"He said all that, did he?" Frank continued.

"Sho! ten times as much. That man has the gift of gab. He can wrap you right around his finger, I reckon," Larry went on.

"Told you so!" exclaimed Andy, nodding his head in affirmation.

"But seems he didn't wrap you around, very much," Frank laughingly said; "because you didn't take him back in again, did you?"

"He never asked me. P'raps I wouldn't a-done it if he had; but I don't know. He's sure got a way about him that's terribly convincing," Larry muttered.

"And he went off pleasantly, didn't he? I saw you shake hands with him," continued Frank.

"As smooth as oil. Why, I can feel his grip yet, it was that strong. Thought my bones'd crack that time. Wonder who Mr. Marsh is, anyway, Frank, do you know?"

"I do not," was the prompt reply Larry received; for if Frank happened to have any suspicion, he did not consider it his duty to confide the same to everybody who expressed the least curiosity.

When the biplane had been safely housed Frank dodged into the shop as though to convince himself that nothing had been taken. When the others followed they found him moving around. Finally he came to a stand near the door, and called out once more to Larry:

"Was he in this far when you discovered him?"

"What say, boys; it must have been about there, eh?" the one addressed remarked, appealing to his comrades for their opinions.

"Just about," Elephant answered; while Nat nodded his head as the easiest way to cut a Gordian knot.

"Oh! well, he couldn't see anything worth while from here," Frank went on. "Now, did any of you notice whether he used his eyes to look around; or was he only bent on saying howdyedo to you?"

"When Larry grabbed him by the arm and started to lead him out, I saw the gentleman take a good look all around; and that's the truth, Frank," Elephant remarked.

Frank hardly knew what to think. This might be a very significant thing; and then again, if one looked at it another way, was it not simply what any curious stranger, interested in the doings of the venturesome Bird boys, might have done?

It was about ten o'clock, and growing quite hot, since the time was July. Just as Andy had hinted, that bank of dark clouds hanging low along the horizon in the southwest might take a notion to climb up in the heavens at any time, and bring about a summer thunderstorm.

Apparently Frank did not bother his head in connection with such a possibility; for a little later he wheeled his bicycle out of the shed as though intending to leave the others temporarily.

"Be back in half an hour or so, Andy," he called over his shoulder, as his cousin came to the door to see what he was about to do.

"Going over home for something, Frank?" called Andy; but if the other heard he chose or some reason to decline to commit himself.

Had Andy been able to follow his course after he left the field he would soon have known that Frank was rather heading for town than intending to pedal in the direction of his own house, which was situated on the outskirts of Bloomsbury.

And doubtless the curiosity of Andy would have mounted to near the fever pitch did he but know that when Frank jumped from his wheel he stood directly in front of the low building known as police headquarters.

Without any hesitation the boy walked in through the open door. He had often been here before; and knew the head of the force very well, also the officers who constituted the Chief's staff.

Chief Waller was bending over his flat-top desk, and evidently reading some communication or other. He looked up, and on seeing who his caller was, smiled amiably; for Frank Bird was a favorite of his, and possibly the best liked boy in Bloomsbury.

"Why, glad to see you, Frank; won't you sit down?" he said, offering his hand to the boy.

"I didn't just drop in to chat, Chief," marked Frank, after he had accepted the proffered hand, and been favored with a hearty grip.

"No, I suppose not, because you're a boy of business generally. Well, what can I do for you, Frank?" asked the other, pleasantly.

"Your phone here is one of the long distance ones, isn't it, Chief?"

"To be sure, since most of the use we have of it is to talk with other places. Do you want to use it, Frank?" replied the officer.

"No, but I'd like you to do something for me, and I'll explain afterwards what my reason is," Frank went on.

"Sure I will, my boy. Do almost anything to oblige you. Now, who do you want me to get at the other end of the wire?" and as he said this the Chief took down the receiver of the desk phone.

"The penitentiary isn't more than thirty miles away from here, is it?" asked Frank.

"Whew! what ever would you be wanting to know from there?" the officer remarked.

"Please call them up and ask whether that man you captured a year ago, up in the Powell woods, is still doing time there."

"You mean Jules Garrone, do you?" asked Chief Waller.

"That's the man."

Still looking at Frank as though wondering what he could mean by such a strange request, the other started operations, and after some skirmishing managed to get in touch with some one who might possibly be the warder of the State penitentiary.

"Yes, this is Chief Waller of Bloomsbury," Frank heard him say. "How are you, sir? I would like you to give me a little information connected with a man I had the pleasure of railroading over your way a year ago. His name was Jules Garrone, and he was convicted of having broken into the jewelry establishment of Leffingwell—what's that, sir?" And Frank, watching closely, could see the lips of the Chief pursing up, as though he might be tempted to whistle while listening to something the party at the other end of the wire was telling him.

Then, perhaps a minute or so later, the Chief turned around to Frank, as he once more hung up the receiver.

"Look here, Frank," he said, exhibiting signs of excitement now, "how did you ever come to know or suspect that?" he demanded.

"You have told me nothing yet, Chief," Frank remarked, calmly. "But I judge from the way you acted that you heard some surprising news from the warden at the penitentiary. What about Jules, sir?"

"He no longer lodges with my friend, the warden," went on Waller. "In fact, to tell the whole truth, there was a jail delivery week ago, which has been kept secret up to now. The warden says he was just sending out the news when I called him. Jules and two other convicts managed to break away; and while the others have been recaptured, Jules is still at large!"



CHAPTER X

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CHIEF

Frank breathed a little faster than ordinary but there was little else to indicate that he had heard startling news.

"And now, Frank, don't forget that you promised to take me in on this," the head of the local force went on, persuasively. "You remember that we stood by you at that other time, and rounded Jules up in great shape. Seems like we might have to do it again, sort of history repeating itself. How did you know about it?"

"I didn't, sir, and that's the queer part it," replied the boy.

"Then you suspected something of the sort—did you run across Jules on the road; or has he been trying to steal your aeroplane again?" continued Chief Waller.

"Neither one nor the other, sir. But some unknown person fired a rifle at our biplane today, when we were passing over those woods near the old shack. The bullet came within a few feet of us, as I can show you, for it passed through both planes. That looks as if the scamp meant to do us real harm. And it set me to thinking and guessing, with the result that I made up my mind to come to you, and find out if Jules was still safe behind the bars."

"Well, this is something I'll have to look into," bustled the stout Chief, as he pushed back his chair. "Up in the Powell woods, you said; that makes it look as if it must be him; because he hid there before, you know."

"If it had happened anywhere else, I guess I'd never have thought about Jules, sir," Frank candidly admitted. "But you see, we were just talking about our other adventure when the shot came; and somehow, it was natural to connect the two. But it seems foolish for him to come back to the old place again."

"When you know slick rascals as well as I do, Frank, you'll understand that they often do just what everybody never dreams they'd be silly enough to try. That's the tricky part of the game, you see. Ordinarily that woods is the last place we'd think of looking for Jules. It ought to have an evil name for him, and make him shun it. You see, that's the way we'd just naturally dope it out."

"I see now, sir. And then again, all of the plunder taken from Leffingwell's establishment was never recovered, I heard. Perhaps Jules has got a plant somewhere up in those woods, and came back to get the stuff?" Frank suggested.

"A bright thought for you, my boy!" cried the Chief. "Of course that sort of thing would strike me the first thing; but for you too speak of it proves that you have a clever mind. Yes, undoubtedly Jules has come back for the loot."

"And then," Frank went on, steadily; "just by accident he happened to hear our propellers buzzing, and looking up recognized the two boys who had so much to do with his being nabbed last summer. He couldn't resist the temptation to have a pot shot at us, hoping to pay the Bird boys back for their share in his capture."

"Yes, sometimes even the sharpest of them fall down," the head of the local police continued; "and before we're done with him Jules will realize that when he allowed himself to give way to temptation he did the most foolish thing possible, for it puts us on his track, and we'll get him again. I want to thank you too, Frank, because you see, there will be quite a little reward paid for the recapture of so notorious a convict as Garrone."

"Oh! you're quite welcome, sir," replied Frank. "I was just thinking whether, if that was Jules, and he saw that his shot did no damage, he mightn't decide to pay us a visit in the night, and try some more funny business."

"Well, now, I wouldn't put it past him a particle, Frank," remarked the Chief, promptly; "and if I were in your place I'd be on my guard. He might try to steal your new biplane I've heard them talking about; or even burn down your whole outfit. Better get a gun, and keep watch. He's fair game, you know, if so be you catch him prowling around after dark. An escaped convict hasn't any rights in the eye of the law."

"I wouldn't like to be the one to shoot him," Frank observed; "but if he came around as you say, I'd want to be in a position to defend my property, and give him a good scare."

The Chief asked a lot more questions, which Frank answered as well as he was able. He could see that he had stirred the police head greatly, and that before long all the available men on the force would be making for the direction of the Powell woods, bent on rounding up the lurking Jules, if so be it had been him, as seemed so probable now.

Frank had left his chair and started for the door, when something chanced to strike him, so that he turned back.

"I don't suppose now, Chief, you happen to know the two gentlemen who blew into Bloomsbury yesterday in a touring car, and are perhaps quartered at the hotel here. They go by the names of Mr. Marsh and Mr. Longley?"

"I understood that two gents did put up there; but I saw them go off this morning in their car, and supposed they were leaving," replied the other.

"If you glance out of the door right now, Chief, you will see the parties dropping out of their machine right in front of the hotel," Frank remarked, quietly.

Accordingly the other moved over so that he could look out, immediately remarking:

"Sho! that's a fact, just as you say, Frank. Come back to dinner, I reckon; for old Barnwell does set a good table in the Quality Inn. I've seen twenty cars parked in his dooryard of a Sunday. And these parties like his style, it seems."

"But why should they say that their car needed overhauling, and that they might as well have it done in Bloomsbury? You can see it's a right new one, and runs as smooth as silk," Frank remarked.

"They said that, did they? Who to, Frank?" asked the other.

So Frank had to go back and relate what had occurred at the time Andy dropped from the hydroplane into Lake Sunrise, and saved little Tommy Cragan from becoming food for the fishes.

Of course the policeman was not able to look at the matter from the same standpoint that Frank and Andy had. All the same, he admitted that the actions of the two touring gentlemen did look a bit queer.

"I'll take the first chance I get to look 'em over, Frank, and learn who they really are," he said, in conclusion. "Of course that'll have to wait, since I've got this other business on my hands, which is of greater importance, you know."

"You don't think, do you, sir, that either of them could be this Jules Garrone in disguise?" suggested Frank.

Chief Waller caught his breath.

"Whew; that is a notion, now, ain't it?" he exclaimed. "From what I've learned about that rascal I wouldn't put it past him to be up to some clever dodge equal to that? The bolder the game the less danger of discovery. See here, Frank, you say you was close to these parties; and sure you ought to remember Jules—now, think a bit, and then tell me if you can imagine him playing such a part?"

"Oh! I have been hammering my brain for a long time over that, Chief," Frank answered, with a slight smile.

"And what conclusion did you reach, Frank?"

"That neither of them could hardly be Jules," came the ready reply. "I only mentioned the thing to see how it struck you. In the first place, Jules was smaller than either of those men; and he couldn't hardly have grown under prison fare, you know. Then he had black hair, and neither of these have. Besides, Longley wears a mustache, and no convict could grow one in a week. While such eyes as Marsh has I could never, never forget, once I felt them fastened on me."

"Well, I'll have one of my men keep an eye on the gents as long as they stay at the Quality Inn. Going now, Frank? Shake hands again, will you; and remember, anything we can do for you, just ask. This is great news you've brought here today, and it may mean a heap for me."

When Frank went outside and mounted his wheel he never once glanced across the square to where the car of Mr. Marsh stood. True, neither of the parties happened to be visible just then; but how was he to know but what they might be looking out from behind the filmy lace curtains with which Mine Host Barnwell decorated his front parlor windows?

He rode straight home, and reaching his den where he kept all his belongings in the line of sport, took down from the wall a double-barrel shotgun, with which he had had many a day's pleasure in the past.

From a drawer he also gathered up half a dozen shells, carrying Number Ten shot; which Frank calculated would tickle rather than severely injure, if used with discretion, at a certain distance.

After spending a short time at home, and not seeing his father, the good doctor, who was off in his car paying his morning calls, Frank again mounted his wheel, and headed toward the home of his cousin.

He had much to ponder over as he proceeded, making no pretense at speed; for he was carrying the gun in one hand. It was not a very pleasant thought, that at any minute almost he might run across that revengeful Jules, bent on paying back the debt he chose to believe he owed the young aviator. Frank was almost tempted to stop, alight, and place a couple of shells in the gun, so as to be ready for any emergency that might arise.

"Shucks! what's getting you, Frank Bird?" he exclaimed, as he laughed at the idea of being held up in that fashion on the public highway. "Just make up your mind nothing's going to happen to you; and that if Jules did come back to the Powell woods he's started away by now, full tilt. I'm ashamed of you, that's what. If it was Andy now, he's so full of imagination he sees lots of things that never exist; but you know better. Why, whatever can that smoke mean? And as sure as anything, it seems to be rising straight over the field where our shop lies!"

He immediately increased his speed, and went flying along the crooked road, bent on reaching a point where he could see the open, and ascertain if his worst fears were going to be realized.



CHAPTER XI

A NEW ALARM

The next two minutes seemed an eternity to Frank, spinning rapidly along on his trusty wheel as he was. He wanted to know the worst, and yet dreaded to pass beyond the trees where the field would be in full sight; because it would be distressing if he discovered the shop and hangars blazing, and everything gone.

Still, Frank was not the one to shirk bad tidings. And consequently he increased his speed all that was possible.

"Bully!"

Such was the exclamation that involuntarily burst from his dry lips when, having burst from behind the barrier, he had a clear view of the field. For the shed was there as intact as ever, and also the two hangars sheltering the aeroplanes. Some distance back, far enough removed to avoid any danger to the gasoline in the storage houses, Andy was tending a bonfire; while the other boys seemed to be carrying shavings and trash thither in bags and baskets.

Old Colonel Josiah Whympers was bobbing and bustling around on his crutch, and seemingly bossing the "whole shooting-match," as Frank laughingly said to himself.

Of course he saw now what Andy had been doing. For some time the other had threatened to clear the shop of all the accumulated rubbish of the winter; and the notion must have seized him just after Frank left for town.

"Hello! back again, are you, Frank?" laughed his cousin, as the rider dropped off his wheel close to the bonfire. "Cleaning house, you see. Threatened to do this a long time back; and as we have to sleep in the shop now, thought I might as well get at it. But what's that you've brought along, Frank? My goodness, your gun! Now, what sort of game do you expect to get with that thing?"

"Don't know," returned Frank, grimly. "Might be Jules Garrone for all I can say!"

At that Andy dropped the long stick with which he had been pushing the trash into the heart of the blaze, and stared at the other as though stunned.

"Didn't I know you had something on your mind though?" he muttered. "See here, Frank, ain't I in on this thing too? What d'ye know about Jules Garrone? Ain't he fixed tight in the stone jug? I'm not from Missouri, but all the same I want to know!"

"So say we all of us," remarked Larry, who had come up while they were indulging in these few remarks, and was able to give a good guess as to the nature of what had been said.

"Please confide in us, Frank; we'll keep mum, sure we will!" pleaded Elephant.

Stuttering Nat only wagged his head, and moved his jaws; but this pantomime stood for volumes with those who knew his infirmity.

"It turns out that our old friend Jules gave them leg bail a week ago, along with a couple of other convicts. But though they recaptured the two fellows, crafty Jules is still at large!" Frank said, quietly.

At that Andy came near having a fit.

"My goodness gracious! hear that, would you, fellows?" he exclaimed. "Now we know who fired that nasty shot at us this morning. And he meant to hit us, too. Oh! the coward, to stand down there, and just let us have it, when we couldn't give him back as good as he sent! Frank, is that going to end our flying?"

Andy looked pained at the very idea, and Frank could hardly keep from laughing at the miserable face his chum exhibited.

"Oh! I don't know," he replied. "There's no reason it should, that I can see. We can avoid that section, or else keep high up when passing, so he never would have the least chance at hitting us, going a mile a minute. Besides, perhaps he'll find himself in hot water presently, when Chief Waller gets a line on him."

"Does the Chief know he's loose?" asked Larry.

"He does now, but he never suspected it until I dropped in on him," replied the other, calmly.

"But see here, how did you know?" demanded Elephant.

"The Chief told me," laughed Frank.

"Oh! say, is this fair, Frank?" complained Andy. "You're just getting the whole lot of us balled up. You told the Chief; and the Chief told you! Please lift the curtain, won't you, and let us see the game."

So Frank, taking pity on them, condescended to explain. Colonel Josiah had also joined the group, and was an eager listener to the recital.

The old traveler had himself been through a vast number of adventures in his time, for he had delighted in exploring odd corners of the world seldom heard of by ordinary people. Hence, he delighted in listening to "his boys" when they were narrating some stirring event that had come to their experience.

All sorts of exclamations arose when they heard what the warden of the State penitentiary had to say about Jules. Andy even looked about him suspiciously, as if he might entertain a feeling approaching timidity, lest the desperate escaped convict suddenly appear, and threaten them in some way.

"Now I know why you went after your gun, Frank!" he remarked. "Not that I blame you a particle, remember. Don't I remember the dark face of that Jules, and how he stared at me, and ground his white teeth, when they took him away. All this time I've allowed myself to sleep sweetly, under the belief that, since he was bound to stay behind stone walls at least eight years, I needn't be afraid. But sometimes even walls can be scaled. Is it loaded, Frank—your gun, I mean?"

To oblige him Frank laughingly opened the breech, and inserted a couple of shells.

"Shucks! only Number Tens?" ejaculated Andy. "If it had been me now, I'd have brought a handful of buckshot ones. Much good these would do now if Jules was running away, and had covered a hundred yards."

"Then I'd be willing to let him run," said Frank. "What I want them for most of all is to meet Jules, if he persists in advancing too close."

They were still discussing the matter an hour later; or at least some of them kept it up, while Larry started the fire inside the shop, and began the necessary operation looking to a dinner to which the old Colonel had been invited on condition that he relate a few more of his strange experiences in China, Thibet and Northern India.

"Look who's coming!" called out Elephant and of course this made them all turn their heads; even Larry running to the door, gun in hand, as though he had heard the remark, and thought it might refer to the dreaded Jules himself.

A car was coming from the direction of the town, and in a cloud of dust. Naturally the first thought that came to Frank was that it might be Mr. Marsh and his companion, Longley. But as the breeze lifted the curtain of dust, he immediately discovered that this was not so.

Half a dozen men were crowded in the car and one of these half arose in passing, to wave a hand vigorously toward the group of boys in the field.

"That's Chief Waller!" remarked Andy, with more or less eagerness in his voice.

"And those others are some of his men," Frank went on. "They don't mean to lose any time about looking Jules up, do they?"

"Hey! are you sure about that?" asked Elephant; "because none of 'em had a uniform on; and what good are the police in plain clothes?"

"Oh! there are times when they can do more without their uniforms than in them," Frank remarked. "And this ought to be one of them. Suppose now that keen-eyed Jules happened to be on the lookout, and saw a car loaded down with bluecoats come along, wouldn't he hide, all right? Well, that goes without saying, fellows. As it is he might never suspect a thing. I've often seen as many fellows jammed in a car, and so have every one of you."

"One good thing is, Waller ought to know that section pretty well," remarked the old traveler. "He's been brought up here, and scoured the country as if he had a fine tooth comb, many a time. He will know how to close in on Jules, if the fellow is hiding there, which I doubt."

"Why do you say that, sir?" asked Frank, who had a genuine respect for the opinions of the veteran, based as they were on long experience and observation in all parts of the world.

"It is only a surmise on my part, Frank," replied the Colonel. "We all admit that Jules is a very clever and long-headed rascal. Very well. Don't you suppose that he may regret having given way to sudden temptation, and fired at you boys this morning? He will, on reflection, fear that you may guess who did it; for of course Jules does not know that his escape has been kept a secret all this week, in the hope that he might be recaptured, and nothing need be told. Follow me, boys?"

"Oh! yes, sir," Frank declared. "And in that case the Chief will have all his trouble for his pains, since Jules will have made tracks long before this. He may be out of the county by night."

"That is true; providing that he does not allow a fierce desire for revenge to stay his feet," replied the old man, soberly.

Usually the veteran was not the one to imagine trouble where there was none in sight; and knowing this Frank looked at him somewhat uneasily.

But before anything more could be said they were surprised to see Stammering Nat coming toward them on a run, for he had been watching the last of the bonfire to make sure it did no harm; and of course, as he was brimful of excitement, he had lost all power of control over his voice.

He tried the best he knew how, to regain the mastery of his vocal chords; even resorting to an old expedient of whistling, that perhaps had served him on some previous occasion. Finding everything of no avail, he clutched Andy by the sleeve, and started dragging him around the corner of the shed.

"Hey! what ails you, Nat?" shrilled the struggling Andy, wondering whether the other could have lost his mind because of his great affliction.

Another moment and the rest heard Andy give tongue in a way that announced his complete surrender to the same mysterious source of excitement that had mastered Nat. Of course this needed an explanation; and accordingly Frank and Elephant dashed off, with Colonel Josiah stumping along close behind; and even Larry, leaving his cooking dinner, to come after them, still clinging to Frank's gun.



CHAPTER XII

SANDY DROPS SOMETHING

"Whoop! now, what d'ye think of that?" shouted Elephant, as soon as he turned the corner of the shed.

"Percy shies his hat in the ring! Another man-bird come to keep the pot boiling! Now, will you be good, Frank? Look at it eat up distance, will you? Say, that's going some, I tell you!" Larry exclaimed.

"Percy deserves credit for staying up about all night to assemble the parts of his new biplane, and that's a fact!" Frank candidly admitted; as with kindling eyes he watched the progress of the new wonder that marked the latest achievement in the line of aviation, as advanced by a well-known brand of builders.

His whole heart and soul were wrapped up in the strange calling that seemed to be his birthright; so that he could even admire the clever work of a bitter rival, and applaud his successful evolutions.

Over the treetops the biplane had arisen. Frank instantly remembered how they had seen Percy starting aloft on his initial flight with his old machine, the one later on seized by the natives of Colombia, and which might still be doing duty down in that South American republic, for aught they knew.

Apparently the young pilot of the new aircraft was filled with exultation over his successful start. He sent the biplane swiftly around in eccentric circles, as though testing its ability in various lines. Now he shot upward as if intending to mount like an eagle in gigantic circles until among the fleecy clouds that floated overhead. Then he would volplane downward at dazzling speed, to resume a horizontal flight when close to the earth.

The boys watched as though fascinated. When a particularly daring act turned out to be a success Frank was the first to clap his hands vigorously.

Possibly those in the aeroplane might not hear the applause; but whether or no, it proved what the boys of Bloomsbury had always known, and this was that Frank Bird did not have a mean or jealous fibre in his whole body. He could thoroughly enjoy seeing a rival perform brilliant "stunts;" and the only effect was to spur him on to excelling.

"Percy is just as daring as ever! That is his one weakness, I'm afraid!" he remarked, as they saw the other make a sudden swoop that must have been particularly trying in the planes of his machine.

"I bet you he's going to break his neck some day," grumbled Andy, who could not bring himself to feel just the same way toward Percy as his cousin did; according to the way boys look at these things, Andy was the more "human" of the two; having faults that were lacking in Frank.

"That's certain a better biplane than the one they had last year," Larry remarked, after he had been thrilled with the daring exhibition Percy was putting up in his exultation at being once more afloat in the air, after a long absence.

"A great deal better," Frank admitted. "I knew what the faults were with that old plane, and so far I fail to discover the same failings with this one. If Percy would only use a little more sense, and not be so willing to take unnecessary risks, he could have a grand time this summer."

"Gee! look at him going it now, would you?" gasped Elephant. "He must have a bully good motor aboard to eat up space like that. Talk to me about your mile a minute, he's beating that all hollow!"

"No doubt of it," laughed Frank; "for everything happens to be favorable just now;" but Andy frowned and remarked:

"Oh! I just guess that ain't anything so remarkable. Percy hasn't got the push on our biplane. I'd take my affidavy that we went faster than that at one time when Frank let her out. You wait and see; some fine day we'll show you a sight that'll make your eyes stick out."

Andy was not a boaster as a rule; but whenever Percy Carberry started to show what a mighty conqueror of the air he had become, something seemed to rise up within the second Bird boy that made him give vent to such expressions.

"He knows we're watching him, that's why he does it!" said wise Elephant.

"Sure," Larry admitted; "but that don't take away anything from his circus stunts, does it? Now he's going to swing around and circle your field, Frank. Wish he'd take a notion to drop down here, and let's look his new article over."

Andy laughed scornfully.

"I see him doing that same, Larry, when water runs up hill!" he observed sarcastically. "Did you ever know Percy to be open and frank? Ain't he always hiding what he knows, and trying to spring surprises on people? You don't catch him letting Frank look over his biplane, not if he knows it. Why, he's afraid Frank might get on to some little device that he expects will play a big part in the game, if ever he races us again. Huh! come off your perch, Larry, and take another guess."

"Well, there he goes around the field," the other went on. "Listen to the hum of the propellers, would you? Don't they make sweet music, though? I'm afraid I'll be like poor little Elephant here, and get the aeroplane fever myself, if this thing keeps on. Then there'll be a whole flock of us bobbing around."

He laughed heartily at the idea, as though he could imagine himself whizzing through the air "like a comet," as he remarked.

"Look at Sandy swinging his hat!" called out Elephant. "He's yelling something too, but I can't make it out, because of the racket the machine makes."

"Well, it wouldn't be hard to guess," declared Andy; "because you know how Sandy Hollingshead likes to boast. The joke of it is, he never does anything but hang on to his crony, and keep up the shouting. He's such a coward naturally that I don't understand how he finds the nerve to go up in that cranky craft with Percy."

"There! he's making faces at us; or doing something with his hands," Elephant continued, as he watched the biplane swinging past, some hundreds of feet in the air.

"I suppose that's meant for a defi," laughed Frank. "You know Sandy's ways, fellows? He always was something of a monkey on the team when he played ball. Don't answer back, any of you. A cat may look at a king; and we have a perfect right to stand here in our own dooryard, and gape at the show. But, Andy, pay attention to the way his machine works. I've caught on to a little idea already that I believe we could use with benefit ourselves."

That was practical Frank every time, always keeping an eye out for the usefulness of things, and ready to improve his opportunities as occasion arose.

Three times did Percy circle the big practice field, as though determined to impress upon the lookers-on the marvelous advantages his new biplane had over the old.

Doubtless time had not effaced the bitterness of his former defeats at the hands of his rival; and he was now fairly burning for a chance to wipe the memory out.

"Now, what d'ye suppose he's hanging around here all this while for?" grumbled Andy, who was nervous just so long as the other aeroplane kept winging its flight over the encircling fence that marked the confines of the aviation field.

"Oh! Percy wants you to know he ain't stingy," sang out Larry. "Look your fill, from a distance, but you can't come any nearer."

"Don't bother your head about him, Andy," remarked Frank. "It's giving him heaps of pleasure, and doesn't hurt us a whit. In fact, I don't care how long he keeps it up; for by degrees I'll be able to understand some things I'd like to know about that make of biplane. You can see it differs from ours in lots of ways. Some things may be a bit better, and others not so good."

"But, Frank, you don't think it could beat us out, do you?" Andy quickly demanded.

Frank shook his head.

"I hope not," he said, quietly; "but you can't always tell. That's a great machine Percy has there now, and it would be silly to deny it. A good deal depends on how it's going to be run."

"That's the ticket, Frank!" exclaimed Larry. "And I'm dead sure that no matter which biplane you handled in a race you'd come out ahead."

"Sure he would," added Elephant, emphatically. "Because he keeps his head about him, and knows just what to do in a tight pinch; while Perc gets rattled, and loses his judgment."

"That's good of you to say such things, boys; but I don't think I deserve them," Frank laughed.

"You sure do!" declared Andy, who ought to know better than any one else the good qualities of his chum, since he had seen him under fire many a time.

"L-l-look at 'em!" burst out Nat just then, surprising himself by his ability to actually speak clearly.

The biplane had again headed across the field at a height of about three hundred feet; only this time, instead of cutting corners it was coming on directly, and gave promise of passing over the shed.

"Hey! what's that Sandy's got in his fist?" cried Larry.

"He's going to drop something, as sure as you live!" echoed Elephant.

"Mem-mebbe it's a b-b-bomb!" burst out Nat, his mind filled with accounts he had been reading of what was being done over in Africa by the Italians in their war against the Turks and Arabs.

At that Elephant seemed seized with a panic. He was not a valiant boy, generally speaking, and something about the ridiculous suggestion concerning a bomb seemed to fill him with sudden terror.

Uttering a howl he started to run one way, and then changing his mind darted in another direction; only to come back and finally crawl under a pile of boards that chanced to be lying near.

"Hey! what you thinkin' of doing, Sandy?" shouted Larry, shaking his fist up at the approaching aeroplane. "Don't you dare drop that on us, or I'll take it out of your measly hide, I sure will! Look out, Frank, he's let and here it comes a-sailin' down at us. Whoop!"

From under the woodpile issued an echoing squawk, as Elephant hugged the ground, and waited for the expected explosion.



CHAPTER XIII

THE CHALLENGE

Frank laughed heartily, so that Andy turned toward him in surprise. Of course it was silly to think of such a thing as a bomb, in connection with the object Sandy had dropped. Then again, Frank had seen that it was bound to fall at some little distance away from the shed. He also caught the unmistakable flutter of paper, and could give a pretty accurate guess as to what it all meant.

"It's dropped, Frank, and didn't go off!" exclaimed Larry, having himself been more or less influenced by the panic into which timid Elephant had fallen.

Frank started forward as if bent upon approaching the object that lay upon the ground; while the biplane was now heading straight away, as if it might be the intention of the pilot to seek new pastures.

"Be careful, Frank!" called out Larry.

"Yes, go mighty slow, please!" added Elephant, thrusting his head out from cover, much as a cautious old tortoise might do, to see if the coast were clear.

They saw Frank reach the object, and immediately pick it up. He seemed to be examining it with more or less interest.

"Why, I declare if I don't believe it's only a block of wood after all," remarked Larry, in disgust.

"Sure it is; anybody could see that!" declared Elephant, who had managed to slide out from under the woodpile most adroitly, and was rubbing his cheeks to induce a return of his customary color.

"Frank's reading something, fellows!" cried Andy. "I know what it must be; and just like that sassy Perc Carberry to send it in that way. He wants to do everything just like he was on the stage, you know."

"A challenge!" burst out Larry.

"Sure thing!" piped up Elephant, grinning now, and ready to make it appear that he had guessed this from the very first, and that his actions had been in the light of a huge joke.

Frank had turned around now, and was approaching them, still engrossed with what he had found on the paper Sandy had dropped, with a heavy block of wood to carry it direct to the earth.

"What is it, Frank?" asked his cousin.

"Yes, tell us before we burst, please!" Elephant pleaded.

"Me too!" said Larry, feeling that he ought to be heard.

"D-d-do it, F-f-frank!"

"All right, fellows," replied the other, nodding and smiling, as if something had pleased him. "Suppose we sit down on that long bench in front of the shed."

He had no sooner dropped upon the wooden settee than there were a couple of eager boys hanging over either shoulder.

"It's a challenge, all right?" said Andy, his eyes sparkling.

"Yes, that's where you hit the nail on the head," replied the other. "And like everything that Percy manages, it is gotten up in a way to sting. We might decline an ordinary, everyday challenge; but he manages to fix it so that you've just got to accept, or be set down as afraid."

"Huh! no danger of our not taking him up on anything that's half way fair," said Andy, promptly. "And now suppose you read it out to us, Frank."

"Here goes then. He's got it headed 'A Challenge!' And then right below he gets down to business in this way: 'Frank Bird and Andy Bird, Aviators!'"

"Wow!" cried Larry, "that sounds all the good; but he's giving you that taffy only because he wants to claim the same title himself; ain't it so, Frank?"

"You'll see presently. Here's the way he goes on, fellows: 'Greeting: I hereby challenge you to a trial of skill and speed with our respective biplanes, same to take place within three days from date, at an hour to be selected mutually. Said test to include first, a thirty mile straightaway race, and circle the liberty pole on the Commons at Hazenhurst; next altitude, to be decided by the barograph carried on each biplane; then three times around the peak of Old Thunder Top; and finally the feat of volplaning from the greatest height, to land on Bloomsbury high school campus. Other rules for this race to be arranged between us at a meeting to be held later on. If you decline to accept this challenge I propose to go over the aforesaid schedule alone, and claim a victory.' And then underneath it all he signs himself: 'Percy Carberry, Aviator.'"

The boys looked at each other.

"Sounds like a real good test, Frank!" suggested Larry, cautiously.

"Just what I was going to say," Elephant put in, watching Frank's face, and seeing what he considered favorable signs there.

"And I move for one that the challenge be immediately accepted, so that further arrangements may be made!" Andy observed, grimly.

"Well," remarked Frank, slowly; "we'll consider it. As a rule, you know, fellows, I'm not much in favor of racing, when there's so much danger involved, but just as I said a bit ago, Percy knows how to fix things so as to stick pins in you. He's written his challenge in a way that makes us accept, or be branded for cowards."

"Oh, he needn't have worried about that!" cried Andy, angrily. "If he knows anything about the Bird boys he ought to make sure they never take water. Didn't we see whatever he did before, and go him one better? And down in the land of revolution he knows who carried off the honors, as well as saved him from those men who had him in their power. Frank, we've just got to do it!"

"I suppose so, Andy," returned his cousin; "but if you think that another win on our part is going to close Percy up like a clam you're away off. He makes me think of a medicine ball—every time you hit it and send it flying, it comes back again as chipper as ever. He just won't stay down, that's all."

"I don't agree with you there," said Andy. "If we can only rub it into him hard enough, Percy will never have the nerve to hold up his head again in Bloomsbury."

"But we can't expect to do that, you know," Frank went on. "He seems to have a splendid machine there, that will make us hustle all we know how to pass ahead. And even you give the fellow credit for knowing his business. He's a bird boy all right, even if his name happens to be Carberry. No overconfidence, Andy. That's lost any number of races that ought to have been won, hands down."

"Oh! I understand that, Frank," the other said; "but I believe in you, and that Perc ain't in the same class. Count on him to make a mistake when the crisis comes. And if he thinks he's going to be passed there ain't any low down trick he wouldn't be guilty of. I leave it to Larry, Nat and Elephant if that isn't right."

"I've known him to do lots of mean things," spoke up Elephant, promptly; "and if I had to enter a race with him I tell you right now I'd keep out of his reach, all right."

"The best way is to get the lead in the start, and never let him come within striking distance. Then you could snap your fingers at his games," declared Larry.

"Say, there is something in that, Frank," Andy admitted.

"I believe it," returned the other young aviator. "The only trouble I can see is that Percy usually starts off with a furious rush, and takes the lead. He believes it gives him an advantage, and perhaps it does. Every fellow has his pet theories in a race, and no two of them may be alike."

"I guess the main idea with him is that he can get in some of his dirty work if he sees the other is passing him," Andy sneered.

Frank shook his head at him; but on the whole did not know that he could blame Andy for feeling so bitterly toward the other. Their experiences with Percy in the past had been far from pleasant; and many times had he attempted some unscrupulous game that had stirred Andy's fighting blood to the boiling point.

As for Sandy Hollingshead, Andy's opinion of him as a sneak was known to every boy in Bloomsbury; nor did the party most interested seem to care to knock off the chip aggressive Andy had long carried on his shoulder.

The aeroplane had vanished beyond the high fringe of trees. Possibly Percy had headed for town to show off his new purchase to the gaping Bloomsbury crowds, certain to come rushing from houses and stores as soon as the word was passed around that a flying machine was hovering overhead.

As the afternoon passed, the boys debated pro and con concerning the challenge. Frank had agreed to accept, much to the delight of the others, and his answer was carefully prepared, so as to cover every point in question.

He and Andy realized that after all, their prediction as to a storm had failed, for the clouds seemed to have passed away, leaving the day hotter than ever.

"Whew! ain't I glad though I can camp on a night like this," said Elephant, as started in to assist Larry get dinner ready.

"Just what I was thinking," added the chief cook, looking up from his task with a grin of pleasure. "I've got the peskiest hot room ever, on a still summer night like this is goin' to be; right under the roof, cold as a barn in winter; roasting in July and August. Say, I've often said they'd find me fried like a doughnut some fine morning; or froze stiff. This thing just suits me to a whiz."

"Heard Frank ask the Colonel to eat with us tonight; so I s'pose we're going to have an extra good spread," Elephant went on, scraping the potatoes industriously.

"That's what," chuckled the other. "You just leave it with your uncle, and the chances are you won't be disappointed much. I like good things myself. Used to say I was going to study to be a great chef when I grew up. May yet, who knows? What's Frank and Andy doing with that wire right now?"

"Why, you see the Colonel made 'em promise to connect him with the shed; so in case any row happened to be pulled off here he'd know it. Hard for him to understand he's out of the game with that crippled leg. He's been doing things all his life. I think he's the most wonderful old codger I ever knew."

"And that's where you're just about right, Larry. We must make him tell us some of his travel yarns tonight while we sit around," Elephant declared.



CHAPTER XIV

SOMETHING DOING

"I don't suppose any of you fellows have seen signs of the Chief and his men returning with any prisoners?" Frank asked, a little later, as he entered the shed to see how the arrangements for the evening spread were progressing.

"Nary a sign," replied Larry, who was bending over the stove, very red in the face, and yet grinning with pleasure; for he dearly loved to handle the pots and pans on an occasion like this, and was really a clever cook.

"Same here!" spoke up Elephant, who was fanning himself near by, and sniffing at the odors that arose from the fire, as though he wished the time would come when he might partake of the feast Larry had prepared.

"Then it looks as if the raid hasn't panned out a success so far," remarked Frank. "I'm sorry, too, because I believe I'd sleep sounder if I only knew our friend Jules was caged once more."

"Then you really think he'd be mean enough to try and burn the shed down, and destroy your aeroplanes?" asked Larry.

"Oh! from all I've heard about Jules, he'd never balk at a little thing like that," Frank continued. "The scoundrel who could shoot at two boys sailing hundreds of feet in the air, and take chances of sending them down to a terrible death, wouldn't hold back at anything, in my opinion."

"The Colonel says he'd just like to get in touch with him," remarked Elephant, with a chuckle. "I can just see the old chap dancing around with his war paint on, swinging that crutch of his to beat the band. Wow! wouldn't he just make mincemeat out of Jules though, if ever they met up?"

"Don't you forget it, Colonel Josiah still burns with the same spirit that carried him through a bunch of tight places. He's promised to tell us all about his ride with Gomez in Cuba during the war with Spain. And mark me, it'll be worth listening to. He never yarns, and has the proofs to show for every story he tells. That's the best part of it, because you know all the time you're listening to real hard facts, and not fiction."

"There he comes now, stumping along. Bet you he's sniffed some of these delicious smells away up at the house. Larry, if you don't get a move on, and announce dinner pretty soon, I declare if I don't start a raid on the grub. Can't stand for much more of this," and Elephant hugged himself as though it were only by a determined effort that he refrained from beginning work then and there.

"Hold on five minutes more, old chap," soothed the cook. "Everything's ready, and as soon as Frank gives the word we'll sit down."

To enjoy the meal all the more they had taken the table outdoors, and places for half a dozen had been made ready. The sun had set, but there would be light for an hour at least, plenty to last them during the meal.

The old traveler they seated at the head of the table, and Frank was made to take the other end. Then Larry and his assistants set to work dishing up. As the lovely aluminum set only carried enough for four, Andy had been compelled to call upon his reserves for additional plates, cups and such things.

And that dinner was surely worth remembering. Larry had certainly "done himself proud," as the delighted Colonel declared, after he had eaten until he could no longer do justice to the spread.

After the things had been cleared away they started the veteran to dipping into certain of his recollections; and once he was set going, he might be likened to a clock, for being wound up, adventure after adventure fell from his lips in a way to keep the listeners charmed.

Not that the Colonel was a boaster at all; he never assumed that he had done anything at all wonderful; but just related facts in his simple though dramatic way, and those who heard could draw their own inferences.

The boys would never forget that evening, or the feast that Larry put before them. It would ever be marked by a white stone in their memories; and doubtless in after years, when fully launched upon the more serious avenues of life, more than one of them would look back with a smile as the picture arose in their minds' eye, with that white-haired old man sitting near by, and thrilling them with his recollections of the past.

It was long after ten when he bade them good-night, and betook himself off to the house, his last words being:

"Don't forget that your Uncle Josiah is coming like a runaway engine if so be that bell sounds the alarm! And to tell you the truth, boys, I'm half wishing it might be so!"

After he had gone they began to make their preparations looking to the passing of another night. Each one believed he could make some improvement on the former experience. This was especially the case with Elephant, who had been very uncomfortable in that swinging canoe; though it looked cozy enough.

Frank seemed to be busying himself after a strange fashion.

Elephant had cast a curious look that way several times as he labored to improve his own conditions. Finally his natural desire to know compelled him to turn to Larry, and put the question:

"What's Frank doing over at the end of the shed? Sure he don't mean to change his bunk for a place like that?"

"Oh, rats! don't you understand? Frank's making a trap!" Larry replied.

"Rats—a trap!" repeated the runt, mystified by the coming together of these two significant words. "But what does he have to go to all that trouble for? I'd think one of them ordinary regular wire traps would fill the bill as well."

Larry looked at him queerly, as if making up his mind whether the other meant it, or was simply joshing him.

"This is a man-trap!" he said, severely.

"Oh! my!" Elephant gasped; and then fell to watching Frank more intently than ever, as he continued to work on.

"And," continued Larry, "if you wake up in the night, and hear the most awful racket in the wide world, make sure we've caught something, do you understand, Elephant?"

"Meaning Jules?" queried the other, in an awed tone.

"Meaning Jules," repeated Larry, mocking the other by even assuming his manner.

"But do you really think he'll drop in on us, Larry?" the small boy asked.

"Wouldn't surprise me one little bit," returned his tormentor, calmly. "You heard what the Colonel was saying about those Spanish brigands who captured him—well, this Jules is just the same sort of customer, revengeful, desperate and ready to take almost any sort of chances, if he sees an opening. And Frank is that accommodating, he means to have a most inviting opening ready, so Jules can't resist the temptation to stick his nose in. Then slam! bang! and it's all over with Jules but the shouting, believe me."

Naturally all this sort of talk had its effect upon the timid Elephant. He could not keep his thoughts away from the trap Frank was making in the rear of the shed, and the possibility of that dark-faced escaped convict being caught in the act of entering the place, on mischief bent.

"I'll just dream about him coming, see if I don't!" he warned Larry, as he prepared to crawl into the swinging canoe, where his blankets had been placed.

"All right," answered the other; "only don't you go to whooping things up here too lively. Remember there are others, and that they want to snooze right along till morning. I'm glad Frank didn't draft you for a sentry, though."

"Oh! it was nice of him," answered the small boy, readily. "But then you see, Frank knows I just can't keep awake to save me. And what good is a sleepy guard, I'd like to know. Hope I've got it fixed now so I won't feel the ribs of this blessed Oldtown canoe poking me in my slats tonight. They kept me uneasy last night to beat the band. Aw! I'm awful sleepy, Larry; and I guess I'll turn in."

"Good. Only go careful, or you'll roll out the other side. That boat swings with a hair trigger. The least touch starts her to going. There you are. It's rockabye baby for you, Elephant. Mother's little darling boy, go to sleep now like a good kid!"

Elephant mumbled some sort of answer but in another minute he was off, fast locked in the arms of the dream god. Larry lost little time in following his example, for he expected to be called at a certain hour by Frank, who would have the first watch himself.

Darkness fell upon the interior of the workshop. If there was any sound to be heard, such as the heavy breathing of some sleeper, the sigh and moan of the night breeze without deadened this.

Frank had assumed a comfortable position. He could sit there and allow his mind to grapple with numerous things that interested him; at the same time feel that he was keeping a strict watch. Time passed on. The air happened to be coming from the direction of the town, so that when the clock in the church tower struck the hour he could easily hear the sounds.

In this way he knew how his watch went on, and when it would be time to change places with Larry. To the average lad there is something approaching a fascination in this near approach to life in the open. The mere fact that peril threatened, so as to compel a night watch, was enough to keep Frank from feeling drowsy. But then he always had a peculiar faculty for controlling his weaknesses. Most other boys would have had to fight desperately to remain awake.

He had just counted the strokes as the town clock droned off the midnight hour, and was wondering whether he had not better let Larry sleep until one had arrived, when without the slightest warning there arose the most dreadful racket any one could well imagine.

It sounded as though the whole roof might be falling in, what with the clatter of tinpans, the upsetting of chairs and the half muffled shouts that punctuated the entire clamor. And Frank leaped to his feet, believing on the spur of the moment that his trap had been sprung!



CHAPTER XV

THE AWAKENING

"What is it, Frank?" shouted Larry, as he scrambled to his feet, and began clawing around in the dark for the one he called upon.

"We've got him!" sang out Andy, gleefully. "Frank, it worked fine and dandy. My! what a noise he kicks up!"

"Where's Elephant?" asked Frank, suspiciously.

"Sleeping through it all. An earthquake wouldn't wake him up, once he gets to going," snorted Larry.

"Keep quiet; I'm going to light a lamp!" Frank went on, as he reached out to a spot where he knew he had left a box of matches handy for just such an emergency.

"Ouch! somebody kicked me then!" Larry shouted. "Frank, there's more'n one of 'em, and they're inside here, feeling around for us. Go slow, Frank! Have your gun ready when you light up. Pepper 'em good, now! Who's afraid?"

"Wait! don't shoot, Frank! It's only me!" shrilled a voice as the speaker managed to get his head out from the muffling folds of the blanket.

Then came the scratch of the match in Frank's hand. He held it up first in order to see what was going on; and then with a burst of laughter began to apply the flickering flame to the wick of the ready lamp.

And as the light filled the interior of the shed the boys saw a sight that sent them off into spasms of uproarious merriment. Yes, it was Elephant all right, just as he had so wildly declared when he heard all that threatening talk about guns and "peppering" and such dire things.

He had evidently fallen out of the canoe as he tossed about during some dream that excited his mind. In tumbling to the floor his heels had upset the entire outfit of tin kettles and pans that Andy had fetched from the house. Such a clattering as they had made upon being dashed to the floor. And as if that were not enough Elephant had managed to turn a chair over with the lot, adding to the confusion liberally.

Larry helped him up, for as he was swathed from head to foot in his flaming red horse blanket the other was quite unable to manage alone. Poor Elephant rubbed his eyes and stared around him as if looking for the blue dragons that had filled his dreams.

"What d'ye mean by scaring us all half to death, Elephant?" demanded Andy, when he could in some measure command his voice.

"My goodness gracious! you don't think I did that a-purpose, do you?" exclaimed the small boy, rubbing his elbows as though they tingled after coming in such rough contact with the floor. "What d'ye take me for? And Larry, didn't I tell you that rarebit would make me dream? You just made me eat it; and now see what happened! Oh! but I thought the whole house had blown up, and I was heading for the stars. It was a fierce experience. Talk about your rarebits, never more for me!"

"Listen! somebody's coming, sure!" exclaimed Larry.

"Oh! what if it's Jules, after all? Where's the gun, Frank? Get it ready, won't you? There, he's pounding at the door. Where's my club? Somebody took my club!" and Elephant scrambled around, looking for the lost weapon which he had placed within reach before retiring.

Bang! bang! bang!

"Here, open up, and let me get at the rascals! Frank, Andy, have they murdered you all? Why don't somebody answer? Why don't you open this door before I smash it in with my crutch?" came a roar from without.

"It's Colonel Josiah!" cried Andy. "Hold on, Colonel; we're all right here. Nobody hurt! All a mistake! Frank, open the door, will you? Nothing doing, Colonel, you see!"

The aged veteran stalked inside, using his crutch once more to assist his locomotion. In his other hand he gripped a tremendous horse pistol, the very size of which must have sent a shiver through any nocturnal prowler.

"It was Elephant who raised the rumpus, Colonel!" explained Andy. "He had a dream and fell out of his hammock, knocking over all the tin pans and a chair. We were all scared, thinking it might be Jules come to town."

The grim old traveler turned upon Elephant, trying to hide the twinkle in his eyes by pretending to assume a heavy frown.

"I won't do it again, I assure you, sir!" faltered Elephant, trying to hide behind Frank. "It was an accident, indeed it was. And I bruised both my elbows just fierce. After this I'm going to tie that swinging canoe down, so it won't kick me out again."

"H'm! you'd better," was all the old man said as he turned away; but Frank was of the opinion he wished to hurry off, so that he could chuckle over the ridiculous picture presented by the interior of that shop, without being seen by the boys, and his dignity impaired.

"Now, get busy, Elephant, and tidy up the mess you made," said Larry, as he once more crawled under his blankets.

"And remember," said Andy, severely, despite the grin on his face, "we don't stand for any more of this foolishness."

"Let me help you tie the canoe, so that it can't swing," Frank observed, taking pity on the victim of the mishap; for Elephant was still rubbing his elbows, and making faces as though they hurt him.

So after a little, peace once more fell upon the camp. The swinging canoe had been so firmly secured that it could not "kick" as Elephant declared it had done before. Then the light was put out again, and darkness reigned.

Frank again sat there, engrossed in thought. And naturally his mind went out in the direction of the recent event. If a false alarm could cause such confusion and excitement it was probable that in case there came a genuine one things would take on a still more brilliant color.

He could hear Elephant turning from side to side. Perhaps his arms pained him; and thinking thus Frank was sorry he had not insisted on swabbing them with some witch hazel which they kept handy in the shop, in case of bruises while working. But he did not think it good policy to disturb the entire bunch again in order to relieve the slight pain of Elephant who must sooner or later grow used to hard knocks, if he ever expected to face the world.

Finally the boy in the canoe became quiet. Sleep had evidently mastered him, for ere long Frank caught his heavy breathing at such times as the wind stopped sighing around the eaves of the shed.

It must be growing near one when he expected to hand over his duty as sentry to Larry. All he waited for was to catch the stroke of the hour. He had the lay of things well in his mind, and could even have moved about the shop in utter darkness without tumbling over anything; for he and Andy had spent uncounted hours under that roof during the last year.

Ah! there was the anticipated stroke, sounding quite clearly.

"Frank!" came in a low tone, almost a whisper.

"Hello!" answered the sentry, "that Larry?"

"On deck. Must have been my call the wasn't it? Thought I heard one strike," as Larry began to raise up alongside Frank, shedding his blankets as he did so.

"Have you been awake all the while?" whispered Frank, surprised.

"Guess pretty much," chuckled Larry. "That thing just broke me all up. I've been laughing to myself under the blanket ever since."

"Oh! is that so?" Frank replied. "Well, do you know I wondered what those queer noises were. Thought possibly you had an ache from eating too much."

"How's everything on deck, Frank?"

"Fine and dandy. Nothing to cause alarm yet," came the answer.

"All right, then. You just crawl in, and get a snooze started. I'll take care of the camp up to three, when Andy comes on duty. How d'ye keep awake, Frank?" asked the new guard.

"Keep thinking of the late unpleasantness, as you have been doing. It did the trick before, and may again. Good night! I'm off."

Frank found no little difficulty himself in getting asleep. Unaccustomed to his strange bed, and with all the recent excitement added, it was not strange that even Frank had to take himself severely to task before he could lose his senses in slumber.

He too dreamed, for had he not also partaken of the same tasty cheese and toast, of which poor Elephant complained as the main cause for his troubles? Several times Frank woke up and was puzzled to understand just where he could be. Then things would come back to again; and with a chuckle he would turn over, to once more lose himself in sleep.

The third time this happened he lay there listening. It seemed to him that he had heard a slight rustling noise; and moreover, it had come from the far end of the shed!

Could it be Larry; and if so what business had the sentry to be wandering about that section of the forbidden ground? Another fancy struck Frank, to the effect that it might be either Andy or Stuttering Nat, walking in their sleep. If that proved to be the case, then the awakening was likely to surprise somebody, unless he was very much mistaken.

He put out his hand and felt Andy in his accustomed place. Then rising quietly he crawled over far enough to come in contact with Nat's arm, thrust out from his blanket. This left only Elephant, whom he found slumbering soundly in his canoe, and the sentry, who was also fast asleep!

Frank felt a thrill pass over him at this. Then the sound could not have been made by any one of his comrades. Who then was prowling around that danger zone? Even as he asked himself this important question he heard a sudden sharp "click!" that could only be made by the trigger of his dead-fall trap; then came a heavy, sodden, crunching sound, that told better than words what had happened. Frank jumped to his feet, shouting:

"Wake up! wake up! we've caught something, fellows. Wake up everybody!"



CHAPTER XVI

THE CHIEF MEETS AN OLD FRIEND

There was a tremendous amount of excitement in the workshop when Frank aroused his four chums by this cry. All around him he could hear them calling out.

"Another fake alarm, I bet!" grumbled Larry.

"It's that miserable Elephant again," said Andy in disgust. "He ought to be taken down to the lake and ducked, that's what!"

"Me ducked? I'd like to see you do it!" shrilled a voice close beside Andy, and which he recognized as belonging to the runt.

"Hey! Frank, what is it?" demanded Larry.

"Light up! we want to see something!" called Andy, now beginning to experience a strange sensation in the region of his heart, as the possibility of its being the genuine article of alarm struck home.

Frank was already doing this very same thing; he struck his match even while Andy was calling so loudly for a light. When the lamp was brought into use the boys stared around at each other.

"Where's Stuttering Nat?" questioned Larry, suspiciously.

"H-h-here!" came a quavering voice, as the other pushed himself forward, so that none of them would believe he might be at fault, as he was not particularly desirous of a bath just then.

"Then we're all on deck; ain't that so, Frank?" asked Andy.

"Count noses, and you'll find it that way," returned the other Bird boy, as he calmly picked up his gun.

"Take the lamp, Andy, and fall in just behind me," he said.

"O-oh! Frank believes he's caught him!" gasped Elephant, in a quivering voice.

"Stop talking, and come on, everybody," Frank insisted.

Each boy had armed himself as best the occasion allowed. One carried a hammer, another a baseball bat, while Elephant had found his club, and Larry picked up a seven foot piece of piping, which he thrust ahead of him after the nature of a spear.

So they advanced in the direction of the end of the shed where Frank had arranged his trap. Every one of them felt his heart beating like a triphammer as the sound of writhing, accompanied by groans, came to their ears.

There seemed no reason to longer doubt but what the trap would be found sprung, and game of some species within.

"Hold up that lamp, Andy!" said Frank, sternly. "Here, don't let your hand tremble so. We must have light, you know. Steady now!"

"Oh! I see him!" gasped Elephant, whose eyes were almost sticking out of his head with the excitement.

"I guess it's Jules, all right," Andy managed to say; as he too took in a long breath, while he thrust the lamp out further so that all could see better.

Something lay in the hole, something that took on the outlines of a man flat on his face, and with a heavy log almost squeezing the last bit of breath from his body. A broken old gun, that looked like one of the muskets used in the Civil War, lay close beside him, and had evidently been dropped when the trap was sprung without warning, after the victim had started to crawl into the shed by way of this inviting opening.

"Yes, it's our old friend, Jules, come to pay us another night visit," observed Frank, coolly as he handed the shotgun to Larry, and bending down proceeded to draw both arms of the senseless man behind him, fastening them securely with a stout cord which he drew from his pocket, having prepared for this same event in advance.

"Is he killed?" asked Elephant, in an awe-struck voice.

"Sure he isn't," replied Larry, who had seen the man moving, as though his senses might be coming back.

Five minutes later he opened his eyes, and stared hard at the array of boyish faces before him. Evidently Jules may have suspected that the Bird boys would be sleeping in their precious shop; but he had hardly imagined that he would run up against a whole school there.

Frank had meanwhile tied his ankles as well, and helped drag him further into the shop. When the man started to using language that was offensive, he warned him plainly that if he kept that up any longer they would find some means of gagging him. The threat served to keep him quiet, though from the black looks on his face it was evident that the fellow was extremely bitter against them all.

It was now three o'clock. Since all of them were too much excited to even try to sleep any more, they concluded to remain on guard in a bunch. Larry received no end of joshing on account of having slept on his post; Frank even told him that it was considered so serious a matter that men had been stood up against a wall, and shot for allowing the enemy to creep into camp.

"All right," said Larry, who hung onto the gun all the while. "Let's see you do it right now. I'm the only one that's got a shooting iron, and I refuse to give it up, or use it on myself. Call it off, Frank, and we'll begin all over," and so, as Larry was a pretty decent sort of a fellow, as they go, and besides, just as he said, held possession of the only weapon, for that musket had been broken by the fall of the log, they concluded not to shoot him on the spot, but give him another chance to make good.

It was a long wait till morning; but finally the stars vanished before the gray light of early dawn. Larry, as soon as he could see decently, started to get breakfast; for he declared that if he was a mighty poor sentry he did have a few good points, one of which was his ability to sling tasty messes together.

Jules was as "mum as a church mouse," as Elephant called it. But by degrees he took more or less interest in what the boys were doing.

"Look out for him," said Larry aside to Frank. "I think he means to try and escape if he gets half a chance. That's why he smiles now and then."

"You're away off, Larry," replied Frank. "For I notice that every time that pleasant look creeps over his face it is when a smell of coffee drifts this way. Jules hasn't tasted anything like that for more than a year. And while he's got to go back to where the law has sent him, we're going to give him a decent breakfast first."

When a little later they heard the stamp of the Colonel's crutch the boys looked up expectantly, knowing they would have the laugh on the old veteran traveler, who had flown to the rescue when the alarm was all a farce, and slept through the real thing.

"What's all this? Bless me, if they haven't caught the rascal after all! Why didn't you ring me up? That alarm bell must have played me false, Andy, and I believe you juggled with it! The old cry of 'wolf' again; and I'm the victim."

Expressing his disgust in this way the Colonel stumped in, and proceeded to let the prisoner know what he thought of a man who would try to revenge himself upon a couple of bright lads; especially after bringing all his troubles down upon his own shoulders.

It afterwards developed that Jules had stolen the musket, and also the suit of clothes he was wearing, from a farmhouse that he raided shortly after his escape from the prison. Although he never confessed to the fact, Frank never had any reason to doubt but that it had been Jules who fired that shot at them while they were speeding over the Powell woods in their biplane.

Jules was given his fill of good breakfast, and this possibly put him in a better humor. He was not wholly an unscrupulous villain, and the fact of these boys treating him so decently seemed to make an impression on the fellow, for he watched Frank closely.

The boys were talking the matter over, as to how they might best get their prisoner transported to the lockup in town, when sharp-eyed Nat began to make a great noise, and pointed down the road.

"It must be the Chief and his officers heading back home!" cried Andy, jumping up from his seat.

"Here, make a dash toward the fence, and get their attention! Don't tell them why we want them to come in here, but just let down the bars," said Frank; and at his words Andy went flying away across the pasture.

By swinging his arms and shouting, he managed to attract the attention of those in the passing car, which was halted. Then Frank saw Andy speaking hastily, at the same time letting down the bars; after which the car swung in, with the Bird boy perched on the step.

Chief Waller did not look particularly happy as he sat there alongside the man who served as chauffeur. He had lost a night's sleep, and covered many miles in a useless search of the great Powell woods; and for so stout a man this was exhausting business.

"Hello! Frank! How are you, Colonel? Sorry to say we haven't picked up our man yet; and the chances are we won't do it, either. He must have taken the alarm, and slipped off before we got there."

Then the police head must have detected Elephant grinning broadly; and this no doubt excited his suspicions; for he whirled on Frank, having laboriously descended from his car, and burst out with:

"Looky here, Frank, what you got up your sleeve, anyhow? There's something doing that I ought to know about, I reckon."

"Oh! we thought it might pay us to set a trap, Chief," returned Frank, keeping as straight a face as possible. "Sometimes you have to go to the mountain; and then again it comes to you. We made up our minds to try it, anyhow."

"And it worked?" demanded Chief Waller, his face lighting up with eagerness.

"Did it, fellows?" asked Frank, turning to the rest of his mates.

"If the Chief had been anywhere around at three this morning he'd have thought something was working all right," gurgled Andy, his face all aglow.

"Larry, help our guest out here, won't you?" said Frank; and only too willing the one addressed stepped inside the shop, to reappear a moment later and not alone. Chief Waller took but one look and then threw up his hands, exclaiming:

"Jules Garrone, and nabbed by a parcel of boys. Men, the joke is on us!"



CHAPTER XVII

GALLANT ANDY

"Good morning, Chief!" said the prisoner, with a cool grin.

The Head of the Bloomsbury police force looked so utterly amazed that Larry and some of his mates could not help laughing.

"Didn't expect to find Jules waiting up for you on the way back, did you, Chief?" asked Andy, with perhaps a touch of sarcasm in his voice; for to tell the truth the boy did not have a very high opinion of the stout man's abilities in the way of thief catching, though liking him well enough as a genial townsman.

"Well, I confess that I never expected such great good luck," admitted the other. "And now, boys, tell me just how it happened."

"Oh! he dropped in on us, Chief," Andy went on.

"And liked the accommodation afforded by the Birdsnest so well that he concluded to stop over," Larry remarked. "Frank here, expected something of the kind, and got ready to receive visitors."

"You mean he set a trap?" asked the official, looking admiringly at the party in question.

"Well," Larry drawled, "I guess you could call it that, and not get far off the road. It had a trigger all right, and when Jules touched this off a nice heavy plank that was like a log dropped, and pinned him down on his chest. We found him gasping for breath, and his gun with a broken lock."

"Gun! Then he was armed, and creeping into your shop!" exclaimed the other, with a frown toward the grinning and apparently indifferent prisoner. "That looks bad, now. What would he want to carry a gun for, if not to injure you boys? And where d'ye suppose he got it at?"

"Oh!" Frank remarked, "he says he entered a farmhouse, and hooked a suit of old clothes, so he could throw away the striped ones. And at the same time he helped himself to that old musket, thinking he might have to hunt game while he hid in the woods."

"Look here, Frank, wasn't you telling me about some villain who fired a shot up at you boys when you were flying over the Powell woods?" asked the Chief.

"That's so, and we believe it was Jules, all right," Andy took the liberty of saying; for when excited he could not be kept still.

"But he wisely declines to commit himself, so there is no proof," Frank went on. "And at any rate, what's the use bothering about that little thing? There was no real harm done, except a little scare. And I think Jules will have about all the trouble he wants to handle without adding any to it."

He looked at the prisoner, perhaps with a touch of feeling. At any rate, to the surprise of them all, Jules actually smiled, and made a declaration that proved he had been using his eyes and ears since coming among the campers.

"I just want to say right here, Chief, that I was a fool to bother about these boys. I got what I deserved. I should have left them alone. And mark me, that if ever I have the luck to escape again never will I turn one hand to injure them. Now take me to your old lockup. I want to sleep."

So they took him to the car, and that was the very last the Bird boys ever saw of Jules Garrone, once a well-known French aviator, until he fell into evil ways. No doubt he was returned to the penitentiary, where he would have to serve an additional length of time because of his flight.

Of course the talk for an hour or more was all about the recent adventure. But in due course of time Andy began to get uneasy.

"We're losing a fine chance for a spin, Frank!" he grumbled, glancing up at the sky, across which here and there clouds were slowly moving, but with no indication of coming trouble.

"Well, do you know," smiled the other, immediately, "I was just thinking that same thing myself. Suppose we do hitch up, and take a drive in our aerial go-cart, Andy. There are a heap of little things I'd like to experiment on before that race comes off with Percy."

"All right. And the sooner we start the better," Andy flashed back. "What d'ye say to going all over the course this morning? It would only be the right thing; and when rowing clubs train for a race they always study the course foot by foot, so as to learn the currents, the hidden rocks, and the chances for head winds. Will you take me up on that, Frank?"

"If you mean that we head across to Hazenhurst, and interview that liberty pole Percy lays so much stress on, I'm willing. Then again, I want to try for height while we're about it. We don't know just what this biplane can do, or how it'll act when a mile or so up."

"Huh! I didn't see anything the matter when we landed on top of the peak," remarked Andy. "Sure she was all to the good then. Frank, honest Injun now, I'm more in love with this outfit than I ever was with our first one. I can see possibilities about a biplane that a monoplane never can own."

"Wait," said Frank, "the proof of the pudding is in the eating. After we've had this a week we can begin to talk. Just now it's up to us to study her every little whim, and try to improve on things."

The other boys were taking turns in going home and "making the acquaintance of their folks," as Larry quaintly put it. But there would be a couple of them at the shop all the time. Of course there was now no danger from Jules, since he had fallen upon evil ways; but as Larry said mysteriously, "you never could tell," and everybody knew whom he had in mind, although no name was mentioned.

The Bird boys had that running start down to a fine point. Frank had made an especial study of it, so as to rise in the air with as little ground work as possible. And this was what served him well on many occasions—for instance when on the plateau of Old Thunder Top, where the level space was limited.

So they rose quickly and successfully. Andy gave a yell of satisfaction, to indicate that his confidence in the new aeroplane was being strengthened every minute that he saw her strong points being developed.

They rose to a considerable height before starting away in the direction of Hazenhurst. It looked just like a homing pigeon seeking an altitude, from which it could find its bearings, before starting in a bee line for its loft far away.

Andy was using the glasses, while Frank drove the machine, and studied every little part, touching a straining wire guy here, and tightening a valve there, as he noted minute chances to improve conditions.

It was this complete mastery of the subject that gave him such control over his aeroplane; so that when he chose he could develop unexpected resources of speed, or ability to successfully carry out difficult feats.

"I can see the town easy enough from here," announced Andy, presently.

"Am I headed right?" asked the pilot.

"Just send her a trifle more to the northwest. There, now we aim straight for Hazenhurst," Andy called out; for the motor was crackling, and besides, there was more or less noise arising from the stiffened planes, so that it became necessary to raise the voice in order to be easily heard.

So, for some little time they went humming merrily along, just "eating up the miles," as Andy remarked delightedly.

It was a great sensation for these two lads; but having been at this now for so long a time they fairly overcome the thrill that is apt to seize upon a novice.

Frank had dropped down to a lower level. Since they were now passing over territory that they had never before looked down upon from such a height, it was just as well that they keep to that distance from the earth which would probably be their course during the race that Percy had forced upon them.

And all the time they drew nearer the town that was to be their goal. Both boys had been there once or twice. But this was years back when they used to wheel all around the surrounding country during vacations. They had now gone a long ways ahead of pedaling a bicycle. After once soaring through the air in a biplane no one could ever be content to go back to the old ways.

"I can see the commons," announced Andy, who was using the glass. "Yes, and there's the liberty pole too, right in the middle. See that big green stretch, Frank? Will you drop lower, and circle it while we're over here?"

"Why not? Might as well go the whole thing when about it," returned the other, as he continued to test first one thing and then another.