that which followed these words was so amusing that harvey hamilton laughed outright. aunty hep dropped her sewing from her lap and sprang to her feet, with hands upraised in self-reproach.
“mercy sakes alive! poor boy! you are starving!”
in the same moment, ann harbor without speaking, darted into the small room at the rear which served as a kitchen. evidently she believed in deeds more than in words.
“not so bad as that, aunty,” protested the caller; “i am pretty hungry, but i can stand it a little longer. i shall be glad to eat a belated breakfast, but i beg you not to hurry.”
“not to hurry,” she repeated reprovingly; “we can’t hurry too much. you look pale and must feel faint. it won’t take us long to get you something.”
he protested again, but was not displeased by the promptness with which they met his need. sooner than he expected, a bountiful meal was ready, and[113] the coffee remaining in the pot was quickly reheated and a brimming cup poured out for him. they urged him to eat until he was compelled to stop. he dared not offer payment and thanked them over and over again. their pleasure was as great as his own.
“i’m downright glad i didn’t have my regular breakfast this morning,” he said, when he shoved his chair back.
“why?” asked the hostess.
“i should have lost the best meal i ever ate.”
“la, now, you shouldn’t say that.”
“my mother taught me to speak the truth at all times; but ann,” he added, turning to the girl who was removing the dishes, “while you are helping like the good girl you are, i shall go outside to watch for the return of the professor. it won’t do to lose sight of him and he may come back at any time.”
he walked across the floor and paused with his hand on the latch.
“if you don’t mind, i’ll go to my aeroplane, and when it is safe i shall bring it here for you and aunty to look at.”
with this understanding he set out on his return to the spot where he had left his machine. he was so grateful to the women that he was anxious[114] to gratify them in every way possible, but he could not forget his simple-hearted friend who was in peril. more than an hour had passed since the professor had winged his way northward and he was liable to return at any time or possibly he might wait for a long while. harvey had already run great risk and could not be too careful.
he found that no one had been near the machine and it was as ready as ever for service. it would have been the height of imprudence for him to bring it forth so long as the return of the professor was impending. he devoted a few minutes to oiling the moving parts and giving the structure a minute examination, and frequently he stepped into the open space and studied the sky through his field glass, searching for the object that had become familiar to him.
remembering what aunty hep had said, he scrutinized the country a little to the east of north. it was mountainous, wooded, unsettled, and so far as he could judge contained very few or no cabins.
“it is the place where i should think he would hide bunk, but his prison may be a score of miles beyond the farthest reach of my vision.”
a mass of cumulous, fleecy clouds was drifting across the sky low down, while the firmament above was of a clear soft blue. just below a[115] stratum of snowy vapor, he saw what looked like a bird with outstretched wings sailing toward him. its rapid increase in size and the power of the binoculars quickly disclosed the fact that it was a monoplane. professor morgan was returning to his workshop near the town of purvis.
instead of taking the same course as before, the inventor circled to the east, so that he was a fourth of a mile distant on his nearest approach to where harvey hamilton stood on the edge of the cleared space with leveled glass. he was still flying low, and in a few minutes sank from sight.
“i am sure that detective pendar would agree with me as to the meaning of what i have seen to-day. professor morgan carried food to bunk, and at the same time gave his machine a test so far as he could. he has not yet accomplished all he has in mind, though he may be close to it, and has gone back to his workshop to continue his experiments. he will stay there for the rest of the day and make another trip to-morrow morning.”
this was drawing it fine, but our young friend was so confident he was right that he acted upon the theory. it will be seen that he was steadily narrowing the circle of search. at daybreak he had established the fact that the place where bunk was held a prisoner was north of the ridge which[116] the pursuer crossed on his way to the home of aunty hephzibah akers. he had learned later that it was somewhere in the wild region a little to the east of north, which loomed up on the farther limit of his vision. the next visit of the professor to bunk ought to locate the spot so nearly that harvey could, so to speak, put his finger on it.
aunt hep had resumed her sewing by the window, and her niece having cleared off the table was chatting with her about the remarkable story told by their youthful caller, when both were startled by a roar and racket which caused them to listen with bated breath. neither had ever heard anything like it, for it will be remembered that the monoplane to which they were accustomed sailed on its aerial voyages without ripple or noise. ann sprang up and opened the door.
“o aunty! here he is! come and look!”
as she called, she sprang off the little porch and ran out to where harvey hamilton had just finished volplaning to the earth only a few rods away from the front of the house. her relative was at her heels, as much amazed as she. they stared at the strange looking thing, and upon the owner’s invitation went forward and listened, absorbed, to his description of the functions of the different[117] parts. harvey patiently answered questions that belonged more to a child than to an adult.
“and now,” he added, “i want you to take a ride with me.”
they shrank back in dismay and shook their heads.
“i wouldn’t do it for worlds!” gasped aunty, and the awful thought caused her niece to whirl on her heel and plunge through the door into the house. a minute later she emerged again and hesitatingly approached the others.
“nothing could make me expose you to the least danger,” said harvey soothingly; “i have ridden hundreds of miles in this and never been hurt; i know better how to handle it than ever before; it is in the best condition and you need not have the slightest fear.”
the result of his persistent persuasion was that the two consented to the venture which a half hour before they would not have faced for a fortune. he explained that they had only to sit still, after he had adjusted their seats so as to balance right, lightly grasp the rods at their side, and then fancy that the long-reaching arms were their own wings and they were two innocent birds coursing through the upper regions. just as everything was ready, ann was seized with sudden panic and would[118] have leaped out, had not her relative caught her arm and sternly ordered her to keep her seat.
when, in response to the whirl of the propeller the machine began gliding down the slope, the girl screamed and her aunt had again to check her. harvey sprang nimbly to his place and at the proper moment pointed the front rudder upward, and the aeroplane left the earth and soared into the heavens. the load being greater than usual he kept the propeller at its highest speed.
the young aviator proceeded on the principle of trying to kill two birds with one stone. he could give his friends the treat of their lives, but in doing so, he steered toward the point where he had first caught sight of the monoplane on its last return from the north. he had become so used to running the machine that he felt free to inspect the country while gliding over it. before starting he had fixed the salient points in his mind,—the lofty peak to the westward, the endless stretch of wilderness, the villages and towns in the distance, the few scattered cabins, the ridge to the rear, the rushing, tumbling streams, and the lake a little way ahead and to his right. scattered here and there were signs of life as shown by more than one canoe, gliding over the smooth waters, or paddled up the current or floating down it, with the fingers[119] of vapor pointing skyward from the depths of the forests where parties of tourists or campers were gathered beneath. it was the glad summer time, and the visitors to the adirondack region were numbered by the thousands. the open season was not much more than a month off when the hunters would shoot one another in the ardor of their pursuit of big game, with an occasional deer thrown in as a counterpoise to their mistakes.
with some misgiving as to how his passengers would stand what was certainly an ordeal, harvey looked around at them. each was tightly grasping the support at her side, and they sat as rigid as statues, their faces pale, but the glow of their eyes showing how entranced they were with the flight and how keen was their enjoyment of it. when ann’s eyes met those of her friend, she shook her head and tried to smile, but did not make much of a success of it. exalted as were her emotions when she gazed down at the wonderfully picturesque landscape sweeping past, she longed to feel it once more under her feet.
harvey did not overdo matters. he flew ten or twelve miles, which he was sure took him to the point in his mind. he peered below but saw only trees, masses of rocks and a small waterfall, but no sign of life.
[120]“now if bunk is down there, as i believe he is, he ought to notice this biplane. likely he is looking at me this very minute.”
prompted by the fancy harvey took off his cap and swung it round his head, searching the earth below in the hope of catching a response.
“he is so ready to do that sort of thing he ought to reply. as i am carrying two passengers he might not recognize me, but that need not prevent his answering my salutation.”
the solitude remained as unbroken, however, as at “creation’s morn,” and afraid to go any farther, harvey made a wide curve to the right and began his return.
although he had not caught a sign of bohunkus johnson, he saw others. two men standing on the bank of the uppermost tributary of the schroon discharged their guns. they could have done no harm had they been pointed at the aeroplane, for the distance was too great, but the weapons were aimed at nothing and the action was meant as a salute to the navigator of the air. he saw the gray puffs and waved his cap as the only thing he could do by way of acknowledgment. a man paddling up stream in a canoe held the blade motionless and circled his hat, while his two feminine companions waved their handkerchiefs[121] and doubtless said something appropriate to the occasion.
the large white tent to which allusion has been made and which stood on the shore of the small lake, was hardly a mile from the home of aunt hephzibah akers. the young aviator sailed almost directly over it, leaning well to one side and peering downward, but the camp appeared to be deserted. he decided that the campers were off on a tramp or fishing excursion.
from this point to the little patch of ground in front of the home of gideon akers, the guide, was so slight a distance that in a minute or so, harvey spiraled down as gracefully as an alighting bird, on the spot where he had halted before. the women sighed with relief and enjoyment as he helped them to the ground. they were grateful and urged him to spend the remainder of the day at the house.
harvey would have done so but for the feeling that it would be neglecting the interests of bunk. aunt hep herself had commended his vigorous earnestness, but the question which he asked himself was whether to lay aside his aeroplane at this point or to return to where he had wheeled about when he came back. if he did the latter he would advance that much nearer bohunkus, but[122] his scrutiny of the ground had not disclosed a suitable spot for landing. he feared he would be caught at a disadvantage and find his machine useless when he needed it the most. he decided upon a compromise. he would leave the aeroplane at the home of aunt hep, and since more than half the day remained, press on afoot.
accordingly he pushed the machine to the rear of the dwelling, where a shed gave shelter to the single cow whenever she was in want of it, and managed to screen the biplane from sight provided no one’s suspicion was drawn to the spot. then he bade his friends good-bye for the time and started off on a tramp that was destined to bring him an experience of which he little dreamed.
