THE WONDERFUL AIR-SHIP.
The joy of Harding bordered upon a frenzy. He could hardly contain
himself.
“Hurrah!” he cried. “God has answered my prayer. I shall be saved.”
“Av coorse yez will!” cried Barney, in an encouraging voice. “Shure an’
howiver did yez come in this persition?”
“I was thrown over the cliff by a companion whom I supposed to be a
friend, but who was my worst enemy.”
“Shure that was a dhirty thrick. Niver mind, yez may yit git squar wid
the omadhoun!”
“I will,” replied Harding, resolutely.
The darky, Pomp, throw a rope over the rail.
“Golly, sah!” he cried, with a comical grin. “Jes’ yo’ cach hol’ ob dat
an’ dis chile brung yo’ abo’d pooty quick!”
“Easy, Pomp,” said a rich, melodious voice. “It is not quite time yet.”
The speaker was Frank Reade, Jr., himself. He stood upon the deck with
one hand upon the rail and an eye upon the revolving rotascopes which
served to hold the ship suspended in the air.
He was a fine, handsome specimen of youth, with clear-cut features, a
steady eye and an air of one born to command.
The Kite was settling down slowly into the defile.
Pomp now rushed to the pilot-house near and pressed one of the electric
keys.
This so regulated the speed of the rotascopes that the air-ship was held
immovable at its present attitude.
Then Pomp sprang back to the rail.
Barney had taken the rope and had now swung it over until it came within
reach of Harding.
“Steady dar, boss!” cried Pomp. “Now jes’ yo’ hang right on!”
“All right, my good friends,” replied Harding.
There was a noose in the end of the rope, and the gold seeker slipped
this under his shoulders.
Then he cried:
“All right! Haul away!”
This was done. Pomp and Barney hauled away with a will, and very quickly
Harding was lifted over the rail on board the Kite.
He stood upon his feet and gazed about him.
“Heaven be praised!” he gasped. “This is all like a strange dream. It
does not seem at all a reality.”
“I can understand that, sir,” cried Frank Reade, Jr., with a pleasant
laugh. “You are welcome on board the Kite.”
He shook hands with Harding most warmly. But the gold seeker continued
to gaze about the air-ship wonderingly.
“I have heard much of you and your inventions, Mr. Reade,” he said, “but
I never dreamed that your air-ship was such a beautiful and wonderful
machine.”
“Indeed,” said Frank, pleasantly; “if you desire I will shortly show you
about the ship and explain to you its details and manner of
construction.”
“Indeed, I shall be delighted.”
“But you are fatigued. Come into the cabin and have a glass of wine, and
tell us how you came in that dangerous position.”
“I will do that with all pleasure,” replied Harding.
He followed Frank Reade, Jr., into the cabin of the Kite.
This was situated amidships, and was a most beautifully furnished
saloon.
Frank offered a chair to his visitor, and said:
“Now, Mr. Harding, we shall be very glad to have your story.”
Harding had already given his name and business in these parts to Frank
Reade, Jr.
He now began at the beginning and detailed the entire story of his life.
He told frankly of his love for Mabel Dane and of his expedition to Peru
to search for the Incas treasure.
“I had hoped to find the fortune,” he said, “and then return and claim
the girl I love.”
He then detailed his meeting with Vane and the after incidents.
How they had found the Incas treasure and had planned to remove it. Then
the perfidy of Vane.
Frank Reade, Jr., and Barney and Pomp listened with the deepest of
interest.
To them it was a most interesting and thrilling recital.
Particularly was the young inventor interested. When Harding had
finished he cried, vehemently:
“My friend, you shall have your rights. That treasure every bit belongs
to you, and yours it shall be.”
“Thank you a thousand times!” cried Harding, eagerly. “Oh, do you really
mean to say that you will help me to recover the Incas treasure?”
“I do,” replied Frank.
“Half, yes, two-thirds of it shall be yours. I only ask enough——”
“Not one cent!” replied Frank, quickly. “I do not want money. I am rich
enough.”
Harding was almost delirious in his great joy.
He alternately thanked and blessed his young benefactor.
“If I can return to America with a fortune, and claim Mabel Dane as my
wife,” he declared, “I shall be the happiest man in the world.”
“If it is in my power to assist you to do that, I will do it.”
Frank now proceeded to show Harding the wonderful mechanism and
construction of his air-ship.
“All the electrical devices aboard this ship,” he declared, “are patents
of my own.”
The Kite was built after the shape of a modern cruiser, with a narrow
hull, and long, pointed bow.
The hull was made of the lightest rolled platinum, lined on the bottom
with tough steel meshes to resist a blow or the impact of a bullet.
Lightness and strength are the two prime things to be considered in
building an air-ship.
Frank Reade, Jr., considered these well and carefully. He was certain
that he had hit upon the right plan.
The hull of the Kite was roomy enough to admit of the storage of the
electrical machinery, batteries and dynamos. Also there was a cabin for
Barney and Pomp and a good-sized galley for cooking purposes.
A deck over all was made of light wood highly polished.
Amidships was the cabin with furnishings and decorations of the richest
description.
Forward was the pilot-house or tower, and aft was a similar tower for
the regulating of the propeller or the rotascope shafts.
One huge mast rose from the deck and supported a monster rotascope,
which was in itself sufficient to elevate the ship.
But to make sure, two smaller rotascopes were provided upon shafts which
rose from the two towers.
In the stern was a large propeller like the huge screw of an ocean
steamer.
From the mast and the bowsprit two flying jib sails were swung, for the
purpose of steadying the Kite.
Altogether, the Kite was a most wonderful invention.
Harding was captivated by the plan as revealed by Frank Reade, Jr.
“It is wonderful,” he declared. “You are certainly the most wonderful
inventor on earth, Mr. Reade!”
“That may be a large statement,” said the young inventor, with, a smile.
“However, I am glad that you appreciate my air-ship.”
“I can only say that I am delighted beyond expression with the prospect
of taking a voyage with you aboard the Kite,” declared Harding,
ardently. “It is a treat which any man would be glad to accept.”
“The question now is,” said Frank, brusquely, “what shall we do about
the treasure you speak of? Would it not be best to secure that at once?”
“It will take Vane a long while to secure a transportation from Quito.”
“True; but he may have decided to remove the treasure to some other
hiding place!”
“Right!” cried Harding, nervously. “I appreciate the danger of
procrastination, Mr. Reade. I am ready when you are.”
“But you must first direct us where to find the treasure cave.”
“That I will do, but——”
“What?”
“You cannot go thither with this air-ship.”
“Why?”
“It is buried deep in a dark and unwholesome cavern. The air-ship cannot
enter that.”
“That is all right,” said Frank. “We can leave the ship and return to it
when we have secured the treasure.”
“Certainly.”
This move was decided upon at once.
Harding directed the course of the air-ship. Darkness was fast coming
on, and after drifting for a time over the mountain peaks Frank decided
that it would be better to wait for the light of another day.
Harding declared that the cavern was now not more than twenty miles
distant.
“We will make that in very quick time in the morning,” declared Frank.
“Certainly we can do little in this gloom.”
The sky was cloudy and the darkness which settled down was most intense.
But upon the bow of the air-ship was an electric searchlight.
With this Frank illumined the face of the country below.
He selected what he believed would be a good spot.
It was an open spot in a valley high up in the lofty Andes.
Here the air-ship was allowed to descend and rest upon the ground.
Pomp set about getting the evening meal.
The darky was a comical coon and could play the banjo and sing in
genuine plantation style.
Barney, on the other hand, was a genuine type of the Hibernian, and was
a master with the violin.
He could play all manner of Irish jigs and songs.
To get the two characters together, with their fund of music and comical
jokes, was as good as a variety show.
While they were the warmest of friends, Barney and Pomp were always
wrangling in a facetious way and playing jokes upon each other.
Upon the present night Barney had it in for Pomp.
The latter had put a live electric wire into the Celt’s bed the night
before, and when he retired had given him a shock which literally lifted
him out of the bunk.
The Celt had sworn vengeance with a large V, and he proceeded to
formulate a plan to get square with the darky.
When Barney played a joke upon any one it was generally a huge and
unvarnished one, with hard knots all over it.
Now the Celt knew the weaknesses of the darky well.
If there is one thing in his world that the negro fears it is a
disembodied spirit, or rather the thoughts of such.
Knowing this well, Barney chuckled to himself and proceeded to elaborate
his little scheme.
Pomp was an unsuspecting party.
He busied himself about the evening meal and rendered up a repast which
was delicious and appetizing.
Then, after the meal was over, all repaired to the deck to enjoy the
balmy evening air.
Frank Reade, Jr., and Harding sat by the rail enjoying a social chat and
some good cigars.
It was a fiendish plot which Barney had laid.