THE AIRSHIP RECOVERED
For a moment after Jerry’s announcement to his chums, who were in the
car, neither of them spoke. Then Ned said:
“Come on, let’s start at once for Platville.”
“Yes,” agreed Bob, and, to his credit be it said that he did not
propose stopping for supper, though he was very hungry.
“I think we’ll have a bite to eat first,” suggested Jerry. “We want to
be in shape to tackle Noddy and Jack if we come up to them. It won’t
take long to have a meal, and then we’ll go on.”
Bob looked gratefully at his chum, and his face, that was beginning to
wear a woe-begone expression, took on a more cheerful cast.
“I guess that will be a good plan,” he said, and Ned laughed.
Platville was about fifty miles farther on, and they knew that in the
darkness, for night was approaching, and over unfamiliar roads, they
would hardly get there before morning. But this suited them, as they
knew they could scarcely do anything toward recovering the airship in
the dark.
They went to a hotel where, while they were getting supper, the auto
was looked over by a man from the garage, and some adjustments made.
Then, with a fresh supply of gasolene and oil, the seekers after the
_Comet_ prepared to resume their journey. They inquired as to the best
road to take, and Jerry sent a telegram to the chief of police of
Platville, stating that the real owners of the airship were on their
way to claim it. The chief was requested to send some one out to guard
the craft, and see that the present occupants of it did not get away
with it. To this telegram there was no answer.
The night journey was begun, and, while it was pleasant enough at the
start, it was soon made miserable, for it began to rain, and the roads
were slippery and dangerous, necessitating slow progress. At midnight
they stopped at a roadside-inn to get something to eat, and inquire
as to the progress they had made. The distance covered was rather
disappointing.
“At this rate we won’t get there until nearly noon,” said Jerry.
“Well, there’s one consolation. If the storm keeps up Noddy won’t be
likely to go off in the airship,” remarked Ned. “He probably thinks
he’s far enough off now so that we can’t catch him.”
They kept on, the storm becoming worse as they proceeded. About two
o’clock that morning they ran into a deep mud hole and it took them an
hour to work the auto out.
When they had managed to extricate it, they were all wet through from
the driving rain, and there was no chance to don dry garments, which
they had in their suit cases.
“This is fierce!” exclaimed Jerry, as he resumed his place at the
steering wheel. “If I had Noddy Nixon here now, I’d stick him, head
first, in that mud puddle.”
“Let me drive it for a while,” suggested Ned, “and you go back in the
tonneau with Bob.”
To this Jerry agreed, for he was very tired and there was some
protection under the top that covered the tonneau. He managed to get a
little broken sleep, by curling up on the seat, while Ned directed the
car along the muddy roads.
Morning came at last, and with it the spirits of the three boys rose
somewhat. By signposts they learned that they were within ten miles of
Platville, and, as they got on a highway that was not so soft, they
could make better speed. They were soon in sight of the city, which
nestled in a small valley.
“Now for a good hot breakfast!” exclaimed Bob, as he stretched out in
his wet garments. “Then we’ll feel better.”
“The airship first!” insisted Ned, with a look at Jerry for
confirmation.
“Oh, I think we can afford to change our clothes and get on some dry
garments,” said the older lad. “If the ship is disabled I don’t fancy
Noddy can repair it in a hurry.”
“If it’s damaged he’ll pay for it!” exploded Bob vindictively, and his
chums nodded.
They went to a hotel, and arranged for a room, for they could not tell
how long they would have to stay. The clerk looked a little askance at
the three rain-soaked lads who entered the lobby that early morning,
but when he knew that they were autoists a different expression came
over his face, and his manner was more cordial.
“Which means that he’ll about double our bill,” commented Jerry, as he
and his chums went to their rooms.
They made hasty toilets, and, after a quick breakfast they drove to
the office of the chief of police.
“I don’t know whether it’s the machine you want or not,” remarked that
official, when they told their errand, “but there’s an aeroplane down
in a field about two miles outside of town. It came there yesterday
afternoon, and seems to be out of kilter.”
“Did you send a man out to guard it?” asked Jerry, anxiously.
“Man to guard it? No.”
“We telegraphed you, asking you to do that,” went on the widow’s son.
“The chaps who stole it may take a notion to keep on with it, after
they get it fixed.”
“I never got that second telegram,” said the police officer. “I’m
sorry. But I’ll go right out with you now, and do all I can to help you
get it back. Stealing airships, eh? What will happen next, I wonder?”
It was with anxious hearts that the three chums, accompanied by the
chief, drove out in the auto to the field where the _Comet_ was
supposed to be. Would it still be there, or had Noddy and Jack managed
to repair it, and continue their flight? These were questions that each
of the three lads asked himself.
“Did you see the airship?” asked Jerry, of the chief.
“Yes, I went out to take a look at it yesterday afternoon, when I got
your message,” replied the official. “But as you didn’t say that it was
stolen, I didn’t take any action. I supposed you were only one of the
owners interested in seeing how far it had traveled.”
“Who was in it?” asked Ned, eagerly.
“Well, there were two young fellows, and an old man. And the old man
didn’t seem to know much about airships. He was very quiet, but the two
young men were quarreling between themselves as to who was responsible
for the accident. It seems they lost the gas from the bag, and in
coming down they broke one of the wings, if that’s what you call ’em.”
“I guess you mean one of the side planes,” spoke Jerry. “Well, if
that’s all the damage, we can soon fix it. So Mr. Bell is still with
them, eh? But we’ll soon explain matters to him, and I guess he won’t
want anything more to do with Noddy Nixon and Jack Pender.”
The auto swung around a bend in the road. The storm had ceased, and
the weather was fine. As the boys looked off to the right they saw,
glittering in the sun, in a big field, a shape that was familiar to
them. Bob uttered a cry.
“The _Comet_!”
“There she is!” shouted Ned enthusiastically.
“And not so badly damaged as I feared,” added Jerry as his eyes took in
the outlines of the airship.
“Better leave the auto here,” suggested the chief. “That meadow is
soft, after the rain, and you’ll sink in.”
They dismounted from the car, and eagerly ran across the field toward
the airship, the chief following more slowly.
“There was quite a crowd out to see it yesterday,” the official
remarked, “but one of the boys, Pixon or Snixon I think his name
was,--he acted so mean, and talked of shooting anyone who came too
close,--that the crowd thought it would be healthier to keep away.
Then, too, he said the gas was dangerous, and might kill people.”
“Nonsense,” said Jerry. “The only way it could kill anyone would be for
that person to be shut up in a room full of it. There is no danger.
But that’s just like Noddy Nixon. I guess he didn’t want news that the
airship was here to get out.”
“The man who owns the field made him pay for leaving it here over
night,” went on the chief of police.
As the three chums approached nearer and nearer to the craft they
looked for signs of life about it. The _Comet_ was resting on nearly an
even “keel” in the midst of a big green meadow. But, look as they did,
the motor boys saw no one.
Jerry, who was in the lead, was now within twenty-five feet of the
_Comet_. He was narrowly watching it, and suddenly he saw a figure
emerge from the cabin.
“Hi there! Jack Pender!” cried the tall lad, as he broke into a run.
Jack Pender gave one look, uttered a warning yell, and then leaped
over the side of the airship and ran across the meadow at full speed.
An instant later another figure emerged from the cabin. It was that of
Noddy Nixon. He, too, took in the situation at a glance, and saw the
three motor boys and the chief of police.
Noddy tried to follow the example of Pender, his crony. He leaped
over the side of the craft, but he was not so lucky in recovering his
balance. Before he could run Jerry was upon him.
“Now I’ve got you!” cried the tall lad, shaking Noddy by the collar.
“I’ll teach you to steal our airship!”
“You let me alone!” blustered Noddy, and he began to punch Jerry. This
was more than Jerry could stand, and he turned in and gave the bully
the best thrashing he had received in some time. It did not take long,
either, for Jerry was thoroughly and righteously angry, and Noddy was
like a lump of putty when it came to fighting. By the time Ned, Bob and
the chief had come up, the bully was in a pitiable state.
“There, you get out of this, and thank your stars that you’re not
arrested on a serious charge,” said Jerry indignantly, as he gave the
ugly-faced lad a shove that sent him head-first into a puddle of water.
“You wait, Jerry Hopkins!” spluttered Noddy, as he got up. “I’ll fix
you for this,” but he did not stay to talk further, for Jerry advanced
toward him. Off over the fields, after Jack Pender, ran the discomfited
bully.
“See anything of Mr. Bell?” inquired Ned, as he, with Bob and the
chief, followed Jerry into the cabin of the airship.
“He doesn’t seem to be around,” was the answer.
It needed but a glance about the _Comet_ to show that the hermit was
not aboard.
“I guess he must have gone away in the night,” said Bob.
“Probably he couldn’t stand Noddy and Jack, or else he found out the
trick they had played,” suggested Jerry. “But now let’s see what damage
has been done, for we have our airship back again, and have routed the
enemy,” and he smiled as if something pleased him.
“Here’s something that may give you a clew to things,” commented the
chief of police, handing a letter to Jerry.
“Where did you get it?” asked the lad.
“That chap dropped it when he was having that little argument with
you,” replied the official with a smile, as he thought of the strenuous
“argument” that had taken place between Jerry and Noddy.
“It’s a letter, addressed to Noddy,” said Jerry, as he looked at it. “I
think we’re justified in reading it. Only part of it is here, but it
may interest us.” He read the fragment rapidly and a change came over
his face.
“What is it?” asked Bob anxiously.
“This letter is from Tom Dalsett,” replied Jerry. “Tom Dalsett, who
with Noddy, Jack Pender, and some others of that gang, made trouble
for us in Mexico and at our Western mine. Dalsett writes to Noddy to
come on out west, as he says he thinks there is a chance to beat us out
of our claim to the gold mine, and put Jim Nestor, our foreman, out of
possession.”
“The idea!” cried Ned.
“Fellows,” went on Jerry eagerly, “this is why Noddy was so anxious to
get out West! He wants to steal our gold mine away from us, with the
help of Dalsett and his gang. This letter is a valuable clew.”
“But what of Jackson Bell, the hermit?” asked Ned.
“I don’t know,” answered Jerry, somewhat puzzled. “That is another part
of the mystery. But we’ve got our work cut out for us now, boys. We’ve
got to go West and protect our mine from the same gang who tried, once
before, to get it away from us. We’ll go in the airship, as soon as
it’s repaired. We caught Noddy just in time.”
“And will we let Mr. Bell’s friends, in the mysterious valley, suffer?”
asked Bob.
“No, we’ll save them, too, if we can. There are plenty of adventures
ahead of us,” finished Jerry, as he folded the letter and put it in his
pocket.
“Do you want to arrest those two fellows?” asked the chief, pointing
in the direction taken by Noddy and Jack.
“No, let them go,” advised Jerry. “We’ll see if we can find Mr. Bell,
and then we’ll repair the ship and start for the West.”