Chapter 22
The Sheriff On Board
The announcement of Mr. Damon came as a great surprise to Tom and Mr.Sharp. They had supposed that the reference to Shagmon was to a person,and never dreamed that it was to a locality. But Mr. Damon's knowledgeof geography stood them in good stead.
"Well, what's the first thing to do?" asked Tom, after a pause.
"The first thing would be to go to Shagmon, or close to it, I shouldsay," remarked Mr. Sharp. "In what direction is it, Mr. Damon?"
"Northwest from where we were. It's a county seat, and that will suitour plans admirably, for we can call on the sheriff for help."
"That is if we locate the gang," put in Tom. "I fancy it will be noeasy job, though. How are we going about it?"
"Let's first get to Shagmon," suggested the balloonist. "We'll selectsome quiet spot for a landing, and then talk matters over. We maystumble on the gang, just as you did, Tom, on the men in the office."
"No such good luck, I'm afraid."
"Well, I think we'll all be better for a little sleep," declared theeccentric man. "Bless my eyelids but I'm tired out."
As there was no necessity for standing watch, when the airship was sohigh up as to be almost invisible, they all turned in, and were soonsleeping soundly, though Tom had hard work at first to compose himself,for he was excited at the prospect of capturing the scoundrels,recovering the money for the bank, and clearing his good name, as wellas those of his friends.
In the morning careful calculations were made to enable the travelersto tell when they had reached a point directly over the small city ofShagmon, and, with the skill of the veteran balloonist to aid them,this was accomplished. The airship was headed in the proper direction,and, about ten o'clock, having made out by using telescopes, that therewas plenty of uninhabited land about the city, the craft was sent aloftagain, out of a large crowd that had caught sight of it. For it wasthe intention of the travelers not to land until after dark, as theywanted to keep their arrival quiet. There were two reasons for this.One was that the whole country was eager to arrest them, to claim thereward offered by the bank, and they did not want this to happen. Theother reason was that they wanted to go quietly into town, tell thesheriff their story, and enlist his aid.
All that day the Red Cloud consorted with the masses of fleecy vapor,several miles above the earth, a position being maintained, as nearlyas could be judged by instruments, over a patch of woodland where Mr.Sharp had decided to land, as there were several large clearings in it.Back and forth above the clouds, out of sight, the airship driftedlazily to and fro; sometimes, when she got too far off her course,being brought back to the right spot by means of the propellers.
It was tedious waiting, but they felt it was the only thing to do. Mr.Sharp and Tom busied themselves making adjustments to several parts ofapparatus that needed it. Nothing could be done toward repairing thehole in the aluminum container until a shop or shed was reached, butthe ship really did not need these repairs to enable it to be used.Mr. Damon was fretful, and "blessed" so many things during the courseof the day that there seemed to be nothing left. Dinner and supper tookup some time, really good meals being served by Tom, who wastemporarily acting as cook. Then they anxiously waited for darkness,when they could descend.
"I hope the moon isn't too bright," remarked Mr. Sharp, as he wentcarefully over the motor once more, for he did not want it to balkagain. "If it shines too much it will discover us."
"But a little light would be a fine thing, and show us a good place toland," argued Tom.
Fortune seemed to favor the adventurers. There was a hazy light fromthe moon, which was covered by swiftly moving dark clouds, now andthen, a most effective screen for the airship, as its great, movingshape, viewed from the earth, resembled nothing so much as one of theclouds.
They made a good landing in a little forest glade, the craft, under theskillful guidance of Mr. Sharp and Tom, coming down nicely.
"Now for a trip to town to notify the sheriff," said Mr. Sharp. "Tom, Ithink you had better go alone. You can explain matters, and Mr. Damonand I will remain here until you come back. I should say what you hadbest do, would be to get the sheriff to help you locate the gang ofbank robbers. They're in this vicinity and he ought to be able, withhis deputies, to find them."
"I'll ask him," replied Tom, as he set off.
It was rather a lonely walk into the city, from the woods where theairship had landed, but Tom did not mind it, and, reaching Shagmon, heinquired his way to the home of the sheriff, for it was long afteroffice hours. He heard, as he walked along the streets, many personsdiscussing the appearance of the airship that morning, and he was gladthey had planned to land after dark, for more than one citizen wasregretting that he had not had a chance to get the five thousanddollars reward offered for the arrest of the passengers in the RedCloud.
Tom found the sheriff, Mr. Durkin by name, a genial personage. At themention of the airship the official grew somewhat excited.
"Are you one of the fellows that looted the bank?" he inquired, whenTom told him how he and his friends had arrived at Shagmon.
The young inventor denied the impeachment, and told his story. He endedup with a request for the sheriff's aid, at the same time asking if theofficer knew where such a gang as the Happy Harry one might be inhiding.
"You've come just at the right time, young man," was the answer ofSheriff Durkin, when he was assured of the honesty of Tom's statements."I've been on the point, for the last week, of raiding a camp of men,who have settled at a disused summer resort about ten miles from here.I think they're running a gambling game. But I haven't been able to getany evidence, and every time I sent out a posse some one warns the men,and we can find nothing wrong. I believe these men are the very onesyou want. If we could only get to them without their suspecting it, Ithink I'd have them right."
"We can do that, Sheriff."
"How?"
"Go in our airship! You come with us, and we'll put you right overtheir camp, where you can drop down on their heads."
"Good land, I never rode in an automobile even, let alone an airship!"went on the officer. "I'd be scared out of my wits, and so would mydeputies."
"Send the deputies on ahead," suggested Tom.
The sheriff hesitated. Then he slapped his thigh with his big hand.
"By golly! I'll go with you!" he declared. "I'll try capturing criminals inan airship for the first time in my life! Lead the way, young man!"
An hour later Sheriff Durkin was aboard the Red Cloud, and plans werebeing talked of for the capture of the bank robbers, or at least forraiding the camp where the men were supposed to be.