CHAPTER VI
FIGURING IT ALL OUT
"That's a strange story you're telling us, Percy," said the Head of thelocal police force, at which the boy bridled up immediately.
"I don't see what there is so funny about it, Chief!" he exclaimed,frowning. "I tell you my hangar was broken open last night, and I'm outa biplane that cost me a good round sum. It's up to you to get on thetrack of the same, and recover it. I hereby offer a reward of threehundred dollars for the recovery of my machine uninjured, and make itfive hundred if the thief is captured in the bargain."
When he said this Percy assumed all the airs of a millionaire; but thenit was well known about Bloomsbury that the Widow Carberry was verywealthy; also that her only hopeful could wheedle her in to settling anysort of a bill he chose to contract, so that the mention of the sum offive hundred dollars was not anything extravagant for Percy.
"Oh! it wasn't that I doubted your word at all, Percy; don't thinkthat," Chief Waller hastened to say; for like most men he was ready tobow down in front of the golden calf; and more than once Mrs. Carberryhad been very generous to the force--when her house took fire and camenear burning, but was saved, thanks to the energetic work of police andfire departments; and again, when a hired man tried to carry off some ofher jewelry, but had been easily caught, and the plunder restored.
"Then what makes you act like that, I'd like to know?" demanded Percy,looking very much put out, as though he did not like to be treated withsuspicion, especially when his old-time rivals, the Bird boys, werearound.
"Why," the officer went on to say, "when you said that about youraeroplane being taken, it struck me all in a heap; because Frank herewas just telling me that two men broke into his shop last night aftereleven, and knocked things around, just because they failed to find hishydroplane in its bunk as usual. They wanted that machine, and wanted itso bad, that, as a last resort, they went over to your place, andconfiscated your biplane."
It was Percy's turn now to look astonished. He even condescended tonotice the presence of the two Bird boys, and surveyed them withinterest.
"Is that a fact, Frank? Did somebody break into your place last night?I remember now that I did see you pottering about your craft up theresomewhere about the Quackenboss place, but I'd forgotten it till theChief mentioned that you didn't have it in the hangar. That's the timeyou were lucky. See what I got for having mine at home all snug andnice. It's been hooked clear as anything, and not a trace to tell whodid the business."
"Hold on there, Percy," said the Chief, with a broad smile, "perhaps itisn't such a deep mystery after all."
"Tell me what you mean when you say that," demanded the boy, loftily, asthough he resented the fact that anything should be kept from him asingle second.
"Why, Frank and Andy found these things in their shop, left by the twomen who tried to get their hydroplane; and the chances are ten to onethe same parties went right straight over to your place and got yours asa second choice."
"I don't like the way you speak of my biplane, Chief, which cost ever somuch more money than the contraption the Bird boys own," Percy remarked,sneeringly; "but never mind, tell me what these things stand for. Anelectric torch and--why those things look like black masks. GreatCaesar! and the Bloomsbury bank was robbed last night, they told me whenI was rushing around looking for you. See here, do you think the yeggswho did that neat job got away with my biplane?"
Percy was getting more excited than ever now. When he did, he seemed tojust foam a little at the corners of his mouth, his eyes glittered, andhis face turned red.
"There seems to be no doubt of it," replied the Chief, calmly, and yetwith a stiffening of his figure, as though conscious of having alreadydiscovered a most promising clue, that could not but reflect credit onhis astuteness as an officer of the law.
"They knew all about Frank's machine and mine too, then?" continuedPercy, still grappling with the tremendous problem.
"Looks that way," the official went on to remark, "and makes me thinkmore than ever that they must have a friend right here in Bloomsbury whoput them wise to lots of things. Time'll tell that. But I don't supposeyou found anything around your place like Frank did, to tell that somestrangers had been there while you slept?"
"Not a blessed thing; though, to tell the honest truth, I didn't hangaround long when I found my biplane was gone. It was the best machine Iever owned, and as you know I've had several, all told. And inside ofthree days I expected that the latest model of aluminum pontoons wouldbe along, to turn it into a water as well as an air craft. Now chancesare, I'll never see it again, because, like as not, nobody knows whichway in creation they went."
"We happen to have a pointer about that same thing," Andy could not helpsaying, though he hardly liked the superior air of the other, not beingable to overlook such things as easily as his cousin did.
"I hope, then, you'll give it to the Chief, Andy," the Carberry boyremarked, for the first time directly speaking to one of the cousins.
"Sure thing. We want to see the rascals copped just as much as anybodydoes. You see, Felix, he's the farm hand up at Mr. Quackenboss' place,and me, we thought it good policy to stay around, and keep an eye on ourmachine while it was lying overnight in that meadow. I had had a longwatch of it, and was taking my turn at sleeping when just at daybreakFelix shook me, and said there was a queer noise up aloft that kind ofscared him, and which he rather believed must come from some sort ofair craft.
"Oh!" exclaimed Percy, looking intensely interested, of course; "go on,please."
"I jumped up, and sure enough I glimpsed a biplane passing over, andheaded up the lake at a pretty good height, I thought it looked likeyour machine, but as I remarked to Frank later on, whoever steered ithad a different way about him from your method. While I was wonderingwhat took you out so early, and I could see there were two in themachine, a big flock of crows passed over, and I lost track of it.
"So, you see, Percy," broke in the eager Chief just at that point,"we've got a pretty good clue already about the direction the rascalstook, who broke into the safe of the bank, and carried off a bagful ofmoney, and valuable papers; and then followed that up by cribbing yourbiplane. It was north they went, up the lake, in fact; and that's thequarter we'll have to look for them. But let me tell you it's putting itpretty hard over on a police officer to make him try to track a stolenflying machine."
"But you can get in touch with every town to the north, and pick uppointers here and there!" Percy declared, excitedly. "Get back to townas fast as you can, Chief, and with a couple of your men I'll carry youwherever you want to go. In the meanwhile, you can leave orders for yourmen to do the wiring business; and whenever we strike a town we can ringup Headquarters over the 'phone, and learn what news they've managed topick up."
Percy seemed to think that all he had to do was to tell the Chief whathe wanted; but then his plan of campaign was really a good one, and thepolice officer was wise enough not to quarrel with his bread and butter;for the Widow Carberry was a large property owner in Bloomsbury.
"You just take the words out of my mouth seems like it," he remarked;"and that is the best plan we could carry out. I was just going tosuggest to Frank and Andy here, that if they felt like taking a littlespin off to the northward this fine morning, and discovered anythingsuspicious, they could get word to us, perhaps through the BloomsburyCentral, for we'll be apt to keep in touch with home."
Percy did not know whether to look pleased at this suggestion or not. Itwould be just like the everlasting luck of the Bird boys to make anotherremarkable success out of this thing, for they seemed to have a failingthat way, while all the hard fortune came in his direction. That wouldgive him a pain to be sure, for he was horribly envious of their localfame as successful aviators; but at the same time he hated to lose thatbeautiful biplane, which he had not owned very long, and which had takenhis heart by storm.
So Percy finally compromised, as he frequently did. He even forced agrim smile to appear upon his
face, though it did not deceive Frank inthe least; and as for Andy, he never took the least stock in PercyCarberry's honesty. In his mind there was always a deep meaningunderneath every action of the other.
"Why, sure I hope Frank will discover the thieves, and recover the stuffthey've grabbed from the bank; also that he'll have the good luck to getback my biplane without its being badly wrecked. That reward is worthtrying for, and I don't go back on my word."
All the same he knew very well that neither of the Bird boys could beforced to ever accept one penny from his hand, no matter what good DameFortune allowed them to do for him.
Andy was watching keenly when the Carberry boy walked back to hismachine, and climbed into the steering seat. Frank, happening to lookthat way, saw his cousin's face lighted up as if in glee: and he evenheard him chuckle. Perhaps Percy may have caught the same sound, for heturned his head after dropping down into his seat, and scowled darkly atAndy. There is nothing like a guilty conscience to bring about aself-betrayal; and somehow Percy seemed to know what the Bird boy wasthinking about just then.
At any rate, he was an adept at the pilot wheel of a car, thoughinclined to be a reckless driver; just as he was also a daring airvoyager, taking desperate chances that promised to bring him to griefone of these days.
Backing the car swiftly around, he sped away. Sandy Hollingshead, whohad not once moved from his seat, or uttered a single word all the time,turned his head to look back; and Andy thought he too scowled darkly, asthough stirred by unpleasant thoughts; but in another minute they hadvanished around the bend far along the pike, and the Chief alone wasseen, whipping up his nag, in the endeavor to get back as speedily aspossible to Headquarters.
"Well, of all things, don't this just take the cake?" remarked Andy,when he and his cousin once more found themselves alone beside themotionless aeroplane, that nestled like a great bird on the grass closeto the road.
"It certainly looks as though we might be in for a little moreexcitement," replied Frank; "but what seemed to make you chuckle somuch, Andy? You must have noticed something that escaped my attention,because I was busy thinking of other things. Suppose you open up, andtell me?"
"I was tickled half to death to see how Percy tried to walk, as ifnothing was the matter with him, when all the time he couldn't keep fromlimping; because, don't you see, one or several of those bird-shot Felixscattered around last night, must have stung him about the legs. That'swhy he scowled so at me, Frank!"
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