John Henry Goldfrap

“ After a time, Ned and Herc, too, succeeded in getting away from a crowd of their shipmates and found time to pass a word or two.
Merritt had cast off his long coat to adjust his trunks. Ned found his eyes riveted on the fellow. If physique were any criterion, Merritt should have been a fine runner.
Clean-cut as a race-horse, his skin was smooth and of good color, with lithe muscles playing under it. He was the beau ideal in build of a speed machine. Chance, on the other hand, was heavier-set, but he showed up well in that assemblage of athletically built men and youths. ”

“ Ned felt himself glow with pleasure. Words of praise from an officer are not plentiful in our or any other navy. But, as we have seen, the discipline on the aviation squad was not exactly as rigid as on board a battleship.
But presently Ned's pleasant glow gave way to a shivering sensation. It was growing bitterly cold. His teeth chattered and his hands turned a beautiful plum color. The moisture from the cloud began to freeze on the machine. ”

“ So Herc assumed his most unworldly expression.
"What, is Ned on board?" he exclaimed.
"You didn't know it?"
"Not I. You are clever fellows to have trapped both of us."
Herr Muller looked at the lad sharply. He did not know what to make of this careless, debonair manner.
"Well, as you observed," he said at length, "we have trapped you."
"But what for? What do you want with little us?" grinned Herc.
"You are making fun of me, Mister Yankee."
"Not any more fun than you make of yourself," parried Herc quickly.
Herr Muller looked more puzzled than ever. Then he frowned suddenly. ”

“ With a supreme effort of will, the Dreadnought Boy compelled himself to open his eyes. He stole a side glance at his companion. Lieutenant De Frees was as cool as an iceberg.
"I must be, too," thought Ned, steeling himself. As he did so, the alarming downward motion ceased. They began to rise once more, swinging upward and climbing the sky in long, lazy circles. ”

“ Herc had managed to reach out of the cabin port and slash the rope by which the [Pg 229] dinghy had been attached to the sloop's stern. It had been a long chance, but it had won out.
"I don't believe there's another chap in the world like good old Herc," thought Ned tenderly, with a suspicious mist in his eyes as he thought of his absent comrade; then he took up the oars.
"Now where shall I row to?" he asked himself, as he pulled the boat along.
He scanned the barren-looking coast, with its inhospitable sand dunes and melancholy-colored grass, with the sea birds wheeling and screaming above. ”

“ I know all of your proceedings, dating from the hour that you, Strong, left my quarters."
"You mean that you have heard we have been engaged in some discreditable prank, sir?" asked Ned firmly, but respectfully, and still standing—as did Herc—stiffly at attention.
"I mean just that," was the response. "Since when has it been the custom in the United States navy for men to disgrace the service and go unpunished?"
"And yet," said Ned, in the same well-disciplined tones, "it hasn't been the custom to condemn men unheard, sir." ”

“ It was after dark that a torpedo-boat destroyer, with Ensign Bulkley in command, slipped away from the fleet and vanished in the fog. On the conning tower, beside the officer, was Ned Strong.
The powerful searchlight cut a bright path through the mist ahead. Somewhere in that smother lay the craft they were in search of, the anarchists' sloop, on board of which Herc was a prisoner. How eagerly Ned longed for the fog to lift, may be imagined. But they cruised all night without a sign of its lifting. ”

“ Just as Ned felt that he must inevitably be hurled from his seat, the motion suddenly changed. The contrast was violent. From the jouncing, rattling, bumping onrush of a second before, the novice seemed to have been suddenly transported to the softest of feather-beds. The aeroplane glided upward without any apparent effort. It appeared to Ned as if the land was dropping from under his feet, rather than that they were rising from the earth.
Higher they soared and higher. ”

“ Herr Muller couldn't make out whether Herc was crazy or simply light-headed.
"Sorry you don't like it," rejoined Herc; "when I sing in big cities it brings crowds. Sometimes it brings the police."
"I don't wonder. But I did not come down here to talk nonsense. Where is your companion?"
"I told you before I didn't know," rejoined Herc, seemingly with all the carelessness in the world. For the second time the crafty foreign anarchist had failed to trap Herc into an admission that he and Ned had met.
"I'll go and get him," said Herr Muller, starting for the cabin. ”

“ You—you," looking hesitatingly at the queer combination of aviation costume and regulation jackie uniform the lads wore, "you aren't soldiers, be you?"
"Not yet, ma'am," rejoined Herc gravely, "although at times we are tempted to soldier."
"We're soldiers' first cousins," laughed Ned.
"Oh, I see, sailors. But then, what is that contraption out there?" She pointed out of the window at the aeroplane. "I saw one like it at the county fair. Be you flying sailors?"
"I guess that's just what we are, ma'am," laughed Ned. "And that reminds me that we must be getting along. It is going on for noon." ”

“ As a consequence, the two trim, clean-cut lads, their faces bronzed and clear from sea air and clean living, stood apart from the group about the "smoke-lamp."
"I'm going to send in my name," announced Ned with twinkling eyes. "The aero section of the navy is going to be an important one in the future. There is a good chance for a chap to advance himself in such work."
"By the great horn spoon!" muttered Herc, in his enthusiastic, whimsical way, "I'm with you, Ned. We'll be regular sky-pilots before the summer's out!" ”

“ Something like an hour later, the destroyer, with the disguised sloop in tow, re-entered Blackhaven Bay. On board her—a raving maniac—was Herr Muller. His long-smouldering insanity had at last broken into flame. He was confined on board the Manhattan for a time and then removed to an asylum, where he now is. He will never recover his reason, and unceasingly imagines that his mission is to destroy the United States navy. As for his followers, they received various terms in prison. Kennell, alone, escaped. ”

“ His blue eyes twinkled rather humorously, as he eyed the agile, long-limbed Merritt and his sallow, dark-haired companion.
"Hullo, Benjamin Franklin; were you rubbering on our conversation?" said Merritt, assuming an indignant expression.
"Ben Franklin" was the nickname given to the studious tar whose right name was Stephen Wynn.
"It didn't take any 'rubbering,' as you call it, to overhear you," said Wynn quietly; "if you take my advice, when you want to say mean things about Ned Strong or his chum, you'll lower your voice aboard this ship. They've got quite a few friends." ”

“ The spirit of the Yankee blue-jacket is keen for fair play. A foul trick stirs his blood as nothing else will. If Ned or Herc had breathed their suspicions at that instant, it is likely that, in spite of discipline, it would have gone hard with Merritt and Chance. ”

“ He braced himself for a battle with the airman's greatest enemy. In a few seconds the squall was upon him. For an instant the aeroplane [Pg 153] hesitated and thrilled like a live thing. Ned applied more power. Like a horse under the whip, his aeroplane shot forward. Every bolt and rivet in it strained and creaked under the tension. Ned was doing a daring thing in bucking the wind and fighting with it, instead of jockeying for some advantage.
But then Ned had a fighting nature in the best sense. An obstacle only aroused him to fresh effort. ”

“ The sky was clear and a bright moon showed the surroundings to be sand dunes and desolate barrens.
"Is the boat ready?" he heard Muller ask.
From over side, where the sloop's dinghy was floating, came a response in the affirmative. The next instant Ned found himself tumbled from the sloop's low side into the small craft. The fall bruised him considerably, but if his captors had expected him to make any outcry they were deceived. He uttered no word of complaint, although, what with the tightness of his bonds and the jouncing his fall had given him, he was in considerable pain. ”

“ Lieutenant Steedforth, of the Louisiana, the starter, put the question.
Like greyhounds preparing to leave the leash, the contestants flexed their muscles.
The starter lifted the pistol. A puff of smoke and sharp report followed.
Merritt, Chalmers and Polthew got off at the same instant. They made a showy start, and the grandstand as well as the field buzzed with enthusiasm.
Springer, of the Merrimac, and Carter, of the Kansas, came next. Strong came last, and was almost unnoticed in the frenzy of excitement. ”

“ Suddenly, just as it felt as if his lungs must burst, Ned was shot up to the surface once more. Too weak to strike out he flung out his hands in a desperate effort to clutch at anything to sustain his weight.
His hands closed on something solid that buoyed him up refreshingly. It was the gunwale of the boat!
Ned hung limply to her side, getting back his strength as she glided along. After several minutes he felt equal to the effort of trying to board [Pg 228] her. He kicked his way round to the stern and clambered over the transom. ”

“ CHAPTER III. FOR THE TROPHY OF THE FLEET.
As Ned had prophesied, the next day was bright and clear. There was just enough of the coolness of early summer to give a crisp tang to the air. It stirred the blood like martial music. It was a day which challenged every athlete in the squadron to do his best. That is, so far as external conditions were concerned.
The ground selected for the trying out of the championship of the squadron was a flat field, some five acres in extent, not far from the shore. It stood on slightly rising ground. Trees, fresh and green, stood in a thick mass on one side. ”

“ Suddenly a new note had struck into the wireless channels. The quick, imperious call of a battleship summoning the wireless ears of another sea-fighter.
"M-n! M-n! M-n!"
"It's the Manhattan being called by the flagship," muttered Ned. "Hullo! now they're answering."
"Squadron will rendezvous at Blackhaven Bay. Will await further instructions there," he translated rapidly. But his translation was mental only. To Herr Muller he handed only a string of figures, the cipher the two vessels had been using. Muller hastened off with it to Chance's cabin. ”

“ I'll wager that your chum Taylor is hiding some place around town while you came up here to try and raise some more money. I must say it was a nervy thing to do."
"Good heavens!" cried Ned. "Do you mean to say that you don't credit a word of my story?"
"Nary a word. A wilder yarn I never listened [Pg 249] to, and I've served on all kinds of craft, man and boy, for a good many years. Now, let me give you a bit of advice, young fellow. When you are on trial, don't spring any such gammoning as you've told me. Just stick to the plain truth and you may get off lighter than you otherwise would." ”

“ It was implied that those who failed to pass certain examinations at a future date would not be allowed to partake further in the experiments.
"Well, talk about your ease and luxury," said Herc that night when the Dreadnought Boys were in the room assigned to them at the farmhouse, "we're as well off here as middies at Annapolis. What a contrast to the forecastle! I feel like a millionaire already."
"Umph!" grunted Ned, who was already deep in his books. "You'd better get to work and study. We've lots of hard work ahead of us." ”

“ I don't like playing at being a traitor, though, just the same."
Herr Muller and Ned now emerged into the outer cabin.
"Sit down," said the anarchist, pointing to a place beside Herc. Both boys instantly simulated great delight and surprise at seeing each other. Herr Muller looked on somewhat glumly.
"I wonder if they are making fools of me," he thought. "They are both sharp as steel traps, [Pg 197] as they say in this country. It is possible. Well, I shall govern myself accordingly and watch them closely." ”

“ Two or three other naval officers were present, and they all displayed frank interest in the bright, intelligent youth and his invention, which he explained at length.
"But, my dear De Frees," one of them—a young ensign named Tandy—had declared, "you can say all you like about the aeroplane in warfare. In efficiency it will never take the place of the submarine, for instance. I'm willing to wager any amount that on any night that I held the deck, an aeroplane, equipped with pontoons or anything else, could not, by any possibility, approach within a hundred yards of my vessel." ”