THE REWARD
The major got up and the boys also jumped to their feet. “Well, who
wants to go up now?” he asked.
“I do!” cried William lustily.
“Me too,” insisted Wallace.
“What about me?”—that from Nuthin’.
The three boys milled around the major. Paul and Jack, smiling,
retreated to the background. They had had their ride and it was
somebody else’s turn now. “I’ll tell you what,” the major said, “the
three of you choose and I’ll take the two winners up now. And when I
come down I’ll take up the loser.”
It was a good suggestion and fair enough. And as luck would have it,
William who was the most persistent and eager, lost and his twin
brother Wallace and Nuthin’ went up. From the ground, they watched the
plane in the air. McCarthy kept them in the air for a much shorter
time than Paul and Jack and performed no stunts. When they landed, the
two boys, thrilled and excited, climbed out of the machine. The pilot
smiled cheerfully and cried, “Well, who’s next?”
William shouted, “I am!” And quickly and eagerly tumbled into the
observer’s seat. This time the other boys thought that William was the
lucky chap, since he was going to fly all by himself. Jack immediately
spoke up. “Major McCarthy,” he said, “would it be all right with you
if the four of us chose to see which one of us could go up with you a
second time?”
He nodded. “Sure,” he said. “That’s fair enough, I guess.”
Paul was the lucky one and he went up in the air for a second time.
When McCarthy landed, the boys thanked him heartily. When they returned
to Stanhope they all went to Bobolink’s house because he was still
unable to leave his bed and they had decided to hold the meeting that
afternoon in his room. When they got there, they found Bluff and
Ken already present and they could hardly contain their excitement.
William, impatient as well as impulsive, broke into the room, shouting,
“Hey, fellows, we flew in a real airplane.”
The boys in the room were also highly excited and Bluff, who was
eager to explain, stuttered so because of the exciting news, that he
couldn’t talk. He cried, “A-a-a-and y-y-you n-n-n-know what—”
He was interrupted, however, by Ken, who called out, “Wait, Bluff,
don’t tell them until we hear what they have to say.”
Paul demanded, “What is it you’ve got to tell us?”
Bobolink, propped up in bed, declared, “Oh, nothing, nothing much.”
But their eyes glittered so with excitement and their faces were so
flushed that the new-comers could tell at a glance that there was
something up.
“Say, you fellows are holding something from us; come on, tell us,”
William demanded.
Ken, who was always able to keep a straight face, no matter what
happened, remarked very coolly and casually, “Nothing, really. You tell
us first what happened at the airport. Did you all get a ride?”
The boys grinned. “We most certainly did,” announced William.
“Each and everyone of us,” added Jack.
Paul said modestly, blushing to admit the truth, “I went up twice.”
Bluff made believe he was fainting. “Is that b-boy l-l-lucky!” he
exclaimed, “H-h-how come y-y-you w-were thus h-h-honored?” he wanted to
know.
Paul explained. Wallace interrupted to say, “And what’s more, Major
McCarthy told us to tell you, Bobolink, that just as soon as you’re
recuperated, he’s going to take you up, too.”
The boys swarmed about Bobolink’s bed and the boy had to turn his head
from one side to the other to listen to what each fellow said. He
replied, “I’m glad and I appreciate the major’s offer but I wish you
boys would stop jumping around like frogs and get chairs and sit down.”
He was interrupted by William and Jack who began to speak at once but
he stopped them and added, “Don’t all talk at the same time.”
Wallace got ahead of all the others this time and announced, “Major
McCarthy also told us that he is going to teach us all how to fly.”
Bluff and Ken who heard the news for the first time, jumped high in the
air and shouted, “Wow!!”
Paul called the boys to order and admonished them not to make so much
noise because that would be a very poor manner in which to reciprocate
Mrs. Link’s kindness in permitting them to meet in Bobolink’s room. All
the boys nodded and agreed to refrain from making any further noise.
They brought in chairs, placed them around the bed and sat down very
orderly to discuss the business at hand, which was, Major McCarthy’s
offer to teach them how to fly. For the moment they forgot everything
else and thought only of their ambition to learn how to fly and be
pilots. Bluff, however, soon remembered that there was some exciting
news to tell which had been temporarily forgotten. At the first
opportunity, therefore, he interrupted and said, “W-w-wait a minute,
f-f-fellows, we h-h-have f-f-forg-g-gotten s-s-something.”
Given the cue, they all suddenly remembered. William jumped out of his
seat and cried, “That’s right, you were supposed to tell us something.
So come across, don’t hold back, tell us,” he demanded.
Bluff waved his arms and wanted to tell but Ken restrained him and
said, “No, it’s Bobolink’s news; let him tell it.”
All eyes turned on Bobolink. A modest and unassuming person, he
hesitated. Ken urged him on, saying, “Don’t be bashful, tell them.”
Blushing, he said, “It’s really Paul and Jack who deserve all the
credit for catching that crook and they should really get all of the
reward.”
“Reward! What reward?”
“What crook?”
They all spoke simultaneously, without listening to each other. Paul
held up his hand and motioned for everybody to be quiet. He said,
“Let’s first hear what it’s all about. All right, Bobolink, tell us
what you’re talking about.”
Bobolink said, “Well, the story is all very simple. You remember
yesterday how that speeder nearly ran over the Smither’s kid?”
They all nodded. Wallace said, “Of course we do, and if it weren’t for
you, the kid would be dead.”
“It wasn’t much, really,” said Bobolink. “But what happened afterwards
is what’s really important. Jack and Paul went after the fellow and
caught him and then the police arrested him.”
William was impatient. “So what about it?” he demanded.
“Well,” continued Bobolink, “a short while ago Chief of Police Bates
called up and said that there was a two thousand dollar reward for the
arrest of that fellow and that very likely the money will be awarded
to be shared by Paul, Jack and me. But it’s Jack and Paul who should
really get all of it.”
The last sentence was not heard because of the commotion that followed.
The boys jumped high in the air, shouted, screamed, cheered Paul, Jack
and Bobolink. They were beside themselves with joy. When at last they
quieted down, Jack asked, “But who’s the culprit, Bobolink? What crime
did he commit and who’s giving the reward?”
Bobolink answered, “Chief Bates explained to mother that the culprit
is a well known counterfeiter and the government is giving the reward.
He said that in a day or two a government agent will come to town to
determine who really deserves the reward. But my mother told me that he
assured her that the three of us are going to get the reward.”