by Roy Rockwood
CHAPTER XIV
OFF AT LAST
In the gathering twilight Professor Henderson read slowly the note Dickhad brought. Then he passed it to Professor Roumann. The latter shookhis shaggy gray hair, and murmured something in German.
"Where did you meet the man?" asked Jack of the young motorcyclist.
"About two miles down the road. He was walking along, sort of talkingto himself, and I was afraid of him. He called to me, and offered me ahalf a dollar to deliver this message. I didn't want to at first, buthe said if I didn't he'd hurt me, so I took it. Is it anything bad?"
"We don't know yet," replied Mark.
"No, that is the worst of it," added Professor Roumann. "He has made athreat, but we can't tell whether or not he will accomplish it. We arein the dark. He may have done some secret damage to our machinery, andit will take a careful inspection to show it."
"And will the inspection have to be made now?" asked Jack.
"I think so," answered Professor Henderson gravely. "It would not besafe to start for the moon and have a breakdown before we got there. Wemust wait until morning to begin our trip."
"It will be the safest," spoke the German, and the boys, in spite ofthe fact that they were anxious to get under way, were forced to thesame conclusion.
"Then if we're going to camp here for the night," proposed old Andy,"what's the matter with me and the boys having a hunt for that man?We've put up with enough from him, and it's time he was punished. If welet him go on, he'll annoy us all the while, if not now, then after weget back from the moon. I'm for giving him a chase and having himarrested."
"He certainly deserves some punishment, if only for the way he treatedMark," was Jack's opinion, his chum having related how he was druggedand kept a prisoner in the secret room, and how he escaped in time tounmask the villain.
"Well," said Professor Henderson, after some thought, "it might not bea bad plan to see if you could get that scoundrel put in some safeplace, where he could make no more trouble for us. I guess the lunaticasylum is where he belongs, though I can sympathize with him on accountof his brother. But it was not our fault that the crazy machinist wentwith us to Mars. He was a stowaway, and went against our wishes, andwhen he got there he tried to injure us."
"Then may Mark, Andy and I see if we can find this man?" asked Jack.
"Yes, but be careful not to get separated; and don't run any risks,"cautioned the professor. "Mr. Roumann and I, with the help ofWashington, will go carefully over all the machinery, and every part ofthe projectile, to see if any hidden damage has been done. But don'tstay out too late. You had better notify the police. They may be ableto give you some aid, and I don't mind letting them know about it now,as we will soon be away from here, because, no matter if they do senddetectives or constables spying about now, they can learn none of oursecrets."
Waiting only to partake of a hasty meal, the two boys and the veteranhunter set out, Andy with his gun over his shoulder and his sharp eyeson the lookout for any sign of Axtell, though they hardly expected tofind him in the vicinity of the projectile.
Taking the road, on which Dick Johnson said he had encountered the man,the two lads and Andy proceeded, making inquiries from time to time ofpersons they met. But no one had seen Axtell, and the insane man, forsuch he seemed to be, appeared to have dropped out of sight.
On into the village the searchers went, and there they reported mattersto the chief of police, telling him only so much as was necessary togive him an understanding of the situation.
"I'll send a couple of my best constables right out on the case," saidthe chief. "We've just appointed two new ones, and I guess they'll beglad to arrest somebody."
"Let them look out that this fellow doesn't drug them and carry themaway," cautioned Mark.
"Oh, I guess my constables can look out for theirselves," spoke thechief proudly.
Once more the trailers sallied forth to renew their search. Theythought perhaps they might find their man lingering in the town, but asearch through the principal streets did not disclose him, and Markproposed that they return to their home for the night, as he was tiredand weary from his experience in the deserted house.
As they were turning out of the town, their attention was attracted bya disturbance on the street just ahead of them. A woman screamed, andmen's voices were heard. Then came cries of: "Police! Police!"
"Some one's in trouble!" exclaimed Jack. "Let's go see what it is."
They broke into a run, and, as they approached, they saw a crowdquickly collect. It seemed to center about a man who was being held bytwo others, though he struggled to get away.
"Here, what's the trouble?" the boys heard a constable ask as heshouldered his way into the throng.
"This fellow tried to snatch this lady's purse and run away with it,"explained one of the men who had grabbed the scoundrel. "Stand still,you brute!" he shouted at him, "or I'll shake you to pieces! Suchfellows as you ought to go to the whipping-post!"
"I'll take charge of him," announced the officer. "Who is he? Does anyone know?"
"Stranger in town, I guess," volunteered the other man, who had helpedcapture him. "Need any help, officer?"
"No, I guess I can manage him. Come along now, and behave yourself, orI'll use my club. It hasn't been tried on any one yet."
"That's one of the new constables, I guess," said Mark, and Jack nodded.
The crowd separated to allow the officer to take out his prisoner. Asthe latter walked forward in the grip of the constable, he remarked ina mild voice totally at variance with his bold act:
"Why, I only wanted a little change to pay my fare to the moon. I'mgoing there to look for my brother."
"Crazy as a loon," said one of the men.
"Or pretending that he is," added the officer.
"Mark!" cried Jack, pointing at the prisoner, "look!"
"The man who held me captive!" gasped Mark. "And he's wearing myclothes yet! But he's in custody now, and we needn't fear any more fromhim."
"Unless he gets away," said Jack.
"We'll go tell the chief who he is, and he'll keep him safe," suggestedMark, and they hurried to headquarters, reaching there just before theprisoner was brought in. The boys were assured by the chief that theman, who was evidently a dangerous lunatic, would be kept where hecould do no harm. He would be arraigned later on the serious charge ofattempted highway robbery, as well as of being a dangerous lunatic atlarge. When the boys and Andy got back, they found the two professorsand Washington still going over the machinery in detail.
"Find anything wrong?" asked Jack, after they had told of the arrest ofAxtell.
"No, but we will have another look in the morning," said Mr. Henderson."Then, if we find nothing out of order, I think we will take a chanceand start."
A thorough inspection by all hands the next day did not discloseanything wrong, and, a test of the motors and other machinery havingshown that it was in good working shape, it was decided to leave theearth.
"At last, I think, we are really going to get under way to the moon,"said Jack, as he closed the big main door. This time it was notreopened. All the stores and supplies were in place. The two professorswere in the engine room. Washington White was in his galley, gettingready to serve the first meal in the air. Jack and Mark were in thepilot house, ready to do whatever was necessary and anxious to feel thethrill that would tell them the projectile had left the earth.
"All ready?" asked Professor Henderson.
"All ready," replied his German assistant.
"Then here we go!" announced the aged scientist.
He pulled toward him the main starting lever of the Cardite motor,while Professor Roumann opened the valve which admitted to the platesand cylinders the mysterious force that was to send them on their way.
"Elevate the bow!" called Professor Henderson.
"Elevated it is," answered the German, as he turned a wheel whichdirected the negative gravity force against the surface of the groundand tilted up th
e nose of the _Annihilator_, as a skyrocket is slantedin a trough before the fuse is ignited.
"Throw over the switch," directed Mr. Henderson, and the otherscientist, with a quick motion, snapped it into place, amid a shower ofvicious electric sparks that hissed as when hot iron is thrust intowater.
"Steer straight ahead!" called Professor Henderson to Mark and Jack,who were in the pilot house. "We'll head for the moon later."
"Straight ahead it is," answered Jack.
There was a trembling to the great projectile. Up rose hersharp-pointed bow. She swayed slightly in the air. The tremblingincreased. The great Cardite motor hummed and throbbed. There was acrackling as from a wireless apparatus.
Then, with a rush and a roar, the big steel car, resembling an enormouscigar, soared away from the earth, like some gigantic piece offireworks, and shot toward the sky.
"We're off!" shouted Mark.
"For the moon!" added Jack.
And the _Annihilator_ soared upward and onward, while those in hernever dreamed of the fearful adventures that were to befall them erethey would again be headed toward the earth.
