The Bird boys

“Ain’t this the greatest thing ever?” cried Andy, as with trembling fingers he started to unfasten the cords by which the suit-cases had been secured, so they might not drop out, should the sailing aircraft wobble in space.

“It certainly does takes the cake for dumb luck!” observed Frank, hardly less excited himself and forgetting all about his lack of clothes.

“Suppose you explain then?” suggested a neighbor. “We’d like to join in congratulations if we only knew what it was all about.”

“Why, you see,” began Andy, “these ain’t our bags at all.”

“They belong to the two gentlemen who thought to borrow our machine for a little moonlight spin across lots to the next county,” Frank went on, his face covered with a wide grin, as he hefted one of the suit-cases, and found it mighty solid.

“What!” exclaimed Joe Green, the officer, as though suddenly waking up.

“Feel the weight of that bag, Joe!” remarked Frank. “Strike you it’s quite hefty for a lot of soiled linen? Well, it’s strapped nice and secure, and we’ll let it stay so till Chief Waller comes to take charge, but I rather guess these two bags hold all the stuff that was grabbed out of Leffingwell’s jewelry store!”

His word produced another spasm of excitement. Men crowded around to gaze at the suit-cases and exchange remarks.

“It’s so, I reckon,” remarked one; “’cause here’s the letters A. N. S. on the end of this bag, and they stand for Arthur Nelson Sage, the cashier of Leffingwell’s store. Did you ever hear of such luck? Sure these boys are in clover!”

“I should remark they were,” observed another, enviously. “With a reward of five hundred falling to ’em for the recovery of the stuff. Some people just tumble head over heels into luck. I never struck such a juicy thing in all my life.”

“Well, they deserve it, all right,” declared Colonel Josiah, defiantly. “What d’ye think of boys who could build such a trump outfit as that ere? And then stick by it through thick and thin? And wasn’t that a cute dodge, holdin’ the aeroplane back with a hog chain and my old hitching post? Why, Si Clapp, you’d never have thought up such a game as that in a thousand years, let alone in ten seconds. So I say again they deserve it. What they get they’ve won fair. Ain’t it so, neighbors?”

A rousing cheer answered him. And leaving the two bags in charge of Colonel Josiah, the Bird boys scurried inside to pick up a few more clothes and get shoes on their feet, since it was apparent that they were in for a couple of hours’ siege.

Andy’s teeth fairly rattled with excitement. Had he been in a freezing atmosphere he could not have shivered at a greater rate.

“Say, Frank, looks like this being broke up in our sleep was going to be a regular thing,” he remarked, while dressing.

“That’s right,” replied his cousin, laughing. “One night it’s a sandbag from a passing balloon that lands with a smash on our pile of boards. Then we are awakened by a couple of prowlers, who want to steal our dandy little airship. Wonder what it will be the next time?”

“Yes,” said Andy, quickly; “but you forget that two nights ago we had visitors here, even if we didn’t know it at the time. That makes three in succession. The first may have been along the order of an accident. The second was what Professor Gregg would call a coincidence. But I declare the third time makes it a habit!”

“Well, Andy, we’ll get used to it in time, perhaps. Though if this thing keeps going we’ll have to take a nap in the daytime to make up for lost sleep. Did Joe go with Mr. McGovern to ’phone headquarters?”

“Yes, that was what he said he meant to do,” replied the other, as he finished lacing his second shoe. “And so I reckon we’ll have a squad of the police out here as soon as they can get the patrol wagon moving to take charge of those bags and ask all sorts of fool questions. Do you think they’ll find Jules and his pal?”

“Not unless they show more smartness than they have up to now,” replied Frank. “Of course, the two men will be as mad as hops to think they allowed the bags to stay. But since the whole county is aroused by now and every day makes it harder for them to get away, they’ll be thinking only of escape. And you know there are plenty of fine hiding places in the woods bordering the lake, where they can stay for a week if they only find some way to get grub.”

By this time the boys were dressed. Upon going out again they found that the group had been increased by the arrival of several more belated neighbors, who, having heard of the row, could not resist the temptation to get out and investigate.

All sorts of questions were asked and the boys replied good naturedly. Indeed, they had reason for feeling genial just then. Fortune had been very kind to them, since not only had they been able to save their valuable aeroplane without its suffering the slightest damage, but here the alarmed rascals had actually presented them with their bags of plunder.

Presently a wagon was heard coming furiously along the road. Of course this was the police, headed by the chief himself, clad in a resplendent uniform, with a glittering silver star on his broad and manly chest to designate his official importance.

“Oh, say! Do we have to go over all this stuff again?” groaned Andy.

“Well, you see, they have to know how we came by this loot,” laughed Frank. “Otherwise we might get pulled in for receiving stolen property. So make up your mind to stick to the statements you’ve already given. After they’ve taken the plunder away perhaps we can shoo these good people off, trip our machine back in the shed and once more try to get a little nap before another day comes.”

So when the chief came up, asking questions and examining the suit-cases, both of the boys were ready to tell all they know.

Chief Waller was a big man, in point of size; and, according to his own mind, a brainy one in addition. He had a self-important air about him, but that never deceived Frank an iota. The boy knew that just now the chief envied them their good fortune and was only too willing to share, even in a small degree, the glory that must come in connection with the recovery of the stolen property.

“You boys are justly entitled to the reward,” he said, pompously, after a time. “And I’ll see that you get it. I can appreciate the clever nature of the game you played, Frank, for that is exactly what I would have done under similar circumstances.”

Neither of the boys allowed even a smile to flicker across their faces, though it was almost ludicrous, the idea of Chief Waller ever having a brilliant idea. He had been at the head of the force three years or more, and while he did his duty decently and impressed tramps with a fitting sense of the majesty of the law, no one had ever known him to make a clever play.

The boys were only too glad to see the patrol wagon depart, bearing the two recovered suit-cases, filled with plunder, and the several officers.

“We’ll get to work in the morning,” the chief had promised ere departing; “and run the rascals to earth. They’re in the last ditch now, and the hour is not far away when they’ll be in the clutches of the law!”

But Frank and Andy had their own opinion about that. They chanced to believe that if the matter depended solely upon the smartness of the police head, Jules and his confederate would prove too cunning to fall into any trap.

“Come, let’s push the aeroplane back into its quarters,” said Frank.

“That’s the ticket,” remarked Andy, promptly. “Just unlock that chain and give us a chance. Hi, careful there, Phil! Don’t knock up against that plane again that way. They don’t like rough handling, even if they are keyed up with stanch wire cables. Now, push easy like. Away she goes back. Take care of that left plane against the door jamb! Here we are, and thank you all. And now to get a little snooze before day comes. Why, Frank, it’s two o’clock!”

Taking the hint, those who had remained to give a hand and stare a little longer at the strange machine, the likes of which few had ever before set eyes on, betook themselves off, returning to their several homes.

So the two Bird boys, finding the coast clear, closed the doors of the hangar once more and secured them with the bar.

Frank had managed to replace the board that had been taken off the end of the shed at the time Jules made his entrance.

“Say, you don’t think now for a minute those chaps will come sneaking around here again tonight, in hopes of getting this little daisy of a cruiser, do you?” Andy asked, as they prepared to retire once more.

“Well,” replied his cousin, “I don’t believe they’ve got the nerve. They know the police have been here and will expect that some of the men in blue are hanging around still, in hopes of picking them up. Oh, no! This is the last spot about Bloomsbury they want to visit. Make your mind easy on that score, Andy.”

“How d’ye suppose they picked out our machine, Frank, rather than the other? The biplane has been up in the air and tried out, you know.”

“They may never have known there was another. By some accident they discovered our hangar here. The thing that puzzles me most is how they came to believe the shed was deserted, when they saw a light here and you coming. But perhaps the one who watched supposed you would return to the house later. And being in a hurry to get back to his pal and tell the good news, he didn’t investigate further. Anyhow,” Frank went on, as he yawned and stretched, “I’m just too sleepy right now to bother my head any more about the whole business. Ready? Then out goes the lantern. Me to hit the pillow hard and get rested up.”

And after that silence reigned profound in the shed that covered the aeroplane.