"That"s what I thought you had told me," resumed Ned, "but I didn"t pay any attention to it at the time, as I had no idea that the men were out of jail."
"Well, what else happened?" inquired Tom
"Not much more. I apologized to the man, and he to me, and we let go of each other."
"Are you sure about the ring on his finger?"
"Positive. His hand was right in the light. But wait, that isn"t all.
I hurried on, not thinking much about it, when, I saw another man step out of the dark shadows of Peterby"s grocery, just beyond the bank.
The man must have mistaken me for some one else, for he spoke to me."
"What did he say?"
"He asked me a question. It was: "Is there any chance to-night?""
"What did you tell him?"
"Well, I was so surprised that I didn"t know what to say, and, before I could get my wits together the man had seen his mistake and hurried on.
He joined the man I had collided with, and the two skipped off in the darkness. But not before a third man had come across the street, from in front of the bank, and hurried off with them."
"Well?" asked Tom, as his chum paused.
"I don"t know what to think," resumed Ned. "These men were certainly acting suspiciously, and, now that you tell me the Anson Morse gang is not locked up--well, it makes me feel that these must be some of their crowd."
"Of course they are!" declared Tom positively. "That blue ring proves it!"
"I wouldn"t go so far as to say that," declared Ned. "The man certainly had a blue ring tattooed on his finger--the same finger where you say Happy Harry had his. But what would the men be doing in this neighborhood? They certainly have had a lesson not to meddle with any of your things."
"No, I don"t believe they are after any of dad"s inventions this time.
But I tell you what I do believe."
"What?"
"Those men are planning to rob the Shopton Bank, Ned! And I advise you to notify the officers. That Morse gang is one of the worst in the country," and Tom, much excited, began to pace the room, while Ned, who had not dreamed of such an outcome to his narrative, looked startled.
Chapter 3
Whitewashed
"Let"s tell your father, Tom," suggested Ned, after a pause. "He"ll know what to do."
"No, I"d rather not," answered the young inventor quickly. "Dad has had trouble enough with these fellows, and I don"t want him to worry any more. Besides, he is working on a new invention, and if I tell him about the Happy Harry gang it will take his attention from it."
"What invention is he planning now?"
"I don"t know, but it"s something important by the way he keeps at it.
He hardly spares time to help Mr. Sharp and me on the airship. No, we"ll keep this news from dad."
"Then I"ll inform the bank officials, as you suggest. If the place was robbed they might blame me; if they found out I had seen the men and failed to tell them."
"Well, that gang would only be too glad to have the blame fall on some one else."
Tom little knew how near the truth he had come in his chance expression, or how soon he himself was to fall under suspicion in connection with this same band of bad men.
"I"ll telephone to the president on my way home," decided Ned, "and he can notify the watchman at the bank. But do you really expect to have your airship in shape to fly soon?"
"Oh, yes. Now that we have found out our mistake about the gas, the rest will be easy."
"I think I"d like to take a trip in one myself, if it didn"t go too high," ventured Ned.
"I"ll remember that, when we have ours completed," promised his chum, "and I"ll take you for a spin."
The boys talked for perhaps an hour longer, mostly about the airship, for it was the latest mechanical affair in which Tom was interested, and, naturally, foremost in his thoughts. Then Ned went home first, however, telephoning from Tom"s house to the bank president about having seen the suspicious men. That official thanked his young employee, and said he would take all necessary precautions. The telephone message was not sent until Mr. Swift was out of hearing, as Tom was determined that his father should have no unnecessary worry about the unscrupulous men. As it was, the news that the gang was out of jail had caused the aged inventor some alarm.
It was not without some anxiety that Tom arose the next morning, fearing he would hear news that the bank had been broken into, but no such alarming report circulated in Shopton. In fact having made some inquiries that day of Ned, he learned that no trace had been seen of the mysterious men. The police had been on the lookout, but they had seen nothing of them.
"Maybe, after all, they weren"t the same ones," suggested Ned, when he paid Tom another visit the next night.
"Well, of course it"s possible that they weren"t," admitted the young inventor. "I"d be very glad to think so. Even if they were, your encounter with them may have scared them off; and that would be a good thing."
The next two weeks were busy ones for Tom and Mr. Sharp. Aided occasionally by Mr. Swift, and with Garret Jackson, the engineer, to lend a hand whenever needed, the aeronaut and the owner of the speedy Arrow made considerable progress on their airship.
"What is your father so busy over?" asked Mr. Sharp one day, when the new aluminum gas holder was about completed.
"I don"t know," answered Tom, with a somewhat puzzled air. "He doesn"t seem to want to talk about it, even to me. He says it will revolutionize travel along a certain line, but whether he is working on an airship that will rival ours, or a new automobile, I can"t make out.
He"ll tell us in good time. But when do you think we will finish the--well, I don"t know what to call it--I mean our aeroplane?"
"Oh, in about a month now. That"s so, though, we haven"t a name for it.
But we"ll christen it after it"s completed. Now if you"ll tighten up some of those bolts I"ll get the gas generating apparatus in readiness for another test."
A short description of the new airship may not be out of place now. It was built after plans Mr. Sharp had shown to Tom and his father soon after the thrilling rescue of the aeronaut from the blazing balloon over Lake Carlopa. The general idea of the airship was that of the familiar aeroplane, but in addition to the sustaining surfaces of the planes, there was an aluminum, cigar-shaped tank, holding a new and very powerful gas, which would serve to keep the ship afloat even when not in motion.
Two sets of planes, one above the other, were used, bringing the airship into the biplane cla.s.s. There were also two large propellers, one in front and the other at the rear. These were carefully made, of different layers of wood "built up" as they are called, to make them stronger. They were eight feet in diameter, and driven by a twenty-cylinder, air-cooled, motor, whirled around at the rate of fifteen hundred revolutions a minute. When operated at full speed the airship was capable of making eighty miles an hour, against a moderate wind.
But if the use of the peculiarly-shaped planes and the gas container, with the secret but powerful vapor in it were something new in airship construction, so was the car in which the operator and travelers were to live during a voyage. It was a complete living room, with the engine and other apparatus, including that for generating the gas, in a separate compartment, and the whole was the combined work of Tom and Mr. Sharp. There were accommodations for five persons, with sleeping berths, a small galley or kitchen, where food could be prepared, and several easy chairs where the travelers could rest in comfort while skimming along high in the air, as fast as the fastest railroad train.
There was room enough to carry stores for a voyage of a week or more, and enough gas could be manufactured aboard the ship, in addition to that taken in the aluminum case before starting, to sustain the ship for two weeks. The engine, steering apparatus, and the gas machine were within easy reach and control of the pilot, who was to be stationed in a small room in the "bow" of the ship. An electric stove served to warm the interior of the car, and also provided means for cooking the food.
The airship could be launched either by starting it along the ground, on rubber-tired wheels, as is done in the case of the ordinary aeroplane, or it could be lifted by the gas, just as is done with a balloon. In short there were many novel features about the ship.
The gas test, which took place a few days later, showed that the young inventor and Mr. Sharp had made no mistake this time. No explosion followed, the needle valve controlling the powerful vapor perfectly.
"Well," remarked Mr. Sharp, one afternoon, "I think we shall put the ship together next week, Tom, and have a trial flight. We shall need a few more aluminum bolts, though, and if you don"t mind you might jump on your motor-cycle and run to Mansburg for them. Merton"s machine shop ought to have some."