The Rover Boys in the Air; Or, From College Campus to the Clouds

by Edward Stratemeyer

  CHAPTER II

  SOMETHING ABOUT THE ROVER BOYS

  "Oh, Dick, are you hurt?"

  The cry came from Tom, as he turned over on the ground and struggled tohis feet. He had seen his brother hurled backwards, and he saw that Dickmade no move to arise. He had been struck in the head, and blood wasflowing from a wound over his left ear.

  "Oh, maybe he's killed!" gasped poor Tom, and then, for the moment heforgot all about the flying machine, that was rushing so madly throughthe air towards the Rover homestead. He hurried to his brother's side,at the same time calling for others to come to his assistance.

  To my old readers the lads already mentioned will need no introduction.For the benefit of others let me state that the Rover boys were three innumber, Dick being the oldest, fun-loving Tom coming next, and sturdySam being the youngest. They were the sons of Anderson Rover, a widower,and when at home, as at present, lived with their father and theirUncle Randolph and Aunt Martha at a pleasant place known as Valley Brookfarm, in New York state.

  While their father was in Africa on a mission of importance, the threeboys had been sent by their uncle to boarding school, as related in thefirst volume of this series, entitled, "The Rover Boys at School." Theplace was Putnam Hall Military Academy, and there the lads had made manyfriends and also a few enemies.

  From school the boys had made a short trip on the ocean, and thenanother trip into the jungle after their father. Then had followed atrip out West, and another on the Great Lakes. Later the youths hadcamped out in the mountains during the winter, shooting quite some game.Then they had returned to school, to go into camp during the summer withthe other cadets.

  The boys by this time thought their adventures at an end, but more weresoon to follow. There came a long trip on land and sea, and then avoyage down the Ohio River, and soon after this the Rovers foundthemselves on the plains, where they had some adventures far out of theordinary. From the plains they went further south, and in southernwaters--the same being the Gulf of Mexico--they solved the mystery ofthe deserted steam yacht.

  "Now back to the farm for me!" Sam had said at this time, and all wereglad to go back, and also to return to Putnam Hall, from which seat oflearning they presently graduated with honors. Then Mr. Anderson Rovergot word of a valuable treasure, and he and the boys, with a number oftheir friends, went to Treasure Isle in search of it. They were followedby some of their enemies and the latter did all in their power to causetrouble.

  Although the boys had finished at Putnam Hall, their days of learningwere not yet over, and soon they set off for Brill College, a high-gradeseat of learning located in one of our middle-western states. They hadwith them an old school chum named John Powell, usually called"Songbird," because of his habit of making up and reciting so-calledpoetry, and were presently joined by another old school companion namedWilliam Philander Tubbs, a dudish chap who thought more of his dress andthe society of ladies than he did of his studies. Tom loved to playjokes on Tubbs, who was generally too dense to see where the fun camein.

  From the college the boys had taken another trip, as related in thefifteenth volume of this series, called "The Rover Boys Down East."There was a mystery about that trip, of which the outside world knewlittle, but as that trip has something to do with the events which areto follow in this story, I will here give such details as seemnecessary.

  When the Rover Boys went to Putnam Hall they met three girls, DoraStanhope and her two cousins, Nellie and Grace Laning. Dora's mother wasa widow, living not far from the school, and it was not long before awarm friendship sprang up between Dick and Dora,--a friendship that grewmore and more intimate as the days went by. Dick thought the world ofDora, and the two were now practically engaged to be married. As for Tomand Sam, they had taken to the two Laning girls from the start, andthough Tom was too full of fun to pay much attention to girls, yetwhenever Nellie was mentioned, he would grow red in the face; and it wasnoticed that whenever Grace was present Sam was usually on hand to keepher company.

  The treasure unearthed on Treasure Isle had belonged to the Stanhopeestate, the bulk of it going to Mrs. Stanhope and Dora and the remainderto the Lanings, because Mrs. Laning was Mrs. Stanhope's sister. But thetreasure had been claimed by a certain rascal named Sid Merrick and hisnephew, Tad Sobber, and when Merrick lost his life during a hurricane atsea, Sobber continued to do all he could to get the money and jewelsinto his possession.

  "It's mine!" he told Dick Rover one day. "It's mine, all mine, and someday I'm going to get it!"

  "You keep on, Tad Sobber, and some day you'll land in prison," had beenDick's answer. "We found that treasure, and the courts have decided thatit belongs to the Stanhope estate, and you had better keep your handsoff."

  But Tad Sobber was not satisfied, and soon he made a move that causedthe worst kind of trouble. There was a learned but unscrupulous mannamed Josiah Crabtree who had once been a teacher at Putnam Hall, butwho had been discharged and who had, later on, been sent to prison forhis misdeeds. This Josiah Crabtree had once sought to marry Mrs.Stanhope, thinking thereby to get control of her money and the money sheheld in trust for Dora. The lady was weak and sickly, and the teacherhad tried to hypnotize her into getting married, and had nearlysucceeded, but the plot was nipped in the bud by the Rover boys.

  Tad Sobber met Josiah Crabtree and the pair hatched out another plot,this time to abduct Mrs. Stanhope, getting the lady at the time to bringa good share of the treasure with her under the impression that it wasto be invested by her friends. The lady was carried off to an island inCasco Bay, off the coast of Maine, and thither the Rover boys and someothers followed them. There was a good deal of excitement; but in theend the lady was rescued and the treasure brought back. An effort wasmade to capture Tad Sobber and Josiah Crabtree, but the two evildoersmanaged to get away.

  The home-coming of the boys with Mrs. Stanhope had been a time of greatrejoicing. Dora had embraced Dick over and over again for what he haddone for her mother, and Nellie and Grace had not been backward incomplimenting Tom and Sam on their good work. There had been a generaljubilee which had lasted several days.

  "Splendid work, boys, splendid work!" Anderson Rover had said. "I amproud of you!"

  "Better work than the authorities could do," had come from UncleRandolph.

  "Now that treasure had better be placed where no outsider can get hishands on it," Mr. Rover had added. And soon after that it was put in thestrong box of a safe deposit company, there to remain until it could beproperly invested.

  At Brill College the Rover boys had fallen in with a number of finefellows, including Stanley Browne and a German-American student namedMax Spangler. They had also encountered some others, among whom wereDudd Flockley, Jerry Koswell and Bart Larkspur. Led by Koswell, who wasa thoroughly bad egg, the three last-named students had tried to get theRover boys into trouble, and had succeeded. But they overreachedthemselves and were exposed, and in sheer fright Koswell and Larkspurran away and refused to return. Dudd Flockley was repentant and wasgiven another chance.

  While on the hunt for Mrs. Stanhope, the Rovers had fallen in withKoswell and Larkspur. But instead of getting aid from the pair, thelatter did what they could to help old Crabtree and Sobber. This broughton a fight, and Koswell and Larkspur received a thrashing they wouldlong remember. The former college students might have been arrested,but, like Crabtree and Sobber, they kept out of sight.

  "They are sure a bunch of bad ones," had been Dick Rover's comment, whenreferring to Crabtree, Sobber, Koswell and Larkspur. "I wish they wereall in jail."

  "I reckon we all wish that," had been Sam Rover's reply. "It's an awfulshame that we didn't capture at least one of 'em."

  "Well, we might have caught old Crabtree and Sobber if we hadn't brokenthe engine of the motor-boat," put in Tom.

  "Well, the engine was broken in a good cause," came from Dick. And hespoke the truth, as my old readers well know.

  Following the home-coming of the boys, and the general jubilee, ourhe
roes had settled down to enjoy themselves before going back to Brill.They had intended to take it easy on the farm, but when a great aviationmeet was advertised to take place at the county seat they could notresist the temptation to be present.

  At this meet there were five flying machines,--three biplanes, amonoplane, and a dirigible balloon. All made good records, and the Roverboys became wildly enthusiastic over what they saw.

  "Say, this suits me right down to the ground!" cried Tom.

  "What fun a fellow could have if he had a flying machine and knew how torun it!" had come from Sam.

  "Exactly--if he knew how to run it," had been Dick's words. "But if hedidn't know--well, he might have a nasty tumble, that's all."

  "Pooh, Dick! If those fellows can run these machines, so can we," hadbeen Tom's confident words.

  "We know all about autos and motor-boats," Sam had put in.

  "That's true, Sam. But a monoplane or a biplane, or any kind of anaeroplane, isn't an auto or a motor-boat."

  "Are you afraid?" demanded Tom.

  "Oh, no! Only if we got a flying machine we'd have to be careful aboutwhat we tried to do."

  "Hurrah! It's settled!" cried Tom, who went headlong into everything."We'll get a machine to-morrow! How much do they cost?"

  "I don't know--several thousand dollars, I fancy," answered his elderbrother.

  "Boiled umbrellas, Dick! As much as that?"

  "I think so."

  "Why look at some of 'em," declared Sam. "Nothing but bamboo poles and afew wires, and canvas,--and the engine!"

  "Yes, but the poles, wires and canvas have to be put together justright, Sam, and those engines are as powerful as they are light. Andthen don't forget the propellers, and the steering outfit, and the otherthings."

  "Come on and ask one of the men about them," came from Tom; and a littlelater they had a long talk with an aviator named Captain Colby, whoproved to be a relative to Larry Colby, one of their former chums atPutnam Hall. He had heard about the Rover boys and some of their doings,and willingly told them all they wanted to know.

  The boys went home with their minds full of flying machines, and as theRovers were all well-to-do, and as the three lads had in the past provedcapable of taking care of themselves, it was not a very difficult matterfor them to persuade their father to let them buy a biplane. Then,through Captain Colby, they learned where the flying machine could beobtained, and the very next day bought the affair and had it shipped tothe farm, and also arranged with the aviator to visit them and give thema number of lessons.

  "We've got three weeks before we have to go back to college," Tom hadsaid. "If we are quick to learn we can have lots of fun in that time."

  "Yes, and if we do learn, perhaps we can take the biplane to collegewith us and astonish some of the students and the faculty," Dick hadadded.

  "That's the talk!" cried the youngest Rover. "We'll take it along!"

  That morning Sam had gone off on an errand as already mentioned. ThenDick and Tom had gotten out the flying machine and started up the engineand the propellers. The ropes holding the biplane had broken or tornloose from the ground, and now the machine had gone off with a wildswoop, hurling poor Dick flat on his back and injuring him, howseriously was still to be learned.