CHAPTER XV
MORE SPEED
Cowering beside David, he got out the miserable confession at last. Barefacts that clothed themselves with sordid details in the minds of thelisteners. Not a man spoke. Not a man could look at him. Searching eachface, Walter Cram saw only the reflection of his own disgrace. He turnedand bolted to the sanctuary of his cabin.
David, the precious envelope in his hand, turned to go; but in a momentthe passengers surrounded him, shaking his hand, patting him on theback, congratulating him wholeheartedly.
One of the last to reach David was the youngest reporter. "Gosh, we areglad, captain! It sure was a rotten deal for you, and not so nice forthe rest of us. Say, it is going to make a swell story!"
"Round up the other press men, will you, please?" David asked.
When they came, he said, "Boys, I know you will give me a square deal. Iam going to ask a big favor of you. I don't want you to write a wordabout what has just happened. Not a single word."
"Aw, have a heart, captain! It's too good to kill," cried the starreporter.
"But you are going to kill it just the same," said David, smiling at thespeaker. "I think you fellows are all good friends of mine. I think youwill kill the story for my sake. And if you won't, why, please kill itfor the sake of the Moonbeam. It's her maiden flight, you know, and itwould be a crime to smear her all up with such a dirty scandal."
One of the men laughed. "Hear him! You'd think the ship was a girl.Well, Captain Ellison, it's all right as far as I go. I'll respect theunblemished reputation of your husky lady-love. How about it, boys?"
There was some grumbling, but finally David won their promise. Theaffair of the stolen plans would never get into print.
Cram did not appear nor would he eat, sending back untouched the traythe chef sent in. About ten o'clock Mr. Hammond went to Cram's room. Itwas two hours before he came out and called David.
"Well, David, I guess this unfortunate affair is nearly finished. I wishI could forget it. I made Cram talk to me. He acknowledged that he hadit in for you, but his reasons were so vague that I couldn't makeanything out of them. However, it's done. I am sorry for him, but he'sgot to be wiped off our slate. So I've bought him out; taken over hisshares in the Moonbeam. I gave him a check, and made him sign receiptsfor everything. He is going to leave us at Los Angeles."
"Thank Heaven for that!" said David devoutly. "I simply can't bear tosee him. I want a chance to forget, too."
The remainder of that night was stormy, and David made it an excuse forremaining at the wheel or around the control room most of the time. Withthe first glimpse of the California coast line the next morning, as theycame down toward San Francisco, the weather changed into a sparkle anddazzle of sunshine and balmy breezes. They were flying low past thecity, its hundreds of slips and piers stretching out into the bay like afringe. The usual civic greeting met them. Flags broke out, whistlestooted, sirens moaned, and bells rang. Numbers of planes buzzed aboutthem like flies, their engines roaring out the general spirit ofwelcome.
David sent for Red.
"After we have landed at Los Angeles, I want you to go with me to see ifwe can't get the accelerators made up. I know they can be done, but wemay have to oversee the job pretty closely."
"Sure, we will do that. It won't take long. There is nothing that wouldrequire a mould or special machinery."
"If we get them made," said David, "we will adjust them to the engineswithout telling anyone but the engineers. There can be no harm in tryingthem. We are only two hours ahead of the time of the G. Z., and a run ofbad weather would make us lose every bit of that."
"We won't lose that, if we have to get out and push," declared Red.
When Los Angeles opened her arms to them at twelve-twenty, noon, manythings happened. The first one off the ship was Walter Cram. He swunghimself down almost before the steps were adjusted and, like a shadow,slipped into the cheering crowd. Only Dulcie saw him go. From her windowshe watched the slim figure hurrying away like a fugitive.
"Good-bye, Wally," she whispered.
It was his only farewell.
As soon as official greetings had been extended to Commander Hammond andthe officers, David and Red taxied into the city, the precious plans inDavid's pocket.
Red unfolded a telegraph blank.
"See what they handed me back there. It's a night letter from the Padre.Whatever do you suppose he is up to? He says, 'Am meeting you at landingfield Lakehurst stop most important business stop arrange to spend a daywith me stop mother is fine.' Thank God he added that! I'd have thoughthe had bad news. Here's what I'll answer. 'Can't promise as present planis to take ship back to Ayre immediately. Radio nature of importantbusiness.' That ought to get something out of him."
Red sent his message from the first Western Union office they passed.Then in the delightful excitement of machine shops that smelled of oiland steel he forgot all about it.
At one-thirty the officers and passengers were hurried off to a civicluncheon, and thence to a meeting of the Pioneer Daughters ofCalifornia. But David side-stepped the Daughters, and dashed off to seehow the accelerators were coming along under the eagle eye of Red Ryan.
He had only time to give a few words of advice, then rushed away to areception at the Aviation Club. He begged off from the Board of Commercemeeting which came next, and went to the machine shop again. Red had notleft since the work started, and David made him go out for a sandwich.At five the shop closed, and David and Red drove back to their hotel,where they put the envelope in the safe.
David dressed for the dinner given by the mayor and council. Fourhundred sat down; and for the honor guests, the favors were fountainpens, with cases of California gold. Later they had boxes at a popularshow. Still later, when David finally reached his room, he found Redsprawled out in a big chair.
"My dog, boy, do you know what time it is?" demanded David.
"That and more," said Red, yawning. "I just got in. What's on fortomorrow?"
"Nothing much but the accelerators. I simply can't trail around with Mr.Hammond all day tomorrow. Here's a list of activities: The poor man isgoing to speak before the Board of Trade, the Elks, the Rotary Club, theK. of C., Kiwanis, Masons, and the United Churches of Los Angeles. Alsothere is a luncheon given by the Sons of the Forty-niners, and adinner."
"All I can say is, Miss Dulcie is headed toward an orphans' home. TheBig Fella can't stand it."
"Neither can we, if we don't sleep. Go to bed, you loafer, if you wantto go to the machine shop with me at eight o'clock, sharp!"
On Thursday morning, local committees discovered that the eminentprofessors, Doctors Trigg and Sims, had by some dastardly stroke of fatenever seen Los Angeles! As soon as Dulcie appeared, they were all threebundled into a big limousine, with an enthusiastic native Californianwhom Doctor Sims caustically referred to afterwards as "our barker".
Mr. Hammond worked his way grimly through speeches and interviews, andthe others accomplished great feats of sightseeing. But at last the dayended and as soon as they could escape from their hosts, they retired.
When Mr. Hammond, after a restless night, reached the hangar Fridaymorning, he found David and Red there before him, looking fresh andcrisp. Both were in overalls.
Mr. Hammond frankly acknowledged to the boys his disappointment in theperformance of the ship during the trip over Siberia and the Pacific. "Iwas sure we'd pick up speed, but those head winds have made us lose ourchance to make the record I wanted," he said gloomily. "She just can'tdo it."
"We could gain a little by setting a straight course, instead of flyingover so many cities," David suggested.
"It's not good policy," said Mr. Hammond. "Those big cities want to seethe ship, and really it is their right to do so. No, we will make asgood time as we can on our predetermined course." He walked aft.
"Gee, the Big Fella's low!" said Red, looking after him. "But only a fewhours more, and we will be
ready for him. They promised to deliver thosescrews by nine-thirty. It won't take half an hour then to finishinstalling them. Look here, don't you mean to tell the chief at all?"
"Not until we hang over Lakehurst; and not then, if it's a flop."
"Come and get a sody while we wait," suggested Red. "You are nervous."
"Why wouldn't I be?" demanded David.
The passengers commenced to wander back; the crew gathered, and went totheir places; the usual dense crowd blackened the landing field. Dulcie,still tired, had the peaceful sensation of returning home. Her father,for the first time since the ship started from Lakehurst, showed astrain. It hurt him to lose the distinction of making a record, but hehad definitely given up the hope of doing so. David's seeming unconcernhurt him a little, but he supposed David was too young to take suchthings much to heart.
The ship took off without accident, the ground crew working with thesmooth accuracy of a machine. It was eleven twenty-five of Friday, Julysecond. They started eastward through the crystalline, clean air ofCalifornia--air which always carries its own celestial aroma; a perfume,vague and delicate, made of millions of flowers, seas of fruit, leaguesof pines, all washed with the faint breath of the sea.
"In point of fact," said Doctor Sims, judicially, "the enthusiasm of theCalifornian seems perfectly justifiable. I was rather annoyed at firstby what I thought was the bombastic attitude of our barker. But theyoung man, while enthusiastic, was really quite moderate in hisstatements."
"Decidedly," agreed Doctor Trigg. "I was recently offered a chair atLeland Stanford University. I hesitated to accept it, but I believe itwould be a fine place for an old man to finish his career."
"Gr-r-r-r-r-uh!" said Doctor Sims in his worst growl. "Wild goose chase,I'd call it! Perfect nonsense! At your age, crazy! New climate, new typeof students. How do you know how it would affect your lumbago? Silly,plain silly!"
"Possibly! Possibly!" Doctor Trigg agreed.
Dulcie was looking out of the window. "Aren't we going rather fast?" shequeried, as a couple of the reporters came up.
"We are," said the younger. "We just looked at the indicator thing, andwe are buzzing along at a great rate."
"I must go and see," said Dulcie, hurrying into the control room, whereDavid held the wheel.
"What are we making, Davie?"
David beamed. "Ninety miles an hour!"
"Why, David!" Dulcie studied him curiously. "Isn't that pretty fast forus?"
"Pretty good clip," said David carelessly.
"Does daddy know?"
"I don't believe so," said David. "He hasn't been around for quite awhile."
"Well, he ought to know," declared daddy's own child.
She went off, and almost immediately Mr. Hammond appeared. He saidnothing, but went to the indicator and studied it. "What's wrong withthis indicator?" he asked finally. "We never make that speed."
"It has held that, according to the chart, ever since we left LosAngeles," said David. There was a tremor in his voice, that he couldscarcely control. "If it only works, if it only works!" his heart keptwhispering.
"If it only works!" he said when Red came forward to look at theindicator.
Red gave him a look of disgust.
"If it works! Why, it is working, you dumb-bell! Ninety! Has thecommander seen it? Well, when are you going to tell him?"
"When we reach Lakehurst," said David. "I want to work it out. It isonly fair to me to do that."
"It's your funeral," sighed Red, "and I'll not say a word, but my,wouldn't I enjoy it just to break the glad news to him!"
From then on the dial gradually grew to be the center of a group ofamazed and delighted officers. It climbed to ninety-one, wavered, wentto ninety-three, ninety-four and steadied at ninety-five miles an hour.
David called down to the five eggs by telephone, and the engineersdeclared that the engines were working as usual, with no extraexpenditure of gas.
Before Saturday dawned they were rushing over Texas. Soon El Paso wasbeneath them, then she faded away. At twelve-thirty, Kansas City, secureon the border line of two states, greeted them with bells, whistles andbombs. Then the yelling crowds, standing on roofs and blockingthoroughfares, and the inevitable escort of flitting planes, were behindthem. At seven that evening, going ninety-eight miles an hour, theypassed Chicago, the city roaring back at their roaring engines.
At eleven Detroit appeared, her forests of chimneys belching flames ofgreeting, while hundreds of brazen factory whistles screeched theirwelcome.
No one on the ship thought of bed. The passengers, crowded into thesalon, watched the calm starlit night, listened to the thunder of theengines, and talked. At twelve the myriad lights of Cleveland appeared,crossed and recrossed below them, like chains of diamonds and fireopals. Searchlights caught and held them, a dozen airplanes darted upand played about them. Then the calm and the darkness again.
"Beautiful! Beautiful!" said Doctor Trigg, as he watched the twinklinglight-jewels disappear, and the planes turn back.
"Um!" said Doctor Sims. "Trigg, I can't just see the advisability ofthis Leland Stanford affair. Is the salary larger?"
"Why, I'd forgotten it," said Doctor Trigg. "Yes, they pay verygenerously."
"So does Princeton," said Doctor Sims, loyally.
"Of course; of course! Well, I haven't made up my mind."
"Well, I can't advise for it," repeated Doctor Sims. He cleared histhroat, and said rather forlornly, "Fact is, Trigg, I'd miss you.I--I--actually can't see it, Trigg."
Doctor Trigg turned and regarded the gnarled and puckered old face. Tohim it looked a fine and open countenance, sincere and true. He pattedthe thin shoulder.
"Old friend," he said, "if I go, you go. Did you think for a minute thatI could leave my old friend after forty years? No, no! I couldn't getalong without you."
Doctor Sims groped for the other's hand, and shook it hard. A look ofrelief filled his face.
"Hah--gr-r-r-r-rumph!" he said.
"Exactly!" said Martin Trigg.
CHAPTER XVI
PARTNERS
At two A. M. they were over Ayre, Ohio. The lateness of the hour made nodifference in their welcome. Apparently all the able-bodied persons inthe city had decided to make a night of it, and most of them had comeout to the landing field to greet the silver ship. Big searchlights andhundreds of flares surrounded the field. The mast wore a crown ofcolored lights. Just as they reached the field, all lights wereextinguished long enough to display the words "Welcome, Moonbeam" laidout on the ground in electric letters six feet in height.
They flew so low that the watching throngs could see the passengerswaving. The engines were stopped, and they hung for a minute in thewhite glare. They could hear, as once before, the crowd roaring agreeting to their own ship. "Moonbeam! Moonbeam!" rose the cry. Thendarkness swallowed them again.
"David," said Red, "you just gotta tell Mr. Hammond."
"I don't see it," said David, stubbornly. "Think what a surprise it willbe for him when we reach Lakehurst. We are bound to make the record hewants. I want you to tune her up to a hundred miles now."
Red leaned against the bench, twirling the screw on his wrench.
"Look, David, if you do that, he'll think you've held out on him. Iwould in his place. He knows all about the accelerator. Don't you thinkhe naturally wants to try it out, too? After all, Dave, he's thechief--the commander of this ship, and he's treated you darned white."
"You are right, of course," said David after a long pause, reluctantly."I sort of wanted to make him a present of the record at Lakehurst, butyou are right."
"He's in the salon," said Red. "I'll get him."
As Mr. Hammond came into the control room, he stopped to look at theindicator.
"At this rate," he said hopefully, "we will make our record after all.Did you want to see me, David?"
"If Van Arden will take the wheel, I'd like to ask you to come to myroom
; or perhaps you want to turn in now, sir?"
"Turn in!" exclaimed the chief. "With those engines picking up likethis, and cities to greet every little while--our last night, and all?Good Lord, no! Never was so wide-awake in my life."
"We feel like that too," said David.
Calling Van Arden, the three went to David's stateroom.
"All right, David," said Mr. Hammond, lighting a cigar.
"Shoot!" said Red firmly.
"Well, commander, when we recovered the plans, Red and I decided to havea set of the accelerators constructed in Los Angeles, and try them outas we crossed the States. They couldn't do any harm, and--"
Mr. Hammond waved away details.
"You mean they are on the engines now?" he demanded. "Is that why we aremaking such good time?"
"I hope so," said David.
"You know so, you nut," said Red, angrily.
Mr. Hammond's cigar went out.
"So your accelerator is actually a success. I thought those plans lookedpretty practical. Can we continue the present speed, do you think?"
"Yes, sir, and Red is going now to speed the adjustment up to a hundredmiles an hour."
"Go ahead, Red," laughed Mr. Hammond, rubbing his hands delightedly."Don't let me keep you!"
After Red had gone, opening his wrench with the pleased air of a mansharpening a carving knife for a particularly juicy-looking turkey, Mr.Hammond turned to David.
"Well, son, you have certainly won your spurs. By the way you havehandled the ship, and now by making the record I wanted so much."
"We aren't there yet," said David cautiously.
"You are Scotch, aren't you?" laughed Mr. Hammond. "I congratulate you,David, with all my heart. It is wonderful, absolutely wonderful! I'm asproud of you as though you were my own boy. Where are thosespecifications? I want to look them over again. David, I'm certainlydelighted." He shook hands heartily, as David, with a light heart,handed him the envelope.
Red joined David in the control room later. He was laughing.
"Confess now, David, that it would have been a black deal to leave theBig Fella out in the dark any longer. I met him just now. He's crazyglad. The engineers are havin' a celebration, too. In every egg they areall leanin' over their engines, oiling and wiping and testing, for fearshe might slow down. And they are all remindin' each other that they arepersonal friends of the famous Captain Ellison of the good shipMoonbeam. This must be Newcastle coming," he added, dodging David'sleft. "It is three o'clock."
As they passed over, Mr. Hammond came in and peered at the indicator.
"She's making one hundred and ten miles!" he said shakily.
"It's all right, sir," laughed David.
"Come to my room; I want to talk to you."
He closed the door, and motioned David to a seat.
"I've been figuring this thing out, and I want to make you an offer. Ihave made out a rough agreement for you to sign unless, of course, youwant to consult a lawyer."
"I'll say not, sir," said David decidedly.
"Here's my idea, then. See how you like it. You will take the inventionand enter it in the school contest, but with 'patents pending' all overit. The prize money to be yours. But before that--now, in fact, I willbuy a half interest in it. I bought back Cram's shares in the Moonbeam,you know, and I will make over those shares to you, in payment. As forthe royalties, we will go fifty-fifty. One other matter--" he hesitated."I'd like to share in this in another way, David. It's sort of kiddish,perhaps, but I'd like to see my name--I'd like to announce it as theEllison-Hammond Accelerator."
David took a deep breath.
"Hammond-Ellison, and you are too generous, sir." He held out his hand,and they shook solemnly.
"Good!" said Mr. Hammond. He laughed and pointed to the paper. "Sign onthe dotted line," he quoted, "but think it over first. And now let's seeif Ryan has juggled us up any faster."
The Moonbeam was holding steadily at one hundred and ten, and Davidwanted to talk to Red. Search discovered him in his quarters, playingwith the kitten. He jumped up, letting Trouble slide down his leg.
"Anything up?" he demanded.
"Nothing at all. That is, there's a lot," David stuttered.
Red took a step toward the door.
"Oh, cool off, the ship's all right. Sit down." David repeated hisconversation with Mr. Hammond, and added, "Now, Red, old dear, thatgoes. But with one big IF. If you and I go fifty-fifty on the prizemoney, and fifty-fifty on my share of the royalties. If you will agreeto that I will make the deal with the commander."
"No," said Red promptly.
"Yes," said David.
"No, I tell you! What an idea! He invents a wonderful contraption. It'sa great success; so he hands out half the royalties to somebody, mindyou," Red declared scornfully, "who has just stood around and admired."
"You have helped me all along," declared David. "I couldn't have donehalf so well without you. Honest, Red, you have got to do it."
"God bless you for a generous imbecile, but I won't do it. Come on down,if you won't let a poor working man get an hour's sleep."
"You have got to go halves with me," David persisted doggedly. "Say youwill, and you can go to bed for a couple of hours."
"Then I sit up," said Red. "Tell you what, David! Here's what you cando, and it will mean a lot more than money to me. You can see to it thatI get a job with you. I like you, boy, and we hit it off. Let's sticktogether. Huh?"
"Surest thing in the world! But the other goes, too."
"No," said Red.
"Oh Lord!" groaned David.
Still arguing, they went down to the passenger gondola. Bellefontainewas below them, and it was half-past four.
By eight-thirty Sunday morning they were over New York City. The shipwas all excitement. The passengers looked down with awe at the majesticcity, at its soaring towers and deep canyons, at its embracing riversrunning to the sea, where the ships of all the world come laden to thewharves. The sun blazed on gilded domes and delicate spires, Libertylifted her steadfast torch, and the Moonbeam turned her proud formtoward Lakehurst.
In the control room the operator met Red with a radiogram.
"From the Padre, I suppose. Do you know, he never answered that telegramI sent him from Los Angeles?" Red commented, opening the message. Heread the words over and over, as though disbelieving his eyes.
"Well," he said at last, "the thing that just couldn't happen hashappened. Read it!"
David took the paper. It read:
"Insist on seeing you at Lakehurst stop most important stopgrandfather's farm has let loose with two gushers best grade oil stopworth millions."
"Why, that's immense!" cried David.
"Yes, it's the grand news," said Red. "That farm! It wouldn't growanything but tarantulas and scorpions and prairie dogs. Two gushers! Nowmother, God bless her, can have all her heart desires, and the Padre canbuild himself a whole row of hospitals for his poor. Ain't it grand,David? I'm askin' you!"
"It's the finest thing I ever heard. But what will you do?"
"Stick to me engines," said Red, "forever and ever. And pray that OldFoolish here will now stop tantalizin' me about royalties."
As they walked back through the salon, they found the radio man talkingto the youngest reporter, who stepped up.
"What's this, Mr. Ryan? I guess you have a story for me, haven't you?"
"Not any," said Ryan.
"Oh, sure you have--that message."
Red laughed. "Well, it's luck I came along, if it's this you mean." Hepulled the paper from his pocket. "From my brother," he explained. "Heuses a code. Decoded, it means that he wants me to go with him in NewYork to buy some B. V. D's, and let's see--Oh, some socks! And he wants'em to look like a million dollars. It is a good code. You'd never guessit, would you?"
Unbelief was stamped on the two faces.
"Where is your home, Mr. Ryan?" asked the reporter.
Red grinned at the trap. "Ayre," he said.
"But wh
en you are not in the air," persisted the reporter. Red saunteredtoward the passage. "I'm never anywhere else," he said over hisshoulder.
Mr. Hammond came in from the control room. "Almost there!" he said. "Ihave almost worn that indicator out, looking at it. But I know we havemade the grade."
"We all congratulate you, Mr. Hammond," said Doctor Trigg.
"We do indeed," added Doctor Sims.
"I have already been approached by Parker's Magazine for an article onthis journey," said Doctor Trigg. "I should like you to peruse themanuscript before I send it to them. I want to publish it with yourpersonal approval."
"And I," said Doctor Sims, "am about to finish a valuable monograph on'Epitaphs of the World, Past and Present,' a book which contains thefruit of twenty years of search and selection. I should like to dedicateit, with an appropriately commendatory inscription, to your daughter."
"To me?" cried Dulcie, flinging her arms around Doctor Sims in a quickhug. "How splendid! Won't the girls at college be green with envy?"
Doctor Sims looked at her. "My dear," he said, "you are kind to acceptit. It is all an old man who loves you has to offer. To write anappropriate book for you would tax Orpheus and put Sappho to shame."
"You are very kind, doctor," Mr. Hammond replied; then turning toDulcie, "My dear, I want you to pick yourself out a nice little roadsterin New York."
"Isn't daddy a dear?" asked Dulcie of the world at large.
"You have earned it," said Mr. Hammond, and went into the control roomto gloat once more over the speed indicator.
Doctor Trigg led Dulcie over to a window. "I want to add a word, dearchild," he said. "I want to thank you for what you have done for two oldmen. You have shared your youth and freshness with us. You have openedthe portal into a new world, for Sims and for me. You have unlocked adoor leading into the secret place of my heart. I had thought that itwas full of ashes, but I find that it is still peopled by loving andlovely ghosts, who are glad to accept me again."
"Oh, dear Doctor Trigg," murmured Dulcie, squeezing his arm.
A shout from Mr. Hammond interrupted them, attracting the attention ofeveryone.
"Lakehurst in sight," he cried. "Around the world in nineteen days, andeight hours! Ahead of the flying time of the Graf Zeppelin, and in amuch larger ship."
The reporters cheered lustily. Everyone rushed to shake the commander'shand. Dulcie, with Koko under her arm, went and stood by David at thewheel.
"We will soon be there, Captain Ellison."
"Yes indeed, Miss Hammond," he answered, smiling.
"Look down, David. The place is black with people. Aren't there acres ofcars over there?"
"Many more than when we left," said David. "A terrible mob. It would be,you know. It is the Fourth of July, and the world and his wife and thekiddies are here to see us finish the cruise. Just look at them! I hopethey can keep the field clear. Take this glass. See the flags, and themobs on the buildings outside the field. Enthusiasm! Why, they're crazy!What they won't do to us!"
"It scares me somehow," said Dulcie. "I'd like to stay right here."
"Well, the first flight of the silver ship is ended," David mused, as heguided his ship over the field. "I wonder what her next will be. So manythings have happened."
"The Moonbeam has brought you fame and fortune, hasn't she, David?"
David did not answer. The great ship hovered above the field, thenslowly sank, the landing crew in full formation beneath her. Down anddown, slowly, gracefully until her ropes were seized by eager, practicedhands.
"She's brought me something better than fame and fortune;" said David,suddenly, answering Dulcie's question. "Hammond-Ellison: partners. Doesthat stand, Dulcie?"
Her eyes met his.
"It certainly stands," she said.
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