Part 20 (1/2)
They live by hunting and fis.h.i.+ng, and travel around by means of dog sledges. But it's a dreary life. Me an' my partner had all we wanted of it. An airs.h.i.+p for mine!”
”I wonder what's become of Andy?” spoke Tom, that afternoon. ”I haven't sighted him, and I've been using the powerful telescope. I can't pick him up, though he can't be so very far ahead of us.”
”Let me try,” suggested Ned. ”Put her up a bit, Tom, where I can look down. Andy won't dare go very high. Maybe I can sight him.”
The RED CLOUD shot upward as the young inventor s.h.i.+fted the elevation rudder, and the bank clerk, with the powerful gla.s.s to his eye, swept the s.p.a.ce below him. For half an hour he looked in vain.
Then, with a little start of surprise he handed the gla.s.s to his chum.
”See what you make that out to be,” suggested Ned. ”It looks like a big bird, yet I haven't seen any other birds to-day.”
Tom looked. He peered earnestly through the telescope for a minute, and then cried:
”It's Andy's airs.h.i.+p! He's ahead of us! We must catch him! Ned, you and Mr. Damon speed up the motor! The race is on!”
In a few minutes the great airs.h.i.+p was hurling herself through s.p.a.ce, and, in less than ten minutes Andy's craft could be made out plainly with the naked eye. Fifteen minutes more and the RED CLOUD was almost up to her. Then those aboard the ANTHONY must have caught sight of their pursuers, for there was a sudden increase in speed on the part of the unscrupulous Foger crowd, who sought to steal a march on Tom and his friends.
”The race is on!” repeated the young inventor grimly, as he pulled the speed lever over another notch.
CHAPTER XVI
THE FALL OF THE ANTHONY
Had it not been for what was at stake, the race between the two big airs.h.i.+ps would have been an inspiring one to those aboard Tom's craft. As it was they were too anxious to overcome the unfair advantage taken by Andy to look for any of the finer points in the contest of the air.
”There's no denying that he's got a pretty good craft there,”
conceded Tom, as he watched the progress of his rival. ”I never thought Andy Foger could have done it.”
”He didn't do very much of it,” declared Ned. ”He hired the best part of that made. Andy hasn't any inventive ideas. He probably said he wanted an airs.h.i.+p, and his dad put up the money and hired men to build it for him. Andy, Sam and Pete only tinkered around on it.”
Later Tom and his chum learned that this was so--that Mr. Foger had engaged the services of an expert to make the airs.h.i.+p. This man had been taken to Sitka with the Fogers, and had materially aided them in re-a.s.sembling the craft.
”Do you think he can beat us?” asked Ned, anxiously.
”No!” exclaimed Tom, confidently. ”There's only one craft that can beat my RED CLOUD and that's my monoplane the b.u.t.tERFLY. But I have in mind plans for a speedier machine than even the monoplane.
However I haven't any fear that Andy can keep up to us in this craft. I haven't begun to fly yet, and I'm pretty sure, from the way his is going, that he has used his limit of speed.”
”Then why don't you get ahead of him?” asked Mr. Damon. ”Bless my tape-measure! the way to win a race is to beat.”
”Not this kind of a race,” and the young inventor spoke seriously.
”If I got ahead of Andy now, he'd simply trail along and follow us.
That's his game. He wants me to be the path-finder, for, since I cast a doubt on the correctness of the map, a copy of which he stole, he isn't sure where he's going. He'd ask nothing better than to follow us.”
”Then what are you going to do if you don't get ahead of him?” asked Ned.
”I'm going to press him close until night,” answered Tom, ”and when it's dark, I'm going to shoot ahead, and, by morning we'll be so far away that he can't catch up to us.”
”Good idea! That's th' stuff!” cried Abe with enthusiasm.