CHAPTER IV.
A PLOT DISCOVERED.
In accordance with Frank's resolution the three young members of theparty and Ben Stubbs divided the night into four watches which werereligiously kept, but rather to Frank's surprise nothing occurred toexcite suspicion. The next morning Le Blanc, who had driven into town,returned shortly before noon with a letter from the Secretary of Warwhich contained information of much interest to every member of theprojected expedition.
"I have arranged with the Department," it read in part, "to have thetorpedo destroyer _Tarantula_ detailed to duty along the Florida coastand you can keep in touch with her by wireless. For this purpose,besides the apparatus attached to your air-ship, I have ordered acomplete field outfit to be forwarded to you,--of the kind with whichseveral western posts have been experimenting of late and which hasproved entirely satisfactory.
"The instrumental part of the outfit--i. e., the keys, detector,condenser, tuning-coil, etc., are permanently fastened into or carriedin a steel-bound trunk, but little bigger than an ordinary steamertrunk, and weighing about one hundred and fifty pounds. Two storagebatteries, both sufficient for ten hours of continuous sending,accompany the outfit, and come in wooden cases which form supports forthe trunk when the outfit is in use.
"A mast of ten six-foot sections, which can be jointed together and setup in a few minutes, forms your aerial pole and each section is copperedso as to provide a continuous conductor. In another box are packed theaerial wires, extra rope, wire-pegs, etc., as well as a waterproof tentto protect the outfit from the weather. Of course a charging station isa necessity and another case contains a small, but powerful gasolenemotor and generator. Another attachment for use with the appliance is acombination Malay and box kite carrying a cord of phosphor bronze,wire-woven about a hemp center. There are eight hundred feet of thiswire wound on a reel. If for any reason the work of setting up andattaching the pole and its aerials is considered to be too lengthy anoccupation it is a simple matter to send up the kite, its wire ropeacting as an aerial in itself."
The boys grew enthusiastic over this description. The outfits seemedfrom the account to possess the merits of portability and efficiency andin the country into which they were going portability was a strongfeature in itself. It was this very question that had caused Frank, whendesigning the new _Golden Eagle_, to so construct her that she could betaken apart and the various sections boxed in a very small capacity eachbox weighing not more than fifty pounds with the exception of thatcontaining the engine which weighed one hundred and fifty without thebase.
That afternoon the boys worked like Trojans on the _Golden Eagle II_with the result that shortly before sundown they had progressed to apoint where the air-ship was ready for the attachment of the engine.They were all surprised, and somewhat startled, when their solitude wasinvaded, just as they were thinking of knocking off work for the day, bya loud rap at the doors of the aerodrome. Frank opened the small flapcut in the big door and stepped out to see who the intruder might be.
He was greeted by a boy of about his own years smartly--toosmartly--dressed, and with a confident overbearing manner.
"Why, hello, Lathrop Beasley," exclaimed Frank, with all the cordialityhe could muster at seeing who their visitor was,--and that was none toomuch, "what are you doing here?"
"I guess you're surprised to see me," rejoined the other.
"I certainly am," replied Frank.
"Why don't you ask me to come in," went on the other, "you're ahospitable sort of fellow--not."
"I beg your pardon, Lathrop," apologized Frank, "won't you come over tothe house and sit down awhile?"
An unpleasant sort of smile broke on the other's face.
"Oh, so you're afraid to let me see your aeroplane are you? Well, Idon't know that I care so much to anyway. Since you fellows left NewYork I have been made president of the Junior Aero Club and havedesigned a 'plane that can beat anything you ever saw into a cockedhat," he exclaimed.
Frank smiled. He was used to Lathrop's boasting ways and at the AgassizHigh School which they had both attended had frequently seen the otherhumbled. Now when Lathrop said that he didn't care about seeing the_Golden Eagle II_, of course he was not telling the truth. He would havegiven a great deal to have even caught a glimpse of her. In fact, whenthat morning he had heard that the boys' aerodrome was once moreoccupied, he had determined to walk over from his home, which was asplendid mansion standing on a hill-top not far away, and take a look ather for himself. That Frank should have objected to showing him thecraft was an obstacle that never entered his head.
"Oh, come, Frank," he went on, changing his tone, "let me take a look ather, I won't tell anyone about it. What are you so secretive for?"
"I myself should be glad to let you see the successor to the _GoldenEagle_ that we are building," replied Frank, "but my employers might notlike it."
Lathrop pricked up his ears at this. He was an ambitious boy and haddesigned several air-ships and planes but he had never been able tospeak of his "employer." The word must mean that Frank was building thecraft for some rich man. Although Lathrop had plenty of it the idea thatFrank and Harry were making money out of their enterprise roused him toa sullen sort of anger.
"Oh your employers mightn't like it," sneered Lathrop, "I tell you whatit is, Frank, I don't believe you have any 'employers' as you call it,and that all this about a new air-ship is a bluff."
This was a move intended to irritate Frank and make him offer to showthe air-ship as proof positive that he was really at work on such acraft, but if Lathrop had meant it in this way it was a failure. Frankwas quite unruffled.
"You are welcome to believe what you like, Lathrop," he rejoined, "andnow, as we are very busy, I shall have to ask you to excuse me. I've gottoo much work to do to stand talking here."
"That's just like you, Frank Chester," burst out the other boy angrily,his temper quite gone now that he saw that there was to be noopportunity of his seeing the air-ship.
"Maybe you'll be sorry that you wouldn't show me the ship--and beforevery long too."
As Frank, not caring to listen to more of this sort of talk, re-enteredthe aerodrome the Beasley boy, almost beside himself with anger, shoutedafter him.
"I'll remember this, Frank Chester, so look out."
He strode angrily off through the woods making a short cut for home.Lathrop was not a bad boy at heart, but he was an intensely jealous one,and the idea that the Boy Aviators were constructing an air-ship thatthey refused to let him see irritated him almost past bearing. When heshouted at Frank his last words they were dictated by his anger, morethan by any real intention of carrying out any plan of revenge for thefancied slight; but, as he strode along through the woods, he suddenlyheard voices that, after a few minutes of listening, convinced him thathe was not the only person in the world who even momentarily wished harmto the Chester boys.
"We'll wreck the aerodrome to-night;" were the words,--coming fromwithin a clump of bushes that grew to one side of the trail,--thatattracted his attention. The boy halted in his tracks as they wereuttered and then crept cautiously through the undergrowth till hereached a spot from which he could both see and hear without being seen.The man who had uttered the threat that had brought him to a standstillwas a person bearing every evidence of being of the genus--tramp, thatis so far as his clothes went. But his white hands and carefully keptnails showed that he had assumed the rags he wore as a disguise. Hiscompanion was a man of very different appearance. He was in fact thenatty person whom the boys had seen at the Hotel Willard, and who hadsince been on their track, as Frank had guessed when Billy had spied hisescaping figure in White Plains the day before. With a beating heart theconcealed boy listened as the two plotters went on.
Lathrop discovers the plot.]
"Do you think they have the machine finished yet?" asked the betterdressed of the two.
"Confound them, they were too sharp to let me go to w
ork for them or Imight have had the plans of it by this time," rejoined the other. "Ithink, though," he resumed, "that it must be so far advanced that if wecan wreck it now we will delay their departure for Florida till we havebeen able to destroy the plant and escape."
"I owe them a debt of gratitude for the loud way they talked at theHotel Willard," said the other. "Thank goodness we are now in possessionof their plans at any event. Don't you think we might head them offwithout destroying the aerodrome? It's risky, and means jail for us ifwe are caught."
The other gave a short laugh.
"No, we'll hit them a body blow," he said. "If I could blow them upalong with their air-ship I'd gladly do it. I'd like to treat them as wemean to do with that white-livered Lieutenant when we get through withhis services."
"Are they going to kill him?" demanded the other with something like awein his tones.
"No," replied the man in the tramp's rags, "not unless he gives too muchtrouble. They are going to put him to work in the sulphur mines ofOjahyama and let him slave for his living."
Even from where he was the concealed boy could see the other shudder.
"It is a terrible place," he said.
"It is the best place for men of his caliber," retorted the other.
"Perhaps it would be as happy a fate for him as being compelled to slavefor Foyashi."
"I hear that he would not have anything to do with their schemes anddefied them to kill him before he would aid them to manufacture hisexplosive until he was influenced by Foyashi," said the first speaker.
"I guess you're right," replied the other worthy, "but he's passiveenough now, I fancy."
They both laughed and arose to go. As for Lathrop he lay almostparalyzed with fear. Of course much of what he had heard had beenmeaningless to him, but he did understand that a plan was on foot toblow up the boys' aerodrome, destroy their ship and possibly injurethemselves. As the men's footsteps died out, as they walked off down thepath through the woods, the boy, who a minute before had been seriouslypondering some sort of harm to Frank and Harry felt conscience-stricken.
What he had just heard had changed him from a possible enemy into afellow-schoolmate and he determined to warn the boys of their peril.With this end in view he was hurrying down the path, retracing his stepstowards the aerodrome, when he was seized roughly from behind andwhirled about. The man who had seized him was the one who had assumedthe costume of a tramp. His eyes blazed with rage. He had hurried backto get his knife,--which had dropped from his pocket as he sattalking,--a few seconds after Lathrop had left his place of concealment.As luck would have it, in pushing through the bushes he had discoveredthe depression in the grass where the boy had lain. A briefinvestigation showed him that it had been recently occupied and thatwhoever had crouched there must have heard every word they said. Callinghis comrade the two had set out at full speed in pursuit of Lathrop.
As his captor gripped the boy in a hold that clutched like a vice,Lathrop realized that he had fallen into bad hands.