CHAPTER XXIII
HIRAM'S ADVENTURES
The young aviator at once recognized the voice in the adjoining roomwhich spoke the excited, words:
"We've got the other one, too!"
It was Jerry Dawson who had spoken. Dave knew that the statementcould refer to no other than his missing chum. Dave was insomething of a flutter of suspense. Then his eye brightened and acheery smile overspread his face, as he caught the words in a dearlyfamiliar tone:
"Say, do you want to kill a fellow?"
It was Hiram who spoke, in a resentful and disgusted voice. Itsaccents were as pert and ringing as ever, and Dave was overjoyed toknow that his loyal comrade was alive and apparently unhurt.
"Say, Dawson," here broke in Ridgely, "I want to speak to you."
"Put this fellow in with Dashaway," ordered Jerry, and then the doorof Dave's prison place was pulled open. A familiar form camelimping and stumbling across the threshold, and the door was slammedto and locked after him.
"Hiram!" cried Dave in genuine delight.
He drew back as his friend faced him. He had noticed that Hiramlimped. Now he saw that one arm was in a sling. Besides that,Hiram's face was one mass of cuts and scratches. One eye was nearlyclosed.
"Oh, Hiram!" cried Dave aghast.
"Look is if I'd been through a threshing machine, do I?" grinned theplucky lad.
"What happened?" asked Dave seriously.
"Dave," declared Hiram almost solemnly, "I honestly don't know. Themachine drove upwards so quickly I wondered if some jar or thebroken wire that was switching about didn't start the lever. By thetime I got to the pilot's seat the machine was on a terrific whiz."
"What did you do?" asked Dave.
"Not much of anything, except to get rattled," confessed Hiram. "Itried to circle, and she went banking. Then the Machine took theprettiest drift you ever saw. All of a sudden one of the planesdropped and then we landed."
"Where?"
"On top of some trees. Right beyond was a deep basin, chuck full ofundergrowth. The machine just took a slide off the tops of thetrees, and slipped down to the bottom of the basin. Then sheturned, I was thrown out."
"What then, Hiram?" pressed Dave in a concerned way.
"Well, Dave, we had briers and brambles on the farm, but nothing tocompare with those Canadian thistles, or whatever they were. Lookat my face."
"And your arm?"
Hiram shrugged his shoulders resignedly.
"The half breed who looked at it said it was broken. He seemed tobe some kind of an Indian doctor. He rubbed my scratches andbruises with some leaves and set my arm in splints."
"Why, where did the half breed come in?" inquired Dave.
"Well, as soon as I got my wits from the tumble, I thought of you.I tried to get up out of the basin, but the sides were so steep Icouldn't make it. So I--well, Dave," added Hiram with a queerlaugh, "I sort of busied myself about the airship. It wasn't muchbattered up. I feared the Dawson crowd might come hunting for themachine, so--well, I sort of busied myself about the airship,"repeated Hiram, with a strange chuckle. "I was resting when thathalf breed and another fellow came along. The Indian is a greattrailer, I guess, for he was sharp enough to notice the tree topsand the bushes the machine had rolled over. Anyhow, down he came ona rope into the basin and found me."
"And the Monarch II," said Dave.
"No, he didn't find the machine," declared Hiram.
"But--"
"Let me tell my story, Dave," interrupted Hiram. "He got me upaloft. Then he said I was badly hurt, and started in to mend me up.Then they brought me here. They kept talking about the airship, andtried to make me tell where it was. I wouldn't, and didn't."
"Wasn't it in the basin you spoke of?" inquired Dave wonderingly.
"Yes."
"Then why--?"
"Hush! We're going to have visitors."
This was true. There was a sound at the door of their prison room,and the padlock was displaced. Jerry Dawson stepped into view, hisfather behind him.
"Well," he said, with a leer meant to be clever, "I suppose youfellows know me?"
"We know you, Jerry," retorted Hiram, "only too well."
"I'm boss here," boasted Jerry.
"That's fine, isn't it?" said Hiram.
"And I've got you. We'll have your airship soon, too. You'll dosome walking getting back home, I'm thinking."
"What do you want of us, Jerry?" inquired Dave, coolly.
"I want to know where that airship of yours is in the first place."
"Put it in the last place, Jerry," suggested Hiram, "for you won'tfind out from me."
"I'll bet I will," vaunted Jerry. "I have a good mind to punch youfor making all the mischief you have."
"You're safe, Jerry, seeing I'm disabled," said Hiram.
"Bah! Say, Dashaway, who's working against us here or across thelake besides yourself?"
"You will have to, guess that, Jerry," replied Dave.
"You won't tell?"
"No. I'll say this, though: You had better try to even up things insome way. The Interstate people and the government know all aboutyou, and you are likely to have some explaining to do."
Jerry looked worried, but he feigned indifference.
"I'll keep you two safe and quiet till I get ready to quit, all thesame," he snapped out, and slammed the door shut and locked it.
Dave and Hiram listened in silence for some minutes to sounds in thenext room.
They could only catch the echo of voices. Jerry and his fatherseemed to be engaged in conversation.
Suddenly there was an interruption. There was the sound of anexcited voice, drawing nearer each moment.
A door slammed. Then heavy running footsteps echoed out, endingonly as some one appeared to burst unceremoniously into the nextroom.
"What's the row?" the boys heard in the gruff tones of Jerry'sfather.
"Say!" shouted the intruder, evidently a member of their group,"they've done it!"
"Who have?" shouted out Jerry quickly.
"The revenuers."
"What do you mean?"
"They got Ridgely."
A cry of dismay and excitement ran through the next room.
"How do you know?" demanded the elder Dawson.
"I saw them myself--right near Brantford. What's more, they'recoming this way to get the rest of us."
At this announcement came another cry.
"You are sure of that?"
"When was this?"
"How soon will they be here?"
"Who is responsible for this?"
So the cries and questions ran on. There was an excited discussionall around.
"Maybe Ridgely is a turncoat!" cried somebody.
"Well, we can't talk about that now--we must look out forourselves," said another.
"Right you are. Let us get out of here as soon as we possibly can!"
"That's the talk!"