CHAPTER XXII
OVER LOST VALLEY
The crowd about the airship stared in wonder, not only at the strangecraft, but at Mr. Bell, for they had heard what he had said.
"Right in here," urged Jerry, leading the aged man to the cabin. "We'vebeen hoping against hope that we'd meet you, so that you could show uswhere lost valley is, and help us rescue Deering's Band."
"Deering's Band? Do you know about them? Have you heard of LostValley?" queried Mr. Bell, who seemed dazed.
"We were on our way there when we stopped here for gasolene," explainedBob.
"Is it possible?" murmured the former hermit. "I can't understand it."
"We'll have a general explanation soon," promised Jerry. "Come into thecabin, everyone, and we'll have a talk. The crowd will stay outside, Iguess."
The crowd was too curious, however, to refrain from climbing all aboutthe available parts of the _Comet_, but they did no harm, and as longas they kept out of the cabin the boys did not care.
"First," began Jerry, when they were all seated, "I'll tell Mr. Bellhow we came to know about Lost Valley," which the lad proceeded to do,from the theft of the airship, the recovery of it, the flight of Noddy,the discovery of the letter the bully let fall, and the finding of thefragments of the one left by Mr. Bell.
"I understand now," declared the aged man. "It all fits in with what Ihave to tell you. I'll make it as brief as possible, as I want to startto the rescue. An airship is the only thing that can be used to savethe unfortunate people, if, indeed, any are left alive. I will begin atthe beginning.
"After you boys took me away from Lost Lake," he said, looking kindlyat Jerry, Ned and Bob, "and had restored my son to me, I took up myresidence in a small town not far from here. My son became a travelingsalesman, going all over this country, and that is one reason formy delay in coming back from Cresville, where I went to find you. Ihaven't been able to locate my son, and lost his address, and I guesshe has been too busy to write to me. However, that does not matternow, as I expect to hear from him soon.
"Well, I lived in peace and comfort in my home in the town not farfrom here, and had everything an old man could wish. One day, abouttwo months ago, as I was sitting on the front stoop, I saw an agedman pass. His clothes were in tatters, and he seemed the worst sortof a tramp. The children in the streets were abusing him, more fromthoughtlessness than from any desire to harm him. I made some inquiriesof them, and learned that they considered the old man crazy.
"I felt sorry for him, and, after sending the children away, I tookhim into my house, gave him a meal, let him have a bath, and fittedhim with decent clothes. I then saw that he was not crazy, but thatsuffering and hardship had made him weak minded. In a few hours, afterrest and nourishment, he was able to tell me his story, and a wonderfulone it was, for it was the tale of the prisoners of Lost Valley."
"Was that man one of the survivors of Deering's Band?" asked ProfessorSnodgrass.
"He was," answered Mr. Bell solemnly.
"Mr. Snodgrass is a cousin of Amos Deering," explained Jerry.
"Is it possible?" ejaculated Mr. Bell. "Then he will be doublyinterested in what I have to tell. This man, whose name was BertramLoftus, was one of Deering's Band. As you already know, Mr. Deering leda party of prospectors in a search for gold. Some of them were friendsof mine. They got to this part of the country, and heard of a fertilevalley, where gold was said to be plentiful, and where conditions oflife were almost ideal. They started for it, only to fall in with aband of Indians who offered to lead them to the valley.
"This the savages did, but for motives of their own. Lost Valley, asit has come to be called since, was practically a lost valley then;that is, only the Indians knew the location. They led the whitepeople into it, taking care to make the entrance at night, and in themorning Deering and his comrades, including women and children, foundthemselves prisoners in the valley. There was but one way out, and theIndians closely guarded the secret of it.
"Well, the party tried to escape when they found that they wereprisoners, and several were killed in the conflict, so Mr. Loftus toldme. The others resigned themselves to their fate and were virtuallymade the slaves of their captors, who took from them everything ofvalue. Years went on and the children grew up, the old men and womendied, until now scarcely a third of the original band is left. Manytried to escape, but either failed or were killed.
"Finally Loftus, who was a young miner when the Indians capturedhim, resolved to try to get away, hoping to be able to bring help.His escape was carefully planned. Indeed, he did not undertake ituntil many years from the time of the captivity. All those years thepoor people had been held prisoners by the Indians. I suppose whenthe savages first led them into the valley, it was with the ideaof taking what wealth they had. But the disappearance of the bandattracted attention, and if there had been proof that the Indians wereresponsible, government troops would have been sent out, who wouldhave exterminated the redmen. This risk of government aid made itnecessary for the savages to guard their prisoners closely. Well, as Isaid, Loftus planned his escape, and he accomplished it after terriblehardships.
"When he finally climbed out of the valley he was almost as badly offas before. He traveled on, but his mind became a blank, and finally hefound himself in my town. There the treatment I gave him restored hisreason, and he told me his story. It was three years after his escapethat I came across him, and all that while the poor people in thevalley had doubtless been waiting in vain for some sign of the help hepromised to bring, while he had been aimlessly wandering about, havingpractically forgotten his mission.
"I told him I would aid him, and when he described the valley, and howdifficult it was to approach, I at once thought of an airship as theonly possible means. Then, naturally, I thought of you motor boys, forI had read of your _Comet_. I told Mr. Loftus that he and I would setout for Cresville, see you, and get you to help us. But the day beforewe were to start, Mr. Loftus died. The hardships he had suffered hadbeen too much for him. I felt very badly, but I resolved to carry out,with your help, the work he had undertaken. After seeing that he wasprovided with decent burial, I started for the East, intending to seekout you boys. I sent word to my son where I was going, as he was awayfrom home. Well, this story is getting pretty long, but it will soon befinished."
"It is intensely interesting," observed Professor Snodgrass, who,for the first time since he had joined the boys, was not looking forspecimens.
"I came East," went on the former hermit, "and reached Cresville. ThereI met Noddy Nixon, and, on inquiring where you motor boys lived, wastold. He wanted to know my errand, and foolishly I told him. I alsosaid that the trip to Lost Valley might result in securing a largeamount of gold, for Loftus said that his comrades had found a number ofnuggets.
"That was indiscreet on my part, as I discovered later. Noddy Nixonuntruthfully told me that he was a great friend of you boys, and thathe owned part of the airship. He said you three were away from homejust then, but that he would take me in the airship, and we would startfor Lost Valley, picking you up on the way. I believed him, and, incompany with another lad, whom he called Pender, we went one night tothe airship shed. I thought at the time that it was rather odd to getit at night, but Noddy made some excuse.
"Well, we were admitted to the airship shed by the watchman, and I tookmy place in this cabin where we are now. Afterward I heard something ofa struggle, but I thought little of it. We started off, and all seemedto go well, Noddy managing the airship quite skillfully. Then came theaccident the next morning, and while he and Pender were discussing it,I was writing a letter to my son. From something the two boys said Ilearned that they had stolen the airship from you, and I resolved to goaway from them at once. I tore up the letter I had written to my son,telling of the attempt I was to make to rescue the poor people of thevalley, and hastily fled. Noddy tried to stop me, but I would not stay.I left them, and I have not seen them since.
"Very foolishly, I thought the ship was
damaged beyond repair, and Ifeared you would blame me. I resolved to return home until I couldsee my son, and have him explain matters to you. On my way here I wasrobbed, and had no money for carfare. No one would believe the storyI told, I could get no aid, I had lost my son's address, and I had totramp nearly all the way back West. I arrived home a week ago, and wasvisiting some friends here when I saw the airship come down."
"Lucky for us you did," remarked Jerry. "Now you can take us to LostValley."
"Are you still determined to go?" asked Mr. Bell.
"You bet!" cried Bob and Ned in a breath.
"I'm glad of it," spoke the former hermit. "I have not yet been ableto communicate with my son. I hardly knew what to do, as I wantedto fulfill the mission on which Mr. Loftus started. When I saw yourairship I hoped to be able to induce the owners of it to aid me in myquest, but I had no idea I would meet you boys. I imagined your craftwas hopelessly smashed."
"It wasn't Noddy's fault that it kept together after the way he handledit," observed Jerry. "But we soon had it in shape again, after he andJack Pender ran away. We couldn't imagine what had happened to you, butit's all clear now. We'll start for Lost Valley at once."
"Hush! Not so loud," cautioned Mr. Bell. "Few people around here knowthe story of Deering's Band. It happened long ago, you see, and now ifit was to be known that there was gold in the valley there would be arush there, men would lose their way and be killed, and no good wouldresult. Or, if they found the valley, and tried to enter, the Indiansmight kill the few remaining members of the band, to do away withall evidence against themselves. Our best plan will be to go at thisquietly. Slip off, go to the valley, and try to effect a rescue. I canshow you the way, for Mr. Loftus, before he died, left me a rude map ofthe locality."
"That's a great story," commented Jim Nestor when Mr. Bell had finished.
"It sure is," added Sledge Hammer Tod. "I want a chance to handle someof them Indians."
"You'll get it," promised Jerry. "Boys, we must go for the gasolene atonce. Then we can slip away after dark, and no one will be the wiser."
They came out of the cabin. The crowd around the airship was greaterthan ever, and the boys and other occupants of the craft wereoverwhelmed with questions. They answered as well as they could, butsaid nothing of the object of their trip. Mr. Bell remained in thecabin, as he was tired.
In a short time the water, oil and gasolene tanks were refilled, andthen supper was served, with Bob, of course, in the role of cook.
It was quite late ere the last of the stragglers had seen enough ofthe airship and departed. Then, when all was in readiness, the bag wasfilled with gas, and an ascent was made without the use of the planesor propellers, thus rendering their departure noiseless. When the_Comet_ was about two thousand feet high, the propellers were started.
"Which way shall we head, Mr. Bell?" asked Jerry, as he took his placein the pilot house.
"Northeast," was the former hermit's reply, as he consulted the mapleft by the man who had escaped from Lost Valley. "We are severalhundred miles from the place."
"We can reach it by to-morrow," announced Jerry, a grim look on hisface.
All that night the airship rushed on, and in the morning it was stillcrossing the rugged mountains. On and on it flew. Now the scenebelow would be lost in a dense fog, and again sharp peaks would rearthemselves from the sea of mist. On and on they went, never halting.
It was toward evening that Mr. Bell, who by turns had been looking atthe map and observing the landscape below through a telescope, suddenlycalled out:
"Slow down, Jerry!"
"What's the matter? Are we going to hit something?" inquired the talllad, who was in the motor room, while Ned was steering.
"No, there's no danger of hitting anything," answered Mr. Bell, "butjust ahead of us I see the tall peak that marks the entrance to LostValley."
"Lost Valley? Are we there?" cried Ned, as he threw the propellers outof gear.
"We're almost there," replied the former hermit.
A moment later the curtain of mist was brushed aside by the wind, andthe travelers saw below them a long, narrow valley held between sheercliffs of great height. It was no wonder that escape from it was almostimpossible. An instant later the airship had swung farther over thedeep chasm, and then the white vapor was once more brushed across thevalley, shutting it from view.
"The fog served us a good turn," said Jim Nestor. "It will prevent theIndians from sighting us."
"We'll descend now," decided Jerry, "anchor for the night, and thendecide what is best to do."