Roy Rockwood

“ Elmer had acted like a new being since coming under the healthy influence of the brisk, high-minded young airman, Dave Dashaway, and his ardent assistant, Hiram Dobbs. For the first time in his life, the zest of adventure and the ambition to make something of himself had acted like a spur on the young fellow.
For over a month our hero, Dave, and his two loyal comrades had led an existence of delight. The young airman had become greatly interested in an exploit in which he had been invited to take part. ”

“ Right at the spot where they were camping was a knob, or hill. At its bottom, a level stretch of some extent, there spread about a vast, wild swamp. This afforded a good anchor spot for the biplane. The Comet rested on its base somewhat travel-stained, but staunch and reliable as at the start. The crew of the machine looked as if they had never felt better in their lives. Wind, rain and sun had begun to brown them up like gipsies. Energy showed in their clear, vigilant eyes, and confidence and ambition in every movement they made. ”

“ AROUND THE WORLD
CHAPTER I
THE COMET “I wish Dave Dashaway would hurry up here,” said Hiram Dobbs, who was for the time being in charge of the biplane, the Comet.
“What’s your great anxiety, Hiram?” questioned Elmer Brackett, reclining comfortably in one of the spacious seats behind the pilot post of the machine.
“Do you know that fellow with the long frock coat over yonder—the one who looks like some cheap sharp lawyer? There,” added Hiram, pointing at a group near a hangar, “he’s talking now with that fat, porpoise-looking man with gold braid on his cap and a badge on his coat.” ”

“ Mr. Brackett was very proud of the son who had “made good” in an exploit calling for more than ordinary ability and grit. To our hero he insisted all the credit was due, and the young airman realized that he had made strong, lifetime friends.
It seemed to the airship boys the very happiest moment of their lives, the day a dainty little miss drove up to the Comet hangar, and Miss Edna Deane, with tears of joy and gratitude, and her lovely face fairly glowing, told them what heroes they were. ”

“ LOST IN THE AIR “This is serious, fellows,” spoke Dave. “Get ready for the worst.”
“What is the worst?” inquired Elmer Brackett.
“A sudden drop. You had better have the breeches buoys ready.”
“Oh, Dave!” cried Hiram Dobbs, in actual distress. “You don’t mean to say that the brave old Comet is going back on us just as it looks as though the home stretch is right ahead of us?”
“It’s the fog, fellows,” explained Dave. “We have beaten around in it for twelve hours, until I feel certain we are all out of our course. In a word, we are lost.” ”

“ A further sweep, and a duplicate for just an instant was framed by the piercing glow.
“A searchlight!” cried the startled Elmer.
“And two airships,” added Hiram. “Dave, what are we going to do?”
The young airman’s active brain was busy. He fancied he took in the situation. They were passing over a camp. Ahead of them was a walled town, now being attacked. The two airships to the west were probably bomb-carrying machines, stealing over the enemy to drop death-dealing projectiles into the midst of their camp.
“Dave,” whispered Elmer, almost too excited to speak, “we have been seen!” ”

“ As they approached it, the young aviator made a veer with the biplane that told his companions of a sudden change of purpose.
“What is it, Dave?” asked Elmer, quickly.
“Don’t you see?” replied Dave. “There are a woman and child down there.”
“Gracious!” shouted Hiram—“why, so there are! She’s running for her life! No, she’s stopped. Now she’s stepped into the water. She’s wading in. Dave, Dave, do something!” ”

“ It is here, a few versts only from Lhassa, that my trusted partner, Ben Mahanond Adasse, has his great depot. He trades solely in Thibet. You would go there?”
“To Lhassa, yes,” answered Dave.
“Impossible!” exclaimed the Russian, with almost startling force. “My son, you know not what you say. Lhassa—it is the city of mystery, the sacred metropolis of the tried and chosen. For an outsider to appear at its gates is capture—life imprisonment. For a foreigner to penetrate to its secret recesses, is sure death.” ”

“ He was a trader, and lived at Mokiva, about twelve miles distant. He had been at another station across country, and had started to return home, not dreaming that he could not reach it before dark. The unexpected snowstorm had overtaken him, and the wolves had gotten after the sleigh. The tragic climax had been averted by the prompt action of Dave Dashaway.
It more than compensated the boys for their trouble as they got better acquainted with the man. It seemed that he had agents, friends, and trading stations, all through Russia and in several Asiatic countries. ”

“ Hiram nodded intelligently at this technical explanation. Elmer, too, understood what their pilot wished to convey to them.
“Some of the tubing is loose,” continued the young airman. “I have felt it vibrate for the past hour. If any part gives way, and a puff of wind should come up, we will lose all control of the steering gear.”
“The mischief!” ejaculated Hiram, who always got excited readily. “We’re in a bad fix; aren’t we?”
“Bad enough to keep on a low level, for fear we may turn turtle at any moment,” declared Dave.
The young aviator had not misstated conditions. ”

“ Dave was an expert airman. The Comet was a noble machine of its type. They had met with “good luck,” too, Hiram had insisted. The biplane crossed the vast stretch of Canadian wilderness without a mishap.
At Sitka no new trap nor harmful attempt on the part of their enemies had confronted them. A government official had been deputized by telegraph from Washington to receive and identify the contestants as they arrived. The crew of the Comet were proud and happy to learn that they were the first on the scene. ”

“ Dave stood silent, thinking hard. Elmer came up to him, worried and anxious. By this time Hiram had got full steam of excitement on.
“See here, Dave,” he cried, “what is this—a trick, or something serious?”
“It’s pretty serious,” answered the young airman. “Whoever ran away with the Comet had a bad motive in view—I feel certain of that.”
“You mean, to keep us from making the start in the race?” inquired Elmer, anxiously.
“Just that,” assented Dave, positively. “No ordinary thief would steal the biplane, for he couldn’t sell it. Professionals do not meddle with other people’s machines. ”

“ The old farmer’s eyes glistened as our hero handed him five crisp twenty-dollar banknotes.
“Now then, Pierce,” spoke the young airman, “that’s settled. What’s the trouble with your machine?”
It did not take the expert Dave long to find out. Within half an hour he had the faulty gear sound as ever. The Comet had a full supply of gasoline. A transfer of some of it was made to the tanks aboard number seven.
The farmer and his sons, fully satisfied now, stood watching operations. Hiram and Elmer hustled about, giving their leader and his fellow aviator all the help they could. ”

“ Meantime Hiram and Elmer had strolled to a distance. They passed Mr. Brackett, who was seeing to it that the hangar men safely housed his pet biplane for the night. Hiram looked curiously at his companion.
“Well,” he observed, “sort of mysterious, Elmer; eh?”
“You mean that young lady?”
“I do. Automobile—mysterious veiled visitor,” said Hiram with a smile.
“Maybe it’s another of those venturesome college girls wanting to make a flight for the name of it. Dave will tell us when he sees us. No nonsense about him. He’s too busy for romance.”
“That’s so. There she goes, Elmer,” announced Hiram. ”

“ Dave called “all aboard!” Hiram pulled his face at the mean-spirited old trickster who had bled them. Elmer shook his fist at the farmer crowd.
“That’s you!” exclaimed Hiram. “Just fitted Pierce out to beat us, and delayed us, besides.”
“Wasn’t it the best kind of fair play?” challenged Dave.
“So good,” declared Elmer; “that I’d almost rather come in second with the big heart you’ve got, than think I’d left a fellow airman in the lurch.”
“Well, it’s a free for all now, I hope,” spoke the anxious Hiram. “When a fellow is so near the winning post as we are, it makes him selfish, I guess. ”

“ The remarkable adventures of Dave and his friends while sailing the mammoth airship, the Albatross, across the Atlantic Ocean have there been narrated. After the giant airship had started on its extraordinary trip, a stowaway had been discovered—Elmer Brackett.
It seemed that the lad had gotten into bad company. His father was rich and he had plenty of money, which he spent very foolishly. He had formed the acquaintance of a clever schemer named Vernon. This man had so enmeshed Elmer in his toils, that he made the boy believe that he could send him to prison, and ruin his father’s business. ”

“ Dave asked carelessly of the man with the pushcart, after the inn-keeper had gone away.
“That’s it,” said the man, pointing. “Where some one’s got a campfire, it looks. See, right through the trees yonder, beyond the creek.”
“Oh, yes,” replied Dave. “Here’s a dollar for getting here so promptly with those goods, and helping us.”
“Now then, Hiram,” said our hero, as the supplies were placed in the biplane and they found themselves alone, “it is you and I for a council of war.”
“I understand,” nodded his lively assistant—“you mean about the other airship?” ”

“ You shall partake of the best at Mokiva this night.”
“We would be glad to go with you,” said Dave, “but we dare not leave our machine unguarded.”
“Unguarded?” repeated the Russian with forcefulness. “My friends, you know not the fidelity of these, my people. They shall remain here all night, and your airship shall be guarded as though it were pure gold. Fear nothing, these men are trusty and tried.”
A thought of all Adrianoffski might tell them of practical details of their route ahead, induced the young airman to agree to his wishes. ”

“ There is no one else around here; is there?”
“Not a soul,” gasped the woman, faintly. “I was alone—all alone,” she continued in a dreary tone. “Oh, it was awful, awful! I feared I would never see my husband again.”
“May I ask where he is?” pressed Hiram.
“He went to Doubleday to get some winter supplies,” explained the woman. “It takes three days. I hope he got there safely.”
The pilot of the Comet and Elmer were able to hear all that was said as their comrade patiently drew out her story. The burned cabin was the only habitation in the wilderness district. ”

“ He came to a dead stop, irresolute as to the course he ought to pursue. Hiram had recognized the man as Vernon. He wondered how the rascal came to be in the building where his airman friend was.
“Why, he’s nagging Dave, that’s sure,” declared Hiram. “But why? It won’t do any good to run after him. I must tell Dave about it, though, and—there he is now.”
The young aviator appeared at just that moment. He looked up and down the street and then advanced towards Hiram as he made him out. ”

“ The young airman was back with his friends before noon. He had gotten in touch with Washington. What he learned made him more than anxious to resume the flight.
“We are third, fellows, so far as heard from, I am sorry to say,” he announced to his anxious comrades, and this put them in a great flutter.
“You don’t mean to say that any of the machines has reached goal?” cried Hiram, his heart sinking to his boots.
“No,” replied our hero; “but number seven was reported at Para yesterday. This morning number two was at Cayenne. They are hundreds of miles nearer home than we are.” ”

“ It was near here that Ben Mahanond Adasse had his trading station. The young air pilot calculated upon arriving after dark. It might interfere with his plans to have the Comet publicly seen so near to the sacred city of mystery.
“Judging from the landmarks described by Mr. Adrianoffski,” said Dave, towards the middle of the afternoon, “I think we are quite near to Zirva.”
“That is the trading post of his partner?” spoke Hiram.
“Yes,” nodded the young aviator. “Those glittering spires and domes in the distance must be Lhassa. We must look for a secure and secluded landing place.” ”

“ Then they all came to a stop. In dismay they stood staring at a mass of ruins—what was left of the wrecked hangar.
Pieces of concrete blocks littered the ground in all directions. Parts of an airship mechanism showed in the glare of the lanterns. The young aviator felt sick all over. He had known all along what there was to fear. His mind was quickly decided as to the motive and source of the vandal act.
79“Dave,” suddenly whispered Hiram, in a shaking tone, “the Comet is gone! That may not matter, for we might get another machine, but—what about Will Mason?” ”

“ The young pilot could now inspect the Comet more clearly. He reported his conclusions after going over every part of the machine.
“I think time and patience will fix things up,” he announced.
“How much time?” inquired Hiram.
“I hope not a great lot of patience,” said Elmer, with a longing thought of the home mainland.
“There will be some brazing and hammering to do,” explained Dave. “We will have to build a fire. It will soon be dark and we must wait for daylight. Now then, fellows, don’t waste any nerve force worrying. What we lose to-day we’ll try to make up for when we get started again. ”

“ They found preserved ginger, honeyed dates, some melon rind finely flavored—in fact a series of native confections as toothsome as they were rich and novel.
“What’s the programme now, Dave?” inquired Hiram, the spell of feasting concluded.
“Morris Deane, of course,” responded the young airman, promptly.
“To-night; right away?” asked Elmer.
“We must lose no time getting on our route,” replied our hero. “It seems to me that we have been most fortunate in meeting the people who have assisted us so grandly in locating the man we are after. ”