CHAPTER XIII.
DARING WORK.
When Matt had got outside the iron fence and just within the screen oftimber, he turned. Helen Brady, bareheaded and plainly just from theinterior of the house, stood at the edge of the roof, following Mattwith her eyes.
Matt waved his cap to her, and this was the first intimation the girlhad had that she was seen. She fluttered her hand in response and thenstretched out both arms appealingly.
Matt nodded his head vigorously, to signify that her appeal wasunderstood, and that it would be answered; then he pointed through thewoods in the direction of the air ship. Helen turned her head to lookin the direction indicated.
From her elevated position she must have been able to see the gas bagof the Hawk over or through the tops of the trees. Looking back toMatt, she waved one hand and nodded.
Matt placed a finger on his lips and waved toward the house in anendeavor to make the girl understand that she must be very careful, soas not to let her captors know where she was.
Again Helen nodded her head, and accompanied the movement with agesture that plainly requested him to hurry. He replied in pantomimethat he would be as quick as possible, then whirled and dashed throughthe timber.
Carl and Ferral were walking about and talking impatiently. At sight ofMatt they both started toward him.
"What happened, matey?" cried Ferral. "Carl and I have been all ahoo,over here, listening to the shooting and trying to guess what was goingon. Have you captured the----"
"No time to talk, pards," cried Matt, running to the air ship andbeginning to make her ready. "Dick, you jump in here with me. Carl, Ican't take you along. There's brisk work ahead and the Hawk must notcarry any more passengers than will be necessary. Cast off one of theropes. You cast off the other, Dick."
It was easy to tell, from Matt's manner and words, that something ofvital importance was in prospect.
"I von't be in der vay, Matt," pleaded Carl, hustling with one of themooring ropes. "I vill make meinseluf so shmall as bossiple und----"
"Two are all that can go," broke in Matt decidedly.
The engine was popping and sputtering as Carl and Ferral threw in theropes.
"Vat's der madder, anyvay?" asked Carl, swallowing his disappointmentwith a wry face.
"Helen Brady is on the roof of the house. The scoundrels are below,fighting with the officers, and don't know she is on the roof. If wehurry, we can get there and rescue her."
While Matt was talking, Ferral had got into the car. Matt switched thepower into the propeller shaft and the Hawk glided upward. When the carcleared the tops of the trees, Matt brought the air ship to a level.
"Look sharp, Dick," called Matt, his face set and determined. "We'vegot to win out, this time. If we don't, there's no telling what willhappen to the girl. Whipple has already threatened her, in case theofficers don't leave the house. Can you see Miss Brady?"
Matt's position, in the rear of the car, rendered it impossible for himto see much of what lay ahead.
"There she is, matey!" cried Ferral. "She sees us coming. There's anopen skylight in the roof which shows how she got to the top of thehouse."
"Any of the men on the roof?"
"No."
"Good! How are we headed?"
"Just right. Hold to the course as you are."
"Are we high enough?"
"Plenty."
"It won't do to hit the edge of the roof, you know, and if we're toohigh, we may skim clear over the house before we can drop down."
"Just as you are now, Matt, you'll come over the building three or fourfeet in the clear. There's a chimney, and if you can drop beside that,I'll stand ready to take a twist of the mooring rope about it. Thewind's freshening, and if there isn't something to hold to we're liableto be blown off the roof before we can get the girl aboard."
"You take care of that part of it. Steer me so as to come onto the roofclose to the chimney."
It was necessary for Matt to hurry, yet he could not drive the Hawkahead swiftly because of the necessity of making a quick halt on thecomparatively small space of the roof top.
Harris, Burton, and Sanders had been keeping up a brisk fire ever sinceMatt had left to go for the air ship. None of them seemed to be lookingup or paying any attention to what Matt and Ferral were doing. This, ofcourse, was for the purpose of keeping the presence of the air ship asecret from those in the house.
But, in some way, the secret got out. Abruptly the fire from the houseslackened, and then ceased altogether. As Matt shut off the power andglided over the edge of the roof, he caught a glimpse of Whipple'sastounded face in a second-story window which had not been boarded up.When the air ship vanished over the edge of the house top, Whippledisappeared from the window.
"They're onto you, Matt!" roared Harris, from below. "You'll have tohurry, if you win. From the sounds we hear, everybody is climbing forthe roof."
Matt and Ferral remained perfectly cool. The situation was a ticklishone, and if their labors were crowned with success they would have tokeep their heads and not make any misplays.
Ferral stood at the edge of the car, holding a loop of one of themooring ropes in his hands.
"Turn her, mate!" he cried.
The power having already been shut off, the Hawk was proceeding onlyunder the headway given by the now dormant motor.
This was sufficient not only to turn her, but also to carry herdownward so that the bottom of the car swept the roof.
As they passed one of the chimneys, Ferral dropped the loop of the ropeover its top, and laid back. His pull halted the air ship.
In a twinkling, Matt was over the rail and standing beside the car. Heheld out his hand to the girl, and she ran toward him, with a cry ofjoy and thankfulness.
At that precise moment, Matt, out of the tails of his eyes, saw a headappearing through the open skylight. Grasping Helen's arm, he hurriedher toward the air ship.
"Step lively, mate!" cried Dick, as Matt assisted the girl into the car.
No matter how swiftly Matt hurried, it was certain that the man comingthrough the skylight would reach the roof in time to interfere with thetwo boys before they could get away.
Matt realized that, and so did Ferral. The man, who was nowhead-and-shoulders above the roof top, was Whipple, the most desperatemember of the gang.
Whipple, who was undoubtedly amazed to see Helen all but rescued when,quite likely, he supposed her safe in some room below, gave a bellow ofrage and fury.
"That'll do you, King!" he roared. "Ye're not goin' ter hike off withthe girl in any such way as this!"
Leaning against the side of the opening, Whipple rested his elbows onthe roof and took careful aim at Motor Matt with his revolver. Otherswere flocking toward the roof on the stairway below Whipple, but heblocked the way.
Matt and Helen were in the car, and it seemed certain that Whipple'sshot was to be effective, he was taking so much care to get a good aim.
But the shot was not fired, principally because Ferral became suddenlyactive.
Seizing a loosened brick from the top of the chimney, the young sailorhurled it with all his force. Whipple was struck in the shoulder, andthe impact of the missile hurled him from his foothold and down uponthose under him. As he vanished from the skylight, a clamor of startledvoices came back through the opening, accompanied by a clatter of menfalling down the stairs.
"That's something I owe you, Dick," remarked Matt, settling into hischair among the levers.
"You don't owe me anything, old ship," answered Ferral. "I'll have todo something like that several times before you and I come on anythinglike an easy bow-line. But take care of the ship, or she'll founder."
In order to grab the brick from the chimney, and throw it, Ferral, hadto let go of the rope by means of which he was holding the Hawk againstthe wind. With the rope loosened, the uncontrolled air ship driftedoff the roof and was bobbing around, some fifty feet above ground, thesport of the breeze. There was imminent danger of her coming
to grief,either against the cupola of the stable, or in the tops of the trees.
Swiftly Matt got the motor to going, and as the Hawk took the push ofthe propeller, she once more became manageable. This was in the nick oftime, too, for as the craft glided upward the bottom of the car rustledthrough the branches of one of the trees.
"Hurrah!" cheered Harris, from below. "Well done, Motor Matt!"
"Bully boy!" applauded Sanders.
"Never saw anything neater!" whooped Burton.
"Go back to where you were before," called Harris, his voice faint inthe distance, "and wait till we finish this job. It won't be long, now,till we get the scoundrels."
"Sink me," muttered Ferral, breathing hard, "those officers don'tknow how well we did. They couldn't see the top of the house from theground, and they didn't know Whipple was looking at us over the end ofa gun."
"Matt," said Helen, in a quivering voice, "I don't know how I ever canrepay you for what you've done, or----"
"Repay us!" cried Ferral. "Why, Miss Brady, I guess you're forgettingwhat you've done for Matt and me."
"It's a big relief, Helen," said Matt, "to get you out of the clutchesof that gang. It's the best stroke of work the Hawk ever did."
"Right-o," agreed Ferral enthusiastically, "and it was right and properthat the craft, manned by us, should save Miss Brady. If it hadn't beenfor her, we wouldn't have had the Hawk. Oh, this is a pretty square oldworld, after all. Don't you think so, old ship?"