BROTHER DICK.
The tall, handsome young man who came into view and who had been
referred to as “Duke de Sassy” stopped short, his music nipped in
two, and for an instant stood speechless. It was the same with Harvey
Hamilton, who stared as if unable to believe his eyes. Val Hunter and
Fred Wadsworth doubled over with laughter, and dropped on the log
behind them.
The latest arrival was the first to regain his self-command. It was a
gasp rather than an exclamation:
“Well, I’ll be hanged!”
“Dick, as sure as I’m alive!” responded Harvey, rushing forward and
grasping the hand of his elder brother, who dropped the string of fish
he was carrying, and flinging an arm over the shoulders of the younger,
pressed him to his breast. There could be no mistaking the affection
of the two for each other, and both Hunter and Wadsworth felt ashamed
of the harmless trick played their caller. They abruptly stopped their
merriment and the Southerner swallowed a lump in his throat. He had
once been blessed with a younger brother, but kissed him their long,
last farewell two years before. Wadsworth had never passed through
the sorrowful experience, but he saw the emotion of his friend and
respected it.
Dick and Harvey shook hands several times, laughed, slapped each other
on the back, and asked and answered numerous questions before they
awoke to the fact that others were near. Harvey had to tell about home
and all the news concerning the folks. Neither they nor Harvey had
thought of the brothers meeting, though it would seem that the fact
that Harvey’s destination was the Adirondacks, where Dick was known to
be, ought to have suggested the possibility of such a thing.
Grouped at the front of the tent the four youths had a merry chat, for
all were in high spirits.
“The minute I looked at Harvey,” said Hunter, “I noticed his
resemblance to Dick, but did not suspect the relationship until he gave
his name. Then Fred and I knew before he furnished any more particulars
that you were brothers. Since the Duke was absent, we felt it our duty
to acquaint Harvey with a few facts about his big brother, though the
task was anything but pleasant.”
“It seemed to give both of you a mighty lot of pleasure,” said Harvey,
who was so glad to see Dick that he reached over and shook hands with
him again.
“Possibly you are correct, though we tried to keep down all signs of
it, which reminds me that the dinner hour is approaching and even now
is at hand.”
It being the turn of Hunter to serve in the culinary department, he
sprang to his feet, walked over to where Dick Hamilton had dropped his
string of mountain bass and carried them to the edge of the lake, where
he began dressing and preparing them for the fire, which was burning
briskly in the rough stone stove whose pattern, you will recall, was
described in the “Catamount Series.”
All three of the young men were the sons of well-to-do parents and they
went into the Adirondacks fully equipped for their outing of a month or
more. The guide, Gideon Akers, had helped them in transporting their
tent luggage and provisions, consisting of sugar, coffee, tea, prepared
flour, condiments, ham, condensed milk, etc., and the necessary cooking
utensils. After camp was made, the professional guide left, to fill an
engagement with a larger party which penetrated much farther into the
wilderness. That all were provided with firearms followed as a matter
of course. Each carried a Colt’s six-shooter, in addition to which
Dick Hamilton had a small Winchester rifle. He needed no reminder that
the game protectors in the Adirondacks are keen in their work, and it
would have been very imprudent for him to shoot any big game during the
close season. He had no intention of doing so, but he might need the
larger weapon in some emergency.
When he wrote home to his father that he was on the trail of a gigantic
buck, he told a partial truth. He had met such an animal twice, and
knew its favorite haunt was in that region. The temptation to run the
risk of bagging him was strong, and if all the circumstances were
favorable, he was not sure he would not take a shot at him, though how
to get the antlers home was a grave problem likely to involve him in
difficulty, with the loss of the trophy and a tremendous fine to pay.
However, that was a question which may be dismissed for the present.
As the three were seated on the log, Harvey told again the story
of Professor Morgan, the cranky inventor, and the missing Bohunkus
Johnson. The negro lad was strongly liked by Dick as well as his
brother, and the sympathies of the elder were roused. He insisted that
no thought or attention should be given to anything else until the
colored youth was rescued from what beyond question was a situation of
gravest danger.
“And I can lead you almost to the spot,” added Dick. “As you know, I
went off early this morning in the canoe which I drew up in the little
inlet behind the tent where you didn’t see me. I paddled to the farther
end of the lake to fish in a splendid spot and was there when that
monoplane sailed by and dropped down among the rocks and trees not more
than half a mile away.”
“Did you notice where it landed?” asked Harvey.
“Not precisely, for my position was so low that it dropped out of sight
before coming down, but I can hit it pretty closely. What is your plan,
Harv?”
“Let us all start for the section as soon as we have finished dinner,
and then scatter and begin our search. We can’t miss it.”
A difficulty presented itself. The canoe was not buoyant enough to
carry the four, though possibly it might bear three. It was six miles
at least to the end of the lake and the tramp was a hard one because of
the roughness of the country, while the water offered the easiest kind
of a passage. Dick struck the solution. Addressing Val Hunter and Fred
Wadsworth he said:
“There is not the slightest need of you going with us. Harv and I will
paddle to the northern end. We shall then be quite near where there
is every reason to believe Bunk is a prisoner. When it isn’t best to
paddle any farther we shall pull the canoe up into the bushes and hide
it. Then Harv and I will separate. We know how to signal to Bunk, who
will recognize the call and answer it. If the Professor doesn’t come
back and interfere it will be as easy as rolling off a log.”
“That shuts us out altogether,” said Hunter, “which we don’t like.”
“Not by a large majority,” added Wadsworth.
“I shall leave the glass with you, and when the monoplane comes in
sight you can study every movement and quite likely pick up useful
information.”
The proposal did not give the two much comfort, but it was really the
right thing to do. Provided the brothers landed near Bunk, it ought
to be as easy for two to locate him as it would be for a score of
searchers. He had been an old friend of Dick and Harvey from earliest
childhood, and they knew all his peculiarities. Held, as he no doubt
was, under the spell of the Professor’s domineering brain, he might
shrink from trusting himself in the care of strangers. It was not
unlikely, as the brothers viewed it, that he would keep out of sight
of Hunter and Wadsworth, having no knowledge of why they sought him,
or whether they meant well, but it would be the other way when he
recognized his old friends.
This being explained to Val and Fred they accepted it and the plan was
agreed upon before the midday meal was concluded. Dick led the way to
the tiny inlet at the rear of the tent, where the pretty little canoe
had been drawn up the bank. He carried his rifle and a full supply of
cartridges with him and had also his revolver, as did Harvey.
“I don’t suppose you have had occasion to use it yet?” said the elder
inquiringly, while they paused for a minute or two to admire the
graceful craft in front of them.
Harvey shrunk from telling the story of his meeting with the bear.
“I haven’t fired it off since leaving home,” he said.
“It isn’t likely you will have to do so,” remarked the elder, with no
suspicion of the whole truth, “but it is well to be prepared. Step in.”
The canoe had been shoved into the water and Harvey carefully seated
himself in the bow, though there was no difference in the fashion of
the ends, except in the arrangement of the seats. Dick followed, first
handing his gun to Harvey, who, having left his outer coat in camp,
had nothing more to look after. The elder had had more experience in
handling the ashen paddle, which he manipulated in Indian fashion,
dipping the broad blade in the water on one side and drawing it back
with a powerful sweep and outward twist of the wrists at the end of the
stroke, which kept the canoe on an even course. Harvey, seated in the
bow with his back to Dick, handled his paddle in a similar fashion on
the other side of the craft.
The task of propelling the boat was so light and everything around so
quiet that the two said much to each other. They had a great deal in
common and talked of many things, of no interest to any one else.
“You did mighty well, Harv,” said Dick, softly swinging the paddle from
which the water silently dripped, “in tracking the Professor to the
Adirondacks. We get the papers now and then in camp and read of the
kidnapping case of the Philadelphia merchant’s child, but with never a
thought that _you_ were mixed up in it. After plucking this dark-hued
brand from the burning, why not make it your profession? You can
skyhoot around the country in your airboat and hunt out such jobs.”
“I’ll think it over, Dick, but I don’t see much profit in it.
Detective Pendar offered to divide the reward with me, but I couldn’t
think of that.”
“Of course not; Bunk hasn’t much wealth and I don’t believe Mr. Hartley
will give more than twenty-five cents to get him back again.”
“That would hardly pay for the gasoline and oil, to say nothing of my
own keep.”
“But think of the fun you would have. When this business is finished I
should like to try that aeroplane.”
“I shall be glad to give you and your friends all the air excursions
you would like.”
“To get down to serious business, Harv, I see only one thing that
stands in the way of our success.”
“What is that?”
“I am sure you are right in believing the Professor spends all his
spare time in his workshop, and visits Bunk only to carry him food and
to see that he stays where he put him. But he may complete his plans
sooner than we are figuring upon and make his start for Africa before
we can get our hands on Bunk.”
“It may be so, but I haven’t much fear of it. He will have to take
enough food to last them two or three days and you know something of
Bunk’s appetite.”
It will be borne in mind that the canoe was moving toward the northern
end of the lake, in which direction the two occupants faced. Before
them was the section in which they hoped to find their missing friend.
Their backs were turned upon the workshop of Professor Morgan in
the neighborhood of the little town of Purvis. When last seen he
was traveling in that direction, and the brothers ought not to have
forgotten to watch the sky to the south. None the less they did so and
the oversight proved unfortunate.
Harvey said something which Dick did not fully catch. Without ceasing
to swing his paddle, he turned his head, glanced over his shoulder and
asked for a repetition of the words. Before the younger could comply,
Dick said in an excited undertone:
“Cover your face with your handkerchief, Harv!”
The younger was quickwitted enough to obey without stopping an instant
to learn the reason for the strange command. He snatched out the piece
of silk and held it to his nose in a natural manner and awaited the
explanation which he knew would come in a second or two.
At the moment of looking back, Dick Hamilton saw the monoplane coming
with the speed of a hurricane barely fifty feet aloft and directly
over them. Professor Morgan had noticed the two young men in the canoe
and a tinge of suspicion caused him to sail thus low that he might gain
a look at the faces of the occupants. Since the elder brother was a
stranger to him, it was better that his countenance should be clearly
seen, but one glimpse of the face of Harvey would reveal everything. If
he bowed his head to hide his features the act would be significant,
but calling into play his handkerchief had nothing singular about it.
To give naturalness to the action, Harvey emitted a blast from his
nasal organ which suggested the honk of an automobile horn. In the
uninterrupted stillness the aviator probably heard it.
Dick gazed aloft and watched the swoop of the machine with the
strange man controlling the levers, who leaned forward and over,
and scrutinized the couple so keenly that Dick caught the gleam
of the piercing black eyes, and circled his dripping paddle about
his shoulders by way of salutation; but the Professor made no
acknowledgment. He continued to peer sharply downward until he had shot
well past, when he curved upward and continued his swift course over
the sheet of water and the wooded country beyond. It could not be seen
that he glanced again behind him but skimmed away with undiminished
swiftness.