CHAPTER VIII
AT HAMILTON CORNERS
Instinctively, as he felt the airship falling, without being undercontrol, Dick had loosed the strap that held him to his seat. Thisadvice had been given as one of the first instructions, to enable theaviator to leap clear of the craft as it struck.
But, in this case the landing had been such a queer one that there wasno time for any of the three to do the latter. Down on the roof of thepig sty they had come, crashing through it, for the place was old androtten.
It was this very fact, however, that saved them from more seriousinjuries than severe joltings. The roof had collapsed, had broken inthe middle, and the squealing porkers were now running wild. Most ofthem seemed to prefer the vicinity of the spot near where the threeaviators were now tumbled in a heap, having been thus thrown by theconcussion.
"Get out of here, you razor-back!" cried Dick, as a pig fairly walkedover him. He managed to struggle to his feet, but another pig tookthat, seemingly, as an invitation to dart between the legs of the youngmillionaire, and upset him.
Dick fell directly back on the form of Captain Grantly, who grunted atthe impact. Then, as Lieutenant Larson tried to get up, he, too, wasbowled over by a rush of some more pigs.
But the two army officers, and Dick, were football players, and theyknew how to take a fall, so were not harmed. Fortunately they had beentossed out on a grassy part of the pen, and away from the muddy sloughwhere the porkers were in the habit of wallowing.
"Get out, you brutes!" cried Dick, striking at the pigs with a part ofone of the pen roof boards. Then, with the army men to help him, hesucceeded in driving the swine out of their way. This done, theaviators looked at one another and "took an account of stock."
"Are you hurt?" asked the captain of Dick, grimly.
"No, only bruised a bit. As the old lady said of the train that cameto a sudden halt because of a collision, 'do you always land this way?'"
"No, indeed!" exclaimed the captain, as he looked at the ruin of theshed, amid which the airship was. "This is my first accident of thiskind. The lever of the vertical rudder snapped, and I couldn't controlher. Luckily the roof was rotten, or we might have smashed everything."
"As it is, nothing seems to be much damaged," said the lieutenant. "Iwonder if we can fly back?"
"It is doubtful," the captain answered. "We'll try and get her out,first."
As they were climbing over the pile of broken boards to get a view ofthe aeroplane, an excited farmer came rushing out of a barn, a shortdistance away.
"Hey, what do you fellers mean--smashing down out of the clouds,bustin' up my pig pen, and scatterin' 'em to the four winds?" heyelled. "I'll have th' law on you for this! I'll make you paydamages! You killed a lot of my pigs, I reckon!"
"I don't see any dead ones," spoke the captain, calmly. "It was anaccident."
"That's what them autermobile fellers says when they run over mychickens," snarled the unpleasant farmer. "But they has t' pay for 'emall the same."
"And we are willing to pay you anything in reason," said the Captain."I don't believe we killed any of your pigs, however. But the shed wasso rotten it was ready to fall down of itself, which was a good thingfor us. How much do you want?"
"Well, I want a hundred dollars--that's what I want."
"The shed, when new, wasn't worth a quarter of that."
"I don't care!" snapped the farmer. "That's my price. Some of my pigsmay be lost for all I know, and pork's goin' t' be high this year. Iwant a hundred dollars, or you don't take your old shebang offen mypremises. I'll hold it till you pay me."
The army officers looked serious at this. Clearly the farmer had aright to damages, but a hundred dollars was excessive.
"I'll give you fifty, cash," said Dick, as he pulled out a roll ofbills. "Will that satisfy you?"
The farmer's eyes gleamed at the sight of the money. And, as Dicklooked at his companions, he caught a greedy glint in the eyes ofLieutenant Larson.
"It's wuth a hundred; smashin' my shed, an' all the trouble you'vecaused me," grumbled the farmer. "But I'll take sixty."
"No you won't. You'll take fifty or you can bring a lawsuit," repliedDick, sharply. "I guess you know who I am. I'm Hamilton, from theKentfield Academy. Colonel Masterly buys some garden stuff of you, andif I tell him--"
"Oh, shucks, give me the fifty!" cried the farmer, eagerly, as he heldout his hand for the money. "And don't you try any more tricks likethat ag'in!"
"We haven't any desire to," said Captain Grantly. "Now we'll see if wecan navigate."
"And I've got t' see if I kin get them pigs together," grumbled thefarmer, as he pocketed Dick's money.
"You can put in a requisition for this, I suppose," suggested thelieutenant. "I don't know whether Uncle Sam ought to reimburse you, orwe, personally."
"Don't mention it!" exclaimed Dick. "I'm always willing to pay fordamages, though I suppose if my Uncle Ezra Larabee was here he'd hagglewith that farmer and make him throw in a pig or two for luck."
"Who is Uncle Ezra Larabee?" asked the lieutenant, curiously.
"A relative of mine," answered Dick. "Rather 'close' as regards money."
"Is he rich?"
"Yes, quite wealthy, but you'd never know it. He lives in Dankville,and he and my dog Grit never can get along together. He hates Grit andI guess Grit doesn't love him. But shall we try to get this machineout of the shed?"
"I guess it's the best thing to do, now that the pigs are out of theway," agreed the captain.
And, while the farmer and his hired man were chasing after the escapedpigs, the army officers and Dick began extricating the airship. Thesplintered boards of the pig-shed were pulled to one side, and then itwas seen that, aside from a broken landing wheel, little damage hadbeen done. The engine was not harmed in the least and the snapped wirethat had prevented the rudder being set to make a proper landing, waseasy to splice.
"And, as we've got a spare wheel we can put that on and soon startback," said the lieutenant.
"Say, this is getting off better than even in an automobile accident,"spoke Dick, with a laugh. "I didn't know you carried spare parts."
"We do the wheels, as they are very light," the captain said. "Nowlet's roll her out and see what we can do."
The smashed wheel was removed from the axle, and the spare onesubstituted. The broken wire was repaired and the aeroplane was nowabout the same as before. It was rolled to a level place, and themotor tested. It ran perfectly.
The farmer, having collected all his pigs, and perhaps feeling joyfulbecause of the fifty dollars in his pocket, agreed to "hold back" onthe craft, to steady it until the necessary speed of the motor had beenattained. His hired man helped him.
Just as the captain was about to give the word to "let go" the otherairship was seen coming to look for the missing one. But there was nowno need of assistance, and, a moment later, Dick and his companionsagain arose in the air.
A quick return was made to the Academy, those in the other airshipbeing informed, by a signal, that all was now right. When the story ofthe queer landing was told, Dick was regarded as a hero by hiscompanions.
"Just think!" complained Paul, whimsically, "your first trip, and youhave an accident and you don't get so much as a scratch."
"Yes, but I got run over and knocked down by a pig," laughed Dick."I'll take the scratches, please. No more pigs!"
"And after that, are you still going to build an airship?" asked Innis.
"I sure am! It's the greatest sensation in the world--aviation! Iwouldn't miss it for a fortune. And I'm going to pull down that twentythousand dollar prize; don't forget that, fellows."
"Good luck!" wished Paul.
In the days that followed there were many more airship flights, but noaccidents of moment. Dick went up again several times, and at last wasallowed to run the aeroplane himself, with the captain and lieutenantto coach him. Then only one officer went along, another cadet be
ingtaken up with Dick.
And finally the day came when Dick was qualified to take the craft upalone, with two other cadets. He had graduated as a pilot of the air,and properly proud he was of the honor.
"All you want now is experience," said Captain Grantly, as Dick cameback after a successful flight with Paul and Innis. "And that takestime."
Dick's two intimate chums also qualified as amateur pilots, and anumber of other cadets were equally successful. The aviation course atKentfield was very popular.
Then came the end of the term, and the summer vacation was at hand. Thelast drills and guard-mounts were held. The graduation exercises werefinished in a "blaze of glory." The Juniors gave a gay dance, at whichDick and his chums met the pretty girls whom they had seen at the dockthat day.
"And now for Hamilton Corners!" cried the young millionaire, when theAcademy was formally closed for the term. "I want you fellows to comeout with me, and watch my airship being built."
Mr. Vardon had found he could not build for Dick at Kentfield the crafthe wanted. It would take too long, and there were not the facilities.So he and his helper went to Hamilton Corners, to do the preliminarywork. Dick and his chums were to follow as soon as school was over.Larry Dexter went back to New York, but promised to join Dick in timefor the flight for the big government prize.
"Well, Dad, how are you?" cried Dick, as he greeted his father at thefamily mansion in Hamilton Corners.
"Fine, my boy! There's no use asking how YOU are, I can see you arefine!"
"Did Vardon and Jack get here? Have they started work?" Dick wanted toknow.
"Yes, I did just as you asked me to in your letter. I let them havethe run of the place, and they've been busy ever since they came. Ihope you are successful, Dick, but, I have my doubts."
"I'll show you!" cried the cadet enthusiastically.