harvey hamilton, the young aviator, found himself in the most distressful dilemma of his life. he and his devoted friend, the colored youth bohunkus johnson, had left their homes near the new jersey village of mootsport, and sailing away in the former’s aeroplane had run into a series of adventures in eastern pennsylvania, which have been related in “the flying boys in the sky.” it was the good fortune of harvey to help in the recovery of the little girl who was kidnapped from her home in philadelphia some weeks before. all having gone well down to the time of her rescue, he was awaiting the return of “bunk” to continue their outing, when to his[10] consternation he learned that his dusky comrade had gone off with professor milo morgan in his unique monoplane, which bore the fantastic name “the dragon of the skies.” to add to the annoyance of the situation, the couple had started on the maddest enterprise of which a mortal has ever been guilty,—a trip across the atlantic ocean to the continent of africa. that fact of itself would have stamped the gaunt, grizzled aviator as the veriest lunatic outside of a hospital for the insane.
two remembrances caused harvey hamilton keen regret: one was his hasty words to bunk, which were the indirect cause of this astounding venture, and the other his failure to warn him of the mental weakness of professor morgan. had he done as he ought to have done, in either instance, the lad would have been saved from the terrifying peril into which he had rushed.
but while our young friend condemned himself without stint, it was now too late for mere grief. the momentous question was whether he could do anything to save bunk, and if so, how should he go about it?
the dragon of the skies was not only much swifter than his biplane, but it had a start of at least two days. if the owner had headed for the dark continent, he was already well advanced[11] upon the fateful journey. in that event harvey could do nothing but wait through the long days and weeks for the news that might never come to him.
the more he strode up and down the hotel porch and thought of the matter, the more he was puzzled. he must attempt nothing without good counsel and the best man to give it was simmons pendar, the detective, who had been the means of rescuing little grace hastings from the band of kidnappers. although inaction was torture, he stayed in chesterton, with his aeroplane in the primitive hangar, until pendar, having finished the rush of business, found time to greet him. when harvey asked him for a few minutes, the officer, who naturally was in high spirits, replied in his hearty manner:
“my dear boy, you shall have all the time you want; i can never forget the obligations under which you have placed the hastings and me; let me know how i can serve you.”
they seated themselves at the farther end of the porch, beyond earshot of eavesdroppers and talked in low tones. it took harvey only a short time to tell his story. the detective whistled softly when he finished.
“well, this is a peculiar situation indeed.[12] neither of us ever dreamed of anything of the kind. you are asking yourself whether you can do anything to help your friend?”
“is it possible for me to lift a hand for him?”
“i hope so.”
“there’s mighty little comfort in those words, mr. pendar.”
“would it cheer you more if i said there was no hope at all?”
“i am afraid it would not make much difference in my feelings. i cannot remain idle, but i don’t know which way to turn or what to do.”
the detective proved his power of quick thinking and of concentrating his faculties upon any theme that might claim them, by saying in his positive manner:
“in the first place, i don’t believe professor morgan has started for africa.”
harvey hamilton almost sprang from his chair.
“why do you say that, after what we have learned?”
“i may be wrong, but i am strongly of the opinion that while he has in mind such a trip he isn’t prepared to try it just yet. no mistake about it, he is a wonderful inventor. he has already done enough to make him wealthy and famous. he courses through the air without noise; he can go[13] straight aloft by means of his uplifter, which enables him to hover stationary like a bird over any spot he selects. from a remark i once heard him make, i believe the great idea upon which he is working is that of drawing electricity from the air and using it as motive power. when he is able to do that—and who shall say that he will not solve the problem very soon?—he can stay aloft indefinitely; that is, until he uses up his supply of food and oil.”
“he has already formulated a chemical composition that will keep him aloft for half a day.”
“not long enough to cross the atlantic. he is figuring on his scheme now, and time and experiment are necessary for him to reach success.”
“he is likely to make a mistake, is he not?”
“being human, though crazy, he will do that. but there is a method in his madness. having accomplished several remarkable things, he has proved that thus far all has gone right with him. now, my dear boy, while he is sure he will sooner or later cross the atlantic, he will not start till he is ready and his machine fit. therefore, i repeat that days and perhaps weeks will pass before he makes the attempt of which other aviators are still dreaming.”
“and what will he do in the meantime?”
[14]detective pendar shrugged his shoulders.
“experiment.”
“you encourage me by what you say, but from what point is he likely to start?”
“naturally where the width of the ocean is narrowest. he will not leave the new jersey or new york or new england coast, but in my judgment will bid north america good-bye at quebec or its neighborhood and head directly eastward for liverpool.”
“what is the distance between those two cities?”
“twenty-six hundred miles. say he can average seventy-five miles an hour.”
the detective did a little mental figuring.
“if he can do that and has no accident, he will reach liverpool in one day and a half after leaving quebec. if he can make a hundred miles an hour—and depend upon it the aviators of the near future will surpass that speed—he can bid canada good-bye in the afternoon and watch the sun set in england on the following day.”
“when at liverpool he will still be a long way from africa.”
“but the after trip will be mainly by land. the channel has already been frequently crossed by air men and when he follows suit he will be on the continent. then it will be a pleasing[15] excursion southward over france and spain to gibraltar, from which it is only a step to africa. have you any idea in what part of the dark continent your colored friend expects to find his distinguished parent?”
“i have no more idea than he has himself, but i should think it is well to the south.”
“that route would take him through morocco, rio de oro, senegal, to liberia, with the larger half of africa still to the southward. but it is idle to speculate on their course after crossing the ocean, a feat they are not likely to accomplish for some time to come. let us figure on what they will probably do while in our own country.”
“that is the great question. if we can’t head off the lunatic and rescue poor bunk before he turns his back upon these shores he will never be rescued at all.”
“professor morgan is a moody man. only on rare occasions does he come out of his shell, as he did on the night when he first called upon you at the home of the countryman.”
“when we met afterward he was hardly willing to look at, much less speak to me.”
“that is his natural frame of mind; now and then the reaction hits him, when he will admit there are other human beings on our earth. it is[16] useless, therefore, to look for the professor in any of the cities or towns. he will not share his secrets with others, but will push his investigations in private and far from the haunts of men. i believe he will locate somewhere to the northward, either in the mountainous regions of new york, new england or canada, so that when he is prepared, he will have only a short distance to go to get to his starting point. but,” added detective pendar, “we are in the realm of guesswork and that part of the earth lying yonder” (he made a sweep of his arm to the northward) “is pretty big. of course you will never find him without first picking up some clue.”
“and how shall that be done?”
“ah, i wish i could answer.”
the detective lighted another cigar, leaned back in his chair with his legs crossed and puffed awhile in silence. he was thinking hard and his listener waited for him to speak.
“i have been trying to decide upon what fact i base a vague belief that this loon has his workshop in the northern part of new york state, well toward the canadian border. he never told me anything about himself and i have not seen his name or doings in print. the impression must be one of those hazy ones that steal into the brain[17] without any apparent reason, and are explained by some as due to a sixth sense.”
“such as when you located the kidnappers in this part of the world,” ventured harvey hamilton.
“that was quite different; i accidentally ran upon a definite clue, but there is nothing of the kind in sight here. you have no idea how many of the successes among us detectives are due to lucky accidents. now such an original genius as milo morgan cannot always keep out of the public eye. his achievements are so remarkable that several of them must become known; the omni-present reporters will hunt him up; if they can get snapshots his picture will appear on the printed page, with interesting interviews, all probably faked. if this does not occur, his doings will be mentioned in some journal; if you will arrange with a press-clipping bureau, you will probably get the clue you need.”
harvey had never thought of anything like this. it added to his hopefulness and he began to believe it quite possible that bohunkus johnson might be run down and saved from what seemed impending death.
“the character of professor morgan being what it is, why was he willing to take my colored friend with him?”
[18]“it was not altogether the whim of a lunatic. he could not have failed to note that the negro is stupid, consequently would not bore him with questions which he did not wish to answer. at the same time, bunk is big, powerful and good-natured,—in short an ideal assistant, for there must be arduous labor connected with the experiments of the brilliant inventor. in my judgment it was these facts which influenced morgan to take the lad with him; bunk would be desirable for the same reasons on a trip across the ocean and it would be an easy reward to give him for his help.”
“it seems to me, mr. pendar, that valuable time will be lost while waiting for news through the sources you name.”
“possibly you are right, but i can think of no other way that promises success. from chesterton you will first go to your home; you can reach there to-morrow; you will tell your father everything of course, and he will be as helpful as he was in getting you a new aeroplane.”
“how?”
“when he returns to new york he can telephone the leading press-clipping bureaus and not only set them on the watch for future bits of information, but have them hunt for that which has[19] been published lately. something will be picked up quite soon and then your real work will begin.”
“what course do you advise me to follow?”
“go to albany or troy, or even farther north, making sure your father knows where to reach you by telegraph. as soon as he receives the information he wants, he can wire it to you and then you will have to depend upon your own wits. i shall venture upon a few more words of advice. have you had much experience in revolver shooting?”
“no; i have a fine colt’s at home and my brother dick has one, and we sometimes try our skill at targets, but he prefers a rifle or shotgun, and i don’t particularly care for either.”
“you may not need any firearms, but don’t forget to take your pistol and a fair supply of cartridges with you. as they say out west, you don’t often want a revolver, but when you do, you want it blanked bad. it will be well also to supply yourself pretty liberally with funds, for there’s no saying what necessity you will run against.”
“i shall not forget your counsel; i appreciate it and shall follow it in spirit and letter.”
“i wish i could go with you, but i am not my own master. you have my address and will inform me when you have any news to tell.”
the two shook hands and separated.
