MARK HANGS ON
Professor Henderson and his adopted sons--Jack Darrow and Mark
Sampson--had been in many perilous situations together. Neither one
nor the other was likely to display panic at the present juncture,
although the flying _Snowbird_ was playing a gigantic game of
"leap-frog" through the air.
The professor had himself constructed many wonderful machines for
transportation through the air, under the ground, and both on and
beneath the sea; and in them he and his young comrades had voyaged
afar.
Narrated in the first volume of this series, entitled, "Through the
Air to the North Pole," was the bringing together of the two boys and
the professor,--how the scientist and Washington White rescued Jack
and Mark after a train wreck, took them to the professor's workshop,
and made the lads his special care. In that workshop was built the
_Electric Monarch_, in which flying ship the party actually passed
over that point far beyond the Arctic Circle where the needle of the
compass indicates the North Pole.
Later, in the submarine boat, the _Porpoise,_ the professor, with
his young assistants and others, voyaged under the sea to the South
Pole, the details of which voyage are related in the second volume of
the series, entitled "Under the Ocean to the South Pole."
In the third volume, "Five Thousand Miles Underground," is related the
building of that strange craft, the _Flying Mermaid_, and how the
voyagers journeyed to the center of the earth. The perils connected
with this experience satisfied all of them, as far as adventure went,
for some time. Jack and Mark prepared for, and entered, the Universal
Electrical and Chemical College.
Before the first year of their college course was completed, however,
Professor Henderson, in partnership with a brother scientist, Professor
Santell Roumann, projected and carried through a marvelous campaign
with the aid of Jack and Mark, which is narrated in our fourth volume,
entitled, "Through Space to Mars." In this book is told how the
projectile, _Annihilator_, was built and, the projectile being driven by
the Etherium motor, the party was transported to the planet Mars.
Later, because of some knowledge obtained from a Martian newspaper by
Jack, they all made a trip to the moon in search of a field of diamonds,
and their adventures as related in "Lost on the Moon" were of the most
thrilling kind. The projectile brought them safely home again and they
had now, for some months, been quietly pursuing their usual avocations.
The knowledge Jack Darrow and Mark Sampson had gained from textbooks,
and much from observation and the teachings of Professor Henderson,
had aided the lads in the building of the _Snowbird_. It was the first
mechanism of importance that Jack and Mark had ever completed, and they
had been quite confident, before the flying machine was shot from Mr.
Henderson's catapult, that it was as near perfect as an untried
aeroplane could be.
"Hang on, Mark!" yelled Jack, as the great machine soared and pitched
over the forest.
Her leaps were huge, and the shock each time she descended and rose
again threatened to shake the 'plane to bits. Mark swayed in his seat,
clutching first one lever and then another, while Professor Henderson
and Jack could only cling with both hands to the guys and stay-wires.
The sensation of being so high above the earth, and in imminent danger
of being dashed headlong to it, gripped Mark Sampson like a giant
hand. He felt difficulty in breathing, although it was not the height
that gave him that choking sensation. There was a mist before his eyes,
still the sun was shining brightly. The startling gyrations of the
flying machine for some time shook the lad to the core.
But Jack's cheerful cry of "Hang on!" spurred Mark to a new activity--an
activity of hand as well as brain. He knew that something had fouled
and that this accident was the cause of the machine making such
sickening bounds in the air. She was overbalanced in some way.
With Jack's encouraging shout ringing in his ears, Mark came to himself.
He _would_ hang on! His friends depended upon him to control the machine
and to save them from destruction, and he would not be found wanting.
One lever after another he gripped and tried. It was one controlling
the rising power that was fouled. He learned this in a moment. He
sought to move it to and fro in its socket and could not do so. He had
overlooked this lever before.
Again the _Snowbird_ dashed herself from a height of five hundred feet
toward the earth.
They still flew over the forest. The tops of the trees intervened, and
Mark managed to counteract the plunge before the prow of the machine
burst through the treetops. She rose again, and using both hands, Mark
jerked the wheel stick into place.
At once the flying machine responded to the change. She rode straight
on, slightly rising as he had pointed her, and Mark dared touch the
motor switch again. Instantly the machine speeded ahead.
"Hurrah for Mark!" shrieked Jack. "He's pulled us through."
"He has indeed," agreed the professor, and they settled into their
seats and gave attention to the working of the apparatus. Mark now had
the _Snowbird_ well under control.
Jack changed places with his chum and managed the _Snowbird_ equally
well. At his touch she darted upward at a long slant until the altimeter
registered two thousand feet above the sea. And the sea was actually
below them, for Jack had guided the flying machine away out from the
land.
"Boys," said Professor Henderson, quietly, "you have done
well--remarkably well. I am certainly proud of you. Some day the people
of the United States will be proud of you. I am sure that the inventor's
instinct and the scientist's indefatigable energy are characteristics
you both possess."
"That's praise indeed!" exclaimed Jack, smiling at his chum. "When the
professor says we've won out, I don't care what anybody else says."
"Do you think the _Snowbird_ is fit for long-distance travel?" asked
Mark of Professor Henderson, now displaying more eagerness than before.
"I do indeed. I think you have a most excellent flying machine. I would
not hesitate to start for San Francisco in her."
"Or farther?" asked Jack.
"Certainly."
"Across the ocean?" queried Mark, quickly.
"I do not see why any one could not take a trip to the other side of
the Atlantic in your 'plane," replied the professor. "With proper
precautions, of course."
They reached the land and came safely to rest before the hangar without
further accident. The professor was delighted with the working of his
catapult and at once made ready to call the attention of the Navy
Department to his improvement in the means of launching an airship
from the deck of a vessel. Ere he had written to the Department,
however, he and his young friends were suddenly made interested in a
scheme that was broached by letter to Professor Henderson from a
fellow-savant, Dr. Artemus Todd, of the West Baden University.
Professor Henderson and Dr. Todd had often exchanged courtesies; but
the university doctor was mainly interested in medical subjects, while
Mr. Henderson delved more in the mysteries of astronomy and practical
mechanics.
The doctor's letter to Professor Henderson read as follows:
"Dear Professor:
"I am urged to write to you again because of something that has recently
come to my knowledge regarding a subject we once discussed. As you
know, for some years past I have been investigating not the _cause_
of aphasia and kindred mental troubles (for we know the condition is
brought about by a clot of blood upon the brain), but the means of
quickly and surely overcoming the condition and bringing the unfortunate
victim of this disorder back to his normal state. In our age, when
mental and nervous diseases are so rapidly increasing, aphasia victims
are becoming more common. Scarcely a hospital in the land that does
not have its quota of such patients under treatment--patients who, in
many cases, have completely forgotten who and what they are and have
assumed a totally different identity from that they began life with."
"We know that, in some cases, hypnotism has benefited the aphasia and
amnesia victim. His condition is not like that of the mentally feeble;
he has merely lost his memory of what and who he previously was.
Believing that all disease, of whatsoever nature, can be safely treated
only through the blood, _this_ ill to which human flesh is heir
particularly must be treated in that way, for we know that a stagnant
state of the blood in one spot, at least, is the cause of the patient's
malady. Therefore I have been experimenting botanically to discover
a remedium for the state in question--something that will act swiftly
upon the blood, and directly dissipate such a clot as is spoken of
above."
"My dear Professor! I can announce with joy that this remedium is
discovered. I obtained a specimen of a very rare plant brought back
from Alaska by a miner who wandered into the fastnesses of the Endicott
Range, far beyond the usual route of gold miners and in a district
which, I understand, is scarcely ever crossed by whites and which is,
indeed, almost impassable, even in the summer months. With the aid of
this herb--_Chrysothele-Byzantium_ (it was known to the ancients,
but very rare)--I have brewed a remedium which, in one case at lest,
instantly cleared the blood vessels of the patient and brought him
back to a knowledge of his real self."
"But my supply of the herb is gone. It reached me in its dry state,
or I should have first tried to propagate it. It seeds but once in
seven years and therefore is rare and hard to grow. But I must have
a supply of the _Chrysothele-Byzantium_ seeds, plants, and all.
I look to you, my dear Professor Henderson, for help. To you space and
the flight of time are merely words. You can overcome both if you try.
I need somebody to go to the northern part of Alaska--that is, beyond
the Endicott Range--to obtain this rare plant for me. You have already
flown over the North Pole and a trip which carries one only three or
four degrees beyond the Arctic Circle is a mere bagatelle to you."
"Yes! it is in you I place my hope, Professor. The hopes of many, many
afflicted people may be placed in you, too. I ask you to fly to this
distant place and obtain for me the herb that will do humanity such
great good. Under another enclosure I send you drawings of the plant
in its several states and a full and complete description of how it
was found. You can make no mistake in the _Chrysothele-Byzantium_.
You know that I am a cripple, or I would offer to join with you in
this search. But at least I am prepared to pay for any expense you may
be under. Draw upon me for ten thousand dollars to-morrow if you so
desire, and more if you need before the start. The Massachusetts Bay
Trust Company, of Boston, will honor the draft. Make up the expedition
as you see fit. Take as many men with you as you think necessary. Make
all preparations which seem to you fit and needful. I limit you in
nothing--only bring back the herb."
"Remember I shall impatiently await your return and look for your
success--I expect nothing but unqualified success from your attempt.
You who have achieved so much in the past surely cannot fail me in
this event. I await your agreement to attempt this voyage with
confidence. I must have the herb and you are the only person who can
obtain it for me."
"Your friend and co-worker for the betterment of humanity,
ARTEMUS TODD, M.D., Ph.D."
Professor Henderson read this strange letter aloud in the evening as
he and his friends were sitting before the small, clear fire of hickory
logs in the big living room of the bungalow in the woods, built beside
the great workshops and laboratory. With the scientist and the two
boys was Andy Sudds, the old hunter, who sat cleaning his rifle, and
Washington White was busy in and out of the room as he cleared away
the supper and set the place in order.
"Well! what do you know about that!" exclaimed Jack Darrow, always
ready with a comment upon any subject. "Dr. Todd is certainly some in
earnest; isn't he?" "But what a cheek he has to ask you to go on such
a journey!" cried Mark. "He talks as though he expected you to start
immediately for the Arctic Circle."
"There would be good hunting up there in the mountains," said Andy
Sudds, succinctly. "I wouldn't mind that."
"An'disher chrysomela-bypunktater plant he wants," grunted Washington.
"Hi, yi! ain't dat de beatenest thing? Who ebber heard of sech a plant
befo'?"
"Nobody but you, I guess, Washington," said the professor, quietly.
"_That_ seems to be a plant of your own invention."
"But, sir!" cried Mark, "you have no idea of taking this trip he
suggests; have you?"
"Dr. Todd has done me many a favor in the past," said Professor
Henderson, thoughtfully.
"Well, if you're going, count me in," said Jack, quickly. "I don't
mind a summer trip to the Arctic. Say! it can't be much cooler up there
than it is here right now. This fire doesn't feel bad at all."
"Humph!" muttered Mark, who never was as sanguine as his chum. "This
cool spell will only last a day or two here; but I understand the tops
of the Endicott Range are always white."
"B-r-r!" shivered Washington, at this statement. "Dis chile don't t'ink
much ob such a surreptitious pedestrianation as dat, den. Don't like
no cold wedder, nohow! And Buttsy don' like it, needer."
"Who's Buttsy?" demanded Jack, grinning.
"Why, fo' suah," said the darkey, gravely, "you knows Christopher
Columbus Amerigo Vespucci George Washington Abraham Lin----"
"But you wouldn't expect to take Christopher Columbus And-so-forth to
Alaska with us; would you?" asked Andy Suggs.
"Why not?" demanded the darkey. "He flowed to de moon in de
perjectilator; didn't he? Huh! In co'se if de perfessor goes after
disher chrysomela-bypunktater, I gotter go, too; and in co'se if I go,
Buttsy done gotter go. Dat's as plain as de nose on yo' face, Andy."
The hunter rubbed his rather prominent nasal organ and was silenced.
Jack and Mark had turned more eagerly to the professor as the latter
began to speak:
"Yes, Dr. Todd is my good friend. He turns to me for help quite
properly; who else should he turn to?"
"But, Professor!" ejaculated Mark, warmly. "Are you to be driven off
to Alaska at your age to hunt for this herb--which is perhaps only the
hallucination of a madman?" "Mark's hit the nail on the head,
Professor!" declared Jack. "I believe this Todd must certainly be
'touched' in his upper story."
"Am _I_ touched, as you call it, Jack?" demanded Professor Henderson, in
some indignation.
"But you don't believe Todd is on the trail of any great discovery?"
cried Mark.
"Why not? Mind may yield to herbal treatment. Todd is an advanced
botanical adherent. He believes almost anything can be accomplished
by herbs. And he says he has successfully treated one case."
"One swallow doesn't make a summer," remarked Mark, doubtfully.
"But it is enough that he wants us to find the herb," said the
professor, more vigorously.
"'Us'!" repeated Jack.
"And he will pay us any reasonable price for our work," added their
mentor.
"He really means to go!" cried Mark.
"I certainly do. I think you and Jack will accompany me," said the
professor, quietly. "I know that Washington will, and of course Andy
will not be left behind."
"Not if there'll be a chance at big game," declared the hunter. "I'm
with you, Professor Henderson."
"Yo' suah can't git erlong widout me, I s'pose?" queried the darkey,
in some uncertainty. "I'se mighty busy right yere jes' now."
"And you'll be busy if we go to Alaska, Wash!" cried Jack. "Hurrah!
I am willing to start to-morrow, Professor."
"And you, Mark?" queried the old gentleman of his other adopted son.
"How will we go, sir? We shall be until fall traveling to the Arctic
Circle by any usual means."
"True," said the professor. "And haste is imperative. I cannot spend
much time in this matter. We must take unusual means of getting to the
Endicott Range."
"What do you mean?" asked the boys in chorus.
"Your _Snowbird_ is ready for flight. It can be provisioned and
will take us all quicker than by any other means. Therefore in the
_Snowbird_ we will make the journey."