John Henry Goldfrap

“ Rob, chancing to turn toward the stout boy, saw to his amusement that there was something of a wistful expression on his rosy face. Tubby could at least feel the charm that this hazardous sort of life might possess for venturesome boys, even though he knew he could never hope to attain any standing in the ranks, owing to what Andy had well called “physical disabilities.”
Athletes alone make good air-pilots, and a fellow who had the shape of a tub would only be useful as an anchor, or something like that. ”

“ They certainly seemed to enjoy their “feed,” as Tubby called it; it was not unlike a camp supper, when eaten under such odd surroundings. Andy openly declared that with so many swarthy turbaned Arabs strolling by, not to mention Egyptians, Hindoos, Algerians, Moors, and the like, he could easily imagine himself away off on a sandy desert, with camels as the only means of transportation.
“Makes me so thirsty just to think of it that I have to keep on drinking all the time; so please get me another cup of coffee, waiter,” he said.
“A poor excuse is better than none,” remarked Hiram. ”

“ I take it you’re too high-minded to want to have revenge on a poor devil who’s down in the world, even if he has done you dirt in the past. Say I c’n skip out, won’t you, Rob? I’m a changed boy, I tell you; and you’ll never be sorry you acted white with me!”
“Open the door, Tubby,” said Rob, and the fat scout did so, though with apparent reluctance, for Tubby did not have the slightest faith in Jared’s wonderful reformation, and thought he ought to be punished in some way. ”

“ Rob looked after him with a smile on his face. He turned to Andy and laughed.
“Isn’t he the greatest crank in his line you ever saw?” asked Andy.
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“Oh! it’s hardly fair to call Hiram that,” expostulated the scout leader; “he’s enthusiastic over inventions, but what of that? Every fellow who’s dead in earnest could be spoken of as a crank. And it’s the cranks, as you call them, who make the wheels of progress go around.” ”

“ Once they were settled in the sleeping-car, Hiram began to feel better, though it might be noticed that he eyed every person who came aboard as though he more than half suspected the revengeful Marsters, baffled in securing the wonderful invention for his firm, might assume some marvelous disguise in order to be near the traveling genius, so as to rob him on the road. ”

“ Tubby exclaimed as he seized upon a hand of each of the two newcomers, and then looked around just as if he had begun to believe the whole of Hampton Troop of Boy Scouts must have come on to take in the sights of the big show.
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“Only three of us, Tubby,” Rob told him. “We consider ourselves the luckiest scouts in the whole U. S. A. to get a chance to make this side of the slope. Of course we knew you were out here somewhere, but you might as well hunt for a needle in a haystack as to think to find anyone in this mob.” ”

“ The sun shone from an unclouded sky, but there was enough sea breeze to fan their heated brows, and to make them think that there could be few things equal to being in a speedy little motorboat, spinning over the surface of that lovely land-locked bay, with the ocean booming on the outer edge of the sandy strip to the south. ”

“ That was a long trip, and I’m tired of the old car,” said the one in the lead. “Thank goodness we’ll soon be landed in San Francisco, where my business can be settled, one way or the other.”
“I see them, Rob!” announced Andy, just then.
“Yes, and they’re waiting for us, just as I thought,” ventured Rob. “We’ll push straight on to where we can get a carriage, and then leave them in the lurch. Above all, nobody must stop to talk; keep walking, and stick together!”
“That’s understood, Rob!” came from Hiram; while Andy in the rear gave a grunt as if to signify that he had it all fixed in his mind. ”

“ Indeed, if the scout leader had been inclined sometimes to fear Hiram would develop into a harmless crank, with only vague unreasonable ideas rattling about in his loose brain, that suspicion was rapidly vanishing.
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Perhaps it had commenced to have an effect upon Rob’s opinion when he read that letter from the Golden Gate people. They were hard-headed business men, and not visionary dreamers; and surely they would never have advanced all that money to a strange inventor unless they believed in him, and meant to attach his genius to the fortunes of their company. ”

“ Many doubtless believed, as they stared with distended eyes, that Rob actually meant to grapple with the animal and throttle it.
“It’s a burning shame to let a boy try what men might have done!” one white-faced woman near the other scouts was heard to say; and they could readily imagine that she had boys of her own at home, of whom she was doubtless thinking as she watched Rob walking forward into the danger zone. ”

“ They could have quite an extended view from far out in the bay, with the houses scattered along the shore, and the white sails of pleasure craft or fishing and clamming boats dotting the water far and near.
Just ahead of them the old launch that had seen better days was churning up the water with its noisy propeller, though not making remarkable headway at that. As the two scouts gradually drew up on the Sea Gull, they made out that besides the ancient skipper there was just one passenger aboard. ”

“ Andy continued, eagerly; “because you can see a monster seesaw, with one arm away up hundreds of feet in the air, and what looks like a car on it full of folks. Yes, I remember it now; it is called the Aëroscope.”
“Just what it is, Andy,” said Rob, “and when we get up there for a look over the harbor, the Exposition grounds and the city, we’ll find ourselves just three hundred and twenty-five feet off the earth—high enough to make you dizzy.”
“Huh! seems like they do things on a big scale out this way,” grunted Hiram. ”

“ He had certainly been doing some sort of hard labor, though Rob was rather inclined to believe Jared must have been working in the mines with pick and shovel, and had only come to the city when driven out of the camp because of some crooked doings.
“You shouldn’t judge everybody by your own standard, Jared,” he told the other. “None of us could be hired to take a single cent of yours, no matter how you got the money, which is no affair of ours. Give it back to him, Andy; and I guess you’ve searched enough to satisfy us he is carrying away nothing that belongs to us.” ”

“ My bark is a whole lot worse than my bite, anyhow.”
“That’s so,” Hiram assured him cheerfully. “Well, you guessed right in one way, Andy, for I have secured the advance notice that a patent is pending on a clever invention of mine, which is as good as saying it’s secured. But that’s only the beginning, the foundation, or, as you might say, the advance agent of prosperity. The best is yet to come.” ”

“ Rob said, soberly, “a flaw may develop in some part of his machine, just where it counts the most; and then—well, it will be his finish.”
“That depends,” remarked Hiram, quietly.
“On how high he happens to be at the time, you mean?” asked Andy. “Oh! just a few hundred feet will be enough to put him out of business for keeps.”
“Not if he is a wise man, and has a patent Nelson self-acting parachute fastened to him all the time!” declared the other, proudly. “It’ll open and allow him to drift slowly down, like you see hot-air balloon performers come to the earth after they’ve cut loose above.” ”

“ Andy was no coward, and could keep a pretty level head when it came down to doing things; though often he had to be told what to attempt by someone more masterful than himself. As soon as Rob shouted to him to start operations, he worked the fire extinguisher with might and main, and was considerably astonished to discover that just as Rob had said, wherever the magical fluid struck, it seemed to dishearten the conflagration, for the flames immediately died out. ”

“ If you happened to find yourself cast adrift on a big desert you would be sorry you delayed so long, though, if you pulled through alive, it might be the making of you.”
“Oh! I’ll buckle down to the job without being forced that way,” Andy hurriedly assured the scout leader. “What’s the next thing on the program?”
“I know you’re just dying to get into the amusement section of the Exposition called the Zone, and which is a good deal like the Streets of Cairo and the Midway of the Chicago Fair. I’ll make a bargain with you, Andy.” ”

“ There was an eager expression on his face, as though he were bursting with the desire to communicate his great secret to a chosen few of his chums, especially to the patrol leader, Rob Blake.
“Been alookin’ for you all over town, Rob,” he started in to say, as they joined him. “Took me an awful long time to get track of where you’d gone. Then just by accident I ran across Walter Lonsdale, who told me he believed from what Sim Jeffords said, that Joe Digby had seen you and Andy here hitting it up for the dock, and so he reckoned you must have gone off on your little Tramp. ”

“ Did some one die and leave you his fortune? It takes a pretty hefty wad of money to pay all the expenses of a jaunt across the continent.”
“A poor guess that time, Tubby,” said Rob. “We’ll have pity on you, and give you the details before you lose weight trying to hit on the true explanation. To begin with, Hiram won the trip his own way, while Andy and myself just happened by a stroke of good luck to run upon our chance.” ”

“ The scientist seemed to be actually dumfounded. He stared from Rob to Andy, and then looked hard at the suitcase.
“Can it be possible that Professor McEwen intrusted those priceless papyrus relics to the care of two mere boys? I am astounded, and likewise worried. Oh! I hope you have taken great care with them. Give me the bag, and let me see for myself. It would be a shock indeed if anything had happened to destroy the labor of years, and caused such a dreadful loss to science.” ”

“ Tubby smiled, and looked pleased.
“It’s nice to know you’re appreciated, let me tell you, boys,” he observed. “I’ll be only too glad to join you at dinner. Yes, and in the morning I’ll pack my grip so as to change base. I can leave a letter for Uncle Mark that he’ll get as soon as he comes back from Oregon.”
So that much was settled, and somehow all of them seemed to feel pleased over the addition to their ranks. Tubby Hopkins was always like a breath of Spring and a welcome guest at every camp fire. ”

“ I will at another time, Rob; but between the way that Marsters acted, and the caution these people on the Coast impressed on me, it all got on my nerves. You see, I thought it was only business to tell the Golden Gate people how Eastern concerns had men buzzing me continually to sell to them. That made them warn me not to take anyone into my confidence while traveling. They know some unscrupulous firms would steal an idea as big as my invention, if they could get away with it. ”

“ Hiram somehow seemed to lack his voracious appetite.
“Don’t just know what’s the cause, Rob,” he remarked, when the other accused him of not disposing of much of the food he had ordered, “it may be the rocking of the car, which is fierce just now; or else it comes of my riding backward. I’ve been told that some people never can stand for that. But I guess I won’t starve to death between now and morning.” ”

“ His merriment grew even more boisterous after he learned that Rob had taken Hiram’s papers to secrete them on his person, while the other hid some old letters in an inside pocket, which were deftly “lifted” during the short time the boys happened to be in close touch with the pair of rogues.
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“Just to think of the bitter disappointment they met with,” said Tubby between his gasps. “I’m sure they’ll remember you fellows with anything but pleasure. Every time they glimpse a boy in khaki they’ll be apt to utter some hard words.” ”

“ But then everyone knew that Tubby had changed wonderfully since he joined the troop. Considering the handicap under which he labored on account of his size, and the difficulty he had in doing things that were easy for his chums, he managed to get along tip-top. Rob always gave him more credit than the rest when an object they had been laboring to accomplish had been attained; because the one who overcomes the most strenuous barriers deserves greater praise than those who have not been compelled to draw upon their reserve powers. ”

“ With the big bay at our doors, and a bully little motorboat like this to go fishing or cruising in, there’s no reason for us not to be hustling most of our spare time.”
“Yes,” Rob Blake went on to add, wishing to soothe the ruffled spirit of his comrade, “and you know what glorious camping trips we can have with a lot of the boys, just as we used to in other summers. There is the full Eagle Patrol, except our fat chum, Tubby, who’s gone to see the sights of the Panama-Pacific Exposition, and Merritt Crawford, who expects to be away for a month and more with his folks.” ”

“ As before, Rob and Hiram were to go first, while Andy held the fort for them.
“Remember and don’t leave the seat under any condition while we’re gone,” was what the scout leader told Andy.
“Do you suspect that they might even try to get away with our hand baggage?” asked the other. “I thought it was only Hiram’s pockets they wanted to explore.”
“If they are thieves nothing is safe from them,” explained Rob. “‘An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.’ Keep your foot on my bag as you sit here. ”