FRIENDS IN NEED.
The boys touched each other’s manacled hands,—to effect a handclasp was
impossible,—as they passed down the stairway. Now that it seemed all
over they felt strangely calm. They were determined, at all events, to
show no sign of flinching when the crucial moment came. Till that time
they both determined to keep up stout hearts.
“Ben Stubbs and Billy won’t fail us if its humanly possible to get
help,” said Frank.
“But how are they to storm a whole garrison,” demanded Harry
despairingly. His contention did indeed seem unanswerable and, till the
boys and their guards had reached the center of the courtyard, no more
words were exchanged. A command to halt was abruptly given by the
officer in charge and the boys were led over toward the blank wall,—on
the other side of which lay the cells, one of which they had occupied
the preceding night.
The men who had led them there then shackled their ankles and produced
two long bandages of cloth. The boys saw at once that these were
intended to blindfold them with. Both gave a shudder of repulsion.
Their signs of objection were noticed by the officer who, rightly
interpreting them, ordered the men not to tie the bandages on.
Apparently he thought that at such a moment an exact compliance with
regulations didn’t matter.
At the last moment Frank suddenly thought of the jewels in his pocket.
There was only one thing to do and that was to trust to the honor of the
officer in charge of the firing squad. He had not a bad face and even
seemed disposed to be friendly to what small extent he could. Frank,
with his head, beckoned to him. He hurried up.
“Can you speak English?” asked Frank.
“A little;” replied the officer.
“At least you can understand what I am going to say,” replied Frank “you
consider a dying promise a solemn one.”
The officer nodded his head.
“I have something to send to my father after I am dead and I am going to
entrust you with the commission,” went on Frank, “will you promise to
carry it out faithfully?”
With another vigorous nod of his head the Nicaraguan assented.
“It is your promise?”
“It is.”
“And you will keep it, as a man of honor and an officer?”
“Assuredly, Señor.”
“Then feel in my right-hand pocket and take out what you find there,”
said Frank.
The officer plunged in his hand and drew it out with almost a cry of
amazement when he saw the magnificent rubies that lay flashing their
crimson fire in his brown palm.
“You see why I exacted such a solemn pledge from you,” said Frank, “such
rubies as these might tempt any man to break his word.”
“But I am a Spaniard, sir,” proudly replied the young officer drawing
himself to his full height.
Frank saw that he could trust him.
“You will deliver these to Señor Chester at La Merced,” he said, “and
tell him that two are to be the portion of Señor Barnes, you
understand,—one you will keep for your trouble.”
The officer replied that he comprehended his commission perfectly.
“And—and,” Frank hesitated; do what he could his eyes would fill with
tears as he felt that he was making what would be his last request;
“tell my father that we died like Americans and to break it to our
mother as gently as he can. I think that is all—and thank you.”
The young officer seized the boys’ manacled hands and pressed them
impulsively.
“Ever after this shall I respect Americans, Señor. Forgive me for what I
have to do,—it is my duty. Your commission I swear to execute.”
With a sharp click of his heels he turned to the firing squad and stood
at attention with his sword at his shoulder at one end of the line of
twelve men.
The boys, standing side by side, heard the first command ring sharply
out.
“Ready,—present!”
“Aim!”
“Good-bye, Harry,” whispered Frank.
“Good-bye, old fellow,” rejoined his brother. Each was glad to notice
that there was not even a tremor in the other’s voice.
“Fi——”
The command was never finished.
The firing squad, had their fingers on their triggers when,—with a crash
that caused them to drop their weapons in sheer amazement,—a shell
ripped through the roof of the garrison trial room from which Rogero
stood sombrely watching them. It exploded the next moment with a force
that showered the boys with splinters and debris and killed several of
the firing squad outright.
[Illustration: “FI——!” THE COMMAND WAS NEVER FINISHED.]
All thought of the execution was forgotten in the mad panic into which
the garrison was immediately thrown. Men rushed about and officers
shouted commands,—the very suddenness of the attack seemed to have
paralyzed the whole barracks. In the midst of the uproar and turmoil
Rogero,—his face ablaze with hate and rage,—rushed into the courtyard.
He had been unhurt in the damage the shell had done to the roof as it
ripped through and was mad with fury. He struck right and left with the
flat of his sword at the fleeing men and then, with a bellow of fury,
made at Frank and Harry who, helpless and half-stunned by the explosion
of the shell, had reeled back against the wall.
“Yankee pigs! You escaped the firing squad but I’ll run you through if
it’s the last act I perform on earth;” he yelled, rushing at them with
his drawn blade. The next minute it was struck out of his hand and he
himself knocked sprawling by a blow on the point of the chin.
“That’s the ticket for soup,” the boys heard a well-known voice cry out,
as their enemy measured his length; “and if you want any more, my fine
rooster, we’ve got it on tap.”
“Ben Stubbs!” they cried out gleefully.
“Yes, and not forgetting one Billy Barnes of New York;” joyously shouted
the young reporter, racing up to them, covered with dust, but yelling
like a Comanche, “as soon as you’ve got that hardware off you we’ll have
a talk-fest—I want to interview you, for the _Planet_.”
“What on earth has happened?” gasped the boys who only a few seconds
before had made up their minds to die—and were still dazed at the
amazing turn events had taken—
“Happened?” shouted Stubbs. “Well, shipmates, in a way of speaking about
forty things has happened at once,—like they does in a four-ring circus.
You twist yer head off looking fer ’em. In the first place me and Billy
stole two mules, got up to La Merced right after I wrote that letter and
told the folks of your plight,—and, here they come right now with the
American consul.”
He pointed to the barrack gate where, pushing through the demoralized
crowd of scared soldiers, came the well-known figure of Mr. Chester,
followed by the stalwart Blakely, and Mr. Olivares the American Consul.
“Yes, but that shell,” demanded the boys, “which saved our lives.”
“Oh, that was our friend on the revolutionary gunboat at a little target
practice I imagine,” grinned Billy Barnes. “I see it touched the spot,”
he went on gazing about at the havoc and confusion.
And then further explanations were interrupted for a time while the boys
and their father embraced and exchanged such greetings as may be
imagined. It had been an anxious time for Mr. Chester and his lined face
showed it.
“But thank heaven, it’s all over now, boys,” he exclaimed, “the United
States has taken a hand in the mess.”
“What?” cried both the boys.
“Yes,” chimed in Mr. Olivares, “the _Yankee_ and the _Dixie_, cruisers
arrived off the town this morning with Rear Admiral Kimball and
Lieutenant Commander Symington on board. They have orders from
Washington to see that peace is at once restored even if Zelaya has to
abdicate,—which he probably will in favor of Madriz,” he added—and
after-events proved him correct.
“And on top o’ that,” exclaimed Ben Stubbs, unable to keep quiet any
longer, “our friend Ruiz gave the government the licking of their young
lives at Bluefields yesterday and steamed down here on his gunboat just
in time to fire that shell and throw a scare into the spiggtys at the
very physicky moment,”—Ben meant psychological moment.
“Does his wife know that General Ruiz is safe?” asked Harry eagerly,
after the boys had related how they became leagued with the insurgents.
“Yes,” replied Mr. Chester, “the news was brought by a runner who
managed to get through Rogero’s lines two days ago. Poor woman, she
swooned when she heard the news; but now she is perfectly recovered and
will be here with Don Pachecho to meet him shortly.”
All this time Billy Barnes had been mysteriously missing. Suddenly,
however, he reappeared, accompanied by two staunch sergeants-of-marines
from the _Dixie_, leading between them a crumpled, despicable figure
that even the boys, who had good cause to remember him, had some
difficulty in recognizing as that of General Rogero. If it had been
another man his condition would have been pitiful. As it was, nobody
felt much sympathy for him.
“Well, we got him;” exclaimed Billy triumphantly, “caught him sneaking
into the hotel. Now, Mr. Consul, I want to turn this man over to your
custody as the murderer of Dr. Moneague, who is wanted for that crime by
the New York police. I’ll just leave him here till I telegraph to my
friend Detective Connelly and file the story for my paper—it will be a
crackerjack.”
He hurried off, leaving Rogero between his two guards,—facing a group
from none of which he had any right to look for mercy. His army had
evacuated Greytown in a hurry on the arrival of the American cruisers,
as no one of the officers wanted to put himself in the position of
taking up arms against the American government. Rogero was therefore
alone,—and guarding the town that he had entered in triumph not so very
long before, lay a revolutionary gunboat and two trim Yankee cruisers.
“Well,” he said bitterly, “you have me cornered but it’s not my fault
that I didn’t finish off those cubs there before you did.” He indicated
Frank and Harry. The boys turned away. It was not in their nature to
exult over a fallen enemy.
“I know there is one possession of mine which you intend to have if you
can succeed in fixing this trumped up charge of murder on me and that is
this—” he went on as he drew out a bit of parchment from an inner
pocket. “I’ll foil you,—thus,” he exclaimed suddenly and tore the plan
of the Toltec treasure trail into a thousand atoms.
“Werry pretty I must say,” spoke up Ben Stubbs, “but a waste of time,
ship-mate,—that hole into the treasure cave is filled up by the
airthquake and the only way to get at the mines will be in another
airship.”
Rogero’s face was a study.
“What, you forestalled me there, too?” he muttered savagely.
“Well I reckon these boys did that,” cheerfully replied Ben, “and
thereby saved me from a maroon’s grave.”
Rogero’s rage was frantic when he learned this. He snapped his teeth
with impotent fury as he was led off to a cell to await the arrival of
extradition papers from New York. It might as well be said here that he
never reached there. A few hours after he was placed in the cell
he,—through some attendant who was faithful to his wishes to the last,
or whom, as was more probable, he had bribed,—obtained a phial of
poison. When next his cell was visited by the guard the tempestuous
general of the Zelayan forces was finished with his earthly battles and
had been dead some time.
The boys’ irons were struck off as soon as a blacksmith could be found
in the panic-stricken city, and that evening they sat in the places of
honor at a gay banquet given to the officers of the two cruisers by Mr.
Chester and the American Consul, at the hotel where their adventures in
Nicaragua had begun. While the festivities were at their height a
servant hastened in and whispered to Frank that a man wanted to see him
outside.
In the hall Frank found a ragged-looking fellow awaiting him who held in
his hand a skin-bag.
“You are the Señor Chester?” he asked.
“Yes,” replied Frank.
“Don Alejo he tell me give you dees,” said the figure and abruptly
vanished. Inside the bag lay all the ten rubies and with them a short
note.
“You see that a Spaniard can keep his word as well as an American his
courage,—I do not need the ruby you offered me,” was all it said.
On his return to the banquet room Frank was compelled to tell in detail
all their adventures to the intense interest of the officers and of
Admiral Kimball. A buzz of admiration went round the table from time to
time as he modestly related their perils and mishaps.
Early the next day Admiral Kimball sent for the boys on board the
_Dixie_ just as Frank and Harry were congratulating General and Mrs.
Ruiz on their happy reunion and thanking the former for his speedy
voyage down the coast to their rescue.
“I have been much impressed with your courage and adroitness,” said the
admiral, when they were closeted with him in his private cabin, “and I
believe you are just the boys the government want for a particularly
perilous and dangerous mission,—will you undertake it?”
The boys eagerly pressed him for details, which he gave, while their
eyes shone at the opportunities he unfolded to them for fresh adventures
and feats in a newer, greater aeroplane than even the _Golden Eagle_.
What the Government’s special air-ship assignment was and how the
boys,—despite hardships and danger,—carried it through to a successful
conclusion will be told in the next volume of this series:—THE BOY
AVIATORS ON SECRET SERVICE; OR, WORKING WITH WIRELESS.
THE END.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOY AVIATORS’ SERIES
By Captain Wilbur Lawton
Absolutely Modern Stories for Boys
Cloth Bound Price, 50c per volume
The Boy Aviators in Nicaragua
Or, Leagued With Insurgents
The launching of this Twentieth Century series marks the inauguration of
a new era in boys’ books—the “wonders of modern science” epoch. Frank
and Harry Chester, the BOY AVIATORS, are the heroes of this exciting,
red-blooded tale of adventure by air and land in the turbulent Central
American republic. The two brothers with their $10,000 prize aeroplane,
the GOLDEN EAGLE, rescue a chum from death in the clutches of the
Nicaraguans, discover a lost treasure valley of the ancient Toltec race,
and in so doing almost lose their own lives in the Abyss of the White
Serpents, and have many other exciting experiences, including being
blown far out to sea in their air-skimmer in a tropical storm. It would
be unfair to divulge the part that wireless plays in rescuing them from
their predicament. In a brand new field of fiction for boys the Chester
brothers and their aeroplane seem destined to fill a top-notch place.
These books are technically correct, wholesomely thrilling and geared up
to third speed.
Sold by Booksellers Everywhere
HURST & CO. Publishers NEW YORK
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOY AVIATORS’ SERIES
By Captain Wilbur Lawton
Absolutely Modern Stories for Boys
Cloth Bound Price, 50c per volume
The Boy Aviators on Secret Service
Or, Working With Wireless
In this live-wire narrative of peril and adventure, laid in the
Everglades of Florida, the spunky Chester Boys and their interesting
chums, including Ben Stubbs, the maroon, encounter exciting experiences
on Uncle Sam’s service in a novel field. One must read this vivid,
enthralling story of incident, hardship and pluck to get an idea of the
almost limitless possibilities of the two greatest inventions of modern
times—the aeroplane and wireless telegraphy. While gripping and holding
the reader’s breathless attention from the opening words to the finish,
this swift-moving story is at the same time instructive and uplifting.
As those readers who have already made friends with Frank and Harry
Chester and their “bunch” know, there are few difficulties, no matter
how insurmountable they may seem at first blush, that these up-to-date
gritty youths cannot overcome with flying colors. A clean-cut, real
boys’ book of high voltage.
Sold by Booksellers Everywhere
HURST & CO. Publishers NEW YORK
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOY AVIATORS’ SERIES
By Captain Wilbur Lawton
Absolutely Modern Stories for Boys
Cloth Bound Price, 50c per volume
The Boy Aviators in Africa
Or, An Aerial Ivory Trail
In this absorbing book we meet, on a continent made famous by the
American explorer Stanley, and ex-President Roosevelt, our old friends,
the Chester Boys and their stalwart chums. In Africa—the Dark
Continent—the author follows in exciting detail his young heroes, their
voyage in the first aeroplane to fly above the mysterious forests and
unexplored ranges of the mystic land. In this book, too, for the first
time, we entertain Luther Barr, the old New York millionaire, who proved
later such an implacable enemy of the boys. The story of his defeated
schemes, of the astonishing things the boys discovered in the Mountains
of the Moon, of the pathetic fate of George Desmond, the emulator of
Stanley, the adventure of the Flying Men and the discovery of the
Arabian Ivory cache,—this is not the place to speak. It would be
spoiling the zest of an exciting tale to reveal the outcome of all these
episodes here. It may be said, however, without “giving away” any of the
thrilling chapters of this narrative, that Captain Wilbur Lawton, the
author, is in it in his best vein, and from his personal experiences in
Africa has been able to supply a striking background for the adventures
of his young heroes. As one newspaper says of this book: “Here is
adventure in good measure, pressed down and running over.”
Sold by Booksellers Everywhere
HURST & CO. Publishers NEW YORK
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOY AVIATORS’ SERIES
By Captain Wilbur Lawton
Absolutely Modern Stories for Boys
Cloth Bound Price, 50c per volume
The Boy Aviators Treasure Quest
Or, The Golden Galleon
Everybody is a boy once more when it comes to the question of hidden
treasure. In this book, Captain Lawton has set forth a hunt for gold
that is concealed neither under the sea nor beneath the earth, but is
well hidden for all that. A garrulous old sailor, who holds the key to
the mystery of the Golden Galleon, plays a large part in the development
of the plot of this fascinating narrative of treasure hunting in the
region of the Gulf Stream and the Sargasso Sea. An aeroplane fitted with
efficient pontoons—enabling her to skim the water successfully—has long
been a dream of aviators. The Chester Boys seem to have solved the
problem. The Sargasso, that strange drifting ocean within an ocean,
holding ships of a dozen nations and a score of ages, in its relentless
grip, has been the subject of many books of adventure and mystery, but
in none has the secret of the ever shifting mass of treacherous currents
been penetrated as it has in the BOY AVIATORS’ TREASURE QUEST. Luther
Barr, whom it seemed the boys had shaken off, is still on their trail,
in this absorbing book and with a dirigible balloon, essays to beat them
out in their search for the Golden Galleon. Every boy, every man—and
woman and girl—who has ever felt the stirring summons of adventure in
their souls, had better get hold of this book. Once obtained, it will be
read and re-read till it falls to rags.
Sold by Booksellers Everywhere
HURST & CO. Publishers NEW YORK
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOY AVIATORS’ SERIES
By Captain Wilbur Lawton
Absolutely Modern Stories for Boys
Cloth Bound Price, 50c per volume
The Boy Aviators in Record Flight
Or, The Rival Aeroplane
The Chester Boys in new field of endeavor—an attempt to capture a
newspaper prize for a trans-continental flight. By the time these lines
are read, exactly such an offer will have been spread broadcast by one
of the foremost newspapers of the country. In the Golden Eagle, the
boys, accompanied by a trail-blazing party in an automobile, make the
dash. But they are not alone in their aspirations. Their rivals for the
rich prize at stake try in every way that they can to circumvent the
lads and gain the valuable trophy and monetary award. In this they stop
short at nothing, and it takes all the wits and resources of the Boy
Aviators to defeat their devices. Among the adventures encountered in
their cross-country flight, the boys fall in with a band of rollicking
cow-boys—who momentarily threaten serious trouble—are attacked by
Indians, strike the most remarkable town of the desert—the “dry” town of
“Gow Wells,” encounter a sandstorm which blows them into strange lands
far to the south of their course, and meet with several amusing mishaps
beside. A thoroughly readable book. The sort to take out behind the barn
on the sunny side of the haystack, and, with a pocketful of juicy apples
and your heels kicking the air, pass happy hours with Captain Lawton’s
young heroes.
Sold by Booksellers Everywhere
HURST & CO. Publishers NEW YORK
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOY AVIATORS’ SERIES
By Captain Wilbur Lawton
Absolutely Modern Stories for Boys
Cloth Bound Price, 50c per volume
The Boy Aviators Polar Dash
Or, Facing Death in the Antarctic
If you were to hear that two boys, accompanying a South Polar expedition
in charge of the aeronautic department, were to penetrate the Antarctic
regions—hitherto only attained by a few daring explorers—you would feel
interested, wouldn’t you? Well, in Captain Lawton’s latest book,
concerning his Boy Aviators, you can not only read absorbing adventure
in the regions south of the eightieth parallel, but absorb much useful
information as well. Captain Lawton introduces—besides the original
characters of the heroes—a new creation in the person of Professor
Simeon Sandburr, a patient seeker for polar insects. The professor’s
adventures in his quest are the cause of much merriment, and lead once
or twice to serious predicaments. In a volume so packed with incident
and peril from cover to cover—relieved with laughable mishaps to the
professor—it is difficult to single out any one feature; still, a recent
reader of it wrote the publishers an enthusiastic letter the other day,
saying: “The episodes above the Great Barrier are thrilling, the attack
of the condors in Patagonia made me hold my breath, the—but what’s the
use? The Polar Dash, to my mind, is an even more entrancing book than
Captain Lawton’s previous efforts, and that’s saying a good deal. The
aviation features and their technical correctness are by no means the
least attractive features of this up-to-date creditable volume.”
Sold by Booksellers Everywhere
HURST & CO. Publishers NEW YORK
------------------------------------------------------------------------
OAKDALE ACADEMY SERIES
Stories of Modern School Sports
By MORGAN SCOTT.
Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 60c. per vol., postpaid
[Illustration]
BEN STONE AT OAKDALE.
Under peculiarly trying circumstances Ben Stone wins his way at Oakdale
Academy, and at the same time enlists our sympathy, interest and
respect. Through the enmity of Bern Hayden, the loyalty of Roger Eliot
and the clever work of the “Sleuth,” Ben is falsely accused, championed
and vindicated.
BOYS OF OAKDALE ACADEMY.
“One thing I will claim, and that is that all Grants fight open and
square and there never was a sneak among them.” It was Rodney Grant, of
Texas, who made the claim to his friend, Ben Stone, and this story shows
how he proved the truth of this statement in the face of apparent
evidence to the contrary.
RIVAL PITCHERS OF OAKDALE.
Baseball is the main theme of this interesting narrative, and that means
not only clear and clever descriptions of thrilling games, but an
intimate acquaintance with the members of the teams who played them. The
Oakdale Boys were ambitious and loyal, and some were even disgruntled
and jealous, but earnest, persistent work won out.
OAKDALE BOYS IN CAMP.
The typical vacation is the one that means much freedom, little
restriction, and immediate contact with “all outdoors.” These conditions
prevailed in the summer camp of the Oakdale Boys and made it a scene of
lively interest.
THE GREAT OAKDALE MYSTERY.
The “Sleuth” scents a mystery! He “follows his nose.” The plot thickens!
He makes deductions. There are surprises for the reader—and for the
“Sleuth,” as well.
NEW BOYS AT OAKDALE.
A new element creeps into Oakdale with another year’s registration of
students. The old and the new standards of conduct in and out of school
meet, battle, and cause sweeping changes in the lives of several of the
boys.
Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price.
HURST & COMPANY — Publishers — NEW YORK
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOY INVENTORS SERIES
Stories of Skill and Ingenuity
By RICHARD BONNER
Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 50c. per vol., postpaid
[Illustration]
THE BOY INVENTORS’ WIRELESS TELEGRAPH.
Blest with natural curiosity,—sometimes called the instinct of
investigation,—favored with golden opportunity, and gifted with creative
ability, the Boy Inventors meet emergencies and contrive mechanical
wonders that interest and convince the reader because they always “work”
when put to the test.
THE BOY INVENTORS’ VANISHING GUN.
A thought, a belief, an experiment; discouragement, hope, effort and
final success—this is the history of many an invention; a history in
which excitement, competition, danger, despair and persistence figure.
This merely suggests the circumstances which draw the daring Boy
Inventors into strange experiences and startling adventures, and which
demonstrate the practical use of their vanishing gun.
THE BOY INVENTORS’ DIVING TORPEDO BOAT.
As in the previous stories of the Boy Inventors, new and interesting
triumphs of mechanism are produced which become immediately valuable,
and the stage for their proving and testing is again the water. On the
surface and below it, the boys have jolly, contagious fun, and the story
of their serious, purposeful inventions challenge the reader’s deepest
attention.
Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price.
HURST & COMPANY — Publishers — NEW YORK
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Transcriber’s Notes:
Italicized phrases are presented by surrounding the text with
_underscores_. Boldface phrases are presented by surrounding the
text with =equal signs=. Small capitals have been rendered in full
capitals.
Minor spelling, punctuation and typographic errors were corrected
silently, except as noted below. Hyphenated words have been retained
as they appear in the original text.
On the frontmatter page enumerating the Boy Aviators books, the
count listed ("Six Titles") is left as is, even though seven books
are listed in the subsequent text.
Note that some archaic spellings have been retained, even though
they might be typographical errors; for example, "whity", "propellor",
"collapsable", "disillusionized", "stancher", "monocule".
Inconsistent spellings of "airship" versus "air-ship" have been left
as is, due to the frequency of both spellings. Inconsistent use of
hyphenation in less frequently used words have been corrected to the
form used most often.
Inconsistent usage of "anyone" versus "any one" has been left as is,
due to the frequency of both spellings.
On the illustration after page 168, the caption has been changed
slightly, to match the quote in the preceding paragraph.
On page 263, the error in Morse code (for the letter "O") has been
left as is.
On page 317, "fit" was changed to "fix", as "fit" seemed like a
typographical error. The original text is "I don’t think we were
ever in a neater fit than this".
End of Project Gutenberg's The Boy Aviators in Nicaragua, by Wilbur Lawton