MATT SCORES AGAINST JAMESON.
What Matt had in mind when he raced across the street was the telephone booth in the drug store. He would call up the chief on the telephone.
The chief was a good friend of Matt's. In fact, Motor Matt, because of the plucky and successful work he had done, stood pretty high with the South Chicago police department.
After a hurried examination of the telephone directory, the young motorist called up the chief's office.
"Hello!" said he. "Is Chief Raymond there?"
"Yes," some one answered at the other end of the wire. "Want to talk with him personally?"
"Got to, and right away."
"He's busy just now. Leave your message and I'll see that he gets it."
"Can't. This is important and I'm in the biggest kind of a hurry. Tell the chief Matt King—Motor Matt—wants a word with him."
"Oh! Is that you, Matt? Why didn't you say so at the start off? This is Harris. Couldn't you recognize my voice?"
"Is Mr. Jameson there, Harris?"
"He's just gettin' out of a cab, in front—I can see him through the window."
"Well, please call the chief; I want to talk to him before Jameson gets a chance."
A low whistle floated along the wire.
"All right," answered Harris.
It seemed to Matt as though he waited in that hot telephone box for an hour, although it could not have been more than a minute or two. He was now as eager to get ahead of Jameson in the deal for the Hawk as were Ferral and Carl.
Finally the chief's voice came over the phone.
"Howdy, Matt. What can I do for you?"
"I want to buy that air ship, chief," answered Matt.
"Great Scott, boy! You haven't any money to throw away, have you?"
"I should say not, but——"
"Well, forget it. You'd have about as much use for that flying machine as a pig for two tails. Just wait a second—here's Jameson, the fellow you had out in the Hawk, waiting to talk with me. I'll call you up in a few——"
"No, wait a minute," cried Matt. "Jameson's got three thousand he's going to pay for the Hawk. I'll give thirty-five hundred, and put half the amount in your hands inside of fifteen minutes. The rest will be here as soon as I can get it from Chicago."
"I'm not going to let you squander your money in any such fool way," was the chief's astonishing response. "I've got your best interests too much at heart, my lad."
"Look here," and Matt's voice took on a steely note, "I'm not so young, chief, that I don't know what I'm doing. I can see a good many chances to make money with the Hawk, and if you keep me from getting the air ship you'll be cutting a big hole in my prospects. Besides, you've got to sell to the highest bidder, and I'm giving you five hundred more than Jameson offers. Not only that, but only part of the purchase money is mine. I've got a partner in the deal, and——"
From a click and a sudden silence on the wire, Matt knew that "central" had cut him off. Throwing the receiver onto the hooks, he rang the bell frantically. After two or three minutes, "central" answered him, begged his pardon for cutting him off, and once more gave him the chief's office.
Harris answered the phone again.
"Where's the chief, Harris?" asked Matt.
"In his private room, Matt, talking with Jameson," came the officer's reply.
"Well, I'm coming right over there," said Matt. "Please find out if the chief will see me when I arrive. You can tell me when I reach headquarters."
"I guess he'll see you, all right."
Matt entered the big stone building in less than ten minutes.
Harris met him with a wide and wondering grin.
"You've bought something, Matt," said he.
"How do you know?" queried Matt.
"Jameson just left, and he was considerably worked up. He said he hadn't any idea that you were bidding over him, and that he had stood ready to offer five thousand for the Hawk before letting the machine get away from him."
"What did the chief say?"
"Why, that if you didn't show up inside of fifteen minutes, with half the purchase money, Jameson could have the air ship."
The young motorist drew a long breath of relief.
"Well," said he, "right here is where I deliver the goods."
He walked into the chief's office, and found that official smoking a cigar.
"Here's the money, chief," said Matt, laying the bills down on the table. "I can give you a check for the balance, or I'll go to Chicago and get the cash."
"I suppose you know what you're doing, Matt," returned the chief, "but I'll be hanged if I do. First off, you'll have to have a place to keep the Hawk, and you know Brady sold that old balloon house before he skipped out, and the place is to be pulled down in a few days."
"I've figured out how I can have a light canvas shelter made and carry it along in the car," said Matt.
"But what are you going to do with the machine?" went on the chief curiously.
"Give exhibitions at state and county fairs, compete for aëronautical prizes, perhaps, and after I and my partner have had all the fun we want to with the Hawk, we'll sell it to the government."
"You're buying a pig in a poke, Matt, but that's your lookout. The Hawk is yours, and I guess I know you well enough to take your check. When do you want possession?"
"This afternoon or to-morrow morning."
"Better make it to-morrow morning. It will take this afternoon to get the necessary papers from the court."
"All right, then. Will you let your officers guard the Hawk until to-morrow morning?"
"I'll keep two men at the balloon house until you show up there to claim your property."
"Thank you, chief. Just give me a receipt for that cash and the check saying the money is in payment for the air ship Hawk and that I'm to have the necessary papers completing the transfer as soon as you can get them."
This business formality was quickly carried out, and when Matt left the chief's office, his Chicago bank account looked as though it had been sandbagged. But Matt had the chief's agreement in his pocket, and his heart was light and his hopes buoyant.
Carl and Ferral were waiting for him in the hotel office.
"The Hawk belongs to us, Dick," announced Matt, and both Carl and Ferral began to rejoice. "We've got to take possession to-morrow——"
"The quicker the better!" cried Ferral.
"What are we going to do with the machine?"
"Do?" gasped Ferral blankly. "Why, fly in it, of course! Navigate the skies."
"We can't be in the skies all the time. We'll have to come down once in awhile, for gasoline, if for nothing else, and for gas. Where are we going to keep the Hawk while she's on the ground?"
"Hitch her to a tree," suggested Ferral. "It's easy enough to find moorings for such a craft."
"But, if there's a storm, the Hawk will have to be protected."
"Py shinks," muttered Carl, "dere iss more to der pitzness as vat I t'ought."
Ferral had bought a new outfit of shoes, hats, and clothes for himself and Carl. Ferral's sailor rig was being dried and pressed, and he had managed to pick up a sailorman's hat, in lieu of the one he had lost on theChristina.
Matt's logical remarks impressed Ferral quite as much as Carl.
"Well," said he, with a grim laugh, "owning an air ship ain't all beer and skittles. The best thing for us to do is to keep traveling with it. At night, we'll berth the thing in some farmer's barn, and we'll spend the day fanning along through the air."
"There are plenty of barns big enough to house the Hawk," returned Matt, "but I don't know where you'll find a barn, in the whole country, with a big enough door to take it in. And when you talk about traveling, Dick, where'll we go?"
"Oh, anywhere, mate, it's all one to me until I'm ready for Quebec."
"It costs money to travel by air ship. We've got to buy oil and gasoline, and gas, too, now and then. Wherever we travel, we've got to have the idea of profit in mind. How about going to New York and hiring the air ship to some one out on Coney Island?"
"Fine-o!" applauded Ferral. "You're overhauling the right idea, at last, messmate. I knew we could trust you to do that."
"Pully!" cried Carl. "Ve vill show off der machine at Goney Islandt, und make so mooch money ve von't know vat to do mit it. Hoop-a-la!"
Just then a bell boy came hurriedly up to Matt.
"You're wanted on the phone," said he. "Police headquarters is callin' fer you."
Matt and his chums had a distressful feeling that something had gone wrong with the air-ship deal, and that the chief was calling up to tell Matt to come back and get his money. All three of them hurried to the telephone booth.
While Matt was talking, Carl and Ferral hung about the door of the booth, wrestling morbidly with their doubts and fears.
"The air ship is still ours," laughed Matt, as he came out of the booth, "but Grove, one of the gang that worked with Brady, and who was captured and in jail here awaiting trial, has escaped. What's more, the Chicago police haven't been able to find that sailboat and catch the Bradys. The chief here thinks Grove has gone to join Hector Brady, and that——"
Matt paused.
"Go on, mate," urged Ferral.
"And that Carl and I had better look out," finished Matt, "or Brady and his gang will put us out of the way."
"Dey vill haf more as dey can do keeping oudt oof der vay oof der bolice deirselufs," said Carl, "to bodder mit us, Matt."
"That's the way I size it up, Carl," returned Matt. "Besides, if Brady and his gang want to find us, after to-morrow morning, they'll have to get hold of another air ship."
But, even then, the cunning Brady was engineering a plot which was to strike Matt and his chums like a bolt from the blue.
AT THE BALLOON HOUSE.
Late that afternoon Matt and Carl went into Chicago on the train. The young motorist had to sever his connection with the Lestrange people, who were the eastern representatives of the Jarrot Automobile Company, for whom Matt had won the Borden cup during the recent Kansas race.
While Matt was at the office of the Lestrange Company, Carl was to go to the boarding house, settle their bill, and get their baggage.
Meanwhile, Dick Ferral went to the balloon house to keep watch over the Hawk with the two officers on guard there.
The Lestrange people were more than sorry to lose Matt's services. There was no driver who could get more speed out of a racing car than Motor Matt, and it was largely his driving that had won the five-day race at the Coliseum for the Jarrot car. Matt agreed, before he left the Lestrange offices, that if ever he drove in another race, he would give the Lestrange and Jarrot people first chance to secure his services. Then, with his back pay in his pocket, he made his way to the Twelfth Street Station, met Carl with the luggage, and they returned to South Chicago.
Matt and Carl went to the hotel to stay all night, and the two officers who had been on duty at the balloon house, having been relieved by a fresh detail, came in about nine in the evening and informed Matt that Ferral was going to stay at the balloon house until morning.
"Verral is afraidt der machine vill fly avay mit itseluf," chuckled Carl.
"It's all right to be on the safe side," said Matt. "I guess that there won't be anything happen to the Hawk, with two policemen and Dick to look after her."
"Sure nod," agreed Carl. "Vere vill Ferral shleep?"
"There's a small sleeping room in the back of the big shed. Brady used to spend his nights there when he had the air ship under the roof. There's a fixture in the room for supplying the Hawk with illuminating gas. Brady used to manufacture hydrogen, but since the police department has had charge of the air ship, the supply of gas has come from the city gas works. Oh, Dick will be comfortable enough, out there, and when we join him in the morning we'll take his breakfast along."
It was the intention of the three chums to start on their long journey to New York the following morning. Matt had bought a compass and a number of maps covering the country they would cross. For a long time he sat up, studying the maps and figuring on the towns at which they would stop during their flight. It was nearly midnight when he went to bed, and Carl had been snoring for several hours.
Both boys were up bright and early. They ate a hearty breakfast, and Matt had a meal packed away in a box for Dick. It was about half-past six when they were ready to start for the balloon house, and Matt suddenly remembered that the papers completing the transfer of the air ship had not come from the chief.
"I'll go on out to the balloon house with my satchel and the box of grub for Dick," said Matt, "and you go to police headquarters, Carl, and ask the chief for the papers he was to get for me. If the chief isn't there yet, see Harris. It may be you'll have to go to the chief's house."
"All righdt," answered Carl, "schust so you don'd fly avay und leaf me."
"You can bet we won't do that, Carl. We'll wait until you get there before we start."
The two chums separated in front of the hotel, Carl walking rapidly toward police headquarters, and Matt turning toward the outskirts of the town and striding away in the direction of the black smoke from the rolling mills.
Ferral, once more in his sailor rig, was out in front of the balloon house, and gave a yell when he saw Matt coming down the road.
Matt dropped the satchel and lunch box over the fence at the roadside, jumped after them, and then started across the swampy stretch of ground.
"Ahoy, old raggie!" whooped Ferral, whose enthusiasm seemed to have grown during the night. "Our ship's pulling at her cables, just as though she's as anxious to get away as we are. Where's Carl?"
"I sent him to the police department after those papers the chief was to get for us," replied Matt. "Here's some breakfast for you, Dick. Better get on the outside of it as soon as you can. By the way, haven't you some luggage in Chicago you'll want to get?"
"I sent all my luggage through to Quebec. When I travel, Matt, I always travel light. Mighty nice of you to remember my 'scran,'" Ferral added, as he took the box Matt handed him.
While he was eating, the two officers came around the end of the building.
"Our orders was to pull out as soon as you got here,King," said one of them. "You're goin' to leave purty soon, anyhow, ain't you?"
"Just as soon as we can get the Hawk out of the shed. Our Dutch pard will be here by that time."
"I'd like to stay and see you off, but the old woman'll have my breakfast ready, an' there's always a row if I don't get there while it's hot. Good-by, an' good luck to you."
"The same to you, officer."
The policeman started off toward the road, and Matt went around to the front of the balloon house to open the doors. The doors comprised almost the whole end of the building, and when they were open, the interior of the shed was well lighted by the sun.
The Hawk seemed fit and ready for any work she might be called upon to do. As Matt looked at the great swaying bag, the light car and its trim machinery, he experienced a pride in the air ship he had never before known. This was because the Hawk belonged partly to him, now.
While in the balloon house, the air ship was not moored with ropes, but was weighted down with sand bags hung to the under side of the car. A pull of a lever would release all the sand bags.
There was a supply of gasoline in the shed, and also a small amount of oil. Matt filled the gasoline tank and the oil tank, saw that all ropes belonging to the car were safely stowed, and that propeller and steering rudder were working properly.
By the time he had finished his survey, Ferral had got through with his breakfast and had joined him.
"See anything of Carl, Dick?" asked Matt.
"He wasn't in sight when I came in," replied Ferral.
"Probably the chief wasn't at his office and Carl had to go to his house. He'll be along pretty soon, though. It's a fine morning for the start. Hardly a breath of air stirring."
Matt stowed his maps and compass in a little locker close to the driver's chair.
"We've got to have a compass, eh?" grinned Ferral.
"It's just as well to have one," said Matt.
"And charts! Keelhaul me, mate, but this is just like putting to sea in a ship."
"It's about the same thing."
"Only when we make landfall we drop to it. But what's the good of the charts? We'll be off soundings all the time, and no danger of bouncing up on a reef."
"It's a good thing to keep track of the towns we pass. If we need gas, we want to be able to figure on reaching a town big enough to supply it."
"Right-o, mate. I'll lay a month's pay your head's level on the whole business, and that you've figured out everything connected with the cruise. Are we going to follow the railroad?"
"Not much, Dick! We're going to strike a bee line for where we want to go. That's the beauty of traveling in an air ship. You don't have to go around a mountain, or hunt for a place to cross a stream."
"Strike me lucky, mate," jubilated Ferral, rubbing his hands, "I'm mighty glad I stopped over in Chicago to see you, and that we were able to get our hooks on this air ship. The way the thing fell out, it seems like that was how it was meant to be. Everything that's happened has steered us both for the Hawk. If I hadn't dropped into that trap Brady, Jr., laid for me, I wouldn't have been out in the lake; and if you hadn't come along in the Hawk, just when you did, I couldn't have saved my money; and if you hadn't picked me up, money and all, that other lubber would have got ahead of us and grabbed the air ship. Oh, we've been main lucky, all around."
"What will your uncle say," quizzed Matt, "when you write him you have bought an interest in an air ship?"
"Bless the old chap! Why, matey, anything I do is all right for Uncle Jack. If I'd bought a menagerie, or a steam calliope, the old boy would have clapped me on the shoulder and said I'd done well."
"Well," laughed Matt, "that's mighty nice—for you. Suppose we get the Hawk out of the shed? By the time we do that, Carl ought to be here."
"Aye, aye, my hearty! How do you go to work to warp the craft out of her berth? You'll have to tell me what to do, until I can learn the ropes."
"All we've got to do," said Matt, "is just to take hold of the car and pull the air ship through the door. These sand bags hold her steady. Be careful, though, that the gas bag don't strike the side of the door. It would cost us a lot of money, and delay us for a week or two, if we were unlucky enough to rip the fabric."
By working carefully, the boys got the front part of the Hawk through the end of the shed and into the open air. Matt was at the front of the car, and Ferral was at the rear. While the young motorist bent to his work, he heard a noise as of running feet.
Straightening himself quickly, he whirled around. Four roughly dressed men were rushing at him from the corner of the shed. The rascals were plainly hostile, as their clinched fists and their scowling faces proved. One of the scoundrels, who was within arm's length of Matt, halted and aimed a blow at him. Matt deftly evaded the blow. By then the others were near enough to take part in the set-to.
"This way, Dick!" yelled Motor Matt, as he struck down one of the ruffians.
THE PLOT OF THE BRADY GANG.
The attack of the four men had been engineered with a suddenness that took Matt's breath. The men were not common hoodlums, although they looked the part, but all four of them were men whom Matt recognized.
They were all members of the Brady gang. One was Grove, who had escaped from the South Chicago authorities on the preceding afternoon; another was Harper, who used to drive the Hawk for Brady when the air ship was in his possession; another man was Pete, and the fourth was Whipple.
Matt had seen a picture of Harper in the "rogues' gallery" in the chief's office, and he had had no difficulty in recognizing the rascal at a glance. Harper had been with Grove at the time some blue prints were stolen from Hamilton Jerrold, another inventor of air ships, living in South Chicago. But Harper had been hurt in Jerrold's house and had not got away in the air ship, which the thieves had used to help them commit their robbery.
Pete and Whipple had been with Brady in a rendezvous in Willoughby's swamp, near Lake Station, Indiana. Matt had had some exciting dealings with Grove, Pete, and Whipple, and knew them fairly well.
Ferral, hearing Matt's cry and the rush of feet, had run out of the shed and around the front of the car. As quickly as he could, he leaped to Matt's assistance.
But what could the two boys accomplish against four husky men, all desperately determined to carry out the plot they had formed? Officers of the law were hunting for all of them, and if they did not succeed in their nefarious work, it would not be many hours before they saw the inside of a prison cell.
Matt King never fought better than he did then. He had struck down Whipple, and had thrown himself at Pete.
About the same time, Ferral engaged Grove. Grove had science as well as strength, and was keeping Ferral pretty well occupied.
Whipple, wild with fury, staggered to his feet. He was behind Matt, and Ferral, out of the corner of his eye, saw him preparing to strike.
"Look out, mate!" warned Ferral. "There's a big swab behind you!"
But the warning came too late. Whipple's ham-like fist reached Matt's head, and the young motorist staggered and flung up his arms. Again the enraged Whipple aimed a blow, but Matt dropped to one side, and the fist only grazed his shoulder. Pete, however, had been watching his chance. Throwing himself forward, he dealt a fierce blow with his fist that toppled Matt to the ground.
Harper, meantime, had come up behind Ferral and successfully carried out the same manœuvre that had been made use of by Whipple. Both boys were brutally knocked off their feet. The moment they were down, Harper fell on Ferral and Pete dropped on Matt, when Whipple turned on Grove.
"Go ter the side o' the shed, Grove," said he, "an' keep yer eyes skinned along the road. If ye see anyone comin', jest let out a yell."
"What's the use of fooling around here any longer?" demanded Grove. "We've got the car, and all we have to do now is to get into her and let the police look up at us."
"Do as I tell ye!" bawled Whipple. "Our work ain't done yet. The ole man told us what ter do with King, an' we're goin' ter do it. He's played hob with Brady's plans, an' the ole man is crazy ter git even. T'other chap, bein' with King, 'll have ter stand fer the same dose."
Grove, muttering to himself, moved off toward the corner of the balloon house. Whipple, hurrying to the car, took out a coil of rope. It was not heavy rope, but fine and pliable.
Cutting off four pieces of the rope, Whipple went to Matt. The young motorist was still dazed from the blows he had received, and it was not difficult for Pete to hold him while Whipple tied his wrists at his back and his feet at the ankles.
Thereupon Whipple passed to Dick and secured him in the same way.
"Anyone in sight yet, Grove?" Whipple asked as he straightened up.
"No," replied Grove.
"Well, keep yer eyes peeled. We're a good ways from bein' through." He turned to Harper and Pete. "Lay holt o' the car, you two," he ordered, "an' pull the Hawk clear o' the shed. Mind ye don't let the gas bag tech the sides o' the door."
"This ain't the first time I've helped with the Hawk," said Harper. "I reckon I know how ter handle her as well as anyone."
Harper and Pete managed to get the air ship out of the shed without injury. This left the opening into the shed clear.
"You two," Whipple went on to Pete and Harper, "pick up that other feller an' kerry him in. I can handle King, all right."
The way Whipple handled Matt was to grab him by the collar and drag him through the door and the length of the shed. At the end of the big room he opened a door and pulled Matt into a small chamber not more than ten feet square by as many high—hardly more than a big box. There was a window in one wall, and two cots at each side.
Halting in front of one of the cots, Whipple picked Matt up in his arms and dumped him upon the narrow bed.
"Put your kid on the other cot," ordered Whipple to Harper and Pete.
Ferral was lifted and placed as the leader of the gang had directed.
Matt had been conscious of every move that was made, although his mind had not been at all clear. By the time he had been placed on the cot, however, his faculties were as keen as ever, in spite of the pain he suffered on account of his rough treatment.
"What are you trying to do, Whipple?" he demanded, turning his head so he could look directly into the face of the leader of the gang.
"What we're tryin' ter do we've as good as done," was the fierce answer. "We're undoin' the thing you done a week er more ago. The perlice are after us, on account o' you, an' we're goin' ter make a getaway in the Hawk."
"The Hawk belongs to me and my friend, on the other cot."
"How d'ye figger that out? I reckoned the Hawk belonged ter Brady."
"Brady is a thief. He stole a lot of stuff, and the Hawk was sold to help pay back the losses of some of the people who were robbed."
"Oh, ho!" laughed Whipple, huskily, "that's the way of it, eh? An' you an' yer chum bought the Hawk?"
"Yes. If you steal her you'll get into trouble—a lot more trouble than you're in already. I guess you've got more now than you can take care of."
"An' it was you as made the trouble fer us!" cried Whipple, with a black scowl, stepping closer to Matt and shaking a fist in his face. "But you're right at the end o' your rope, my buck. Brady never fergits a feller who crosses his plans like you done. Arter we leave here it won't be you that makes the trouble fer us."
"Is Brady in this?" queried Matt, seeking information.
"He's on deck, you bet, an' we're goin' ter pick him up close ter Willoughby's swamp; then we're goin' ter cross the lake an' come down in a place where we'll be safe fer a spell. While we got the Hawk we're safe from the perlice, all right, but we got our operations ter attend to."
"More robbery, I suppose."
"Suppose what ye blam' please, ye'll never be able ter tell anyone what ye're hearin' from me now. What we're goin' ter do to you an' yer chum'll teach others ter let Hector Brady an' his gang alone. If I——"
Just then a shrill whistle came to the ears of those in the little room.
"Listen to that!" exclaimed Pete, in consternation.
"Somebody's comin'!" gasped Harper. "If we don't make a run out of this we'll be nabbed."
Whipple jumped to a gas bracket against one of the rough board walls. It was not an ordinary bracket, but had a wide mouth to which a piece of hose could be attached. This had been used by the police officials to replenish the gas in the silk envelope of the Hawk.
With one jerk of his hand Whipple turned the gas full on.
"Get out!" he called to the two with him.
Pete and Harper tumbled through the door into the shed. Whipple hurried after them but paused a moment on the threshold to give a wild, taunting laugh.
"That's what Brady told us ter do," said he, savagely, "an' we've done it. Git clear o' this, if ye can!"
With that, Whipple slammed the door.
The fate to which the murderous scoundrel had consigned the two boys was a fearful one. Even as the door closed, Matt could smell the odor of gas pouring into the small room and poisoning the air.
"Dick!" he called. "Can you hear me? Do you know what has been going on?"
"Aye, aye, old ship," came from Ferral. "We're bound for Jones', as straight as we can go. We've lost the Hawk, and probably we've lost our lives. Hard luck!"
"Hard luck!" exclaimed Matt. "Why, Dick, it's the hardest luck I ever had come my way. But there's a chance."
"What sort of a chance, mate? I can't see any."
"Grove, one of the gang, was left outside to watch. He was to whistle if anyone came along the road. Didn't you hear him give the warning? If anyone is coming, we can bring them here. Use your lungs, pard! Yell for all you're worth! Our lives may depend on it!"
Fighting frenziedly to free themselves of the ropes about their hands, the boys shouted at the top of their voices for help. They could feel the vitiated air of the room bringing their breath short and hard, and they knew that their voices were getting feebler by degrees. Desperately they continued to call, hoping against hope that they would be heard, and that some one would come to their aid before it was too late.
CARL IS SURPRISED.
Carl, when he left the hotel to call on the chief in accordance with Motor Matt's instructions, left his satchel in care of the clerk. In going to the balloon house, after he had transacted his business at police headquarters, he would have to return past the hotel, and by leaving the satchel he would not have to bother with it during his call on the chief.
It was very early, too early for the chief to be in his office. Nor was Harris at headquarters. No one there knew of any papers that had been left for Matt.
Carl was disappointed, for he was in a hurry to rejoin his friends at the balloon house. Nevertheless, Matt had told him to be sure and see the chief, and so Carl inquired his way to that official's house.
When he arrived at the house, Carl found that the chief had left and gone to headquarters; so the disgusted German turned around and made his way back to the chief's office. The head of the department had not yet arrived there, having been delayed somewhere on the road.
Carl had to wait half an hour. When the chief finally came, Carl got to him at once and asked about the papers. "They're here, all right," smiled the official. "I would have sent them to Matt last night, only I was so busy trying to find that escaped prisoner, Grove, that the matter slipped my mind. You lads are going to start off in the air ship, are you?"
"Sure," answered the impatient Carl, "oof I efer ged dose bapers and meet Matt like vat he saidt. I don'd vant dem fellers to go off mitoudt me."
"Oh, I guess they won't do that! Where are you going?"
"Py New York. Anyhow, dot vas our bresent indentions."
"New York? Great Scott! Do you think that——"
"I vas in a pig hurry, chief," interrupted Carl, wildly. "You see, I haf peen more as an hour looking for you, und I vas vay late meeding Matt und Tick. Oof you vill blease handt ofer dose bapers, I vill shlide oudt so kevick as bossiple."
The chief pulled a sealed envelope from a pigeonhole in his desk and handed it to Carl.
"There you are," said he. "If Matt hears anything about Brady, or the rest of his gang, tell him to be sure and let me know."
"He vill do dot, you bed you. He iss as anxious to haf Brady captured as anypody."
"He ought to be. Brady will do everything he can to get even with Matt for the havoc Matt has played with the gang. And that's what leads me to believe Matt may see something of him. Tell your friend that——"
But Carl waited for no more. He had already lost more time than he could well afford.
Bolting out of the chief's office, he made a rush for the hotel. There he secured his satchel and started along the road toward the rolling mills.
The drops rolled off Carl's face as he hurried. As soon as he struck the beginning of the road that ran past the swampy meadow, he kept his eyes in the direction of the balloon house. It was several minutes before he sighted the big building, and then it was far off and could be seen only indistinctly.
Swiftly he drew nearer and nearer. As the building came more prominently into view, he was able to make out the air ship, swaying in front.
"Dey haf got der Hawk oudt oof der house!" he muttered. "Dey're alretty to go, und dey vas only vaiting for me."
Even as Carl was congratulating himself on the fact that he was not going to be left behind, he was astounded to see the Hawk move upward and away from the balloon house. He was still so far away that he could not see those in the car, and a terrific fear shivered along his nerves.
"Himmelblitzen!" he groaned, "I vouldn't haf t'ought it bossiple! Dey vas leafing me in der lurch. Modor Matt, der pest friendt vat I efer hat, iss skyhooting avay mitoudt his Dutch bard! Vat iss der meaning oof dot?"
For a few moments Carl stood rooted to the ground. Then he had an idea.
"Meppy Matt und Tick vas coming pack tovards townto pick me oop!" he murmured, and continued to stand still and watch.
But the Hawk did not turn around and come in Carl's direction. On the contrary, it kept moving off toward the south and west.
"Ach, vat a pad pitzness!" groaned Carl. "Matt!" he yelled, as loud as he could, starting to run along the road and waving his satchel as he went, "vy don'd you vait for your Dutch pard, Matt? Haf you gone back on me?"
If Carl's voice had been strong enough to reach a mile, his yelling might have ascended to the ears of those in the car. As it was, however, Carl might as well have shouted into the empty air. But he was excited, and hardly knew what he was about.
When he came opposite the balloon house he hardly gave it a look; and he was making so much noise himself that he was unable to hear the calls coming from the small addition in the rear of the big shed.
On and on along the road went Carl, keeping up his frenzied pace. He got beyond the big mills, and then, after he had got past the smoke from their huge chimneys, he saw that the air ship had disappeared. Utterly dejected, and tired out with his hard run, he sat down on a rock near the roadside.
"I nefer vouldt haf t'ought dot oof Modor Matt," he wheezed mournfully. "All along I haf hat some hunches dot I vouldn't ged avay in dot air ship py New York. Vell, vell! Der pest friendt vat I efer hat has vent pack on me, und I vas a shdray Dutchman mit fife tollars in my bocket und no blace to go."
While Carl mused in this lugubrious strain, a girl came toward him along the road. Her clothes were dusty, and her face was haggard. She was pretty, in spite of her weariness and her coarse clothes, and there was a dauntless gleam in her dark eyes. When she came close to Carl she paused.
Carl pulled off his hat.
"Vas you in some drouples, too, miss?" he asked. "Oof you vas, den ve ought to be some pooty goot gompany. Misery lofes gompany, dey say, und I vas so full oof misery as I can't dell."
The girl stared at him wonderingly for a moment.
"Are you acquainted with the country around here?" she asked. "I ought to know it, but I never came into South Chicago before by this road."
"Vell, I know somet'ing aboudt it," replied Carl. "For vy do you make dose inkviries?"
"I'm looking for the balloon house where they keep the air ship called the Hawk," was the astounding reply.
Carl leaped off the stone as though he had been touched by a live wire.
"Sure I know dot!" he cried. "Vat for do you vant to know?"
"I must hurry and get there," answered the girl. "I've walked a long ways, and I'm pretty tired, but I've got to reach the balloon house."
"Der Hawk don'd vas dere any more," said Carl.
The girl clasped her hands.
"You mean to say that the Hawk has been taken away so soon?"
"Vell, she don'd vas oxactly daken. You see, der bard vat I hat has gone pack on me und he skyhooted off mit der Hawk, leafing me behindt."
"When was this?" asked the girl, excitedly.
"Schust a leedle vile ago. Ter Hawk only schust got oudt oof sight. Couldn't you see it? Oof you hat looked oop you vould sure haf seen der air ship."
"Oh," cried the girl, tearfully, "then I'm too late! And I tried so hard to get here. I hadn't any money, you see, and I had to walk."
"How far haf you valked?"
"All the way from Lake Station."
"Ach, chimineddy! Dot vas too pad, I bed you. Who you vas? I haf fife tollars, und you can haf dot."
Carl pulled the crumpled bill out of his pocket and tried to push it into the girl's hand. But she would not take it.
"No, no," said she. "My name is Helen Brady, and I——"
Carl grew rigid. His amazement was growing.
"Vy," he cried, "den you vas Prady's daughter, eh? Der vone vat heluped Modor Matt ged avay from Villoughy's svamp mit der Hawk dot time he prought two oof der gang indo Sout' Chicago?"
"Yes, yes," returned the girl. "I am the same Helen Brady who helped Motor Matt. If the air ship is gone from the balloon house, then it wasn't Matt who sailed away with her, but four of my father's men."
Carl was electrified.
"Ach, I ditn't t'ink my olt bard, Modor Matt, could dreat me in sooch a vay as dot!" he exclaimed. "Vat has pecome oof Matt und Verral?"
"Oh, I don't know," answered the girl. "I'm afraid that some awful trouble has come to them. We must hurry to the balloon house and see."
"Yah, you bed you!" cried Carl. "Meppy I can gif you some helup on der vay? You vas more tired as me—und you valked from Lake Station! Himmelblitzen! vat you t'ink oof dot! A leedle girl like you valk all der vay from Lake Station! Come, und ve vill got togedder py der palloon house."
Carrying his satchel in his left hand, with his right Carl grasped the girl's arm and helped her along the road. They did not proceed at a very rapid pace, but they walked much faster than the girl could have done had she been compelled to go on alone.
"Vat iss der drouple, anyvay?" asked Carl. "Vy you vas valking to der palloon house?"
"There is a plot," answered the girl, "a plot to steal the air ship and to do some harm to Motor Matt. Matt helped me, that time he took the air ship away from the swamp, and I want to help him. But I'm afraid I'm too late, too late."
The girl's voice and manner all convinced Carl that there was something very serious the matter. The theft of the air ship would have been bad enough, in itself, but there was a chance that harm had befallen Matt.
Excited and anxious, Carl toiled on along the road, helping the girl and keeping his eyes on the balloon house, just as he had done when he had approached it from the direction of town—only he was even more wildly anxious now than he was then.
HELEN BRADY'S CLUE.
Matt remembered the awful moment when he felt his senses leaving him, when the interior of the bare little room swam on his sight and was blotted out in a black mist. After that he could remember nothing until heopened his eyes in the bright sunlight, and saw the strangely familiar face of a girl bending over him.
For a brief space his clearing senses grappled with the situation helplessly; then, as the clear outer air drove from his lungs the poison he had been breathing, his faculties regained their normal condition.
"Helen Brady!" he mumbled, sitting up.
"Yah, you bed you!" whooped Carl, from a little distance away. "Dot vas Helen Prady, Matt, und oof it hatn't peen for her, you und Tick vould haf peen goners. Helen Prady is a pooty fine girl, you bed you. I dake off my hat to her any tay as you can findt in der veek. Miss Prady," and Carl directed his admiring gaze at the girl, "allow me to make some remarks dot you vas a brick—und not a goldt brick, neider. She valked all der vay from Lake Station, Matt, to safe you und Tick!"
Carl was near Ferral, who was likewise sitting up in front of the balloon house, only a little way off.
"Sink me, mate," cried Ferral, "but we had a close call of it. We shook hands with Davy Jones—just about—and then Miss Brady and Carl pulled us away from him."
"I'm all twisted up about this," said Matt, rubbing a hand across his eyes in a dazed way.
"I'm all ahoo over it myself," put in Ferral. "I'm glad I'm alive, but I can't understand how Miss Brady got here and helped us out of that scrape."
"Tell dem aboudt it, Miss Prady," urged Carl. "You haf tone a mighdy fine t'ing, und Matt und Tick ought to know all aboudt it."
"Ever since you got away from Willoughby's swamp with the Hawk, Matt," said Helen, "I have been staying in Lake Station. My father, and Pete, and Whipple got out of the swamp by a secret way they knew about, very soon after you left. Dad gave me some money and told me to find a place to stay in Lake Station. He was terribly ugly to me, and I was glad that I was going to be free from him for a while. There was a woman in the village who had some furnished rooms to rent, and I rented them and stayed there. I didn't see anything of dad until last night. I was in the other part of the house, visiting the woman who owned it, and when I went back to my rooms I saw a light shining through a window between the edge of the curtain and the sill. I listened and heard voices—then I knew that dad had found the place where I was staying, and had come there.
"There was a way to get into the cellar, and I got into it and crept up a stairway without being heard. By sitting at the top of the stairs I could listen and hear all that was said.
"Whipple was in the room with dad, and they were talking over a scheme for getting hold of the Hawk. Officers of the law were hunting them, and, if they did not have the air ship, they felt that they would not be able to avoid arrest for very long.
"Whipple told dad how Grove had managed to escape from the South Chicago police, and dad told Whipple how he had been out in a sailboat with my brother, and how they had tried to get some money from a young fellow my brother had met on the train, and how Motor Matt, with the Hawk, had come along just in time to prevent the robbery. After that, my father said he and my brother had the sailboat set them ashore. My father had come to Lake Station, and had sent my brother to tell Whipple to come to the same place. And that was how the two happened to meet in my rooms.
"Whipple, Pete, and Harper had been in hiding in Willoughby's swamp, and that was the place to which Grove came when he made his escape.
"My father knew that the Hawk was being kept by the police in the old balloon house, and that two officers were constantly on guard to see that no harm came to the machine. It was also known that Motor Matt was spending a good deal of time at the balloon house and running the air ship for the officers.
"Dad's plot centred about the balloon house. It was a risky plot, but dad told Whipple they would all have to take desperate chances if they hoped to succeed in stealing the Hawk and getting away in her. Whipple agreed with dad, and they arranged between them that Whipple, Grove, Harper, and Pete were to get close to the balloon house in the early morning, steal the Hawk, and sail away. If they were successful, they were to stop at the marsh for dad; and if they captured Motor Matt, Whipple was to put him, securely bound, in the back room, behind the shed, and turn on the gas there."
The girl shivered, and an expression of horror crossed her face.
"I can't begin to tell you," she half sobbed, "how terribly I felt. Motor Matt had helped me, and I could not bear to think that my own father was—was——"
Helen paused, and it was a moment before she could recover herself and go on.
"At first," she continued, "I thought of running into the room where dad was and begging him not to let Whipple harm Motor Matt. But a little thought showed me that such a course would be foolish. Not only would dad not listen to me, but he would probably make me a prisoner, so as to keep me from interfering with his plot. I had no money left, and the only thing I could do was to walk to South Chicago, and try to get there before the plot was carried out. I got my hat—it was in a bedroom easily reached from the cellarway—and I started.
"I walked miles and miles through the darkness, and at last I was so tired I had to sit down and rest. Then I got up and started on again. Every little while I would sit down for a few minutes. But I did not dare to stop very long, for fear I would not get to South Chicago in time.
"Morning came, and I guided myself by the smoke from the rolling mills. Just as I was about to give out entirely, I met Carl."
The girl turned her eyes toward the Dutch boy.
"Und it vas a pooty goot t'ing dot Miss Prady met me schust ven she dit. I vas feeling pooty plue mit meinseluf, you bed you. You see, Matt, it vas like dis: Afder fooling aroundt und losing more dime as I vanted to, I got dose bapers from der chief. Den I come pack py der hodel, get my sadchel, und hurry kevick along der roadt to der palloon house. Ven I see der blace, oop goes der Hawk in der air, und I t'ink, py shiminy, dot Matt hat got tired oof vaiting und hat gone off py New York mitoudt his Dutch bard. Vell, meppy it vas some foolishness, aber I shaced afder dot air ship so fast as I couldt. Sure I couldn't ketch der Hawk, aber I vas oft my headt und ditn't shdop to t'ink. I schust run, und yelled, und got vay past der palloon house ven I med Miss Prady. As soon as she say a few t'ings, den I know dot it vasn't Matt vat vent avay mit der Hawk, but dot Prady gang; und as soon as she say a few t'ings more, den I ged some vorries aboudt Matt und Tick. Ve come pack py der palloon house togedder, Miss Prady und me, und ve go to dot leedle room pehindt der blace, und, whoosh!sooch a odor vat shtruck us in der faces ven ve obened der door.
"Vell, dere vas my bard, Modor Matt, lying shdill on der cot on vone site, und my odder bard, Tick Verral, lying shdill on der cot on der odder site. Ve hat some vildness mit us ven ve t'ink you vas gone oop der shpout, aber ve turned off der gas, got you oudt oof der room und indo der glear air, und pooty kevick, pympy, you refifed. Ach, it vas some habbiness for bot' oof us ven ve see dot!"
Matt and Dick had listened to all this with deep interest. What most impressed them was the courage and determination shown by Helen Brady. Matt reached out and clasped her hand.
"You saved my life and Dick's," said he, with feeling, "and that is something we'll never forget."
"Not if we live to be a thousand years old!" declared Ferral. "You're a brave lass, Miss Brady, and I've an uncle who won't forget what you've done, either."
"I only did what I thought I ought to do," said Helen. "It was merely undoing a wrong of my father's, and it was no more than right that I should do what I could."
"Ach, Matt," piped up Carl, "aber you vas blaying in some hardt luck! Und shdill, mit all dot, vasn't it pooty fine dot you got oudt oof dot tight blace mit your life, you und Tick?"
"Right-o, matey!" agreed Ferral heartily. "Matt and I, between us, have lost the Hawk, which means thirty-five hundred, in cold cash, but, all the same, we ought to shake hands over it and call ourselves well off."
Matt grabbed Dick's hand.
"Shake!" said he. "A fellow never has such a run of hard luck but he can think a little and see where it might have been a whole lot worse."
A puzzled look had come into Helen's face.
"How was it, Matt," she queried, "that you and your friend lost so much money?"
Matt explained about the purchase of the air ship. As Helen listened, her look of wonder changed to one of distress.
"I am sorry!" she said, with a pang of deepest regret. "I know where dad and the rest have gone, though, and if you wanted to follow them, you might be able to get the air ship back."
The information startled all three of the boys.
"You know that?" cried Matt, his face brightening.
"Yes. They are going to cross the lake to Grand Haven. There's a man in Grand Haven that dad knows. His name is Ochiltree, Dave Ochiltree. Dad is going to see him. I don't know where the rest will be with the Hawk, but no doubt you could find out from Ochiltree."
"It's a clue, and a good one!" said Matt. "We will follow it, Helen."
"Aye, that we will!" exclaimed Ferral.
"You bed you!" averred Carl. "Sooch a goot luck as dot iss vat ve vas looking for. Meppy ve follow der clue und get der air ship pack, den make anoder shtart for New York, hey?"
An idea came suddenly to Matt. Leaping to Carl, he grabbed him by the arm.
"The Eagle," said he, speaking rapidly, "has chased the Hawk before. Why not call on Hamilton Jerrold?"
Carl gave an exultant yell and tossed his cap.
"Dot's der fery t'ing, Matt!" he declared. "Oof dere iss enyvone in der whole vorldt as vouldt like to do Modor Matt a goot durn, it iss dot feller Jerrold! Led us go to him righdt avay, ad vonce, mitoudt losing some more dime!"
JERROLD GIVES HIS AID.
"You've got me in a monkey's fist again," spoke up Ferral. "What's all this about the Eagle and Hamilton Jerrold?"
"Don'd you rememper, Tick," said Carl, "I toldt you aboudt dot odder feller in Sout' Chicago vat hat inventioned an air ship? His ship iss der Eagle, und——"
"Aye, aye, mate, now I rise to you," interrupted Ferral. "Fine idea, that of chasing one air craft with another. The only point is, will this man Jerrold let Matt take his air ship?"
"Dot feller vouldt do anyt'ing for Matt," averred Carl. "Matt got pack der plue brints for him, und he t'inks der King oof der Modor Poys iss der greadest feller vat efer habbened."
"The quicker we can see Jerrold," suggested Matt, "the sooner we shall know whether or not he can help us. Not only that, but I've got to report the theft of the air ship to the police."
"Who loses der air ship?" queried Carl. "Der bolice, oder Matt und Tick?"
"Matt and Dick," answered Ferral. "We had bought the machine, and if it had been stolen no more than a minute after the money had been turned over, we would still have been the ones to lose it. I don't know what sort of case you're in, Matt, but I've got a head that feels as big as a barrel. If I could soak it awhile in cold water I think it would do it good."
"My head was pretty near knocked off my shoulders," answered Matt, "and then to inhale all that gas on top of the pounding, gave us a whole lot to stand. Work is what we need, Dick. If we can get busy we'll forget our troubles."
The doors of the empty balloon house were closed, Matt and Carl gathered up their satchels, and they started back toward South Chicago, Ferral helping Helen Brady over the road.
"Some beople vill be surbrised ad seeing us come in valking mit ourselufs," observed Carl, "ven ve vas going to rite der odder vay in der Hawk. Ve nefer know vone minid vat iss going to happen der next."
This remark of Carl's was generally agreed to.
"What are you going to do now, Helen?" asked Matt, dropping alongside the girl and Ferral. "Your father has gone away and left you, and you will have to do something for yourself."
"I know it," answered the girl.
"What has become of your brother?"
"I don't know where he has gone. He may go across the lake with dad, or he may stay in Chicago. When dad talked with Whipple, I didn't hear him say what Hector was to do."
"It's a good thing your father has left you, Helen," said Matt, "and if all I hear about your brother is true, I hope he won't come around to bother you."
A sad look crossed the girl's face. With her father and her brother both criminals, her position was forlorn, indeed.
"I have friends in Chicago," said she, "and I could go and stay with them for a time."
"That's the thing to do," approved Matt. Taking two ten-dollar bills from his pocket, he forced them into the girl's hand. "You've got to take the money," said he. "Sometime, if you feel as though you ought to, you can pay me back, but don't let the debt bother you."
"Here," called Ferral, diving into his own pocket and bringing up some money, "I'm in on this."
"Und me, too," said Carl. "I vill dake five tollars' vort'."
Helen thanked all the boys, with tears in her eyes, but Matt's was the only money she would take.
"This will be enough for my immediate needs," said she, "and while I am staying in Chicago, I can arrange to get something to do."
By that time the little party was well into South Chicago. The satchels were returned to the hotel, and Carl was left with Helen, to take her to a restaurant where she could get something to eat, and then to put her aboard a train for Chicago. After that, Carl was to make his way to Jerrold's house.
Matt and Dick, when they left their Dutch chum and the girl, hurried to police headquarters.
When the chief saw Matt, he threw up his hands.
"Did your air ship give out on you?" he asked. "I thought you were well on your way to New York by this time."
What Matt had to say about the air ship nearly took the chief's breath. Then, when he realized all that recent events meant, his temper got the better of him.
"I've got a fine force of roundsmen and detectives," said he sarcastically, "when a pack of scoundrels we're looking for can pull off a trick like that right in the outskirts of town!"
Matt eased the chief's anger somewhat by telling him of the clue they had received as to Brady's whereabouts, and he explained how he and his friends were going to get Jerrold's air ship and follow the clue across the lake.
"Now that sounds mighty good," said the chief, a flicker of hope crossing his face, "and of course the South Chicago police department ought to be represented in the expedition. Suppose I send Harris, in plain clothes, along with you? He knows St. Jo, Benton Harbor, Grand Haven, and all those places across the lake like a native. He'll be a help. Unless I'm mightily mistaken, this man Ochiltree is an old-time crook, and has served a term or two in the 'pen.' Anyhow, his name is familiar to me. But you boys are in a hurry and I won't detain you. Go on to Jerrold's. I'll have Harris get into civilian's clothes and join you there."
Fifteen minutes later, Matt and Dick were at the inventor's rambling old house. Hamilton Jerrold himself answered Matt's ring, caught him by the hand with the utmost cordiality, and ushered him and Ferral into the sitting room.
"It does my eyes good to see you again, Matt," beamed Jerrold. "You've been making some fine flights with the Hawk for the police department. Jupiter, but you're a wonder when it comes to handling anything that's driven with an explosive engine."
Matt flushed and made a deprecatory gesture.
"It seems, Mr. Jerrold," said he, "that I never call on you except when I'm in trouble."
The inventor took fresh interest.
"You're in trouble now?" he asked, showing a good deal of concern.
"I'm in the hardest kind of luck," went on Matt, and he proceeded to explain how he and Ferral had bought the Hawk, and how Brady had executed his balloon-house plot, stolen the machine, and almost caused a tragedy.
Hamilton Jerrold had been himself entangled with Brady and knew just what kind of a scoundrel he was. His experience with Brady had left much bitterness in its wake, and Jerrold was eager to do whatever he could to bring the leader of the Brady gang to justice. Apart from his own feelings in the matter, Jerrold felt that Motor Matt had a claim on him.
"The Hawk," said Jerrold, "is a good machine, but the Eagle is a better one. We can cross the lake in the Eagle and land wherever you want to, and it is needless for me to say, my boy, that both the air ship and myself are at your service."
"Thank you, Mr. Jerrold," returned Matt gratefully. "Is the Eagle ready for use?"
"During the last week Payne and I have been improving her, and we did the very last tap on the car yesterday. All we have to do is to fill the tanks and put a little more gas in the bag—inside of an hour we can start."
The boys accompanied Jerrold into the back yard, where he had the air ship under a canvas shelter. Payne, Jerrold's assistant, was working around the car. As soonas Jerrold had told Payne what was wanted, the latter began making the Eagle ready.
"This is a great town for flying machines," remarked Ferral, as he watched the operation of getting the craft ready for a voyage.
"Jerrold has done a whole lot toward solving the problem of aërial navigation," said Matt. "It was his work that made the Hawk as good as it is. You see, Brady used to work for Jerrold, and he stole most of his ideas for the Hawk from the Eagle."
"A regular skull-and-cross-bones pirate, that Brady," muttered Ferral. "I hope we can lay him by the heels and cut short his lawless career."
While the Eagle was being made ready, Harris and Carl arrived together on the scene of operations. Harris wore civilian clothes and looked like anything but a police officer.
"Well," said he, rubbing his hands, "this reminds me of that other time, Matt, when Carl and Jerrold and I went chasing the Hawk in order to get hold of you. I hope we'll have better success this trip than we had before."
"Ve vill," declared Carl. "Matt iss mit us, now, und dot means dot ve vill haf more luck. He iss der lucky poy, all der dime."
"I don't know about that, Carl," laughed Matt a little grimly, "my luck seems to have taken a turn."
"Did you look after Miss Brady, Carl?" queried Ferral.
"Vell, I bed you. She hat a good meal, und den I pud her apoardt a drain for der city. She vanted me to say to you dot she vas mooch opliged."
"We're under more obligations to her than she is to us," went on Ferral. "Kind of strange, it strikes me, that she should be willing to give us a tip about her father."
"You wouldn't think it strange, Dick," said Matt warmly, "if you knew the girl better. She knows that her father, if he is not captured, will go on and on in crime until he does something that will earn him more than a mere prison sentence. She wants him captured, and the Hawk taken away from him. That was her plan when Brady captured me and held me a prisoner in Willoughby's swamp. But she wouldn't leave her father when I came away. She considered it her duty to stay with him up to the very last moment. It's a good thing for her that her father went away like he did. Now Helen can look out for herself, and do it with a clear conscience."
"All ready, friends," called Jerrold. "Step into the car and we'll start for Michigan."
Payne was not to go with the searching party. Jerrold, Matt, Carl, Harris, and Ferral were to be the passengers.
All climbed aboard and took the places to which Jerrold assigned them. Jerrold himself was to run the motor, but he had Matt near by to "spell" him now and then. Carl and Ferral were to act as lookouts, and were placed as far forward as the car would allow them to go.
Ferral's position was almost opposite Matt's. The stability of the air ship depended a good deal on its "trim," and the positions taken by the passengers at the start were to be kept throughout the trip.
Weighted bags at each end of the cigar-shaped envelope were used for giving the required angle for rising or falling. The pull of a lever drew in the bag at the forward point, and the Eagle inclined upward. Payne had already pulled aside the top of the canvas protection.
"All ready," said he.
The motor was started, and presently the power was switched into the propeller. The air ship took the push and arose slowly and easily into the air.
"Ve're off!" shouted Carl. "I hope, py shinks, nodding goes wrong und ve come down in der lake. Verral und I haf peen in der lake vonce, und it don'd vas any fun, I tell you dot."