BROUGHT TO BOOK--CONCLUSION
"What time is it, Frank?" asked Andy, who w as breathing very hard after
his recent exertions in helping both men to get a footing on the
hydroplane.
"I think pretty close to four o'clock," replied the other, though he
made no attempt to take out the little nickel watch, he always carried
nowadays.
The fact of the matter was that Frank did not dare trust Casper Blue. He
could see that the little man was a desperate character, and that he did
not view the prospect of being made a prisoner, and taken back to
Bloomsbury with any great show of enthusiasm. In fact, it was a most
unpleasant proposition for the bank thief to contemplate at all.
And so Frank was watching him closely. He had, before starting on this
dangerous air flight that had ended so far from home, and under such
singular conditions placed a little pistol in his pocket, though hardly
under the belief that he would have any occasion to make use of it.
But he was now determined not to let this man get the upper hand. He
could see that various desperate plans must be forming in that scheming
brain of the one-time aviator, and now yeggman; and Frank was constantly
on the watch so that he might not be caught napping.
"Four o'clock!" repeated Andy; "that would mean at least two more hours
before the sun set, wouldn't it; and even after that it might stay light
enough another hour for them to see us if they steamed along?"
"You mean the people aboard that tug, don't you?" asked Casper Blue,
sneeringly.
"Yes, they seemed to be chasing after us, and I only hope they do keep
moving," replied Andy, "because they must have seen the accident, that
is if they had any sort of a marine glass aboard, which I reckon they
did."
"And I suppose, now, you think there might be officers aboard that same
tug?" the other went on to say.
"Oh! we don't know anything about that," Andy remarked, carelessly. "But
if they came along after a while it'd save us from a lot of worrying.
Just think, if the night set in, and the four of us weighing this poor
old hydroplane down like we are what a time we'd have before another
morning came around."
"It would like as not rise, if there was only two aboard, wouldn't it?"
Casper asked quickly, and before Andy could understand what his question
meant he had replied to it.
"Sure thing, Frank and myself have left the water many a time in a less
powerful hydroplane than this, haven't we, Frank?"
"Well, turn about is only fair," said Casper, fiercely.
"Why, I don't understand what you mean by that," complained Andy.
"Two's company, four a crowd; so please skip out of this, both of you
boys. My pal and me can run this shebang, and just take my word for it,
we mean to do the same. Get that straight, both of you? Now, jump, I
tell you, and lively, or I might be tempted to let her go; and that
would be a shame after the way you rescued the two of us. Overboard with
you!"
Andy gaped when he saw that the man had actually drawn out a revolver,
and was aiming the same directly at him.
"Here, quit that, will you?" he demanded, feeling a flush of alarm, for
even a seasoned veteran of many battles does not fancy having such a
threatening weapon thrust under his nose.
"Jump, then, d'ye hear, consarn you?" shouted the man, menacingly waving
his pistol; "take a header, and over you go, both of you! I'm a
desperate man, and not to be fooled with. P'raps you c'n keep afloat on
that wreckage long enough for the tug to come up, and pull you in. But
no matter, over you go, one way or the other!"
"Just wait a bit, Casper," said a quiet voice, and turning his head the
man saw that Frank had him covered very neatly, "you must know that your
weapon has been soaked, and wouldn't go off, the chances are. Besides, I
don't believe there's a single cartridge in the chambers. Throw it
overboard, do you hear, Casper, or I may be tempted to cripple that
other arm of yours!"
No doubt Frank was speaking the exact truth when he declared his belief
that the revolver had not been charged since the time when Casper
emptied it at the pursuing airship, in the hope of either frightening
the boy aviators; or else doing some sort of damage.
He stared hard at Frank for half a minute; then with some muttered
words, as if he realized the folly of butting up against fate, threw
the useless weapon far out on the heaving surface of the lake.
After that a dense silence fell upon them. The men were too down-hearted
to want to talk; and there was little that the boys had to communicate,
because they were now in a position where they could do absolutely
nothing to help themselves; and must depend entirely upon the coming of
the tug.
An hour passed, and it seemed very long. All of them were more or less
wet because of the splashing waves; but as the air was balmy, they cared
little for such a thing as that, if only the tug would show up.
Innumerable times did Andy stretch his neck, and look toward the quarter
in which it must appear, if it came at all; but the hour began to extend
far into a second one, and as yet there was nothing seen that brought
with it a ray of hope.
Worse still the sea was gradually getting more and more tempestuous, it
seemed to Andy, though the sky remained absolutely clear, and, there was
not a sign of a storm.
If that had been a fog in the far distance which Frank had sighted, the
breeze must have long ago dissipated it entirely.
Lower sank the sun, until it was now not more than half an hour above
the horizon, if its stay could be measured in the way of minutes and
seconds. Oh! if only the friendly tug would come in sight amidst the
foam-crested waves! It was really getting to be too much of a good
thing, trying to keep the hydroplane from keeling over, with those waves
breaking against the frail planes. If this kept up much longer, Frank
was very much afraid that Percy Carberry would not be the only boy in
Bloomsbury to mourn the loss of an airship.
When, therefore, Andy gave a sudden shout, and announced that he
believed he had seen the smoke of the tug wreathing above the waves, all
of them looked considerably relieved, even Casper himself; for on second
thoughts the yeggman must have decided that it was better to be alive
and in prison, than dead, and under the waters of Lake Ontario.
In five minutes they could all see the smokestack of the powerful tug,
and for fear lest it should pass by and not do them any good they
shouted hoarsely in unison.
"They hear us!" exclaimed Andy, whose position, somehow, allowed him to
see better than any of the others, "yes, they've changed their course,
and are heading this way now. It's all right, Frank; we've won out, I
guess!"
But Frank was keeping an eye on the two men. He did not mean to give
them even the slightest chance to play a trick in the eleventh hour.
Frank Bird was a pretty hard fellow to catch napping, he usually had his
eyes open, and especially when he knew there was danger around.
The tug came booming on, and they could see that there were quite a
number of people aboard.
"What if some of them are from Bloomsbury?" suggested Andy. At which his
cousin laughed.
"You didn't stop to think twice before you made that break, Andy," he
remarked. "Tell me, by what conveyance could they have got to the lake
ahead of us, when we came through by lightning express at the rate of
nearly a hundred miles an hour at times? But I can see they are
expecting to take charge of our friends here, because there's an officer
aboard. Just keep where you are, Casper; your goose is cooked, and
there's no need of making matters worse."
The man settled back again with a growl, and then burst out into a
reckless laugh.
"Small difference it makes, I guess, boys, how the thing's done, so
long as we've got to go to the lock-up. You might just as well have the
credit for the job as anybody; and man to man, now I want to say that
I'm full of admiration for the fine way you handled that hydroplane of
yours. If so be you're the Bird boys I've been hearing so much about,
you've got the making of crack-a-jack aviators in you. That's about all
from me now."
The tug came alongside, and the two men were assisted aboard, where the
police officer saw that they were promptly ironed.
"We got the word from Bloomsbury, and your father hired this tug right
away, Andy Bird, to follow you out on the lake, if so be you kept after
the rascals," said a tall gentleman with a white mustache, who, they
afterwards learned, was the mayor of the city on the lake shore. "Now
what can we do for you?"
"Please stand by, and let's see if we can get away," answered Frank, "if
not we'll have to go on board, and tow the hydroplane behind, but since
relieved of so much extra weight the pontoons have risen again; and I
expect she'll go."
And she did, with the very first effort, beginning to move over the
surface of the water in the lee of the tug; then, as Frank hastened to
elevate the planes, the airship started to mount and when free from the
lake a mighty cheer broke from the lips of those aboard the small
vessel, even Casper Blue joining in giving the brave lads their just
dues.
Frank carefully started back toward the American side of the lake. He
did not know whether the capture had been made on the Canadian side or
not, and as the question was never raised, even in the trail of the bank
robbers it was never wholly clear in his mind.
When they reached land it was early night; and save that the wind had
lulled considerably, they would not have been able to get in for a long
time after that. As there was no need of their hurrying homeward, Frank
and Andy consented to stay over as the guests of the mayor, who was more
than pleased to have the famous Bird boys stop under his roof.
But first Frank made sure to send a message to each of their homes; as
well as to Chief Waller, who would have to come on and get the two bold
men who had broken into the Bloomsbury bank and about cleaned out the
vault; and not content with one haul, were planning to rob the pay-car
when it stopped in Bloomsbury to settle with a large number of employees
centering there.
Doubtless that must have been a season of considerable excitement in
the home town; and the names of Frank and Andy Bird were cheered to the
echo by the crowds of town boys Larry and Elephant would lead around,
burning red lights and firing off Roman candles purchased with money
supplied by Dr. and Professor Bird, the happy fathers of the two young
heroes.
On the following day Chief Waller was on hand with one of his men to
escort the prisoners back to the town where their latest crime had been
committed. Frank had already sent the little camera box with its
valuable contents, just as he had received it from Casper Blue, to the
president of the bank by express, not caring to hold it any longer in
his hands than was absolutely necessary.
About noon, the conditions being favorable, the Bird boys sailed away
amidst the cheers of half the little city, and headed directly south on
a bee line for home.
Fortunately enough no further adventures overtook them on their way
there, and as their coming had been announced they found the whole town
in an uproar, and came near being mobbed, such was the desire of every
man, woman, boy and girl to have the honor of shaking hands with them.
Percy was on hand too, with a thousand questions concerning the fate of
his precious biplane, and bemoaning the fact that he seemed to be the
most unlucky fellow who had ever attempted to bring honors to
Bloomsbury. But there were precious few who sympathized with him; and
everybody knew that all he had to do was to demand that his mother
advance the ready cash to buy another flier, and it was sure to be
forthcoming.
But there were other lively times in store for Frank and Andy Bird,
although neither of them suspected it just then, and believed that a
period of calm would likely follow their hydroplane round-up. What the
nature of these exploits were the reader who has accompanied us in our
voyage through the pages of this book, will learn when he purchases the
next story in this series, now on sale under the title of "The Bird
Boys' Aeroplane Wonder or, Young Aviators On a Cattle Ranch."
The End.