The Motor Boys on the Wing; Or, Seeking the Airship Treasure

by Clarence Young

  CHAPTER XXIV

  THE LONELY FARMHOUSE

  Regarding this place of landing Mr. Hardy could give the boys and thedetective no clew. He could only point out the direction taken by themen when they left his hotel, and that was down the main country road.He said he had soon lost them in the darkness.

  "And I didn't see which way they came, so I can't even tell you that,"said the innkeeper. "But they were surely two suspicious men if I eversaw any."

  "Could you get any line on their conversation?" asked Jerry.

  "No, for they talked in whispers when I was around. I did hear 'emspeak about the broken wing tip, or something like that, but I didn'ttake any stock in it. I never dreamed of an airship. I was thinking ofan auto all the while."

  "They were in an airship all right," declared the tall lad. "And asthey would have to have quite a level place on which to land and get astart from again, we'll look for that. Come on, we'll get back to the_Comet_."

  They rose high in the air, and circled about the country looking forthe most favorable spot near the hotel of Mr. Hardy, where it waslikely an air ship would have landed.

  "Yet as it was night, they couldn't have had much choice fellows,"spoke Bob.

  "Especially with a broken warping wing," added Ned.

  "That last may have been only talk," declared Jerry. "Brown and Blackare sharp enough for that. Besides, with a powerful search light, suchas they carried on their machine the first time we saw it, they couldpick out a clearing in the trees."

  "There's a clearing down there now," remarked the stout lad, pointingto an opening in the forest. It was the first large one they hadsighted, and it was at once decided to drop down to it.

  But they got no clews there. The glade was carpeted with long greengrass, and even if an airship had landed there the marks of the wheelswould scarcely have made an impression. Or, if there had been suchmarks, the wind would soon have effaced them.

  "Try again," suggested Jerry, as they got ready to rise as a balloon,for there was hardly room enough to manipulate the _Comet_ as anaeroplane.

  The rest of that day they circled about, descending into severalclearings in the hope of coming upon the one where Brown and Black hadtemporarily left their machine. But it was of no use.

  "I guess I'd better get back to my hotel," announced the detective, asnight came on. "I can't do anything more for you boys, and I want towire a report to Mr. Carter. There's no use of me staying in Newton anylonger, for it's evident now that Brown and Black are far away."

  "Yes, so far that I doubt if we ever catch them," remarked Neddubiously.

  "Oh, yes we will," exclaimed Jerry confidently. "We'll not give up yet.We'll keep on going west, for I believe that's where we'll find them."

  "And that's where we'll get my flying frog," put in the professor.

  Night saw the boys heading due west in their craft, the detectivehaving alighted on the outskirts of the town, to make his way back tohis hotel. He wished them all success.

  "We'll travel all night," decided Jerry to his chums, "for I believethose men will make long flights, and it's no use looking for themwithin several hundred miles of this place. They'd want to put asgreat a distance as possible between themselves and Harmolet."

  "That's right," agreed Ned, who was now converted to the views of histwo chums. "We'll keep on until daylight, and then go down and makeinquiries as to whether or not any airships have been seen lately."

  The hours of darkness passed without incident, and when morning camethe boys found themselves over a small country town. They were flyinglow enough so that the craft was speedily made out by some earlyrisers. The word quickly went around, and soon there was a good-sizedcrowd gazing earnestly upward.

  "Shall we go down?" asked Jerry.

  "Might as well," decided Ned.

  But their anxious inquiries resulted in nothing. There had been nosigns of any other airship, and theirs was the first the inhabitants ofthe town had ever seen. Nor had any one heard the noise of the motorsof one of the craft passing onward in the night.

  When they were ready to start again, Professor Snodgrass, as usual, wasnot on hand. They made a search for him, and found him on the bank ofthe mill pond, industriously catching frogs in his net. He had engagedhalf a dozen enthusiastic boys, promising that whoever found theflying frog would get five dollars. The boys had dozens of the haplesscreatures in tin cans, but all proved to be of the ordinary kind.

  "I guess we'll have to look farther west," admitted the scientist witha sigh, as he accompanied the boys back to the air ship. "Though when Isaw those insects I thought sure I'd have my frog. However, I'm on theright track, I'm positive of that."

  "I wish we were just as positive," remarked Jerry, as he and Nedstarted the gas machine, and sent the _Comet_ aloft again.

  Once more on the wing, the airship made rapid progress through space.The boys swept about in great circles, now scanning the sky dome withpowerful glasses for a possible sight of the _Silver Star_, and againdescending to some quiet country town to make inquiries. They avoidedthe big cities, since they argued that Brown and Black, in theirefforts to escape observation, would do the same thing.

  But as the days passed, and they were no nearer the trail of thethieves, the confidence of even the optimistic Jerry began to wane.Still he had no thought of giving up. The boys took a lesson fromProfessor Snodgrass, who, though disappointed many times in finding hisflying frog, always approached every new pond full of confidence.

  "I'll get it yet!" he declared sturdily.

  "And we'll get Brown and Black!" asserted Jerry.

  It was nearly a week since they had set out from Harmolet. In that timethey had communicated with President Carter several times, but onlyto say that they were still on the trail. In turn the bank presidenthad wired that there were no new developments at his end. The boys hadtelegraphed to their folks, and had received messages and greetings inreturn.

  Toward the close of a warm, sultry afternoon, when they were sailingover a lonely stretch of country, Jerry called to Ned to look at thebarometer.

  "Why, what's up?" asked Ned.

  "It feels like a storm, and if one's coming I think we'd better go downand wait until it's over. Is the mercury falling?"

  "By Jove! It is going down," reported the lad. "I guess we're in forit."

  A little later there was noticed a bank of dark and angry-lookingclouds in the west, and from them came fitful flashes of lightning,while the distant rumble of thunder could be heard.

  "Better go down," advised Bob. "It's going to break soon."

  "I was waiting until I saw a little better place to make a descent,"answered Jerry, peering anxiously ahead through the gatheringmurkiness. "It's a pretty rough country here--nothing but woods."

  "Well, we can stay in the air ship cabin," retorted Ned. "Go ahead downJerry."

  "All right," assented the tall lad. He pulled the deflecting lever,and, as he did so there was a sharp snapping sound.

  "What's that?" cried Bob in alarm.

  "Lightning!" answered Ned.

  "No, something broken," declared Jerry. "It's a main brace, too," headded a moment later. "We'll have to go down now whether we want to ornot. That brace will have to be heated, and welded together before wecan run the machinery at full speed. Here we go!"

  The _Comet_ shot downward on a long slant, and a moment later there wasa vivid flash of lightning, followed by a crashing peal of thunder.

  The night was brilliantly illuminated for an instant, and Bob criedout:

  "There's a house. Head for that, Jerry!"

  Jerry and Ned had also seen, revealed in the flash of celestial fire,a lonely farmhouse in the midst of a little clearing. The airship hadsuddenly shot over it on her downward course.

  "That's a good place to land!" cried Jerry above the noise of anotherclap of thunder. "Head for the barn yard!"

  An instant later there came a deluge of rain, and in the midst of itthe airship came to the earth rather suddenl
y, for a gust of wind upsetJerry's calculations with the rudder.

  As the _Comet_ came to rest, after shooting across the yard in front ofthe barn, a man came running from the farmhouse.

  "By Peter! Another one of the critters!" he cried. "Hey, you fellers!Come on in the house! Come in the house!"

  "No, we'll go in the barn, after we fasten down the ship!" shoutedJerry.

  "Come in the house I tell you! Keep out of that barn! Come in thehouse!" And the farmer who seemed greatly excited over something,fairly grasped Jerry by the arm, as the widow's son alighted from theship, and led him toward the house.