Frank V. Webster

“ Bang! What was that? A sharp report rang out. Ben made out a strange form near the campfire with a smoking rifle in hand. He saw the panther diverge in its leap, turn completely over, and with a furious snarl drop to the ground, while Bob, lifting his head, demanded coolly:
“I say, what’s happening?”
[Pg 159]
Ben ran to his side, clinging to his arm, faltering out an incoherent explanation. Then in amazement both advanced to the silent erect figure outlined like some statue in the red glow of the campfire.
“Why, it’s an Indian,” broke out the wondering Bob. “Say, hello!” ”

“ Ben realized that the bluff, outspoken foreman was a genuine friend of his father. He began a recital of most of the facts concerning his father’s present trouble.
A sort of a subdued growl issued from the lips of the foreman when he had concluded. His face was grim and angry.
“You come with me, Hardy,” he said promptly.
“Where, Mr. Dunn?”
“To the Saxton works.”
“I had rather not go there,” demurred Ben, holding back a trifle.
“Got to,” declared Dunn definitely, “if I have to lug you there bodily. You ain’t the one who will get hurt. It’s Saxton.” ”

“ His helper, as the man was called who had oiled and taken care of the Flyer, came up at that moment.
“Here, Jones,” called the aviator, halting. “Have you got a good revolver?”
“Two of them, Mr. Davis.”
“Get them both, and start up to the Dart quarters without a minute’s delay. Don’t keep your eye off the machine a single minute until I relieve you at daylight. If any skulker comes within ten feet of the place, pepper him. You, Ben Hardy, come along with me.” ”

“ Ben was gratified to see a woman run out into the street and pick up the uninjured child.
Then he turned around to decide on his own best course—to get out of the gig or spring upon the back of the flying horse and attempt to halt the furious runaway.
Before he could make a move the horse made a sharp veer down a side street. The gig was half overturned and Ben was given a frightful fling.
The boy aviator flew through space, struck a section of fence palings, went through them snapping them into fragments, and landed senseless on a garden plot beyond. ”

“ Bob brought a rather exciting atmosphere into the quiet Hardy home, but it did not harm any. He succeeded in stirring up some new ideas in the active [Pg 31] mind of Ben, but the latter, his folks knew, loved home life too fondly to ever become a confirmed rover. Then, too, Bob was a boy of excellent principles. There was no bravado or recklessness about his exuberant spirits. He was manly and always seeing the bright side of things, adventurous and undaunted by trivial disappointments. ”

“ Hardy in great surprise, as Ben told about the money Bob Dallow had brought him. “That is a small fortune for a boy like you.”
“Father, what did Dave Shallock mean by the threat he made?” asked Ben, quite anxiously, when the conversation had taken a new turn.
“Oh, some boastful nonsense,” said Mr. Hardy indifferently. “I have no time to analyze such talk. Tom Shallock would be a fair workman if he would keep sober. It is certainly true that he has some influence with Mr. Saxton, but he cannot injure us. I shall keep right on doing my best, and honest labor will always command a fair market. ”

“ Ben had never been so happy and elated in his life. It was a glorious experience, that of the ensuing sixty minutes. The atmosphere was just right for safe sailing. There were no sudden gusts of air, no strong cross currents. Bob kept the Flyer on a course of magnificent long sweeps, several times circling the aviation field. ”

“ I’m through with you, and in time every decent man in your employ will leave you in the lurch. You sent me out to-day to use my influence to get that big motor-cycle order from the Evans people. Well, I’ve got it, and I’m going to turn it over to the Diebold works. You unmitigated scoundrel! Come, Hardy.”
Ben saw Jasper Saxton, white and trembling, sink back into his chair in a heap, collapsed. As they got outside, his impetuous but determined companion left him summarily, with the words:
“Tell your father I shall be up to see him this evening.” ”

“ Then a voice hailed him from one of the rear rooms.
“Who is there?” a man called, speaking with a slight German accent.
“I’m Ben Hardy,” called our hero, not observing his questioner. “I came to inquire about a flying machine. Are you the inventor?”
“I am, my young friend. I am glad you have called. I am just about to make a flight, and you shall see it.”
A big man, in his shirt sleeves, and with a ragged pair of trousers on, stepped into view. He stood in the door of a room far down the topmost corridor. ”

“ Ben struggled to free himself, but the big German held him tightly. His face was close to that of the [Pg 180] young aviator, and the youth could see a strange gleam in the blue eyes. The hum of the motor as it increased in speed sounded loudly in the room. The big rattan screw was hissing as the blade cut the air.
“Let me go!” cried Ben. “I don’t want to try your flying machine!”
“But you must!” insisted the inventor. “This is an opportunity I have long waited for. All the other airship men would not come in when they got as far as the door. ”

“ I’d like to meet that ingenious father of yours, Ben!”
“He would feel honored to know you, I am sure, Mr. Davis.”
“Just as soon as this meet is over, I am going to get him to build me a new airship modeled after the Dart. It’s the best machine I have yet seen.”
“You will have to deal with the Diebold people, then, Mr. Davis,” advised Ben. “They have gone into the airship business, and father is superintendent of that department of their plant.”
“Well, I’ll have to be contented with his supervision,” observed the old aviator. “I would a good deal rather pay him for special individual service.” ”

“ It was a real endurance test. There was cold, darkness, uncertainty, discomfort and peril to combat. Only that the splendid little Dart behaved grandly, were they able to keep up an uninterrupted forward progress. Then there were many bad tips and tilts, but skill and attention evaded any real mishap.
“We have driven our craft to the last limit of speed,” announced Ben at last. “The fuel gauge is at danger line.”
“That settles it, then,” said Bob. “It’s all over but the barograph readings, now.”
Ben set the Dart on a downward slant. ”

“ Mark you, Ben Hardy, he’s after your father’s scalp, and he’s going to get it.”
“Fair play, and the best man wins,” answered our hero briefly.
“There’s more than that,” shouted Dave down the street after Ben. “My father could just set your father on his pegs. Will he do it? Nix! That’s going to be his revenge. Ha! ha! Old Saxton has bamboozled your father, and my father can produce the evidence——”
“Shut up, you chump!” growled the boy on the fence, jumping to the ground and rushing at Dave and silencing him. “Do you want to give the whole snap away?” ”

“ CHAPTER X A RUSH ORDER
“I’d like to find the man that did that!” stormed John Davis in great rage.
“It wasn’t a man—it was a boy,” said Ben, but he distinctly said it to himself.
There was trouble at the Flyer camp. It had just been discovered. That morning Mr. Davis had joined in the principal feats of the preliminary aviation meet.
It had been a real endurance test and the barograph record was one of the principal features of the event. The Torpedo did very well as to speed, but was lacking in the altitude test. ”

“ Hardy and Ben, the head machinist again approached Jasper Saxton, the latter told him that if he would wait till the active selling season was over and he could get at his books, they would go together to a lawyer and have a contract drawn up in due legal form.
Mr. Hardy was easily satisfied and rested content with this promise. His heart was in his work. When Ben intimated that he was dealing with a man with a general reputation for business slipperiness, his father told him that it would come out all right. ”

“ Davis had observed to Ben and Bob one day. “He is afraid of me, though, because he knows I am right. I am holding him up to a fair, square-dealing programme. He doesn’t altogether like that, for he is a resourceful man, and full of slippery tricks. I’ve made him respect me, though, and some day he may learn to drop those grouches of his and act like a civilized being.”
“That helper of his, the young fellow he calls Dick, is about as gruff a customer as you meet,” Bob had observed. “Ever run up against him, Ben?” ”

“ It is the screw principle, as old as the world, but applied in a new direction. I am the greatest inventor in the universe. My name is Hans Voller. Come in and see my machine. It is about to fly.”
He held open the door of the room. Ben could [Pg 178] make out a mass of machinery, and a curious contrivance like a big auger.
“We are about to fly!” exclaimed Hans Voller, as he took our hero by the shoulder and shoved him into the dingy apartment, following himself and quickly locking the door. “We must have no spies, for there are many who would steal my ideas,” the man added. ”

“ I am going to put a string to the electric lever that controls the motor, and pull it from the other room, as there is danger from the great speed if I stay here.”
“Are you going to let me be killed?” cried Ben, now thoroughly frightened, and believing that the man meant to harm him. He certainly was in a desperate plight.
“I hope no harm will come to you,” spoke the German, with an unpleasant grin. “I have to have some one on which to experiment. You are a good one. I hope you escape. Do not move when the screw begins to go faster.” ”

“ Why, that’s where I’ve got my new job.”
“You have?” exclaimed Ben.
“Yes. Don’t look as if we’ve both gone dreaming, Aunt Mary,” said Bob to his hostess, with a merry laugh, “I’m hit, too. Tell you, I’ve figured out a system. I’ve made up my mind to keep up with the procession as it passes along. The automobile was a good stunt while it was fresh. Too common for enterprising fellows now, though. It’s all the new fad—airships. I’m headed for it strong. Yes, I’ve got a chance for work at Blairville, and I’m to report for duty to-morrow.”
“What’s your airship man’s name, Bob?” inquired Ben. ”

“ The rest of us will look for your lost airship, Mr. Hardy, and report to you at the settlement. We’ll be glad to have a hand in helping out you aviators. There is a big interest in airships everywhere, and we may get some helpful notice in the newspapers.”
It was a decided satisfaction to Ben, Bob and the count to sit down to a good meal in a comfortable little hotel at the settlement two hours later. The Indian guide was handsomely rewarded. A courier had been hired to ride on horseback across country to the nearest telegraph station with messages for New York, Blairville and Woodville. ”

“ A large shed on the Hardy property had always been a home workshop for the master machinist. It was well stored with tools, and it was here that Mr. Hardy had produced many of his automobile inventions. During the absence of Ben at the aero meet, he had fenced in with a screen wire a space over fifty feet wide adjoining the shed. Here a scaffolding, a light lifting crane, and work horses had been set to accommodate the worker. Ben started in at his experimental task with all necessary accessories for prosecuting his labors. ”

“ Dave Shallock dropped it there the night he dumped a bag of fittings in the shed. His father put up the contract with Knippel as security for money he borrowed. The whole plot has been exposed, the Shallocks are disgraced, and your father’s name, Ben, comes out clear as crystal.”
“Oh, I am so glad and happy!” murmured Mrs. Hardy.
“There’s more, too,” announced Mr. Dunn.
“Tell it,” said Mr. Hardy.
“Saxton is all broken up, and he is going to sell out to the Diebold people. That means a new manager, Hardy, and you’re the man.” ”

“ In the meanwhile I shall apply for a position with the Diebold Company up at Martinsville!”
“Why, they wanted you last year, didn’t they, father?” asked Ben.
“Yes, and I feel sure they will want me now.”
“But that is so far from home,” suggested Mrs. Hardy anxiously.
“Only three miles. I can go to and come from my work on a bicycle, and the exercise will be the best thing in the world for me,” declared Mr. Hardy.
Ben did a good deal of hard thinking after he went to bed. He had an uneasy feeling that some plot was working against his father’s good name. ”

“ It seems that Mr. Saxton claimed that a great deal of valuable automobile parts have been missing from the plant for over a year. The officers searched the work shed.”
“The villain!” fired up Ben hotly. “Did he dare to accuse father of stealing?”
“It seems so,” sighed Mrs. Hardy. “The astonishing thing is that in a corner of the shed behind that barrel in which you keep odds and ends, they found nearly a bushel of carburetor parts.”
“Then they put them there!” cried Ben. “Ah, I understand now. The man you saw with the bag is in the conspiracy to disgrace father. ”