CHAPTER VII.
ABOVE THE EARTH.
As it grew dusk the boys found themselves flying high above a pleasantwooded country, dotted here and there with small villages and prosperouslooking farms. From their lofty station they could see men and womenrush out below them waving their arms in excited amazement as thecontestants in the big race swept along. Cattle and horses, too, toreabout their pastures mad with terror at what they doubtless thought wereterrible destroying birds of enormous size.
Occasionally, too, they would fly above rivers and railroads and bynoting these carefully they managed to keep their bearings clear. The_Despatch_ aeroplane was now far behind and the dirigible had taken upsecond place. The auto had been lost sight of also.
"Send out a wireless. We must locate Billy and the others," said Frank.
The instrument clicked off the message, its blue spark leaping andcrackling across the gap like a tongue of living fire.
In a few minutes a reply came back.
"We are now passing Cresston, Pennsylvania. Land and wait for us atRemson. You can tell it by its red brick church tower."
"There it is off there to the north about five miles," cried Harry,pointing to where a tall red tower stood out against the sky.
"I hope we can find a good landing place there," said Frank, setting hisrudder over a bit. The airship answered like an obedient steed. Round tothe north she swung, her gyroscopic balancing device keeping her fromheeling over, even at the sharp angle at which Frank guided her round.
As they drew near Remson the greatest excitement prevailed. People couldbe seen scurrying out in all directions and pointing upward. Suddenly adeep-toned "ding-dong" was borne upward to the young sky navigators.
"They are ringing the church bell to announce our arrival," cried Frank.
"Well, I hope they've got supper ready for us," laughed Harry;"air-riding gives me an appetite like a horse."
A few hundred yards from the center of the town was a flat green fieldwhich made an ideal landing place. Frank swept downward toward it and asthe townsfolk saw that the aeroplane was going to drop there was amighty rush of townsfolk. The road leading to the field was black withthem. The younger ones climbed fences and cut across lots to get therein time.
Frank saw that unless they got out of the way there was going to betrouble. He shouted to them to clear a path, but either from stupidityor from ignorance of aeroplanes they stood stolidly gazing upward, openmouthed, as the aeroplane rushed down.
"Out of the way!" yelled Frank.
"Hurray!" cried the people, not budging an inch.
There was only one thing to do to avoid injuring someone and that was toattempt to land at the further end of the field where there were sometrees. This meant a risk of smashing the _Golden Eagle_ or at leastdamaging her, but if loss of life was to be avoided it was the onlycourse to pursue.
With a ripping, rending sound, as the twigs and branches grazed her, thebig plane dropped to earth.
There was a sharp, snapping sound, as her landing wheels struck theground. A branch had caught one of the rudder-guide wires and torn itout, breaking a pulley wire. Worse still, one of the wheels was badlydamaged. But the crowd minded none of this. They rushed in and beganhandling the aeroplane, pulling wires and twisting wheels and levers,till the boys began to despair of ever getting their craft away fromRemson intact.
All at once, however, a big red-faced man appeared and began angrilydriving the people back. He was the owner of the field, it seemed, andwas dressed like a farmer. When by dint of threatening them with theconstable he had succeeded in getting the crowd to fall back to arespectful distance, he began to ply the boys with questions.
They were too busy examining the damage done to their craft to answermany of them, and the man doubtless thought them a very surly pair ofyouths.
In a few minutes the auto drove up and there was more excitement.
"What's happened?" asked Billy, as soon as the three occupants of thecar reached the boys' side.
"A bit of bad luck," said Frank, straightening up from his scrutiny ofthe damage.
"Let me look at it, boys," said old Mr. Joyce, who had spent the wholetrip over his beloved calculations.
He crawled in under the plane, and soon emerged again, shaking his head.
"We'll have to get a new wheel," he said. "If I had wire, a tire andtools, I could invent one, but I haven't."
"But where can we get one?" gasped Harry, for spare wheels were one ofthe necessities the boys had forgotten to put in the auto.
"A bicycle wheel would do," said Mr. Joyce, who was seated on the grassdesigning an improved mousetrap.
Inquiry developed the fact that nobody in Remson was willing to sell abicycle wheel, and the boys were almost in despair until one of thevillagers volunteered the information that there was a bicycle factoryat Tottenville, twenty miles away.
"We'll have to go over there in the auto. That's the only thing to do,"announced Frank.
"Looks like it," agreed the others.
An arrangement was made with the red-faced man whereby the boys leased abit of his field for a camping-place for the night, and the waterprooftent was soon erected, the portable cots set up, and the blue-flamestove started going under a liberal supply of ham and eggs and coffee.Lathrop went into the village and soon returned with pie and cakes. Theboys' meal was rather a public one, for the villagers seemed hypnotizedby the sight of the sky boys, and gazed stolidly at them as they ate, asif there was something as wonderful in that as in their flights.
While they were eating, a farmer, who had driven into town from a smallvillage some miles away, announced that the dirigible and the _Despatch_aeroplane had landed there.
"Well, we are holding our lead, anyway," remarked Harry cheerfully.
"I hope we can maintain it as far as Pittsburg," said Frank, for, ofcourse, all the contestants had to race over the prescribed course.
As soon as supper had been despatched the boys got into the auto,leaving old Mr. Joyce to guard the aeroplane, and, after makinginquiries about the road, started off for Tottenville. The road was astraight one, and there was a bright, full moon, so they did notanticipate any difficulty in arriving at their destination. Before theystarted Frank 'phoned to the factory, and an assortment of wheels wasleft for them in charge of the watchman, as the factory would be closedfor the night long before they could reach there.
Frank sent the auto bounding over the road at a fast clip. Their lightsshone brightly in front of them, showing them the track for somedistance ahead.
"Look there!" suddenly shouted Lathrop, as they swept down a steep hill.
Directly in the road in front of them the headlights revealed a big,lumbering hay-wagon, loaded high with its sweet-smelling burden.
"Hey, get out of the road!" shouted Frank at the top of his voice.
But the man on the wagon seemed to be asleep. Anyway he paid noattention to the boys' loud hail, but kept serenely on in the middle ofthe road. His big lumbering wagon quite prohibited all chance of passinghim.
"Stop the machine," cried Harry.
Frank shoved on the emergency brake. But instead of the auto coming to astop there was a sharp snap as if something had broken.
"It's busted," cried Frank. "I can't stop the car."
"Now we are in for it," exclaimed Harry.
On rushed the auto, gathering speed as it tore down the hill.
Suddenly the man on the hay-wagon awoke, and, looking back to ascertainthe cause of all the noise behind him, saw the car bearing down on him.
"Stop it!" he shouted.
"I can't!" yelled back Frank.
"Oh, we'll all be killed," cried Lathrop.
But the man was shouting something and pointing ahead.
"What's he saying?" asked Billy through his chattering teeth.
"He says if we don't stop we'll all be killed. There's a bridge aheadand only room for one vehicle on it."
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As Frank spoke, the boys saw the bridge, a narrow, wooden affair. Theroad widened a particle just before it reached the bridge. The archspanned a quite wide creek, the water in which sparkled brightly in themoonlight. Dumb with alarm the boys sat helplessly in the onrushingauto. Frank gripped the wheel and desperately cast about for some way toget out of the difficulty.
Suddenly he almost gave a shout. To one side of the bridge he saw thatthe banks of the stream were low and sloped gently. It might be possibleto run the auto across the stream that way.
At any rate he decided to try.
As the auto reached the point at which the road widened, the boy swungthe speeding machine over and whizzed by the wagon so closely that wispsof hay clung to the auto's side.
But the lead horses--there were four of them--blocked access to thebridge.
The next minute there was a shout of alarm from the boys, as they sawthat Frank meant to dash across the stream. The auto struck the bank,seemed to bound into the air, and then crashed down into the water witha force that threw a cloud of spray high above it and thoroughlydrenched its occupants.
But to Frank's great joy the machine did not overturn, nor did it seemdamaged, as it kept right on through the water, which, luckily, was notdeep, and dashed up the other bank. Here Frank managed to get it undercontrol--as the opposite side of the creek was a steep grade--and thecar came to a stop with a grunt and a groan.
"Gee whilikens, I thought you was all killed for sure," exclaimed thebadly frightened countryman, as he drove up to the group of boys, whowere out of their car by this time and busily examining the extent ofthe accident to the emergency brake.
"It wasn't your fault we weren't," blurted out the indignant Billy. "Youare a fine driver to go to sleep like that."
"Don't you sass me, young feller," roared the countryman; "what businesshave you got to be flying around the roads in that choo-choo cart andscaring folks out of their wits?"
"Just as much as you have to be occupying the whole road and going tosleep like that," retorted Billy.
"I've a good mind to give you a licking, young feller," said the man,starting to climb down from his wagon. But he thought better of it, ashe saw the four determined looking boys standing there in the moonlight.
"I'll fix you later," he muttered. "Git up, Sal; git up, Ned," and hecracked his whip and the wagon rumbled on up the hill.
A short survey showed the boys that the damage done to the brake couldbe repaired with a few turns with the monkey-wrench, one of the boltshaving worked loose. The adjustment made, they climbed back into thecar, and were soon speeding once more toward Tottenville.
At the factory they found the watchman waiting for them, with severalnew wheels of the stoutest make.
"You're in luck," he said, as the boys paid for the one they selectedand gave him something for his trouble besides. "This wheel was made forone of them air-ship bugs that lived in this town. He bruk his neckbefore it could be delivered, and it's lain here ever since."
The boys agreed that however unfortunate it had been for the lucklessTottenville aviator, it was good luck for them, and after thanking theman they started back for Remson at a fast clip.
As they bowled along they passed a ruinous looking hut, in which, lateas was the hour, a light was burning.
"That's funny," said Frank.
"What's funny?" inquired Billy.
"Why, to see a light burning in a tumble-down hut like that at such anhour. Folk in the country go to bed early as a rule; and see there,there's an automobile in front of the house."
Sure enough, a big touring car, with its lights burning brightly, wasdrawn up in front of the hut, which lay back at some distance from theroad.
"It is queer," agreed Harry.
As the boy spoke they all started at an unexpected happening.
From the hut there came a piercing cry of:
"Help!"
The Boy Aviators in Record Flight; Or, The Rival Aeroplane Page 7
