harvey hamilton was making his way toward the aeroplane, when his right hand touched a big lump at his hip. reaching down to learn what it was, he drew forth his six-shooter.
“well, i’ll be hanged! i’m the champion idiot of the twentieth century!” he exclaimed, with a pang of self-disgust as he looked at the small weapon. “every chamber is loaded, and i have a lot of cartridges in my pocket, but i forgot all about them until this minute! while i was chafing my legs on that limb i might have filled the bear with lead. his snout wasn’t a dozen feet from me, and though i didn’t see clearly i couldn’t have missed him if i had tried.”
he certainly had cause for exasperation. while a colt’s revolver isn’t a very formidable weapon, and hunters as a rule do not seek big game with small arms, yet the modern make possesses great penetrative powers and it is quite likely that, counting harvey’s reserve ammunition, he might have given the bear his quietus. strange that[90] our young friend never realized he was armed until the necessity for it had passed.
“i wish he would show up again,” he added, peering around in the gloom; “i should like to square matters with him for what he made me go through.”
but the brute was not seen or heard again, and perhaps it was as well for the young aviator, who might have been disappointed in the effectiveness of his weapon.
a pleasing fact became manifest. night was ended and moonlight was giving place to the increasing glow in the eastern sky that showed day was breaking. the hours of trouble, annoyance, vexation and danger were over and he must gather up the threads of life again. he was hungry, but no food was within immediate reach, and he could afford to wait until the situation cleared before seeking nourishment. he was within easy reach of thriving settlements, towns, and even cities of considerable size. to the north stretched the picturesque adirondacks, with their wealth of streams, rivers and lakes, their vast areas of wilderness and many recesses where only the solitary hunter had as yet forced his way. hundreds of people in quest of health and recreation were roaming through the wilds, living in log cabins or[91] tents, or sleeping in blankets by wood fires, kindled in the depth of the solitude. they spent the glorious days in fishing, tramping and breathing the life-giving ozone, which sent them back to their duties invigorated, strengthened and renewed in body and spirit. it was a famous clergyman who, a half century before, published a book of his experiences in the adirondacks, insisting that the mountains would cure men who had almost reached the last stages of consumption. the tonic properties of the region are extraordinary and the entrancing story sent droves thither. the majority were disappointed by his glowing pictures and when they emerged and registered their names at the primitive hotels on the outskirts, they added, “murray’s fools.” none the less, unnumbered invalids have found the section a veritable land of hope.
there was no thought of anything of this nature in the mind of harvey hamilton when he stood beside his aeroplane, after an inspection had shown him it was in perfect condition and ready for whatever service he required of it. as is often the case with the brain which is perplexed at night, it was clarified in the morning. he was confronted by a formidable task, but his policy was settled.
he fully believed that professor morgan after[92] studying his invention in his workshop, subjected it to the decisive test in the open air, by sailing well to the northward and returning to his retreat when he discovered any defect. the distance passed might be ten, fifteen, twenty or a greater number of miles. he had not yet perfected his invention, but expected to do so quite soon. he was resolute in his purpose to carry bohunkus johnson across the ocean to africa, and would fight to prevent any one taking the negro from him. with the whimsical persistence of an unbalanced brain he grew to distrust bunk himself. the dusky youth had asked that he might be a passenger on the wonderful journey, and having received permission, would be held to the agreement.
it was this state of mind that led the inventor to transport his assistant, as he may be considered, to the northern terminus of those experimental flights, and there leave him until the time should come to start on the aerial voyage to the other side of the world. as has been said, it was an easy matter to take such food as he required, and bohunkus having no weapons and being in the heart of an unknown wilderness, would be terrified by the thought of trying to make his way out without some one to guide him.
such in brief was the theory that harvey had[93] formed and upon which he decided to work until its error appeared. as he figured matters, the great problem to solve was the location of the spot where bohunkus was held a virtual prisoner, for the young aviator put from him the fear that the crazy professor had made way with bunk.
if harvey was right in his surmises, the monoplane would soon wing its way northward, passing not far from the spot where the other machine was partially hidden on the edge of the small meadow. harvey must learn so far as he could where the professor’s destination lay. it would be easy to do this, provided he could pursue without danger of discovery, but that was impossible: some other method must be followed.
harvey decided to wait where he was until the monoplane sailed past and then watch its course through his field glass. if he failed to locate the precise spot, he would approximate it and narrow the area of search.
the aeroplane rested on the northern side of the clearing, from which position it was impossible, because of the intervening trees, to see the country lying in that direction. it was so early in the morning that harvey felt safe in walking to the other side, where his observation would be clear. prudence suggested that he should not expose himself[94] to the risk of detection, and it would have been easy to skirt the open, thus keeping out of sight for the whole distance, but the danger was seemingly so slight, that he did not hesitate to move out from the margin of the wood toward the opposite limit of the unfenced meadow.
straightway he received a lesson which he could never forget and which came within a hair of upsetting all his carefully laid plans. he was in the middle of the space when there was a whirring rush overhead as of the wings of a mighty bird, and professor morgan in his monoplane shot past directly above the youth, at a height of not more than two hundred feet. harvey stood still, dumfounded and scared, for he was sure he was or would be discovered in the next instant. staring upward, he saw the well-remembered machine and read the ominous name painted on the under side of the immense wings: “the dragon of the skies.” the gaunt, long-limbed professor sat upright, staring ahead with his hands grasping the levers, while he watched every movement of his car. so absorbed was he in this task that he did not glance downward at the form standing like a statue and gazing up at him.
it was the narrowest escape conceivable for harvey hamilton. he waited until the monoplane[95] in its arrowy flight was several hundred yards away, and still going with the speed of the wind. even then if the professor should look behind him, he could not fail to see the spectator on the ground. in a panic, the latter broke into a run, not pausing until under the shadow of the protecting limbs of the trees. there he waited, glass in hand, and raised it to his eyes when the gigantic bird was a long way off.
“he did not wait for breakfast,” was the conclusion of harvey; “which may mean that he intends soon to return, or will eat his morning meal somewhere else, or will go without it altogether.”
the sky was as clear and radiant as before, and stepping into the open, the young aviator leveled his binoculars at the inventor and his machine. they seemed to be aiming for the mountainous ridge ten or twelve miles away.
“if he stops on this side,” thought harry, “it will mean that bunk is there awaiting him; if he goes over the summit, it will signify that beyond it is the place.”
for the twentieth time, the youth blessed the makers of the admirable field glass which adds so markedly to the power of the natural eye. the whole expanse of romantic country, with its masses of rocks, belts of forest, wild, uncultivated land,[96] broad fields, small, winding streams, scattered dwellings, three villages at varying distances, rough surface of hill, valley and precipitous elevations, some of which deserved the name of mountains, was spread before him. the ridge, like a mighty wall, shut in this impressive prospect on the north. the side of the ridge was covered with a growth of exuberant though somewhat stunted trees, gray towering masses of rocks showing at intervals; a couple of tumbling waterfalls, whose bases looked like rumpled snow, could also be seen.
harvey hamilton, however, had no eye for any of these: his interest lay in that object which was coursing through space at tremendous speed, as if it meant to dive into the forest which blocked its course. he kept gently shifting the focal distance of the glasses so as to hold the monoplane in distinct view, though the edges of the wings showed at times a fringe of prismatic hues that did not interfere, however, with his vision.
professor morgan was flying low, but at the base of the ridge, when harvey expected to see him make a landing, he used his elevating rudder and skimmed upward toward the summit. the picture was that of an enormous bird which with its vast wings outspread was scaling the mountainside by stepping lightly on the treetops and lofty[97] rocks. up, up, he climbed with dizzying swiftness, was silhouetted for a moment against the clear sky, and then shot out of the watcher’s field of vision.
“bohunkus is on the other side,” was harvey’s conclusion, as he screwed up the glasses and shut them in their leathern case, which he slipped over his shoulder.
it was guesswork as to when the professor would come back. he might make a brief circuit in the sky beyond and return in a few minutes to his workshop, or be out of sight for hours. it might occur to him that it was wise to eat breakfast and to get food for his dusky assistant. be all this as it may, harvey decided to act at once, since nothing was to be gained otherwise.
he ran across the open to his machine, pulled it clear of the undergrowth and limbs, pointed it toward the western limit of the clearing, spun the propeller round, and sprang into his accustomed seat in time to direct the fast rising speed. he had a good supply of fuel and the biplane worked smoothly. swerving to the north, he “put on steam” and was off.
his plan was to spin ahead until he reached the base of the ridge, or perhaps passed a part of the way up its side. he would be on the watch for[98] a good landing place, hide the aeroplane as before, and then press his investigations on foot.
before he had gone half the distance, he abandoned the plan of flying part way up the ridge. a dread of the professor’s return grew, and his eyes began roaming over the surface in quest of a safe place to descend. he regretted having come thus far, and resolved to take the first chance that offered. it appeared on a slight swell near the base of the ridge, but somewhat to the right of the course he was following. it was not the spot he would have selected had he not been pressed for time, but such as it was he had to accept it and he believed it would answer.
he was not in a settled section, though one of the villages could not have been more than two miles to the eastward. the ground upon which he rested his hopes could not have contained more than a couple of acres and the upper end was shut in by a lot of boulders which threatened to play havoc with his machine. both on the left and right, however, were undergrowth and stunted pines that promised to be a good hiding place for the aeroplane. accordingly, he dropped as low as was safe, shut off his motor and dipped to the rough ground. he landed with a bump that came near unseating him, and would have shattered his[99] front rudder against the boulders had he not managed to veer his course so as to avoid them in time.
“i don’t fancy this business,” he muttered, as he stepped to the ground and looked the machine over; “the folks at garden city know how to construct these things, for this one has stood a good deal of jarring without harm so far as i can see.”
it was a work of considerable difficulty to work the biplane among the trees where it was not likely to be seen by any one passing overhead, though in plain sight of a person on the ground. some five or six hundred feet had to be climbed to reach the summit. the surface was of the roughest character, his way leading around piles of stone, through thick woods, which fortunately were not cluttered with undergrowth, across deep gullies, and so steep in some places that it was trying even to a professional guide or hunter.
standing thus and debating the situation, harvey caught the murmur of the waterfall on his right. he recalled that it was near, and would have paid it a visit had not more important matters demanded attention.
