the tall, handsome young man who came into view and who had been referred to as “duke de sassy” stopped short, his music nipped in two, and for an instant stood speechless. it was the same with harvey hamilton, who stared as if unable to believe his eyes. val hunter and fred wadsworth doubled over with laughter, and dropped on the log behind them.
the latest arrival was the first to regain his self-command. it was a gasp rather than an exclamation:
“well, i’ll be hanged!”
“dick, as sure as i’m alive!” responded harvey, rushing forward and grasping the hand of his elder brother, who dropped the string of fish he was carrying, and flinging an arm over the shoulders of the younger, pressed him to his breast. there could be no mistaking the affection of the two for each other, and both hunter and wadsworth felt ashamed of the harmless trick played their caller. they abruptly stopped their merriment and the southerner swallowed a lump in his throat. he[136] had once been blessed with a younger brother, but kissed him their long, last farewell two years before. wadsworth had never passed through the sorrowful experience, but he saw the emotion of his friend and respected it.
dick and harvey shook hands several times, laughed, slapped each other on the back, and asked and answered numerous questions before they awoke to the fact that others were near. harvey had to tell about home and all the news concerning the folks. neither they nor harvey had thought of the brothers meeting, though it would seem that the fact that harvey’s destination was the adirondacks, where dick was known to be, ought to have suggested the possibility of such a thing.
grouped at the front of the tent the four youths had a merry chat, for all were in high spirits.
“the minute i looked at harvey,” said hunter, “i noticed his resemblance to dick, but did not suspect the relationship until he gave his name. then fred and i knew before he furnished any more particulars that you were brothers. since the duke was absent, we felt it our duty to acquaint harvey with a few facts about his big brother, though the task was anything but pleasant.”
“it seemed to give both of you a mighty lot of[137] pleasure,” said harvey, who was so glad to see dick that he reached over and shook hands with him again.
“possibly you are correct, though we tried to keep down all signs of it, which reminds me that the dinner hour is approaching and even now is at hand.”
it being the turn of hunter to serve in the culinary department, he sprang to his feet, walked over to where dick hamilton had dropped his string of mountain bass and carried them to the edge of the lake, where he began dressing and preparing them for the fire, which was burning briskly in the rough stone stove whose pattern, you will recall, was described in the “catamount series.”
all three of the young men were the sons of well-to-do parents and they went into the adirondacks fully equipped for their outing of a month or more. the guide, gideon akers, had helped them in transporting their tent luggage and provisions, consisting of sugar, coffee, tea, prepared flour, condiments, ham, condensed milk, etc., and the necessary cooking utensils. after camp was made, the professional guide left, to fill an engagement with a larger party which penetrated much farther into the wilderness. that all were provided with firearms followed as a matter of course. each[138] carried a colt’s six-shooter, in addition to which dick hamilton had a small winchester rifle. he needed no reminder that the game protectors in the adirondacks are keen in their work, and it would have been very imprudent for him to shoot any big game during the close season. he had no intention of doing so, but he might need the larger weapon in some emergency.
when he wrote home to his father that he was on the trail of a gigantic buck, he told a partial truth. he had met such an animal twice, and knew its favorite haunt was in that region. the temptation to run the risk of bagging him was strong, and if all the circumstances were favorable, he was not sure he would not take a shot at him, though how to get the antlers home was a grave problem likely to involve him in difficulty, with the loss of the trophy and a tremendous fine to pay. however, that was a question which may be dismissed for the present.
as the three were seated on the log, harvey told again the story of professor morgan, the cranky inventor, and the missing bohunkus johnson. the negro lad was strongly liked by dick as well as his brother, and the sympathies of the elder were roused. he insisted that no thought or attention should be given to anything else until the colored[139] youth was rescued from what beyond question was a situation of gravest danger.
“and i can lead you almost to the spot,” added dick. “as you know, i went off early this morning in the canoe which i drew up in the little inlet behind the tent where you didn’t see me. i paddled to the farther end of the lake to fish in a splendid spot and was there when that monoplane sailed by and dropped down among the rocks and trees not more than half a mile away.”
“did you notice where it landed?” asked harvey.
“not precisely, for my position was so low that it dropped out of sight before coming down, but i can hit it pretty closely. what is your plan, harv?”
“let us all start for the section as soon as we have finished dinner, and then scatter and begin our search. we can’t miss it.”
a difficulty presented itself. the canoe was not buoyant enough to carry the four, though possibly it might bear three. it was six miles at least to the end of the lake and the tramp was a hard one because of the roughness of the country, while the water offered the easiest kind of a passage. dick struck the solution. addressing val hunter and fred wadsworth he said:
“there is not the slightest need of you going[140] with us. harv and i will paddle to the northern end. we shall then be quite near where there is every reason to believe bunk is a prisoner. when it isn’t best to paddle any farther we shall pull the canoe up into the bushes and hide it. then harv and i will separate. we know how to signal to bunk, who will recognize the call and answer it. if the professor doesn’t come back and interfere it will be as easy as rolling off a log.”
“that shuts us out altogether,” said hunter, “which we don’t like.”
“not by a large majority,” added wadsworth.
“i shall leave the glass with you, and when the monoplane comes in sight you can study every movement and quite likely pick up useful information.”
the proposal did not give the two much comfort, but it was really the right thing to do. provided the brothers landed near bunk, it ought to be as easy for two to locate him as it would be for a score of searchers. he had been an old friend of dick and harvey from earliest childhood, and they knew all his peculiarities. held, as he no doubt was, under the spell of the professor’s domineering brain, he might shrink from trusting himself in the care of strangers. it was not unlikely, as the brothers viewed it, that he would keep[141] out of sight of hunter and wadsworth, having no knowledge of why they sought him, or whether they meant well, but it would be the other way when he recognized his old friends.
this being explained to val and fred they accepted it and the plan was agreed upon before the midday meal was concluded. dick led the way to the tiny inlet at the rear of the tent, where the pretty little canoe had been drawn up the bank. he carried his rifle and a full supply of cartridges with him and had also his revolver, as did harvey.
“i don’t suppose you have had occasion to use it yet?” said the elder inquiringly, while they paused for a minute or two to admire the graceful craft in front of them.
harvey shrunk from telling the story of his meeting with the bear.
“i haven’t fired it off since leaving home,” he said.
“it isn’t likely you will have to do so,” remarked the elder, with no suspicion of the whole truth, “but it is well to be prepared. step in.”
the canoe had been shoved into the water and harvey carefully seated himself in the bow, though there was no difference in the fashion of the ends, except in the arrangement of the seats. dick followed, first handing his gun to harvey, who,[142] having left his outer coat in camp, had nothing more to look after. the elder had had more experience in handling the ashen paddle, which he manipulated in indian fashion, dipping the broad blade in the water on one side and drawing it back with a powerful sweep and outward twist of the wrists at the end of the stroke, which kept the canoe on an even course. harvey, seated in the bow with his back to dick, handled his paddle in a similar fashion on the other side of the craft.
the task of propelling the boat was so light and everything around so quiet that the two said much to each other. they had a great deal in common and talked of many things, of no interest to any one else.
“you did mighty well, harv,” said dick, softly swinging the paddle from which the water silently dripped, “in tracking the professor to the adirondacks. we get the papers now and then in camp and read of the kidnapping case of the philadelphia merchant’s child, but with never a thought that you were mixed up in it. after plucking this dark-hued brand from the burning, why not make it your profession? you can skyhoot around the country in your airboat and hunt out such jobs.”
“i’ll think it over, dick, but i don’t see much[143] profit in it. detective pendar offered to divide the reward with me, but i couldn’t think of that.”
“of course not; bunk hasn’t much wealth and i don’t believe mr. hartley will give more than twenty-five cents to get him back again.”
“that would hardly pay for the gasoline and oil, to say nothing of my own keep.”
“but think of the fun you would have. when this business is finished i should like to try that aeroplane.”
“i shall be glad to give you and your friends all the air excursions you would like.”
“to get down to serious business, harv, i see only one thing that stands in the way of our success.”
“what is that?”
“i am sure you are right in believing the professor spends all his spare time in his workshop, and visits bunk only to carry him food and to see that he stays where he put him. but he may complete his plans sooner than we are figuring upon and make his start for africa before we can get our hands on bunk.”
“it may be so, but i haven’t much fear of it. he will have to take enough food to last them two or three days and you know something of bunk’s appetite.”
[144]it will be borne in mind that the canoe was moving toward the northern end of the lake, in which direction the two occupants faced. before them was the section in which they hoped to find their missing friend. their backs were turned upon the workshop of professor morgan in the neighborhood of the little town of purvis. when last seen he was traveling in that direction, and the brothers ought not to have forgotten to watch the sky to the south. none the less they did so and the oversight proved unfortunate.
harvey said something which dick did not fully catch. without ceasing to swing his paddle, he turned his head, glanced over his shoulder and asked for a repetition of the words. before the younger could comply, dick said in an excited undertone:
“cover your face with your handkerchief, harv!”
the younger was quickwitted enough to obey without stopping an instant to learn the reason for the strange command. he snatched out the piece of silk and held it to his nose in a natural manner and awaited the explanation which he knew would come in a second or two.
at the moment of looking back, dick hamilton saw the monoplane coming with the speed of a hurricane barely fifty feet aloft and directly[145] over them. professor morgan had noticed the two young men in the canoe and a tinge of suspicion caused him to sail thus low that he might gain a look at the faces of the occupants. since the elder brother was a stranger to him, it was better that his countenance should be clearly seen, but one glimpse of the face of harvey would reveal everything. if he bowed his head to hide his features the act would be significant, but calling into play his handkerchief had nothing singular about it. to give naturalness to the action, harvey emitted a blast from his nasal organ which suggested the honk of an automobile horn. in the uninterrupted stillness the aviator probably heard it.
dick gazed aloft and watched the swoop of the machine with the strange man controlling the levers, who leaned forward and over, and scrutinized the couple so keenly that dick caught the gleam of the piercing black eyes, and circled his dripping paddle about his shoulders by way of salutation; but the professor made no acknowledgment. he continued to peer sharply downward until he had shot well past, when he curved upward and continued his swift course over the sheet of water and the wooded country beyond. it could not be seen that he glanced again behind him but skimmed away with undiminished swiftness.
