Back For Vindication
Tom glanced around the restaurant. There were few persons in it save
himself and Mr. Damon. The pretty waitress was still regarding the two
curiously.
"We ought to take that paper along with us, to show to Mr. Sharp," said
Tom, in a low voice to his friend. "I haven't had time to take it all
in myself, yet. Let's go. I've had enough to eat, haven't you?"
"Yes. My appetite is gone now."
As they arose, to pay their checks the girl advanced.
"Can you tell me where I can get a copy of this paper?" asked Tom, as
he laid down a generous tip on the table, for the girl. Her eyes opened
rather wide.
"Yo' all are fo'gettin' some of yo' money," she said, in her broad,
southern tones. Tom thought her the prettiest girl he ever seen,
excepting Mary Nestor.
"Oh, that's for you," replied the young inventor. "It's a tip. Aren't
you in the habit of getting them down here?"
"Not very often. Thank yo' all. But what did yo' all ask about that
paper?"
"I asked where I could get a copy of it. There is something in it that
interests me."
"Yes, an' Ah reckon Ah knows what it is," exclaimed the girl. "It's
about that airship with th' robbers in it!"
"How do you know?" inquired Tom quickly, and he tried to seem cool,
though he felt the hot blood mounting to his cheeks.
"Oh, Ah saw yo' all readin' it. Everybody down heah is crazy about it.
We all think th' ship is comin' down this way, 'cause it says th'
robbers was intendin' to start south befo' they robbed th' bank. Ah
wish Ah could collect thet five thousand dollars. If Ah could see that
airship, I wouldn't work no mo' in this eatin' place. What do yo' all
reckon thet airship looks like?" and the girl gazed intently at Tom and
Mr. Damon.
"Why, bless my--" began the eccentric man, but Tom broke in hurriedly:
"Oh, I guess it looks like most any other airship," for he feared that
if his companion used any of his odd expressions he might be
recognized, since our hero had not had time to read the article in the
paper through, and was not sure whether or not a description of
himself, Mr. Damon and Mr. Sharp was given.
"Well, Ah suah wish I could collect thet reward," went on the girl.
"Everybody is on th' lookout. Yo' all ain't see th' airship; have yo'
all?"
"Where can we get a paper like this?" asked Tom, again, not wanting to
answer such a leading question.
"Why, yo' all is suah welcome to that one," was the reply. "Ah guess Ah
can affo'd to give it to yo' all, after th' generous way yo' all
behaved to me. Take it, an' welcome. But are yo' all suah yo' are done
eatin'? Yo' all left lots."
"Oh, we had enough," replied Tom hurriedly. His sole aim now was to get
away--to consult with Mr. Sharp, and he needed the paper to learn
further details of the astonishing news. He and his friends accused of
looting the bank, and taking away seventy-five thousand dollars in the
airship! It was incredible! A reward of five thousand dollars offered
for their capture! They might be arrested any minute, yet they could
not go on without buying some provisions. What were they to do?
Once outside the restaurant, Mr. Damon and Tom walked swiftly on. They
came to a corner where there was a street lamp, and there the young
inventor paused to scan the paper again. It was the copy of a journal
published in the nearby county seat, and contained quite a full account
of the affair.
The story was told of how the bank had been broken into, the vault
rifled and the money taken. The first clue, it said, was given by a
youth named Andy Foger, who had seen a former acquaintance hanging
around the bank with burglar tools. Tom recognized the description of
himself as the "former acquaintance," but he could not understand the
rest.
"Burglar tools? I wonder how Andy could say that?" he asked Mr. Damon.
"Wait until we get back, and we'll ask John Sharp," suggested his
companion. "This is very strange. I am going to sue some one for
spreading false reports about me! Bless my ledgers, why I have money on
deposit in that bank! To think that I would rob it!"
"Poor dad!" murmured Tom. "This must be hard for him. But what about
ordering food? Maybe if we buy any they will trail us, find the airship
and capture it. I don't want to be arrested, even if I am innocent, and
I certainly don't want the airship to fall into the hands of the
police. They might damage it."
"We must go see Mr. Sharp," declared Mr. Damon, and back to where the
Red Cloud was concealed they went.
To say that the balloonist was astonished is putting it mildly. He was
even more excited than was Mr. Damon.
"Wait until I get hold of that Andy Foger!" he cried. "I'll make him
sweat for this! I see he's already laid claim to the reward," he added,
reading further along in the article. "He thinks he has put the police
on our trail."
"So he seems to have done," added Tom. "The whole country has been
notified to look out for us," the paper says. "We're likely to be fired
upon whenever we pass over a city or a town."
"Then we'll have to avoid them," declared the balloonist.
"But we must go back," declared Tom.
"Of course. Back to be vindicated. We'll have to give up our trip. My,
my! But this is a surprise!"
"I don't see what makes Andy say he saw me with burglar tools,"
commented Tom, with a puzzled air.
Mr. Sharp thought for a moment. Then he exclaimed "It was that bag of
tools I sent you after--the long wrenches, the pliers, and the brace
and bits. You--"
"Of course!" cried Tom. "I remember now. The bag dropped and opened,
and Andy and Sam saw the tools. But the idea of taking them for burglar
tools!"
"Well, I suppose the burglars, whoever they were, did use tools similar
to those to break open the vault," put in Mr. Damon. "Andy probably
thought he was a smart lad to put the police on our track."
"I'll put him on the track, when I return," declared Mr. Sharp. "Well,
now, what's to be done?"
"We've got to have food," suggested Tom.
"Yes, but I think we can manage that. I've been looking over the ship,
as best I could in the dark. It seems to be all right. We can start
early in the morning without anyone around here knowing we paid their
town a visit. You and Mr. Damon go back to town, Tom, and order some
stuff. Have the man leave it by the roadside early to-morrow morning.
Tell him it's for some travelers, who will stop and pick it up. Pay him
well, and tell him to keep quiet, as it's for a racing party. That's
true enough. We're going to race home to vindicate our reputations. I
think that will be all right."
"The man may get suspicious," said Mr. Damon.
"I hope not," answered the balloonist. "We've got to take a chance,
anyhow."
The plan worked well, however, the store keeper promising to have the
supplies on hand at the time and place mentioned. He winked as Tom
asked him to keep quiet about it.
"Oh, I know yo' automobile fellers," he said with a laugh. "You want to
get some grub on the fly, so you won't have to stop, an' can beat th'
other fellow. I know you, fer I see them automobile goggles stickin'
out of your pocket."
Tom and Mr. Damon each had a pair, to use when the wind was strong, but
the young inventor had forgotten about his. They now served him a good
turn, for they turned the thoughts of the storekeeper into a new
channel. The lad let it go at that, and, paying for such things as he
and Mr. Damon could not carry, left the store.
The aeronauts passed an uneasy night. They raised their ship high in
the air, anchoring it by a rope fast to a big tree, and they turned on
no lights, for they did not want to betray their position. They
descended before it was yet daylight, and a little later hurried to the
place where the provisions were left. They found their supplies safely
on hand, and, carrying them into the airship, prepared to turn back to
Shopton.
As the ship rose high in the air a crowd of negro laborers passing
through a distant field, saw it. At once they raised a commotion,
shouting and pointing to the wonderful sight.
"We're discovered!" cried Tom.
"No matter," answered Mr. Sharp. "We'll soon be out of sight, and we'll
fly high the rest of this trip."
Tom looked down on the fast disappearing little hamlet, and he thought
of the pretty girl in the restaurant.