Luis Senarens

“ Frank wired Beere at New Orleans and then went aboard the air-ship. Barney and Pomp accompanied him.
It was a beautiful August morning. A mighty crowd thronged the streets of Readestown to get a look at the air-ship as it mounted in the air.
None of them were disappointed.
Exactly at the hour named the Spectre leaped upward into the clouds. The people cheered and the bands played and cannon roared. And away sailed the Spectre.
Into space she sped, every moment growing smaller, until soon she was lost to sight altogether. ”

“ A FUTILE QUEST. It is needless to say that the three adventurers lost no time in climbing up the gang ladder.
They were not a moment too soon.
Frank had just cleared the rail when men burst from a thicket and sent a hail storm of bullets upward. They rattled on the steel hull of the air-ship.
“Give it to ’em!” shouted Nicodemus, angrily. “They deserve it richly.”
Barney and Pomp grabbed rifles and rushed to the rail.
But Frank cried:
“Wait! Do not take life unnecessarily! We are safe just now. Let us have a talk with them.” ”

“ The ground began to rock and pitch violently, trees and shrubs swayed and were bent to the ground, the air-ship was tossed about like a pebble, and no man could stay on his feet a moment.
“An earthquake!” gasped Frank.
“Bejabers, wud yez luk at the lake!” cried Barney. ”

“ With redoubled interest the aerial voyagers now gazed upon the great body of water below.
None were disposed to dispute the old captain, and Frank, scanning the horizon more intently, saw the faint haze of the shore.
“By Jove!” he exclaimed, “it is a big body of fresh water. However, here we are. Now to recover the treasure. What course shall we pursue, Captain Nicodemus?” ”

“ Were not your companions drowned when the lake returned that time?”
“They were.”
“But you—how did you escape?”
Dooley told his story. Then he asked sharply:
“But how did you get here? You have not been here ever since?”
“Hardly,” replied Nicodemus, quietly. “I have come here for the same purpose as yourself, for the buried gold.”
“Ah!”
The two men gazed at each other. In that moment antagonism was uppermost.
“I suppose that gold belongs to whomever can recover it.”
“Certainly not!” replied Nicodemus.
“Indeed!” said Dooley, somewhat staggered. “How do you disprove that?” ”

“ Frank could not remain idle.
He sent the air-ship aloft and now saw his error of the night. He had sailed completely around the mountain peak and had been searching the wrong side of it all the while.
“Egad!” he muttered, “it is no wonder that I did not find them. I hope they are yet safe. Remaining out all night on these mountains is no joking matter.”
He hastened to drive the air-ship around to the opposite side of the peak again. As he did so the Spectre hung for a moment over a deep chasm thousands of feet in depth. ”

“ It is better for you to talk reason at once!”
“The only reason I will talk with you,” said Dooley, obstinately, “is that you go on about your business and leave us and our affairs alone!”
Frank turned from the rail.
“There is no use to talk with that fellow,” he said.
“What shall we do?” asked Nicodemus.
“I will think up a plan,” said the young inventor, “in the meanwhile our best plan is to sail over to the other side of the lake and wait for it to recede. When it does we must be first on the scene where the gold lies.”
“Good!” cried Nicodemus ”

“ But if we are to be foes all the while——”
“No, no,” cried Dooley, craftily; “we will not fight each other. It shall be agreed that whoever finds the gold there shall be a fair division.”
“Will you swear to that?”
“Yes.”
“All right,” said Frank, sternly; “but now let me impress upon you one fact. We have the best of the situation. If you attempt any treachery or go back on your agreement, I’ll exterminate the whole of you. With my air-ship I can do it.”
The rascal’s shifting gaze met Frank’s a moment. He could not help but see that the young inventor was in earnest. ”

“ The Spectre sailed away across the arm of the lake and landed upon the summit of a small hill. It would have required several days’ journey for the Dooley gang to have made the circuit around by the shore.
So the aerial voyagers felt safe. But this new development had put a different face upon matters.
However, if the lake should again recede, the air-ship could easily cover the three miles to the mound of gold before the men on foot could.
Frank nor Nicodemus either cared for but a fair share of the treasure. ”

“ As long as he held the drop on Frank as he did he felt comparatively safe.
But right here was his mistake. Had he ordered the young inventor to stop twisting the wires under the keyboard the situation would have changed in his favor. He failed to do so.
Hence his defeat.
It was all executed very swiftly and silently. The connection was made and Frank turned to the villain, saying, pleasantly:
“We are half a mile from the earth now!”
“Jericho!” gasped Dooley. “What a drop that would be!”
“Yes, a comfortable one.”
“Eh? I should think it would be a terrible one. Would it not mean death?” ”

“ But Dooley had no better luck! Still upward raced the air-ship. The two rascals were in a state of terror.
Cold perspiration oozed from their pores and they trembled as if with the ague.
“I didn’t mean to do it, skipper,” declared Bowler, aghast; “it was an accident. Won’t we ever get back to the earth?”
“Not at this rate,” huskily declared the senior villain.
And now an alarming state of affairs ensued. The air grew so rare that their eyeballs began to ache and cold chills seized them. ”

“ One moment the puma was in mid-air, then fell, turning a dozen somersaults.
When it ceased its terrific death struggle the two hunters ventured to approach it. A more ferocious beast could not be imagined.
“Egad!” exclaimed Nicodemus, as he placed fresh cartridges in his rifle, “the beast gave us quite a tussle. We’re in high luck!”
“Begorra, I believe yez, sor!” agreed Barney. “I niver was more skeered in me loife. One moment I thought it was me the omadhoun was after, then I thought it was yesilf.”
The captain laughed and kicked the body of the dead lion. ”

“ The air-ship was lit-up by the electric lamps and until a late hour watch was kept. Then Frank went into the pilot-house.
“We have got to go to their rescue,” he said.
“Golly, Marse Frank!” exclaimed Pomp, “how we know whar to look fo’ dem?”
“We must do the best we can,” said Frank. “You stand by the searchlight, Pomp, and shoot its rays everywhere through the mountains. I will manage the wheel.” ”

“ However, this was the time for action.
“Now for the mound of gold!” cried Frank. “We shall have to get our bearings from you, captain.”
“All right!” cried Nicodemus, studying the shore a moment. “North by east, skipper!”
Barney started the air-ship forward in the direction indicated. Soon the lake bed was beneath them.
As the Spectre sailed on over the sands, suddenly Nicodemus clutched Frank’s arm and said:
“There they are!”
A body of men were seen rushing rapidly across the lake bed. They were Dooley and his gang. ”

“ In the great, high-roofed storehouse the Spectre rested upon her stocks.
She was a marvel of beauty and symmetry. Her lines were somewhat like those of a government cruiser, yet more narrow of beam and slender.
The hull was of thinly rolled composition of aluminum and steel to insure lightness and make it impervious to a bullet. The hull was pierced just below the rail with a number of dead-eye windows, which admitted light to the hold.
Above the deck there arose two cabins. The forward cabin was richly furnished, and contained the dining saloon and the living quarters of the ship’s company. ”

“ The air-ship did stop. But Frank adroitly shifted the lever when he took his hand from it. This completely deceived the villain.
He hesitated a moment.
Then he drew a revolver.
He seated himself in a chair in the pilot-house door. He placed the weapon on his knee:
“All right!” he said, coolly; “keep your hand on that thing, then. If you take it off or make a move to play any gun game you shall die!”
For a moment Frank felt that he was worsted. The villain certainly had the best of him. ”

“ Frank’s first impulse was to beat a hasty retreat and give them a hot reception. But second thought changed his mind.
He thought of Nicodemus and saw that he needed succor.
“Pomp will be on the outlook,” he reflected; “he can easily fool them. Our duty is here.”
So he whispered to Barney to crouch low in the bushes and await developments.
They were not long in coming.
Dooley and five of his men, armed to the teeth, set forth to capture the air-ship. This left five men in the camp with the prisoner, Beere.
Captain Nicodemus was in a very despondent state of mind. ”

“ The buoyancy of the air-ship overcomes that peculiar pressure which causes the so-called mountain sickness.”
The air-ship sailed on slowly among the great peaks. It was a wonderful spectacle.
But the aerial voyagers soon tired of it, and Frank finally asked:
“What do you think, Nicodemus? Is the mysterious country south of us?”
“I think so, skipper,” replied the captain. “We kept a pretty straight line eastward to the head waters of the Paraguay River; we ought to find the Transient Lake somewhere south of us.”
“We will keep on then in that direction,” said Frank. “Heigho! What is that?” ”

“ He shook a fist in Pomp’s face. The darky dodged, and the Celt made a biff at him. Then they closed in an exciting encounter. Long and hard it was, but as it would have been impossible to injure either one of their tough skins and hardy frames by any dint of such pounding and wrestling, they finally emerged from the encounter hardly the worse for it. ”

“ Captain Nicodemus was in a most uncomfortable frame of mind. He stormed up and down the ledges excitedly.
“This is a fine mess!” he scolded. “What is going to be the result? Darkness is coming on, and we will have to spend the night here. We will stand a chance of being eaten up by wild beasts.”
“Och hone!” gasped Barney, “do yez mean that, sor! It’s bad luck fer us, to be shure.”
Once again they set out along the mountain side. ”

“ Pomp proceeded to obey orders. The air-ship rose, and while Frank sent it along the mountain side Pomp operated the searchlight.
And here was where the two searchers got off the track. As fate had it, Frank took the opposite direction, and, misled by an angle in the mountain, passed directly around to the other side.
Here he followed the mountain wall in all directions. The result was that he kept moving further and further from the spot where Barney and the captain were in hiding from the dreaded wild beasts.
All night long the young inventor kept up the futile quest. ”

“ Dooley and his men were momentarily nearing the spot. A conflict with them must be avoided.
But Frank first suggested that a thorough search of the vicinity be made.
This was done.
Every suspicious looking sand heap, far and near, was thrown over. No gold was found.
It was speedily seen that the quest was destined to be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
It was a reasonable supposition that the ship’s crew had removed the gold, and had started for the shore with it when overtaken by the flood. To find it now, or their bones, would require a long and patient search. ”

“ FRANK MAKES A DECISION. The captain shifted his quid again and then smiled at the earnest look in Frank’s eyes. The young inventor was intensely interested.
“How did we get wet?” interrogated the captain. “Water of course. It was all before us. It had come down upon us with the force of a hurricane.
“We waited where we were until the light of day came. Then we beheld an appalling scene. A mighty expanse of water lay before us.
“The lake had come back. The basin was full of water. ”

“ Remember, we’re in a dangerous country.”
“Yo’ kin be sure ob dat, sah,” affirmed Pomp. “Neber fear, sah.”
Frank and Barney were quickly on the beach. They walked on until they came upon Nicodemus’s tracks. Then a startling surprise was accorded them.
There were other tracks.
“By Jupiter!” exclaimed the young inventor in amazement, “what does this mean? The captain has fallen in with others and they are civilized also.”
There was nothing to do but to follow the trail. The result was that, after two miles of patient tramping, they came upon the camp of Dooley’s men just as the captain had. ”

“ All of the voyagers wore a face mask, an invention of Frank Reade, Jr.’s, for use in high altitudes to prevent bleeding of the respiratory organs or faintness. It was impregnated with a chemical, which, placed in a light porous sponge at the nostrils, was a sure remedy. ”