Richard Bonner

“ Half an hour after the descent had begun the Flying Road Racer settled as lightly as a bit of breeze-blown down on earth once more.
Thanks to her shock absorbers, hardly a jar was felt by those on board as she landed with her bag half deflated and limp and wrinkled. No time was lost in alighting and throwing out the anchors, contrived by Jack, used for securing the craft to earth in case of a sudden wind springing up. ”

“ About an hour after the hail from the Tarpon’s after-deck had come, the craft ahead suddenly changed her course.
“They’re heading in toward land,” cried Jack excitedly.
“Yes; I guess they realize that they can’t shake us and are going to land and make a run for it,” decided Captain Andrews. “Great sea serpents, but they are putting on speed!”
The Tarpon certainly was flying. Great jets of spray shot up on each side of her bow, and the roar of her motor could be heard like the incessant discharge of a whole battery of gatling guns.
Jack sprang down to Tom’s side at the Sea Gull’s engine. ”

“ Jack and Tom, as much surprised as the three marauders, heard the rocks pelting around them. Suddenly they looked up. Standing on a high rock above the place where Masterson and his cronies were talking, was a strange-looking figure in tattered clothes outlined in the moonlight.
He was busily hurling rocks down at the intruders. Suddenly a demoniacal laugh split the air and the creature vanished, running swiftly, crouched, with long arms hanging.
"It's the wild man!" gasped Tom, while the three worthies on the beach uttered a startled cry. ”

“ The play of the lightning was incessant. The whole sky appeared to be ablaze with livid fire. In the blue glare the figures on deck were outlined as plainly as if on the screen of a moving picture theatre. But it was grim, real-life drama that was being enacted.
The boys saw Medway and Hemming, with revolvers in their hands, go slipping and sliding across the inclined deck and rush into the midst of the group of seamen about the boat.
“Drop those falls, you fools!” they heard Hemming shout above the tempest. “It’s death to launch a boat in this!” ”

“ Their close association had riveted the lad’s love for his parent even more strongly than is the case with most boys. As they neared the location where the yacht ought to be discovered, a feeling of painful suspense clutched coldly at his heart. Nor was Tom’s agitation much less. But the younger lad was more accustomed to suppress his feelings than Jack. He stood by his cousin’s side with tightly closed lips, as the Vagrant throbbed onward, but through his brain, like fires in a blast furnace, a constant succession of anxious thoughts flashed and agitated. ”

“ NED’S TERRIBLE PERIL.
Beneath the Electric Monarch, soaring eagle-like far above it, a glimmering speck against the blue, lay the Atlantic. The ocean was in a calm mood. Viewed from above, its surface appeared to be as smooth as a mirror.
But Jack knew that appearances were deceptive. The Atlantic is never absolutely at rest. Even on the calmest days its bosom heaves with long, swinging swells, running shoreward to break in heavy, thunderous surf on the beach. ”

“ The boy obeyed and at the same instant everyone uttered an undignified yell of triumph. As the concealed machinery tilted the screws downward, the White Shark, Jr., vanished from sight! Five seconds later Jack brought the little craft to the surface again, and then put it through a series of diving and rising evolutions that showed that his invention worked perfectly.
“If my dream is ever realized it will be solely owing to you!” cried Mr. Dancer, glowing with the fire of success and warmly clasping the boy inventor’s hand. ”

“ The acrid smell of the flaming lower floors of the tenement had, in fact, penetrated Jack’s nostrils, although, of course, he didn’t dream for an instant that he was in a fire trap of the worst kind. But suddenly, as he sat there trying to collect his wits, he became aware of shouts and cries and the clanging of bells and shrieking of whistles.
“There must be a fire somewhere,” he thought, recognizing the clangor of the bells and the screaming sirens of the fire engines; “maybe that’s what delayed Tom. If there’s a fire close by there must be a lot of police there. ”

“ Anything novel in the way of science attracted their bright, active minds as an electromagnet attracts steel. The idea of a wireless telephone, of the possibility of transmitting actual speech through space, just as the dots and dashes of the wireless telegraph are sped through the ether, quickened their inventive faculties to the highest pitch. Both felt a glow of pride that they had been selected, even before their father's scientific friends, to make the first test of this wonderful new invention. ”

“ Cases have been known in which these marching armies of myriads of the creatures have caused the desertion of entire villages. Animals, even the ferocious jaguar, flee before them, and birds and the minor forms of animal life give them a wide berth. They overwhelm by sheer force of numbers. One of their columns is like a stream of water. When it strikes an obstruction it spreads out till it has covered it. Then the relentless march goes on, leaving behind it devastation and death.
All these facts were known to Captain Sprowl from hear-say, and to Professor Von Dinkelspeil from his books. ”

“ For all the attention the negroes below paid to their cries, they might as well have remained silent. The blacks seemed to consider the removal of the hemp to a safe place of far more importance than the lives of the flame-marooned white men.
Just when Jack’s hope had flickered out and a sort of coma of despair was creeping over him the miracle happened.
It was Professor Chadwick who saw it first.
Through the red glow that crimsoned the sky came a huge floating form.
The Professor shouted and pointed upward. Jack raised a pair of dimmed eyes; but the next instant they cleared as if by magic. ”

“ Simultaneously Jack flashed on the red lights that signaled to the stern and bow lookouts that a descent was to be made. Joyce in the bow and Tom in the stern had seen the accident, but of course had not left their posts. The flash of the red lamps at their stations apprised them that the Electric Monarch was about to make her first essay at saving life.
Down shot the big craft with a swiftness that made it seem as if she must inevitably shoot straight to the bottom of the sea. Even Ned, secure as he felt while Jack had the wheel, flashed a doubtful look at the young skipper. ”

“ One thing, too, the boys noticed was the immense amount of fish attracted by the glare from the observation searchlights. Through the green, pellucid water, illuminated by the bright light from the observation tube, it at times appeared as if they were gazing into a show tank in some vast aquarium. Like most boys, Jack and Tom had both read “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,” but even that fascinating history of life in deep waters had failed to give them any idea of the immense amount of life that goes on in the submarine depths. ”

“ The next instant he uttered a startled exclamation. Above the bare patch of dark-colored earth tall white figures were dancing, gleaming in the moonlight.
Jack's heart gave a bound and he caught his breath for an instant. Then he felt inclined to laugh at his own fears. What he had taken for ghostly figures were columns of vapor writhing and twisting as they steamed upward from the bare end of the island. What caused them, Jack did not know. He noticed, too, that the whole patch of barren land glowed with a strange phosphorescence like rotted wood. ”

“ Jesson was correct. The little fellow turned a pitiable face toward them. What made his situation worse was that the hot air in the balloon was evaporating, and if he did not jump quickly it would be too late. Jack shouted words to that effect to the lad. But the panic-stricken boy only clung tighter to the ropes of his trapeze, and shook his head pitifully. It seemed as if he dared not look downward at the empty void between himself and the earth.
“Drop on the parachute!” shouted Tom; “if you don’t, the balloon will fall with you!” ”

“ A more repulsive looking creature could hardly be imagined.
As his eyes fell on it, the professor gave a gasp. He shook from head to foot as if he had been suddenly taken with a fit of the ague.
“Mein Gott in Himmel!” he gasped, and there was no irreverence in his tone, “Der Megatherium!”
At the same instant, Jack’s rifle cracked. The creature gave a loud, terribly human scream and swung toward them. Tom’s rifle barked and with a crash the huge animal sank down in a heap on the river bank. They rushed pell-mell upon it. The professor was yelling like a wild man. ”

“ Jack could not disguise from himself that the consequences would be awful indeed. He had come in contact with Herrera only once, but that single occasion had amply sufficed to show him the character of the man.
From time to time, as they advanced, they paused and listened intently. But, except for the drone of the night insects of the jungle, and the occasional scream of a nocturnal bird, there was no sound other than the sighing of the breeze in the tree tops far above.
There is no place more mysterious than the jungle at night. ”

“ Duggan’s voice held a high, angry note.
“I wish they’d all get to fighting among themselves,” thought Jack. “What’s that old saying, ‘When thieves fall out, honest men come into their own’?”
“Come, Duke, give us our money. Then you take your car—the one you brought us here in ahead of the boys—and get out.”
“Yes, the car’s hidden in the bushes yonder. Give us our money, go start your car, and then we’ll go our way and you yours. You won’t see us again.” ”

“ VAULTING TO THE RESCUE.
"What awful luck," muttered Tom.
"Isn't there any way we can get by?" inquired the doctor anxiously. "It's important that I should reach Mr. Chadwick as soon as possible."
Jack made no reply, but bent over the gas-valve. In an instant the gas was hissing into the balloon bag. Its wet folds swelled out, and presently Jack started the propellers. Like a racehorse leaping a barrier, the Wondership rose skyward. ”

“ Farmer Appleyard, pale and trembling, peered over the side of the tonneau and then sank back with a gasp. The earth lay several score of feet beneath him, and the distance was rapidly increasing. The buoyant gas which filled the container, as if it had been an immense black rugby football, had raised the Flying Road Racer so swiftly that it had seemed literally to “flash” upward. ”

“ Evidently the bones were all that remained of the navigators of the ill-fated craft; but whether they had met their death at the hands of a human enemy, or had fallen prey to a jaguar or alligator the boys were, of course, unable to decide.
“Ugh! This place gives me the shudders,” exclaimed Jack, turning away. “Let’s get busy over that wood and go back.”
“Right you are; but let’s have a look at what else there is in the canoe first,” rejoined Tom.
“That’s so. We might as well look. After all, it may afford us a clew to the fate of the poor devils whose bones lie yonder,” replied Jack. ”

“ The Electric Monarch, they knew, was without question the most unique craft of its kind that had ever been constructed. Perfect in every detail as the great craft was, the boys felt a thrill of pride run through them as they viewed their completed handiwork. Professor Chadwick had spared no expense in aiding the boys at their task and the result was as perfect a bit of mechanism as had ever been assembled. ”

“ In an almost unbelievably short time the wind had increased to a gale. It shrieked and moaned among the wire supports of the car, and the great bag that held it in mid-air swayed and tore furiously at its fastenings.
Jack kept a sharp lookout for a good spot to land, while Tom relieved Ned at the wheel. Once they saw beneath them a big area of smooth, park-like land, almost devoid of trees. It would have made an ideal landing place, but as they tried to force the Flying Road Racer around to head for it the full force of the wind struck them. ”

“ He called Tom to the wheel, explaining his suspicions and clambered out on the rigging to see if he could find any holes in the balloon. It would have made a less steady boy dizzy and sick to stand on the edge of the Wondership, clinging to one of the supports that held the body of the craft to the gas-bag, while the whole affair plunged and swayed five hundred feet above the earth. But Jack, used as he was to navigating the air, felt none of these qualms. ”

“ At the same instant there came a sound of rending and tearing wood as the steel points of the grapnel dug into the roof of a rickety old barn and tore it loose from the rafters. Jack acted like a flash. He set his descending planes and came to earth in a beautifully executed dive in a stubble field just beyond the farm buildings.
“The grapnel must have torn loose from its fastenings,” he said; “lucky it was no worse. As it is——”
He broke off short. Running toward them from the farmhouse came the farmer and two of his hired men. The farmer carried in his hand a formidable looking gun. ”

“ But alas for the Sea Gull! Her nose was jammed hard into the sand, and although the engine was reversed and run at full power, it could not move her.
“Well, if the bad luck isn’t holding out to the end!” exclaimed Tom despairingly; “what on earth can we do now?”
“What, indeed?” echoed Jack. “I guess that they win this time.”
“What, giving up already?” exclaimed Captain Andrews. “Why, boys, there’s lots of luck left. I see that the tide is rising. That’s lucky, for it means that at high water we can get the Sea Gull off. In the meantime I’ve got a plan.” ”

“ A NAVAL ENCOUNTER.
“Jack, this is glorious!”
“You may well say that, Tom. I’m enjoying myself as much as if I were on a vacation.”
At twenty-five knots an hour the White Shark was cutting along on her voyage to the south. The sea was smooth, but it rippled just enough for the brisk, salt-laden breeze to blow an occasional shower of brine over the two lads standing on the rounded back of the novel submarine craft. ”