THE CAPTURE
For one instant Jerry Hopkins was almost inclined to believe that
what he had seen was part of a dream. Then as the nerve-racking yells
continued to vibrate through the barn, he knew that they came from real
men.
And the faces of those men!
It was like some vision of the night. He racked his brain for a
remembrance.
“Where have I seen them before--those wounded men? I’m sure----” He
paused irresolutely.
His musing was interrupted by the breathless entrance of Ned and Bob.
“Jerry!” cried the stout lad. “Are you hurt?”
“What’s the matter?” gasped Ned. “Was that you calling, Jerry?”
They could not see him at first, coming in from the bright sunlight,
but in a few seconds they could make out the form of their tall chum,
as he stood staring at the closed door of the harness room whence came
those terrific cries.
“I have it!” fairly shouted Jerry. “Now I know who they are! Boys we’ve
found the bank robbers!”
“Found the bank robbers?” repeated Ned.
“Yes. Brown and Black! They’re in there--in that harness room! I had
a glimpse of them. They’re both wounded. They must have met with an
accident. They can’t get away. We’ve found them!”
“Now for the ten thousand dollars reward!” cried Ned.
“And this is why that farmer didn’t want us to come in the barn,” went
on Jerry. “He had these men hidden here!”
Hardly had he spoken when the farmer in question came fairly bursting
into the barn, entering from the big main doors. Mr. Rossmore was
greatly excited. He saw the boys at once.
“Here! What does this mean?” he cried. “Didn’t I tell you to keep out
of here? Now get out at once and stay out. Clear out of my place! Get
away, do you hear?”
“Yes, we hear, but we’re not going,” said Jerry calmly.
“We came to see that sick horse,” spoke Ned, sarcastically.
“Get out!” cried the farmer angrily, advancing toward them, with a
threatening gesture.
“Don’t move, boys,” came the advice from Jerry. “We’ll have this thing
out. Go call the professor, Bob,” for Mr. Snodgrass had been catching
bugs in a field near where our heroes were working when Jerry decided
to investigate the mystery of the barn.
“Look here! What does this mean?” blustered Mr. Rossmore, as Bob
slipped out of the small door.
“It means just this,” went on Jerry, while another of the strange
cries, though not so loud as the previous ones, echoed through the
structure, “it means that you are concealing here two men who robbed
the Harmolet National Bank of two hundred and ten thousand dollars, and
carried it away in an airship! It means that Brown and Black--to give
them the names they go under--are in that harness room, and it means
that we have discovered them. It also means that we are going to cause
their arrest, and that if you interfere with the course of justice you
lay yourself liable to a charge of aiding criminals. That’s what it
means!”
Jerry spoke with great firmness, and the attitude of himself and Ned
was such that the farmer was cowed.
“Rob--robbers!” he stammered. “Two hundred and ten thousand dollars!
Why that’s nonsense! Those men are not thieves.”
“What are they then?” asked Ned.
“One of them has been wrongly confined in a lunatic asylum,” went on
the farmer. “He is Mr. Hendrix, and the other man is Mr. Clark, a
friend of his. Mr. Clark managed to get his friend out of the asylum,
and was taking him away in an airship. They got over my place and had
an accident. They both fell from the airship into a tree, and were
badly hurt. They appealed to me for help, and offered me a large sum
if I would conceal them, so that they would not be captured by the
asylum authorities. The asylum people want to keep Mr. Hendrix in their
possession so they can get his valuable property, but his friend is
trying to prevent this. That is why I am concealing them, and why I did
not want you to go near the barn. I deceived you, I admit, but I cannot
believe that they are robbers. If I had known that they were----”
“Suppose you come in that room with us, and let us ask them a few
questions, about the box of strange tools they carried on their
airship,” suggested Jerry. “I think that will convince you.”
“I’m willing,” agreed the farmer. “I never would have believed such
nice gentlemen could be robbers. They told such a straight story. And
I saw them fall from their airship. So when I saw you arrive in yours
I thought you were from the asylum after them, and I tried to get you
away from the barn.”
“Just confront them with us, and we’ll soon prove that the story they
told you was all made-up,” said Jerry eagerly.
“All right, come on,” agreed Mr. Rossmore. “I don’t want to do nothing
wrong.”
Again there came that terrifying yell.
“My gracious! What’s that?” gasped the professor.
“That’s Mr. Hendrix--the supposed lunatic. He is badly hurt, and
delirious from pain,” explained Mr. Rossmore. “His friend and I have to
give him quieting medicine whenever he gets one of those fits. That’s
why I ran here. He is suffering greatly.”
“Well, we can’t let even a bank burglar suffer,” said the scientist, to
whom Jerry quickly explained what the farmer had told them. “I’ll take
a look at him, and you boys can make sure you are not mistaken in your
identity. Then we can decide on what to do. They can’t get away.”
With the farmer leading the way the boys and the professor entered the
harness room. If any other confirmation was needed that the suspicions
of our heroes were true, it came when Clark, _alias_ Black, exclaimed
as he caught sight of the boys:
“Well, the jig is up!”
“Yes, I guess it is,” said Jerry grimly. “You made a bold effort, but
fate was against you. Where is the money?”
“We haven’t got it,” growled the least injured of the two burglars.
“Haven’t got it?”
“No, it’s in the airship. I might as well tell the truth now.”
“In the airship? And where is that?” demanded the professor.
“How should I know?” snapped Black, while his companion tossed
feverishly on the narrow cot. “We both fell out when it nearly turned
turtle, then it righted itself again, and sailed off over the forest,
the engine set at full speed. It’ll run until the gasolene gives out,
or until it’s wrecked, I suppose. But we’ll have to have a doctor for
him,” and he nodded at his companion. “He’s getting worse. The game’s
up. I’m ready to take my medicine. One of my legs is broken, and I’m
hurt inside. Oh, how I suffer! We did rob the bank. I confess. We laid
our plans a long time ahead and thought if we used an aeroplane no one
could trace us.”
“He must have a doctor, and that soon,” declared the professor. “He
is in a bad state; indeed both are. Boys, word must be sent to the
authorities at once, and these men must be taken to a hospital under
police guard.”
“And to think they told me they were escaping from an asylum,” murmured
Mr. Rossmore. “I can’t get over it!”
“Was it true what they said about the airship going on after they fell
out?” asked Jerry eagerly.
“It was,” replied the farmer. “It went sailing over the trees like a
big bird.”
“Which way?” asked Ned, for he was thinking of the treasure on board.
“I didn’t notice,” was the answer.
“Which way did it go?” went on the tall lad, turning to the robber who
went by the name of Black or Clark.
“Hey?” The man gazed almost stupidly at Jerry. There was a strange
light in his eyes.
“Which way did the airship go?” repeated the lad.
“It went to Africa,” was the unexpected answer. “The engine was set
to carry it to Borneo, and from there we are to pick up the Japanese
Mikado and go on a pleasure jaunt in the Andes mountains. We’re going
to race with the condor birds. Ha! Ha! We’ll lead a jolly life. Pass
over that juice, Bill, I’ve got the hole drilled!” he exclaimed. “Look
out now! It’s going off! Oh, maybe we haven’t made a haul this time.”
With a shriek he fell back on the cot, beside his companion who was
moaning in pain.
“Delirious--out of his head,” murmured Professor Snodgrass. “I doubt if
we can get any more information from either of them right away. They
must have medical attention, and the police must come here.”
“I’ll go for them,” volunteered Jerry. “Ned and I can manage the
_Comet_ if you and Bob will stay here and guard them.”
“I’ll help,” volunteered the farmer. “I’m with you boys now.”
They accepted his offer. Professor Snodgrass administered some quieting
medicine to both wounded men. A little later Ned and Jerry started for
the nearest town for a doctor and the proper authorities.
“And then we’ll go off after the airship treasure,” decided Jerry.
“We’ll have a hard time hunting it,” declared Ned.
Both robbers were in the delirium of high fever when the doctor reached
them. He at once took charge, and the constable formally placed the
strange men under arrest as the bank robbers, though Brown and Black
of course did not realize this. Then, being made as comfortable as
possible, they were taken in the airship to a hospital, Mr. Rossmore
remaining at his farmhouse a very much surprised man.
A telegram was sent to the bank authorities telling them of the
capture, and stating that the boys would try to recover the treasure.
Then, arranging to have the robbers sent to Harmolet for trial as
soon as they were well enough, the boys and the professor entered the
_Comet_ and headed her once more back toward the farmhouse.
“We’ll get the direction as nearly as we can from Mr. Rossmore in which
the _Silver Star_ disappeared after the men fell out,” said Jerry, “and
then we’ll go on a hunt. Think of a big fortune being lost somewhere in
these woods!” and he pointed to the vast, lonely forest below them.