ON THE WING
The constable stared at Hiram. He glanced at Elmer with half a scowl.
Then he rubbed his head as if seeking for new ideas. Finally a sort of
sickly grin overspread his flabby face.
“You’d make a good lawyer,” he observed. “Over the state line I am, sure
enough, with no warrant served. Well, I’m not so sorry as you may
think.”
“I’m glad to hear you say so,” declared Hiram. “You’ll be glad, too,
when you come to know that the man behind the gun in this case is an
unmitigated rascal.”
“I didn’t know anything about that, I simply followed orders,” said the
official, in a slightly apologetic tone.
“Well, good-bye, officer, I suppose I can go?” broke in Elmer.
“I shan’t hinder you. Only keep out of my territory.”
Elmer exchanged a look of mutual understanding with Hiram, and walked
slowly away. He soon disappeared beyond a little thicket, heading in the
direction of the town and the railroad station.
“Well, officer?” spoke up Hiram, moving about the biplane to see that
everything was in order.
“Well, lad,” returned the constable, “I suppose it’s in order for me to
get back home after this fool’s errand.”
“I’ll be glad to take you back with me,” said Hiram.
“Humph!” and the constable shrugged his shoulders in a dubious way. “I’m
safe on the ground once more, thank goodness; and I reckon I’ll stay
here.”
“Oh, come ahead in the machine,” invited the young pilot. “No capers,
officer, honestly. I had to do some gliding to make you forget business
till my friend was over the safety line, but I’ll take you home steady
as a Pullman, I promise you.”
“No diver’s suit, though, mind you.”
“That isn’t necessary,” laughed Hiram. “Just strap yourself in and I’ll
give you a nice ride.”
By the time they got back to the aero grounds the constable was as
friendly as could be. He shook hands good-bye with Hiram, and winked at
him and chuckled to himself as he walked over to where the lawyer-like
man and the disguised Vernon stood waiting for him. They evidently had
seen the _Comet_ returning and had hastened to the grounds to hear the
news.
Hiram lingered, watching the group until they disappeared. Dave Dashaway
came out of the hangar as the assistants ran the biplane towards it.
Bright as a dollar, looking every inch the active, ambitious fellow his
friends called him, the young airman regarded his assistant inquiringly
and expectantly.
“You didn’t wait for me,” observed Dave.
“No, I was in a hurry,” laughed Hiram. “I suppose you know what was
doing?”
“I’ve heard something about a warrant for Elmer. I’ve guessed out the
plot. Mr. Brackett was here, quite worried.”
“He needn’t be,” declared Hiram, reassuringly. “There he is now. It’s
all right, Mr. Brackett,” added Hiram, advancing to meet the wealthy
manufacturer. “They didn’t get Elmer, and, what’s more, they won’t get
him very soon.”
Dave Dashaway led the way into the little portable house adjoining the
_Comet_ hangar where the boys slept nights. All sat down on camp stools.
“I hope this new trouble is not going to disturb your plans,” spoke Mr.
Brackett.
“Not a bit of it,” replied Hiram. “Elmer is safely out of the way, and
everything is arranged to keep that miscreant, Vernon, from annoying
him.”
Hiram recounted all that had transpired. The cloud of uneasiness passed
from the brow of the president of the Interstate Aero Company. He smiled
approvingly at the keen-witted narrator.
“Elmer will take a train and go right on to an arranged rendezvous,”
explained Hiram. “He will be on hand for the start, Mr. Brackett.”
“I shall start for Washington,” announced the manufacturer. “I want to
see the _Comet_ begin the big race in which I feel Dashaway and his
friends will win new laurels.”
“Thank you for your confidence in us,” said the young airman. “I expect
to deserve it. There’s a reason—you have given us a biplane that is a
marvel.”
“Yes,” declared Hiram, enthusiastically, “there will be nothing in the
field that can even begin to compare with the _Comet_.”
Our hero and his assistant spent some time going over the splendid piece
of mechanism, after Mr. Brackett had gone away. The highest skill had
been employed in the construction of the _Comet_. From barograph to
breeches buoy it was as nearly perfect and thoroughly equipped as money
and intelligence could make it.
The biplane was of original design. It had a tube mechanism and
universal bearing that were entirely new in the aviation field. The
arrangements for gasoline, oil and water had been the main
consideration. The capacity for carrying extra weight the second. The
coverings were rubberized fabric, the machine had the very newest shock
absorbers, and the double-control system admitted of a manipulation that
not only divided the operation work, but added to the safety of
navigation.
As to the superb balancing and self-righting powers of the _Comet_, the
boys had demonstrated these merits only the day previous. With a ripping
crash the machine had entered the perimeter of a corkscrew glide. Dave
found the tilt so steep there seemed no chance to come out of the
spiral. Hiram, in the second seat, by a deft, quick operation of the
rudder control, changed the equilibrium. Dave did the rest, and the
_Comet_ passed a hair-breadth ground swoop clean as an acrobat.
On account of the long flights necessary, probable landings in desert
spots far from civilization, and the menace of supplies giving out, the
_Comet_ had been constructed of a weight, breadth and length that would
admit of the utilization of a so-called ballast pit. This was located
directly behind the seats. It was compactly filled at the present time,
all ready for the start scheduled for a few days later. With every
article cared for, and after a close calculation of the effect of
dislodgment and replacement, the young aviator in command of the machine
felt that he had mastered most of the details of the prospective trip
around the world.
Before Mr. Brackett had left them, he had made arrangements to join them
at the aero meet at Sylvan Park, near Washington. There were some final
details of the journey to arrange for after they reached the aviation
field. So far as their present situation was concerned, however, the
_Comet_ was all ready for the flight.
The sky was clear, the stars shone brightly and there was a gentle
breeze entirely favorable to them, as, about ten o’clock the _Comet_ was
quietly rolled out of the hangar. The young airman purposely evaded any
publicity as to their start on account of Elmer and his enemies. The two
assistants waved them a hearty adieu, but stirred up no commotion.
Within five minutes the splendid piece of mechanism was speeding on its
way for a point fifty miles distant.
“At Fordham, you said,” remarked Dave, as they settled down to an even
course of progress.
“Yes, just beyond the town. We all know the town, it’s right in our
course—and I thought that the best place to have Elmer wait for us.”
The _Comet_ passed over half a dozen quaint little villages. Then it
followed the railroad tracks, the signal lights operating as guides.
They knew Fordham, because they had made several trial spurts to and
from the place. They passed its rows of street lights, slowed down, and
the _Comet_ reached _terra firma_ inside of the town baseball grounds.
“Hello!” at once hailed them, and Elmer came forward from a seat on the
bleachers, where he had been resting. “Everything all right?”
“As a trivet,” pronounced Hiram. “Been a slow wait; eh?”
“Oh, I snoozed a little,” replied Elmer; “lunched some, and had a hard
time explaining my being here to a suspicious old watchman who looks
after the grounds.”
“Get aboard,” directed Dave, and Elmer sank into the seat with a
contented sigh.
“It’s business now, I suppose,” he remarked. “Say, fellows, it’s a big
thing we hope to do; isn’t it?”
“Yes,” assented the sprightly Hiram; “and I reckon we’ll have seen some
startling sights before we come this way again.”