CHAPTER XXIII
THE STOLEN LEVER
The court proceedings, once Masterly had made his affidavit, in whichhe affirmed that the plans of the _Comet_ belonged solely to Mr.Glassford, did not take long. The judge, after hearing Mr. Mortonpresent his case, inquired whether there was anything to be said on theother side. But the lawyer whom Hoswell had hired, with money Noddysupplied, though notified to appear for his client, did not do so.Probably Hoswell knew how the case would go, and dropped it.
"I will vacate this injunction," announced the officer of the court.
"Does that mean we'll have to vacate the tent where the airship is?"asked Bob.
"No; it means that the order Hoswell got, forbidding us to touch ourown motor ship, is null, void and of no effect or virtue," repliedJerry in a whisper. "Come on now, I want to see how the _Comet_ looks."
"Well, you'll soon have that pleasure," said the lawyer. "You can goand take charge now. I will accompany you and serve this court order onthe deputy sheriff. He will then leave you in possession. We may findHoswell there. In case we shall, do you want to make any charge againsthim, Mr. Glassford?"
"I think not. Let him go. I want to give my whole attention to thecoming race. I can't be bothered by that scoundrel."
But when they reached the tent they did not find the conspirator there.The deputy sheriff was asleep in the cabin of the _Comet_, where hehad taken his position, very likely, to prevent the ship being removedwithout disturbing him.
The court order was shown him, and the deputy at once announced thathis duties were at an end.
"I've kept your ship safe for you," he said. "It wasn't my fault thatI had to take charge of it. Just look it over. There's not a thinghappened to it."
"Where is Hoswell?" asked Mr. Glassford. "Has he been here lately?"
"He was here early this morning, but he left in a hurry after thatfellow--what's his name?--Hixon or Dixon----"
"Nixon," supplied Ned.
"That's it--Nixon. Well, Hoswell left in a hurry when Nixon came hereand told him something."
"I guess Noddy told him how the game was going," said Jerry, "andHoswell skipped out. He probably knew we'd be along soon. But I wonderhow Noddy came to locate Masterly?"
"Hoswell put him up to that," said Mr. Glassford. "I asked Masterlyabout it, and he said Noddy came to the tent, introduced himself, andmade his bribery proposition, which we so fortunately overheard. Verylikely Hoswell heard of Masterly's presence here and decided to try andget ahead of me. But he got a dose of his own medicine."
"I only hope he didn't damage the ship for revenge," remarked Ned. "Itwould be just like him, or Noddy, to try to break some part of it."
"That's so," agreed Mr. Glassford, an anxious look coming over hisface. "We must make an examination."
With trained eyes and hands Mr. Glassford rapidly went over the ship.It seemed to be all right, and the boys were beginning to congratulatethemselves that they could make a trip yet that day, when the inventoruttered an exclamation of dismay.
"What's the matter?" asked Jerry quickly.
"The steering lever--the one that operates the elevation and depressionplanes--it's gone--it's been taken off!"
"Taken off?"
"Yes. It's quite complicated, and a very necessary part of the ship.Some one has removed it."
"Then it was Hoswell or Noddy," declared Jerry.
"Hoswell, more likely. Young Nixon wouldn't know how to take it off.It's the lever Hoswell gave me an idea for, and for which I paid himwell."
"And now he's taken it for revenge!" exclaimed Ned. "What's to be done?We must make a new one at once."
"Easier said than done," replied Mr. Glassford. "That lever is quitea complicated piece of work, and it will take at least three days toconstruct a new one and get it in place."
"That will be too late for us to start in the great race," said Jerrysolemnly. "Isn't there any other plan?"
"It doesn't look so," replied Mr. Glassford. "The ship will not steerwell without the use of the elevation rudder, and I can't work thatwithout the lever which Hoswell has stolen."
"Maybe we could find him and make him give it up," suggested Jerry."If we could we might be able to get the ship ready in time."
"And if we don't, we can't," was Mr. Glassford's rather dubious answer.
"Why don't you try the railroad stations?" suggested the lawyer. "Mostlikely he'll try to get out of town as soon as possible. Could he carrythis lever with him?"
"He could, but it's quite large, and I don't believe they'd let himtake it into a passenger coach with him."
"Then he'd have to send it by express," went on the lawyer. "Make atour of the express offices. Very little express goes out before night,and perhaps you can secure the lever. If you can locate it I willarrange the necessary legal papers to enable you to take possession ofit."
"That's a good idea," declared Mr. Glassford. "Boys, we must make atour of the express offices. Start at once. We have very little timeleft. If we don't find that lever we can't race."
"Then we'll find it!" exclaimed Jerry confidently.
But that night, after a wearying round of the different offices, theboys had to admit that they were nearly beaten. There was no recordof the lever having been shipped, nor could they find any trace ofHoswell. There were a number of express offices in Park Haven, but theanswer was the same at each one. Nothing like a lever had been receivedfor shipment.
"And the airship must be ready by to-morrow for the race next day,"said Jerry. "I don't see how we're going to do it. Can't you rig upsome sort of an emergency lever, Mr. Glassford?"
"I wouldn't dare chance it. Never mind, we will have to make a newone. We can't have it in time for the great race, but we can give anexhibition and show the folks what the _Comet_ can do."
"That won't be the race, though," said Jerry with a sigh. "I counted onwinning one of the two prizes."
"So did I," replied the inventor, "but we can't do it."
They were much dispirited that night, and no one slept well. To-morrowwas the last day for getting their ship ready, and they had to sign thefinal papers the night before the race, giving the official weights ofthe passengers, the power of their motor, and other details. Withoutthe lever it would be useless to try and enter. Failure stared them inthe face.
"Well, I suppose we might as well go to the grounds, and see theothers making their final preparations," said Ned, the morning of theday before the race. "We're not in it, though, after all our work. Isuppose Noddy is laughing at us, if he knows what a mean trick Hoswellplayed on us."
"Oh, you can depend upon it he knows about it," said Jerry. "If I catchhim I'll punch his face good and proper."
"That won't find the lever," spoke Ned with a sigh.
"Say, why didn't we try some of the freight offices?" asked Bobsuddenly. "Maybe Hoswell shipped the lever by freight, so as to foolus."
"Freight!" exclaimed Mr. Glassford.
"Freight!" cried Jerry. "That's it! Maybe he has. I wonder we didn'tthink of that before. Bob, you're all to the ice-cream cone!"
"We'll visit the freight offices at once," said Mr. Glassford. "Thereare only three of them, and it won't take long."
"We three fellows will attend to the searching part of it," proposedJerry. "You stay at the hotel, Mr. Glassford, and whoever locates thelever will telephone to you. Then you can have the lawyer take whateveraction is necessary to get it back."
"That's a good suggestion. Go ahead. I'll wait here for you."
It was Bob's luck to locate the lever at the very depot of the railroadover which the _Comet_ had been shipped to Park Haven. The agent toldBob that a man answering Hoswell's description had left the lever forshipment the night of the day on which the injunction was vacated. Ithad been held at the depot because there was so much other freight togo out ahead of it.
Bob lost no time in telephoning the good news, and that noon Mr.Glassford got possession of the very necessary piece of machinery.
/> "Can we get the ship ready in time?" asked Jerry anxiously as they wereall in the tent where the _Comet_ swayed to and fro at her mooringropes.
"We're going to make a big attempt," replied Mr. Glassford, removinghis coat, preparatory to hard work.