CHAPTER VIII.
HERC GETS "A TALKING TO."
When Ned came to himself, it was to find the farmer's wife bending overhim and laving the wound on his head with warm water. Herc, with aquizzical look on his face, stood nearby.
"Whoof!" he exclaimed, as Ned opened his eyes. "What struck us?"
"I guess a bullet nicked me," grinned Ned; "it isn't much of a wound,is it?"
"Only grazed the skin," the farmer's wife assured him. "I am sothankful. It would have been terrible if either of you had come toserious harm through your brave act in my defence."
"Oh, that's all right, ma'am," said Ned, scrambling to his feet, "gladto have been of service. But whatever hit you, Herc?"
For Herc was holding his head now, with a lugubrious expression.
"Blessed if I know. Wish I did. I saw you fall, and jumped in to landKennell. I grabbed him, and was bearing him down, when somethingthat felt like a locomotive hit me a fearful wallop. Then I went toslumberland."
"Oh, how frightened I was, when I recovered my senses, and saw you twobrave lads lying on the floor," said the farmer's wife, almost overcomeat the recollection.
"Well, unless this house is haunted by spooks, who can hit as hard assteam-hammers, we'll have to come to the conclusion that Kennell hadsome confederates," decided Herc.
"The whole thing has a queer look to me," admitted Ned, with a puzzledlook. "I can't make it out at all. You are sure that the fellow whoannoyed you had no companions, madam?"
"I'm certain," declared the farmer's wife positively. "He came heresoon after my husband drove off to town. He asked for something to eat,which I gave him. When he had finished he frightened me by demandingmoney. I gave him what little I had, but he insisted that my husbandhad more concealed about the premises. If you had not come in time,I do not know what I should have done. But whom have I got to thank?You--you," looking hesitatingly at the queer combination of aviationcostume and regulation jackie uniform the lads wore, "you aren'tsoldiers, be you?"
"Not yet, ma'am," rejoined Herc gravely, "although at times we aretempted to soldier."
"We're soldiers' first cousins," laughed Ned.
"Oh, I see, sailors. But then, what is that contraption out there?" Shepointed out of the window at the aeroplane. "I saw one like it at thecounty fair. Be you flying sailors?"
"I guess that's just what we are, ma'am," laughed Ned. "And thatreminds me that we must be getting along. It is going on for noon."
He appeared about to go, and Herc was following his example, when thewoman checked them.
"Oh, you must not go till you have told me your names," she said. "Myhusband would like to thank you personally for your bravery."
"As for our names, they are soon given," said Ned. "But for thanks--Iguess it's the duty of Uncle Sam's sailors to do all they can to helpthe weak, and----"
"Land the bullies," finished Herc, with a flourish of his fist.
"Only this time it looks as if the bully had landed us," put in Ned,with a chuckle.
"Humph!" grunted Herc, feeling his head ruefully. "But," he added,cheering up vastly, "we had him on the run, anyhow."
"That's so," agreed Ned, "and I see, 'by the same token,' as Mulligansays, that he was in such a hurry he left the spoons behind him."
He pointed to a scattered heap at the door which the farmer's wifepounced upon gratefully. The spoons were all there but one, andKennell's exit must have been hurried, to judge by this fact. Evidentlyhe had dropped them by accident and had not tarried to pick them up.
While the farmer's wife looked on in wonderment, and not a littlefear, Ned and Herc prepared their machine for flight. In a little lessthan ten minutes' time, they had taken the air with a roar and whirr,throwing the domestic animals about the place into panic. Withoutincident they winged their way back to the aviation field, arrivingthere in time for a hearty noon-day dinner at the farmhouse.
Ned's head was bandaged, and Herc's cheek was swollen, but theyvolunteered no explanation of their injuries, and Lieutenant De Freesconcluded that they had met with some slight accident of which they didnot care to speak, and deemed it best not to ask questions.
During the noon-day meal, Ned watched the countenances of Merritt andChance narrowly. Although he had not the slightest thing to base hisbelief upon, an obstinate idea had entered his head and would not leaveit, and that was, that they had, in some manner, something to do withthe occurrences of the morning. He mentioned this to Herc afterward,but was laughed at for his pains.
"It was some sort of a hard-hitting ghost that landed me that sleepwallop," declared Herc, who, as we know, was reprehensibly given toslang on all occasions.
The afternoon passed quietly. Merritt and Chance asked leave to go intothe town, which was not far off, and they were granted an afternoon'sfurlough. In what manner they employed it, we shall learn before long.Ned and Herc watched them go off, arm in arm, and Herc turned to Nedwith an indignant snort.
"Whoof! I'll bet those chaps are up to some more cussedness. Look howthey've got their heads together. Wonder what they are plotting now?"
"Don't know, and don't much care," laughed Ned; "tell you what,Herc, you'd better get out and practice, instead of wasting time onspeculations over Merritt, Chance and Co. By the way, I wonder whatthey would say if they knew that their old acquaintance, Kennell, wasat large and up to his old tricks?"
"Join him, probably. Especially if it was in anything that would maketrouble for us," returned Herc. "But what are you going to do thisafternoon?"
Herc had noticed that Ned had not donned his aviation "uniform."
"I? Oh, Lieutenant De Frees told me I could get my drawings in shapefor his examination of them to-night. He is to have one or two navalexperts at his quarters, whom he is anxious to show them to. Herc, oldboy, maybe we're on the highway to fame."
"Maybe you are, you mean," flashed back Herc. "I guess I'll be the sameold stick-in-the-mud till the end of the chapter."
"Nonsense. Use your initiative. Think up something new in connectionwith our present line of work."
"A new way to tumble, for instance," grinned Herc.
"There you go. That's your great fault. You can never be serious fortwo minutes together."
"I can, too," remonstrated Herc indignantly. "That time I was in thebrig on the _Manhattan_ I was serious till--till they brought mydinner."
Ned couldn't help laughing at his whimsical chum's frank way of puttingthings. But presently he resumed, more seriously.
"Come, Herc, you don't do yourself justice. You laugh away your realability. Look here, I'll give you an idea to work on. See what you cando with it."
"I'm all cheers--ears, I mean," declared Herc, leaning forward ininterested fashion.
Ned realized that the flippant tone hid real interest. Without seemingto notice it, he went on.
"One of the most needed improvements in the modern aeroplane--Imean where it is used in warfare--is a perfected appliance forbomb-dropping. The present way is pretty clumsy. An aviator hasto let go of his controls with one hand while he manipulates hisbomb-dropping device with the other. Some bit of apparatus that woulddo the work, say by foot-power, would be a big improvement, and add awhole lot to the effectiveness of the machine using it."
Herc kindled to enthusiasm while Ned talked. His careless mannervanished.
"That's like you, Ned," he said with real warmth of affection, "alwaysready to help a fellow out. I'll try to work out something on the linesyou suggested. It's time I did something, anyhow. But the idea willstill be yours, no matter what I do with it."
"Pshaw!" chuckled Ned, "didn't Shakespeare work over old stories intogreat plays?"
"I suppose so," agreed Herc, who did not care to display his almosttotal darkness concerning the late Mr. Shakespeare and his methods.