A RESCUER FROM THE SKIES
"What if the bally thing takes a notion to duck under, Larry?" asked
Elephant, staggered himself at the possibility of such a catastrophe
happening.
"Wow! they'd stand a chance of being drowned, then, I take it!"
answered the taller lad, shaking his head as if worried.
"Say, p'raps we ought to be chasing after a boat, and putting out there
right now," the small boy exclaimed.
"O K say I. Let's make a dash for Cragan's dock, and borrow his
skiff!" suggested Larry, ready to toss fishing poles, and even the fine
catch in the dusty weeds bordering the road, so that they might be
unimpeded in their flight.
"Hold on, boys!" observed the gentleman in the tonneau of the touring
car, as he reached out and caught Larry by the sleeve of his shirt.
"No need of bothering yourselves in the least, I assure you."
"But perhaps the biplane might sink, sir," declared Elephant, still
showing extreme nervousness. "And what if Frank or Andy happened to be
caught in the wires that stay the planes? They might be drowned, you
see. Accidents can happen, even to the two smart Bird boys."
"No danger of any such catastrophe, I give you my word," went on the
gentleman. "And when you learn the truth, you'll thank me for
restraining you from acting in a foolish manner. Here, take a look
through this glass I chance to have along in the car. What do you see
now?"
Larry accepted the binoculars, and immediately adjusted them to his
eyes.
"Well, of all the things I ever heard of!" he slowly ejaculated.
"Let me look, Larry," exploded Elephant, as he deftly "hooked" the
glasses away from his companion's hands, and immediately clapped them
to his own eyes, to let out a shout of amazement. "I declare if the
old thing ain't floatin' like a big duck. Talk about her sinking, you
couldn't push that wonder box down under the surface. Some more of
Frank's magic; he's got 'em all queered a mile, Larry."
"Listen," remarked Mr. Marsh, quietly. "There's nothing so very
wonderful about this new stunt of your friend, Frank. Those shining
things you noticed about the biplane happened to be a couple of new
aluminum pontoons under the craft, meant to float the whole affair
whenever it drops in the water. They will be in common use shortly.
And that machine is what we call a hydroplane--that is, it will prove
to be as much at home on the water as in the air."
"What d'ye think of that, Elephant?" cried Larry, ready to swing his
hat, and give a loud whoop to let the young aviators know that friendly
eyes had been watching their startling maneuvers. "Ain't they all the
candy, though? Why, Perc Carberry never could get up early enough in
the morning to best the Bird boys."
"They float all right," remarked the other boy, still gazing through
the fine pair of marine glasses that seemed to bring the biplane within
touching distance. "But how under the sun can they start up again?
Don't they have to take a run on them bicycle wheels first?"
"Watch and see," laughed Mr. Marsh. "A hydroplane can rise from the
surface of the water just like a wild duck might. The propeller starts
to working, the machine is sent swiftly along, and soon leaves the
water, to soar upward as the planes are moved accordingly. There they
go; now, keep tab on what they do, Longley."
He took the glasses from Elephant and placed them to his own eye, as
though it might be of the greatest importance that he see distinctly
every little movement of the daring young aviators.
"Whoop! hurrah! there they quit snaking along on the water! They're
going to climb, I tell you, Larry! Look at that, would you? Up they
go, as easy as you please! Now, ain't that just a hummer; and did you
ever hear tell of as smart a pair of boys as Frank and Andy Bird? What
won't they try next, I wonder?"
"They certainly seem to be made of the right stuff for airmen,"
admitted Mr. Marsh, with animation. "Some time I hope to make their
acquaintance, and hear the story of their stirring adventure down in
South America. What say Longley, can we afford to lay over at this
Bloomsbury for a couple of days, while we have the car overhauled, and
put in apple-pie condition?"
"It might be a good thing, Marsh," the other promptly answered, as he
detected the signal wink his companion gave. "You know they say an
ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. And unless
something is done we stand a chance of being thrown over a precipice,
when that weak place in the machinery gives way suddenly."
"All right, then; we'll stop," remarked the gentleman with the
glittering eyes, as if the new idea quite appealed to him. "I'd like
to see something of these Bird boys. They have a future before them, I
believe. And if I'm any judge of up-to-date things I even suspect
they've gone and applied that latest device the Wrights patented, where
a little pendulum under the machine warps the planes automatically, at
the slightest motion of the body, keeping the aeroplane in an exactly
horizontal position."
"Oh! they're up to snuff, all right, take it from me," declared
Elephant, with an air of pride, since it was his friends whose praises
were being sung, and he could bask in the reflected light.
"I bet you there ain't anything going on in aviation circles that them
two boys don't know," put in Larry, enthusiastically. "They take all
sorts of papers and magazines, and spend every living day in that old
shop. I knew something was on, and there she is, all hatched out.
Poor old Percy, won't he just want to crawl back into his hole, though,
when he learns this?"
"Rats! you don't know him if you think that!" exclaimed Elephant. "Ten
to one he plays Frank and Andy a close second. Right now that sharper
has got cards hidden up his sleeve, and ready to surprise everybody.
Didn't he slip away early in the spring, and go down to New York? You
watch his smoke, I tell you, Larry. No, Perc ain't giving up till he
has to, and that won't be till the race is run. Just wait!"
"I declare, that's a queer thing to allow!" exclaimed Longley, who had
picked up the glasses and with them swept the surface of the lake, as
well as surveyed the hovering biplane that had walked on the water like
an aquatic bird.
"What now?" asked Mr. Marsh, looking a little nervous.
"Why, see that boat floating out yonder, the plaything of the breeze
that seems to be rising?" asked the other, still using the binoculars.
"I see what you mean," remarked Mr. Marsh, "and it seems to have
drifted away from the shore. Is that some man lying down in it?
There, I saw the object move then. What is it, Longley?"
"A little baby, hardly more," came the startling reply. "Oh! he was
nearly over the side, that time. However in the wide world do you
suppose the child ever came to be in that boat? Here, take a look.
Marsh. Another tilt like that, and the child will be drowned for
certain!"
"Why, it must be Tommy Cragan, the fisherman's baby," said Larry, his
face turning a bit gray with alarm. "I've seen the little shaver
playing around his daddy's boat many a time. It must have floated off;
and now it's away out on the lake, where the water is twenty feet deep!"
"Cracky! that's tough on poor old Cragan, with his wife sick abed!"
groaned the sympathetic Elephant, as he strained his eyes to watch.
"If the child would only remain quiet there would be little danger,"
remarked Mr. Marsh, who was still looking through the glasses, as
though something about the picture fascinated him.
"That's the trouble," remarked his companion, quickly, "the little chap
is getting frightened, or else bolder, for he keeps leaning far over
all the time. Can nothing be done to save the child? If I could swim
I'd take a chance at it myself."
"We could run as fast as anything to Cragan's, sir," declared Elephant,
"or perhaps you could take us in, and we'd show you the way there. He
might have another boat, and would put out to save Tommy."
"I'm afraid that would be too late, good though the intention might
seem," the man said regretfully.
"I can swim like a duck, sir. What's to hinder me jumping in and
trying to get out there to him in time?" demanded Larry, hastening to
start removing his shoes as he spoke.
"It's a long way out there, my boy, and you might take a cramp," said
Longley.
"But I'm willing to try it, sir. Besides, the rest of you could be
heading for Cragan's fish house, and seeing if he's around. I know
that little chap, and he's the idol of his daddy's heart. It'll nigh
about kill Amiel if the kid was drowned."
Even while he was speaking Larry had kicked one shoe off, and was
working to undo the stubborn lace of the other, which of course had to
get in a snarl as usual, exciting his nervous disposition to the
utmost, as he tugged away.
"Hold on! I'm afraid it's going to be too late!" exclaimed the other
occupant of the touring car, still keeping his eyes glued to the
smaller end of the marine glasses.
"Oh! is he going to fall in, sir?" gasped Elephant, in a quiver of
fear, as he shaded his eyes with both hands, and stared out across that
glowing stretch of water.
"There! he has done it!" cried the other; and all of them saw what
seemed to be a faint splash alongside of the drifting skiff. "No,
strange to say the little fellow has caught hold of the gunnel of the
boat; and while his body is in the lake, he continues to hold on
desperately, just keeping his head above the surface! But it can't
last, it can't last! He could not keep up that grip more than a minute
at the most! This is terrible; and all of us so helpless to save the
child!"
He took the glasses down as though really unable to watch any longer.
But his companion did not seem to feel the same way, for he immediately
snatched them out of Mr. Marsh's hand, and clapped them to his eyes.
"No use, boy, thinking of swimming out yonder," said Mr. Marsh, seeing
that Larry had finally broken the obstinate lace, and kicked the shoe
into the bushes. "Long before you could get near the boat it would all
be over. If anything is to be done, some one else will have to
engineer the rescue."
"And it's coming," shouted the other, just then. "Watch the biplane,
Marsh! The boys have seen the danger of the child! They are headed
for the drifting boat, and darting down again. Perhaps they mean to
alight in the water alongside, and pick the little chap up! Good!
Another ten seconds, and they will have arrived on the spot!"
Even Larry, barefooted now, and with both hands tightly clenched, such
was his wrought-up condition, stood and watched with burning eyes as
the aeroplane sank lower and lower in its forward swoop. Undoubtedly
the Bird boys had suddenly become aware of the dreadful peril
threatening the little chap belonging to the well known Bloomsbury
fisherman, who was every boy's friend; and meant to do their level best
to save Tommy from the watery grave that yawned to receive him.
"Oh! it's too late!" suddenly cried Longley, staggering back as if he
had himself received a blow.
"What happened?" exclaimed his companion, hoarsely.
"The child let go! See, he is struggling in the water, but must
disappear before the aeroplane can alight, for it is still twenty feet
above the lake. Too bad! Too bad! They might have got him in another
minute!"
"Look there! One of them has leaped into the lake! See that splash,
would you?" shrilled Larry, jumping up and down in his excitement.
"That was Andy, I reckon!" cried Elephant, climbing up on the side of
the car, the better to see, at this tremendously exciting stage of the
game. "He ain't afraid of anything; neither is Frank, for that matter.
And he just dove right down like a hawk after a breakfast of fish. Do
you see him, mister? Ain't he come up yet? Oh! my! I wouldn't have
missed this for a cookey. What's he doing, mister, please? He's our
chum, Andy is, and we're proud of him."
"Yes, there he is alongside the boat now," said Longley, using the
binoculars again, "I can see him swimming with one hand. He seems to
have injured the other--no, no, it must be he's got the child gripped
in his right arm, for I seem to see a yellow head close to his. There,
the hydroplane drops in the water near by. The boy lifts up his burden
and places it in the boat. Now he's climbing in himself, as if he
means to revive the child. Marsh, he's done it! And if that was Andy
Bird I take off my hat to him."
Whereupon both Elephant and Larry started in to shout and cheer at the
top of their voices; as though they might have a personal interest in
the gallant rescue which had just come under their observation.