TRYING OUT THE ENGINE.
“Oh! Frank!”
Andy had turned white, and looked weak. A dreadful foreboding seemed to
have suddenly seized upon him. It was as though a cold hand had been
brought in direct contact with his wildly beating heart, stilling its
pulsations.
But Frank was not affected in the same way. His face flushed with
anger. They had, as if by mutual consent, lowered their burden to the
ground upon making this startling discovery. Frank was therefore free
to act; and his first movement was toward throwing open the unfastened
double door of the shed, to plunge inside. Whatever there was to
discover, Frank meant to know the worst immediately.
There upon the floor was the precious monoplane, so nearly finished
that it looked as though it might be ready to start the engine at a
minute’s notice.
But there was something wrong about it. Andy had followed his cousin
into the place, and his horrified eyes quickly discovered what had been
done by the vandal hands of those who had found entrance during the
preceding night.
“The planes have been cut into ribbons! Oh! what a shame! All our
work just ruined by some sneak and coward! Frank, ain’t it awful?”
he exclaimed, clenching his hands in a manner that told of great
excitement.
“Hold on,” said the cooler one, raising his hand; “it’s true that the
canvas of the planes has been spoiled utterly; but if that was the
whole thing I wouldn’t care so much. Let me examine the engine first.”
Eagerly he removed the canvas covering the motor. Andy went and opened
the great doors wider, so that he could have an abundance of light.
Then, with his heart in his throat, so to speak, Andy hovered near,
waiting for the dread verdict.
Presently Frank looked up.
“Oh!” cried the other, as he saw that his cousin was smiling, “tell me
nothing vital has happened, Frank! They didn’t dare hurt that little
darling Kinkaid engine, did they? No, your beaming face tells me so. Is
that all the damage they did?” and he pointed to the cut canvas of the
two planes.
Frank nodded his head.
“I can’t find anything more, old fellow,” he said, cheerily, the cloud
dissipated from his brow that had a minute before been so threatening.
“But how did that come, d’ye think?” demanded Andy. “Seems to me I can
give a right good guess who did this dirty job, even if they covered up
their tracks like they always do; but why would they stop at smashing
our planes, when they could put our engine on the blink so easy?”
“Well,” observed Frank, thoughtfully, “we happen to know that some
people I won’t mention have more than their share of caution. While
we mightn’t make much fuss about the planes, if the engine had been
tampered with we’d be apt to complain to the chief of Bloomsbury
police, Mr. Waller, and have him investigate.”
“But what could have been their object?” Andy complained, as he looked
closer at the slashed material covering the framework of the planes.
“Just malicious deviltry, I guess,” replied Frank, gloomily. “They
were curious to see what we were doing with our monoplane, and forced
the lock last night. Then the temptation was too great to be resisted.
They just _had_ to do something to satisfy that craving for ugliness.
Besides, don’t you see, it would delay us; and that would allow them
to steal some of our thunder.”
“Sure enough,” cried Andy, “I never thought about that. Everybody knows
that we expect to give our little trap a trail soon. And what a feather
it would be in the cap of Puss and Sandy if, instead of the Bird boys,
_they_ sailed over Bloomsbury first! Oh! what schemers they are! Always
jealous of everybody else, and wanting everything to come their way!”
“Well, after all, there’s really no damage done,” laughed his cousin.
“Ain’t, eh? How d’ye make that out?” asked Andy, ruefully handling the
tattered material of the planes.
“Why,” said Frank, “have you forgotten what we decided about this
stuff--that it was a bit too flimsy, and not to be depended on, when
a fellow was risking so much? And didn’t I go and order another lot
through Spencer’s drygoods store last week? They ought to have it in
by tomorrow, or the next day at most; when we can get busy, and cover
these wings with canvas that will hold.”
Andy had his turn to laugh, which he did most heartily, as usual.
“What d’ye think of that, now? After all, they only helped us cut the
old stuff away, to make ready for the new. Of course, they don’t
happen to know about your order. And they think we’ll have to wait a
week before we can get anything worth using. And come to think of it,
that’s the way the schemes engineered by Puss Carberry generally do
turn out. They kick at the wrong end, like a gun that isn’t pushed up
against the shoulder. Well, this is a joke on them, after all.”
“All the same, their intentions were bad enough!” declared Frank,
sternly.
“Sure they were,” Andy echoed. “In the first place they busted open
our locked doors, and looked our machine over. That was treachery of
the first water. Then they tried to hold us back, so they could show
the town people that the Bird boys weren’t the only smart chaps in
Bloomsbury. That was about the way Sandy bragged. And Frank, what d’ye
think he accused me of wanting to do?”
“Stealing his freight, you said,” returned the other.
“Huh! worse than that,” grumbled the other. “He declared he believed
I meant to throw some acid on their cylinder, so that it would eat
in, and make the blooming thing crack, just when they were up in the
clouds, boring for altitude.”
“Just like the mean skunk. Those sort of things are always in his
mind; and so he suspects others are just as nasty about doing such
stunts,” said Frank with an expression of disgust.
“Just about what I told him to his face,” Andy observed, quickly. “And
as sure as you live, here’s the evidence of it right before us. Ten to
one Sandy slashed these planes with his knife. Wish he’d happened to
drop it here; wouldn’t I like to pick it up, and tell him where I found
it?”
As he spoke, Andy started to look around the shop. His comrade
presently heard him give utterance to a sudden exclamation, as he
stooped over.
“Found any knife?” asked Frank, humorously.
“Well, no; not a knife; but I have raised a knave of spades. Look here,
neither of us ever had a pack of cards in this shanty, did we? Then
what is this doing here, tell me?” and Andy excitedly held up what he
had found.
Frank thought enough of it to take the card from his cousin’s hand, and
look it over. Then he laughed.
“Same old story,” he said, nodding. “Did Puss Carberry ever try any
dodge without having it backfire? Now, I would be willing to take my
affidavit that there was no such card lying around loose here yesterday
when we worked at our monoplane. So it goes to show that it must have
been pulled from the pocket of one of our midnight visitors, perhaps
when he was getting out his handkerchief or a knife.”
“But can we prove it on them?” asked Andy, hungrily, as he glanced once
more at the cut planes.
“Perhaps we can,” replied Frank, thoughtfully, wrinkling his brow as he
reflected. “In the first place, we must try and learn whether either of
those fellows own a pack of cards marked on the back like this. You see
it is an Indian figure, and underneath are the words ‘The Red Hunter.’
I don’t know for certain, but I’ve got a hunch that Puss brought this
pack back with him, when he came from the city last.”
“Yes. Go on,” said Andy, deeply interested.
“All right. Then in some public place, where there are a number of
people present, we must make sure Puss has the cards with him; after
which we will accuse him, and make him show whether this one card is
missing from his pack.”
“Gee! you know how to show up these things all right, Frank!”
exclaimed, the delighted Andy. “Suppose you get that brain-box of
yours busy on another little mystery we know of now. Honestly, I have
a hunch that if you would only _try_ you could discover what became of
my darling little monkey wrench. I’m like the baby and the soap you see
advertised--I’ll never be happy till I get it.”
“I don’t believe you’ll give me any rest till you do remember where you
put that plagued little tool,” declared the other, laughing.
“Hold on, don’t you go to calling it names,” said Andy, aggressively;
“because it’s no fault of the wrench that it’s missing. I’m the one to
blame, I reckon. But I’ll never give up trying to recollect where I put
the thing away so safe that I’ve even forgotten the combination.”
“Yes,” smiled his cousin, “I’ve known people to do that before. Perhaps
I may have done it myself. But if it comes to the worst, I suppose you
can have a duplicate made that will answer just as well?”
“Oh! I reckon so,” replied Andy. “But think of the time and worry that
thing cost me, not to mention the expense. Besides, I just don’t know
how we’re ever going to make that first ascent minus that invaluable
tool.”
“Well, forget it just now. We’ve sure got all the trouble we want to
install this important part of our machine. I’ll drop in at Spencer’s
place the first time I’m in town today, and see if the bolt of stuff
has arrived. It would be great good luck if I found it had, Andy.”
Throwing off their coats, the two boys got to work. And presently they
were as busy as beavers, crawling about the apparently clumsy object
which occupied so much of the shed’s interior.
Colonel Whympers had had the place constructed especially for the
purpose of furthering their plan. There never was a guardian more
indulgent than this old traveler, now reduced to hobbling around with a
crutch and cane. And Andy never tired of letting the old chap know how
much he appreciated his generous heart.
Of course the structure was flimsily built, as most hangars are, being
intended merely as temporary resting places for air craft. Many times
Frank and his cousin knew that the town boys had come out of their way
to peer through the crack in order to gratify their natural curiosity.
But up to now no one had ever attempted to injure anything connected
with the monoplane, or its shelter.
Several hours passed away. The engine was now complete, and Frank had
even given it a trial spin. The sound of its humming was pleasant music
in the ears of these aeroplane boys, for they had a severe case of the
up-to-date disease. Andy came by his naturally, inheriting it from his
father; but with Frank it was acquired from his reading, backed by a
desire to see strange places of the great world, hitherto inaccessible
to ordinary travelers.
“Say, that’s great!” cried Andy, as he stood and watched the easy play
of the lightest little engine ever invented.
“Works like a charm,” said the proud Frank, standing there, adjusting
the automatic oiler, ready to drop a little lubricant wherever the
friction came sharpest. “And even now I’ve only got half the power
turned on. Tomorrow we’ll place the bicycle wheels under the framework;
or if we happen to feel like it, that might be done tonight.”
“Tonight?” echoed the other. “Sounds like you expected to camp out
alongside the little charmer.”
Frank turned upon him, and his dark eyes gleamed as he replied.
“And that’s just what we’re going to do, my boy--stick by our machine
day and night until we make our first flight. I’d never feel safe in
bed after seeing how easy it would be for those savages to injure her.
What if they were mean enough to file partly through a wire support
of the planes, and we never noticed it? It would hold out till we put
extra pressure on it, and that might be five hundred feet up in the
air. No, one of us must be here all the time!”
“You’re right, Frank. I’ll bring over blankets from the house, and we
can just bunk out here. Won’t be the first time either that we’ve kept
house together, not by a long shot. But you figured that card business
down fine. Only wish you would turn that genius on the puzzle that’s
bothering me.”
“Oh! rats. Suppose you let that thing sleep for a while, Andy. You said
yourself you’d be sure to remember some minute what you did with the
wrench. Now, let’s figure how we’re going to get any grub while here.”