whispered
Dick, to Peter Marley.

“She will be so far as Snubble is concerned,”
said the farmer. “He’ll leave her alone, an’ so
will his sons. But some outsider may come an’
fool with her.”

“Well, we’ve got to take that chance,” returned
the eldest Rover boy. “We won’t leave
the biplane here any longer than necessary.”

It was not until nearly supper time that the boys
got back to Rayville. Here Peter Marley was
paid for what he had done, and then the youths
lost no time in running out their automobile and
going home.

The next day they telegraphed to the aviator
who was to give them lessons in sailing the Dartaway,
and he came as soon as he could. He listened
with much interest to what the lads had to
tell him.

“Well, it was certainly a great try-out!” he declared.
“It proves that the Dartaway is a well-balanced
machine, and that means much.”

He had brought with him the necessary wire
for repairs, and soon all were on the way to the
Snubble farm, taking a road that would land
them directly at the door.

“Glad you come!” cried John Snubble on see[74]ing
the boys. “Going to take the machine right
away, ain’t you?”

“We hope to,” answered Dick. “Why?” For
he saw that the farmer had something on his
mind.

“Might have been burnt up last night, that’s
why.”

“Burnt up!” cried Tom. “How?”

“Heard a noise outside about eleven o’clock—my
wife did, she ain’t well an’ don’t sleep good.
I came down with my shotgun, thinkin’ chicken
thieves might be around. I heard somebuddy at
the flyin’ machine and sneaked up to see who it
was. Hang my skin if a young feller wasn’t
there with a lighted candle an’ some loose hay,
and wantin’ to start a fire close to the gasoline
tank! I gave a yell, an’ he dropped the candle
and legged it for dear life.”

“Why didn’t you stop him, or shoot him?”
queried Sam.

“I was too excited, fer the candle dropped into
the hay an’ it begun to blaze up. I stamped the
fire out, an’ by that time the feller was out o’
sight.”

“He must have wanted to blow the biplane up!”
exclaimed Captain Colby.

“He sure did, an’ he might have burnt up the[75]
shed an’ the barn, an’ the house, too!” added John
Snubble.

The three Rover boys looked at each other.
The same thought was in the mind of each.

“Tad Sobber!” murmured Sam.

“Sure as you’re a foot high,” added Tom.
“Oh, what a mean thing to do!”

“He must have watched what we did, and then
planned to wreck the Dartaway,” said Dick. “It’s
just like his meanness.”

“Let’s go down to the old mill after him,”
burst out Tom. “I’d like nothing better than to
wipe up the ground with him.” And he clenched
his fists tightly.

“Humph! Do you think he’d show himself?”
asked Sam. “Not much! He’d hide where you
couldn’t find him. Now he and old Crabtree
know we are around they’ll take good care not to
get caught.”

“We might burn down the old mill!” murmured
Tom. “It would serve ’em right, for all
their meanness.”

“Let it go,” was Dick’s advice. “Some day
we’ll catch both of them red-handed at something,
and then we can give ’em what’s coming to ’em.”

The matter was talked over with John Snubble
and the aviator, and the farmer said he would
keep on guard against Sobber and Crabtree and[76]
report to Dick if he found out anything unusual.
Then the biplane was brought forth, and Captain
Colby made an examination.

“All these breaks can easily be mended,” said
the aviator. “We’ll go to work at once. Then
I’ll give the Dartaway a little try-out, and if she
runs as she should I’ll take her back to your
home.”

“Don’t you want a passenger?” asked Sam and
Tom in a breath.

“Why, do you want to go?”

“Sure!”

“I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you. I want
to try the machine several times before I risk
taking anybody up.”

The Snubble boys were delighted to think they
could see the Dartaway fly and they assisted the
others in making the necessary repairs. For two
hours all were very busy and then Captain Colby
announced the biplane in as good a condition as
before the wild flight.

“Now I’ll give her a short try-out,” he said,
and this was done. Up into the air mounted the
Dartaway as gracefully as a bird, and all of the
boys clapped their hands in delight.

“By gum! beats the nation!” said one of the
Snubble lads.[77]

“It’s grand! I’m going to save up for one!”
added the other.

Around the field sailed Captain Colby and then
made the figure eight three times. Then he came
down near the spot from which he had started.

“Couldn’t be better,” he declared. “I could
take her a hundred miles if I wished.”

“Wish I could go up,” said Sam wistfully.

“Your time will come pretty soon,” added the
aviator. “The flight to your home will be a good
test.”

A little later the aviator arose again in the air,
this time headed for Valley Brook farm. The
boys were also ready and started off immediately
in the automobile.

“Come again!” shouted the Snubble boys.

“We will,” answered Dick. “Your field makes
a dandy landing place.”

Dick ran the automobile and put on good speed
all the way home. As they went along they
watched the flight of the biplane, but soon the
machine passed from view.

“She certainly can sail!” cried Tom. “Oh,
Dick, we’ll have to take her to Brill with us!”

“That’s it!” cried Sam. “What’s the use of
leaving her behind? We can sail after college
hours.”

“Yes, and think how quickly we could get over[78]
to Hope Seminary,” went on Tom. The place he
mentioned was a young ladies’ boarding school
located not many miles from Brill. Dora Stanhope
went to Hope, and so did the two Laning
girls.

“We’ll see about it,” replied Dick, briefly. But
the idea of taking the flying machine to Brill
pleased him as much as it did his brothers.

When they got home they found that Captain
Colby had already arrived. He and the Dartaway
were in the field back of the barn, and surrounding
the aviator were all the members of the Rover
household.

“Well, boys, got back, eh?” cried Anderson
Rover, as they rolled up in the automobile.

“Hello, dad!” came from all three. And then
they leaped to the ground to greet their parent.
All could not help but notice that he looked a
trifle pale and careworn.

“Was your trip a success?” asked Dick, in a
low voice.

“I don’t know yet—I hope so,” answered the
father. “Some business matters have gotten
pretty well twisted up. But never mind now. I
see your new machine can fly.” And Anderson
Rover smiled.

“Oh, she’s a peach!” cried Tom slangily.[79]
“We expect to have the greatest times ever in
her!”

“Yes, but you must learn all about the biplane
first,” added the fond father anxiously. “You
mustn’t think of going up until you are sure of
what you are doing.”

“Dat am suttenly de greatest bird wot I most
eber see!” declared Aleck Pop solemnly. “If I
hadn’t dun see it wid my own eyes I wouldn’t
nebber believe it nohow!”

“That’s a fact,” added Jack Ness. “When the
boys go up in it there won’t be no holdin’ ’em in.”

“We’re going to take you up, first thing, Jack,”
said Tom, with a wink at his brothers.

“Me? Not much!” cried the hired man. “I
wasn’t built to fly, not me!” And he began to
back away in alarm.

After dinner Captain Colby made another trial
flight, and then gave the three boys a lesson in
the manipulation of the biplane, showing them
just how to regulate the engine while running,
how to balance the machine, how to steer, and
how to make various turns.

“Do you ride bicycles?” he asked.

“We do, and have for years,” answered Dick.

“And do you swim?”

“Of course,” came from all of the lads.

“Then just remember how you felt when you[80]
first tried to ride a wheel and when you first tried
to swim. You got excited, didn’t you? And
when you thought the wheel was going over you
gave it a wild twist that did send you over, and
when you thought you were going to drown you
thrashed around in a way that only made matters
worse. Well, that’s a lesson to remember in
running a flying machine. Don’t get excited and
lose your presence of mind, or it may cost you
your life. Keep cool, act quickly, but don’t overdo
a thing. If the machine is tipping a little to
one side, don’t get excited and throw it clean over
the other way. And don’t try to make any sharp
turns until you know your machine thoroughly.”

Then he had them watch him while making
several flights close to the ground, and told them
exactly what he was going to do. This lasted
for two days.

“Running an auto and a bicycle will help you,”
he said. “But sailing a biplane is, after all, a
science in itself. But you’ll learn—I see that by
the way you take hold.”

There had been a slight breeze blowing during
the third afternoon, but towards sunset this went
down, and then the aviator said that Dick might
try a short flight, over a cornfield that was close
by.

“Don’t go too high,” he cautioned. “And if[81]
you feel the biplane turning over try to jump
clear of the engine, so it can’t crush you.”

It must be confessed that Dick’s heart beat
loudly as he took his seat in the flying machine.
It was one thing to talk about going up and quite
another to really fly. He realized the danger far
more than did merry-hearted Tom, or even Sam.
But he was not going to show the white feather.

The engine was started, the others holding the
machine back. Dick grasped the steering wheel
and put his feet on the pedals.

“All ready?” asked Captain Colby.

“Yes. Let go.”

“Now be careful. Take it easy,—and keep
over the cornfield,” said the captain. “And if
you turn, make a wide circle.” He thought a
tumble among the corn might not be as bad as
one in an open field where the ground was hard.

Those on the ground let go, and with a rush
and a whirr the Dartaway sped forward over the
ground. Then Dick shifted the elevation rudder,
and up into the air rushed the biplane, gathering
speed at every revolution of the propellers.

The eldest Rover boy was in the air at last!

CHAPTER IX

THE NEW ARRIVAL

“Say, that’s great!”

“Be careful, Dick! Don’t try too much!”

“He made a very good start,” came from Captain
Colby, who was watching the progress of the
biplane closely.

Over the cornfield sailed the Dartaway with
Dick Rover the sole occupant. He was up about
fifty feet in the air and presently he went still
higher.

“He’s making the turn!” cried Sam. “Just
look at him coming around!”

“Here he comes back!” exclaimed Tom. “Hurrah!
Who says Dick can’t fly? Why, he’s flying
like a veteran!”

“Very good, so far,” murmured Captain Colby.
“If only he keeps his wits about him he’ll be all
right.”

“Trust Dick to do that,” answered Sam. “He
knows what he is doing, every time.”[83]

The biplane had now reached a point close to
where the three stood in the field. All expected
Dick to come down, but he did not. Instead, he
made another graceful turn to the left, and started
over the cornfield a second time.

“I wish the others could see him,” murmured
Tom. They had not told the folks in the house
about the trial flights for fear of scaring them.
Everybody thought the boys would not try to fly
for at least a week.

Four times did Dick sail around the cornfield,
the last time making such a wide circle that he
went directly over the barn and the wagon shed.
Then he shut off the engine and glided slowly to
earth, coming down in the middle of the field with
scarcely a jar.

“By the great clam chowder of Pocahontas!”
cried Tom, rushing up and helping him out of the
machine. “Dick, it was fine! Couldn’t have been
better!”

“It was immense!” put in Sam. “You made
the turns beautifully.”

“It was very well done,” added Captain Colby.
“If you do as well in the future you will have no
cause to fear. As far as you are concerned, I
reckon the worst is over.”

“How did it feel to be up in the air?” queried
Sam.[84]

“Oh, I felt kind of funny in my head for a few
seconds,” answered the older brother. “But I
knew I had to pull myself together and I did.
After that it was only a question of watching
everything closely.”

“Now I guess it’s my turn, isn’t it?” asked
Tom, impatiently.

“If you feel equal to it,” answered the captain.

“Sure thing.”

Once more the biplane was gotten ready, and
with another rush and a whizz the Dartaway shot
into the air. For a moment, as the machine
wobbled from side to side, it looked as if Tom
would have an accident, and his brothers gave a
shiver. But then he managed to steady the machine
and over the cornfield he flew, and around
in a big circle twice. Then he made a still larger
turn, well up in the air, and in a few seconds
more was sailing over the barn and then over the
Rover home!

“Gracious, that’s Tom!” murmured Sam.
“Always bound to go the limit!”

The noise of the engine caused those in the
house to rush out and look at the machine.

“Who is running it, that aviator?” queried
Mrs. Rover.

“No, it’s Tom,” replied her husband.

“Tom!” burst out Anderson Rover. “Impos[85]sible!
Why he doesn’t know enough about it yet.”

“He’ll be killed!” moaned Mrs. Rover. “Oh,
what a daring boy!” And she began to wring her
hands in despair.

Over the house flew the biplane, and then made
another turn and came back. Then came sudden
silence.

“Something is wrong!” cried Anderson Rover.
“The engine has stopped working!”

“He’s coming down like a bird!” exclaimed
Aleck Pop. “Now jess to look at dat!”

As he spoke the biplane glided slowly to the
ground, landing near the barn. All rushed to the
spot. There sat Tom grinning broadly.

“How was that?” he asked coolly. “Wasn’t
that a dandy initial flight?”

“Tom! Tom!” cried his aunt. “You’ll kill me
with your daring! Are you hurt? Did something
break?”

“No, I’m not hurt, aunty, and nothing broke,”
he answered. “Oh, it was immense! I could
have stayed up an hour if I had wanted to.”

“Very good—very good indeed!” said Captain
Colby. “You took a risk in flying over the house,
but as nothing went wrong we won’t say anything
about that.”

“Now it’s my turn!” cried Sam.

“Has Dick been up?” queried his father.[86]

“Yes, and he made a splendid flight too,” answered
Tom. “Oh, dad, your sons are born
aviators.”

“Perhaps. But, Sam, do be careful! Don’t
try to fly so high at first,” pleaded Anderson
Rover.

“I’ll be careful, dad,” answered his youngest
offspring.

All remained in the field to watch the flight of
the youngest Rover. Sam was a little pale, but
just as determined as his brothers had been to
succeed. He looked over the biplane carefully,
then took his seat, and told them to start the propellers.

Once more the Dartaway arose, and as it did
Mrs. Rover could not repress a shudder, for Sam
was very dear to her, because he was her dead
sister’s youngest child, and she had never had
any children of her own.

But her fears were groundless, for Sam sailed
over the cornfield just as well as had Dick. He
did not fly very high, but he kept in the air nearly
ten minutes, which was longer than had either of
the others. When he came down he did so with
a little bump, but this was not enough to hurt anything.

“It’s the best ever!” was Sam’s comment, when[87]
the others gathered around. “Beats autoing all
hollow!”

“Wasn’t you scared, Massa Sam?” asked Aleck,
who had watched the flight with wildly-rolling
eyes.

“Not in the least, Aleck, after once I got
started. Just when I went up I had a little chill
down my backbone, that’s all.”

“Glory to heaben! Say, yo’ know wot I think?
I think dare ain’t nuffin wot you Rober boys can’t
natually do, dat’s wot!” And with this comment
Aleck shuffled off to his work.

“Every one of you did well,” was Captain
Colby’s comment. He turned to Anderson Rover.
“You can be proud of your sons, sir. They
handled the machine in splendid shape.”

“Yes, but I want you to watch them closely,
Captain,” answered Mr. Rover. “Teach them all
there is to know.”

“I’ll teach them all I know myself,” answered
the aviator.

That evening the boys could talk of nothing
but aviation, and many were their plans for flights
in the Dartaway. All wanted Captain Colby to
tell them if the biplane could carry three persons.

“I hardly think so,” answered the aviator. “It
will carry two, though, that I am sure of.”[88]

“Well, if it will carry two men it ought to carry
three boys,” insisted Sam.

“The best way to find out is to try it,” went
on the captain. “So long as you run with care,
nothing can happen to you because of the extra
load. Of course if the weight is too heavy the
biplane won’t go up, or if it does, it won’t stay
up.”

The following day came a telegraph message
from one of the old Putnam Hall pupils, Hans
Mueller. He sent word that he would be in that
vicinity and would call on the Rovers.

“Good for Hans!” cried Tom, who scented
fun. “Maybe we can take him up in the Dartaway.”

“Hans would be scared stiff,” returned Dick.

“It would take all the starch out of him,” said
Sam.

“In that case, how could he be scared stiff?”
asked Tom, dryly.

It was arranged that Sam should run down to
the depot with the auto for the German youth.
In the meantime Captain Colby and the other
boys got out the Dartaway and prepared for more
trial flights. Then Dick went up and remained
in the air for twelve minutes, making a number
of turns that were very graceful, and taking a
little trip over the woods back of the farm.[89]

“It’s a sport that can’t be beat, Tom,” he said,
on coming down. “I believe everybody will be
getting a flying machine before long—just as folks
have been getting autos.”

The supply of gasoline had been replenished
and the lubricating oil renewed, and then Tom
went up. He flew around the cornfield twice,
then headed in the direction of Oak Run.

“I guess he has gone off to meet Sam and
Hans,” said Dick. “I heard the train go through
and they must be on the way here by now.”

“Your brother certainly takes chances,” replied
Captain Colby.

“He always did. Tom acts first and thinks
afterwards,—but he usually comes out on top,”
added Dick, loyally.

In the meantime Sam had reached the depot at
Oak Run just as the train came in. He immediately
espied Hans Mueller, dress-suit case in
hand, and ran to meet him.

“Hello, Hans, old boy!” he exclaimed. “Glad
to see you.” And he shook hands cordially.

“Is dot you, Sam?” replied the German youth,
who, although he had been in this country quite
some time, still found a difficulty in mastering the
language. “I vos certainly glad to meet you.
How vas der udder poys?”

“Oh, Tom and Dick are first rate. They[90]
couldn’t come down just now, for they are busy
with our new biplane.”

“A biplane, eh? Vot is dot, some kind of a
saw-mill alretty?”

“No, Hans, a flying machine. Hop in, and
you’ll soon be at the farm and then you can look
it over.” And Sam led the way to the automobile,
threw the dress-suit case in the tonneau, and
assisted the German youth to a seat in front.

“A flying machine!” cried Hans, as they started
off. “By chimanatics! Vot you poys going to
git next?”

“I don’t know.”

“First you get a houseboat, den an autermobile,
den a steam yachts, und bicycles, und now it vos
a flying machine. Vot you do mid him, Sam?”

“We are learning to fly.”

“Vot! you going up by der sky in him?” cried
the German youth, aghast.

“Of course—and you can go up with us too.”

“Me? Me go up in a airship? Not on your
neckties, Sam Rofer! I got too much regart for
my neck alretty yet! Ven I fly I valk on der
groundt und do it, yah!”

“Oh, it’s dead easy when you know how,
Hans.”

“Dead, hey? Chust vot I dink, Sam—put I
ton’t vonts to pe dead, not chust yet!”[91]

They soon passed over the Swift River and
through Dexter’s Corners and came out on the
highway leading to the farm. Looking up into
the sky, Hans suddenly saw something unusual
approaching.

“Look, look, Sam!” he bawled. “Vot is dot?”

“Oh, that must be our biplane!” answered Sam.
“Yes, it is! Dick or Tom must be running it.
Isn’t it great, Hans?”

“Du meine zeit!” groaned the German youth.
“Of Dick or Dom be in dot he preaks his neck
sure! Tole him to come town, Sam!”

Sam did not answer, but slowed up the automobile,
to better watch the flight of the biplane.
Tom was making a graceful curve, so that he
might pass directly over the machine below.

“Hello, Hans!” he cried gaily, and waved his
hand, for the noise of the engine drowned out
his oral salute. Then with a rush the biplane
sailed directly over the automobile.

“Sthop! Ton’t hit me!” yelled poor Hans, and
badly frightened he ducked his head, although
the flying machine was fully twenty-five feet
above him.

Then Tom made another wide circle and again
approached the automobile. But this time he was
sailing lower, and even Sam grew uneasy.

“Go up!” he yelled to his brother, and Tom[92]
tried to obey. But for some reason, the biplane
refused to respond to the rudder, and with a rush
and a roar it came directly for the automobile and
its occupants!

CHAPTER X

FUN WITH OLD RICKS

It was a moment of extreme peril. Sam
brought the automobile to a stop. Had the roadway
been wider he might have sheered to one
side, but the highway was too narrow for that,
and with a ditch on either side, to carry off rain
water, he did not want to take a chance of going
over.

“Go pack! Go pack!” shrieked Hans Mueller.
He was crouching down, looking with staring
eyes through the lowered wind shield of the
touring car.

Suddenly Sam acted. While the biplane was
still a hundred feet away he threw his lever into
the reverse and allowed the gears to connect with
the engine. Then the automobile began to move
backwards, slowly at first and then faster and
faster, as the youngest Rover put on the power.

“He’s coming! He’s coming! Ve peen busted
up in a minit!” roared Hans, who was shaking as[94]
with the ague. “Oh, vy tidn’t I sthay home ven
I come to pay dis visit!”

The biplane had slowed down, for Tom had
shut off the engine. But the Dartaway still had
headway enough to catch up to the automobile
and it came up like some bird of ill-omen, that
made even stout-hearted Sam quail. But he stuck
to his post, sending the automobile backward as
fast as he dared. He knew the roadway behind
was straight, so he simply steered by keeping the
wheel as it was.

“Tom, Tom, can’t you do something?” he
yelled. “Turn her aside!”

“I’m trying!” yelled back his brother. “The
steering outfit is jammed!”

Backward went the automobile and on and on
came the big biplane, until the forward part of
the machine was almost over the hood of the touring
car.

“Maybe you had better jump out!” cried Sam
to Hans.

But even as he spoke there came a sudden snap
from the flying machine. A caught wire had
released itself. At once the biplane could be
steered again, and with a dexterous twist of the
wheel and a deflection of one of the tips, Tom
brought it around. Over a rail fence it sailed, to[95]
land gracefully in the open field beyond. Then
Sam stopped the automobile.

“Well!” came from the youngest Rover. And
that single word meant a good deal.

“Hope I didn’t scare you to death,” sang out
Tom, as he climbed from his seat. “Hans, did
you get heart failure?”

“Oh, Dom! Dom! vot for you do him?” asked
the German youth, in a voice he tried in vain to
steady. “I dink sure you vos going to cut off our
heads off alretty!”

“It was the steering outfit did it,” explained
Tom. “I’m awfully sorry I scared you. I was
scared myself. I was going to fly over you and
then go back when all at once I found I couldn’t
budge the rudders. Then I got alarmed, thinking
the machine might turn turtle on me, so I shut
off the engine, intending to glide to earth. But
I didn’t want to glide right into the auto. Sam,
it’s a good thing you thought to run backwards.
If you hadn’t there would have been a smash-up
sure!”

“So dot is der new flying machine,” remarked
Hans, as he walked into the field to inspect the
Dartaway. “Mine gracious! she vos almost so
pig like a house!”

“Want to go up, Hansy, old boy?” queried
Tom.[96]

“Not for a dousand tollers, Dom! No, not for
a million!”

“You’ll like it, Hans, when you get used to it.”

“No, sir; nixy!” returned the German youth
firmly. “I sthay py der ground on. You fellers
can fly und I vatch you, yah!”

“How are you going to get the machine back?”
asked Sam.

“Sail her back,” answered his brother promptly.
“But I’ll have to look at that steering apparatus
first—and you’ll have to help me start.”

“Better let Captain Colby inspect it first,” advised
Sam.

But Tom did not want to wait, and so he and
his brother looked over the flying machine and
soon found out what had gone wrong, and fixed
it, so that the same accident might not occur
again. Then Tom got in, and Sam and Hans
started the propellers, and away sailed the youth
in a manner that made the German lad stare in
amazement.

“Dot’s fine!” was Hans’s comment. “Say,
Dom, he peen a regular aviadventurer, hey?”

“What’s that, Hans?”

“Dom, he peen a regular aviadventurer, or vot
you call him?”

“Oh, you mean aviator.”

“Yah, dot’s him. He peen von sure!”[97]

“Your word was O. K., Hans,” was Sam’s
comment. “Tom is certainly an air adventurer!”

The two boys got into the automobile once
more and were soon at the Rover homestead,
where Hans was warmly greeted by the others,
all but Captain Colby knowing him well. Tom
had already arrived and the captain was inspecting
the biplane with care.

“Such things will happen, especially with a new
and stiff machine,” said the old aviator. “All
you can do is to watch out, and look over the
machine with care every time you plan a flight.”

Hans had much news of interest to tell about
the boys who were still at Putnam Hall and about
Captain Putnam and George Strong, the head
teacher. He had also seen Mr. and Mrs. Laning,
the parents of Nellie and Grace, and had heard
something of the latest trouble with Tad Sobber
and Josiah Crabtree.

“Vy ton’t you got dem arrested?” he asked,
when he was told that the evil-disposed pair were
in that vicinity.

“We don’t want the notoriety,” said Dick. “If
we had them locked up they’d be sure to drag
Mrs. Stanhope and the girls into court. We are
willing to let them alone if they will only let us
alone.”

Captain Colby remained at the farm a week[98]
and during that time gave the Rover boys as much
instruction as possible in the art of flying in general
and the art of managing the biplane in particular.
He had brought with him several books
on flying and recommended that these be read
carefully.

“You all seem to take to it naturally,” he said.
“I don’t believe you’ll have any trouble excepting
on rare occasions—and every person who goes up
is bound to have that.”

After the captain left the boys took several
flights, some of them quite long. They sailed
over Dexter’s Corners and the railroad station of
Oak Run, and at the latter place nearly scared
old Ricks, the stationmaster, into a fit, by swooping
down close to where he was standing. Dick
also made a flight to the Marley place, and visited
the Snubble homestead.

“What did you find out?” asked Sam, when
he came back from the last-named trip.

“Sobber and Crabtree have left the old mill,”
answered Dick. “The Snubble boys were over
there twice and they couldn’t see a sign of anybody.”

“Have they any idea where they went to?”
asked Tom.

“No. They said Crabtree sold the mill property.”[99]

“Besser you look out for dem scalavags,” was
the advice from Hans. “I vouldn’t drust dem mit
mine eyes open alretty!”

“Oh, we’re on the watch!” declared Tom.

The next day the German youth had to leave,
and all the boys went down to the railroad station
in the touring car to see him off. Old Ricks was
there and he glared souring at the Rovers when
he saw them.

“I guess he didn’t like that flying affair,” was
Sam’s comment.

“Oh, he’s thinking of the time Tom put the cannon
cracker in the bonfire and made him think
some dynamite had gone off,” returned Dick, with
a grin.

“Or the time Tom gave him the cigar that
turned into a snake!” went on Sam, with a laugh.

“Get out of the way! Get out of the way, you
boys!” cried the old stationmaster, as he brushed
past, hitting Tom in the knee with a suit case he
was carrying. The train that carried Hans had
rolled away, leaving Ricks and the Rovers alone
on the little platform.

“Why, Mr. Ricks, what’s your rush?” asked
Tom, sweetly. “Going to a wedding?”

“No, I ain’t going to no wedding!” grunted old
Ricks. “I don’t want you young fellers to git
in my way, that’s all.”[100]

“Maybe you have to testify in that case in
court,” went on Tom, with a wink at his brother.

“Ain’t got to testify in no court.”

“Why, you’re in that case—I read all about it
in the papers!” cried Tom.

“Me in a case in court?” asked old Ricks, suspiciously.

“Sure. It was a terrible trouble, wasn’t it?”
went on Tom. “I am mighty sorry for you, really
I am, Mr. Ricks.”

Now as it chanced, Mr. Ricks had had some
trouble with a neighbor over a fence that had
blown down between the two properties. The
neighbor had threatened to sue him if he did not
put the fence up again. The Rovers knew nothing
about this, but it had been in old Ricks’s mind for
a week.

“If anybody sues me he’ll git the wust of it!”
growled the stationmaster savagely.

“It’s a terrible mess, that’s a fact,” went on
Tom. “The papers said he had threatened to get
after you with a shotgun!”

“A shotgun? After me?” exclaimed old Ricks,
and turned slightly pale.

“And they say you poisoned the cat,” put in
Dick.

“And caught the dog and starved the poor animal
to death,” added Sam.[101]

“It ain’t so—I never teched his cat, nor his
dog nuther!” roared old Ricks. “He’s a blamed
fool, he is!”

“Hush! hush!” whispered Tom, solemnly.
“Don’t speak so harshly of the dead.”

“Dead!” exclaimed the startled Ricks. “Who’s
dead?”

“Didn’t you know he was found on the railroad
tracks dead?” asked the fun-loving Rover.
“Of course they say you let the freight train run
over him. But we know you wouldn’t be so
wicked, Mr. Ricks.”

“Dead? On the tracks? Me let the train run
over him?” half-whispered the stationmaster. “I—I—didn’t
do it! Say, this is awful! Who told
you this?”

“Haven’t you read the newspapers?” asked
Dick.

“That comes for being too stingy to buy a
morning paper,” added Sam.

“Of course the local papers didn’t dare to print
the truth,” said Tom. “But you’ll find a full account
in the New York Blizzard and the Philadelphia
Bazoo. Your picture on the front page,
too, entitled, ‘Did He Do It, or Did He Did It
Not.'”

“Say, I ain’t done nuthin’, I tell ye!” almost
shouted old Ricks, who was too excited to realize[102]
that the boys were making fun of him. “If them
blamed city newspapers say I did I’ll sue ’em fer
damages, that’s wot I’ll do. I ain’t teched Ham
Ludd, nor his cat, nor his dog nuther! And it
was the wind blew the fence down, I didn’t tech
that nuther!” He paused to catch his breath,
“Where was Ham killed? I didn’t hear of anybuddy
gitting struck by a train.”

“Oh, I don’t know who the man was, or where
he was struck,” answered Tom, as he started to
walk away. “But they are after you, Mr. Ricks.
If I was you, I’d pack my valise and hike for California,
or Sing Sing, or some other place.”

“I ain’t going to run away, Tom Rover, and
you can’t make me,” was the wild reply. “I ain’t
teched Ham, nor his cat, nor his dog, nor the
fence nuther, I tell ye! It’s an outrage to say so!
I’ll sue them newspapers fer a million dollars
damages!”

“I’d make it two millions,” answered Tom,
calmly, and then started for the automobile, followed
by his brothers.

“But see here,” went on the stationmaster. “I
want to know——”

“Sorry, but we haven’t time now,” put in Dick.
“Hurry, Tom!” he whispered.

“It’s Ham Ludd coming!” added Sam. “Let’s
get out—before the fat’s in the fire!”[103]

And off the three Rover boys ran to the automobile
and were soon rolling away from the railroad
station. But they did not go far.

“I’m going back and watch the fun,” said Tom,
and leaped out, and ran up behind the station,
while his brothers followed him.

CHAPTER XI

OFF FOR BRILL COLLEGE

When old Ricks saw his neighbor approaching
he could not at first believe his eyes. Then
he ran up to the man, who was a particularly sour
individual.

“Say, I thought you was dead,” he gasped.

“Dead?” returned Ham Ludd. “Do I look
like I was dead?” And he glared savagely at
Ricks. “I ain’t dead, not by a jugful!”

“Humph! Well, if you ain’t dead, mebbe you’ll
explain about that cat, an’ dog,” went on old
Ricks.

“Wot about ’em?”

“You told folks I poisoned the cat and starved
the dog to death.”

“I did not.”

“You did—it was in the newspapers!” bawled
old Ricks, commencing to dance around.

“I didn’t! Where’s them newspapers?” asked
Ham Ludd, also growing excited.[105]

“I ain’t got ’em, but Tom Rover said——”

And then suddenly old Ricks stopped short.
He was commencing to “smell a mouse,” as the
saying is.

“Wot did Tom Rover say?” demanded Ham
Ludd.

“Never mind wot he said,” grumbled the stationmaster.
“Only you be careful o’ wot you say
about me in the future, Ham Ludd, thet’s all!”

“Huh! I guess that Rover boy has been a’jokin’
you ag’in, Ricky,” said Ludd, with a grin. “How
about thet busted-up bonfire, an’ that snaky cigar?
Ha! ha! he had you them times, didn’t he?”

“You shet up, Ham Ludd!” roared the stationmaster.
“Don’t you say another word!”

“I’ll say all I please! An’ you’ll put up that
fence, too, or I’ll have the law on ye!” retorted
Ham Ludd; and then went on his way.

“Hang them Rover boys anyway!” muttered
old Ricks, as he gritted his teeth. “I’ll be glad
when they go off to college ag’in. Wish they
would stay away!” And he went about his work.

“Ricks and Ludd will have it in for each other
from now on,” remarked Dick, as he and his
brothers got into the automobile to go home.

“Yes, and he’ll have it in for us—me especially,”
returned Tom, with a broad grin. “Never
mind; I can stand it,” he added, carelessly.[106]
Troubles, past or to come, never set heavily on
that fun-loving youth’s shoulders.

The boys had given the biplane one trial in
carrying two passengers, Dick and Sam going up
together while Captain Colby was present. On
the day following the departure of Hans, they rearranged
the seats on the Dartaway and got ready
to go up three strong, provided the biplane would
carry the load.

“I know she will do it if we get a more powerful
engine,” said Dick.

“Then we’ll get the engine,” returned Sam.

They made the start with care, all the others
at the homestead being present to witness the
trial. The Dartaway went up slowly, with Dick
in the center, at the wheel, and Sam on one side
of him and Tom on the other.

“Hurrah! we are going to make it!” cried Tom,
as the biplane arose like some big bird.

“It’s a strain though,” answered Dick. “We
won’t be able to fly very high nor very long.”

“But it’s great to be up together!” murmured
Sam.

They flew for nearly ten minutes, making wide
circles and a big figure eight. They went over
the house and the barn, and in plain sight of several
surrounding farms, men, women and children[107]
coming out to look at them. Once more the Rover
boys were the talk of the whole country-side.

“Ain’t nothing they can’t do,” said one of the
farmers living near. “If they tackle a thing it’s
plumb bound to go through, every time!”

“It’s because they are so full of grit and push,”
answered his wife. “Wish our Jed was like ’em,”
she added, wistfully.

“Jed ain’t never had no chanct, Mirandy.”

“Boys like them Rovers make their own
chances, Silas,” she retorted.

That evening it was Tom who made a proposal
that met with instant approval from his brothers.

“Let’s go to the college in the biplane,” he said.

“Hurrah! just the cream!” returned Sam.
“Say, won’t the fellows stare when they see us!”

“Very nice, but we can’t very well fly all the
way from here to Ashton,” put in Dick, mentioning
the town near which Brill College was located.

“Oh, I didn’t mean that,” explained Tom. “I
meant to fly from Ashton to Brill. We could ship
the biplane to Ashton in secret, put it together on
the sly, and create a big sensation by coming down
right on the college campus.”

“Tom, you’re a wonder!” cried Sam. “It’s
the best plan ever! Oh, let’s do it!”

“Wonder where we could ship it to, so the other[108]
fellows wouldn’t get on to what was doing?”
mused Dick.

“Why not ship it to Mr. Sanderson?” suggested
Sam. The man he mentioned was a farmer living
some distance from the college. The boys had
once done the farmer’s daughter Minnie a great
favor, saving her from insults at the hands of
Jerry Koswell and Dudd Flockley.

“That’s the talk!” cried Tom. “He’ll take care
of it and let us put it together in one of his open
fields. Then we can make the fellows at Brill open
their eyes.”

The new idea pleased all the youths immensely,
and the next day a long letter of explanation was
sent to Mr. Sanderson, and he was asked to telegraph
a reply. The biplane was taken apart and
packed up for transportation, and then the boys
packed their trunks and dress-suit cases, and got
ready to “go back to the greasy grind,” as Tom
expressed it.

It must not be supposed that the lads had forgotten
to write to the Stanhopes and the Lanings,
and to their college friends. Numerous letters
had been mailed and about an equal number had
been received. The girls were all going to Hope,
but one week later than the boys would have to
depart for Brill. Nothing more had been seen[109]
or heard of Crabtree or Sobber, for which all were
thankful.

“Here’s a letter from William Philander
Tubbs,” said Tom. “I sent him a letter just for
fun, asking him the style in socks this fall. Listen
to his reply.” And he read the following:

“Three cheers for William Philander and his
Baby’s Breath socks!” cried Sam. “He’s the true
and only artist!”

“Baby’s Breath!” murmured Tom. “Now
wouldn’t that get your scalp-lock?” And then
there was a merry laugh all around.

There was likewise a letter from Max Spangler,
and another from Stanley Browne, stating they
were already on their way to Brill. Then, just[110]
before the boys were ready to leave home, came
a letter from Songbird Powell.

“I’ll bet it’s in verse,” said Dick. “Songbird
couldn’t write prose to save his life.”

“We’ll soon see,” said Sam, who held the communication,
and he tore it open. “You win,” he
added, and then read the following, after the date
line:

“My dearest boys
I’m filled with joys
To think that we
Together shall be
In a week or more!
Oh, the fun in store!
And also the work—
Which we can’t shirk—
And the pleasant meetings,
And pleasant greetings,——”

“He was thinking of Minnie Sanderson when
he wrote that,” interrupted Tom.

“Sure thing,” returned Dick; for all of the
Rovers knew that the would-be poet was deeply
smitten with the farmer’s daughter. He had written
several poems about her, and had also given
her several presents.

“Well, there are twelve pages of the doggerel,”
said Sam, glancing over the sheets. “Here, you
can read over my shoulders,” and this was done,
amid much merriment. Songbird had but little[111]
news and promised to be at college when they arrived.

“Oh, I hope the Dartaway carries us there in
good shape,” murmured Tom. “It will be an
arrival worth remembering!”

Before he left home Dick had a long talk with
his father and his Uncle Randolph. When he rejoined
his brothers he was unusually sober.

“What is it, dad’s business affairs?” queried
Sam.

“Yes, Sam.”

“Are they in bad shape?” questioned Tom,
quickly. “What’s gone wrong?”

“It’s something about those mining shares that
dad and Uncle Randolph invested in,” answered
Dick. “I’ll give you the particulars later. They
don’t want Aunt Martha to know about it, for
it will only make her worry without doing any
good. I’m afraid dad and Uncle Randolph are
in it bad,” went on Dick, soberly.

“Can’t something be done?” asked Tom.

“Not just now. Dad is going to Chicago about
it next week again.”

“Does he and uncle stand to lose much?” questioned
Sam.

“Yes, a good deal—more in fact than they can
afford.”

“Phew! That’s too bad!” murmured the[112]
youngest Rover, and Tom shook his head soberly,
and forgot all about the parting jokes he had intended
to play on Aleck Pop and Jack Ness.

At last came the time for the three Rover boys
to leave home. The biplane had been shipped to
Ashton by express and their trunks and suit cases
had been forwarded on their railroad tickets.
They were going a day ahead of time, and Mr.
Sanderson had agreed to meet them and take them
to his home.

“Good bye, my boys,” said the fond father, on
parting. “Take good care of yourselves.”

“We will,” they answered as they shook hands.

“Learn all you can,” put in Randolph Rover.

“Take care and don’t get into trouble,” admonished
Mrs. Rover, and then she kissed them
tenderly.

“Don’t forget to let me know how matters go in
Chicago, dad,” whispered Dick, to his parent.

“I’ll remember, my son.”

“And if I can aid you in any way, let me do
it,—even if I have to leave Brill,” went on Dick.

“There is nothing to do at present, Dick. I
must wait for that report.”

Soon the boys were in the touring car, with
Jack Ness to bring the automobile back from the
railroad station, he now being able to run the
machine. Dick was at the wheel. Tom had[113]
cranked up, and off they sped, with a merry shout
and with those left behind waving their hands.

“Let her go, Dick!” sang out Tom.

“Good bye!” yelled Sam.

“Good bye!” came back faintly from the homestead.

Then a turn of the road shut out the house
from view. Once again the Rover boys were off
for college. Little did they dream of the strange
adventures in store for them.

CHAPTER XII

A GRAND ARRIVAL

“Glad to see you, boys! You’re looking
prime!”

It was the greeting of Mr. Sanderson, as the
Rovers stepped from the train at Ashton. The
farmer was waiting at the platform with a two-seated
carriage to take them to his farm.

“How are you, Mr. Sanderson!” came from
the three, and then all continued in a chorus:
“Did the biplane get here?”

“Something got here—two boxes an’ several
big bundles,” answered the farmer. “I had everything
carted over to my place.”

“Two boxes and four bundles,” said Dick.

“Right you are. One of ’em putty heavy, too.”

“That was the engine, Mr. Sanderson,” vouchsafed
Sam.

“Is that so! Well, times are sure changin’, an’
bymeby the hosses won’t be in it no more. So
you calkerlate to fly over to the college.”

“We do, if we can get the machine into shape,”[115]
answered Tom. “It may be that something got
broke on the way and will have to be mended,”
he added, anxiously.

“Well, we didn’t break anything, Tom, take my
word on that. If anything’s broke the railroad
company done it.”

The boys were soon seated in the carriage and
Mr. Sanderson took up the reins. As my old
readers know, the farmer was proud of his horses
and he had good reason to be, for they started off
in fine style, and presently were passing everything
on that long and somewhat dusty road.

“How is Miss Minnie?” asked Tom, on the
way.

“Fust rate, Tom. She went drivin’ yesterday
with that young feller from Brill that sprouts
poetry.”

“Oh, then Songbird has really arrived!” cried
Tom.

“He has.” Mr. Sanderson looked serious for a
moment. “Say, is he any good—or is he all—well,
all poetry?”

“Songbird is one of the best and smartest boys
in the college, Mr. Sanderson,” said Dick, bound
to put in a good word for their chum. “He likes
to make up verses, but that isn’t all he can do.
Some day he’ll be a good business man.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that,” answered the[116]
farmer; and the three Rover boys knew he was
thinking of his only daughter Minnie, and of the
attention Songbird Powell was paying to her.

It was not long before they came in sight of
the Sanderson homestead, pleasantly located in
a grove of trees. Minnie Sanderson was on the
lookout for them—a round-faced, jolly young
lady—and she waved her hand as the carriage
came to a halt.

“Why didn’t you come in that wonderful airship!”
she sang out gaily. “I’m dying to see you
fly!”

“Because you have the machine here!” answered
Sam.

“Oh, we’ve only got some bundles, and they
don’t look a bit like a flying machine,” went on
the girl. “But, say,” she added, her cheeks dimpling.
“What a time I had yesterday, keeping your
secret! Mr. Powell took me out riding,”—she
blushed a trifle—”and when we came back he
wanted to know what the bundles contained. I
told him it was some kind of machinery. He saw
the canvas and said he guessed pa was going to
put up a windmill!”

“Thanks for keeping it dark!” cried Dick. “We
want to surprise everybody at Brill.”

“You’ll have to be careful of what you do
then,” went on the girl. “Some of the young men[117]
have been around, and I—well, I don’t like it.”

“Who was around?” asked Tom.

“Mr. Flockley, for one,” and Minnie bit her
lip, for she had not forgotten how that dudish
collegian had once insulted her,—the time the
Rover boys had come to her rescue, as related in
detail in “The Rover Boys at College.”

“Did he come to the house?” asked Sam.

“Oh, no, he merely walked through the orchard.
But I guess he saw some of the packages.”

“He didn’t speak to you, did he?” asked Dick,
bluntly.

“I didn’t give him the chance. When I saw
him, I walked into the house, and he didn’t dare
to follow me.”

It was almost supper time, and the boys had arranged
to remain at the Sanderson homestead, instead
of going to the rather poor hotel at Ashton.
They had a merry time with the others over the
repast, and then, even though it was late, they
went down to the barn to inspect the boxes and
bundles comprising the Dartaway.

“Everything seems to be all right,” said Dick.
“We ought to be able to put her together in a day,
if we all work hard enough.”

“We’ll get up at six in the morning,” said Sam.

So it was arranged, and Mr. Sanderson said he
would call them. But this was unnecessary, for[118]
all were up and downstairs before the appointed
hour, and before breakfast was served they had
the boxes and bundles open and the various portions
of the biplane ready for assembling.

“Can’t I help?” asked the farmer, who was
much interested in what was going on.

“You can help us lift the engine,” said Dick.
“That is rather heavy.”

The boys and the farmer worked until five
o’clock in the afternoon over the biplane, knocking
off a half hour for dinner. For that meal
they had same fried chicken and fresh vegetables,
and an apple pie made by Minnie which Tom declared
was “a dream.”

“We’ll come and board with you,” said Dick,
to the girl. “This sort of food goes away ahead
of the college stuff; eh, boys?”

“Indeed it does!” cried Tom.

“Can’t be beaten,” put in Sam. And these compliments
pleased the farmer’s daughter very much.

Gasoline was at hand and also oil, and soon the
youths had the engine of the biplane in working
order. But it was not started until the Dartaway
had been rolled off to the middle of a big field.

“I don’t want to scare your horses and cattle,”
explained Dick, to the farmer. “When the engine
starts they’ll think Fourth of July has arrived.”

Soon all was in readiness, and with a final in[119]spection
of the biplane, Dick took his seat in the
machine and called to his brothers to work the
propellers. Bang! bang! bang! went the cylinders,
and around went the big blades, faster and
faster, until only a blur could be seen. Then
over the field shot the Dartaway and up in the air.

“Oh, my, just to look at that!” gasped Minnie.
“Just like a big bird!”

“Well, I’ll be switched!” cried Mr. Sanderson.
“An airship, sure as you are born! I didn’t think
I’d live to see one! My! my! just to see that thing
a-sailin’ through the air!”

Dick made the circuit of the field and then
cut a figure eight. The machine seemed to work
perfectly, and when he came down he was well
satisfied.

“All aboard for Brill College!” he cried.
“Through passage only! No stopovers allowed!”

“Shall we sail over now, or wait until to-morrow?”
asked Sam.

“Oh, come on now!” cried Tom, impatiently.
“Lots of fellows will be on the campus at this
hour, and we can do some circling around before
we land.”

“I’m willing,” said Dick. “Who is to do the
steering?”

“You do it—you’re the oldest,” said Sam.

“That’s right,” added Tom.[120]

“I don’t want all the glory,” insisted Dick.

“You are not going to have,” went on the fun-loving
Rover. “See what I’ve got for Sam and
myself.” And he brought out a mysterious package
he had brought from home. It contained
two silken American flags and two tin horns.

“We’ll do the patriotic while you run the machine,”
said Sam.

“And I’ve got something else—but never mind
what it is,” went on Tom.

“No fireworks, Tom—they are too dangerous
in a flying machine,” warned Dick, who knew his
brother’s love for things that made a noise.

“Nothing dangerous this time, Dick, I’ll give
you my word.”

The Dartaway was given another inspection
and then staked to the ground with a strong rope,
fastened by a slip knot. Then the engine was
started up and the three lads clambered on board.

“Good bye!” they cried to the Sandersons.

“Good bye and good luck!” answered the
farmer.

“Let us know how you arrive,” added his
daughter.

Then the knot in the rope was allowed to slide,
and with a rush and a whizz the biplane sped over
the smooth ground and then soared into the air.
By the time Sam had hauled in the dangling rope,[121]
the flying machine had left the Sanderson farm
far behind.

“Oh, this is simply glorious!” cried Tom. He
had his flag in one hand and his horn in the other,
and Sam was similarly equipped.

“Of course you know the way, Dick,” said the
youngest Rover.

“Oh, yes, it’s easy. I’ll simply follow the road.
But I am going up a bit,” added Dick. “I don’t
want to scare any horses, or we may have some
damage suits to settle.”

“The horses will have to get used to flying machines,
just as they had to get used to autos,” was
Sam’s comment.

On and on flew the Dartaway, Dick managing
the biplane as skillfully as if he was a seasoned
aviator. Over the farms and barns and houses
they sailed, creating much astonishment. The inhabitants
came rushing forth, some with milk
pails, and women with dish cloths and towels in
their hands. One boy in his excitement shied a
dipper at them, the object falling short of its
mark by several hundred yards.

“We are waking folks up,” remarked Tom, as
he tooted his horn and waved his flag, and Sam
followed suit. Then the fun-loving Rover placed
his horn under his arm and began to fumble at
something in his pocket.[122]

“I see Brill!” cried Sam, presently. “There is
the main building!” And he pointed with his
hand.

“I see it,” answered Dick. “Now for a few
circles and a figure eight before we come down.
I hope they’ll give us room to land.”

In a few seconds more the various buildings belonging
to the institution of learning were in full
view. Dick started up the engine with renewed
speed, thereby making more noise, and Tom and
Sam added to the din by blowing the horns with
all their might. The two boys also waved the
flags.

The racket had the desired effect. From one
building and another ran the students and the
members of the faculty, and also the hired help,
and all gazed up into the sky to learn what the
noise meant.

“It’s an airship!”

“There are three people on board!”

“Say, doesn’t she sail along beautifully!”

“Wonder if they are sailing across the state.”

“Maybe they are in the ocean-to-ocean race.”

“They look like three boys! See, two of them
are waving flags! Now what do you think of
that!”

“I’m going to get my spyglass,” said one of the
under teachers, and ran to do so. In the mean[123]time
the Dartaway came closer and circled slowly
over the main college building and the broad
campus.

“Look! look!” cried several of the students.
“What are they up to?”

From the bottom of the craft had suddenly
burst a cluster of red, white and blue tissue-paper
streamers. These floated under and behind the
Dartaway, producing a beautiful effect. Then
suddenly came floating down through the air a
quantity of many-colored confetti—tiny bits of
pretty paper that settled everywhere.

“The Rover boys!” cried the teacher who had
brought out his spyglass. “They are the three
Rover boys!”

“The Rover boys!” cried Songbird Powell, who
stood near. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Hurrah!” shouted Stanley Browne. “Now,
isn’t that just like them? Always up to something
new and original.”

“Three cheers for the Rover boys!” called
out one of the seniors. And the cheers were
given with a will, while the Dartaway continued
for some time to float over the college grounds
and then came settling down like some big white
bird, in the very center of the campus.

CHAPTER XIII

SOME INTERESTING NEWS

Before the biplane had come to a complete
standstill the students on the campus made a rush
and surrounded the three Rover boys.

“The grandest arrival I ever heard of!” cried
Songbird Powell, as he caught one after another
by the hand. “I shall have to write some verses
about this.”

“However did you manage it?” queried Stanley
Browne. “I didn’t know you could run an
aeroplane.”

“It’s out of sight alretty!” came from Max
Spangler. “But we could see it, yes!” he added
hastily.

“Oh, we thought we’d give the fellows a little
surprise,” answered Dick modestly. “We purchased
the biplane some time ago. It’s easy to
run after you get the knack of it.”

“But carrying three!” went on Stanley. “I’ve
heard of ’em carrying two but not more than
that.”[125]

“It’s quite a load,” said Tom. “We’ve got to
have a more powerful engine if we want to carry
that many right along.”

“And the streamers and confetti!” cried Songbird.
“I’ll bet those were Tom’s idea!”

“You’re right,” answered Dick.

“And he thought of the flags and horns, too,”
put in Sam, bound to place the credit where it
was due.

“I had to do something to let off steam,” said
Tom lightly. “Dick wouldn’t allow me to fire a
bomb, or a cannon, or anything like that,” he continued
dryly.

During this talk many of the students and instructors
commenced to inspect the biplane, and
soon the Rover boys were kept busy answering
questions.

“Well, young gentlemen, allow me to congratulate
you on your successful flight to this place!”
said a pleasant voice, and turning the youths found
themselves confronted by Doctor John Wallington,
the head of the college. He smiled broadly
as he shook hands. “This surely marks an epoch
in the history of Brill,” he went on. “First arrival
of students by airship,” and he turned to
Professor Blackie, who was with him.

“You are right, sir,” returned that instructor.
“We’ll have to make a note of it.” And this was[126]
done; and anybody going to Brill can see the
record in the “history book” of that famous institution.

“Look who’s here!” suddenly cried a cheery
voice, and Will Jackson, usually called “Spud,”
because of his liking for potatoes, pushed his way
to the Rover boys’ side. “I was upstairs dressing
when you arrived, but I saw it all from the window.
Say, that flight couldn’t be beaten. You
must have come about three miles a minute, eh?
Puts me in mind of the time I was caught in a
Kansas cyclone. The wind carried me off my
feet, and landed me high up on the side of a big
building, and there I had to stick until the wind
went down! Fact, and if you don’t believe it,
some day I’ll show you one of the bricks from
that same building. I keep it to sharpen my penknife
on.”

“The same old Spud!” cried Dick, while the
others laughed outright. “Telling a yarn before
he even shakes hands. How are you?” And he
gave Will’s hand a squeeze that made the story-teller
wince.

“We’ll have to have some place in which to
store the biplane,” said Sam to Dr. Wallington.
“Do you think we could put it in the boathouse
for the present—or in the shed of the gymnasium?”[127]

“You may use the gymnasium shed, if you can
get the machine inside,” replied the head of the
college. “I presume we’ll have to build regular
hangars here,—if the students are going to own
flying machines,” he added, with a smile.

“Well, they are good advertisements, Doctor,”
put in Tom. “Nothing like being up-to-date, you
know.”

“Perhaps, Rover, perhaps. And it will be instructive
to all here, to watch you and your brothers
manipulate the biplane. But do not let the
use of the machine interfere with your studies.”

“Oh, we’ll use it like we would our bicycles, or
a motor boat, or an auto,” said Sam. “We came
back to make a record for ourselves.”

“I am glad to hear it, Samuel, very glad indeed.”
And then the good doctor hurried away
to attend to his official duties.

Some of the late arrivals wanted the Rover
boys to give another exhibition flight, and for
their benefit Tom took a little sail by himself, and
then Sam went up for five minutes. Then the biplane
was rolled over to the big shed attached to
the gymnasium,—a place usually used for housing
carriages and automobiles during athletic contests.
Here one end was cleaned out and the Dartaway
was rolled in, and the engine was covered
with a tarpaulin brought from the boathouse.[128]

During the time that all this was being done,
one student of Brill had kept to himself, even
though greatly interested in what was going on.
This was Dudd Flockley, the dudish youth who
had once been the crony of Jerry Koswell and
Bart Larkspur. There was a sneer on his handsome
face.

“Great work, eh, Dudd?” said Bob Grimes,
one of the students, in passing.

“I don’t know what you mean,” returned Flockley,
coolly.

“Oh, yes you do, Dudd,” retorted the other.
“But I suppose it’s sour grapes for you,” he added
pointedly, for he was a friend to the Rovers and
knew something about the troubles of the past.

“Bah!” came from Dudd Flockley, and he
turned and hurried away. “Now those Rover
boys have come back I suppose they’ll try to lord
it over everybody, just as they did before. How
I hate them! I wish I could do something to get
them in a hole!” He had forgotten completely
the kindness the Rover boys had shown him, and
how they had gone to the head of the college and
pleaded for him, so that he had been allowed to
remain at Brill. Perhaps Flockley was not as
wicked at heart as his former college cronies,
Larkspur and Koswell, but he was equally ungrateful.[129]

Soon the Rover boys and their chums were up
in the dormitory where they had their rooms.
As before, Tom and Sam were together, in Number
25, with Dick and Songbird in Number 26,
and Stanley and the others not far off.

“Home again!” sang out Tom, as he dropped in
an easy chair. “My, but this looks natural!” he
added, glancing around.

“I want to tell you something,” said Stanley,
who had followed the three brothers and Songbird
into one of the rooms. “Maybe we’d better
shut the door,” he added, significantly.

“Yes, he’s got news,” added Songbird. “Say,
it beats the nation how some fellows hold a
grudge,” he went on.

“What’s the trouble now?” demanded Dick,
quickly.

“Day before yesterday I was over to Ashton,”
answered Stanley, after the door to the room had
been closed and locked. “I went by the upper
road and I had to pass that new roadhouse, the
place called the Red Horseshoe. Well, who was
sitting on the piazza but Jerry Koswell and Bart
Larkspur. They had been having a gay time, I
guess, and both were talking loudly. When they
saw me they called to me to stop, and then they
asked me if you fellows had come back to Brill.”

“What did you tell them?” asked Tom.[130]

“I told them no, but that you were expected
in a few days. Then both of them began to brag,
and said they had it in for all three of you
Rovers.”

“Did they say what they intended to do?” questioned
Tom.

“Not exactly, but Koswell intimated that if
you didn’t look out you might be blown up.”

“Blown up!” exclaimed Dick, and he thought
instantly of what Tad Sobber and Josiah Crabtree
had said to Dora and Nellie.

“That’s what he said. I wanted to find out
what he meant, but Larkspur stopped him from
talking and told him to shut up. But, Dick, I feel
sure they mean something, and all of you fellows
better be on your guard,” added Stanley earnestly.

“This is surely getting interesting,” said Tom.
“First Sobber and old Crabtree promise to blow
us up and now Koswell and Larkspur propose
the same thing.”

“They must be in league with each other!”
cried Sam.

“It looks that way—especially after what happened
on Casco Bay,” returned Dick. And then
he told Songbird and Stanley of the recent happenings
near the Rovers’ home, and elsewhere.

“Well, my advice is, keep your eyes wide open
all the time,” said Songbird. “Those fellows are[131]
desperate—their actions show it—and they’ll play
you foul if they get half a chance.”

“And to that advice let me add something
more,” said Stanley. “Don’t trust Dudd Flockley.
He pretended to reform for a while, but behind
it all I think he is as bad as ever. If you
gave him any information he may carry it straight
to those others.”

“Thank you, Stanley, I’ll remember that,” said
Dick.

“So will I,” added Tom, and Sam nodded in
approval.

“Well, to let you in behind the scenes,” went on
Dick, to Stanley and Songbird, “I am not so much
worried about ourselves as I am about Mrs.
Stanhope and Dora and the Lanings. Sobber and
old Crabtree want that fortune from Treasure Isle
the worst way and they’ll do anything to get hold
of it. Koswell and Larkspur are probably short
of funds, and, as they like to live high, they’ll
help Sobber and Crabtree all they can,—for a
rake-off of the proceeds.”

“I reckon you are right,” said Songbird. “But
what do all of them mean by blowing you sky
high.”

“That remains to be seen,” said Sam.

“Or rather felt,” added Tom, who had to have[132]
his little joke. “Maybe they’ll plant some dynamite
under the college and blow us up!”

“Hardly that, Tom,” returned his older brother.
“But they may try some kind of a dirty trick along
those lines.”

“Don’t worry, boys, don’t worry!” cried Songbird
soothingly. “Let the troubles of the future
take care of themselves“, and then he murmured
softly:

“Though the skies be dark and dreary
And hope be almost dead,
And hearts are all so weary——”

“Each one can go to bed!”

finished Tom. “A fine bit of poetry truly, Songbird,
old sport.”

“Who said anything about going to bed?”
snorted the would-be poet. “I had a finer line
than that, Tom. It was—er—it was—a—er—a——
Oh, dear, you’ve quite driven it out of
my head!”

“Never mind, it will come back day after yesterday,
or before and sooner,” went on the fun-loving
Rover blandly. “Now let us put away our
things and get ready for supper. I’m as hungry
as a wolf in a famine.”

“That’s right,” chimed in Sam. “Aeroplaning
can give one a wonderful appetite.”[133]

“It’s the air,” said Stanley.

That evening, after a good meal, the Rover
boys had to tell of their various experiences with
the biplane. Not a student of Brill had ever gone
up in a flying machine although several had gone
up in balloons at county fairs and elsewhere. The
Rovers had to promise to take up half a dozen of
their chums. So far during the fall, talk of football
had filled the air, but now all became flying
and flying machines. Several of the richer students
promised themselves machines in the near future.

“That’s the talk!” cried Tom, enthusiastically.
“Then we can have some races!”

“Maybe we can even get up an intercollegiate
aeroplaning contest,” remarked Sam.

“I’m afraid it’s a little too early for that yet,”
answered Dick. “But such contests may come
one of these days.”

The Rover boys were tired out from their day
of labor and excitement and ten o’clock found
them in their rooms ready to go to bed. Tom
and Sam had started to take off their shoes when
there came a faint tap on the door and Bob Grimes
appeared.

“Hello, Bob!” cried Tom. “What can I do
for you?”

“Hush! not so loud!” whispered the other student,
with a glance over his shoulder down the[134]
corridor. “Listen, both of you,” he went on
hurriedly. “Don’t ask me any questions, but if
you don’t want your biplane ruined be sure and
guard it closely!” And having spoken thus, Bob
Grimes hurried down the corridor and out of
sight.

CHAPTER XIV

THE BIRTHDAY FEAST

The two Rover brothers looked at each other
in amazement, and for a moment neither spoke.

“What do you suppose he meant?” asked Sam,
presently.

“He meant just what he said,” returned Tom.
“I’m going to tell Dick,” and he summoned his
big brother without delay.

“I think I can piece this together,” said Dick.
“I saw Bob Grimes talking to Dudd Flockley this
afternoon, and again after supper. Most likely
Bob got on the trail of something Dudd thinks of
doing. He doesn’t want to appear as a tattle-tale
and at the same time he doesn’t want to see our
machine ruined. So that’s why he warned you
in such a queer fashion.”

“You must be right,” answered Tom. “What
shall we do?”

“Nothing, Tom.”[136]

“Yes, but we don’t want the machine ruined, or
even tampered with!” exclaimed Sam.

“I don’t think anybody will touch it,” went on
the eldest Rover boy. “After you came up here I
got to thinking that maybe Flockley, or Koswell,
or Larkspur, or somebody else, might try to injure
the Dartaway, and so I went to see Filbury,
the janitor, about it. His son Abner is helping
him around the dormitories, and I hired Abner
for fifty cents a night to sleep in the shed and
guard the biplane. Abner has got a shotgun, and
he isn’t afraid of anybody; so I reckon the Dartaway
will be perfectly safe.”

“Good for you, Dick!” cried Tom. “Say, I
hope if anybody does try to injure the machine
Abner gives him a dose of shot!”

“I told him not to shoot anybody unless it was
necessary,” answered Dick. “But he may shoot
into the air, just to scare the intruder and raise
an alarm.”

The next day was such a busy one for the
Rover boys that they had no time to do more than
look at the biplane and see that it was safe. Abner
Filbury reported that he had slept in a hammock
slung beside the machine and that nothing
had happened to arouse him. Nobody but the
Rovers knew that he was on guard. The boys[137]
wanted to tell Bob Grimes, but that individual
kept out of the way.

After having settled down in their rooms and
to their studies, the three Rover boys made several
flights in the biplane, including one to the
Sanderson farm, where they discovered Songbird
calling on Minnie. Both were seated in a hammock
between the house and the barn, and both
leaped up in confusion when the biplane, manipulated
by Tom, sailed directly over their heads.
When the Rovers came down in the big field, Minnie
ran to greet them, and, later, she treated them
to apple pie and some milk. Then they set sail
once more, leaving their college chum to finish
his interrupted visit.

After this flight the boys ordered a new engine
for the Dartaway, one which would make sailing
safer, especially in a stiff wind. The makers said
they would send the new engine immediately, and
a machinist to install it, and they agreed to take
the old engine back at cost price, since it was
practically new.

It must not be supposed that the Rover boys
neglected their studies. As my old readers know,
whatever they tackled they went at with all their
might, and this applied to their work as well as
their play.

“Dad sent us here to get an education,” said[138]
Dick. “And while I am here I am going to study
all I can. There is no telling how long I’ll be able
to remain here anyway.”

“Thinking of dad’s western affairs?” asked
Sam.

“Yes; I may have to take hold and help him
and Uncle Randolph out. Both of them are not
as young as they used to be, you know.”

“That’s true, Dick. I noticed dad’s hair getting
pretty gray, and uncle’s is almost white.”

The boys had written home and also to the
Stanhopes and the Lanings, and soon came letters
in return. One, from Mr. Anderson Rover, was
of special importance.

“Now what in the world can old Crabtree and
Sobber be up to?” asked Sam, after all had read
the communication.[139]

“Up to some trick, I’ll bet a new hat,” declared
Tom. “I am glad dad sent for the detective.
I hope he catches them red-handed at something,
and locks them up.”

“They certainly ought to be locked up,” was
Dick’s comment.

The boys studied hard that evening and by ten
o’clock all were tired out and ready to go to bed.
But, just as they were on the point of retiring,
there came a knock on the door of the room occupied
by Tom and Sam, and Stanley appeared.

“You are wanted in Room 14!” said the student,
in a loud whisper. “Come right along.”

“What’s up?” asked both boys.

“Feast—ice-cream and cake. Max and Spud
were down to the town and they brought the
stuff along. Come on, before it’s too late and the
ice-cream melts.”

“Me for the ice-cream!” cried Tom, and did
a handspring over his bed. “Are the others invited?”

“Sure—a round dozen,” answered Stanley.

Room 14 was at the end of the corridor and
occupied by two students named Lane and Parley,
whole-souled fellows who were always ready
for a good time. The room was so located that it
had much more privacy than the other apartments.[140]

Soon the boys had gathered,—as jolly a crowd
as could be found at Brill. Max and Spud had
spread themselves, it being the German-American
lad’s birthday.

“Say, this is certainly fine!” cried Sam, as he
surveyed several big cakes, two hands of bananas,
some grapes, and several bricks of ice-cream
of various flavors.

“How are you going to serve the ice-cream?”
asked Dick.

“Oh, we’re all prepared!” cried Spud, and exhibited
a “nest” of paper saucers and another of
paper plates, and then a handful of tin spoons.
“I thought these would answer better than the real
thing, for when we have finished we won’t have
to wash anything—we can throw the whole mess
away.”

“Say, that’s Spud,” cried the student named
Lane. “Once he had to wash dishes at a picnic
we went to and you ought to see the face he cut.”

“Come, git busy alretty!” cried Max, as he
flourished a knife and commenced to cut one of
the cakes. “Spud, chop the ice-cream up right
avay!”

“All right, me for the chopping!” cried Spud
cheerfully, and soon the cream was being passed
around to the assembled students, and the cake
and fruit followed.[141]

“Fine!” cried Tom, as he smacked his lips over
the feast. “Max, you have my full permission to
have a birthday once a week.”

“Yes, and when you miss a week let Spud take
your place,” added Sam.

“One thing I can’t understand, Spud,” said
Dick, with great seriousness, and everybody present
stopped eating to hear what the eldest Rover
might have to say.

“What can’t you understand?” asked Spud
innocently.

“How you could get up a feast like this and
forget to supply such an important thing.”

“What important thing?” demanded Spud, and
he suddenly looked a trifle worried.

“Potatoes,” returned Dick.

For an instant there was silence, and then, as
the other boys remembered Will’s love of potatoes—a
love that had given him the nickname of
“Spud,” there was a wild burst of laughter.

“Say, Spud, that’s one on you!”

“Too bad we didn’t bring a few praties along,
son!”

“We might have fried a few over the light,
eh?”

“Don’t you worry, dis feast ain’t done yet alretty!”
cried Max. “Here is something more!”[142]
And going to his bureau he brought out a square
box wrapped in white paper. “Spud, he gifes me
a big cake,—now I gif him somethings, yes!”
And he handed the box over.

“What’s this, another joke?” demanded the
other student suspiciously.

“Do you think I play a joke?” asked Max,
with a hurt look.

“All right then,” said Spud, and proceeded to
undo the string around the box. Then he took
off the paper and opened the box.

What a shout went up! For the box was filled
with potatoes—plain white and sweet! There
were about a quart of them, mixed.

“Oh, what a sell!” murmured Spud. “I knew
you’d do something like this!” he added, grinning
sheepishly.

“Better pass ’em around,” suggested Tom.

“All right, have one raw!” returned Spud.

“Hi! ton’t gif dem avay so kvick!” cried Max,
getting excited and talking more brokenly than
usual. “Besser examine dem first.”

“Examine ’em?” murmured Spud. “Oh, I
see!” he added, and took up one of the potatoes.
“Why, it isn’t a potato at all!” he exclaimed as
the article came apart. “It’s only a shell, and it’s
filled with candy!”[143]

“Chocolate drops!” murmured Sam. “Yum!
yum!”

“There are salted almonds in this one,” went
on Spud, opening an imitation of a sweet potato.
“And here are stuffed dates, and this had raisins
in it—and here are soft gum drops! Say, Max,
this is certainly great! How did you happen to
think of it?” And Spud looked tremendously
pleased.

“Oh, I know you lof potatoes,” answered the
German-American youth, innocently.

The candy was placed on one of the wooden
plates, and the almonds and raisins on another,
and then the good things were passed around.

“I’ll keep these as souvenirs of the occasion,”
said Spud, indicating the imitation potatoes.

“How about it, Songbird, can’t you rise to
the occasion?” asked Dick, who had noticed that
the student-poet had been unusually quiet while
eating his cake and ice-cream.

“I have—er—just composed a little poem in
honor of Max’s birthday,” answered Songbird.
“If you’d like me to recite——”

“Sure thing!”

“Turn on the poetry spigot, Songbird, and let
her flow!”

“This is not yet finished. But,—but——”[144]

“Give us what you have,” said Spud, and clearing
his throat several times, Songbird began.

“Once more a year has rolled around—
As years have rolled before—
Once more we greet our loving friend—
A true friend to the core!
We hope that in the future he
Will win success and fame,
And go down in our history
A noble——”

Bang! came the report of a gun, and the shot
was so unexpected that Songbird forgot what he
was going to say, and all those at the feast sprang
to their feet. Bang! came a second report.

“What does that mean?” cried Stanley. “Who
is firing a gun this time of night?”

“I think I know what it means!” exclaimed
Dick, leaping for the door. “Come on, if you
want to save the Dartaway!” he went on, to his
brothers.

CHAPTER XV

A PERILOUS FLIGHT

Without waiting to get a hat or an extra
coat, Dick dashed through the long corridor and
down the broad stairs of the dormitory and Tom
came at his heels.

“What’s the matter?” cried Spud, grabbing
Sam, just as the youngest Rover boy was about
to follow his brothers.

“I’ll tell you when we get back,” answered
Sam. “Don’t stop me now, please, I may be
wanted.”

“Want any help?” put in Songbird, who for the
moment had forgotten what he was about to recite.

“I don’t know—but I guess not.”

“We’ll go along anyhow,” came from Max,
and took after Sam, while several others did the
same.

In the meantime Dick and Tom had gained the
lower hallway of the dormitory. The door was[146]
fastened, but the key was in the lock and they
soon had the portal open and they leaped outside.
Then both started in the direction of the
gymnasium shed.

“See anybody?” cried Tom.

“No, it’s too dark,” answered Dick. “But that
must have been Abner Filbury’s gun.”

The two reports from the shotgun had aroused
many in various buildings around the campus, and
windows were being raised and heads thrust out.

“What’s the trouble?”

“Who fired those shots?”

“Is it a joke?”

“There go two of the Rovers!”

“Are they up to some trick?”

“More than likely. You can’t keep Tom Rover
quiet.”

So the comments ran on, while Dick and Tom
sped in the direction of the shed. As they came
closer they received a sudden challenge from the
big doorway.

“Hi! don’t you dare to come back here, or I’ll
shoot you!” The words were uttered by Abner
Filbury, who stood there, shotgun in hand and
lantern by his side.

“Don’t shoot!” ordered Dick. “It is I, Dick
Rover! What’s the trouble?”

“Oh, so it’s you, Mr. Rover!” returned the[147]
janitor’s son, with a sigh of relief. “I was afraid
them pesky rascals was a-coming back.”

“What rascals?”

“The fellers as got at the airship while I was
asleep. But I guess they didn’t get no chance to
hurt anything,” went on Abner, hastily.

“Who were they?” asked Tom.

“I don’t know. They had rags tied over their
faces, so I couldn’t see ’em.”

“How many of them were there?” questioned
Dick.

“Two.”

“Are you sure they didn’t harm anything?”
went on the eldest Rover boy, as he entered the
shed.

“No, I ain’t sure, for when I woke up they
was in the shed, right under my hammock. I got
scared and I blazed away at the roof, and then
they got scared, I can tell you! They jumped and
let out a yell, and ran for the door, and I got
down and went to the door and fired the other
barrel into the air, as a warning. Then they disappeared
in the darkness.”

“I guess it was——” began Tom, when Dick
caught hold of his arm and silenced him.

“We’ll take a look at the machine,” said the
big brother, and they went into the shed. Here
they were soon joined by Sam and the others;[148]
and soon a close inspection of the biplane was in
progress.

“I don’t see any damage,” said Dick, presently.

“Most likely they didn’t have time to do any,”
replied Tom.

“I’m glad of it,” added Sam, with a sigh of
relief.

“Who would be so mean?” questioned Stanley.

“I’ve got my suspicions, but I won’t say anything
yet,” answered Dick.

A proctor and several instructors had come
down to the shed, and the situation had to be
explained to them. All thought it mean that anybody
should try to damage the flying machine.

“Perhaps it was merely a boyish trick,” said
Professor Blackie. “Let us hope so.”

“Maybe,” answered Dick. “Just the same, I
am glad that I placed Filbury on guard.” And
then he told the young man to keep a closer watch
than before, and this Abner promised to do.
Then the boys went back to the dormitory, finished
the feast, and went to bed.

A few days later came word that Dora and the
Laning girls had arrived at Hope Seminary, and
the Rovers, of course, made immediate preparations
to visit them.

“We’ll give ’em a surprise,” said Tom, with a[149]
grin. “We’ll visit ’em in the Dartaway.” And
this the other brothers readily agreed to do.

A message was sent to the three girls, requesting
them to meet the boys at a certain hour on
the campus of the seminary. Then the Rovers
got the Dartaway in readiness for the trip, polishing
up the engine and working parts until they
shone like silver.

“If only it doesn’t rain, or blow too hard,” said
Sam, when all was in readiness.

“Oh, we’ll go anyway,” cried Tom.

The boys had purchased regular aviation suits,
which looked very neat and professional-like. The
new engine was in place, and they had given it a
good try-out and had found that it worked as
well as the other and gave much more power.

“I think we could carry half a dozen folks
now,” said Sam, after a trial with some bags of
sand. “She takes up the extra weight without an
effort.”

“Perhaps, but there is no use of straining the
biplane, or the engine either,” returned Dick.

The morning of the all-important day came
and the boys found the wind blowing steadily
from the west.

“Rather breezy for a flight,” was Dick’s comment.[150]

“Do you think it will rain?” queried Sam,
anxiously.

“Not with the wind from that quarter, Sam.
But we may get more breeze than we want.”

“Oh, we won’t mind the wind a bit,” declared
Tom, who never wanted anything to interfere
with his pleasure.

The boys had their regular classes to attend
during the morning, and also one recitation after
lunch. But by half-past two all were free, and
after donning their aviation suits, they hurried
to the shed and rolled out the Dartaway.

“Pretty breezy and no mistake,” remarked
Dick, as he gazed anxiously at the sky. “I don’t
know about this.”

“Oh, don’t say we can’t go, Dick!” pleaded
Sam.

“Maybe the breeze isn’t so strong high up,”
came from Tom, hopefully.

“It may be stronger, Tom. We don’t want to
go up and get wrecked.”

“Oh, the Dartaway won’t get wrecked—not
with that powerful engine.”

Dick hesitated. He did not like that strong
breeze in the least. Yet he was just as anxious
as his brothers to visit the seminary and meet the
girls, and let them see the biplane. And there was
something even more important on his mind.[151]

“Oh, come ahead, and take a chance!” cried
Tom. “We’ll get through somehow!”

“Just what I say,” declared Sam.

“Who is to run the machine?” asked the big
brother.

“I’ll run her, if you want me to,” answered
Tom, promptly.

“Oh, I was only thinking of the honor, Tom.
I’m not afraid to try it.”

“Oh, you go ahead and do it,” put in Sam, who
knew that his big brother’s heart was set on showing
Dora what he could do with the flying machine.

“We’ll go up and try it,” answered Dick, at
last. “If she works all right, I’ll head her for the
seminary; otherwise I’ll bring her down again;”
and so it was arranged.

A number of the students had come out to see
the flight and they gave a cheer as the big biplane
rushed over the campus and then arose like a
bird in the air. As the machine went up, Tom
looked to one side and saw Dudd Flockley standing
on the campus, in company with a student
named Andy Yates. Both were sneering at the
Rovers and their friends.

“The pair that tried to damage the machine,”
muttered Tom to himself. He knew that since
Larkspur and Koswell had left Brill, Flockley[152]
and Yates had become quite friendly, and he also
knew that Yates was a spendthrift and had a
reputation far from good.

Up and up went the biplane, guided by the
steady hand and keen eye of Dick. The wind
rushed over the canvas planes and sang merrily
through the wire stays. The engine banged away
steadily, and the propellers left only a blur in the
air as they kept whizzing around and around.

“How is it, Dick?” asked Sam, after a full
minute had passed, and they were turning in
a big circle.

“Can’t tell yet—pretty gusty and full of holes,”
was the answer, and Dick gritted his teeth tightly
and took a firmer hold of the steering wheel.
Then the Dartaway came around with a rush.

“Wow!” cried Tom, clutching at his seat.
“Say, this is some slant!”

“Hold tight!” yelled Dick.

The warning came none too soon, for a gust
of wind hit the biplane and all but made it “turn
turtle,” as the saying goes. But Dick was on
the watch, and he sent the tips down, and soon
the machine righted itself. Then they rushed
away, over the woods beyond the college buildings.

“Going?” queried Sam.

“Are you game?” asked Dick, grimly.[153]

“Sure!”

“What about it, Tom? Don’t go if you don’t
think it is best.”

“We’ll try it. Dick. But if you spill us out—well,
please choose a soft spot, that’s all!” went
on Tom, who had to have his joke, even in such
a time of peril.

To take that trip, with such a wind blowing,
was not a wise move, and all three of the Rovers
knew it. But they wanted so much to see the
girls, and show them the biplane, that they were
willing to take the risk.

On and on sailed the Dartaway, now in the
teeth of the breeze and then with the wind on
the quarter. All of the youths clung fast constantly,
for their was great danger of being
pitched into space. They had straps for fastening
themselves, but hated to use these, fearing
that they might get in some position where a quick
jump might mean safety. If they were strapped
in, and the biplane fell, they might be crushed to
death under the heavy engine.

Most of the trip was made in the face of the
wind, which, every instant, seemed to grow
stronger. The Dartaway acted like a thing of
life, swooping and careening from one side to
the other. Dick had to manipulate the wheel and[154]
the levers constantly, to keep anything like an
even “keel.”

“Can you keep to the course?” questioned Tom,
after about half the distance to the seminary had
been covered.

“I don’t know—it depends on the wind,” Dick
replied. “I may go around to the westward—it
seems to be better sailing that way.”

In the end they had to make a wide detour, and
Dick was wondering how he was going to turn
in the direction of Hope Seminary, when the wind
suddenly died down. This was his chance, and
on the instant he headed directly for the seminary.

“There it is!” cried Sam, presently. “I see
the buildings!”

“There is the campus!” added Tom, a minute
later. “And there are the girls, waving banners
at us!”

“I see them!” answered Dick, and then he shut
off the engine, and silently and with the grace of
a big, white swan, the Dartaway volplaned to the
earth.

CHAPTER XVI

DICK AND DORA

“Oh, Dick, how lovely!”

“Weren’t you afraid, Sam?”

“What a big flying machine, Tom!”

Such were the exclamations from Dora, Grace
and Nellie, as all rushed forward to where the
boys were alighting from the Dartaway. Soon
they were shaking hands all around, and soon
other girl students were coming up, to learn what
the arrival of the flying machine meant.

“Well, we certainly had a great trip,” said
Dick.

“The wind was pretty strong,” put in Sam.

“Strongest wind you ever saw!” declared Tom,
stoutly. “Turned us over about ‘steen times and
rolled us into a regular ball.”

“Oh, Tom, what an idea!” exclaimed Nellie,
and began to laugh. “But weren’t you afraid?”
she went on anxiously.

“What, me? Never! But Sam was so afraid[156]
he shook off his shoes, and one of ’em dropped
right on a cow, and——”

“Tom Rover!” burst out Grace. “What a
story-teller you are!”

“Well, Grace, if you don’t believe it, go and
ask that cow,” went on the fun-loving Rover,
soberly. “It’s lucky Sam has elastics on the
shoes—to pull ’em back by. If he hadn’t had——”
Tom did not finish but shook his head
mournfully.

“I am so glad you got here safely, Dick,” said
Dora, in a low voice. “But oh, do you think it
is quite safe?” she went on, anxiously. “I—I
don’t want you to get hurt!”

“I guess it is safe enough, Dora,” he replied,
not wishing to alarm her. “It’s like an auto—you’ve
got to get used to it.”

“I don’t think I’d ever get used to a flying
machine.”

“Maybe you would. Some day I’ll take you up
and you can see how you like it.” But Dora
shook her head at this.

The boys had hoped to have a quiet time with
the three girls, but this was not to be just then.
The students of the seminary gathered around,
and the lads were kept busy explaining about the
biplane, and how the engine and the steering gear
worked. Then, to show that they could run the[157]
Dartaway as well as Dick, Tom took the machine
up and Sam followed him, each making several
circles around the campus.

“Any girls want to go up?” questioned Tom.
“Now don’t please all speak at once.” There was
a general giggle, but nobody accepted the invitation.
Then the Rovers turned to those they had
come to visit, and, taking the hint, the other girl
students sauntered away.

“Wouldn’t you like some refreshments?” asked
Dora. “We might get some hot coffee and some
cake.”

“No, we’ll have to get back before dark,” answered
Dick. “So we’ll just stay and talk awhile.
Any special news from home?”

“No. Mamma is going away for her health,
and Mrs. Laning is going with her.”

“I hope they go where old Crabtree and Sobber
can’t find them.”

“That is what they are going to try to do,
Dick. Oh, dear, I wish those people would never
come near us again!”

“They are up near our home now,” answered
the eldest Rover boy, and told about the old mill.

“Whatever are they up to now, do you think,
Dick?”

“I can’t imagine. We are all awaiting developments.”[158]

“Your folks ought to be on guard.”

“They are on guard—and dad has hired a detective
to keep his eye on Crabtree and Sobber.”

“What about your father, Dick? You wrote
that he was worried over some business matter.”

“He is, and Uncle Randolph is worried, too,
Dora. It’s some business you wouldn’t understand—something
about some western investment.
You see dad and uncle are getting old and they
can’t watch things as they used to—and Uncle
Randolph is all wrapped up in scientific farming,
just as he always was. I sometimes think it’s
time I took hold of business matters and helped
them.”

“Then you’d have to leave Brill, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes; but I’d not mind that—I have a pretty
good education even now, and I could study in
my spare moments. I could take a short course,
instead of one of the long ones. And then, Dora,
that would help out another way,” went on Dick
in a lower voice, and looking over his shoulder
to make sure that the others were not listening.
But the others had walked off to the rear of the
big biplane.

“Another way? How?” And Dora looked at
him wonderingly.

“Oh, you know well enough.”

“No, I don’t,” she replied; but two bright spots[159]
began to show in her pretty cheeks, making her
prettier than ever.

“Well, I made up my mind that as soon as I
left college I was going to get married,” Dick
went on, looking her full in the eyes.

“Oh, Dick!” And now she cast her eyes on
the ground.

“Sure. Don’t you think it’s a good idea?” he
went on, and he caught her hand and held it.

“Oh, I—I——” She blushed more than ever
and could not go on.

“I know we are not so very old, Dora, but, on
the other hand, we are not so very young either,
and I think your mother would approve, and I
am sure my father wouldn’t object. I know he
thinks you are just the finest girl in the whole
world,—he said so.”

“Well, mamma likes you, too, Dick,—she’s
told me that many times.”

“Then I’m sure she won’t object. And, besides,
when I’m her son-in-law I’ll be able to do a
good deal more than I can now—about helping
her with her financial affairs, and all that, you
know.”

“Yes, I know that, too.”

“And so I think we ought to get married. But,
of course, if you object, Dora——”[160]

“Did I object?” And she smiled just a little—a
smile that set his heart bounding.

“Then you’ll consent?” he asked eagerly. “Will
you? Say yes, won’t you?” And now he had
hold of both of her hands and was looking her
full in the eyes. “I want you so much, Dora,—I’ve
wanted you ever since I first met you—on
that little steamboat, on the way to Putnam Hall.”

“Oh, Dick, what an idea! Why, you hardly
knew me then!”

“Never mind, I knew you well enough.”

“What a long time ago that was,” murmured
the girl. She was still gazing fully into his eyes.

“Yes, it was a long time ago, and yet, somehow,
it seems an awfully short time, too. But, Dora,
you haven’t said yes yet. Won’t you please say
yes?” he pleaded, in a lower voice, as Tom and
the others started to rejoin them.

“Yes,” she murmured, her face becoming a
rosy red. “Yes. Any time you say, Dick, if
mamma is willing.”

“You dear, dear girl!” he cried softly. “Oh, I
just wish I had you all to myself for a moment!”
And he gave her a look that spoke volumes.

“Well, we’ve got to get back, that is all there is
to it,” came from Sam loudly. He could not help
but notice how confidential Dick and Dora were
becoming.[161]

“I’d like to stay, but we’ve got to make the trip
before it gets too dark,” added Tom.

“Just as you say,” answered Dick, although he
did not, just then, see how he was going to tear
himself away.

But the boys did not leave for a good quarter
of an hour, and during that time, Dick and Dora
somehow managed to walk to the end of the
campus, where there were big clumps of rose
bushes and lilac shrubbery. Once in the shadow
of these Dick pulled something from a pocket and
held it out to Dora.

“If we are going to be regularly engaged, you
must have this,” he said.

“Oh, Dick, a diamond ring!” she cried, as the
glint of the jewel caught her eyes.

“Hold out your hand, dear,” he said, and when
she held it out he placed the ring on her finger.
Then he took her in his arms.

“Mine, Dora, mine, always and forever mine!”

“Always, and forever, Dick!” she answered.
And then they kissed each other.

When they rejoined the others each felt as if
walking on air.

“But the ring—they’ll be sure to see it, Dick!”
whispered Dora.

“If they don’t I shall be disappointed,” he answered.[162]

It was Grace who espied the glittering circlet
first and she uttered a slight shriek. Then she
pointed it out to her sister.

“A diamond ring—an engagement ring!” she
cried.

“Oh, how lovely!” exclaimed Nellie.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the future Mrs. Dick
Rover!” said Dick, just a bit awkwardly, while
Dora blushed the color of a peony.

“Oh, Dora!” cried Grace and Nellie, in chorus,
and then each kissed her.

“I thought I smelt a mouse,” murmured Sam.

“Hail to the bride!” cried Tom. “Say, Dick,
isn’t it proper to salute your future sister-in-law?”
he went on, with a broad grin.

“I don’t know—better ask her,” replied Dick,
good-naturedly, and then Tom kissed Dora, and
Sam did the same thing. After that Tom declared
he ought to kiss the “bride-to-be’s cousins,”
and started in, and Sam followed.

“Here, you kids break away!” cried Dick finally.
“I thought you said we had to get back
before dark.”

“‘Kids’ indeed!” snorted Tom. “My, how old
we’ve gotten since we’re engaged!” And then he
grinned more than ever. “But never mind,” he
went on to Nellie, in a whisper. “Just you wait
and see the diamond ring I get you one of these
[163]
days.” And this remark made Nellie blush as
deeply as had Dora. Sam said something, too,
to Grace about a ring, at which she laughed
merrily and slapped his face. But when the boys
were in the biplane and ready to sail away, and
he held up a finger with a ring on it and looked
at her questioningly—and longingly—she gave a
quick little nod of her curly head.

“All ready?” asked Dick, at last.

“All ready!” replied his brothers.

“Then start her up!” cried the oldest Rover
boy, and the others gave a turn to the propellers.
Bang! bang! bang! went the engine, and Sam and
Tom rushed to their seats.

“Come again soon!” cried the girls.

“Just as soon as we can!” was the answer.

“Be careful!” pleaded Dora. “Please, please
be careful!”

“We’ll look out—don’t worry,” answered Dick.
He had to shout, to make himself heard above the
noise of the motor. Then came the usual whizz
and rush, and a few seconds later the Rover boys
were once more in the air and bound for Brill.

Dick would have been pleased could he have
allowed his mind to linger on the conversation he
had had with Dora, but he soon found this out
of the question. The wind had come up again,
and was now blowing as strongly as ever, and he[164]
had all he could do to manage the Dartaway.
Soon the big biplane commenced to pitch and toss
like a small boat on the bosom of an angry ocean.

“Say, this is getting something fierce!” was
Sam’s comment, after a particularly thrilling dip.
“I thought we were going right down that time.”

“You hold tight!” yelled Dick. “Don’t let go
for an instant.”

“I’m as tight as glue,” was the reply.

“Hadn’t you better go up a bit, Dick?” came
from Tom.

“Just what I thought of doing,” was the answer.

The rudders were shifted, and swiftly the biplane
mounted through space. It was now growing
dark, and presently the panorama that had
been below them, vanished from view.

“Huh! This won’t do!” cried Dick. “I can’t see
how to steer.”

“Steer by the wind for awhile,” suggested Sam.

A minute later came a fierce gust of wind, followed
by a second and then a third. Around spun
the biplane and then tilted up as if about to go
over. Then came an unexpected ripping and tearing
sound.

“It’s the left plane—it’s torn loose!” yelled
Sam. “Let her down, Dick, before it is too late!
If you don’t, we’ll drop to our death!”

CHAPTER XVII

CAUGHT IN A HAILSTORM

All of the Rover boys realized their extreme
peril, yet for the moment they were powerless
to do anything to help themselves. Dick put out
his hand to stop the engine of the biplane, then
concluded that it might be more advantageous to
keep the propellers moving.

Around and around spun the flying machine,
tossed like a chip on an angry ocean. All grew
dark about the three boys and each gave himself
up for lost. It was useless to attempt to steer,
so Dick held the craft as she was, so far as the
wheel was concerned.

Then came a sudden, sickening drop and a tilting
to one side. Sam let out a wild yell, but what
he said was drowned out in the roaring of the
wind and the noise of the engine. Then, of a
sudden, the Dartaway dove forward and the gust
of air was left behind. They came into a “hole,”
as it is termed by aviators, and again they sank.[166]
But now Dick was gaining control once more
and he tilted the front rudder and up they went
for a hundred feet, but in something of a circle,
because of the broken plane.

“Can’t you land?” gasped Tom. “We can’t—can’t—stand—this!”

“I’ll do what I can,” replied Dick, between his
set teeth. He knew that their very lives depended
on how he handled the biplane.

Slowly and with great caution Dick allowed
the Dartaway to get closer to the earth. Each of
the boys strained his eyes, to catch sight of what
might be below. Then came another gust, and
this was followed by a strange rattling on the biplane.
Small, white objects were bouncing in
all directions.

“It’s hail!” cried Sam. “We’ve struck a hail
squall!”

He was right, and the hail continued to come
down all around them, driven by a sweeping wind
that carried the Dartaway hither and thither. But
it was one of those sudden squalls that do not
last long, and soon they were sailing in the clear
air again, and now within view of the ground
below.

“There is a fine field—to the right,” cried Tom.

Dick nodded and, not without an effort, brought
the biplane around. Then he shut off the motor,[167]
and they slid to earth quicker than they had anticipated.
The Dartaway struck the ground and
bounced up and down several times on its rubber-tired
wheels and then came to a standstill in the
midst of some brushwood. Poor Sam was thrown
out heels over head into the bushes.

“Are you hurt?” sang out Dick, anxiously. It
was so dark he could not see what had become of
his youngest brother.

“I—I guess not!” came back from Sam, and
he started to scramble out of the bushes. “Say,
that was some sail, wasn’t it?” he continued.

“No more like that for me!” returned Tom,
panting like a race horse. “Are you O. K.,
Dick?”

“Yes, although that bumping shook me up.
But come, fasten the Dartaway down before the
wind comes up again and blows it to kingdom
come!”

This warning was necessary for the wind was
still fitful and there was no telling how strong
it might become. All sprang forward to do what
they could to save the biplane from destruction.

“If there was a barn handy we might use that,”
said Sam.

They looked around, but the only building
nearby was a small cottage, evidently one used
by a farmer’s hired hands.[168]

“Run her around between the bushes,” directed
Dick. “They will protect her a little, for the
bushes are quite high.”

They found a spot between the undergrowth
and into it forced the biplane, until the air
craft was completely surrounded. The bushes
broke the force of the wind and the lads had little
difficulty in tying the machine fast with the ropes
they always carried. It was hailing again, although
not so heavily as before. The wind was
gradually going down, but the sky was as dark
and threatening as ever.

“I think it will turn into rain before very long,”
said Dick, after a look around. “Too bad it
couldn’t have held off half an hour longer. Then
we’d have been safe at Brill.”

“I’m thankful we got down safely, Dick,” said
Sam.

“Oh, so am I!”

“It was a narrow escape,” was Tom’s comment.
“Great hambones! Who would have
thought we’d run into such weather as this!”

“Oh, hailstorms like this are not uncommon,
even in midsummer,” answered Dick. “Don’t
you remember the one that came and cut down
our corn some years ago?”

“Yes, and broke all the glass in the hothouse,”[169]
added Sam. “Say, is the machine hurt much?”
he went on.

“We’ll have to make an examination.”

They looked the biplane over as best they could
in the semi-darkness. One of the bamboo poles
had been split and two of the canvas stretches
were slit from end to end.

“Not as bad as it might be,” said Dick. “We
can easily mend the canvas. But I guess we had
better get a new pole in place of that one. I’d
not care to trust it, even if it were wired.”

“Perhaps we can wire it good enough to get
back to Brill with,” returned Tom. “We can’t
stay here.”

“I’ve had enough sailing for to-day!” cried
Sam. “Let us walk back, or get a carriage, and
leave the biplane here until some fine day when
there is no wind.”

“Yes, we can’t use her any more to-day,” said
Dick. “Let us cover the engine and walk to that
cottage and find out just where we are, and how
we can get to Brill.”

Having arranged everything as well as the
means at hand permitted, the three Rover boys
left the vicinity of the brushwood and walked
over to where the small cottage was located. The
ground was covered with hailstones and Tom[170]
could not resist the temptation to gather up a
handful and pelt his brothers.

“Stop it!” cried Sam, and then, as Tom would
not stop, he rushed in with some of the hailstones
in his hand and allowed them to slide down inside
of Tom’s collar.

“Wow!” roared the fun-loving Rover. “Let
up, Sam! That feels as if I’d hit the North
Pole!”

“Then you let up,” answered Sam, firmly; and
after that Tom let the hailstones alone.

As they neared the cottage they saw that a
lantern was lit and set on a table in the centre of
the living room. Around the table sat three persons,
two young fellows and an older man, evidently
a farmer. The three were smoking and
playing cards, and on the table lay some bank-bills.

“Why, look at this!” cried Dick, in astonishment.
Then he added quickly: “Get out of sight,
don’t show yourselves!” And he caught each of
his brothers by the arm and led the pair to the
rear of the building.

“What’s up, Dick?” asked Sam. “Who were
they?”

“Didn’t you recognize those young fellows?”

“I did!” cried Tom, in a low voice. “They
were Jerry Koswell and Bart Larkspur!”[171]

“Koswell and Larkspur!” exclaimed Sam.
“Are you sure?”

“Tom is right,” replied Dick.

“Who was the third fellow?”

“I don’t know. He looked like a farmer to
me.”

“Did you see the money on the table?” broke
out Tom. “They must have been gambling!”

“It looked that way to me, Tom.”

“If they were, all I’ve got to say, that third
fellow better look out for Koswell and Larkspur,”
continued Tom. “They are sharpers at cards, so
Dudd Flockley once told me. He said they got
him to put up his money a number of times and
each time they won. He was inclined to think
they didn’t play fairly.”

“Well, knowing them as we do, I’d say they
wouldn’t be above cheating,” said Sam. “But
what in the world can they be doing in this out-of-the-way
place?”

“That remains to be found out,” replied his
big brother. “Maybe they were on the road and
ran here for shelter from the hailstorm.”

“I’m not afraid of them, Dick,” said Tom.

“Neither am I, Tom, you know that.”

“Then what’s the use of keeping out of sight?
I’d rather go in there and give them a thrashing,
like the one we gave them on that island.”[172]

“Don’t forget we have the Dartaway here and
they might take pleasure in ruining the craft
or running off with her. Besides, I’d like to
watch them a bit and find out a little about their
plans. Remember, they want to play us some
dirty trick.”

“There they go!” burst out Sam, at that instant,
and motioned to the front of the cottage.
All looked in the direction he pointed out, to see
Koswell and Larkspur hurrying down a lane that
led to a road running between the trees.

“You come back here! That wasn’t fair!”
shouted the farm hand who had been playing
cards with them. “Come back!” And he rushed
to the front door of the cottage and waved his
arm wildly.

“It was fair!” shouted back Jerry Koswell.

“Sure it was fair!” added Bart Larkspur.
“We’d come back, only we are in a hurry.”

“You cheated me!” stormed the farm hand and
shook his fist at the pair. But they paid no further
attention, and soon the darkness and a bend
of the road hid them from view.

The Rover boys waited a few seconds and then
knocked on the back door of the cottage. The
farm hand, a fellow named Dan Murdock,
stamped over to the door and threw it open.[173]

“What do you want?” he asked surlily. The
loss of his money had made him ill-tempered.

“Why, hello, Murdock!” cried Sam. “I didn’t
know you lived here.”

“Oh, so it’s you, Rover,” answered the farm
hand. He remembered that he had once given
Sam a ride and had been well paid for it. “Caught
in the hailstorm?” he went on, a bit more pleasantly.

“Yes. These are my brothers,” added Sam.
“We were out and we got lost. Can you tell us
the best road to the college?”

“Of course. Walk through the woods back
there. Then take the road to the left and at the
cross roads turn to the right. You’ll see the
signs, so you can’t go wrong.”

“And how far is it?”

“About two miles. You can take the road
yonder, too, but that’s about a mile longer.”

“Do you live here?” asked Dick, curiously.

“I sleep here—me and two other hands. We
get our meals up to Mr. Dawson’s house—the man
we work for.”

“Oh, then this is the Dawson farm?” Dick
remembered that Mr. Dawson supplied butter
and eggs to the college.

“Yes, sir.”

“I’m glad to know that, for we need some help.[174]
We were out in our flying machine and had to
come down over there. We’ll want somebody to
look after the machine until we can fix it up and
take it away. Of course we’ll pay for what’s
done,” he added.

“Oh, I heard tell of that flying machine!”
exclaimed the farm hand. “You sailed over this
farm a couple of hours ago.”

He was much interested and wanted to know
all about the trip, and about the machine. He said
Mr. Dawson was away, but that the Dartaway
could be wheeled up into one of the big barns
and left there until repaired. Then he agreed to
get out a two-seated carriage and drive the boys
over to Brill. Inside of half an hour the biplane
was safely housed, and the whole party was on
the way to the college.

Dick had warned Sam and Tom to remain
silent concerning Koswell and Larkspur, and it
was not until they were almost to Brill that he
mentioned the fact that they had seen the pair
running away from the cottage.

“Seen ’em, did you?” cried Dan Murdock.
“Say, them fellers are swindlers, they are! They
came in to git out of the hail and then they
started to play cards, just to while away the time,
so they said. They asked me to play, and as I
couldn’t work just then, I consented, and then[175]
they got me to put up some money,—just to make
it interestin’, they said. They let me win a little
at first, and then they got me to put up more and
more, and then they cheated me and wiped me
out!”

“And how much did they get from you?”
asked Dick.

“They got nearly all my savings—eighty dollars!”
answered Dan Murdock, grimly.

CHAPTER XVIII

TOM AND HIS FUN

“Got eighty dollars from you!” murmured
Dick. “That’s too bad!”

“It would be bad enough if I lost it fairly,” answered
the farm hand. “But I am sure they
swindled me.”

“Well, you ought not to gamble,” put in Sam,
who had listened to the talk with interest.

“I suppose that’s true,” mumbled Dan Murdock.
“But they said I might win a pile. Oh, I
was a big fool—I know it now, even if I didn’t
know it then. I wish I had stopped ’em from
leaving.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“They went so sudden like—after they had my
money. One of ’em took out his watch and said
they’d miss the train, and away they started before
you could say Jack Robinson! But there
ain’t no train this time o’ day.”

“It was a trick to get away,” said Tom.[177]

“Sure—I know that, now! Oh, if only I had
my hands on ’em. Say, they don’t belong at
Brill, do they?” went on the farm hand eagerly.

“No, although they used to go there,” answered
Dick.

“Then you saw ’em?”

“Yes, we saw them running away.”

“What are their names?” and when Dick had
mentioned them Dan Murdock shook his head
slowly.

“I’ve heard of ’em before,” he said. “They
used to hang around at the tavern. I was a big
fool, no two ways about it! I guess they’ll keep
out of my sight after this.”

“More than likely,” answered Dick.

When the boys arrived at the college they
found an anxious crowd looking for them and the
biplane. Songbird and Stanley and several others
rushed to the carriage to greet them.

“Were you wrecked?”

“Did you get a bad tumble?”

“Where did you come down?”

So the questions ran on and the boys had to
answer as best they could. Everybody seemed
to be glad to learn that they had escaped from the
fury of the sudden hailstorm—that is, everybody
but Dudd Flockley and his new crony, Andy
Yates.[178]

“Just like the Rovers’ luck,” muttered Flockley,
sourly. “They’d escape where everybody else
would be smashed up.”

“Oh, they’ll get a smash, if you give ’em time
enough,” answered Andy Yates, heartlessly. He
was a student who courted attention and it galled
him to see the Rovers the center of attraction.

As soon as Dick, Tom and Sam could get time
to do so, they sent a message to Hope Seminary,
informing the girls that they had gotten back to
Brill in safety. This relieved much anxiety, for
with the sudden coming of the wind and hail the
girls had feared that the youths might be killed.

After such a strenuous adventure, the Rover
boys were content to take it easy for some time.
They sent to the city for a man to come and repair
the Dartaway and then settled down to their
studies. Then, after the biplane had been repaired,
they went after the machine and brought it
back to Brill, and it was placed in the gymnasium
shed, with Abner Filbury to guard it, as before.

“Don’t you want to go up, Songbird?” asked
Tom, one afternoon, after college hours.

“I—er—I don’t think so,” answered the student-poet,
gravely.

“Rather make up verses about flying than fly,
eh?”

“I—er—I think so, Tom.”[179]

“What have you made up about airships, anything
really fine, Songbird?”

“Well, I’ve written a few little verses, Tom.
Would you like to hear them?”

“Sure!” cried the fun-loving Rover, and then
Songbird commenced to recite:

“I spread my wings on the balmy air,
And float and float I know not where.
I rise, I fall, I fall, I rise,
For I am monarch of the skies!”

“Bang up, Songbird! Couldn’t be better!”
cried Tom. “Give us another dip, like the small
boy said of the ice-cream.” And the would-be
poet continued:

“I rush along when skies are blue,
And when it hails I sail right through!
I feel——”

“Hold on, Songbird! You’ve got to change
that line. We didn’t sail right through when it
hailed—we came down just as quickly as we
could.”

“Oh, that’s only a figure of speech,” answered
the would-be poet loftily, and then he continued:

“I feel I can sail anywhere,
For I am monarch of the air!”

“Good for you!” put in Sam, who was pres[180]ent.
“For A, No. 1, first-grade poetry apply to
Songbird every time.”

“There are sixteen verses in all,” went on the
poet, eagerly. “The next one begins——”

“Sorry, there goes the supper bell!” interrupted
Tom. “Come on, we’ve got to eat, even if
we miss the finest poem in the universe.”

“I—er—I didn’t hear any bell,” answered
Songbird.

“You didn’t?” cried Tom, innocently. “Well!
well! Come on in and see anyway!” And he
dragged the would-be poet along and forced him
into a crowd of students. “Guess I was mistaken,”
he said soberly. “Too bad!” And off he,
ran, and Sam ran after him.

“Well, it wasn’t half bad,” said the youngest
Rover.

“That’s true, Sam,” returned Tom, and then
he added with a sudden broad grin: “But how
about an egg that was only half bad—would you
want to eat it? Some day Songbird may write
real poetry—but not yet.”

It was now ideal football weather and the football
elevens, the regular and the scrub, were out
daily for practice. Dick and Tom had been asked
to play but both had declined, for they wished to
pay attention to their studies, and the biplane took[181]
up all their spare time. Sam played a little on the
scrub, but soon gave it up.

During those days Dick was more serious than
usual, and neither Tom nor Sam bothered their
elder brother. They knew he was thinking of his
engagement to Dora, and also worrying over the
business affairs of their father and their Uncle
Randolph.

One day Tom and Sam took a short trip in the
biplane and persuaded Stanley to go with them,
and the next day they took out Spud. But nobody
else of their chums cared to go.

“A new arrival to-morrow!” cried Sam, one
evening. “Just from a trip to Paris, too.”

“Is it William Philander Tubbs?” queried Tom,
looking up from the theme he was writing.

“You’ve struck it, Tom. Since you wrote to
him about the socks he has been over to Paris.
But he gets back to the grind to-morrow—comes
in on the four-thirty train.”

“Say, let us get up a reception in William’s
honor!” cried the fun-loving Rover; and as soon
as the theme was finished he began to arrange his
plans.

The next afternoon the Rovers and a crowd
of their chums took one of the college carryalls
and drove over to Ashton station to witness the
sport. Tom had been to town early in the morn[182]ing
and had arranged matters with eight colored
waiters from the hotel, and also with a local
liveryman.

As the train came in the boys and a number of
others were on the watch for Tubbs. As soon as
they saw the dudish student alight, dress-suit case
in hand, the Rovers rushed up to him.

“How are you, Sir William!” cried Dick, taking
the dude’s hand gravely.

“Let me congratulate you, Lord Tubbs!” cried
Sam, bowing low.

“Your Highness will find his carriage this
way,” put in Tom, taking the dress-suit case and
flinging it to one of the colored men.

“Why—er—weally, don’t you know, what does—er—this
mean?” stammered poor William Philander,
gazing around in astonishment.

And well might he be astonished, for there,
before him, in a wide-open double row, stood the
eight colored men, all dressed in black, with broad
red sashes over their breasts and cockades of red
paper in their hats. On the platform between
the colored men was a bright red stair carpet, and
this carpet led directly to where a carriage was in
waiting. The carriage had four white horses, all
decorated in red ribbons, and on the seat sat a
driver, also decorated in red.

“Such an honor to have your Lordship conde[183]scend
to come to Brill,” went on Tom, with a low
bow.

“What did the Queen say when she decorated
you?” asked Dick.

“It was a grand thing for the King to honor
you so highly,” put in Sam.

“I certainly envy you,” came from Songbird,
who was in the secret.

“Hope there is a good salary attached to the
office,” was Stanley’s comment.

“I’ve heard it vas fife thousand pounds by the
year!” vouchsafed Max.

“How the girls will fall in love with you when
they hear of this,” sighed Spud.

“This way, your Excellency!” cried Tom, and
led poor, bewildered Tubbs to the carriage.

“Thomas, my dear fellow, what—er—what
does it mean?” gasped the dudish student, his
eyes opening wider and wider.

“Oh, you can’t fool us, Tubblets,” whispered
the fun-loving Rover. “You were going to keep
it a secret, but we read all about it in the London
paper one of the fellows sent over.”

“Read about—ah—what, please?”

“Why, how the king and queen knighted you,
and all that, Philliam Whilander.”

“William Philander, please, Thomas. But—er—this
is a mistake——”[184]

“No, no, Tubby, my boy, no mistake at all, I
assure you. This is in your honor solely. The
college faculty did it—they couldn’t do less, to
one so decorated, or knighted,—which is it,
please? It’s the grandest thing that ever happened
to Brill.”

“But don’t you know, I—er—I haven’t been—er—knighted,
or anything else. I wasn’t in England,
I went to Paris, and——”

“Now, now, my dear boy, don’t try that game,”
said Tom, reproachfully. “We all know perfectly
well that you were knighted and that you are now
Sir Tubbs, P. X. C., and all that. We salute
you!” And then Tom took off his hat. “Three
cheers for Sir Tubbs!” he called loudly.

The cheers were given with a will, and a tiger
added. Poor Tubbs was almost stricken dumb,
and commenced to mop the perspiration from his
forehead.

“Don’t crowd so close!” cried Tom, warningly.
“His Lordship must have air! He isn’t used
to so much excitement! Stand back! Now then,
into the carriage, if you please!” And into the
turnout went poor Tubbs, and the next instant
his hat was snatched from his head and a tall,
white beaver was placed in its stead. Then several
medals of tin and brass were pinned to his coat,
and the crowd set up a riotous cheering.[185]

“Hurrah for Sir Tubbs!”

“My, what an honor for Brill!”

“Nothing like having a real nobleman for a
student!”

“Away we go! Pile in, boys!” cried Tom, and
then there was a crack of a whip, and off the
strange turnout started, with poor Tubbs on the
seat looking more bewildered than ever, and followed
by the great carryall with the yelling and
singing students who had come to greet him.

CHAPTER XIX

STARTLING NEWS FROM HOME

“Here the conquering hero comes!”

“Say, but he looks like a real Lord, doesn’t he?”

“Don’t forget to bow to all the people you pass,
Sir Tubbs!”

So the cries rang on, as the carriage and the
carryall rolled away from the Ashton depot.

“Say, look here, what does this mean?” stammered
the dudish student. “I tell you I’m no lord,
or knight, or anything like that! I was over to
Paris, not London, don’t you know. Weally,
this is—er—very embarrassing!” he pleaded,
wildly.

“Stand up and make a speech, when you get
to the campus, Willie boy!” sang out Tom. “Give
’em something grand on high finance, or railroad
building, or cooking beans, or something like
that.”

“Why, Tom, weally, don’t you know, I know
nothing of—er—railroads, or—er—beans. Please[187]
stop the carriage, I wish to get out. This is—er—awful,
don’t you know!” fairly panted the dude.
He had stood up, but now the carriage gave a jolt
and down he sat very suddenly.

On through the town and straight for the college
drove the two turnouts, the students yelling
themselves hoarse. Many at Brill had been let
into the secret, and when the grounds were
reached a big crowd was congregated, to take
part in the sport.

“Here they are!”

“Hurrah for Lord Tubbs!”

“How are you, Duke William Philander!”

“Do you wear the order of the Red Garter?”

“No, it’s the Blue Suspender he was decorated
with.”

“Speech! speech!” came the cry from every
side.

Then the carriage came to a halt and was immediately
surrounded by a howling mob. A few
had flowers that they threw at William Philander,
while others had supplied themselves with stalks
of celery, carrot and beet tops, and similar things,
which they sent forward with force and directness.

“Here’s a bouquet for you!”

“My kindest regards, Tubbs!”

“Oh, isn’t it grand to be a real, live Emperor!”[188]

“Hi, let up, will you!” fairly shrieked poor
Tubbs, as the things hit him in the head and shoulders,
“Let up, I tell you! Oh, what a joke! Let
me get out of the carriage! I can’t make a speech!
Stop throwing at me! Oh, my eye!” he added,
as a beet top caught him in the left optic. Then,
watching his chance, he leaped from the carriage,
dove like a madman through the crowd, and
rushed for one of the dormitories, quickly disappearing
from view.

“Good bye, my boy, good bye!” sang out several.
And then Tom sent the dress-suit case after
him; and the fun came to an end.

“Poor William Philander, he won’t forget that
in a hurry!” was Dick’s comment. “Just the
same, I am afraid the sport got a little too rough
at the end.”

“Maybe it did,” answered Tom. “If you want
it, I’ll speak to Tubbs and apologize.”

“I see that apology in a gold frame right now!”
declared Sam, with a laugh. “Tom, let him alone
and he’ll be all right.”

All of the boys wondered how Tubbs would act
when he showed himself. Much to their amazement
he called Tom to one side that evening and
shook hands cordially.

“It was all a mistake—this report that I had—er—been
knighted, don’t you know,” he lisped.[189]
“But it was very nice to get up such a reception in
my honor, Thomas, really it was—although it got
a bit rough towards the end. But I know it was
meant well, and I thank you, honestly I do.” And
the dudish student shook Tom’s hand again.

And then, for once in his life, Tom Rover didn’t
know what to say. As he afterwards admitted,
he was completely “stumped.” Poor, innocent
Tubbs had really thought it an honor! To Tom
that was “the limit.”

“I’ll never really know that chap,” he said to
his brothers. “His head must be filled with sawdust
and punk.”

“Well, let him drop now,” advised Dick. “Quit
your fooling, Tom, and get at your studies. You
know what I told you. We may have to leave
Brill before we anticipated. And we want to get
all the learning we can.”

“Have you heard anything more from dad?”
demanded the fun-loving Rover quickly.

“Yes, a letter came this evening. That business
affair is in a worse twist than ever. But dad hopes
he can straighten it out. But he writes that he
isn’t feeling as well as he was. If he gets sick,
we’ll have to jump in—or at least I will—and
take his place.”

“We’ll all jump in,” was Sam’s comment. “I’d
like to do something in a business way.”[190]

“Did dad give any particulars?” asked Tom.

“None but what we already know. He felt
too ill to write much.”

“Has he heard anything more of Crabtree or
Sobber?”

“Nothing.”

During the following week there was some excitement
at Brill because of a football game between
that college and another institution of
learning. It was a gala occasion, and the Rover
boys hired a three-seated carriage and brought
Dora, Nellie and Grace to the game. Brill won
the contest, and a great jubilee lasting far into
the night followed. The Rovers and the three
girls had a little feast of their own at the Ashton
hotel, and on the way back to Hope the young
people sang songs, and had a good time generally.
Perhaps some very sentimental things were said—especially
between Dick and Dora—but if so, who
can blame them? The placing of that engagement
ring on Dora’s finger by Dick had made
them both exceedingly happy.

During those days the boys took several short
trips in the Dartaway, once landing in the field
on the Dawson farm. They sought out Dan Murdock
and asked him if he had seen anything more
of Koswell and Larkspur.

“Yes, I see ’em last week, but they got out of[191]
sight in the woods, and I couldn’t find ’em,” answered
the farm hand.

“Around here?” asked Dick.

“No, that was on the edge of the big woods
back of Hope Seminary. I was driving along,
with some crates of eggs for the girls’ college,
when I see ’em, sitting on a fallen tree, smoking
cigarettes. I stopped my hosses and spoke to ’em,
and then they up and run into the woods as fast
as they could go! I looked for ’em, but I couldn’t
git on their track nohow.”

“What can they be doing up around Hope?”
murmured Sam.

“Maybe they are sweet on some of the girls,”
returned Tom. “I know they used to go up there,
when they attended Brill.”

“I hope, if they visit Hope, they don’t speak to
Dora and the others,” said Dick, as his face
clouded.

“Maybe we better warn the girls,” said Sam.

“No, don’t do that,” said Tom. “You’d only
scare them. They know Koswell and Larkspur
well enough. Don’t say anything.” And so the
matter was dropped.

Two days later came a special delivery letter
from home that filled the three boys with intense
interest.[192]

“Of all the cowardly things!” cried Tom, after
listening to the above. “Why, it’s a regular sort
of Black Hand communication!”

“So it is,” added Sam. “What else does dad
say,” he went on, and Dick continued the reading
of the letter:

“Just listen to that!” gasped Tom. “Oh, the
rascals!”

“And Uncle Randolph’s prize stock chickens!”
murmured Sam. “That must have made his heart
ache!”

“I’ll wager Aunt Martha was scared to death,”
added Tom. And Dick read on:

“Does he say how he is feeling?” questioned[194]
Sam, as his brother paused in the reading of the
letter.

“Yes, he says he is about the same, but that
Uncle Randolph is very much upset over the loss
of his chickens and wants to know if they hadn’t
better pay the money demanded.”

“Oh, I hope they don’t pay a cent!” cried Tom.

“So do I,” added Sam. “But I don’t want to
see them blown up either,” he continued, seriously.

“None of us want that,” said Dick. “But I’d
not give them a cent—I’d be blown up a dozen
times before I’d do it!” he continued, firmly.

“Do they want us home?” asked Tom.

“No, dad says it will do no good for us to come
home. He says he will write or telegraph if anything
new develops. He thinks, with the extra
watchmen on guard, and the detectives at work,
Crabtree and Sobber will get scared and leave
them alone.”

“I hope they do,” said Sam. He heaved a deep
sigh. “Gracious! it seems to me that no sooner
are we out of one trouble than we get into another!”

“That is true.”

“It’s too bad—to have this piled on poor dad
when he’s so worried about that business affair.”

“Well, you know the old saying, ‘troubles never
come singly,'” answered the older brother.[195]

After that the three boys watched the mails
anxiously for over a week. Then came another
letter from their father, in which he stated that
nothing new had developed. Then came another
wait—until the day after that set by Crabtree and
Sobber for the delivery of the fifty thousand dollars,—when
Dick got a telegram, as follows:

“Well, that’s some comfort,” was Tom’s comment.
“I hope they have gone away, and that we
never see or hear of them again.”

“Don’t comfort yourself that way, Tom,” answered
Dick. “They are bound to show their
hand again, sooner or later. We won’t be safe
from them until they are in jail.”

CHAPTER XX

GRACE’S REVELATION

One clear afternoon the three Rover boys decided
to take a run up to Hope Seminary in the
Dartaway. There was very little wind and, although
it was growing colder, they knew they
could easily bundle up in their aviation coats and
boots. Sam and Tom had been trying out the biplane,
and they pronounced everything in perfect
order for a flight.

“Dick, let me run the machine over,” said Sam,
and the big brother agreed, for Tom had been at
the wheel on a previous occasion.

The boys had no classes to attend after lunch
and so got away by two o’clock.

“I trust we can see the girls,” said Dick, as they
started up the engine of the flying machine.

“Oh, they’ll be at liberty after hours,” answered
Tom. “They always are.”

Previous to leaving, the boys had filled the oil[197]
feed and the gasoline tank, so they were prepared
for quite a trip.

“Maybe we can get the girls to go up, for just
a little sail, you know,” said Sam. “I am sure
the Dartaway could carry them, on a pinch.”

“Where would they sit, in our laps?” asked
Tom, with a grin.

“No, they could sit in the seats and we could
sit back of them, like on a bob-sled,” answered the
youngest Rover.

“I don’t think they’ll care to go up,” answered
Dick. “They’d be too scared. As yet, flying machines
are hardly built for ladies. But I think
the time will come when they will use them.”

As they were in no hurry, the boys took their
time in sailing over the farms and country roads.
They did not go up very high, and often saw
farmers and others staring at them, shouting
things they could not catch.

“By and by flying machines will be as common
as autos,” remarked Dick. “But now the sight
of one is a great curiosity to these folks.”

Sam handled the machine like a veteran and
even showed what he could do by making a small
figure eight and a spiral dip.

“I wish we had a little monoplane, just for
one,” he said. “My! couldn’t a fellow scoot
around then!”[198]

“Sam’s got the flying bee all right!” cried Tom.

“Well, wouldn’t you like it yourself?” demanded
the youngest Rover.

“I’d rather have a big airship. Then I could
give all my friends a ride—have a regular airship
party.”

“Well, I’d like that too,” was Sam’s reply.

Presently they came in sight of the seminary
buildings. They circled around for some time
and then landed at the far end of the campus.
A few girls were in sight, but not those they had
come to visit.

“Good afternoon,” said Dick, to a girl he had
met, named Ida Strong. “Can you tell me where
I can find Miss Stanhope, or the Misses Laning?”

“The three of them went for a walk, about half
an hour ago,” replied Ida Strong.

“Do you know where they went?”

“I do not, excepting that they took the road
to Beechwood,” and the girl student pointed out
the highway mentioned, one that ran through the
big woods back of the seminary. It led to the
village of Beechwood, which was several miles beyond.

“Thank you,” returned Dick. “If we shouldn’t
meet them, will you tell them we called, in our
biplane?”

“I will,” said the girl.[199]

Dick was about to rejoin his brothers, and suggest
that they go up and fly along over the woods
road, when another girl, named Bess Haven, came
running up.

“Oh, Mr. Rover, isn’t this queer!” she cried.
“I thought you were hurt!”

“Hurt?” repeated Dick, puzzled. “How so?”

“Why Dora Stanhope said you were—that you
had had a fall out of the flying machine.”

“That I fell out of the machine?” cried Dick.
“There is some mistake here. I have had no fall.
When did she tell you that?”

“About half an hour ago. She got some sort
of a message, and she was terribly upset. She
went off to visit you.”

“Where to?”

“I don’t know. But wait—yes, she did say you
had had a fall in the woods.”

“Did she go alone?” And now Dick’s heart
began to thump strangely. He was thinking of
their many enemies. Was this some new trick?

“No, Nellie and Grace Laning, her cousins,
went with her.”

Dick turned to Ida Strong.

“You saw them go?”

“Yes, just as I told you. Oh, Mr. Rover, is
anything wrong?”

“I don’t know—I hope not. But I think we[200]
had better go after them at once. Good day.”
And Dick fairly ran back to where Tom and Sam
rested near the biplane.

“Start her up, quick!” he said to his brothers,
in a low voice. “Something is wrong! We’ve
got to get after the girls right away!”

“What is it?” demanded Tom, leaping to his
feet, while Sam did the same.

“I’ll tell you when we are on the way. Quick,
start the propellers! I’ll take the wheel,” and
Dick sprang into the seat.

In another moment the engine had been started,
and with a rush and a whizz the Dartaway left
the campus. Dick made a turn, then headed in the
direction of the road through the woods. He flew
low and rather slowly.

“Keep your eyes open,” he cautioned, “for any
sight of the girls—or any sight of our enemies.”
And then he related as much as he knew of what
had occurred.

“Do you think somebody sent that message to
decoy Dora away from the seminary, Dick?”
asked Sam.

“Doesn’t it look that way? Why should anybody
send word that I was hurt, when I wasn’t?”

“I think you are right!” declared Tom. “I
think I can see through it,” he went on quickly.
“They found out they couldn’t dynamite dad or[201]
Uncle Randolph into giving up that money, and
they couldn’t get at Mrs. Stanhope or Mrs. Laning
to get it, so now they are going to see what
they can do through Dora—and maybe Nellie and
Grace.”

“That’s exactly the way I figure it!” exclaimed
Dick. “And the sooner we reach the girls the
better! For all we know, it may even now be too
late!”

“Oh, let us hope not!” cried Sam.

“Did they go on foot?” asked Tom.

“Yes.”

“Were they to meet anybody?”

“I don’t know. Miss Haven said they went off
in a great hurry—which was natural, if they
thought I had tumbled out of the biplane and
been hurt. I suppose poor Dora was scared half
to death,” and Dick heaved a long sigh.

As the flying machine swept along over the
woods and the roadway the three youths kept
their eyes on the alert for a sight of the girls.
For a long time they saw nothing out of the ordinary.
Then Sam uttered a cry:

“See! see! There is Grace! She is waving
her handkerchief at us!”

All looked in the direction indicated, and at
a spot along the road where there was quite a
cleared space they saw Grace Laning standing on[202]
a flat rock, waving frantically at them. They
had to make a circle, and then, with care, Dick
brought the biplane down into the roadway.

“What is it, Grace?” yelled Sam, as he leaped
from his seat. “Where are the others?”

“Oh, Sam!” moaned the girl, and then they
saw that her hair was awry and her shoes were
covered with dust. “Oh, save them! Go after
them at once!” And then she staggered forward
and fainted in Sam’s arms.

The three Rovers were greatly alarmed and
for the moment did not know what to do. Then
Dick rushed to the side of the roadway, where
some water trickled along in a hollow, and brought
some, using a collapsible cup they carried when on
a trip. With this they bathed Grace’s face and
they forced a little water into her mouth, and
soon she opened her eyes and stared around her.

“Go away! Go away! Don’t touch me!” she
gasped.

“Hush, Grace, you are safe,” answered Sam,
gently.

“Oh, Sam! I forgot!” She struggled to her
feet, he still supporting her. “Did—did you find
them? Did you bring them back?” she asked
wildly.

“You mean Dora and Nellie?” asked Dick and
Tom, in a breath.[203]

“Yes! yes!”

“We don’t know where they are. Tell us about
it,” went on Dick.

“Oh, it’s terrible!” cried Grace, and now the
tears began to course down her cheeks. “We got a
note—at least Dora did—stating you had had a
fall from the biplane and were hurt. The note
was signed ‘Tom,’ and we of course thought Tom
had sent it. It said to keep the matter quiet but
to come without delay—down this road to the old
white cottage. So the three of us started off as
soon as we could. Dora was so afraid it was serious
she ran nearly all the way, and Nellie and I
ran, too. We had thought you were at the cottage,
but when we got there we didn’t see anybody.
While we hunted around a big touring car,
one of the kind with a closed coach top, dashed
up. There was a man running the car and another
man inside, a fellow who looked like a doctor.
The driver asked if we were the girls who
had come to see Dick Rover, the aviator, and we
said yes. Then he said the car had been sent for
us and for the doctor, and for us to get in and
he would take us to Dick Rover at once. We got
in, and then, before we knew it, the touring car
was rushing along the road at a great rate of
speed. We asked the doctor about you, Dick, but
he said he hadn’t seen you yet. Then we asked[204]
the driver, but he acted so queer we began to get
suspicious. Then, oh, wasn’t it strange? Nellie
saw a card on the floor of the car, and picked it
up, and it was Josiah Crabtree’s visiting card!
She showed it to Dora and I, and Dora screamed,
and wanted to leap out of the car. But the doctor—if
he was a doctor—held her, and held Nellie,
too. But I was too much for him. I don’t
know how I did it, but, just as we were rounding
a curve rather slowly, I flung myself out of the
door, and I landed in some bushes. I got
scratched a little, as you can see, but I wasn’t hurt,
and I started to run back to the seminary and was
doing that when I saw your flying machine. You
know the rest.” And now Grace stopped, too exhausted
to say another word.

“And the touring car went on?” queried Dick.

“Yes! yes! I saw the man shut the door, too.
Oh, Dick, they have carried poor Nellie and Dora
off, just as they carried Dora’s mother off!”

“They kept to this road?”

“I believe so. I don’t know of any cross road
this side of Beechwood.”

“Then we’ll get after them at once!” declared
Dick. “Sam, do you want to take Grace back, or
come with us?”

“Well—I—er——”

“Go with them, Sam—they may need you!”[205]
broke in the girl quickly. “I can go back alone,
and I’ll send word to the authorities, over the
telephone. Hurry! hurry, or it will be too late!”

The boys needed no further urging. Dick and
Tom ran for the flying machine, and soon the explosions
of the motor filled the crisp autumn air.
Then all the boys leaped on board. Dick was at
the wheel, and he sent the Dartaway along at a
good rate of speed. Sam looked back, to see
Grace hurrying in the direction of Hope Seminary.

“I hope she gets back safely,” he said anxiously.

“I think she will,” answered Tom. “Those
rascals are all further along the road—waiting
for Nellie and Dora.”

“Keep your eyes open,” put in Dick. “Don’t
let anything escape you. We must spot that auto
without fail!”

CHAPTER XXI

FOLLOWING DORA AND NELLIE

The nerves of the Rover boys were on edge.
Dick and Tom were particularly anxious, for
those who had been thus rudely carried off were
very dear to them.

“I wonder who that so-called doctor was?”
mused Sam, as the Dartaway sailed along, keeping
over the road as well as the windings through
the dense woods permitted.

“Most likely some tool of Crabtree or Sobber,
or both,” answered Tom.

“Do you think Koswell and Larkspur are in
this game?”

“Perhaps they are!” cried Dick. “It would be
just like them to join forces with Crabtree and
Sobber. They are down and out, and need money,
and all of them would expect to get a big stake
out of this.”

“Then you think they carried the girls off for
money?” questioned Tom.[207]

“I do, Tom. You hit the truth when you said
they found out they couldn’t do anything at the
farm, and couldn’t reach Mrs. Stanhope and Mrs.
Laning. The only things left were to try to reach
us or the girls.”

“And they didn’t dare tackle us,” put in Sam.

“Do you suppose that Mrs. Sobber is in this?”
continued Tom, referring to a relative of Tad
Sobber, who had assisted once in the carrying off
of Mrs. Stanhope.

“She may be, although she was pretty well
scared that other time,” replied his older brother.

The boys relapsed into silence, each busy with
his own thoughts. All were anxious to catch a
glimpse of the enclosed touring car. But they
came within sight of the village of Beechwood
without encountering a turnout of any sort.

“I’ll land here and make some inquiries,” said
Dick.

“Yes, if the auto went through here somebody
must have seen it,” said Tom.

A landing was made directly on the village
green, in front of the post-office, and a small
crowd quickly collected.

“It’s them young fellers from Brill!” cried one
of the villagers. “I heard tell they had an airship.”

“That ain’t no airship, it’s an aryplane,” said[208]
another. “They don’t lift up like no balloon—they
sail like a bird, on them canvas wings.”

“Wot makes the thing go, Job?”

“Them wooden things. They go ’round like
windmills.”

“Say, we want some information and we want
it quick!” cried Dick. “Have any of you seen a
big auto go through here, an enclosed auto—one
with a coach-like body?”

“Sure we did!” cried one of the villagers. “By
heck! the thing nearly killed Si Levering, it did!
Si was crossin’ the road, when whizz! bang! shoo!
that auto went past him like a streak o’ greased
lightnin’! Si jumped back an’ sit hisself down in
the waterin’ trough an’ got hisself all wet.”

“Which way did the auto go?” went on Dick.

“Right straight ahead.”

“No, it didn’t nuther,” put in a farmer, who
had just arrived in the village. “It took the road
to Shepleytown—I see it.”

“Which is that?” questioned Tom.

“You go up this road about a mile an’ then take
the cross road to the left. You can’t miss it, ’cause
there’s a big tree on the corner that was struck by
lightnin’.”

“All right, we’ll go to the corner that was
struck by lightning,” said Tom, who could not
help joking, even in that moment of anxiety.[209]

“I didn’t say the corner was struck—it was the
tree,” explained the farmer soberly.

“All right, much obliged,” answered Tom; and
then the three boys started up the engine once
more. The villagers had crowded around, but as
those explosions rent the air several leaped back,
and then the whole crowd ran for their lives.

“She’s goin’ up!” one yelled.

“Is the engine goin’ to bust?” asked another.

“Look out, Jim, or she’ll mow ye down like a
mowin’ machine!”

“Clear the track!” cried Sam, and then, with
the usual rush and roar, the Dartaway leaped over
the village green and arose in the air, leaving the
gaping and wondering crowd behind.

It was an easy run up to the blasted tree, and
sighting this, Dick headed the biplane along the
road that led to Shepleytown.

“How far is that place?” asked Sam.

“I think it is about six or seven miles,” answered
Tom. “I was there once, on a bicycle—went
after nuts with Stanley and Songbird.”

“What, to the town?” questioned Sam, with a
grin.

“No, the woods back of the town, Sam. Say,
that’s one on me,—as bad as that countryman’s
struck-by-lightning corner,” and Tom grinned,
too.[210]

On and on swept the flying machine, the boys
watching every rod of the winding road below.
Once Tom gave a cry, as they saw a turnout at a
distance. But it proved to be nothing but a tinware
peddler’s wagon. On the ground lay various
pieces of tinware, scattering over a distance of
fifty feet.

“Look at that!” cried Sam. “He must have
had an accident.”

“Say, maybe that auto struck his wagon,” exclaimed
Tom.

“It looks that way,” was Dick’s comment.

“Shall we land and question him?”

“What’s the use? We know the machine came
this way. That’s enough for the present. We
don’t want to lose a minute more than is necessary.”

“Say, we were chumps that we didn’t telephone
ahead from Beechwood!” cried Sam. “We might
have had that auto stopped when it went through
Shepleytown.”

“It couldn’t be done, for there is no line from
Beechwood to Shepleytown,” answered Dick.
“The line only runs the other way.”

The route was now over a dense woods and the
boys had to sail slowly, for fear of passing the
automobile while the latter was running under the
overhanging trees. Once they saw something that[211]
looked like an automobile and Dick had to sail in
a circle and come back, to make sure. But it
proved to be only a two-seated carriage; and they
passed on.

Shepleytown proved to be quite a place, with a
main street containing a dozen stores. It connected
by stage with Chaplet, which was a railroad
center, five miles away.

The coming of the boys created as much of a
sensation as had their arrival at Beechwood, and
once more the biplane was surrounded.

“Sure, I saw that ‘mobile you are after,” said
one man, in answer to their questions. “It was
running putty lively an’ no mistake. It went past
the mill an’ took the old Snagtown road. Queer,
too, ’cause that road ain’t half as good as the
Chaplet turnpike.”

“Did you see who was in the auto?” queried
Dick.

“I think a couple o’ men an’ some girls. I
couldn’t see very well, the machine run so fast.
I had to hold my hoss, for I was afraid they’d run
into me.”

Several others had also seen the big enclosed
touring car and all were sure it had taken to the
old Snagtown road.

“Where does that road run to?” asked Dick.

“Goes over the hills to what used to be Snag[212]town,”
answered one of the men. “But there
ain’t no town now, since the mills closed down—only
empty houses.”

“Just the place they’d be likely to head for!”
cried Tom, in a low voice to his brothers. “Come
on, hurry up!”

Sam and Dick needed no urging, and having
thanked the men for their information they started
up the engine once more.

“How far is it to that deserted village?” called
out Tom, as the Dartaway was about to move
off.

“Six miles!” shouted one of the crowd. “That
is, by the road. The way you’re going it ain’t
more’n four!” And this answer made the crowd
laugh.

“Four miles,” murmured Dick. “We ought to
be able to head them off.”

“I wish we were armed,” came from Tom.
“We may have some desperate characters to deal
with.”

“We might go back and get pistols,” suggested
Sam.

Dick thought for a moment. He knew well
how desperate their enemies might become. He
hated to lose the time but he realized it would be
worse than useless to face a gang of four or more
empty-handed. There was no telling what Sobber,[213]
Crabtree and the others might do if cornered.

“I guess we’d better go back and arm ourselves,”
he said. “It will create talk, but that
can’t be helped.”

“It will create talk anyway, as soon as it is
known that Dora and Nellie have been carried
off,” answered Tom.

“What do you care for the talk!” cried Sam.
“What we want to do is to save the girls—and
put those rascals where they belong, in jail!”

Then the biplane was turned back in a circle
and soon the boys were back in Shepleytown,
much to the astonishment of those who had but a
few moments before seen them leave.

CHAPTER XXII

OVER THE BIG WOODS

“Is there a hardware store handy?” asked
Dick, of the first man who came up. He had told
his brothers to let him do the talking.

“Sure—Bill Simmons’s place, just down the
street,” answered the man, pointing with his
finger.

“Thank you. Tom, bring that five-gallon gasoline
can with you. Sam, you mind the machine,”
went on Dick, loudly.

“All right,” answered the brothers, and Tom
got the can in question, and he and Dick started
for the store.

“Humph! got to have gasoline to run ’em, eh?”
said one of the men, to Sam.

“Yes, indeed,” answered the youngest Rover.

“Well, Bill Simmons can give ye all ye want,
pervidin’ ye pay for it,” chuckled the man. “He
keeps gasoline fer auto fellers an’ fer farmers as
has gasoline engines.”[215]

Dick and Tom hurried to the hardware store
and asked the proprietor about gasoline. While he
was filling the can they looked at an assortment of
pistols that were exhibited in a showcase.

“They look pretty good,” said Dick, when the
hardware man came towards them.

“Are good, too. Wouldn’t you like to buy a
good shooter?” he added, anxious to do business.

“Show me a really good five-shooter,” said
Dick, and several were quickly handed over. He
selected one and Tom selected another.

“Have to get one for Sam, too,” whispered
Tom.

“Sure,” replied his brother, and this was done,
and they also purchased the necessary cartridges.

“Now you are well armed—if anybody tries to
steal your airship,” said Bill Simmons.

“We don’t want the machine stolen, or tampered
with,” answered Dick. “We can’t afford
to take chances. If a fellow tampered with our
machine it might go wrong when it was in the air
and we’d get our necks broken.” And then Dick
and Tom hurried back to the Dartaway carrying
the can of gasoline between them. The can was
fastened where it belonged,—for the regular tank
had still plenty of gasoline in it,—and then the
boys sailed away once more, over the winding
road leading to Snagtown.[216]

“That’s a dandy revolver!” exclaimed Sam, on
receiving one of the weapons, with some cartridges.
“And loaded, too! Now I guess we are
ready for those rascals!” he added, with satisfaction.

“Remember, we are not to use any firearms unless
it becomes absolutely necessary,” said Dick,
firmly.

“Yes, but I am not going to give them a chance
to down me and get away with Nellie!” cried
Tom, stoutly.

“Oh, no, Tom! We’ll not allow that!” returned
his big brother, with equal firmness.

“It seems to be getting a bit cloudy,” said Sam,
a minute later. “Wonder if it will rain?”

“I don’t think that is rain, Sam,” answered
Dick. “It’s worse than that, for us.”

“You mean wind?”

“Yes.”

Dick was right, and presently the first puff of
the coming breeze hit the Dartaway and sent the
aircraft up on a slant. Dick promptly moved the
tips and one of the rudders, and the flying machine
came along on a level. But from then on
the oldest Rover boy had all he could do to keep
to the course, for the breeze became stronger and
stronger.

“It’s too bad!” murmured Tom, as he clung to[217]
his seat. “Hang the luck! Why couldn’t that
wind have kept off for an hour longer!”

“You fellows keep your eyes on the road!”
sang out Dick. “I’ve got to give all my attention
to the biplane!”

“All right,” was the answer of the others.

After that but little was said, for Dick had to
watch every movement of the Dartaway with
care, and his hands and feet were constantly on
the alert, to make whatever shift seemed necessary.
Sam and Tom strained their eyes to catch
sight of the enclosed touring car, which, they had
learned, was painted a dark blue.

The wind kept growing stronger and stronger,
coming in fitful gusts that were particularly bad
for such a flying machine as the boys possessed.
Once came a gust that sent them spinning far out
of their course.

“Phew! this is getting pretty wild!” gasped
Sam. “Dick, can you manage her?”

“Not if it gets any worse,” was the grim answer.

“Don’t take too much of a chance,” put in Tom.
“We don’t want to get wrecked in this wilderness.”

His reference to a wilderness was not without
reason, for below them stretched a series of hills[218]
and valleys covered with stunted trees and clumps
of brushwood. Not a house was in sight.

“This is what you’d call Lonesomehurst,” murmured
Sam.

“Do you see any place where we can land?”
was Dick’s question, a little later, after he had
battled with another angry gust and then run
through a particularly trying “soft spot.”

“Nothing around here,” answered Tom.

“I see something of a clearing over to the left,”
came from Sam. “I don’t know what it amounts
to though, it’s too far off.”

“We’ll look at it,” said Dick, in a low voice.

He had to fairly battle his way along, so fierce
were the gusts of wind. He made something of
an oval, and presently found himself over a spot
covered with grass and low bushes. Then came
another gust of wind and without waiting longer
he shut off the engine, and the Dartaway came
down with a bump that threatened to break the
wheels on which it rested. They swept through
the bushes, and then tilted up beside several small
trees.

“Hold her down!” shouted Dick. “Tie her fast,
before the wind turns her over!”

All set to work, and, not without great difficulty,
they managed to run the biplane directly
between several trees and some clumps of bushes.[219]

“Fasten every rope well,” sang out Dick. “Unless
I miss my guess, this is going to be a corker
of a blow!”

“I don’t think it will be as bad as it was during
that hailstorm,” answered Tom. “But it is bad
enough.”

The ropes were all well secured, and then the
boys breathed easier. Down on the ground the
wind did not appear to be so powerful, and they
felt that, unless it increased greatly, the Dartaway
way would be safe in her berth among the trees
and bushes.

“Well, what’s the next move?” questioned Sam,
after they had rested for a moment from their
labors.

“I hardly know what to say,” answered his
eldest brother. “We can hardly follow that auto
on foot.”

“The worst of it is, it will be growing dark
before long,” put in Tom. “What are we going
to do then? I thought we’d catch up to that auto
long before this.”

They talked the matter over, but could arrive
at no satisfactory conclusion.

“I’m almost sorry we came down,” said Dick.
“We might have gotten through—although the
wind is worse than it was.”

“No, we couldn’t do anything in this wind,[220]—we’d
simply wreck the Dartaway,” said Sam.
“But come on, let’s go as far as we can. We can
come back for the biplane any time.”

While under such a strain of mind, the boys
could not remain quiet, and so they set off through
the woods in the direction of the road. It was
hard walking, and several times they had to literally
force their way through the brushwood. Then
they came to a swamp and had to make a detour,
for fear of getting stuck in the mud. When they
at last reached the road they were well-nigh exhausted.

“I’ll have to rest just a minute!” panted Sam.
“Say, that was something fierce, wasn’t it?” And
he sank on a rock.

“Listen! I think I hear somebody coming!”
cried Dick.

All strained their ears, and presently made out
the sounds of a farm wagon moving slowly over
the rocky roadway that was hidden by the trees.
Then the turnout came into view, loaded with
freshly-cut cord wood, and drawn by a pair of
bony, white horses. On the seat of the wagon
sat an aged colored man, talking volubly to his
team.

“Hello there, uncle!” cried Dick, as the wagon
came closer. “Stop a minute, I want to talk to
you.”[221]

“What you-all wants?” demanded the colored
man nervously, for the spot was a particularly
lonely one.

“Did you come from the direction of Snagtown?”
went on Dick.

“Dat’s wot I did, sah.”

“Did you see anything of a big automobile going
that way, one with a coach top?”

At this question the aged colored man blinked
his eyes and shifted uneasily. He glanced back,
over his load of wood.

“I—I ain’t got nuffin to say, boss, I ain’t got
nuffin to say!” he answered finally, and prepared
to drive on.

“Oh, yes, you have got something to say—and
you are going to say it!” cried Dick, and he ran
forward, in front of the horses, and caught hold
of one by the bit.

CHAPTER XXIII

AT CLOSE QUARTERS

“Say, you dun let my hosses alone!” cried the
colored man, in fright.

“Don’t you dare to drive away until you have
answered our questions,” returned Dick, firmly.

“I—I don’t want to git in no trouble, boss—’deed
I don’t!” wailed the driver of the farm
wagon.

“Well, you answer our questions, and tell us
the strict truth.”

“I—I didn’t do nuffin, give you-all my word I
didn’t!”

“But you saw the auto, with the men and the
girls in it?” cried Dick, sharply.

“Ye-as, sah, I—I did, sah,” was the stammered-out
reply.

“Where did you see them?”

“Down in Snagtown, sah.”

“What were the folks in the auto doing?”

“Da was a-waitin’ fo’ one of de men to fix up[223]
de wheel. De rubber on de wheel dun got busted.”

“I see. And what were the men in the auto,
and the girls, doing?” went on Dick, quickly.

“Say, boss, I don’t want no trouble, ‘deed I
don’t! I didn’t do nuffin! I jess looked at’ em,
dat’s all. An’ dat one man he said he’d mak me
suffer if I opened my mouf ’bout wot I saw,” explained
the aged colored man, in a trembling
voice. “I’se an honest, hard-workin’ man, I is! I
works fo’ Massah Sheldon fo’ sixteen years now,
an’ he’ll dun tole yo’-all I’se honest, an——”

“All right, I believe you are honest,” answered
Dick, in a kindlier tone. “But those men are
rascals, and we want to catch them. They carried
those two girls off against their will.”

“Dat’s wot I was suspicioned of, boss, fo’
de young ladies was a-cryin’ hard an’ wanted to
git out, an’ de men wouldn’t let ’em. I wanted
to do sumfing fo’ ’em, but the men tole me go
mind my own business, or git my haid busted, so
I drove on.”

“How many men were there?”

“Three men, ‘sides de man wot was a-mendin’
de busted wheel.”

“The doctor and Crabtree and Sobber!” murmured
Tom.

“Or Koswell and Larkspur,” added Sam.[224]

“How far away from here is that place?” went
on Dick.

“About a mile an’ a half, sah. But the road
am putty stony an’ rough, sah.”

“Can a fellow ride horseback on those horses?”

“Yo’ might, sah, if yo’ had a saddle. But da
ain’t no saddle. Is yo’-all thinkin’ of goin’——”

“We’ll take those horses,” cut in Dick, shortly.
“Now, don’t worry, we’ll pay you well for using
them, and see that they come back safely. We
have got to save those two girls, and we’ll put
those men in prison if we can.”

The old colored man was so amazed that he was
all but bewildered. He did not want to let the
horses go, but the boys gave him no choice in the
matter. They unharnessed the steeds, and took the
blankets on the wagon seat for saddles.

“Sam, I guess Tom and I had better go on
ahead,” said Dick. “You can follow on foot, if
you want to, and you can come, too, if you wish,”
he added, to the colored man.

“Say, ain’t you afraid ob gitting shot, or sumfing
like dat?” asked the driver of the wagon.

“Maybe we can do a little shooting ourselves,”
answered Dick, grimly.

“Is yo’-all armed?”

“We are.”

“Den I’ll follow on foot, wid dis young[225]
gen’men,” said the colored man. He was afraid
that if he did not follow he would not get the
team back.

Once on horseback, Dick and Tom did not
linger. Along the rough, hill road they sped,
urging the bony steeds along as best they could.
Fortunately there were no side trails to bewilder
them.

“I hope we get there in time,” remarked Tom,
as they proceeded.

“So do I,” answered Dick. “If they had a
blow-out it may take that chauffeur quite some
time to put on a new inner tube and a shoe.”

“If he had only busted his engine!” murmured
Tom.

The way now became so rough that they had all
they could do to keep on the horses, and they wondered
at the men in the automobile traveling such
a road.

“I suppose they came because it’s so lonely,”
said Dick. “They knew they’d be sure to meet
more or less carriages and wagons on the turnpike,
and if the girls screamed they might be rescued.”

At last they topped a hill and could see, on the
top of the next hill, a deserted house, the first of
the deserted village of Snagtown. This made them[226]
renew their efforts, and soon they were struggling
up the hill towards the house.

“Hark!” burst out Tom, suddenly. “What’s
that?”

“An engine!” exclaimed his brother. “They
must have started up their auto!”

“If that’s the case, the wheel must be mended!”

“Yes! Come on, there is no time to lose!”

Past the deserted house they rode, and then
around a turn where were located several other
houses and barns. Then they came in sight of
the deserted mill, down in a hollow by a stream.
Further still was a bridge and not far from this
structure stood a big, enclosed touring car painted
dark blue!

“There it is! There’s the auto!” cried Dick.

“And they are starting up!” added his brother.
“Hi! stop! Stop, you rascals!” he yelled.

The horses clattered through the lonely street
of the deserted village and the noise they made
and the shouting, made those in the automobile
look back.

“Two men on horseback!” cried one of the men.

“The Rover boys, Dick and Tom!” exclaimed
another. “Hurry up!”

“It’s old Crabtree!” cried Dick, as he saw the
head of that individual thrust out of the touring

[227]

car. “And Tad Sobber!” he added, as a second
head appeared.

“Stop! stop, you rascals!” continued Tom.
“Don’t you dare to go another step!”

“Save us! Save us!” came in girlish voices
from the interior of the touring car. “Oh, Dick!
Oh, Tom! Save us!”

“Hurry up—start her up!” screamed Tad
Sobber frantically, to the chauffeur. “Put on all
power!”

The driver was already in his seat and the
motor was humming loudly. He threw in the low
gear, and off the touring car started slowly. After
it clattered Dick and Tom, still a hundred feet in
the rear.

“Let me get out!” screamed Dora. “Oh, let
me get out!”

“Yes! Yes!” pleaded Nellie. “Please let us
get out!”

“Stop your noise and sit still!” commanded
Josiah Crabtree. And he and Sobber and the
third fellow forced the two girls back on the seat.

Dick and Tom urged the horses forward with
all speed. But before they could reach the touring
car, the chauffeur threw in second speed and then
quickly changed to high, and away the automobile
rattled, over the rickety bridge. The structure
had not been built for such a weight, and,[228]
just as the machine reached the other side, the
bridge went down with a crash.

“Look out!” yelled Dick, and the warning
came none too soon, for both he and Tom were
almost on the bridge. They turned their horses
just in time, came to a sudden halt in some
bushes, and stared blankly at each other.

“Gone!” cried Tom, hollowly. “Oh, what
luck!”

“Quick, your pistol, Tom!” cried Dick, suddenly.

“But the girls——” began the other.

“Don’t shoot at the car, shoot at the tires,”
explained Dick. And then he whipped out his
own weapon, got into range, and began to blaze
away.

Each of the boys fired three shots. One hit the
back lamp of the automobile, smashing the red
glass, and another hit the differential case and
glanced off. But the wheels remained untouched,
and in a few seconds the big touring car was out
of sight around a bend. The lads heard a scream
from the two girls, and then all that reached
their strained ears was the sound of the motor,
growing fainter and fainter, until it died out
altogether.

Dick and Tom felt sick at heart. They had
been so near to rescuing the girls, and now they[229]
seemed as far off as ever! Each heaved a deep
sigh.

“I suppose we can’t follow them, with the
bridge down,” said Tom.

“We might ford the stream,” said Dick. “But
what would be the use of trying to follow on
horseback? They know we are after them and
they will put on all the speed possible.”

“Well, what’s to do next, Dick?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’m not going to sit still and do nothing.”

“Neither am I, Tom. But what to do next I
really don’t know.”

CHAPTER XXIV

AT THE SWAMP

“Where are they? Didn’t you catch up to
them? Who fired those shots?”

It was Sam who shouted the words, as he came
up on a run, followed by the aged negro.

“They got away,” answered Dick, bitterly.
“We were just a minute too late!”

“Can’t you go after them?”

“Not on horseback, Sam.”

“And, if the horses were all right, look there!”
cried Tom, and pointed to the fallen bridge.

“Down! What did it, the auto?”

“Yes.”

“Fo’ de lan’ sake!” burst out the negro farm
hand. “De bridge hab gone bust down! Say,
how is we-all to git ober dat stream after dis?”

“I give it up,” said Tom. “The authorities
will have to rebuild it, I guess.”

“Nobudy ain’t gwine to do dat, boss. Kase
why? Kase dis road was built fo’ de mill an’ de[231]
people wot lived heah. Now de mill ain’t runnin’
an’ de people moved away, da ain’t much use
fo’ the road, an’ nobuddy ain’t gwine to put up
de bridge—an’ Ike Henry, dat’s me, has got to
tote things ’round by de udder road after dis!”
he added ruefully.

“Well, we can’t bother about the bridge,” replied
Dick. “The authorities can fight it out with
those fellows who are running the auto.”

“But the shots?” queried Sam. He had dropped
on a flat rock to rest.

“We tried to hit the tires—but we failed,”
explained Tom. “The auto was moving too
fast, and the trees and bushes were in the way.
Besides, we didn’t want to hit the girls.”

Dick and Tom walked down to the stream. It
was not very deep and they concluded that they
could easily get to the other side, by leaping from
one bit of wreckage to another,—thus keeping
from getting wet,—for at that season of the year
the water was decidedly cold.

“Let us go over and climb to the top of the
next hill,” said Dick. “We may be able to see
which direction the auto takes.”

The others were willing, and telling the colored
man to wait a while for them, and promising him
good pay, they climbed over the sunken bridge to
the other shore of the stream. Then they raced[232]
along the rocky road, around a bend, and up a
steep hill that all but winded them.

“I see the machine!” cried Tom, who was the
first to top the rise. “Look!” And he pointed
with his hand, down in the valley that lay
stretched out before them like a map in the gathering
darkness.

At a great distance, moving at a fair rate of
speed, was the enclosed touring car containing
Dora and Nellie and their abductors. It was
headed for a distant main road, lined here and
there with farmhouses and outbuildings. Presently
it turned into this mainroad, and started
westward, at an increased rate of speed.

“My, see them streak along!” murmured Sam.

“They are evidently going to put as much distance
as they can between themselves and us,”
returned Tom.

“Say, do you see any telephone wires?” asked
Dick, anxiously.

“Not a wire,” came from his brothers, after a
long look for lines and poles.

“Neither do I. I guess they haven’t any connections
at those farmhouses, so it will be useless
to walk there.”

“But what shall we do, Dick?” asked Tom,
impatiently. “We can’t sit still and do nothing!”[233]

“We’ll go back to the Dartaway and fly after
them.”

“But the wind——” began Sam.

“It has gone down a little, I think, Sam. And
anyway, we’ve got to take a chance—it’s the
only thing left. If you don’t want to go——”

“Dick, stop right there! If you go I’ll go,”
cried the youngest Rover, firmly. “I’m as much
interested in this as anybody, even though Grace
isn’t there,” he added, with a show of color in
his round cheeks.

But little more was said just then. The three
boys ran down the hill to the stream and crawled
back over the wreckage.

“I guess those horses can carry the lot of us,”
said Dick; and so it was arranged, Dick and Sam
getting on the back of one steed and Tom and
Ike Henry on the other. The boys asked the
colored man about telephone connections, but he
could give them little information excepting to
state that his employer had no such convenience.

At last the boys reached the spot where they
had come out of the woods after leaving the
Dartaway and skirting the swamp.

“Have you a lantern on the wagon?” asked
Dick, of Ike Henry.

“Yes, sah.”

“Then we’ll have to buy or borrow it, my man.[234]
Supposing I give you two dollars for the use of
the horses and another dollar for the lantern, how
will that strike you?”

“Dat’s all right, boss,” answered Ike Henry,
who remembered that the lantern had cost but
seventy-five cents.

Dick passed over the bills and received the
lantern, which was filled with oil, and also a box
of matches, which Ike Henry chanced to carry.

“Wot you-all gwine to do now?” asked the
colored man, as he prepared to hitch up his team
again.

“We are going back into the woods, where we
left our flying machine,” answered Tom.

“You-all be careful dat yo’ don’t git in de
swamp. Dat am a terribul bad spot.”

“We’ll be careful.”

“Tell me, where does that mainroad on the
other side of the river run to?” put in Dick.

“Dat road?” queried Ike Henry. “Dat way
or dat way?” and he motioned first to the east and
then to the west.

“I mean to the westward.”

“Why, dat’s de way to git to Sherodburg an’
Fremville.”

“Do you know how far those places are?”

“Sherodburg am ’bout eight miles; Fremville
am ’bout twenty or moah.”[235]

“All right. Come on, boys,” said Dick.
“Good night, Ike.”

“Good night, sah! Much erbliged!” cried the
aged colored man. “Hope yo’-all dun catch dem
rascals,” he added earnestly.

“We’ll do our best,” answered Tom.

In a few seconds more the Rover boys had
plunged into the woods. Here it was quite dark,
and Dick took the lead, holding the lantern close
to the ground, so that he might follow the trail
he and his brothers had made on leaving the Dartaway.
All were gratified to find that the wind
had died down completely.

“I don’t know how a run in the darkness will
go,” said Dick. “But we can try it. But I don’t
see how we are to steer.”

“I’ve got my pocket compass with me,” answered
Sam. “That may help some. We know
those towns are west of us. We can sail along
until we see the lights and then go down and ask
about the touring car.”

“A good idea, Sam.”

Skirting the swamp with only the rays from
the lantern to aid them was no easy task, and once
Tom slipped from a clump of rushes and went
down over his ankles in soft mud.

“Hi! hi! help me out!” he yelled. “Quick, before
I get in any deeper!”[236]

“Stand still!” called back Dick, and placed the
lantern in another clump of rushes. Then he
caught hold of a tree that was handy and took
a grip on Sam’s hand. “Now catch hold of Tom,”
he went on, and the youngest Rover did so. Then
came a long and strong pull, and with a sucking
sound, poor Tom came out of the sticky mud
and landed beside his brothers.

“Wow! that’s a mess!” said the fun-loving
Rover, as he surveyed his feet, plastered thick
with the mud.

“Stick to the dry ground after this,” advised
Dick. “Come on, the dead leaves will soon brush
that mud off.” And forward he went once more,
holding the lantern as before. In a little while
after this the swamp was left behind, and then
progress through the woods was more agreeable.

“Dick, don’t you think we ought to be getting
to the Dartaway pretty soon?” asked Tom, after
a quarter of an hour more had passed and they
were still moving forward.

“Yes.”

“It didn’t seem so far away as this,” put in
Sam. “Are you sure you are following the trail?”

“You can see for yourselves,” answered Dick,
and held the lantern close to the ground.

“Footsteps, sure enough,” murmured Tom.[237]
Then of a sudden he bent closer. “But look!” he
cried. “They are not ours!”

“What?” exclaimed his two brothers, in surprise.

“These footprints are not ours—they are altogether
too big. We have picked up and are following
the wrong trail!”

CHAPTER XXV

THE TRAIL OF THE TOURING CAR

All started in astonishment at the footprints
before them. What Tom had said was true—the
prints were altogether too large to have been made
by their own feet in walking through the woods.

“How could I have made such a mistake!”
murmured Dick.

“I wonder where you got mixed up?” said Sam.
“I looked at the prints down by the swamp. They
seemed to be O. K. there.”

“Then that is where I must have gotten mixed
up—maybe after we pulled Tom from the mud.”

“We’ll have to go back,” came from Tom.
“Too bad! But it can’t be helped. I don’t blame
you, Dick,” he added, hastily.

“Neither do I,” put in Sam. “Anybody might
make such a mistake, with nothing but that smoky
lantern to guide him.”

They turned back, and after a while reached
the edge of the swamp. Here, after a long search,
they found their own footprints.[239]

“Now we are all right!” cried Sam. “Come
on!”

“Yes, and let us be careful that we don’t make
another mistake,” added Tom.

“I don’t know about this,” said Dick, hesitatingly.
“Somehow, it doesn’t look altogether right
to me.”

“Why not?” queried his two brothers.

“It doesn’t seem to be the right direction. But
they are our footprints, so we may as well follow
them.”

They went on and proceeded for several hundred
feet in silence. Then Tom uttered a cry of
dismay.

“Well, this beats the Dutch!” he gasped.

“What’s wrong now?” asked Dick.

“Do you know what we are doing? We are
heading for the road again, instead of for the
place where we left the Dartaway!”

“Tom!” gasped Sam. “Are you sure?”

“I am. See that fallen tree? We are about
half way between the road and the swamp.”

“Yes, I remember the tree, and you are right,”
said Dick. “This is too bad! And when we are
in such a hurry, too!” His voice had a note of
despair in it.

“Well, keep to this trail now,” said Sam.
“Don’t miss it,—only follow it backwards.”[240]

Once more the three Rover boys turned, and
now they scanned every foot of the trail with care.
Again they passed the swamp and there discovered
how they had made a false turn. Then they
hurried forward, under the trees and through the
bushes.

The darkness of night had closed in all around
them, and the only light was that of the smoky
lantern, and from the few stars that shone down
through the tree tops. Everything was silent,
excepting for the occasional note of a tree toad,
or the “glunk” of a frog in the swamp.

“We ought to be there by now,” said Sam, a
few minutes later.

“There she is!” cried Dick, swinging the lamp
up over his head. And in the widening circle of
light the three youths beheld the biplane, resting
exactly as they had left the craft.

“Thank goodness!” cried Tom. “I was beginning
to think we had made another mistake.”

They hung the lantern on a tree limb and then
lit the lights attached to the biplane, for they had
insisted that the Dartaway be supplied with these,—not
for the purpose of flying at night, but so
that the machine could be lit up in the dark if it
rested in the road or in some other place where
some person or vehicle might run into it.

It was an easy task to bring the biplane out[241]
into the opening in the woods, and this done the
boys took a general view of the situation, so that
they might get their bearings. Then all but one
lantern were extinguished, and the engine was
started up and they got aboard the craft, Dick
taking the wheel.

“Now, Sam, it is up to you to give me the
points of the compass,” said Dick. “And, Tom
you keep your eyes open for the lights of Sherodburg
and Fremville.”

Into the sky with its twinkling stars swept the
Dartaway, and Sam gave the direction to be taken
by consulting the tiny pocket compass he carried.
Of course these directions were crude, but they
were better than nothing, and soon Tom cried
out that he could make out the lights of a settlement
in the dim distance.

“That must be Sherodburg,” said Dick.

“Why stop there?” asked Tom. “I don’t think
the touring car did. More than likely they streaked
through for all they were worth. Why not go on
straight to Fremville? That is a much larger
town, and we’ll be sure to find a telephone there,
or a telegraph office.”

“Just what I was thinking,” replied his big
brother.

They swept over Sherodburg five minutes later,
dipping down so low that they could see every[242]
house and every store. They looked along the
main street for the touring car, but only carriages
and farm wagons were in view.

“I wish we had a searchlight,” said Dick, with
a sigh. “If we had one we could easily keep that
highway in view all the way to Fremville.”

“Well, we haven’t one, so we’ll have to make out
without it,” answered Tom. “Fly as low as
you can and we’ll try to keep the highway in sight.
Most of the farmhouses have lights in ’em, and
that will help a little.”

Dick flew as low as seemed advisable, and by
straining their eyes the boys managed to make
out the winding road, lined on either side with
farms and patches of woods. Occasionally they
swept over small collections of houses,—hamlets
located between the town they had left behind
and the one they were approaching.

The breeze had died down utterly, so Dick had
little trouble in manipulating the biplane. He
sent the Dartaway onward at a good rate of
speed, the engine making a noise like a battery of
gatling guns. More than likely many a farmer
and his family were astonished at the sounds and
wondered what they meant. If any saw the biplane
the Rovers did not know it.

“I guess we are coming up to Fremville now,”
said Sam, when the distant lights of a town[243]
showed on the horizon. “We’ll have to look for
some safe place to land, and that is not so easy
in the darkness.”

Dick slowed down the motor as they drew
closer to the town, which was composed of several
streets of stores, half a dozen churches, some
schools, and a hundred or more houses. He made
a circle, and then, seeing a level field back of some
of the houses, headed for it, and shut off the engine.
They landed without anybody seeing them
do it.

“Tom, I think you had better watch the machine,
while Sam and I make some inquiries,”
said Dick, as he alighted.

“Oh, don’t you think I had better go too?”
asked Tom anxiously.

“We can’t leave the Dartaway alone.”

At that moment a man came out of the darkness,
attracted by the voices. He was surprised
to see the biplane. He told the lads that his house
was close by and wanted to know what they were
doing.

“We are on the trail of a big, enclosed touring
car that came this way,” answered Dick. “Did
you see anything of it?”

“Say, that must be the machine Jim Hickey
told about!” cried the man. “Jim said it went[244]
tearin’ through like mad, about half an hour
ago.”

“Which way was it headed?” asked Tom,
eagerly.

“I don’t know—I didn’t ask. Jim could tell
you.”

“Where is he?”

“Jim? Why he keeps the barber shop, down
on the corner of Main Street and Lumber Alley.”

“Do you know if he is at his barber shop now?”
asked Dick.

“He must be—he was going there when he saw
the auto.”

The boys waited no longer, but asking the man
to look after the Dartaway during their absence,
they hurried to the main street of the town and
then to the barber shop in question. Jim Hickey
was busy shaving a customer but he was willing
to suspend operations long enough to answer the
Rover boys.

“Did I see the car?” he cried. “If I hadn’t
I’d be a dead man this minit!” he cried. “She
was going some, she was!”

“Which way did the car go?” asked all the
boys.

“Down Main Street to the bridge and then
turned around the church corner.”[245]

“Where does that road lead to?” asked Tom.

“Leads to Plankville and Bulltown.”

“Yes, but they can’t git through on that road,”
put in the customer, wiping the lather from
around his mouth so he could talk. “The bridge
is shut off—they’re fixin’ it—went at the work
this morning.”

“You are sure about that?” queried Dick,
eagerly.

“Sure, I saw ’em takin’ up the plankin’ of the
bridge. They will have to come back.”

“How far is that bridge from here?”

“About three miles.”

“Is there any other side road?” put in Sam.

“None that would be good enough for an auto.
The north road is all sand an’ mud.”

“Come on!” cried Dick to his brothers. “I
think we’ve cornered them! Come on!” And he
rushed from the barber shop, and Sam and Tom
followed, leaving the barber and his customer
staring after them in astonishment.

CHAPTER XXVI

THE MOONLIT TRAIL

Once in the street the three Rover boys halted
and looked at each other. The same thought was
in the mind of each; should they follow the touring
car on foot, or go back for the airship?

“We’ll get the Dartaway!” cried Dick. “We
can follow them so much more quickly that way.”

At top speed they raced for the spot where they
had left the biplane. They found the strange man
on guard, smoking his pipe.

“We saw the barber,” said Dick, “and now we
are going after that touring car and the fellows
in it. Much obliged for looking after the biplane,”
and he handed the man a silver half
dollar.

“Thank you,” said the man. “Want to catch
’em, eh?”

“Yes, they are rascals who ought to be in jail,”
answered Tom. And then, before the man could
ask any more questions, the boys started up the[247]
engine and propellers and swept into the air once
more.

The late moon had come up, and this light,
added to that of the stars, made it possible for
them to keep the road well in view. Over the
town they swept and then over the church near
the bridge. Then they commenced to follow the
road leading to Plankville and Bulltown.

It must be confessed that all of the youths
were deeply excited, and Tom and Sam looked to
their pistols, to make certain that the weapons
were ready for use. They felt that the rascals
who had abducted Dora and Nellie in such a
high-handed fashion would not give in without a
struggle.

As they went on, Dick slowed down the engine,
and ran closer and closer to the road.

“There is a sign and a big plank, closing the
road!” cried Tom, presently. “And there is the
bridge, just ahead.”

Scarcely had he spoken when Dick shut off the
engine entirely and volplaned to the broad roadway
and only a short distance from the bridge.
All looked around eagerly. Not a sign of a
touring car could be seen.

“Maybe they made a mistake——” commenced
Sam, when Dick, who was examining the ground,
uttered a cry.[248]

“Here are the tracks of the rubber tires!” exclaimed
the eldest Rover boy. “See, they pushed
the plank aside and steered right for the bridge!”

“But did they get over?” asked his brothers.

“I suppose so. Wait, I’ll go over and see.”

Lantern in hand, Dick crossed on the beams of
the wooden bridge. On the opposite side he saw
the same tracks of the tires in the dust and dirt.

“Yes, they came over!” he shouted.

“But the planking——” came from Tom.

“They must have thrown it into place to cross
and then taken it up again, so that they couldn’t
be followed,—that is, in a carriage, or an auto,
or on horseback.”

“Yes, but they can’t stop a biplane!” cried Sam,
eagerly. “And this must have taken time to do!
We must be close behind them!”

“Let’s get right after ’em!” put in Tom, and all
three ran once more for the Dartaway, and soon
the quick explosions of the motor sounded on the
night air.

If the boys had been excited before, they were
more so now, for they realized that the touring
car at the best could be but a few miles away.
Could they catch up to it before those running the
machine had a chance to slip them in the darkness?

“They must have their lights lit,” said Dick.
“They’d not dare run without them. Look and[249]
see if you can’t spot their headlights. Their taillight
we smashed with a pistol shot.”

On and on swept the biplane. As the late
moon came up higher, the way became brighter,
until they could distinguish the road below quite
plainly. But nothing like a touring car came into
view.

“They must have had more time than we
thought, or else they ran mighty fast,” remarked
Dick, after several miles had been covered.

Presently they saw two bright lights coming
towards them, down on the road. At once Dick
shut off the power, and allowed the biplane to
come down in the centre of the highway. Then
Tom waved the lantern, and at the same time all
three lads took hold of their pistols.

It was a runabout that was coming up, an old
affair, carrying two men that looked like farmers.

“Hello, what’s this, a hold-up?” cried one of
the men. “By gum! if it ain’t an airship!” he
gasped, as his machine came to a standstill in
front of the Dartaway.

“We’d like some information,” said Dick, stepping
forward and holding up the lantern. “We
are looking for a big enclosed touring car that
came this way. Did you meet it on the road?”

“A tourin’ car? No, we didn’t meet any kind
o’ an auto.”[250]

“None at all?”

“Nary a one,” answered the second man.

“May I ask how far you’ve come?” went on
Dick.

“We came from Plankville.”

“How far is that?”

“About six miles.”

“Are there any side roads between here and
Plankville?”

“Plenty of ’em, but none good enough fer a
car. Them that ain’t sand is mud, an’ deep mud,
too. This is the only road in these parts fit for
autoing.”

“You are sure that car didn’t go through Plankville?
It was a big enclosed car, painted dark
blue.”

“I was sittin’ on the hotel stoop fer an hour
before we came along an’ there wasn’t nary a
car went through.”

“Well, that car was on this road,” said Tom.
“It must have gone somewhere.”

“I don’t see where it could go,” said the second
man, and shook his head slowly. “All the side
roads is terrible in these parts.”

“Well, we are much obliged for the information,”
said Dick. “Wait, we’ll soon have our
biplane out of the way.” And then he and his[251]
brothers wheeled it to one side, so the runabout
could pass.

The men were curious to see the machine fly
and remained while the boys started up the engine.

“What are you going to do next?” whispered
Sam.

“We’ll take a look at the side roads,” replied
Dick. “Maybe the touring car tried one of them
and got stuck. I hope it did.”

With a rush and a roar, the Dartaway sped
down the highway and then arose in the air, and
as it did this the men in the runabout gave a cheer
and clapped their hands. Then the Rover boys
continued their hunt.

They kept close to the main road and did not
fly any higher than was necessary. Whenever
they reached a side road Dick would make a circle,
coming back to the highway and going forward.
Thus they kept on until they came in sight
of Plankville.

“Hark!” cried Sam, as a distant bell tolled out.
“Ten o’clock!”

“Only ten o’clock!” murmured Tom. “It
seems like a week since we left Brill!”

“And we haven’t had supper yet,” went on the
youngest Rover.

“Who wants any supper?” came from Dick.
“I’m sure I don’t.”[252]

“Not a mouthful, until we rescue Dora and
Nellie,” answered Tom.

“I’d like a drink—I’m as dry as a herring,”
said Sam.

“We’ll look for water when we go down
again,” answered Dick.

Presently they descended once more, and, as a
brook was handy, each drank his fill. Then Dick
turned back in the direction from which they had
come.

“Now what?” demanded Tom.

“I’m going to find out where they went, Tom.
They didn’t come this far, I am sure of that.”

“Why?”

“Because I can’t find their tracks in the road.
The tracks of the runabout are there and that’s
all. They didn’t come this far. They stopped or
branched off somewhere between here and that
bridge the road men are repairing.”

“Why can’t we search the road for tracks?”
asked Sam.

“Just what I am going to do. We can go down
every half mile or so and look the ground over.”

This was done three times, and twice they saw
no tracks. Then they located them once more,
about half way between the bridge and Plankville.

“Perhaps we had better follow them up on foot[253]
for awhile,” suggested Dick. “They aren’t in the
roadway half a mile from here.”

“Well, there are no side roads nearby,” returned
Tom. “And no houses or barns, either,” he
added, searching the moonlit landscape.

Lantern in hand, Dick led the way, the others
following. Thus several hundred feet were covered.
Then all came to a halt and stared at each
other. The tracks of the touring car led from the
roadway directly into a big field, backed up by
what looked to be a dense woods.

“We are getting closer!” cried Dick. “Now,
to put the Dartaway in a safe place and then we’ll
follow them on foot!”

CHAPTER XXVII

THE CHAUFFEUR OF THE TOURING CAR

“Let us run the biplane down the road a way
and then into another field and down among the
trees,” suggested Tom. “No use of leaving it
too near here—some of that gang might come
and ruin it.”

Tom’s advice was considered good, and once
more the three Rover boys hurried to the Dartaway.
As there was still no wind, it was an easy
matter to roll the machine along on its wheels.
They found a field where the fence was down,
and ran the biplane across this and in among some
trees and bushes.

“Are you going to take the lantern?” asked
Sam. “It seems to me it won’t be wise to let
them see us, at first.”

“I’ll take it along unlit,” answered his big
brother. “It may come in handy later.”

“Let us get some clubs,” suggested Tom.
“They may come in handier than the pistols.”[255]

“Right you are!” cried Dick. “We don’t want
any shooting if it can be avoided.”

“Evidently you think they are close at hand,”
remarked Sam, while they were cutting stout
sticks from among the brushwood.

“They can’t have gone so very far, in that
dense woods,” answered Tom. “Why, the auto
couldn’t get through.”

At last the boys were ready to continue the
search, and stick and lantern in hand, Dick led
the way, with Tom and Sam close behind. They
had to bend close to the ground, to make sure
that they were following the tracks of the touring
car.

The trail led among the trees onto what was
evidently a road used for hauling out timber.
Following this for about a quarter of a mile, the
youths discovered a dark object, resting near what
looked to be the end of the road.

“It’s the auto!” whispered Dick.

“Anybody around?” questioned Tom, in an
equally low voice.

“I don’t know. Be careful and we’ll see.”

With extreme caution the boys walked closer
to the touring car and then all around it. Nobody
was at hand, and not a sound broke the
silence of the night.[256]

“Deserted!” whispered Sam. “Where did they
go to, I wonder?”

“Hush!” returned Dick. “They may be close
enough to hear you.”

With strained ears, the Rover boys listened for
some sound that might indicate the presence in
that vicinity of those they were after. But they
heard nothing but the call of a night bird and the
far-off hoot of an owl.

“They have gone on,” said Dick, at last. “We’ll
have to find the trail and follow. Maybe I’ll have
to light the lantern.”

“Say, let us fix the auto first—so they can’t
use it, if they come back!” exclaimed Tom.

“A good idea, Tom,” answered his big brother.
And, as soon as Dick had lighted the lantern,
Tom and Sam set to work to render the touring
car unusable for the time being by turning off
the flow of gasoline from the tank and disconnecting
the spark plugs.

“That will keep ’em guessing for a while, if
they try to run it,” was Sam’s comment.

In the meantime Dick was examining the
ground, and soon he found the mark of many
footprints in the moss and leaves. They led along
a well-defined footpath running through the
woods and up something of a hill.

“They went this way,” he said. “The fact is,[257]
I don’t see how they could go any other,—the
brushwood is so thick.”

“Maybe there’s a house back there,” suggested
Tom.

“I shouldn’t be surprised. That path must lead
to somewhere.”

The boys had just started to move along the
footpath when from out of the darkness came an
unexpected hail:

“Hello, there! Who are you?”

The call came from ahead, and at a turn of the
trail the lads saw, by the dim rays of the lantern,
the form of a man, wearing a fur coat and an
automobile cap.

“The driver of the car!” burst out Dick.

“I say, who are you?” called the man, coming
to a halt. Evidently he was coming back to take
care of the automobile, or run it away.

“Hello, yourself!” answered Dick, boldly.
“What are you doing here this time of night?”

“Humph! Is that any of your business?”
growled the man. He was evidently a rough
customer and not pleased at being thus surprised.

“I don’t know; perhaps,” answered Dick, drawing
closer. “Don’t let him get away,” he whispered
to his brothers.

The boys made a rush forward, raising their[258]
sticks as they did so, and before the man could
think of retreating they had him surrounded.

“Say, look here, what does this mean?” demanded
the fellow, trying to put on a bold front,
although he was much disturbed.

“You’ll find out what it means before we are
done with you,” cried Tom, hotly. “More than
likely it means state’s prison for you.”

“State’s prison!” The man shrank back.
“Why—er—I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Oh, of course not!” returned Dick, sarcastically.
“Abducting two young ladies isn’t wrong
I suppose!”

“I didn’t abduct anybody,” growled the man.
“Somebody hired my car, that’s all I know. Now
the job is done, and I’m going about my business.”

“Not just yet,” said Dick, quietly but firmly.
“Tell me, what have they done with the two
young ladies?”

“That ain’t my business,” commenced the
chauffeur, savagely. “You let me go, or I’ll——
Oh!”

He stopped short and let out a yell of pain and
fright. He had tried to push Dick out of his
path. The oldest Rover boy had dropped the lantern
and struck out fairly and squarely with his
fist, and the blow had landed on the man’s jaw,
nearly taking him from his feet.[259]

“Now behave yourself and come along!” cried
Dick, and caught the man by the arm. “Don’t
let him escape!” he cried, to his brothers. “Use
your sticks, and your pistols, too, if it is necessary.”

The boys closed in, and the sight of the sticks
and the pistols frightened the chauffeur greatly.
He saw that he was trapped, and that resistance
might put him in a worse hole.

“I didn’t do it!” he whined, as the boys hurried
him back towards the automobile. “I was
hired for a certain job, that’s all. The men said
they had a right to carry the young ladies off—that
one of ’em was the old man’s stepdaughter,
and that both of ’em had run away from a girls’
school and wouldn’t learn their lessons.”

“And you mean to tell me that you believe
such stuff!” snorted Tom.

“Well, that’s what they told me,” answered the
man doggedly. “They hired the car first without
telling me what sort of a job it was. Then they
told me they wouldn’t give me a cent if I didn’t
do what I was told to do. I’m a poor man,
and——”

“You tell it well, but I don’t believe a word of
it,” interrupted Dick. “You have committed a
serious crime, and the only way in which you can
help yourself at all is by helping us.”[260]

“Will you let me go if I help you?” demanded
the chauffeur, eagerly.

“We’ll see about that later,” answered Dick,
briefly. “For the present we intend to keep you
a prisoner.”

“A prisoner! You haven’t any right——”

“We’ll take the right.”

“That’s the talk!” put in Tom.

By this time the party had reached the automobile.
As Dick had surmised, several straps and
ropes lay in the box under the back seat, and with
these they bound the man’s hands behind him.
Once he started to resist, but when Tom raised
his shining pistol he wilted.

“Now you tell me where they took the young
ladies,” said Dick, after the fellow had been
strapped fast to his own automobile.

“They took ’em up to the house.”

“What house?”

“The old mansion back there on the hill.”

“Who was in the crowd?”

“The old man and the old lady, and the two
young ladies, and the three young men, and the
doctor.”

“The old lady!” cried Dick. “Who was she?
What was her name?”

“I think they called her Sobber, same as one[261]
of the young fellows. They had her along to look
after the girls.”

“It must be the one from Boston!” cried Sam.
“Tad’s aunt, or whatever she is.”

“Where did they pick her up?” asked Dick.

“Down at Fremville. She was waiting with
one of the young men, a chap they called Koswell.”

“Are they all up at that old mansion now?”

“I suppose so. They were there when I left.”

“Who lives at the place?”

“I don’t know,—I didn’t see anybody.”

CHAPTER XXVIII

AT THE OLD MANSION

After that the chauffeur became more communicative,
and in a few words told how he had
been engaged by Koswell and Larkspur to do a
certain job that they said might take the best part
of the afternoon and night. They had told him
that a certain college professor at Brill had a wayward
stepdaughter and that the daughter and her
school chum had grossly insulted a lady teacher
and were in danger of being arrested. The old
professor wanted to get the two girls away and
place them under the care of an old lady, a distant
relative, who would know how to manage
them. He had been promised fifty dollars if he
would do the work and say nothing about it to
anybody, he being informed that the old professor
wanted to avoid all publicity and also wished to
shield his stepdaughter.

“They told me first there were three girls,”
went on the man. “And so there were, but one[263]
got away somehow, so then we took only the two.”

“But you heard what the girls said, didn’t
you?” asked Dick, sharply.

“I was paying attention to running my car,”
mumbled the chauffeur.

“How about when I and my brother came after
you on horseback? Why didn’t you stop and find
out what we wanted?”

“The young fellow, Sobber, said you were from
the school where the young ladies attended and
that maybe you wanted to arrest them. They
made me go on.”

“That sounds pretty fishy to me,” returned
Dick. “Still, I won’t condemn you until this
whole thing is cleared up. Just now we’ve got
to find those young ladies.”

“Going to leave me tied up?” cried the chauffeur.

“Yes, until we get back.”

“That aint fair nohow!”

“Well, fair or not, that’s the way it is going to
be,” put in Tom. “My own opinion is, you are
almost as guilty as anybody. You didn’t plan
this thing, but you were perfectly willing to do
your share in carrying it out.”

The chauffeur begged and pleaded, but the three
boys would not listen to him. All were eager to
go on, to ascertain what had become of Dora[264]
and Nellie. They felt that the girls must be suffering
intensely even though Mrs. Sobber was
with them.

“No use of taking the lantern, we can easily
find the way,” said Dick. “I’d rather have the
stick handy, and my pistol.”

Leaving the chauffeur grumbling roundly, the
three Rover boys hurried along the woodland
trail. It made half a dozen turns, the last around
a spring of pure cold water, which the tired-out
lads could not resist. Each got a good drink and
felt much refreshed. All were too excited to notice
their hunger, even though they had not tasted a
mouthful of food since the noon lunch.

“I see the house!” whispered Sam, presently,
and pointed ahead, and his brothers nodded.

Set in a cleared space was an old stone mansion,
two stories high, and with several wings.
The porch was badly rotted, the chimney top
gone, and the whole structure showed signs of
decay. Around the place was what had once been
a well-kept flower garden, now overrun with a
tangle of dead flowers stalks and untrimmed rose
bushes. Evidently no one had done any work
around the place for several years.

“Just the kind of a place those chaps would
pick out,” whispered Dick to his brothers. “They
never suspected anybody would trace ’em. I sup[265]pose
they found out the old mansion was not
being used, and they either hired it or took

possession
without asking.”

“I begin to think this was all a well-laid plot,”
said Sam.

“Sure thing,” muttered Tom. “The only trip-up
they made was when they didn’t catch Grace
as well as Nellie and Dora.”

“And when old Crabtree dropped that visiting
card,” added Dick.

The boys saw that lights were burning in one
of the lower rooms of the old mansion and in
two of the upper rooms.

“I guess they are all there,” said Dick.

“Can’t we get closer and make sure?” pleaded
Tom.

“We don’t want them to see us, Tom.”

“Why not?”

“Because it might spoil everything. Remember
they are four or five strong, not counting the
woman, and she would probably fight as hard as
anybody, if cornered.”

“Five?” queried Sam.

“Yes, counting that fellow the girls took for a
doctor.”

“Oh, yes, I’d forgotten him. The machine certainly
had a load coming to the place.”

“If the girls are there—and safe for the time[266]
being—I know what I’d like to do,” went on the
big brother, after a pause.

“What?”

“Go to the nearest town and notify the authorities,
and make that whole crowd prisoners.”

“That would be fine!” cried Tom. “But can
we do it? They might try to slip away.”

“That is true, although I doubt it. I think
their plan is, now they are here, to lay low.
They’ll think they are perfectly safe here. Most
likely they’ll send some kind of a letter to dad,
and to Mrs Stanhope and Mrs. Laning, asking for
money, and then they’ll wait for answers. They’ll
want us to pay a big sum for the release of Dora
and Nellie.”

“If only we could capture them ourselves!”
murmured Tom, his eyes glistening. “Don’t you
think we can do it, with the sticks and pistols?”

“We might, Tom,—but it would be a big risk.
Those fellows are desperate, Sobber especially,
and they must be armed, too. There is no use of
our getting shot if it can be avoided.”

With extreme caution the three boys walked
around the old mansion. In one of the upper
rooms, the curtains of which had been drawn,
they could make out several forms moving about.

“There, I think that was Nellie!” cried Tom,
as a shadow appeared on the curtain.[267]

“And there is that woman!” added Sam, as
another form appeared and vanished.

“I’d like to know if Dora is there,” murmured
Dick.

They waited for a minute and saw several
shadows pass and repass the curtain. They were
sure Nellie was there but were not so certain
about her cousin. The woman was Mrs. Sobber
beyond a doubt.

“If they leave the girls in that room and alone—with
that window unlocked——” began Dick.

“The woman may stay with them,” interrupted
Tom.

“Get back—somebody is coming!” whispered
Sam, and dragged his brothers down, behind
some rose bushes.

Two persons were coming out of the old mansion.
One carried a lantern and what looked to
be some bed slats and the other a ladder. They
were Tad Sobber and Jerry Koswell.

“Do you think the ladder is long enough?”
they heard Koswell ask.

“I guess so—I’ll soon see,” answered Tad Sobber.

The pair walked around to the side of the house
and the ladder was placed in position under the
window of the room the boys had been watching.
Then Sobber went up with the slats, and some[268]
nails and a hammer, and commenced to nail the
slats across the window.

“He’s going to make a regular prison cell of
the room!” whispered Tom. “Oh, if only I dared
to run in and yank that ladder from under him!”
he added, with grim humor.

“Hush, or they’ll hear you,” warned Dick. “I
am glad to see this,” he went on, in a low whisper.
“It shows that they think they haven’t been followed
and are safe. Now to get to the nearest
town, notify the authorities, and bag the bunch
of them!”