The Rover Boys in the Air Part 34

"Do you think Koswell and Larkspur are in this game?"

"Perhaps they are!" cried d.i.c.k. "It would be just like them to join forces with Crabtree and Sobber. They are down and out, and need money, and all of them would expect to get a big stake out of this."

"Then you think they carried the girls off for money?" questioned Tom.

"I do, Tom. You hit the truth when you said they found out they couldn't do anything at the farm, and couldn't reach Mrs. Stanhope and Mrs.

Laning. The only things left were to try to reach us or the girls."

"And they didn't dare tackle us," put in Sam.

"Do you suppose that Mrs. Sobber is in this?" continued Tom, referring to a relative of Tad Sobber, who had a.s.sisted once in the carrying off of Mrs. Stanhope.

"She may be, although she was pretty well scared that other time,"

replied his older brother.

The boys relapsed into silence, each busy with his own thoughts. All were anxious to catch a glimpse of the enclosed touring car. But they came within sight of the village of Beechwood without encountering a turnout of any sort.

"I'll land here and make some inquiries," said d.i.c.k.

"Yes, if the auto went through here somebody must have seen it," said Tom.

A landing was made directly on the village green, in front of the post-office, and a small crowd quickly collected.

"It's them young fellers from Brill!" cried one of the villagers. "I heard tell they had an airship."

"That ain't no airship, it's an aryplane," said another. "They don't lift up like no balloon--they sail like a bird, on them canvas wings."

"Wot makes the thing go, Job?"

"Them wooden things. They go 'round like windmills."

"Say, we want some information and we want it quick!" cried d.i.c.k. "Have any of you seen a big auto go through here, an enclosed auto--one with a coach-like body?"

"Sure we did!" cried one of the villagers. "By heck! the thing nearly killed Si Levering, it did! Si was crossin' the road, when whizz! bang!

shoo! that auto went past him like a streak o' greased lightnin'! Si jumped back an' sit hisself down in the waterin' trough an' got hisself all wet."

"Which way did the auto go?" went on d.i.c.k.

"Right straight ahead."

"No, it didn't nuther," put in a farmer, who had just arrived in the village. "It took the road to Shepleytown--I see it."

"Which is that?" questioned Tom.

"You go up this road about a mile an' then take the cross road to the left. You can't miss it, 'cause there's a big tree on the corner that was struck by lightnin'."

"All right, we'll go to the corner that was struck by lightning," said Tom, who could not help joking, even in that moment of anxiety.

"I didn't say the corner was struck--it was the tree," explained the farmer soberly.

"All right, much obliged," answered Tom; and then the three boys started up the engine once more. The villagers had crowded around, but as those explosions rent the air several leaped back, and then the whole crowd ran for their lives.

"She's goin' up!" one yelled.

"Is the engine goin' to bust?" asked another.

"Look out, Jim, or she'll mow ye down like a mowin' machine!"

"Clear the track!" cried Sam, and then, with the usual rush and roar, the _Dartaway_ leaped over the village green and arose in the air, leaving the gaping and wondering crowd behind.

It was an easy run up to the blasted tree, and sighting this, d.i.c.k headed the biplane along the road that led to Shepleytown.

"How far is that place?" asked Sam.

"I think it is about six or seven miles," answered Tom. "I was there once, on a bicycle--went after nuts with Stanley and Songbird."

"What, to the town?" questioned Sam, with a grin.

"No, the woods back of the town, Sam. Say, that's one on me,--as bad as that countryman's struck-by-lightning corner," and Tom grinned, too.

On and on swept the flying machine, the boys watching every rod of the winding road below. Once Tom gave a cry, as they saw a turnout at a distance. But it proved to be nothing but a tinware peddler's wagon. On the ground lay various pieces of tinware, scattering over a distance of fifty feet.

"Look at that!" cried Sam. "He must have had an accident."

"Say, maybe that auto struck his wagon," exclaimed Tom.

"It looks that way," was d.i.c.k's comment.

"Shall we land and question him?"

"What's the use? We know the machine came this way. That's enough for the present. We don't want to lose a minute more than is necessary."

"Say, we were chumps that we didn't telephone ahead from Beechwood!"

cried Sam. "We might have had that auto stopped when it went through Shepleytown."

"It couldn't be done, for there is no line from Beechwood to Shepleytown," answered d.i.c.k. "The line only runs the other way."

The route was now over a dense woods and the boys had to sail slowly, for fear of pa.s.sing the automobile while the latter was running under the overhanging trees. Once they saw something that looked like an automobile and d.i.c.k had to sail in a circle and come back, to make sure.

But it proved to be only a two-seated carriage; and they pa.s.sed on.

Shepleytown proved to be quite a place, with a main street containing a dozen stores. It connected by stage with Chaplet, which was a railroad center, five miles away.

The coming of the boys created as much of a sensation as had their arrival at Beechwood, and once more the biplane was surrounded.

"Sure, I saw that 'mobile you are after," said one man, in answer to their questions. "It was running putty lively an' no mistake. It went past the mill an' took the old Snagtown road. Queer, too, 'cause that road ain't half as good as the Chaplet turnpike."

"Did you see who was in the auto?" queried d.i.c.k.

"I think a couple o' men an' some girls. I couldn't see very well, the machine run so fast. I had to hold my hoss, for I was afraid they'd run into me."