Somehow the young aviator felt his heart warm to the man of whom he had heard so much, but had never before seen. The old gentleman"s eyes rested on him in a kindly earnest way that made Dave feel less lonely in the world.
Briefly Mr. King told of the chase he had made to locate Mr. Dale.
"I"ve got a long story to tell," said the aviator, when he could get a chance to talk. He turned to Mr. Dale. "That is, if you wish me to tell it," he added.
"Certainly," was the ready reply. "You can probably tell it better than I can."
"Well, to begin with, it was no easy task to get on the track of this fellow Gregg," commenced the well-known aviator. "I had to do some tall hunting before I could locate him and his two cronies."
"His cronies?" repeated Dave.
"Yes, he had two fellows in the game with him. I guess he found out that he could not manage it alone. The three of them called on Mr.
Dale and at first got him to take an automobile ride. Then they took him to a lonely house down near Slaytown, and there they kept him a prisoner."
"A prisoner!"
"Yes."
"Just as we were kept prisoners," muttered our hero.
"Mr. Dale says he was treated very nicely, for Gregg no doubt, had an idea he could get more money that way."
"Well, after a good deal of hard work I located the spot and saw Mr.
Dale from a distance. I knew I could not rescue him single handed, so I went back to town and notified the police. I had hard work getting three officers to accompany me, because the police just then were having their annual inspection and parade and all wanted to be present. When we got to the lonely house we got a big surprise."
"How was that?"
"Gregg and the two men and Mr. Dale were gone."
"Where to?"
"At first I couldn"t find out. But we saw wagon tracks in the soft roadbed and followed these along the road and through a big field.
Presently we came to a patch of woods, and there found what in years gone by had been a lumber camp. At the old house we saw a horse and wagon, and we knew the crowd must be somewhere around. We separated, and came up to the place from all sides. In a shed near the house we found Gregg and the two men. They were discussing the situation, when we pounced on them and surprised them."
"Did they resist?"
"Gregg did, and as a consequence he got a blow in the mouth from a policeman"s club that broke off two of his teeth. Then all of the crowd gave up, and we handcuffed the lot and made them prisoners."
"And Mr. Dale?" asked Dave, with interest.
"We found him in the old house, tied up."
"And very grateful for the rescue," put in the old gentleman, warmly.
"All of us came to town in the wagon the rascals had hired. Then Gregg and his accomplices were put in jail, and Mr. Dale and I came on here," concluded Mr. King.
"I am mighty happy to see things have turned out this way," said our hero, heartily.
"I am so glad to find the son of my old balloonist friend," said Mr.
Dale, "that I shall have to adopt you legally, Dave, before you slip away from me again. Let me be your second father, my boy, and take an interest in your progress. I stayed over here with our mutual friend, Mr. King, purposely to go over this wonderful plan to cross the Atlantic in an airship."
"Then you think well of it?" asked Dave.
"You do not have to ask that of an old aeronaut enthusiast, my boy,"
replied Mr. Dale.
"Yes, Dashaway," said the aviator, "Mr. Dale has promised gladly to furnish the capital to put through our newest giant airship scheme."
So, for the present, we leave Dave Dashaway, the young aviator, and his friends. What happened to them in their new and daring project, will be told in the next volume of this series, to be called, "Dave Dashaway and His Giant Airship; Or, A Marvelous Trip Across the Atlantic."
The young aviator had won his way through pluck and perseverance.
Dave had already done some great things in his apprenticeship as a junior aeronaut.
Now, the friend, and a.s.sistant of a noted expert in aeronautics, he was eager and buoyant at the prospect of winning fame and fortune in an attempt that was the dream of the expert airman of the world.
THE END