UNCLE EZRA STARTS OFF
Let us now, for a moment, return to Uncle Ezra. We left him sitting on
the ground after his rather unceremonious exit from the airship which
had crashed into the apple tree in the orchard. Somehow the strap,
holding him to his seat, had come unbuckled, which accounted for his
plight.
"Are you hurt?" asked Lieutenant Larson, after a quick glance that
assured him the airship was not badly damaged.
"I don't know's I'm hurt such a terrible lot," was the slow answer,
"but my clothes are all dirt. This suit is plumb ruined now. I swan
I'd never have gone in for airships if I knew how expensive they'd be.
This suit cost thirteen dollars and--"
"You're lucky you don't have to pay for a funeral," was the
lieutenant's grim answer. "You must look to your seat strap better
than that."
"Well, I didn't know the blamed thing was going to cut up like this!"
returned the crabbed old man. "That's no way to land."
"I know it. But I couldn't help it," was the answer. "I'm glad you're
not hurt. But I think we have attracted some attention. Here comes
someone."
A man was running through the orchard.
"It's Hank Crittenden, and he hates me like poison!" murmured Uncle
Ezra, as he arose from the pile of dirt, and tried to get some of it
off his clothes.
"Hi, there! What's this mean?" demanded Hank, as he rushed up,
clutching a stout club. "What d'ye mean, comin' down in my orchard,
and bustin' up my best Baldwin tree? What d'ye mean?"
"It was an accident--purely an accident," said Lieutenant Larson,
suavely. "It could not be helped."
"Accident? You done it on puppose, that's what you did!" cried Hank,
glaring at Uncle Ezra. "You done it on puppose, and I'll sue ye for
damages, that's what I'll do! That Baldwin apple tree was one of the
best in my orchard."
"Well, we didn't mean to do it," declared Mr. Larabee. "And if you sue
we can prove in court it was an accident. So you'll have your trouble
for your pains."
"I will, hey? Well, I'll show you, Ezra Larabee. I'll teach you to
come around here bustin' my things up with your old airship! You ought
to be ashamed of yourself, a man of your age, trying to fly like a hen
or rooster."
"I'm trying for the government prize," said Dick's uncle, weakly.
"Huh! A heap sight chance YOU have of winnin' a prize, flyin' like
that!" sneered Mr. Crittenden. "Comin' down in my orchard that way!"
"It was an accident," went on the former army man. "We were making a
landing, but we did not intend to come clown just in that spot. We are
sorry the tree is broken, but accidents will happen, and--"
"Yes, and them as does 'em must pay for 'em!" exclaimed Hank.
At the mention of money Uncle Ezra looked pained. He looked more so
when Hank went on:
"I'll have damages for that tree, that's what I'll have and good
damages too. That was my best Baldwin tree--"
"You told us that before," said Larson, as he began to wheel the
aeroplane out into an open space where he could get it started again.
"Here, where you takin' that?" demanded Hank, suspiciously.
"We're going to fly back to Dankville," replied Mr. Larson.
"No, you ain't! You ain't goin' t' move that machine until you pay fer
the damage to my tree!" insisted Hank, as he took a firmer grasp of the
club. "I want ten dollars for what you done to my tree."
"Ten dollars!" grasped Uncle Ezra. "'Tain't wuth half that if it was
loaded with apples."
"Well, you'll pay me ten dollars, Ezra Larabee, or you don't take that
machine away from here!" insisted the owner of the orchard. "You beat
me once in a lawsuit, but you won't again!"
The two had been enemies for many years, Mr. Crittenden insisting that
a certain lawsuit, which went against him, had been wrongfully decided
in favor of Dick's uncle.
"Well, I won't pay no ten dollars," said Mr. Larabee, firmly, putting
his hand in his pocket, as if to resist any attempt to get money from
it.
"Ten dollars or you don't take that machine out!" cried Hank. "You're
trespassers on my land, too! I could have you arrested for that, as
well as suin' ye fer bustin' my tree."
"I'll never pay," said Uncle Ezra. "Come on, Lieutenant, we'll take
the airship out in spite of him."
"Oh, you will, eh?" cried Hank. "Well, we'll see about that! I
reckoned you'd try some such mean game as that Ezra Larabee, and I'm
ready for you. Here, Si and Bill!" he called, and from behind a big
tree stepped two stalwart hired men, armed with pitchforks.
"This Ezra Larabee allows he'll not pay for damagin' my tree,"
explained Hank. "I say he shall, and I don't want you boys t' let him
take his contraption away until he forks over ten dollars."
"It ain't worth nigh that sum," began Mr. Larabee. "I'll never--"
"I think, perhaps, you had better pay it to avoid trouble," said the
lieutenant. "He has some claim on us."
"Oh, dear!" groaned Uncle Ezra. "More money! This airship business
will ruin me. Ten dollars!"
"Not a cent less!" declared Hank.
"Won't you call it eight?" asked the crabbed old miser.
"Ten dollars if you want to take away your machine, and then you can
consider yourselves lucky that I don't sue you for trespass. Hand over
ten dollars!"
"Never!" declared Ezra Larabee.
"I really think you had better," advised the aviator, and then with a
wry face, and much reluctance, Dick's uncle passed over the money.
"Now, you kin go!" cried Hank, "but if I ketch you on my property ag'in
you won't git off so easy. You can go back, boys; I won't need you
this time," he added grimly.
The hired men departed, and Mr. Crittenden, pocketing the money,
watched the lieutenant and Uncle Ezra wheel the biplane out to an open
place where a start could be made.
The machine was somewhat damaged, but it could still be operated. The
motor, however, was obstinate, and would not start. Hank added insult
to injury, at least in the opinion of Uncle Ezra, by laughing at the
efforts of the lieutenant. And finally when the motor did consent to
"mote," it went so slowly that not enough momentum could be obtained to
make the airship rise. It simply rolled slowly over the ground.
"Ha! Ha! That's a fine flyin' machine you've got there!" cried Hank,
laughing heartily. "You'd better walk if you're goin' t' git any
gov'ment prize!"
"Oh, dry up!" spluttered Uncle Ezra, who was now "real mad" as he
admitted later. He and the lieutenant wheeled the machine back to have
another try, and this time they were successful in getting up in the
air. The aviator circled about and headed for Dankville, the airship
having come down about three miles from Uncle Ezra's place.
"Well, you're flyin' that's a fact!" cried Mr. Crittenden, as he looked
aloft at them. "But I wouldn't be surprised t' see 'em come smashin'
down ag'in any minute," he added pessimistically. "Anyhow, I got ten
dollars out of Ezra Larabee!" he concluded, with a chuckle.
Mr. Larabee looked glum when he and the lieutenant got back to the
airship shed.
"This is costing me a terrible pile of money!" said the crabbed old
man. "A terrible pile! And I reckon you'll have to spend more for
fixing her up; won't you?" he asked, in a tone that seemed to indicate
he hoped for a negative answer.
"Oh, yes, we'll have to fix her up," said the lieutenant, "and buy a
new carburetor, too. You know you promised that."
"Yes, I suppose so," sighed Uncle Ezra. "More money! And that skunk
Hank Crittenden got ten dollars out of me! I'll never hear the last of
that. I'd rather have landed anywhere but on his land. Oh, this is
awful! I wish I'd never gone into it."
"But think of the twenty thousand dollars," said the former army man
quickly. It would not do to have his employer get too much
discouraged. And the aviator wanted more money--very much more.
The airship was repaired in the next few days, though there was a
constant finding of fault on the part of Uncle Ezra. He parted with
cash most reluctantly.
However, he had officially made his entry for the government prize, and
he could not withdraw now. He must keep on. Lieutenant Larson
arranged with one of the army aviators to accompany them on the
prospective trip from coast to coast, and finally Larson announced that
he was ready to start for New York, where the flight would officially
begin.
"Well, Ezra," said his wife, as he climbed into the machine on the day
appointed, "I don't like to be a discourager, and throw cold water on
you, but I don't reckon I'll ever see you again, Ezra," and she wiped
her eyes.
"Oh, pshaw! Of course you'll see me again!" her husband cried. "I'm
going to come back with that twenty thousand dollars. And I--I'll buy
a new carriage;--that's what I will!"
"That's awful good of you, Ezra," she said. "But I'm not countin' on
it. I'm afraid you'll never come back," she sighed.
"Oh, yes, I will!" he declared. "Good-bye!"
They were to pick up the army officer in New York, and so Larson and
Uncle Ezra made the first part of the journey alone. They had
considerable trouble on the way, having to come down a number of times.
"Say, if she's going to work this way what will happen when we start
for San Francisco?" asked Mr. Larabee.
"Oh, it will be all right when I make a few changes in her," the
lieutenant said. "And when we have another man aboard she'll ride
easier."
"Well, I hope so," murmured Uncle Ezra. "But more changes! Will
they--er--cost money?"
"A little."
Uncle Ezra groaned.
However, New York was eventually reached, and after some repairs and
changes were made, the airship was taken to the same place where Dick's
had started from, and with the army representative aboard, the journey
for the Pacific coast was begun. The beginning of the flight was
auspicious enough, but if Uncle Ezra could have known all that was
before him I am doubtful if he would have gone on.