A FLIGHT BY NIGHT
“Young man,” said the chief of the mounted officers, “I heard what you
said, and I want to warn you to be careful.” His tone was firm, but
respectful, and Jerry, looking at the group of those surrounding the
crippled airship, saw a grin of malicious delight on the face of Noddy
Nixon.
“We are going to stand up for our rights,” said the tall lad.
“I can’t blame you for that,” went on the officer. “But don’t talk
of fighting. We are in authority here. I might add that under the
circumstances, and in view of the information given to us, we could
only act as we did and halt you.”
“Do you know the whole story?” asked Jerry.
“No, but I am informed that you are citizens of the United States, that
you have in your possession gold taken from the Dominion of Canada, and
that you propose to take it into the United States, across the Border,
in violation not only of the customs laws, but of the international
law regarding treasure as well. Is that correct?”
“Well, I suppose it is--in a measure,” admitted Jerry. “But I should
like to tell you the whole story. Will you come in, you and the other
officers?”
“We will be glad to,” said the mounted man, in more genial tones. “We
are sorry for what we had to do, but we must enforce the laws.”
“That’s all right,” said the tall lad. “Maybe you’ll feel differently
after you hear all the facts.”
The men tied their horses to some trees, and approached the airship
through the mist that was falling. Noddy and some of his cronies
started to follow, evidently not liking it in the storm.
“No, you don’t!” cried Jim Nestor, barring the way of all save the
police. “You fellows can stay out. Harvey, get busy here. There’s some
undesirable citizens trying to get in,” and the two Westerners proved
an effectual barrier against the plotters.
Jerry lost little time in telling the story of the search for the
gold, adding his suspicions of how Noddy Nixon had followed them, and
joined forces with the unscrupulous men who had first tried to take Mr.
Brill’s wealth from him.
“It is true that we found the gold in Canada,” explained Jerry; “but
it was washed there, after being dug in the United States, and only by
accident did it get over the Border. We surely had a right to recover
our own property, and bring it back.”
“Hum! That puts a different face on it,” said the chief officer,
obviously much puzzled. “I did not know that. I will have to report to
my superiors,” he went on. “It will take some little time, and I am
sorry for the delay caused you. If what you say is true, and I have no
reason to doubt it, we have no jurisdiction over you. I shall at once
ride to the nearest telegraph station and make a full report of the
matter to my superiors. Then if everything turns out as I expect it
will, you may go.”
He and his companions left, after Jerry had insisted on their taking
some hot coffee which Bob made. As they got outside, the mounted police
were surrounded by Noddy and his cronies, eager to learn what had taken
place in the airship. That they were disappointed by the outcome was
evident.
“They’re going to have their own troubles getting hold of this gold!”
declared Mr. Brill, grimly.
“And if they make any move toward my luminous snakes!” exclaimed the
professor, “I--I’ll fight ’em--that’s what I will!”
The mounted officers rode off in the storm, and Noddy and his
companions made a rough camp not far from the stalled airship.
“What are you going to do, Jerry?” asked Ned, as dinner time drew near.
“Stay here and wait for those officers to come back?”
“I am not!” declared the tall youth.
“What then?”
“We leave here to-night!”
“To-night?”
“Yes. I know what the decision will be--in our favor--and there is no
use staying here and taking chances with that crowd,” and he nodded
toward the campers.
“The gold is ours,” he went on, “and we have a right to take it where
we please. The mounted police admitted as much. It was all a bluff on
the part of Noddy’s crowd to make trouble. Maybe they thought they
could, in some way, get possession of the nuggets. But we’ll fool ’em.
We’ll slip away to-night--after dark.”
“But how can we--when the gas bag is full of holes?” asked Mr. Brill.
“We’ll go as an aeroplane,” declared Jerry. “There is enough level
ground here for a start, and those police won’t be back before morning.”
Night settled down, a cold, windy, stormy night, and Noddy and his
cronies in their camp were anything but comfortable. They seemed to be
waiting for the return of the police, but the Westerners expressed the
belief that the lawless men might try to rush the airship after dark
and take the gold.
“We’ll stop ’em if they do,” declared Jim Nestor, grimly.
Strict watch was kept, and in the shelter of the craft Jerry and his
chums went over all the machinery. They would not need to use the gas
apparatus to get over the Border.
“I think there’s something doing out there,” reported Mr. Brill, about
nine o’clock, coming in from the outer deck where he had been keeping
watch on the camp. “It looks like they were coming this way.”
“Let ’em come,” replied Jerry. “We’re ready to start. Turn on the
motor, Ned!”
With a rush and a roar the _Comet_ shot across the ground. There was
a chorus of surprised cries, and one or two rifle shots. Then, like a
bird, the motorship sailed aloft, leaving the disappointed plotters
behind.
“We’re off!” yelled Ned.
“For the good old U. S. A.!” added Bob.
“Over the Border, and all the mounted police in Canada can’t touch us!”
spoke Jerry, gleefully. “I think we’ve fooled ’em. They didn’t think we
would, or could, go.”
The cries and rifle shots died away in the darkness and the _Comet_
swept on, out of danger.
Of the return trip little need be written. By morning they were over
the Border, in their own country, and out of Canadian jurisdiction.
They found a good place, and made a descent to repair the gas bag, for
they could not tell when it might be needed. The storm was at an end,
and in the sunny weather their spirits revived wonderfully. Many times
during the course of the repairs they stopped to look at the gold,
while Professor Snodgrass lovingly viewed his luminous snakes.
“Oh, but we sure had adventures this trip!” exclaimed Ned, when they
were ready to start off again.
“Yes, it came near to beating anything else we ever did,” agreed Jerry.
“I guess we’ll have to settle down now, for a while,” remarked Bob.
“Settle down! I guess not!” cried Jerry. “We’ll have some more fun as
soon as we can,” and how they did it, and what it was, will be related
in the next volume of this series, to be called “The Motor Boys Under
the Sea; Or, From Airship to Submarine.”
Once more they were on the wing. The _Comet_ swept along at wonderful
speed and soon they were back at Kabspell, where they intended to take
their motorship apart, and go home by train, with the gold and the
professor’s snakes.
Everything went off well, and the troubles they had coming West were
not repeated on the trip East. How Noddy fared with the grub-stakers
who sought to get the gold they did not learn for some time later,
but they did hear that the mounted police returned to the place
where they had left the airship, intending to report that they had
no jurisdiction, and that Jerry and his chums could do just as they
pleased. But the motor boys had done it anyhow.
The gold proved to be of more value than was thought, and the syndicate
of the boys’ parents received their money back with good interest. Jim
Nestor and Harvey Brill purchased their mine, and are still working
it. In fact it paid so well that Mr. Brill could help most of his
poor relations, including the stout aunt. Jake Paxton and Ike Weldon,
the chief plotters of the grub-stakers, got into trouble soon after
their disappointing trip to the Border, and had to flee the country.
Noddy and Bill came back, much chastened in spirit. The Blackfeet
Indians, after their little excursion, were safely driven back on the
reservation.
“Well, I wonder if Professor Snodgrass got his luminous snakes safely
to the museum?” said Ned to his chums one day several weeks later.
“Yes, I had a letter from him,” spoke Jerry. “He said he had received
another honorary degree. He’s got more letters to his name now than
ever.”
“But, all the same, he’s a nice man,” observed Bob, who was munching a
piece of cake, his chums having called at his house.
“That’s what he is,” agreed Ned. “Say, let’s go for a motorboat ride,
and talk over where we’ll spend the summer vacation,” and with the
motor boys thus on pleasure bent we will say good-bye to them.
THE END
A New Line By the Author of the Ever-Popular
“Motor Boys Series”
The Racer Boys Series
by CLARENCE YOUNG
Author of “The Motor Boys Series”, “Jack Ranger Series”, etc. etc.
Fine cloth binding. Illustrated. Price per vol. 60 cts. postpaid.
[Illustration]
The announcement of a new series of stories by Mr. Clarence Young is
always hailed with delight by boys and girls throughout the country,
and we predict an even greater success for these new books, than that
now enjoyed by the “Motor Boys Series.”
The Racer Boys
or The Mystery of the Wreck
This, the first volume of the new series, tells who the Racer Boys
were and how they chanced to be out on the ocean in a great storm.
Adventures follow each other in rapid succession in a manner that only
our author, Mr. Young, can describe.
The Racer Boys At Boarding School
or Striving for the Championship
When the Racer Boys arrived at the school they found everything at
a stand-still. The school was going down rapidly and the students
lacked ambition and leadership. The Racers took hold with a will, and
got their father to aid the head of the school financially, and then
reorganized the football team.
The Racer Boys To The Rescue
or Stirring Days in a Winter Camp
Here is a story filled with the spirit of good times in
winter--skating, ice-boating and hunting.
The Racer Boys On The Prairies
or The Treasure of Golden Peak
From their boarding school the Racer Boys accept an invitation to visit
a ranch in the West.
The Racer Boys on Guard
or The Rebellion of Riverview Hall
Once more the boys are back at boarding school, where they have many
frolics, and enter more than one athletic contest.
CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers NEW YORK
_The Jack Ranger Series_
_By Clarence Young_
Author of the Motor Boys Series
Cloth. 12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, $1.00, postpaid
[Illustration]
Jack Ranger’s Schooldays
_Or, The Rivals of Washington Hall_
You will love Jack Ranger--you simply can’t help it. He is so bright
and cheery, and so real and lifelike. A typical boarding school tale,
without a dull line in it.
Jack Ranger’s School Victories
_Or, Track, Gridiron and Diamond_
In this tale Jack gets back to Washington Hall and goes in for all
sorts of school games. The rivalry is bitter at times, and enemies try
to put Jack “in a hole” more than once.
Jack Ranger’s Western Trip
_Or, From Boarding School to Ranch and Range_
This volume takes the hero and several of his chums to the great West.
At the ranch and on the range adventures of the strenuous sort befall
him.
Jack Ranger’s Ocean Cruise
_Or, The Wreck of the Polly Ann_
Here is a tale of the bounding sea, with many stirring adventures. How
the ship was wrecked, and Jack was cast away, is told in a style all
boys and girls will find exceedingly interesting.
Jack Ranger’s Gun Club
_Or, From Schoolroom to Camp and Trail_
Jack, with his chums, goes in quest of big game. The boys fall in with
a mysterious body of men, and have a terrific slide down a mountain
side.
Jack Ranger’s Treasure Box
_Or, The Outing of the School Boy Yachtsmen_
This story opens at school, but the scene is quickly shifted to the
ocean. The schoolboy yachtsmen visit Porto Rico and other places, and
have a long series of adventures, including some on a lonely island of
the West Indies. A yachting story all lovers of the sea will wish to
peruse.
CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers, NEW YORK
The Saddle Boys Series
By Captain James Carson
12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume, 40 cents, postpaid.
All lads who love life in the open air and a good steed, will want to
peruse these books. Captain Carson knows his subject thoroughly, and
his stories are as pleasing as they are healthful and instructive.
[Illustration]
The Saddle Boys of the Rockies
or Lost on Thunder Mountain
Telling how the lads started out to solve the mystery of a great noise
in the mountains--how they got lost--and of the things they discovered.
The Saddle Boys in the Grand Canyon
or The Hermit of the Cave
A weird and wonderful story of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, told
in a most absorbing manner. The Saddle Boys are to the front in a
manner to please all young readers.
The Saddle Boys on the Plains
or After a Treasure of Gold
In this story the scene is shifted to the great plains of the southwest
and then to the Mexican border. There is a stirring struggle for gold,
told as only Captain Carson can tell it.
The Saddle Boys at Circle Ranch
or In at the Grand Round-up
Here we have lively times at the ranch, and likewise the particulars of
a grand round-up of cattle and encounters with wild animals and also
cattle thieves. A story that breathes the very air of the plains.
CUPPLES & LEON CO. Publishers NEW YORK
Up-to-Date Baseball Stories
Baseball Joe Series
By Lester Chadwick
Author of “The College Sports Series”
Cloth. 12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, 60 cents, postpaid.
[Illustration]
Ever since the success of Mr. Chadwick’s “College Sports Series” we
have been urged to get him to write a series dealing exclusively with
baseball, a subject in which he is unexcelled by any living American
author or coach.
Baseball Joe of the Silver Stars
or The Rivals of Riverside
In this volume, the first of the series, Joe is introduced as an
everyday country boy who loves to play baseball and is particularly
anxious to make his mark as a pitcher. He finds it almost impossible
to get on the local nine, but, after a struggle, he succeeds, although
much frowned upon by the star pitcher of the club. A splendid picture
of the great national game in the smaller towns of our country.
Baseball Joe on the School Nine
or Pitching for the Blue Banner
Joe’s great ambition was to go to boarding school and play on the
school team. He got to boarding school but found it harder making the
team there than it was getting on the nine at home. He fought his way
along, however, and at last saw his chance and took it, and made good.
Baseball Joe at Yale
or Pitching for the College Championship
From a preparatory school Baseball Joe goes to Yale University He makes
the freshman nine and in his second year becomes a varsity pitcher and
pitches in several big games.
CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers NEW YORK
Transcriber’s Notes:
--Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_); text in bold
by “equal” signs (=bold=).
--Punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently corrected.
--Archaic and variable spelling is preserved.
--Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved.
--Inconsistencies in formatting and punctuation of individual
advertisements have been retained.
End of Project Gutenberg's The Motor Boys on the Border, by Clarence Young