CHAPTER VI
THE MISSING BIPLANE
For a moment there was silence. The lawyer and the doctor whorepresented the railroad company looked from one to another of theRover boys.
"Pretty shrewd, aren't you?" said the lawyer, finally.
"We have to be--in dealing with a railroad company," answered Dick,bluntly. "Now let us get to business--if that is what you came for,"he continued. "We might put in a big claim for damages, and I think ajury would sustain our claim. But we want to do what is fair. Thequestion then is, Do you want to do what is fair?"
"Why, yes, of course," returned Belright Fogg, but he did not say itvery cordially.
"Very well then. That flying machine cost us twenty-eight hundreddollars new and we have spent over two hundred dollars onimprovements, so when she was smashed she was worth at least threethousand dollars."
"But you can save something, can't you?" gut in the lawyer.
"Perhaps we can save the engine, and a dealer in second-hand machinerymay give a hundred dollars for it. Now what I propose is this: You payfor half the value of the biplane and we'll call it square."
"Preposterous!"
"Very well then, Mr. Fogg, we'll consider the interview closed."
"If you sue, you won't get a cent, Mr. Rover."
"That remains to be seen."
"I am willing to give you five hundred dollars in place of the threehundred first offered."
"No, sir--it is fifteen hundred or nothing, Mr. Fogg."
"But you have not been hurt."
"Yes, we have been hurt. I have been to our college doctor about thislump on my head, and my brothers have been to him, too. We were badlyshaken up--not as much as my brother made out, but enough. If we haveto sue we'll put in our claim for personal injuries as well--andmaybe for time lost from our studies."
"But fifteen hundred dollars! I--er--I can't see it," and the lawyerbegan to pace the floor.
"Maybe we had better sue," suggested Sam. "We might get the fullamount of our loss--three thousand for the Dartaway and some for ourinjuries."
This did not suit the lawyer at all, for he had been instructed tosettle if possible and thus avoid litigation, for the railroadauthorities had heard that the Rovers were rich and might make theaffair cost a good deal.
"I will--er--make my offer an even thousand dollars," he said, aftersome more talk. "But that is my limit. If you won't take that, you'llget nothing."
"All right--we'll sue," said Dick, and he made a move as if to closethe interview.
"See here, are you of age--have you authority to close this matter?"demanded Belright Fogg, suddenly.
"I can close the matter, yes," answered Dick. "My father will beperfectly satisfied with whatever I do. I transact much of hisbusiness for him."
"Ah, well then, let us consider this thing a little more, Mr. Rover."And thereupon the lawyer went all over the matter again. Presently heoffered twelve hundred dollars. But Dick was firm; and in the end thelawyer said he would pay them fifteen hundred dollars the next day,provided they would sign off all claims on the railroad.
"We'll do it as soon as we see the money," answered Dick.
"Can't you trust me, Mr. Rover?" demanded Belright Fogg.
"I like to do business in a business-like way," answered Dick, coolly."When you bring that check kindly have it certified," he added.
"Very well!" snapped the lawyer; and then he and the doctor got out,Belright Fogg stating he would return the next morning.
"Dick, you ought to be a lawyer yourself!" cried Tom. "You managedthat in fine style."
"Tom helped," added Sam. "He nearly scared that doctor into a fit,talking about our aches and pains!"
"Wait--perhaps the lawyer won't come back with the money," said Dick."He may reconsider the offer."
"You didn't say anything about the wreckage," said Sam. "Who getsthat?"
"We do, Sam. They are to pay us for damages, don't you see? If theypay only that, they can't claim the wreckage."
Promptly at the appointed time the next day Belright Fogg appeared. Hewas a bit nervous, for the railroad officials had told him to settleat once--before the Rovers took it into their heads to bring suit.
"I have the check, certified," he said, producing the paper. "Here iswhat you must sign, in the presence of witnesses," he added, andbrought out a legal-looking document.
"We'll call in two of the teachers," answered Dick.
The oldest Rover boy read the document over with care. It was allright, excepting that in it the railroad claimed the wreckage of theDartaway absolutely.
"Here, this comes out," cried Dick. "The wreckage belongs to us."
At this there was another long discussion. But the Rovers remainedfirm, and in the end the clause concerning the wreckage was altered toshow that the Dartaway must remain the boys' property. Then the threebrothers signed the paper and it was duly witnessed by two teachers,and the certified check was handed to Dick.
"Very sharp young man, you are," was Belright Fogg's comment, as hewas about to leave. "You ought to be a lawyer."
"Perhaps I will be some day," was Dick's answer.
"Better get that check right in the bank!" cried Sam, when he and hisbrothers were alone. "That fellow may stop payment on it."
"He can't stop a certified check, Sam. I'll put it in the school safefor the present. What we want to do is to look after the Dartaway. Shemay not be worth much, but what there is of her belongs to us."
"Right you are. Let us get permission to go after her right away. Forall we know, somebody may have carted her off already!"
The boys readily obtained permission to see to their property, andwalked down to the college stables to get a horse and carriage to takethem to the spot where the accident had occurred. Just then came atoot of an automobile horn, and a fine five-passenger car rolled intoview, with Stanley Browne and a stranger on the front seats.
"Hello, you fellows!" cried Stanley, as the auto came to a stop. "Comeover here! I hoped I'd see you!"
The Rovers hurried across the campus and were introduced to JackMason, Stanley's cousin, the driver of the car. He was passing throughAshton on the way to join his folks in the White Mountains.
"Jack wants me to take a ride with him this afternoon," said Stanley."And I can invite three others to go along. Will you come with us?"
"That is kind," answered Dick. "But we have some business to attendto," and he related what it was.
"Say, let's take a look at the wrecked biplane!" cried Jack Mason."I'd just as soon go there as anywhere."
"So would I," added Stanley.
"Very well--that will suit us down to the ground!" cried Tom.
"We were going to drive over in a carriage," explained Dick. "We canget there much quicker in the auto."
The boys piled into the tonneau of the car and they started off.
"Got to show me the roads," said Jack Mason. "All I know around hereis the regular auto road to the White Mountains,--and I don't knowthat any too well."
"You can't lose us on the roads!" cried Tom. "We'll keep youstraight."
Jack Mason loved to run fast and soon they were bowling along at aforty-mile-an-hour rate. Stanley and Tom told the driver what turns tomake, and almost before they knew it they had passed the outskirts ofAshton and were approaching the locality where the fast Express haddashed into the crippled biplane.
"Here we are!" cried Tom, presently. "We can't go any further on theroad. We'll have to walk through the woods to the tracks."
"I see a wood road!" exclaimed Jack Mason. "If the ground isn't toosoft I'll try that."
He went on and passed in between the trees, and soon they were withina hundred feet of the railroad tracks. As the car came to a stop theRover boys jumped to the ground and ran forward. Then, of a sudden,all three set up a shout:
"The biplane is gone!"
"Gone?" queried Stanley, who was close behind them.
"Yes, gone," returned Tom.
"Are you sure
this is the spot where it was struck?"
"Of course I am."
"There are the marks where we landed and where the locomotive hit theDartaway," said Sam. He looked around. "Wonder who took her, and towhere?"
"That's to be found out," answered Dick, seriously.
"I don't see any airship," said Jack Mason, as he came up, having shutoff the engine of the touring car.
"Somebody has hauled it away," answered Dick. He looked on both sidesof the track. "This is queer," he added, presently. "I can't see anymarks in the sand or mud or bushes. She'd make marks if anybody hauledher."
"I've got it!" cried Tom. "They hoisted her on a flat car! Therailroad people have taken her!"
"But she is our biplane!" cried Sam, stubbornly.
"Maybe they took her to the freight house in Ashton," suggestedStanley.
"We'll soon find out--if you'll take us there in the auto."
"Sure!" answered Jack Mason, promptly.
The boys were about to leave the neighborhood when they heard thestrokes of an axe, ringing through the woods.
"There's a wood chopper!" cried Dick. "Maybe he knows something aboutthis. I guess I'll ask him."
They soon located the man--an elderly individual who worked for thefarmer who owned the woods.
"Yes, I see 'em hoist the airship on the flat car," said he, in answerto their questions. "Had quite a job o' it, too."
"Did they take it to Ashton?" queried Dick.
"No. They was goin' to fust, but then Jimmy Budley--the sectionboss--said it would be better to take it up to the freight yards atRallston."
"And they took it there?"
"I 'spect they did. They went off that way, anyway," replied the oldwood chopper.
"To the Rallston freight yards!" cried Sam. "What a nerve!"
"I'll make 'em bring it back!" cried Dick, firmly.
"How far is it to Rallston?" asked Jack Mason.
"About nine miles."
"Pooh! that's nothing. Jump in and I'll take you there in no time--ifthe road's any good."
"The road is O. K.," answered Dick.
The automobile was backed out of the woods, and turned in thedirection of Rallston. Jack Mason was in his element, and in less thantwenty minutes they came in sight of the town and turned into a sidestreet leading to the freight yards.
"There she is!" cried Sam, a minute later.
He pointed to one of the tracks in the yards and there, on a flat car,the boys beheld the wreck of the biplane. A small crowd of curious menand boys surrounded the remains of the Dartaway.
"What yer going to do with her, Jimmy?" asked a man in the crowd, of aburly individual on the flat car.
"I guess the railroad is going to sell her," replied the section boss.