NODDY AND BILL
“There, I guess that will do!”
“Should it not be put up a little farther forward?”
“No, it will light up better where it is. Besides, we can’t move it any
farther forward, or it will interfere with the hydroplane lever.”
“That’s right.”
The above colloquy took place between Jerry, Ned and Bob in the big
shed that housed the motorship _Comet_, a few hours after their
decision to start in their air craft in search of the wreck of the
_Hassen_. The boys had lost no time going over their wonderful craft
to put her in the best possible condition for a long, and possibly
dangerous, flight.
They had determined to start at once on the search, for well they knew
the terrible distress the shipwrecked persons might be in--with nothing
but an open boat between them and the vast ocean.
But there were a few needful things to be done, and one was the
installation of a large searchlight, and it was concerning this that
the talk had been.
Bob was of the opinion that the big lamp should go farther toward the
bow, but Jerry had his own reasons for placing it where it was. The
light was a new one, much larger than the one heretofore in use, and it
had been purchased and installed in a hurry.
“For we may have to stay on the wing all night,” said Ned, “and this
light may enable us to locate even a small boat on the ocean.”
“But if we do find my uncle and cousin in a small boat, how can we save
them?” asked Bob.
“Easily enough, if the sea isn’t too rough,” replied Jerry. “We can
drop the hydroplanes, and descend to them. If it’s too rough we can
drop a rope, and haul them up, or even tow the boat if we have to. I’m
not worrying about that part of it. The thing to do first is to find
them.”
“And that isn’t going to be so easy,” observed Bob, with a sigh.
“Oh, don’t be crossing bridges until you can hear the rustling of their
wings,” spoke Ned, with a smile at his chum. “Now let’s get busy, stock
up, and set out on this cruise. We’ve lost a lot of time as it is.”
“That’s right,” agreed Jerry. “But we’re doing the best we can.”
“I know that,” spoke Bob, with a grateful look. “Our folks say it’s
mighty kind of you boys to take this trouble.”
“Huh! Why wouldn’t we?” demanded Ned. “I guess we’re as much interested
in this rescue as you are, Bob Baker.”
“Well, it’s good of you. I’m glad it was the storm that sunk the
_Hassen_, and not that German submarine. If that boat had rammed the
steamer she might have gone down so quickly that no one would have had
a chance for life.”
“Oh, try to forget that submarine,” protested Jerry. “You’re getting it
on the brain.”
“Like Professor Snodgrass,” spoke Ned. “Only a little while ago, when
I went in the house, Jerry, to get some of that high tension wire, he
asked me if we had started on it yet.”
“What’d you tell him?”
“That we had other fish to fry. I spoke of our trip in the _Comet_
and of course he wanted to come along. He said if he couldn’t get his
hermit crab specimens right away he might find some new bugs up in the
air. So I told him he was welcome to come.”
“That’s right,” agreed Jerry. “We may need his help if it comes to a
rescue.”
“The only trouble is,” remarked Bob, with a smile, “that if we sight
that submarine again the professor may insist on being put aboard so he
can get to the bottom of the sea. What will we do then?”
“Wait until it happens--worry then,” advised Jerry, with a laugh. “I
don’t imagine that submarine is within a thousand miles of us.”
“Me either,” added Ned.
But neither he nor Jerry realized how soon their idle words were to be
proven wrong.
All haste was made in preparing the _Comet_ for her rescue trip. The
parents of the boys thoroughly approved of it, for the motor lads had
undertaken so many strenuous “stunts” in their craft that even Mrs.
Hopkins no longer worried much when Jerry and his chums went out in her.
“Well, I guess we’re ready to start,” announced Jerry, a little later,
after a look at the airship. Everything had been put in first class
shape, and the rudder, that had given so much trouble before, had been
replaced by a different one.
“Look who’s there,” said Bob in a low voice, nodding toward the roadway
in front of the Hopkins house.
“Noddy Nixon,” muttered Jerry.
“Yes, and Bill Berry is with him,” went on Bob. “They seem to be
looking in here pretty sharply.”
“Yes, they probably see that we’re getting ready for a trip,” spoke
Ned. “I hope they won’t try to follow us, and make trouble.”
Jerry looked annoyed. Noddy and Bill were staring insolently in the
direction of the open shed which housed the airship. Even a passer-by
could see that it was in readiness for a flight.
Jerry, who, with his chums, had not seen much of Noddy since the bully
and his crony had vainly tried to get the sixty nuggets of gold, as
told in the last volume, started toward the front gate. Noddy saw him
coming, but did not move.
“Were you looking for me?” asked Jerry, in no friendly voice.
“I don’t know as I was,” returned Noddy, in surly tones.
“If you are,” put in Ned, who had stepped to the side of his chum, “you
won’t find any gold nuggets to try and get away from us this time.”
“Huh! Think you’re mighty smart; don’t you?” sneered Bill Berry.
“We were smart enough to fool you and the Dominion police you set on
us,” laughed Bob. “Now will you have gravy on your pancakes?”
“Don’t you talk that way to us!” growled Bill. “If you do----”
“Oh, come on, we don’t want anything to do with them,” said Noddy
quickly, taking his crony by the arm and leading him to one side.
“Glad you’ve come to that conclusion,” spoke Jerry, as he turned back
toward the airship shed. “Come on, fellows,” he added to his chums,
“we’d better get started. Bob, ask Professor Snodgrass if he’s ready.”
Noddy and Bill started down the street. They were talking earnestly
together.
“They’re going off on another trip, that’s sure,” Noddy said.
“I guess so,” growled Bill. “But I don’t see that it makes any
difference to us.”
“Oh, don’t you?” asked Noddy. “Well, it might. I’ve a notion to get out
my airship and follow them.”
“What for?”
“What for? Because I need the money; that’s what for.”
“Money? How do you know they’re going after money?”
“Because they ’most always are. Now, Bill, it’s like this. Everything
we’ve done, lately, has been a fizzle. We’ve lost out every time.”
“Well, it was as much your fault as mine,” growled Bill.
“Maybe it was,” assented Noddy, who seemed to have some special reason
for not wanting to quarrel with his crony. “But when Jerry and his two
chums start off it’s ’most always because they can make something out
of it. Now I need money.”
“So do I, for that matter.”
“Our last trip didn’t pan out,” went on Noddy, “and my father has shut
down on me. I’ve got to get some cash, and the only way I know to get
it is to follow these chaps. They may be going out to locate another
gold mine.”
“Well, I’m with you then,” agreed Bill. “Is your airship ready to run?”
“I can make her so in a little while. Let’s go back to our house.”
For a time, after getting into trouble, Noddy had left town with his
parents, who thought of remaining away permanently, but Mr. Nixon had
since moved back to Cresville, though living in a different house than
the one he formerly occupied. Noddy, as my former readers know, had
a large airship. It was one of several he had owned, and, though it
was nowhere near as complete and powerful as the _Comet_, was quite
serviceable.
So, while Noddy and Bill were preparing to follow our friends, in the
hope of trailing them to some hidden fortune, Jerry and his chums were
getting ready for the rescue flight.
“I’ll be with you in a few minutes!” called Professor Snodgrass when
he was told that the start would soon be made. “I just want to get a
small net, with a long handle, because I may see some rare insects in
the upper air. We’ll have to let the sea crabs go for a time, until you
boys can build a submarine.”
“I’m afraid that will be a long while,” said Jerry, as he looked to
see that the plane-shifting levers worked properly.
It was decided to navigate at first as an aeroplane, since, after the
storm, the weather was very calm. By telegraph, as good a description
as possible had been obtained as to where the _Hassen_ had been
last seen. The boys intended to cruise around over this spot in
ever-increasing circles.
“All aboard!” cried Bob, as he climbed up on the main deck. “We’ve got
enough to eat for two weeks.”
“Trust Chunky for that,” commented Ned with a smile. “Are you coming,
Professor.”
“Yes!” cried the little scientist. “I think I have everything. I am
going----” he had started from the house toward the airship, but
stopped suddenly to peer at something on the ground.
“Oh, what a find!” he cried. “Oh, what a lucky find!”
In an instant he was on his knees and was carefully lifting into one of
his boxes some little creature.
“What is it?” asked Jerry, with a smile.
“A very rare specimen of a green striped angle-worm,” was the answer.
“I have been looking for one for years. Now, if I could only get
another,” and the professor began searching on the ground.
“I’m afraid, Professor Snodgrass, that we can’t wait,” said Jerry. “We
ought to be under way now.”
“All right,” was the answer. “Though it is a pity to lose this chance.
I say, Dick,” called the scientist to the gardener, “if you see a green
striped angle-worm----”
“I’ll be sure to kill it, Professor,” interrupted the man. “I know the
creatures, eating up the cabbages, and everything else. I’ll kill every
one I see.”
“No, no! For the love of science don’t do that!” was the appeal of the
professor. “I beg of you not to do that. I will give you two dollars
for every one you save for me, Dick!”
“Do you mean that, Professor?”
“I certainly do.”
“Then I’ll search for ’em with a dark lantern to-night,” was the
answer. “I’ll have a lot for you when you come back.”
“Ah, what a lucky day!” cried the professor, as he got aboard the
_Comet_.
Good-byes were called to Mrs. Hopkins, and to the mothers of Bob and
Ned, who had called at Jerry’s house to see the start. The boys took
their places, the professor was in the cabin, writing out a description
of his latest find, and all was in readiness.
“Here we go!” cried Jerry, as he swung over the lever that started the
propeller motor. The _Comet_ rolled across the smooth starting ground.
Then, as the elevating rudder was tilted the craft shot into the air
like a bird, soon attaining a good height.
At the same time, off to one side of the town, another aeroplane darted
forward, trailing the one carrying our friends.