Both Hugh and Ralph looked serious when their comrade made this announcement.
"That's a tough deal on you, old fellow!" said the latter, feeling that it must mean considerable to Bud to have his idea stolen just when it was giving promise of being a signal success.
"Sure you left them there on the pile of blankets, are you?" asked ever practical Hugh.
"That's right, he did," Ralph volunteered. "I remember seeing some papers there when I went out, and I was the last to leave, you know. And you say that they've clean disappeared, have they, Bud?"
"Come on in and see if either of you have sharper eyes than I seem to have," the other scout demanded.
Accepting the invitation, Hugh and Ralph bustled about for several minutes, hunting all through the interior of the shack, but without any success.
"Nothing here, that's sure," admitted the patrol leader. "It was careless of you to leave your precious plan behind when you went to try the model out."
Bud scratched his tousled head as though endeavoring to collect his wits.
"Let me see," he started to say, slowly; "don't blame me if I'm all mixed up over this business. I've waited so long for this time to come that I'm sure rattled, that's what's the matter. What did I lay down here? Some parts of the plans for the model, that goes without saying; but seems like I've got a paper in my pocket right now. Let's see, I honestly believe that it's the key to the invention. Just what it is, boys; and without this, nobody'd ever know what all those markings on the other papers were meant for."
"Then it's all right, after all?" asked Hugh, smiling again when he saw that suggestive grin on his comrade's face.
"It seems that I can make an aeroplane fool proof, when all the time the fool killer ought to get hold of me," Bud confessed contritely. "It was certainly careless of me to leave any part of my precious papers floating around, and only good luck has saved me from being left high and dry. But perhaps those fellows will think they've got hold of some remarkable design. They might crack their brains trying to make it out, and then not learn a single thing. When a fellow laughs last, he's going to laugh best, believe me."
"Well, next time be more careful, that's all," advised Ralph. "You can't always count on being so lucky. An inventor ought to keep his secrets locked up, and not let them lie around loose. You'll find that there are plenty of sly thieves ready to steal ideas, as well as money and jewels. An idea that's worth a fortune can be cribbed a heap easier than the coin itself."
"Only a part of the morning's gone," announced Hugh. "How shall we put in the rest of the day?"
"Oh! I'll be pretty busy making repairs to my model," Bud replied. "You two fellows can find plenty to interest you both. Only don't roam too far afield in looking up interesting things. With that mysterious pair hanging out around here, I won't feel any too easy in my mind. My idea may be worth a cool million, you know."
While Bud was working diligently, the other two amused themselves first of all by closely examining the ground just before the door of the cabin.
"Here you can see several imprints of that fine pair of shoes," Ralph said almost immediately; "and that makes it look as though the man who wore them really did slip inside while we were away. Chances are, he wonders what boys wearing khaki suits like the regular soldiers of the army are up here for. You agree with me, don't you, Hugh?"
"It looks that way," admitted the other. "Here you see one of the impressions has stopped short only a few inches from the door, as if the man stood here listening before stepping in, after carefully removing the piece of rope we fixed to hold the door shut from the outside."
"But how do you know that that impression wasn't made twenty-four hours ago?" asked Bud, who was sitting cross-legged close by and listening to their talk, even while he worked at his broken wing tip.
"Nothing could be easier," replied Hugh. "Here's the foot mark I purposely made when I came out of the cabin last, and you can see that he stepped into the same place. That tells us he was hereafterward. Get that, don't you, Bud?"
"I'd be a donkey if I didn't, and not worthy of being called a scout," the other boy remarked with scathing emphasis. "Fact is, if my mind wasn't so much wrapped up with this aeroplane stability device, I couldn't have missed seeing that little trick myself if I'd looked the ground over; because that happens to be one of the first things I ever learned about tracking and trailing."
"Even if the sneak didn't get anything worth while," Ralph continued indignantly, "the fact that they seem to be hanging out around here seems to tell that they must have a good reason for it all. The more I get to thinking about it, the less I feel like saying we'd better let the thing alone because it doesn't concern us. When things come to such a pass that unknown persons even sneak into your cabin in your absence and steal what they believe to be valuable papers, it's high time to take a hand in the business. And if while we're wandering around here we happen to run across those two men, I'll feel like asking what they mean by poking their noses into Bud's private business."
"Hear! hear!" said Bud, pretending to clap his hands; "that's the sort of a chum to stack up with. Ralph's the kind to stick to a fellow through thick and thin. And please inform that taller walking mystery for me, Ralph, that I feel like telling him to his face that he's a thief. Will, too, if ever I get half a chance."
Pretty soon Hugh and Ralph changed the subject of conversation and wandered off together, talking earnestly about the habits of muskrats and mink and otter. It was pretty late in the year to do much in the way of tracking, but Ralph knew several places along a nearby stream where he had often caught mink that were using the burrows; and he was anxious to show his friend certain things in connection with the habits of the sleek animals, the skins of which were always in such good demand for furs.
They had a joyous time together, because both were animated by the same sort of desire to know all that could be learned of wild animal life. Hugh's scout education had given him a pretty good insight into these things; but he knew the relative value of book learning and practical experience, and never let an opportunity to see for himself slip past.
At no time did they wander far afield. And as certain signals had been arranged with Bud, whereby he could summon them to his assistance in case there was any symptom of impending trouble, there did not seem to be any need of worry.
Once in so often they would walk back to the near vicinity of the shack; and on discovering Bud there, busily engaged in mending his disabled aeroplane model, they considered that they could saunter off again to investigate further into the secrets of wood and swamp, the latter now half frozen over in the cold late November atmosphere.
That was a day Hugh Hardin would long remember. He picked up a stack of practical information on topics that had always interested him greatly. Ralph was the best kind of a chum with whom to be wandering through the forest. He knew many things in connection with these subjects and was always ready to impart information to others, as well as to demonstrate what he was discussing.
At noontime they cooked dinner. Bud was not nearly through his repairs, though he declared that he was making satisfactory progress and would have the model in as good shape as ever long before evening set in.
"To-morrow we'll have another and convincing test!" he declared positively, with something of the air of a conqueror about him. Hugh noticed this with a smile, though he thought there was some excuse for Bud's displaying a disposition to "crow."
All of the boys showed that they had their appetites along with them on this trip, to judge by the rapid way in which the great heap of splendid flapjacks made by Ralph disappeared, until only the empty platter remained. But then, they were up here to enjoy themselves, and what better way could they find of doing this than by feasting on real camp cooking?
During the afternoon, Ralph and Hugh spent some more of their time in making discoveries. The former young trapper had a host of reminiscences to fall back on, now that he was located close to the scenes of many of his previous excursions in search of fur and feather.
"See that tree lying there chopped down?" he asked Hugh, as they came upon a pretty fairsized specimen of the forest monarch, which, after being put to the ax, had broken many limbs off when it crashed down. "Well, I did that little job all by myself. Want to know why?"
"I might give a guess, as I see traces of old honeycomb around here. I'll warrant you discovered a hive of bees in this tree and meant to get gallons and gallons of their fine stores. How about that, Ralph?"
"You struck the right nail on the head," laughed the other, "just as I felt certain you would when I saw you look around that way. Yes, I felt amply repaid for all my work after cutting through the tree, because two years ago times were a bit hard with the Kenyons, and all that nice honey proved a treat in our family circle, you'd better believe."
"How did you find the honey tree,—-by tracking the bees up the usual way?" Hugh asked.
"That was how I did it," Ralph replied. "I once saw a regular bee hunter do the stunt, and so I knew how; and it worked right well, too. I started out with a little honey and coaxed a wandering bee to fill himself up. Then with a pair of old opera glasses, I watched his flight just as far as I could see him. Going over to that point, I repeated the experiment. After doing it for about six times I saw my loaded bee rise, and make for this tree. Then, as it was a warm noon, I discovered a swarm of young bees trying their wings away up in the air, and I knew I had located the tree hive. It is an easy job, once you get on to it, Hugh."
"Some time I'd like to come out with you and try for another hive," observed the other scout. "But it's too late this year, because, unless a very warm day happens to come along, the bees will stick close to their hives."
In this sort of fashion the afternoon did not hang heavy on the hands of the two boys. It never does with scouts who are alive to their opportunities along the line of investigation. Time passed so quickly and pleasantly that, almost before either of them suspected it, the sun started to go down. And about the same moment they heard Bud giving the Wolf signal, not in a fashion to indicate any pressing necessity for their presence at the shack, but just to tell them he was getting lonely and that they had better come home.
They found that Bud had started supper, being in a joyous frame of mind because of the glittering prospects for success in connection with his new invention. Bud was a novice in the business. He would doubtless learn in due time how many bitter disappointments attend the fortunes of all those who spend their waking hours in trying to conjure up startling innovations.
After the evening meal had been enjoyed to its limit and everything cooked by Bud had vanished, the three chums again sat around and talked on all sorts of interesting subjects.
Bud, however, seemed to be uneasy. Perhaps it was on account of his anxiety to have the morrow come, when he could improve on the trial of his model aeroplane. Then again it might have been that the attempted larceny of his precious plan wore upon his mind.
Be that as it may, every little while he would go to the door and step outside.
It might have been the fourth time he did this that he thrust his head inside again and called to the others to join him.
"That clatter of machinery is hanging around again, Hugh!" he said, excitedly. "Perhaps you'll be able to tell me whatever it means, and if we could really hear the working of the mills all these miles away!"
Both scouts hurried out to join Bud. They found him standing there with his head cocked on one side, apparently listening as hard as he could.
Indeed it did not require any especial gift of hearing to catch the strange noises spoken of by the ambitious inventor. They seemed to be close at hand and constantly growing louder all the time. Just as Bud had declared, the racket was undoubtedly caused by some sort of machinery.
Hugh immediately made an important discovery. It rather startled him, too, as well it might, for he had not been dreaming of anything so unusual.
"Why, it's in the air!" he exclaimed involuntarily.
"Sure it is," agreed the excited Bud; "in the air and everywhere else. Seems to me I might be listening to a dozen shuttles working with a rush."
"But I mean that it comes fromabove our heads!" Hugh quickly added; at which both the others gasped in wonder, though realizing that what the patrol leader had said was actually true.
"Whatever can it mean?" stammered Bud.
"Say, do you know it makes me think of something I heard over atBellville during county fair week!" burst out Ralph.
"Meaning an aeroplane?" declared Hugh.
"Just what it was, Hugh," returned Ralph. "But what would a flier be doing away up here, going around and around in the dark of night?"
"I don't know, and that's all I can say," replied the other; "but perhaps we may be able to find out. There it comes again, swinging around in a circle. If we all look sharp, we may be able to glimpse something up against the sky."
"My stars! Anaeroplane!" Bud was muttering to himself, as he hastened to follow his companions away from the door in order to have a better range of observation. "Of all the things that we could meet up here, an aeroplane! And me just pining away with yearning to see one in action! Oh! don't I hope it turns out that way, though? Do you see it yet, boys? When you do, please put me wise, won't you?"
All of them were straining their eyes to make a discovery, and as it was possible to follow the course of the swiftly circling though as yet unseen object by listening to the rattle of its engine or propeller, they kept their attention directed to one particular quarter.
"Oh! I think I can see it now!" cried Bud excitedly.
"Yes, we all do," added Ralph.
They continued to stare up at the moving object, which, as seen in that uncertain light, looked not unlike a monstrous bat with extended wings. The sound of the busily working machinery grew louder constantly. No wonder Bud had been so perplexed when he heard all this, though more faintly, on the previous night and asked whether it could be possible to catch the sound of the mills many miles away.
As the three scouts continued to stand there gaping at the dimly seen flier, a sudden terrific crash and vivid flash almost stunned them. Indeed, Bud crumpled up and might have fallen to the ground, only that he came in contact with Hugh and received the support of his firm footing.
The very ground shivered under them. It seemed as though some subterranean mine must have been exploded, causing the rockribbed earth to quiver in a sickening fashion.
When they dared look up again, the queer bat-like object had vanished entirely from sight. Voices were heard, however, close at hand. They told of more or less excitement; and coming with them was the sound of one or more persons pushing recklessly through the thickets that grew in many places as a second growth.
Presently even these noises died away and a dead silence reigned. By then, Bud managed to regain possession of his voice.
"Oh, another terrible meteor! Why, we must be right in the middle of a shower of shooting stars! And let me tell you, that one hit the earth not a great way off, too! I'm going to take a look in the morning and see if I can find it. They say that college professors often pay big sums for being set on the track of these meteors that bury themselves in the ground. What if she had dropped right down on top of this shanty, boys? I'm glad we got off as well as we did, aren't you, Hugh?"
Hugh did not answer. Evidently he was thinking deeply at that particular moment. There was indeed plenty to concern him in connection with the mysterious aeroplane that nightly circled the region, always accompanied by that strange explosion.
"Seems to me I can smell something queer like burnt powder," Bud presently remarked. "Do meteors explode when they hit the earth, Hugh?" And would they send out a rank odor like that?"
"I don't happen to be up in the doings of meteors, Bud," answered the other, "but I should think it might be something like that. We'll all take a look after breakfast, and see what we can find. Perhaps it may surprise us. This seems to be a general all-around surprise party for the lot of us. We were taken aback to find Ralph here in the old shack; he had his surprise when he watched those two men carry on so queerly; then we had the shock last night of hearing thunder and seeing lightning when the sky was clear; after that, the fellow looking in at the window startled us. You were a little surprised your self, I reckon, Bud, at your success in trying out your stability device as applied to aeroplanes. And now comes the discovery that one of the air craft is skimming around here nightly, doing some stunt that we can't understand yet."
"We ought to call this Camp Surprise, then," announced Ralph.
"That's what," echoed Bud.
"Now let us go in again," suggested Hugh. "It seems as if the fireworks might be all over for this particular night. Even the aeroplane has gone off where none of us can hear the motor working any longer."
"Perhaps she dropped to the ground," remarked Bud. "There might be another open place not far away, like the old field where we tried out my little model this morning. And say, doesn't it strike you as funny that just one solitary meteor should take a notion to explode each night?"
No one answered this question, though Bud was too busy pondering on the run of strange events that had fallen to their share of late to notice the lack of interest his comrades seemed to take in the matter.
Once inside, they again sat around talking. It was Ralph this time who gave utterance to a certain fact that had been in his mind, which interested both his chums as soon as they heard it.
"I don't know," he started to say soberly, "whether either of you happened to notice it, but there seemed to be something foreign about the voices we heard after the big noise. Not a single word could I understand, either, and yet they seemed to be pretty near by."
"I didn't happen to notice that, Ralph," Hugh observed seriously; "but if the men who spoke were your mysterious friends of the other day, one thing is sure—-they weren't the ones who sat in that speeding monoplane."
"Eh? How do you know that?" queried Bud, becoming deeply interested.
"Well, in the first place," suggested Ralph, not waiting for Hugh's reply, "the sound of voices came from the same level as our own location. I'm dead sure of that fact. Then again we could hear the swish of brush, and I even caught the sound of men crashing through thickets and falling over logs."
"Yes," added Hugh, "and it struck me that they were in something like a blue fright, as though the nearness of that explosion had given them a bad scare. Only a sudden panic could make men rush through thickets as recklessly as they were going."
"Everybody may not like meteors to drop all around 'em," Bud muttered; "and I can't blame the fellows much, either. I came near being knocked flat on my back, myself, when that one let go with a bang. My ears are ringing yet, and I'm afraid I'll go deaf if I have to hear much more of that sort of cannonading."
Although they continued to sit up for some little time and talk, Hugh did not see fit to mention certain suspicions that had taken root in his own mind. He believed he was on the track of the truth, but until he had a little more positive evidence he hesitated to speak out boldly.
They finally settled down and tried to sleep. Bud seemed to find little difficulty in forgetting all his troubles and triumphs, for his heavy breathing quickly announced that he was dead to the world. With the other two it was a more protracted task, and possibly they turned over as many as half a dozen times before surrendering drowsily to the god of slumber.
There was no further trouble during the balance of that night, the second they had spent in the old shack. Saturday morning dawned with a clear sky, and it looked as though the day might be a repetition of the two previous ones. This gratified the scouts very much, for no matter how seasoned a camper may be, the weather has considerable to do with his enjoyment. If rain continues to pour down, there is very little pleasure to be found in spending hours or days under canvas or the leaking roof of a cabin, wishing in vain for a break in the weeping clouds. And so the three lads expressed themselves as contented when they broke out from the shelter of the shack on that morning and found the conditions so favorable.
Bud hoped to make another try with his model before noon, since they expected to be on the move shortly afterward. There was a long hike before them ere they could expect to reach the road leading home, where possibly a wagon might be hired to help get them into town again.
One thing pleased them, and this was the fact that for the most part the return journey would be down-grade. In consequence they expected to make the distance separating them from the road in about half the time it had taken in coming.
Bud hurried through the morning meal. Indeed, Ralph even joked him on his seeming lack of appetite; for as a rule Bud was a good feeder and came second only to Billy Worth, long recognized as champion in the troop.
"Well, you see," Bud explained, "there are a whole lot of important things I mean to do to-day, and the sooner I get busy the better chance I'll have to go through the list. First thing of all is to take a little tramp around toward the west of the camp, to see if I can stumble on the place where that last old shooting star struck us. I'm going to look sharp for a hole, because it seems to me such a big lump of iron and other ore would smash into our earth at a pretty lively clip."
"Hold on a minute and let's start fair!" called out Ralph. "We're just as anxious as you are to make some sort of discovery, eh, Hugh?"
"Some sort, yes," the patrol leader admitted, with a queer little smile that Bud noticed, but could not understand just then.
So the three boys started to comb the immediate vicinity of the shack, spreading out in something like a fan formation. They took to the west, because all of them seemed to be of one opinion: that the dreadful crash had come from that particular quarter.
Now and then one of them would call out or give the Wolf signal, just to inform the others where he happened to be. In this manner some ten minutes went by and Hugh was thinking that the explosion must have been much further away than any of them had suspected at the time, when Bud was heard giving tongue.
Bud, when excited, always broke loose and allowed himself free rein.
"Come this way, boys!" he was shouting gleefully. "I've run the old meteor to earth. My stars! what a terrible hole she did make! Must be as big as a house!"
"How—-oo—-ooo!"
Ralph gave the long-drawn cry of the timber wolf as he hurried in the direction of Bud's shouts. Hugh speedily joined him, coming from some side quarter, and the pair were soon closing in on the other scout.
They found Bud clinging to a shattered sapling and staring down into a gaping aperture that looked big enough for the excavation of a church cellar. All around were evidences of a most tremendous explosion or upheaval, some trees being actually shattered and others leaning over as though ready to fall.
"Talk to me about your meteors," burst out the wondering Bud as he saw the others coming along, "I hope to goodness one of them never drops down on our roof at home. Just looky here what it did to the poor old earth! That sky traveler's as big as the parsonage, I should think."
Hugh turned to Ralph.
"No doubt about what happened now, is there?" he asked.
"Well, I should say not," came the answer, as Ralph stared down into the hole.
"Must be some new sort of explosive they're experimenting with," added the patrol leader seriously; "and to look at that gap you'd believe it beats dynamite all hollow. Drop a bomb made of that stuff on a fort, and goodby to the whole business."
"W—-what's that?" exclaimed the wondering Bud. "Do you mean to tell me that it wasn't a meteor that made all that racket the last two nights?"
"So far as I know," Hugh told him, "when a meteor drops down, it buries itself in the earth and gradually cools off, for it's been made almost red-hot by passing so swiftly through space. But it doesn't, as a rule, burst and tear a horrible slash in the ground like this."
"Then what made it, Hugh?" asked the other, evidently puzzled.
"A dropped bomb!"
"A bomb, you say? Oh, Hugh, that was why the old aeroplane kept circling all around, wasn't it? They were picking out some place to make a big hole! Whee! No wonder then they came up here to this lonely place to try things out. A farmer'd be apt to kick like a steer if he waked up some fine morning and found holes like this in his garden or field. It's good we didn't happen to be standing here when they dropped the bomb, as you call it."
"I had an idea of something like this last night," Hugh said; "but thought best not to mention it until I could see my way clearer. But now the last doubt has gone, and I know the truth."
"But Hugh, who could it be trying out this awful explosive, and wanting to do it where no curious eyes could watch the operation?"
"I don't know that, Bud, but we can guess. It must be either some company in the market with explosives, or else the Government itself trying to see how the Flying Squadron, as they call their aerial arm of the service, could work in time of actual war."
"Say, if they could drop bombs like that just, where they wanted," remarked Bud admiringly, "I'd pity the enemy, whether Japanese or German or anything else. Just think of a great big bat circling around in the darkness of night, sending down a searchlight, maybe, to pick out the right spot, and then, bang! Good-by to your old fort or battleship! It would be all over before you could wink twice. And let me tell you, fellows, we've got the bully boys in the army to do this same stunt, if anybody on earth can!"
"Thank you for the compliment, my boy!"
A quiet voice said this, and the three scouts looked up hastily to discover that a man clad in a faded suit of khaki was standing close by, watching them with an expression of amusement on his clear-cut face.
There was something about his make-up that instantly convinced Hugh of his connection with the aviation corps of the Government service. This, then, would seem to prove that it was the army engaged in making these secret experiments with the new explosive, perhaps from a war aeroplane that may have been given over into the charge of the Flying Corps for trial.
Hugh immediately advanced toward the officer and gave the regular salute, as every scout is taught to do when he meets one who is above him in rank. To his delight, the other acknowledged the salute immediately.
"We are Boy Scouts belonging to a town some miles away from here,"Hugh started to explain.
"And what are you doing here?" inquired the officer pleasantly.
"We came up to watch one of my chums experiment with a device he believes he has discovered," replied Hugh. "For the last two nights we have been puzzled to understand what that terrible roar and flash meant. At first, we thought a meteor had fallen; but when it came again last night and we saw the aeroplane swinging around up there in the sky, I began to believe there was some connection between them. And now that we've found this hole in the ground, I know it shows where your bomb struck, Lieutenant."
"Yes, that is what happened," remarked the officer. "I came here this morning to take notes, so that I could make a full report of our practice. We have not thought it necessary to make use of our searchlight so far when dropping a bomb; but now that we know others besides ourselves are up here, we must be more careful. Perhaps I would hesitate to say all this to most people whom I happened to meet by accident, but I know what Boy Scouts are and how devoted they have always proved to patriotic motives. I'm positively certain that nothing could tempt one of you lads to betray any confidence I placed in you."
"Thank you, sir," said Hugh, flushing with keen pleasure at hearing such words of praise from an army officer. "And perhaps you may not know that there are others up here who seem to be deeply interested in all that you are doing."
"What is that, my boy?" exclaimed the other, showing sudden interest.
"Why, by chance my friend here, Ralph Kenyon, who has trapped all through this section in years gone by, saw two men talking and acting in a strange way. They've been spying on us, too, while we've occupied the old shack close by. They even crept in while we were off yesterday, to steal some plans of an aeroplane improvement which this other scout, Bud Morgan, had carelessly left there."
"Two men, you say," the officer commented, knitting his brows with sudden suspicion and uneasiness. "Could you tell whether they seemed to look like natives or foreigners, son and he wheeled so as to face Ralph as he asked this.
"I had an idea that one looked like a Japanese and the other aGerman," the boy answered promptly.
At this, the army man rubbed his chin and seemed to consider.
"I've taken you into my confidence so far already, boys," he observed presently, "that I suppose I might as well go right along and tell you everything. We are up here, representing the Flying Squadron of the army, to experiment with a new war aeroplane much more powerful than anything before devised; also to ascertain whether there is any truth in the wild claims put forth by the inventor of the latest explosive, that his discovery must make war so horrible that nations would be compelled to keep the peace after this. And, judging from what that one small bomb did here, I fancy he was not mistaken in his estimate. We could destroy the largest battleship afloat as easy as to snap our fingers. Of course there are secret agents of numerous Great Powers constantly floating around in Washington, trying to learn what Uncle Sam has up his sleeve in the way of new inventions calculated to destroy the enemy in time of war. And we have feared all along that one or more of these spies may have gotten on our track. I'm very much gratified with what you have told me, for now we know what to expect, and can avoid taking any unnecessary risk."
"Would these foreign spies dare attempt to ruin your war aeroplane, or try to blow you all up with some of your own explosive?" asked Ralph.
"I wouldn't put it past them," replied the other. "They are playing a desperate game, you understand, and have their orders from the home Governments to keep us from forging ahead too fast. But I haven't introduced myself as yet. I am Lieutenant Fosdick, and I have had some little experience in army aviation."
"I wonder if you can be the same Lieutenant Fosdick I've heard so much about from our Scout Master, a retired army officer named Lieutenant Denmead?" Hugh ventured to say eagerly.
"Well, thisisa pleasure to be sure!" remarked the other smilingly. "To be sure I know Denmead. I saw a great deal of him several years ago. And so he is spending his spare time in teaching the young idea how to shoot, but with the arms of peace rather than those of bloody war? He was always crazy over boys, and must be a cracking good Scout Master, because he knows so much of Western life among the Indians. He was with Miles in the Sioux War long ago, as you may know. But what was this you said about one of your mates inventing something in connection with the management of aeroplanes? That would seem to be right in my line, and if he has no serious objections, I'd like to hear about it."
At that, Bud turned fiery red, but with pleasure more than embarrassment. It was a crowning triumph in his career to find himself an object of interest in the eyes of so famous an aviator as Lieutenant Fosdick, of whom he remembered reading quite frequently as the most fearless air pilot in the Flying Squadron of Uncle Sam.
Encouraged by the winning smile on the bronzed face of the army officer, Bud only too gladly started to explain what his hopes were.
"I'd like to see this wonderful little model of yours in action, son," the experienced air pilot remarked afterwards. "Suppose all of you come over to our headquarters, which happen to be not more than half a mile away from here. We have a fine open spot where we can ascend and alight with ease, day or night. You will be welcome, I assure you. We have a dozen men there besides those connected with the war aviation corps, simply to guard against any spies giving us trouble. If you can go now, I'd be pleased to wait for you, so as to pass you through the lines."
"How long will it take you to get your little machine dismantled, so we can handle it, Bud?" asked Hugh.
"Oh! I can do it in a jiffy, because, you see, it's fixed for taking apart," the inventor of the party hastened to declare.
So Lieutenant Fosdick accompanied them to the shack. While Bud busied himself with his model, Ralph and Hugh chatted with the army officer. He asked more questions concerning Bud and the idea he had been trying out.
"It would seem as though your friend might have a touch of genius about him somewhere," the aviator said with a smile, "though I'm afraid that he's too late with that wonderful stability device, because it is very similar to one the Wright Brothers got out some time ago. That's the way it often happens, and many a man has studied some clever thing out only to find that he has been anticipated by some earlier inventor. But say nothing about this for the present. Your friend surely deserves to have a little glory out of the game before the blow falls. And I shall be curious to see how he manages with this model of his, for it looks good to me."
Evidently Bud had found favor with the army man. Even though doomed to disappointment with regard to his wonderful invention, the boy might derive satisfaction in knowing that his work had not been entirely in vain.
When half an hour had passed, Bud declared everything in readiness for the change of base; and soon the boys were accompanying the skilled aviator through the woods headed for the camp of the Flying Squadron.
While they were pushing laboriously onward through the woods, overcoming all manner of obstacles, Lieutenant Fosdick gave the scouts a pleasant surprise.
"One reason why I asked you to visit our camp," he remarked, "was because I fancied all of you might be glad of a chance to take a spin aloft in an aeroplane. You may like that, if it happens that you've never enjoyed the experience up to now."
Hugh immediately turned to the army man and expressed his pleasure.
"I've often hoped to have a chance to go up," he said, "but hardly thought it would happen so soon. And we'll all be only too glad to accept your invitation."
"I should say so," added Ralph.
Bud did not say a single word, and turning to ascertain why, the officer found a smile of the "kind that won't come off" spreading all the way across his face. It was evident that Bud was too happy for words. He had long dreamed of spinning through the upper currents in one of those bustling airships that are becoming more common every day; but, like Hugh, he had not expected the golden opportunity to be sprung upon him so soon.
As they walked along, the officer once more started to question them regarding the two strange men who seemed to be hanging about without any known business to keep them up in this unsettled region.
"I think you said that one of them looked in through the window of your shack night before last, and then fled when you let him see that he had been discovered?" he remarked to Hugh.
"Yes, and we made sure that he had been there by examining the soil under the window. It is a part of a scout's education, you know, sir, looking for signs. We found them, too, marks of a long narrow shoe, that told us the man could never be a hobo but must be a gentleman. After they had rummaged through our cabin while we were away, we found the same marks before the door, and indenting tracks of our own, so that proved just when the fellows must have been around."
The army officer nodded his head and laughed softly.
"I understand what you mean, son," he remarked, "and it quite tickles me to know how clever our boys are getting under the influence of this new scout movement. It is bound to wake up most lads and set them to thinking for themselves, years before they would have been aroused under the old way. And I must say I'm heartily in sympathy with the work of the association. It's the finest thing that ever happened for the boys of America. If I had sons, they should everyone of them join one of your troops as soon as they were old enough."
"We forgot to tell you, sir, about hearing those two men rushing through the dense woods and thickets just after the explosion last night. They seemed to act as if more or less frightened; and I guessed that they may have had a narrow escape from being struck by your bomb."
At that, the other burst into a laugh.
"That is a rich joke," he declared. "Possibly in the excitement of the moment, after being knocked down by the shock, they may have suspected that we knew of their presence and were trying to encompass their destruction. But I am glad it happened that way. Perhaps they may have more respect for Uncle Sam's Flying Squadron after this, and fight shy of running their heads into trouble. I'll have the guards at the camp doubled at night time, and any straggler will be apt to find it pretty warm around there: I'd advise all persons who have no business at our headquarters to give the camp a wide berth, or something not down on the bills might happen, to their surprise and consternation as well."
"If you haven't run across these men, sir," Hugh remarked, "of course you could hardly say who they might be."
"I can give a pretty good guess, though," came the prompt reply. "We have been dogged by a pair of spies on former occasions, the one a short Jap, and the other, much taller, undoubtedly a German. Both of them happen to be famous aviators in their own countries, which was doubtless why they were sent out to discover what the Flying Squadron was doing up here in secret."
"I suppose their main objects would be to learn the composition of this latest thing in explosives, and to take note of your war aeroplane, so as to steal the improvements," Hugh went on to say, being desirous of learning all he could while the other was in this communicative frame of mind.
"They would actually have to examine the flier before they could learn what it represents to the army aviation corps; and we keep it closely guarded all the time we are not in the air. So much of a secret are several things connected with this monoplane, that I cannot mention them, even to such patriotic chaps as you are."
"And we don't blame you, sir, surely we don't!" exclaimed Bud promptly. "Us inventors have to be pretty careful how we let people see what we've struck! Lots of ideas have been stolen before now. If my little scheme turns out what I hope it's going to, I think I'll hand it over to the Government for use with their war aeroplanes. Wouldn't it be just great if a pilot could give his whole attention to the job of dropping bombs and such like, never bothering himself about the wind currents or anything else? The little Morgan controller would manage all such things automatically. As the saying is, you press the button and we'll do all the rest!"
Hugh did not arouse poor Bud from this happy dream. What was the use? Better let him have a little more pleasure out of it before confronting him with the cold facts acts in the case. He must learn soon enough that he was several years too late, and that those wonderful Fathers of Aviation in America, the Wrights, had covered the identical ground some time previous with their Fool-proof Flier.
Luckily they did not have a great distance to go. The boys, who were staggering under their loads, could not have kept it up much longer, and all of the little party rejoiced when the air pilot announced that they were now within sight of their destination.
Presently they heard voices ahead. Then came a sudden whirr of machinery.
"My associate, Lieutenant Green, is going to take a little spin for some reason or other," their escort told them. "You see, we can reconnoiter the ground wonderfully from several hundred feet altitude; so that we have on several occasions indulged in a flight just in order to scout the land. We discovered your presence some time yesterday, and were at first greatly puzzled on account of your khaki suits. We even tried to figure out how a trio of soldiers belonging to the Home Guard could be camping out in that way. To tell the truth, it was not until I stood by and listened to you talking about that hole in the forest, that I grasped the true state of affairs."
When a large aeroplane built after the monoplane model swiftly arose and went spinning off, Bud stared as though his whole heart was in his gaze. He even dropped the burden he had on his back and rubbed his eyes, as if to make sure it could not be a dream.
"So that's what you call a war aeroplane, is it?" he asked eagerly.
"The company building them for the Government meant them for that particular purpose," Lieutenant Fosdick told him.
"Then they are different from all others, I take it?" Hugh advanced.
"In many respects," was the frank reply. "In the first place they are much stronger than the ordinary monoplane. In case an attack is intended on the enemy's redoubts, they may be compelled to carry heavy loads in the shape of combustibles and explosives. Besides that, they have the recent improvements which I mentioned before as being secret, but which will add considerably to their effectiveness. The wires used as guys are all heavier than customary, the motor is stronger, and the planes better able to resist shocks. I have never seen a Santos Dumont or a Bleriot monoplane anything equal to this new departure."
"It's almost gone out of sight already," declared Bud with a thrill of awe in his ambitious voice.
"Yes, although my colleague was boring upward at the time we last saw him; but the speed of that machine is marvelous. No wonder these foreign spies take the great chances they do, hoping to learn what Uncle Sam is up to. If they could carry back full information concerning the new explosive and the novel features of that splendid monoplane, it would be worth a million dollars, yes, many times that, to their respective governments. Germany, you know, claims to have the best equipped corps of aviators in the world, just as she has the most remarkable army. And Japan, too, is jealous of being left in the mad race, so she sends out spies to learn all that is going on."
All these things were exceedingly interesting to the three scouts. They were patriotic boys, like all scouts. Though studying the arts of peace rather than those of cruel war, love of country was a cardinal virtue held up constantly before their eyes by Lieutenant Denmead. Should danger of any type menace the defenders of the flag, boys like these would be among the first to want to enlist. The Boy Scout movement was never intended to discourage a love of country. And if war ever does come to the land we all love, thousands of those who rally to her defense will be found to have once been wearers of the khaki as Boy Scouts.
The camp of the Flying Corps was now seen ahead of them. A challenge from a sentry and the giving of the countersign in a whisper by the lieutenant, told the lads that they were actually in a military camp. Of course this was not their first experience among genuine soldiers, though those whom they once before assisted in the yearly maneuvers as signal corps operators had properly belonged to the State militia. These men were seasoned regulars, serving the Government in the capacity of aviators and members of the Flying Squadron.
Lieutenant Fosdick loaned them a pair of glasses through which they could keep track of the distant aeroplane. They saw it perform several queer "stunts," as Bud called it, that caused them considerable astonishment.
"Why, say, it turned completely over that time, just as neat as you please!" Bud exclaimed, so interested that the others could not get the glasses away from him again. "There she goes a second time, as slick as anything! I've done the like from a springboard when in swimming, but I never would have believed anybody'd have the nerve to loop the loop three thousand feet up in the air. Oh! what if it didn't come right-side up again! What a drop that would be!"
"Taking chances every time, and that is what our lives are made up of mostly in the Flying Corps," the officer said grimly, with a shrug. "Any day may see our end; but like the men who drop from balloons with a parachute, we get so accustomed to peril that it never bothers us. Constant rubbing up against it makes a man callous, just as working with the hands hardens the palms."
"They seem to be heading back now," observed Ralph.
"Yes, my colleague has accomplished the object of his little flight, which was partly to practice that turn and partly to look for any signs of spies in the forest below. We're always thinking of interlopers, you see, though up to the time you gave me that information concerning the two men, I hadn't seen a trace of any watchers around. They must have kept pretty well under cover all the time."
"And might have continued to do so, only that our coming bothered them," Ralph commented. "They didn't know what to make of us. We seemed to be only boys, and yet we dressed like Uncle Sam's soldiers; and then there was Bud trying out his aeroplane model. That must have stirred them up some. Perhaps they thought, after all, that we might be the ones from whom they could steal an idea well worth while."
"I wouldn't be surprised in the least," said Lieutenant Fosdick. "And at any rate we're under heavy obligations to you boys for bringing this important information about the spies. I'll try to make your stay here interesting to you, in return."
"We're certainly in great luck!" Hugh said to the other two scouts, as they stood and watched the "bug in the sky" growing larger and larger, the monoplane being now headed for the camp.
"It nearly always happens that way, you remember," said Bud, who had been through frequent campaigns with his leader and could look back to many experiences that come the way of but few Boy Scouts.
Bud was probably much more excited than either of the others. This was natural, since he had the "flying bee" largely developed and was wild over everything that had to do with aviation.
To him, this accidental meeting with the bold members of Uncle Sam's Flying Squadron was the happiest event of his whole life. If he had been granted one wish, it would have covered just this same ground.
Consequently his eyes fairly devoured the approaching war monoplane, as it swept down from dizzy heights, and prepared to land in the open field. He watched how skilfully the air pilot handled the levers, and how gracefully the whole affair glided along on the bicycle wheels attached under its body, when once the ground was touched.
The scouts were soon being introduced to Lieutenant Green by the officer whose acquaintance they had already made. The associate of Fosdick proved to be an older man, but the boys believed that after all their first friend must be the controlling influence of the team. They afterwards learned that Lieutenant Fosdick was really without a peer among army aviators; and that even abroad, where so much attention is given to this subject, in France, Germany and England, he was said to have no superior in his line.
As both officers expressed considerable interest in the clumsy model of a monoplane which Bud had made, he readily consented to fly it and to show just how his stability device worked.
This he set about doing, while the army men stood close together and observed all his movements, now and then exchanging low words. Of course both of them recognized the fact that poor Bud had really hit upon the exact idea that was already being used by the Wright firm. Bud may never have read any description of this "fool-proof" device emanating from the brains of the Wright brothers; he had only been unfortunate enough to think along the same lines, with the result that he had finally reached the same conclusion.
"Break it to Bud by slow degrees that he's arrived much too late," said Lieutenant Fosdick to Hugh, after the exhibition had about concluded. The young inventor was flushed with success, for his model had worked splendidly, now that he had had more experience in handling it.
"I feared as much when I heard about it," his colleague admitted. "But the boy certainly deserves encouragement. He has done wonders in making that model, and it is built on right lines. Tell him to keep at it and not get discouraged. If he does, he will surely arrive some day."
"I'll do all I can to encourage him," the patrol leader of the Wolves said in reply, though at the same time he felt sorry for Bud, who would take his disappointment very much to heart. He might throw up the whole business under the impression that there was no use in a boy trying to pit his wits against those of veterans and expecting to win out.
When Bud heard that he might accompany Lieutenant Fosdick on a short flight in the upper air, he looked so happy that Hugh concluded to postpone his discouraging disclosure until another time.
Bud was an animated interrogation point, when once seated in the monoplane, which, having been built for hard service, was easily capable of carrying even two passengers when necessary.
He wanted to know all about the various parts, which he examined with trembling fingers. It seemed almost too good to be true that he was actually going to be taken up in a Government war plane, and by so skilful an aviator as Lieutenant Fosdick.
The army officer made sure to secure his young passenger with a safety belt. He might scorn such devices himself, but there was always more or less risk to an inexperienced air traveler, and he did not wish to take unnecessary chances. This lad had folks at home to whom his life must be very precious. He was only a boy, to be sure, but ere long he would reach man's estate. And in this country of ours, who can say what the future holds for any lad? Years ago, who among his school companions on Mt. Auburn, in Cincinnati, would have dreamed that in the course of time clumsy, good-natured Billy Taft would for a period of four years occupy the Presidential chair at Washington, and be looked upon as the foremost man in all the wide world?
Hugh and Ralph kept tabs of every little thing that was done. They found themselves sharing Bud's enthusiasm for the subject of aviation, and they, too, were promised a ride with the officer after his return.
At a given signal, the start was made. The big monoplane rushed along the ground, wobbling somewhat because of inequalities in the surface of the field. After it had gone a certain distance, it was seen to leave the earth gradually, as the pilot changed the conditions in respect to planes and rudder.
"Oh! see how she rises, for all the world like a graceful bird!" exclaimed Ralph. "I've never been so close to an aeroplane before, and I tell you, Hugh, I can mighty easily see how it makes a fellow wild to embark in the business."
"Well, there will be some years pass before anyone of us reaches an age to decide what our future may be," Hugh replied; "and before that time comes, even Bud, crazy as he seems now to belong to the Flying Squadron, may change his mind a lot of times. But one thing I do know, and that is, I'm glad we struck up an acquaintance with the Lieutenant; and ditto, that I'm going to have a spin with him in the air."
They watched the monoplane mount fairly high and make several large curves. Apparently the pilot did not think it best to try any difficult business while he had a novice along with him, because there was no telling how Bud might act. After being up some twenty minutes, the monoplane was once more directed toward the field.
"Oh! see what he is doing now!" exclaimed Ralph, clutching the sleeve of his companion's coat in his excitement. "He's headed the nose of the air craft downward, and seems to be just whooping it up for solid ground! I hope nothing has happened, or that they'll strike hard, for poor Bud will be smashed, that's what!"
Hugh laughed, for he was much better informed on all aviation topics than the other scout.
"Oh! that's what they call volplaning," he hastened to say, while he watched the coming of the air craft with eagerness. "The motor is shut off, and deflecting the rudder to a certain angle, a glide is made toward the earth. When they get to a certain distance, you'll see a sudden change take place. There, what did I tell you, Ralph?"
The monoplane had abruptly ceased to shoot toward the earth as though falling. It made a sudden turn and proceeded almost on the level; after which the pilot brought it so softly to the ground that Bud could barely feel it strike, such an expert was the lieutenant in manipulating the various levers.
Bud was almost speechless with delight. His eyes fairly danced as he drew a long breath and shook the hand of the army officer.
"Ralph, you come next," said the lieutenant; and somehow Hugh got the idea into his head that he had been reserved for the last because the officer wished to take him for a longer spin than either of his mates, for some reason or other.
And so Ralph allowed himself to be fastened in his seat alongside the pilot, and gravely listened to the same instructions that had been given to Bud, since much depended on his actions while navigating the upper air currents.
He waved his hand to his chums as the monoplane started to race along the level field, accumulating speed as it progressed, until presently at a given point it pointed upwards and started on its air voyage.
Ralph was given about the same experience as Bud. Another little volplane act was carried out for his especial benefit, so that he might be able to boast of having experienced such a "stunt," a favorite one among all aviators and not one-tenth as risky as it may seem to the uninformed.
And now came Hugh's turn.
He fastened himself in, having taken pattern by what he had seen the pilot do on the previous occasions; for a scout is expected to have his eyes about him and to observe all that is going on, so that he knows for himself and does not have to be shown.
Even this little act convinced the observant lieutenant that his first conception of Hugh's character had been a true one. He realized just why that boy had been chosen to serve as leader of his patrol, and in the absence of both scout master and assistant, had more than once been given full charge of the entire troop.
It was certainly a most exhilarating sensation to Hugh when he felt the big war aeroplane start away from solid ground and begin to climb upward. Looking down, he could see how fast they were really going. Why, it seemed as though the earth could no longer be counted his abiding place, but that he must be headed for the planet Mars, or perhaps the moon.
The higher up they went, the more delightful the sensation became. Hugh soon became used to the novel feeling, so that he could enjoy looking down upon the country over which they were passing.
It was an experience that far excelled anything he had ever gone through before. He told the pilot that he did not wonder men found it hard to leave such a fascinating if dangerous business, when once they had started to follow it.
"There is an old saying about politicians," remarked the lieutenant, "to the effect that few die and none resign. That can never be said about aviators, because, while none of them ever give it up for good, the fatalities have been very numerous. But when that stability device which your friend believes he has invented, but which he may have read about somewhere and unconsciously copied, comes into general use, we hope the deaths will become much less frequent. I am using a stability device right now on this monoplane. It was installed by the firm that patented it. You can see how it acts automatically to steady the machine, no matter how we move about. And I am almost as safe up in a squally wind as on a calm day."
He took Hugh much higher than he had the others, as the barograph that was within seeing distance from their seat told the boy, who had learned how to read its figures.
Half an hour later they came back toward the field again, and descended to lower currents. The picture Hugh gazed upon as he looked down would never be forgotten. He could see for miles and miles in every direction; and how different the country looked from anything he had ever imagined!
All at once Hugh made a discovery.
"I am almost certain I saw two men hide themselves in that patch of bushes ahead there," he hastily told the pilot; "and it seemed to me that they must be the pair of spies who have been giving you so much trouble. They were creeping toward the camp as if they meant to try and steal in the back way."
The lieutenant laughed as though pleased.
"Good for you, Hugh," he remarked. "Those sharp eyes of yours let nothing escape. Now we'll just circle around a bit and give those precious foreigners the scare of their lives. I happen to have a supply of small experimental bombs along, which are heavy enough to frighten them into believing one of the new explosives may follow, after we have the range. Watch out for some fun, my son!"