NEARLY OUT OF THE RACE.
The day of the big race in which the various air-craft had been
entered dawned fair and cloudless. There was not a breath of wind and
the conditions seemed propitious for making ideal flights.
The big crowds that early thronged the grounds thought so too. They
strolled about, poking their heads into various sheds and making
conditions almost unbearable for the various flying-men who were
busily preparing their machines within.
A band had been engaged and was blaring away at popular tunes. All the
aerodromes were draped with flags, and bunting of all kinds made the
grounds gay indeed.
But the gayety did not extend inside the boys' aerodrome where, in
fact, dismay reigned.
To explain its cause we must go back a little and recount some
happenings of the preceding night.
While the boys and Le Blanc had been sound asleep, the figure of
Sanborn had upraised itself from his cot and quietly sneaked over to
the aeroplane. Softly he worked with a wrench and screw-driver for
some time, and then with an exclamation of:
"That will fix you," he had softly tiptoed out of the tent carrying
the detached main guiding lever of the ship. He rapidly traversed the
deserted aviation grounds and flung the important part of the
air-craft's mechanism into a clump of bushes. Thus did Sanborn carry
out his promise to Malvoise and Luther Barr to cripple the Golden
Eagle.
"There, that's done," he said, with an evil sneer, "and now I'll make
myself scarce. I came too near to being caught by that whiskered old
Apache, Bluewater Bill, the other night, to make it healthy for me
round here when it is discovered that the lever is gone. However, I
managed to overhear all the details of the treasure galleon and if old
man Barr doesn't make the knowledge worth my while he's not so greedy
after gold as I thought he was."
Thus musing, Sanford walked rapidly off in the direction of the
village.
When the boys awoke on the eventful day, naturally their first
thoughts were of the machine in which they hoped so ardently to win
the aviation trophy. Their dismay may be better imagined than put into
words when they discovered their loss.
"It puts us out of the race," was Harry's despairing cry.
"We can never replace it by two o'clock, the time set for the start,"
was Frank's despairing exclamation.
Suddenly they realized that Sanborn also was missing. Like a flash
Frank realized that it must have been their mechanic who had done the
damage. It would have been impossible for any one to enter the shed
from the outside without leaving traces, as the lock was on the
interior of the door.
Le Blanc raged round the shed like a wild man. It would have fared ill
with Sanborn had he fallen into the hands of the Frenchman just then.
Le Blanc regarded the Golden Eagle like his own child and his rage
would have been comic from the antics it made him perform if the
situation had not been so serious.
What was to be done?
Frank tried device after device in his anxiety to provide a substitute
lever, but they all proved too frail. It was impossible to get a
duplicate at such short notice, as the levers were especially made for
the Golden Eagle.
"Well, boys, it looks as if we will have to disqualify," finally
pronounced Frank, after his fifth endeavor at a substitute lever had
broken off short when a strain was placed on it.
"I wish I could get hold of that fellow for just five minutes,"
groaned Harry.
"I was foolish not to discharge him when I made up my mind to do so,"
rejoined Frank. "I felt all along that the fellow was a scoundrel."
Bluewater Bill had entered the shed while the boys were discussing the
situation and Le Blanc was tearing his hair. He was soon made
acquainted with what had happened.
"Say," he said finally after due consideration, "that was a pretty
heavy lever, wasn't it, boys?"
"Yes," was the reply.
"Then he didn't carry it very fur. This fellow Sandboy, I mean."
"I don't suppose so," rejoined Frank.
"In that case he must have hidden it somewhere."
"That's true, but that doesn't put us any nearer to finding it."
"Have you tried?"
"No."
"Well, then, here's what you do. Announce your loss on the grounds by
posting a notice and offering a reward. Maybe someone will show up who
has found it."
"That's a pretty slim chance," despairingly said Frank.
"Worth trying. I had a pretty slim chance when I was in that launch.
It's slim chances that win out lots of times."
"Well, perhaps, as you say, it is worth trying. Anyhow I'll write out
a notice and post it on the outside of the shed."
Frank rapidly wrote out a description of the missing aeroplane lever
and soon it was tacked up on the door of the shed. An eager crowd
surrounded it at once and soon a score of men and boys were searching
over the grounds in the hope of being able to claim the reward.
As the time wore on and there seemed to be no chance of their
contesting in the race, the boys grew more and more angry at the
thought of Sanborn's treachery.
"We ought to have him locked up if we can get hold of him," was
Harry's indignant exclamation.
"That's just the trouble, that little 'if,'" put in Billy Barnes.
"I'll bet he's a long way off by this time. What motive can he have
had in removing the lever?"
"Somebody must have put him up to the job, that's certain to my mind,"
said Frank.
"I think so, too," agreed Harry, "I have it," he cried suddenly. "I'll
bet that fellow Malvoise is in this some way. He'd do anything to see
us lose."
"I wish we could prove it on him," sighed Frank.
At this point a gray head stuck itself into the shed and the boys, as
they recognized its possessor, shouted:
"Come in, Mr. Joyce."
A rapidly healing scar was all that remained of the injury that had
sent the old man to the hospital. He had found work on the grounds and
was fast recovering his health.
"Well, I suppose you boys are going to win the cup," he said,
smilingly, as he came in. "I had a letter from my daughter to-day in
which she asked to be remembered to you and to convey to you her best
wishes for your success."
"Thank you," politely answered Frank, "but I am afraid we are out of
the race."
He hastily explained the loss of the lever and the old man shook his
head sympathizingly. He examined the aeroplane carefully but was
unable to suggest a substitute for the missing lever.
"If you had been able to race, I had some advice for you," he said.
"As I told you when you visited me at the hospital, I am the inventor
of the Buzzard and the plans and patents were wrongfully obtained from
me by a trick. I know the Buzzard's strong points but I also know her
weak ones. When going at full speed she cannot steer round into the
wind which is, I hear, one of your aeroplane's good features. Now, if
you had gone into the race to-day, with the direction in which the
wind is blowing, you could have outgeneraled Malvoise by forcing him
to make such a maneuver. I would give anything to see the man who
robbed me of my designs robbed, in his turn, of the cup."
The old man clenched his fists as he spoke and his eyes shone.
"If only we had the lever we might still defeat his attempt to put us
out of the race, for I am now certain that Sanborn was bribed by him
to deprive us of it," exclaimed Frank.
At this moment a sound was heard that brought them all to their feet.
It was a shout from the crowd which grew nearer every minute. As the
boys ran to the door to see what could be the matter, and if the
uproar had been induced by an accident to one of their competitors,
they saw a sight that made their eyes dance.
A small boy was laboriously dragging toward the shed the missing lever
while the crowd pressed about him enthusiastically.
"Hurray!" shouted the boys. "We'll be in the race after all."
The small boy soon told of his discovery of the lever in a clump of
bushes into which he had crawled in search of a missing ball he had
been playing with. He did not know what it was he had found, till one
of the crowd who had read the "Lost" notice, recollected it and told
the lad to take his find to the Golden Eagle shed. There certainly was
one happy soul in Mineola that day as the little fellow pranced off
with the easiest money he had ever earned.
But happier still were our young heroes, as they rapidly adjusted the
lever and fitted their craft for the race, the starting moment for
which was now only a brief time away.
"You have never told us who that man was, Mr. Joyce," reminded Frank.
"No, I have not," replied the old inventor, his excitement rising,
"but I will tell you now. It was Luther Barr, the--"
He got no further.
"Luther Barr," amazedly echoed the boys, "has he gone into the
aeroplane business?"
"He has, with the fruits of my industry," exclaimed Mr. Joyce. "Do you
know him? I imagine from your expressions that you do?"
"Do we know him?" repeated Billy. "I should say we do."
Frank soon appeased old Mr. Joyce's curiosity and told him of their
experiences in Africa with Luther Barr pitted against them.
"If Luther Barr intends making money out of duplicates of the Buzzard,
that explains a whole lot of things," cried Harry, as Frank concluded.
"That's right," cried Frank. "I shouldn't wonder if he's at the bottom
of this whole business. I only wish we had the evidence against him."
"Don't I too?" rejoined Harry; "but he covers up his tracks too
cleverly."