The Aeroplane Boys Flight

Aeroplane Boys Flight, by John
Luther Langworthy

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Title: The Aeroplane Boys Flight A Hydroplane Roundup
Author: John Luther Langworthy
Release Date: January 2, 2004 [EBook #10576]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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AEROPLANE BOYS FLIGHT ***

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THE AEROPLANE BOYS FLIGHT
Or A Hydroplane Roundup

By JOHN LUTHER LANGWORTHY

MADE IN U.S.A.
M.A. DONOHUE & COMPANY
CHICAGO NEW YORK
1914

CONTENTS
I--THE BOY FLIERS
II--ON GUARD
III--NOT CAUGHT NAPPING
IV--THE STARTLING NEWS
V--THE EXCITEMENT GROWS
VI--FIGURING IT ALL OUT
VII--THE AIR SCOUTS
VIII--JUST BELOW THE CLOUDS
IX--THE PILOT OF THE MERMAID
X--HEARD OVER THE WIRE
XI--COMPARING NOTES
XII--AT THE HOSKINS FARM
XIII--THE BUTTERFLY COLLECTOR

XIV--A CLUE
XV--WHEN CASPER CAME BACK
XVI--THROWING OFF THE MASK
XVII--SALLIE RIDES BAREBACK
XVIII--AN AEROPLANE CHASE
XIX--DROPPING A "BOMB!"
XX--OVER LAND AND SEA
XXI--OVER THE BOUNDARY LINE
XXII--THE HYDROPLANE RESCUE
XXIII--BROUGHT TO BOOK--CONCLUSION

THE AEROPLANE BOYS FLIGHT
Or A Hydroplane Roundup
CHAPTER I
THE BOY FLIERS
"It was my mistake, Frank!"
"How do you make that out, Andy?"
"Simply because I was using the little patent Bird monkey-wrench last
in our shop, and should have put it back in the toolbox belonging to the
aeroplane. The fact that it isn't here shows that I mislaid it. Give me a
bad mark, Frank."
"Well, I must say it's a queer stunt for you to forget anything, Andy

Bird. But with dark coming along, and home some miles away, it's
plain that we'll have to let the mending of that wing go till morning."
"But do you think, Frank, it's just safe to leave our pet hydroplane over
night in this field on the Quackenboss farm?"
"Why not, Andy? Sky as clear as a bell; little or no wind promised; and
then we can hire the farm hand, Felix Boggs, to keep an eye on it.
Looks as easy as falling off a log."
"And all because I didn't put that little wrench where it belonged! Kick
me, won't you, please, cousin; I deserve it."
"Well, I guess not. Didn't I make just as bad a break last week? I guess
now, no boy's perfect. And I don't mind the walk home a bit. Fact is, it
ought to do us both good, because we don't stretch our legs enough, as
it is."
"You're the boss chum, Frank!"
"Then you're another. See what you get for calling me names. But
when you've fastened down that plane so it can't get into trouble, if the
wind should rise in the night, perhaps we'd better be hunting up this
Felix Boggs, and then start for home.
"Well, I'm glad we'll get there in the night-time, Frank, even if the
moon does happen to be nearly full."
"What makes you say that, Andy?"
"Because, when an aviator leaves his wounded machine in a field, and
walks home, it makes him feel like a dog with his tail between his legs,
sneaking along back of the fences."
Frank Bird laughed merrily at the picture drawn by his cousin and then
stooping again, with a few deft turns of a heavy cord, helped Andy
secure the broken plane so it would not get into trouble during the
coming night.

After which the two boys headed toward the barns belonging to the
farm, which just showed their tops above the adjacent rise.
While they are walking there it may be a good time for us to introduce
the pair of young aviators to such readers as have not had the good
fortune to meet them in previous volumes of this series of stories.
The cousins lived in the town of Bloomsbury, a thriving place situated
on the southern shore of Sunrise Lake, which was a magnificent body
of water, said to be nearly seventeen miles long by three wide, in
places.
This lake having hilly shores that were heavily wooded in spots, and
with numerous fine coves, afforded grand sport to the young people of
Bloomsbury, both winter and summer.
The railroad skirted one shore and then passed through the town. Some
miles off arose a lofty peak known as Old Thundertop, which had a
road running part way up its side. The summit was believed to be
utterly inaccessible to mortal man until one day the Bird boys managed
to accomplish the wonderful feat by the aid of their aeroplane.
They had been spending all their spare time, when not