Roy Rockwood

“ Dave sat silent and thoughtful for some moments. The situation was a novel one. He had never heard of any one stealing an airship before. The Interstate manager aroused him from his reverie with the words:
"We sent for you, Dashaway, because you are our most active man in the field."
"That sounds pretty grand for a young fellow like me," returned Dave with a smile, and flushing up, too.
"We gage out men by what they do," replied Mr. Randolph in a matter-of-fact tone. "We have found blood the best in our business. You have made good, Dashaway." ”

“ The young aviator had a good deal on his mind, enough to make the average lad impatient. He had, however, learned a hard lesson of discipline with his tyrannical guardian, old Silas Warner. Then, too, since coming under the helpful influence of Mr. King, he had acquired a certain self reliance that now stood him in good stead.
Running an airship took nerve, steadiness of purpose, a definite, concrete way of looking at things. Dave knew in his own mind that the Drifter was each hour speeding farther and farther away from the haunts of men. ”

“ The manager burst out into a hearty laugh.
"Well, well!" he cried, clapping Dave on the shoulder in an approving way, "I must say you are certainly a grand judge of monoplanes."
"How is that?" asked Dave.
"You have picked out the best machine in the place."
"Why, I was looking for the best one, wasn't I, Mr. Randolph?" asked the young aviator with a smile.
"It is our new model of the composite hydro-aeroplane," explained the manager. "It's the best standard built in this country—the Monarch II."
"It's easy to see that," responded Dave. "It is the equal of the
Drifter in a great many ways." ”

“ Hiram had come to Mr. King's hangar that morning to say, "the Dawson crowd are simply squelched. I met Jerry Dawson and his father. You ought to see the looks they gave me when I just grinned at them, and said 'Contract!' It was like a fellow saying 'Baa!' to sheep. Why, those fellows just sneaked away. We've beaten them at every angle, Dave, and I reckon they'll give up their meanness now, and quickly fade away."
"It would be a good thing for honest aeronautics if they would," growled old Grimshaw. ”

“ Grimshaw's final injunction.
Dave knew the Baby Racer just as an engineer understands his locomotive. Daylight or dirk, once aloft the young aviator did not doubt his own powers. The moment the Racer left the ground, however, with a switch of her flapping tail, Dave knew that he was to have no easy fair-weather cruise.
"Slow it is," the watchful, excited Hiram heard him say, working the wheel as cautiously as an automobilist rounding a sharp curve. ”

“ Robert King, the winner of the monoplane endurance prize, and the man who had practically adopted Dave into the aviation field.
"I've got something to say as to the matter of pride," spoke up old
Grimshaw. "A lad who can make the run Dashaway did with the Baby
Racer, is a boy to holler about."
"If there's anything to be proud about," added Dave, "it's the right good friends I've made."
"My friends, too," put in the impetuous Hiram. "I'm getting along famously. Why, I only tipped out of the dummy airship once yesterday." ”

“ Here the gasoline supply in the tanks was replenished. The basket had been stored with over a hundred gallons of this in separate packages, without embarrassing the buoyancy of the machine, as the young aviators were far below average operating weight.
"This high living of ours makes and hungry," intimated Hiram, as they finished getting the machine in shape to renew the flight.
"Time for lunch, you think?" proposed Dave with a jolly laugh. ”

“ He could not, however, feel otherwise than pleased at all these eulogies bestowed upon him.
"The Drifter has got to be found," resumed the manager. "It is our first perfected model, and we can hardly build its counterpart in time for full seasonal exhibitions. We think you are the man to find it, Dashaway."
"Oh, Mr. Randolph," said Dave with a slight start.
"I am expressing the opinion of the head men in the company here, who knew your good record. You are young, ambitious, a capable airman, and above all you are loyal to the interest of your employers." ”

“ The wind resistance caused a growing speed reduction. The sensitiveness of the elevating rudder warned Dave that he must maintain a perfect balance until they could strike a steady path of flight. Hiram's rapt gaze followed every skillful maneuver of the master hand at that wheel.
"Good for you!" he chirped, as Dave worked the ailerons to counteract the leaning of the machine. A swing of the rudder had caused the biplane to bank, but quick as a flash Dave righted it by getting the warping control on the opposite tack, avoiding a bad spill. ”

“ Hiram was not so patient.
"Say, this is an outrage!" he cried out.
"What's the matter with you?" demanded Jerry Dawson, leaning from his seat with a scowl on his face.
"What do you want to tie a one-armed fellow up for?" grumbled Hiram.
"That's so," said the elder Dawson. "Just attend to his feet and one arm. No use making him safer. He won't be very dangerous with only a broken arm free."
First Dave and then Hiram were lifted into the seats behind the pilot's post. As has been said, the Drifter could carry five passengers, and they were not crowded or uncomfortable. ”

“ Dave saw that everything depended on getting a start and reaching a higher level. He kept the angle of ascent small, for the maximum power of the engine could not be reached in a moment. The starting speed naturally let down with the machine ascending an inclined plane.
"It's slow enough, that's sure," remarked Hiram. "It's the wind, isn't it, Dave?"
"We don't want to slide back in the air or be blown over backwards," replied Dave, eye, ear, and nerve on the keenest alert. ”

“ Hiram called the whole thing a picnic, and was jolly and happy.
"One thing, though," he said; "isn't something exciting going to happen soon, Dave?"
"We ought to be pretty well satisfied with the splendid cruise of the Monarch II," suggested Dave.
"Yes, but I'm getting anxious to run across some of the smugglers. I've read a lot about them in the papers and books. They must be great fellows to tackle, with their cutlasses, and walking the plank, and treasure hoards."
"Why, Hiram," laughed Dave, "you're not thinking of smugglers." ”

“ He's a fine one, isn't he?" observed Hiram to Dave.
"Yes, Jerry can't be true, even to his friends," replied the young aviator.
Dave watched Jerry at the lever. He had to admit that his enemy knew considerable about running an aircraft. The only criticism he could make was that several times Jerry took some big risks in daringly banking, when the least variation of the wind would have made the Drifter turn turtle.
It was six hours later when the airship descended. At times the machine had made fully sixty miles an hour. Long since they had passed the apparent limits of civilization. ”

“ What benefit can they hope to secure way off from civilization?"
"That we have to guess at and work out," replied Dave. "I will say, Mr. Randolph, that I think I have a faint clew to the disappearance of the airship."
"You don't say so!"
"I shall know more inside of twenty-four hours. In fact, Mr. Randolph, I feel pretty certain that I can soon submit a plan that will satisfy you that I know what I am about."
"We already think that of you, Dashaway." ”

“ Dave was really anxious concerning Mr. Dale. He truly believed it his first duty towards the old friend of his father to do all he could to assist him. For all that, Dave was relieved to know that he could go on without interruption in service of his employers.
"Yes," proceeded the aviator, "I feel that I have an interest in finding Mr. Dale. In the first place, he is your friend. Next, I feel responsible for letting that young scamp, Gregg, go free. At a selfish motive, I believe that if I succeed in rescuing the old man he will gladly finance my giant airship scheme." ”

“ Dave "ducked," as the phrase goes, as a swoop from a new quarter sent the machine banking.
He managed the dilemma by circling. There was only five more miles to cover. Dave went up searching for a steadier air current, found it, maintained a steady flight for over a quarter of an hour, and slowed down slightly as they came directly over Kewaukee.
"Going to land?" inquired Hiram, attentively attracted by all these skillful maneuvers.
"Yes," replied Dave. "The question is, though, to find just the right place." ”

“ Up to the end of the first hour the flight had proven far less difficult than he had anticipated.
"There's Medbury," said Dave at length, inclining his head towards a cluster of electric lights below and somewhat beyond them. "That means one-third of our journey covered."
"It's great what you and the Baby Racer can do, Dave," cried the admiring and enthusiastic country boy. "We're going to make it, aren't we?"
"If the wind doesn't change and we meet with no mishaps," answered
Dave.
A stretch of steady sailing was an excuse for Hiram to share a brief lunch of ham sandwiches with Dave. ”

“ Hiram had made several ground runs in an aeroplane. He had gone up in the Baby Racer twice with Dave, and had proven himself a model passenger. As he had just hinted, too, he had been familiar enough with the mechanism of the biplane to operate some of its auxiliary machinery so as to avert an accident.
"You are the best company in the world, Hiram," said Dave, "but I wouldn't feel right in letting you take the risk of a hazardous run." ”

“ It was several days after the wild night race Dave and Hiram had made to Kewaukee. Now the entire party were on their way to the borders of the lake, where the new hydroplane made by the Interstate Aviation Company was ready for a trial trip. Grimshaw knew little of hydroplanes, and the Interstate people had sent an expert demonstrator to the spot to teach their young exhibitor the ropes. Dave had been constantly under this man's tuition.
It was far more easy, he had learned, to acquire a thorough knowledge, of how to run a hydroplane than to operate a monoplane. ”

“ You know what kind of fellows the Dawsons are. I'm not going to sit like a bird in a nest and have them swoop down upon us, though."
"There are three—you can count them in their airship," said Hiram, shading his eyes and craning his neck.
"Four," corrected Dave. "The Drifter has a capacity of five ordinary people, Mr. Randolph told me."
The Monarch II made a magnificent slanting rise up into the air. Dave knew the splendid qualities of the machine under his control. They included an ability for a quick light ascent. ”

“ She wanted to fly, and would fly. Grimshaw got to bragging about what you had done with the Baby Racer. Well, nothing would do but I must roll the little beauty out."
"That was all right, Hiram," the young aviator hastened to say. "I should always feel that the biplane is safe in your hands."
"Well, finally the father consented to let his daughter try a fly along the ground. I settled her in a comfortable seat, and away we went. I made it a good stiff run, and there was some jolting, but the girl was wild over it. She begged for a second run. ”

“ He drove ahead at a six hundred feet level and waited for the Drifter crowd to indicate what their purpose was.
"They are changing their course!" said Hiram quickly, as the Drifter wheeled suddenly.
"They are going to try a new ascent," explained Dave.
"Why?"
"To get to a higher level than ourselves."
"Then they mean mischief?"
"I am afraid that they do," replied the young aviator.
"Maybe they are trying to scare us," suggested Hiram.
Dave was now certain that the purpose of the Dawsons was to pursue, capture or intimidate them, or drive them away. ”

“ Columbus and the aero meet there, and began to understand matters.
"You see," spoke Hiram, "we can't land everywhere, or we'd have to settle some damage suits."
"I will be glad to pay you for letting us leave the machine here till after daylight, and watch it to see no harm comes to it," proposed Dave.
"Why, we'll do that," assented the watchman. "You look like two decent young fellows, and I'm sure the company won't object to letting your airship stay up there for a few hours." ”

“ Dave, as they left the porch, "and attend to other details."
"I don't suppose, Dashaway," answered the showman, "that you're open for such a week stunt as exhibiting at some of my county fairs?"
"I am under contract with the Interstate people," replied Dave. "If I get out of a job, Colonel Lyon, I shall be glad to have you consider me."
"I fancy I will," declared the showman with enthusiasm. "I'll make you a liberal offer, too. You've saved the carting away of all that stuff the burglar gathered. It make it up to you some way." ”

“ Reckless fellow that he was, he could not fail to recognize the fact that Dave, indeed, had business to attend to.
"You take it pretty cool, Dashaway," he observed.
"Because I am in the right," asserted Dave, "as you well know. The Dawsons are malicious people. I want you to warn them that if they do, any unnecessary injury to the Drifter, it will make it the worse for them in the final reckoning that is bound to come."
"I don't think they will do the airship any injury."
"You don't know them as I do. Desperate fellows like the Dawsons will do anything at times." ”

“ I wouldn't like to be in a position where I was being chased half over the country."
"H'm, we won't discuss it," retorted Ridgely in a moody tone. "I came to tell you that you won't be hurt any."
"But I want to get away from here," insisted Dave.
"That will be all, too," Ridgely assured him. "You see, we know now that things are going to break up. I don't suppose you would tell me how closely the revenue officers are on our track."
"So close," replied Dave gravely, "that you won't dare to cross the border any more."
"Are they on the Canadian side yet?" questioned Ridgely anxiously. ”

“ Next one nine o clock to-morrow morning."
"Automobile, then?"
"On the country mud roads we've been having for the last week?"
"That's so. Then—"
"It's the airship route or nothing, Hiram," said Dave. "I'm going in the biplane."
"The Baby Racer?"
"Yes."
"On such a night as this! Why, Dave," began Hiram, almost in alarm.
"Don't say a word," interrupted Dave with a preemptory wave of his hand. "I've made up my mind, and that ends it."
"It usually does," said Hiram. "If you're bound to do it, though,
Dave—"
"I certainly am." ”

“ Hiram got tired of waiting for Dave. He went through the tunnel finally and roamed about on the rocky shore. There was more of scenery and variety here. The youth watched the boats in the distance. Then he made out the little skiff he had bought that morning making its way in and out among other craft between the island, and the mainland.
"What's the news, Dave?" inquired Hiram, as they gained the camp after securing the skiff where it could not be easily seen or found.
"The best ever," reported Dave cheerily.
"Tell me about it, won't you?"
"Well, I saw Mr. Price."
"Is he here at Anseton?" ”

“ After various adventures, during which he was robbed of the airman's property, Dave managed to reach the aero meet at Fairfield. He found Robert King and described to him the boy thief. The airman took a fancy to Dave from the nerve and ability he showed in experimenting with a parachute garment, and hired him.
About the same time Hiram Dobbs came along, ambitious to change his farm life for an aviation career, and secured work helping about the grounds. Mr. King sent Dave to Grimshaw for training. The Interstate Aeroplane Co. wanted to exhibit its Baby Racer, a novel biplane. ”