THE COLONEL'S OFFER
Two more surprised youths than Dick Hamilton and Innis Beeby would have
been hard to find. That the young millionaire should meet Larry
Dexter, a newspaper reporter with whom he had been acquainted some
time, in this startling fashion was one thing to wonder at, but that
Innis should help in the rescue of his cousin, of whom he had just been
speaking, was rather too much to crowd into a few strenuous moments.
"Whitfield!" gasped Innis, when his cousin had been safely gotten
aboard. "How in the world did you get here? And was that your craft?"
"Yes. But don't stop to talk now!" gasped the rescued aviator. "My
machinist, Jack Butt, went down with us! Can you see anything of him?"
Eagerly the eyes of the cadets searched the waters that had now
subsided from the commotion caused by the plunging down of the wrecked
aircraft. Then Dick cried:
"I see something moving! Right over there!"
He pointed to where the water was swirling, and the next moment he
threw in the clutch of his motor. The propeller churned the water to
foam, and the craft shot ahead.
The next instant a body came to the surface. A man began to strike out
feebly, but it was evident he was nearly drowned.
"That's Jack! That's my helper!" cried Mr. Vardon. "Can you save him?"
"Take the wheel!" shouted Dick to Paul. And then, as the motor-boat
shot ahead, the rich youth leaned over the gunwale, and, holding on to
a forward deck cleat with one hand, he reached over, and with the
other, caught the coat collar of the swimmer, who had thrown up his
arms, and was about to sink again.
"I'll give you a hand!" cried Innis, and between them the cadets lifted
into the boat the now inert form of Jack Butt.
"Stop the motor!"
"First aid!"
"We've got to try artificial respiration!"
In turn Innis, Paul and Dick shot out these words. And, seeing that
the other two rescued ones were in no need of attention, the cadets
proceeded to put to practical use the lessons in first aid to the
drowning they had learned at Kentfield.
And, while this is going on I am going to take just a few moments, in
which to tell my new readers something about the previous books in this
series.
The only son of Mortimer Hamilton, of Hamilton Corners, in New York
state, Dick was a millionaire in his own right. His mother had left
him a large estate, and in the first volume of this series, entitled,
"Dick Hamilton's Fortune; Or, The Stirring Doings of a Millionaire's
Son," I related what Dick had to do in order to become fully possessed
of a large sum of money. He had to prove that he was really capable of
handling it, and he nearly came to grief in doing this, as many a
better youth might have done.
Dick's uncle, Ezra Larabee, of Dankville, was a rich man, but a miser.
He was not in sympathy with Dick, nor with the plans his sister, Dick's
mother, had made for her son. Consequently, Uncle Ezra did all he
could to make it unpleasant for Dick while the latter was paying him a
visit of importance.
But Dick triumphed over his uncle, and also over certain sharpers who
tried to get the best of him.
My second volume, entitled, "Dick Hamilton's Cadet Days, Or, The
Handicap of a Millionaire's Son," deals with our hero's activities at
the Kentfield Military Academy. This was a well-known school, at the
head of which was Colonel Masterly. Major Henry Rockford was the
commandant, and the institution turned out many first-class young men,
with a groundwork of military training. The school was under the
supervision of officers from the regular army, the resident one being
Major Webster.
Dick had rather a hard time at Kentfield--at first--for he had to get
over the handicap of being a millionaire. But how he did it you may
read, and, I trust, enjoy.
In "Dick Hamilton's Steam Yacht; Or, A Young Millionaire and the
Kidnappers," Dick got into a "peck of trouble," to quote his chum,
Innis Beeby. But the rich youth finally triumphed over the designs of
Uncle Ezra, and was able to foil some plotters.
"Dick Hamilton's Football Team; Or, A Young Millionaire On the
Gridiron," tells of the efforts of Dick to make a first-class eleven
from the rather poor material he found at Kentfield. How he did it,
though not without hard work, and how the team finally triumphed over
the Blue Hill players, you will find set down at length in the book.
"Dick Hamilton's Touring Car; Or, A Young Millionaire's Race for a
Fortune," took our hero on a long trip, and in one of the largest,
finest and most completely equipped automobiles that a certain firm had
ever turned out.
I have mentioned Larry Dexter, and I might say that in a line entitled,
"The Young Reporter Series," I have give an account of the doings of
this youth who rose from the position of office boy on a New York
newspaper to be a "star" man, that is, one entrusted with writing only
the biggest kind of stories. Dick had met Larry while in New York, and
Larry had profited by the acquaintanceship by getting a "beat," or
exclusive story, about the young millionaire.
On the return of Dick and his cadet chums from a trip to California,
the rich youth had again taken up his studies at Kentfield.
And now we behold him, out in his motor-boat, having just succeeded in
helping rescue the master and "crew" of the aircraft that had plunged
into the river.
"There; he breathed."
"I think he's coming around now."
"Better get him to shore though. He'll need a doctor!"
Thus remarked Dick, Paul and Innis as they labored over the unfortunate
mechanician of the biplane. They had used artificial respiration on
him until he breathed naturally.
"I'll start the boat," announced Dick, for the craft had been allowed
to drift while the lifesaving work was going on. "We want to make time
back."
"This certainly is a surprise," remarked Larry Dexter, as he tried to
wring some of the water out of his clothes.
"More to me than it is to you, I guess," suggested Dick. "I suppose
you birdmen are used to accidents like this?"
"More or less," answered the cousin of Innis Beeby. "But I never
expected to come to grief, and be rescued by Innis."
"Nor did I expect to see you," said the cadet.
"We were just speaking of you, or, rather I was, as we saw your craft
in the air. I was wondering if you had perfected your patent."
"It doesn't look so--does it?" asked the airship inventor, with a
rueful smile in the direction of the sunken aircraft. "I guess I'm at
the end of my rope," he added, sadly. "But I'm glad none of us was
killed."
"So am I!" exclaimed Dick. "But how in the world did you come to take
up aviation, Larry?" he asked, of the young newspaper man. "Have you
given up reporting?"
"No indeed," replied Larry Dexter. "But this air game is getting to be
so important, especially the army and navy end of it, that my paper
decided we ought to have an expert of our own to keep up with the
times. So they assigned me to the job, and I'm learning how to manage
an aircraft. I guess the paper figures on sending me out to scout in
the clouds for news. Though if I don't make out better than this,
they'll get someone else in my place."
"Something went wrong--I can't understand it," said the aircraft
inventor, shaking his head. "The machine ought not to have plunged
down like that. I can't understand it."
"I'd like to send the story back to my paper," went on Larry.
"Always on the lookout for news!" remarked Dick. "We'll see that you
send off your yarn all right. There's a telegraph office in the
Academy now. I'll fix it for you."
The run to the school dock was soon made, and the arrival of Dick's
motor-boat, with the rescued ones from the airship, which had been seen
flying over the parade grounds a little while before, made some
commotion.
"We've missed guard-mount!" remarked Innis, as he saw the other cadets
at the drill.
"Can't be helped. We had a good excuse," said Dick. "Now we've got to
attend to him," and he nodded at Jack Butt, who seemed to have
collapsed again.
With military promptness, the mechanic was carried to the hospital, and
the school doctor was soon working over him. Meanwhile, dry garments
had been supplied to Larry and Mr. Vardon. A messenger came from
Colonel Masterly to learn what was going on, and, when he heard of the
rescue, Dick and his chums were excused from taking part in the day's
closing drill.
"He's coming around all right," the physician remarked to the young
millionaire, on the way from the hospital, where he had been attending
Jack Butt. "It seems that he was entangled in some part of the
aircraft, and couldn't get to the surface until he was nearly drowned.
But he's all right now, though he needs rest and care."
"I wonder if he can stay here?" asked Dick. "Oh, yes, I'll attend to
that for you," the doctor promised. "I'll arrange with Colonel
Masterly about that. And your other friends--I think they should
remain, too. They probably are in rather an unpleasant plight."
"I'll look after them," said Dick. "I can put them up. One is a
newspaper man, and the other a cousin of Beeby's. He's an airship
inventor."
"Is that so? Colonel Masterly might be interested to know that."
"Why?" asked Dick.
"Because I understand that he is about to add a course in aviation to
the studies here. It has been discussed in faculty meetings, so it is
no secret."
"An aviation course at Kentfield!" cried Dick, with shining eyes.
"Yes. Are you interested?" the doctor asked.
"Well, I hadn't thought about it, but I believe I should like to have
an airship," the young millionaire went on. "Down, Grit, down!" he
commanded, as a beautiful bulldog came racing from the stables to fawn
upon his master. I used the word "beautiful" with certain
restrictions, for Grit was about the homeliest bulldog in existence.
But his very hideousness made him "beautiful" to a lover of dogs. He
jumped about in delight at seeing Dick again, for he had been shut up,
so he would not insist on going out in the motor-boat.
Quarters were provided for Larry Dexter, who sent off a brief account
of the accident to the airship, and Mr. Vardon was looked after by
Innis. Butt, of course, remained in the hospital.
Dr. Morrison was right when he said that Colonel Masterly would be
interested in meeting the luckless aviator. Innis took his cousin to
the head of the school, and Mr. Vardon told of his invention, briefly,
and also of the mishap to his biplane.
"Perhaps this is providential," said the colonel musingly. "For some
time I have been considering the starting of an aviation course here,
and it may be you would like to assist me in it. I want the cadets to
learn something about the fundamentals of heavier-than-air machines.
Will you accept a position as instructor?"
"I will, gladly," said Mr. Vardon. "I might as well admit that I have
no further funds to pursue my experiments, though I am satisfied that I
am on the right track. But my machine is wrecked."
"Perhaps it can be raised," said the colonel, cheerfully. "We will
talk about that later. And we may find a way to have you conduct your
experiments here."
"I can not thank you enough, sir," returned the aviator. "And I am
also deeply indebted to my cousin's chum--Dick Hamilton. But for him,
and the other cadets in the boat, we might all have been drowned."
"I'm glad we were on hand," said Dick, with a smile.