Luis Senarens

“ Reade!”
“That may be a large statement,” said the young inventor, with, a smile. “However, I am glad that you appreciate my air-ship.”
“I can only say that I am delighted beyond expression with the prospect of taking a voyage with you aboard the Kite,” declared Harding, ardently. “It is a treat which any man would be glad to accept.”
“The question now is,” said Frank, brusquely, “what shall we do about the treasure you speak of? Would it not be best to secure that at once?”
“It will take Vane a long while to secure a transportation from Quito.” ”

“ The brigands, Red Muriel with the rest, were fleeing for safety to the cover of a cavern near at hand.
But across the plateau there ran a slender, girlish form.
It was Mabel Dane.
“Mr. Reade, we are saved! Thank Heaven for that!”
“Amen!” cried Frank. “You will now be able to rejoin the man you love.”
With a quick movement she cut the young inventors bonds.
Then she rushed to the door of one of the brigand’s huts and burst it in.
The guard at the door had fled. Out came a tall, fine-looking man of elderly cast. ”

“ Particularly was the young inventor interested. When Harding had finished he cried, vehemently:
“My friend, you shall have your rights. That treasure every bit belongs to you, and yours it shall be.”
“Thank you a thousand times!” cried Harding, eagerly. “Oh, do you really mean to say that you will help me to recover the Incas treasure?”
“I do,” replied Frank.
“Half, yes, two-thirds of it shall be yours. I only ask enough——”
“Not one cent!” replied Frank, quickly. “I do not want money. I am rich enough.” ”

“ His whole soul was filled with the one purpose to appropriate the whole wealth to himself, and with it to return to New York and win the heart of Mabel Dane.
But to do this it was necessary to dispose of Harding.
He saw but one way to do this.
Lester Vane was cold, calculating and unscrupulous. He determined to murder his companion outright.
With his mind made up to do this, he suddenly halted Harding near the brow of the precipice, and coolly informed him of the fact.
He believed that as he was much stronger he could easily overcome the weaker man. ”

“ Certainly it looked as if the air-ship was doomed. If the brigands were not repulsed the effect would be terrible.
“On deck, all!” yelled Frank. “Stand ready for a fight!”
He could have rushed to the pilot-house and have sent the air-ship aloft in a moment.
But the brigands were now on deck in large numbers.
Pomp and Barney rushed into the cabin and came out with rifles. Harding also came with them.
“Give it to ‘em!” shouted Frank. “Don’t give them a chance to get the upper hand!”
“You bet we won’t,” cried Harding, with a thrill of resolution. “Mow them down, boys!” ”

“ Harding had not been so long absent from the world of civilization that he had not heard of Frank Reade, Jr., and his wonderful inventions.
He had read the exploits of the young inventor and was well familiar with his history.
He knew that Frank Reade, Jr., was a young and handsome fellow of the rarest gifts, whose home was in a beautiful American city called Readestown.
Air-ships were the hobby of this famous young inventor, and he had taken many trips about the world, accompanied by two faithful servants, an Irishman named Barney O’Shea and a negro called Pomp. ”

“ Frost instantly began to appear upon the glass windows and the ironwork of the air-ship
The wind was less furious now, and the Kite was going more steady.
Barney and Pomp at once understood the change.
The Celt sprang up and cried:
“Whurroo! It’s saved we are if we don’t freeze to death. Shure, the storm is all below us this blessed moment!”
“What do you mean?” cried Harding; “have we really risen above the storm?”
“That we have, sor.” ”

“ Doubtless it was the chafing of the rope against the sharp ledges of rock which walled the passage which caused it to break.
So yielding to a better sense of discretion he abandoned the idea.
He was reluctant to do this, for it certainly looked as if it was the end of Harding and Pomp.
Frank was much distressed with the thought.
“My soul!” he ejaculated; “words cannot express how keenly I shall feel the loss of Pomp. He has been a good and faithful servant for many years.”
“Shure, sor,” exclaimed Barney, “ye don’t mean ter give the naygur up?” ”

“ His plan to rescue Mabel Dane and her father was set at naught. The brigands led him across the rope bridge, and he was cast into a leaking and vile smelling hut for the night.
Frank’s sensations were not of the pleasantest. But he bore up bravely.
But the next morning he was led from his prison house by an armed guard.
He was placed with his back to a tall palm tree, and an armed guard at fifty paces covered him with their carbines.
Red Muriel stood by with a cruel smile upon his dark face.
“This time, senor,” he said, derisively and vengefully, “no power on earth shall save you. ”

“ The villains obeyed. All three lay back upon the bar.
It would have taken twenty men to have pulled it out.
Barney knew this, and stepped quickly to the keyboard.
It was a neat little trap which worked well. He pressed one of the electric keys.
The current from the dynamos shot into the cogs and thence into the bar instantly. The effect was thrilling.
The three villains clung to the bar yelling and writhing in pain. They were unable to let go.
Too late Vane saw the ruse, and fierce curses broke from his lips.
But Barney quickly put a stop to them. He shocked the villains into insensibility. ”

“ Now if you will make a break to run toward that tree yonder it will draw the attention of the brigands away from me, and I will make a dash for liberty. If I succeed in reaching that height yonder I shall be within view of the Kite and will signal Barney and Pomp. Then we will make a strike to save you. It is our only hope of salvation.”
Harding saw the situation at a glance, and whispered back:
“All right! Give the word when you are ready!”
“I will do so.”
Of course there was a chance that the scheme would fail, but it was certainly a dernier ressort.
Frank had now completely freed his hands. ”

“ A DARING ESCAPE. A cry of despair welled up from Harding’s agonized bosom. He realized only too well the truth of Frank’s words.
Death most awful confronted them.
There seemed no power at hand to save them. That the brigand chief would execute his threat there was no doubt.
Harding was not a coward, but he was the more disposed to yield to fate than Frank Reade, Jr.
The young inventor was constantly on the lookout for some way out of the dilemma. He quickly hit an idea. ”

“ The brigands were driven like sheep from their hiding places and scattered like chaff before the wind.
The battle was all over in thirty minutes.
Then the Kite returned, and Frank, unharmed, leaped from the deck once more.
“I don’t believe they will trouble us again at once,” he declared. “We are safe for the time, I think.”
And he was right. Red Muriel did not return to the attack.
There was nothing further to keep them in the Andes, and particularly was Harding anxious to go.
“We have six men as guides,” he declared. “We can go overland to Lima. ”

“ I am. I have been here six weeks now, and that is enough. I am anxious to get back to Readestown, for I have a new invention which I desire to perfect.”
“Mr. Reade,” said Dane, warmly, “we can never repay you for your kindness to us. Yet I would ask one more favor of you.”
“What is that?”
“That I may inspect your beautiful Readestown and inspect your wonderful works there.”
“I shall be very happy to receive you,” said Frank, “or any of the company present.”
Barney and Pomp got all the traps aboard, and now the Celt brought out his fiddle and the darky his banjo. ”

“ Then gradually he calmed down.
“Have courage,” said Frank, encouragingly; “we may overtake the thieves.”
“Ah, I have no hopes of that!”
“Who do you believe them to be?”
“It is hard to say.”
“Not Vane?”
“No; it must be that some prowling band of brigands has discovered the treasure. They may have seen us come here.”
“In that event,” said Frank, “we need only pursue them.”
“They will fight.”
“What of that?”
“There are only two of us!”
“But we can return to the air-ship. They cannot escape from the Kite.”
Hope once more shone in Harding’s face. ”

“ Frank determined upon this method of repulsing the foe.
He saw quickly that it was going to be quite useless to attempt to defeat the brigands by means of rifles alone.
So he quickly connected the hull of the air-ship with the dynamos, and pressed the key which sent the electric current into it.
The result was a most unpleasant surprise to the brigands.
They were flung from the air-ship’s deck as if propelled by giant hands. Broken bones and damaged heads were in order. Every brigand who ventured to touch the electrified air-ship was sorry the next moment. ”

“ The two faithful servitors were aboard the Kite in a twinkling.
All rushed into the cabin.
Pomp and Barney picked up their rifles and gave the brigands a shot. But Harding, who was much excited, cried:
“Oh, that will never do! They will be upon us in another moment. Once they get on board the ship we are lost!”
“Huh! dey will nebber do dat!” cried Pomp. “Not if dis chile knows it.” ”

“ A million things flashed through their minds in a second of time.
It does not require a great while for a heavy body like the Kite to fall several miles through the air.
If the air-ship should strike the ground at that pace it would be demolished, and all on board would be killed.
But even as the cry of despair escaped Barney’s lips he made action.
He saw that the lever for the forward rotascope was not open, and the rotascope was not working. ”

“ But the brigands, it was quickly seen, had disappeared.
They had retreated into the defile, and evidently into the cavern.
Harding had gone from sight.
He was nowhere to be seen.
The last seen of him he had been making for the jungle.
The air-ship cruised around and over the vicinity for over an hour.
But Harding did not turn up, nor could a trace of him be found.
“Well,” muttered Frank, in amazement, “that is mighty queer. What can it mean?” ”

“ The next morning found the crew of the Kite just as obdurate.
Another day wore away thus. Another night came and the second morning. Then an idea occurred to Harding.
They were confined in one of the staterooms. Vane himself held the cabin, and only a few of the gaucheros, who were dirty fellows, were allowed aboard.
“I will tell you, Barney,” said the young American in an undertone, “we don’t seem to be gaining anything in this way. Can we not work a sharp scheme upon the villains?”
“Shure, sor, av yez kin tell me——”
“I think I can!” ”

“ Barney’s and Pomp’s bonds were quickly cut and they at once went to work upon the machinery.
In a very short time they had the electrical engines working all right.
Then Barney said:
“Now, sir, it’s all roight we are for the ascint.”
“Good!” cried Vane, eagerly. “I will take a dozen men on board and send the others overboard.”
“No, sir,” replied Barney, emphatically. “Yez can’t do that!”
“Why?”
“The air-ship will only carry up six people, sor. That is all.” ”

“ Frank now proceeded to show Harding the wonderful mechanism and construction of his air-ship.
“All the electrical devices aboard this ship,” he declared, “are patents of my own.”
The Kite was built after the shape of a modern cruiser, with a narrow hull, and long, pointed bow.
The hull was made of the lightest rolled platinum, lined on the bottom with tough steel meshes to resist a blow or the impact of a bullet.
Lightness and strength are the two prime things to be considered in building an air-ship. ”

“ Besides the various methods of handkerchief, fan, glove, parasol, window and hat flirtation, it contains a full list of the language and sentiment of flowers, which is interesting to everybody, both old and young. You cannot be happy without one.
No. 4. HOW TO DANCE is the title of a new and handsome little book just issued by Frank Tousey. It contains full instructions in the art of dancing, etiquette in the ball-room and at parties, how to dress, and full directions for calling off in all popular square dances. ”