STARTLING NEWS
There was no alarm among those aboard the _Comet_. Our heroes had, by
this time, become used to accidents happening even higher in the air
than they now were. In fact their machine was constructed purposely
to render them safe in case of a breakdown, for they could instantly
change from an aeroplane to a balloon, and thus float even with the
motor motionless.
This was what they did in the present emergency. Jerry saw that it was
useless, with one cylinder out of commission, to try to get any speed
out of the engine.
“Shut down!” he ordered Bob and Ned, and the big propellers ceased
revolving.
“It’s tough, just when we were after a record,” remarked Ned.
“Can’t we go down, fix her up and try again?” asked the stout lad.
“No use, Chunky,” declared the tall youth. “It will take several days
to put in a new cylinder. No, we’ve got to give up. But we ought to be
satisfied with the prize we won.”
They were not, however; in fact human nature never is, and Jerry and
his chums were no different from other lads. As they began falling
downward they could hear from below murmurs of fear, for the great
crowd thought the motorship was wrecked.
“Throw in plenty of gas!” called Jerry to his chums, and a moment later
the descent of the craft was checked as the lifting vapor rushed into
the bag. Then she floated lazily in the air, and, in a few minutes, to
reassure the watching, anxious throng, Jerry sent her about in dips and
circles, to show that they had her under full control.
A cheer greeted this evidence of skill in aeronautics, and then, there
being no necessity for descending farther the boys remained there to
watch from that vantage point the other machines climbing upward.
The big Wright passed close by them, the two occupants calling to know
what the matter was.
“Broken cylinder,” answered Jerry.
“Too bad, old man!” came the sympathetic hail, and then the biplane
continued to poke her nose toward the upper regions.
In turn a Bleriot monoplane, a Curtiss biplane, a “Baby” Wright, a
Santos Dumont, and a Farman shot upward, while our heroes had to look
on mournfully, being out of the race.
A little later, when all the competing craft had reached earth, it was
announced that a biplane had made the best record, having reached a
height of over 15,000 feet, establishing a new record.
“We could have beaten that if our engine hadn’t gone back on us,” said
Ned mournfully.
“I believe we could,” assented Jerry. “Well, we’ll be out of it the
remainder of the meet I guess, but let’s get busy, put in a new
cylinder, and start for the West to help the professor capture his
flying frog.”
“That’s it, boys!” joyfully exclaimed the little scientist. “I have had
very good success here, and only to-day I caught a little black lizard,
very rare and valuable, but I want to get after the frog.”
An examination showed that they would have to take out the cylinder and
put in a new one, and the preliminary work was started that evening.
Jerry and Ned were laboring in the motor room, and Bob had been sent
to tell the secretary that the _Comet_ could not, as her owners had
promised, take part in a final exhibition stunt. The stout lad came
back in a hurry, exclaiming as he entered the tent:
“Hey, fellows, Noddy Nixon is going!”
“Going where?” asked Jerry pausing, monkey wrench in hand.
“Going to leave. He’s taking out his biplane, and he and Bill are going
to cut the rest of the show just as Ned said. But they’re going off in
style. I thought he’d pack up his airship, but he’s going off in her.”
Out on the grounds could be heard the rattle and bang of a powerful
motor in operation. Our friends crowded to the tent entrance in time
to see the _Winner_ shoot up into the air, with Noddy and Bill in
the seats. Then the craft, describing a long curve, shot off toward
Harmolet.
“I wonder where he’s going?” mused Ned.
“No telling,” was Jerry’s opinion. “But come on, let’s get busy.
We’ll have to go to Harmolet to-morrow, and see if we can get another
cylinder in place of this cracked one.”
There was a trolley line not far from the aviation grounds, and our
three boys, catching a car early the next morning, were soon on their
way to the city where, so some of the birdmen had assured them, they
could easily get a new cylinder, or other parts of their machine or
engine. In fact, in anticipation of such calls being made during the
meet, one of the automobile dealers in Harmolet had laid in a stock of
airship parts.
Passing through a pleasant country, the boys shortly found themselves
in a good-sized city. The car was passing through the principal street
when, as it went by a bank building, the attention of Jerry and his
chum was attracted by a large crowd standing in front. The people
overflowed the sidewalk out on the trolley tracks.
“What’s the matter, a run on the bank?” asked Jerry of the conductor.
“Something like that,” was the reply.
“Did the cashier skip off with the funds?” inquired Ned.
“No, the safe was blown open last night, and fifty thousand dollars in
cash was taken, besides more in securities. It was quite a sum for the
bank to lose, and I guess some of the depositors are nervous. But most
of the crowd is there out of curiosity. The police are inside looking
for clews. I heard the news on my first trip this morning.”
“Fifty thousand dollars taken!” exclaimed Bob. “That’s a neat sum.
Let’s get off here, fellows, and see if we can get a glimpse of the
wrecked vault or safe. I’ve got my camera, and maybe they’ll let me
take a snap-shot. That would be a picture worth getting.”
“All right,” agreed Jerry. “There’s no special rush about the cylinder.”
They joined the throng about the bank, but looked in vain to see some
place where the side wall had been blown out with dynamite, or some
other explosive.
“Guess it wasn’t much of a blow-up,” remarked Ned in somewhat
disappointed tones.
“Oh, it’s all inside,” a man in the crowd informed them. “They nearly
blew the doors off the big safe, but nothing shows from the outside.
They got the money all right. Half the police in town are on the job
now, but last night, when the explosion took place, not a soul heard
it.”
“I wish we could get inside and see it,” murmured Bob “I’d like to take
a picture.” But there seemed no chance of this, as the police were
keeping the crowd back from the front of the building.