CHAPTER VII
THE SALE OF THE BIPLANE
"Did you hear what that man said?" demanded Sam in a whisper, of hisbrothers.
"I did," returned Dick. "But he isn't going to sell our property,"added Tom, warmly.
"Hardly," responded Dick. He pushed his way through the crowd andwalked straight up to the flat car.
"Who is in charge here?" he demanded.
"What's that?" came in some surprise from the section boss.
"I asked who was in charge of this flat car with this flying machine?"
"What business is that of yours, young fellow?"
"This is our biplane--it belongs to me and my brothers here," andDick waved his hand at Tom and Sam.
"Oh! Are you the Rover brothers?"
"Yes. And I want to know what business you had to bring that flyingmachine here?" went on Dick sharply, for he saw the kind of a man withwhom he had to deal.
"Say, look here, if you've got any kick coming you go to the officewith it," cried Jimmy Budley.
"Very well, I will. But I want to know who ordered you to bring thatbiplane here."
"Never mind; you go to the office and find out."
"You brought it here, didn't you?" asked Tom, who had now come up toDick's side, along with the others.
"I ain't answering questions when I don't have to," returned thesection boss, with a sneer.
"Sure he brought it here--on this flat car!" cried a man in thecrowd. "Why don't you answer the young fellow straight, Jimmy?"
"This biplane belongs to my brothers and me," went on Dick, as sharplyas before. "You had absolutely no right to touch it. If I wished to doso, I could have you arrested for this," he continued.
"Say, I don't allow nobody to talk to me like that!" growled thesection boss. "You git out of here and see the men at the office."
"We'll not get out!" put in Tom. "This flying machine is ours and wewant it."
"You'll take it right back to where you found it," added Sam. "And becareful that you don't break it worse than it is, or you'll foot thebill."
"I won't listen to you!" stormed the section boss, who was of an uglydisposition naturally and not liked in the neighborhood.
"Very well then," answered Dick. He turned to Stanley. "Will you goout and see if you can find a policeman?" he asked, loudly.
"Sure," returned the college youth, readily.
"Wow! he's goin' to have Budley locked up!" exclaimed a small boy.
"See here, don't you get fresh!" stormed the section boss, eying Dickangrily.
"We'll have a policeman settle this," answered the oldest Rover boy."This is our property, and we can easily prove it. You had no right totouch it."
"I had orders," said Jimmy Budley, doggedly.
"Why don't you telephone to the office, Jimmy?" suggested a friend."Maybe there was some mistake."
"Wasn't no mistake," growled the section boss; nevertheless he hoppeddown from the flat car and hurried in the direction of a shantywherein was located a telephone. Dick followed him.
"You can tell them what I said," said the youth; "And they may find itto their interest to call up Mr. Belright Fogg before they give youorders."
"Have you seen Fogg?" demanded the section boss.
"Yes."
"Did he say you could take the machine?"
"He said nothing about our taking it. He settled for what damage therailroad did to the biplane. We went to get our property and found itgone. Nobody had a right to touch it, excepting to take it from thetracks."
"Huh!" grumbled the section boss, and shot into the shanty, bangingthe door behind him. Dick heard him shout something into thetelephone, and quite a lengthy conversation ensued.
In the meanwhile Stanley had gone off for a policeman and presentlycame back with a bluecoat who did duty in the streets beyond therailroad yards.
"Well, what have you got to say about it?" demanded Dick, when thesection bass came from the shanty and while Stanley and the policemanwere approaching. "Do we get our property or not?"
"It's yours," returned the railroad man, and his voice was much milderthan before. "They had no right to give me the orders they did."
"What about taking it back?" went on Dick.
"I've got orders to take it to any place where you want it," answeredthe section boss, and he looked anything but happy as he made theconfession.
"Then you can run it down to Ashton," answered Dick. "Will you do itright away?"
"I guess so--I'll see," was the answer.
"What do you want me for?" asked the policeman, as he came up.
"I don't believe you'll be needed--now," answered Dick.
"It's all right, Murphy," put in Jimmy Budley, quickly. "We had amisunderstanding over orders, that's all."
"This young man told me a flying machine had been stolen," saidMurphy, and nodded towards Stanley.
"It was a misunderstanding. I wasn't to blame." The section bossturned to Dick. "I'll get a freight engine to run the car with themachine down to Ashton inside of an hour."
"Very well," answered Dick. "And be careful that the biplane isn'tdamaged in unloading."
"She ain't much but kindlin' wood now," and the section boss smiled atrifle.
"Well, the engine is all right--and that's the valuable part of her,"returned Dick. "I'll look for her at Ashton in an hour."
"Want to ride down on the flat car with her?"
"I'll see about that."
The matter was talked over, and in the end it was agreed that Dick andSam should ride on the flat car, while Tom went with Stanley and JackMason in the automobile. Then the section boss went off to get thefreight engine to haul the flat car.
"Got out of that better than I expected," whispered Sam to his bigbrother.
"It pays to put on a front, Sam," was the answer. "If I had beenweak-kneed about it that fellow wouldn't have done a thing."
"Oh, you've got a head for business, Dick--I can see that," said theyoungest Rover, admiringly.
"I hope so, Sam--for I think I'll need it soon."
"You mean for helping Dad?"
"Yes,"
"It's too bad he has these weak spells, isn't it?"
"Yes. What he needs, I think, is a good, long rest."
The others went off in the touring auto, and Dick and Sam madethemselves at home on the flat car. Soon a freight engine backed up,the car was attached; and off they started, in company with thesection boss and two track laborers, in the direction of Ashton.
As the Rovers could readily see, the Dartaway was a complete wreck,beyond the possibility of being repaired. But the motor looked to bein good order, and the stays and turn-buckles would, of course, beworth something.
When Ashton was reached Sam and Dick found that the automobile and itsparty had gotten there ahead of them.
"I've found a place where we can store the biplane--or what's left ofit," said Tom. "In that barn," and he pointed to a structure directlybeside the tracks.
"Good enough!" cried Dick. "That will save the trouble and expense ofhauling it any distance."
The flat car was stopped in front of the barn, and after some troublethe remains of the biplane were transferred to the structure. Then thesection boss brought out a receipt which Dick signed.
"Next time I move a flying machine I'll make sure that orders are O.K.," he remarked, grimly.
"It might save a lot of trouble," answered Tom, dryly.
"Tell me--didn't you act on orders from that lawyer, Fogg?"questioned Dick, curiously.
"I did--if you want to know."
"I thought so. He's too sharp for his own good."
"You're right--and maybe he'll catch it for this," answered JimmyBudley; and then he and his men rode away on the flat car, leaving ourfriends to themselves.
"Well, now you've got the wreckage, what are you going to do with it?"questioned Stanley.
"Offer it to the folks who build flying machines," answered Dick."I'll write the letters to-night."
&nb
sp; With the biplane off their minds, the Rovers rejoined their friends inthe automobile, and took a run through the country for fifty miles ormore. They stopped at a country hotel, and there Dick treated to cake,ice cream and other refreshments.
The letters to the flying machine manufacturers brought variousreplies. Several did not care to buy the wreckage at all, while othersoffered a ridiculously low price.
"This doesn't look encouraging," was Dick's comment. "Boys, I guesswe'll have to pocket our share of the loss."
The next day, however, came another letter, one from a young aviatorof Worcester. He wrote that he had heard that they had the wreckagefor sale and if it was still on the market he would come and look atit.
"Maybe he'll give us a little more than those manufacturers offer,"said Sam, hopefully.
The letter was answered, and the young aviator came on the next day,going first to inspect the remains of the Dartaway and then coming upto the college.
"Pretty well smashed," said he, to the Rover boys. "About all that isgood is the motor and fittings."
"But that engine is a dandy," said Tom.
"How much do you want for the outfit as it stands?"
"I don't know," answered Dick. "The biplane cost us about threethousand dollars."
"Yes, but she's a complete wreck. All I can use is the engine--andmaybe a few other things."
"Well, make an offer," put in Tom.
"I might pay three hundred dollars."
"Make it double that and the machine is yours," returned Dick.
"No, it wouldn't be worth six hundred dollars to me," answered theyoung aviator.
A discussion lasting the best part of half an hour ensued. The aviatorwent up to four hundred dollars and then to four hundred and fifty.Finally, Dick said he would accept five hundred dollars cash; and thebargain was concluded at that figure. The money was paid over, and theRover boys gave the purchaser a bill of sale, and he departed withoutdelay, stating he wished to make arrangements for shipping the wreckedbiplane away.
"Not so bad, after all," declared Dick, when the brothers were alone.
"It's very good," put in Tom.
"That's the end of the Dartaway," came from Sam, mournfully. "Well, wehad some pretty good times in her while she lasted."