NOT CAUGHT NAPPING
Five, ten minutes passed.
Andy was beginning to fear that after all he had been mistaken, and that
it had been some other sound he had heard when he thought a car had
stopped down the road toward Bloomsbury.
Then all at once he detected a movement over at the fence, and the
figure of a man or boy was seen to quickly clamber over, dropping in the
field. Even as he looked a second followed suit, then a third and even a
fourth.
"Whew! what's all this mean?" Andy whispered to himself, as he took
notice of the fact that there was quite a procession of fellows changing
base from the road to the field: "Percy and Sandy thought they might
need help in their little game of smashing our machine, or carrying it
off somewhere, so as to give us a bad scare; and I reckon they've picked
up a couple more of the same kind as themselves. Well we ought to be
able to take care of four just as easy as two 5 and the howl will be
all the louder, I guess."
He moved over a little, and with the toe of his shoe nudged Felix under
the ribs.
"Quit shovin' there!" muttered the farm hand, possibly thinking he was
in bed with some other boy.
Luckily the night breeze was making the windmill turn, not very far
away; and as it needed oiling, there was a constant succession of
squeaks and groans; so that the chances of Felix being heard when he
spoke in this way were very small. Andy would not take any further risk
but creeping over shook the boy roughly.
"Wake up, Felix; they're coming across the pasture!" he whispered in his
ear.
That was quite enough for Felix. He seemed to grasp the situation at
once, and only muttering the one significant word, "Gosh!" he
immediately sat up.
Andy, moving as little as possible, pointed to where moving figures
could just be detected advancing in a bent-over attitude.
"How many?" whispered the farm hand.
"I counted four," replied the other.
"Whee! bully for that!" chuckled Felix, no doubt tickled because the
promised circus would be a double-ring affair, instead of the ordinary
kind, and therefore quite up to date.
Both of them lay there watching intently.
They could see how the intruders were crawling along, anxious apparently
only to avoid being seen from the direction of the farmhouse, the roof
of which showed dimly in the moonlight over on the other side of the
little ridge.
As the creepers drew closer, the watchers saw that they had adopted the
method spoken of by the farmer in connection with the bank thieves,
keeping their identity secret--they all seemed to have handkerchiefs
tied across their faces, and kept their hats pulled well down, so that
they could easily have passed close to an acquaintance without much risk
of discovery.
Of course Andy could tell that they were boys, and not men; and it was
an easy task for him to guess who two of the party at least must be.
The preparations he and Felix had made were about as simple as anything
could be. The farm hand possessed an old musket that had been used in
the Civil war, and which, muzzleloader that it was, had probably brought
down many a plump rabbit when held in the hands of the owner, as well as
black ducks in the marshes along the shore of Lake Sunrise.
Besides this, the farmer had loaned Andy his double-barrel Marlin
shotgun, an old model when compared with the up-to-date hammerless and
the repeaters, but no doubt a good, serviceable weapon.
Of course they had no idea of trying to pepper the marauders, though it
would seem as though they richly deserved to be punctured with a few
small bird shot, because of the meanness of their contemplated action.
To give them a good fright would satisfy Andy, and he had made the eager
farm hand promise to fire up in the air also because he was afraid lest
Felix allow his indignation to have full swing, when he saw what the
four boys meant to do.
They were skulking very close to where the aeroplane lay now, and the
critical moment had undoubtedly arrived when the surprise must be
launched.
"Ready, Felix!" he whispered, in the softest of tones.
"Yep!" grunted the farm hand, at his elbow.
"One, two, three! Blaze away!"
With the last word Felix let go with his old musket, into which he must
have rammed a tremendous charge, for it made a report like unto the
crash of thunder, and came very near sending the owner flat on his back.
Immediately on the heels of this boom Andy pulled one of the triggers
of his double-barrel, so that the report seemed almost merged in with
that of the other weapon.
The four boys had jumped to their feet at the flash and report which
startled them when Felix fired. And as they turned to dash wildly away
and that second shot came, they became madly excited, evidently under
the full belief that they were being made targets for a whole battalion
of sharpshooters.
Two of them collided, and rolled over on the grass, kicking wildly and
scrambling to their feet again, to resume their flight toward the fence,
which doubtless seemed three times as distant as when they were creeping
toward the stranded aeroplane.
The whole thing was so ridiculous that Andy burst out laughing, and
could hardly hold his gun; seeing which the farm hand made bold to
snatch it out of his hands, and aiming directly at the place where the
fugitives were just then in the act of mounting the fence in their
panicky flight, he pulled the trigger.
There was a series of loud yells, which would seem to indicate that a
few of the small shot contained in the shells with which the Marlin had
been loaded must have reached their mark, and pricked the boys like so
many needles would have done.
That was the last seen of them, though for a short time they could be
heard running along the hard road, and exchanging excited comments,
possibly comparing their injuries.
Then a car was heard to start off with a great deal of bluster, and came
dashing along past the farmhouse, though those in it bent low enough to
keep any one from discovering who they might be.
Andy did not know whether to be a little angry or not because of what
the impetuous Felix had done, but apparently nobody had been seriously
hurt; and on the whole, the four "sneaks," as Felix called them,
deserved some punishment; so he let it go at that.
There was no further alarm that night. Neither of the guardians of the
hydroplane expected any, after the prompt measures that had been taken
to inform meddlers of the warm reception they might expect.
All the same, Andy kept up his vigil until sleep almost overpowered him,
when he aroused Felix to finish out the night.
With the coming of early dawn he knew that the safety of the imperiled
aeroplane was assured, and that when the horn blew, he and Felix could
both go in to breakfast. Indeed, he released the farm hand long before
that time, so that he might go about his usual early morning chores; and
Andy himself found plenty to do around the machine until summoned to the
morning meal.
The farmer was a hard sleeper, and had not heard a single thing that had
taken place; so that he was surprised when told how the enemy had come
after all, and what measures the boys had taken in order to frighten
them away.
He even told Felix he could have a day off as soon as the last load of
hay was in the barn, just to show how he appreciated the bold way in
which his hired help had tickled the rascals when they were getting over
the fence. Indeed, the farmer said Andy had been too lenient, and that
if it had been his aeroplane that was threatened in that mean way, he
would have felt wholly justified in emptying both barrels of the gun
after the marauders, first giving them time to get a certain distance
off, so that no serious results might follow the discharge.
But Andy was never a vindictive lad, and he believed the fellows had
received sufficient punishment, especially as no one knew exactly what
they had meant to do in connection with the new hydroplane. Possibly
Percy only wanted to look it over at close quarters, and knowing he
would not be allowed to do so if he asked permission outright, sought to
take this opportunity. But from the way in which they had rigged
themselves out, so as to avoid being recognized, if seen, it looked as
though the four boys had something more than that in view.
However, all's well that ends well, and Andy was quite satisfied with
the way things had turned out.
"Here's hopin' a few of 'em may be limpin' 'round this same mornin', and
feelin' rayther stiff in the legs," Felix took occasion to remark, as
they sat at table, and Andy was again in danger of being foundered by
the multitude of good things which the farmer's wife spread thereon,
bacon and eggs, fried potatoes, scrapple, puffy biscuits, apple sauce,
doughnuts, cold pie, jelly, and finally heaping dishes of light
pancakes, which were to be smothered in butter and real maple syrup made
on the farm each early spring when the sap was running.
"I expect Frank will be along any minute now," Andy remarked, about the
time he had to firmly refuse a fourth helping of cakes, because he could
hardly breathe comfortably. "It wouldn't take him long to do what little
work was necessary, in our shop, which you know my old guardian,
Colonel Whympers, built for us before we found my father, when he was
marooned in that valley in South America, a prisoner for many months,
because the cliffs around prevented him from escaping. And of course
he'll gallop out here on your saddle horse, Mr. Quackenboss."
"Well, work ain't got any call on either Felix or me until we see all
that goes on, that's flat," remarked the farmer, with a smile, "and it's
lucky he done the milkin' already, or else the cows'd have to wait long
after their usual hour, which is a bad way to treat 'em, you know."
They all went out to the field, even the housewife and little Billie
wanting to see what a real aeroplane looked like at close quarters. Many
times had all of them seen the Bird boys, and perhaps Percy Carberry as
well, soaring aloft as if the upper air currents might be their natural
heritage; but up to now they had never had the chance to examine one of
the wonderful machines, and touch the various parts gingerly as though
afraid of injuring them.
"Beats all what people are a-doing nowadays," ventured the farmer,
shaking his head with astonishment, almost awe, as he looked the thing
over. "They ain't even contented to just fly like a red-tailed hawk, or
an eagle that kin look the sun direct in the eye; but now they got to
have a contraption that's at home in the air or on the water; a
hydroplane you called, it didn't you, Andy? And them ere twin pontoons
underneath, that look kinder like gondolas, as you say, are made of
aluminum, and kin hold up the whole affair when you light on water. But
tell me, how in all creation kin you ever mount up agin, once you settle
there?"
"Why that's the easiest thing of all," replied the young aviator;
"you've watched a wild duck get up many a time, haven't you, Mr.
Quackenboss; well, we do just the same, only instead of flapping our
wings, we start the engine, and skim along the surface for a little
distance, then elevate the planes, and immediately begin to soar upward.
And it does the stunt as gracefully as anything you ever saw. Some time
I hope to give you a chance to see how it works. When we leave here, of
course we'll use the bicycle wheels you see underneath, and run along
the ground until going fast enough to soar. But I think I see Frank
coming, away down the road there."
"That's right," declared the farmer; "I know my Bob as far as I can see
him, and his gallop in the bargain."
Frank was evidently coming at full speed, and Andy presently got the
idea in his head that his cousin seemed to be strangely in a hurry for
him. He wondered whether anything could have happened at home, and if
Frank would prove to be the bearer of bad news.
The other dashed into the narrow road leading from the pike to the barns
of the Quackenboss farm. Hitching the horse to a post, he started toward
the spot in the big field where the two boys and the farmer awaited his
coming, close beside the stranded aeroplane.
Frank was carrying the little part he had expected to knock together at
the workshop; but as he drew nearer, his chum could readily see that he
was considerably excited.
"Is everything all right here, Andy?" he called out, even before
reaching them.
"Yes," replied the other Bird boy, promptly, "though we did have a call
from four fellows who had their faces hidden behind handkerchiefs, but
we fired our guns in the air and nearly frightened them to death. Felix
grabbed the double-barrel I had, and gave them a last shot when they
were climbing the fence over there; and we heard some howls too, so I
guess a few of the Number Eight shot pinked them. But what makes you
look so bothered, Frank? Has anything happened at home?"
"There sure has," came from Frank, as he joined them, and cast a pleased
glance over the flying machine that lay upon the grass like a huge bat,
with wings extended.
"Tell me what it was?" demanded Andy, breathlessly.
"Somebody broke into our hangar and workshop, and knocked things around
at a great rate," Frank went on to say. "Acted like they might be just
mad because they didn't find our new machine there, and wanted to show
their spite. And nobody in your house knew a thing about it till I came
along, after an early breakfast, meaning to get the piece I'd been
working on up to eleven last night, when I went home to sleep, and
locked up the place as usual."
"That's a queer piece of news you're telling me, Frank," said the other,
looking puzzled, as well he might.