  “That’s splendid news,” Jack at once remarked. “I’m glad for the sake of little Jacques that his brave father did not die there in front of Antwerp as you all believed. If I had time I’d like to hear his story, because I reckon it’d be well worth listening to. But we have business of our own to look after, and so must once more take leave of you.” “Do you think he will get well again?” asked Amos, who under different conditions, would only too willingly have volunteered to help take care of the wounded, since his education as a Boy Scout had taught him how to apply the principles of “first aid to the injured.” “We have strong hopes,” replied the old burgomaster. “Joy is better than all the medicine a doctor can bring. Jacques has found his father They both went over to nod to the boy, and the look of contentment upon his face told them his severe wounds were at the time forgotten in the thanksgiving that filled his heart. Both of them would in time to come often think of Jacques, and hope the good angel that had brought back his father would continue to guard the boy’s further fortunes. Once again Jack and Amos found themselves outside, and wandering amidst the ruins of the village where only recently the fighting had reached its height. Here was the high-tide mark of that furious German drive; just as Gettysburg marked the apex of the Lost Cause in the war between the States in ’63. Jack wondered whether history would repeat itself, for he believed that if Germany were defeated it would only be through the force of greater numbers They wandered around seeking some means of learning where they could secure the information they required. Never would they forget the sights that greeted them on every side. The ground looked almost as though it had been ploughed, such were the number of shells that had fallen on that devoted village during the time it was under bombardment. To Amos it seemed incredible that any living thing could have remained there and lived through that holocaust of crashing shells; and yet those undaunted men in khaki must have found some sort of concealment, for every time the Teuton force charged, after a cessation in the firing, they were met by the British, and mowed down by the Maxims that were hurriedly brought to bear on the solid ranks coming forward. Most of the wounded had been removed by now, and were being taken to the rear in the motor vans, lorries, and Red Cross ambulances. The dead for the most part lay where they had Again and again were the boys stopped, and asked what business they had there in the midst of such harrowing scenes. On every occasion Jack showed the order from the commanding general, which was couched in no uncertain words, and invariably produced the desired effect, for all opposition was immediately removed. They had been instructed whom they must ask for in order to learn whether Frank Bradford was still hard at work serving the Allies as a daring aviator. No one was likely to possess this information save some of his comrades, or the chief of the aerial staff, in whose charge all these operations had been placed. For two hours did the boys walk after leaving the ruined village. Sometimes they were misinformed, for changes were being made rapidly “It’s a long run, trying to find that officer,” remarked Amos, who of course was racked constantly by his hopes and fears, and wished the crisis would hurry along, so that he might know what to expect. “That’s so,” admitted the cheerful Jack, “but all the time we’re getting warmer and warmer on the trail. Right now I can see where that last monoplane rose from, and the chances are we’ll find the party we’re looking for at that spot.” “It gives me the queerest sort of feeling, Jack, just to believe that any minute now I may be squeezing Frank’s hand, and looking into his eyes again. I was always mighty fond of my big brother, you know, and it nearly broke my heart, small chap that I really was at the time, when he told me he was going away forever, because our father had unjustly accused him of doing something which he denied. If only I find him “Except one, perhaps, Amos, and that’s little Jacques, whose father came back to him from the dead.” “Well, finding Frank and carrying him home with me will be almost like the same thing, for he’s been as dead to us for many years!” declared Amos, eagerly watching the aeroplane that was now soaring swiftly aloft, already a target for hostile fire, as the little white puffs of smoke told where the shrapnel shells were bursting all around the daring pilot. “I’m wondering again whether that can be Frank up yonder, and if he’ll come back safely. It would be a terrible thing if something happened to him just when I had run him down.” “Oh! don’t allow yourself to give way to such an idea,” said Jack. “Look on the bright side of things all the time. Think how we’ve been carried through our troubles so splendidly. No matter how dark things seemed they always took a turn for the better in the end, and every time With an effort the boy managed to get a better hold upon himself. This companionship with Jack was the luckiest thing that could ever have happened to Amos; for the Western lad always seemed to steady him at times when his nerves were sorely tried, so as to give him renewed strength of purpose. “There goes another ’plane up, Jack!” he exclaimed a minute later. “That first pilot, now high over the German lines, seems to be holding his own in spite of all the shrapnel they can send after him. Yes, you must be right in saying we’re coming to where we will find the controlling force of the aviation corps. Before another half hour goes by I’m likely to know the best—or the worst!” “You’ll be wringing Frank’s hand and telling him how proud you are to learn that the boldest of all the Allied aviators, known under the name of Frank Bradford, is your own dear brother—make up your mind to that!” said Jack, sturdily, When one has dreamed and thought of a certain object for days and weeks, and it comes time when he may know the truth, small wonder that he shivers with alternate hope and dread. Amos was only human. You and I most likely would feel the same nervousness under similar conditions. Amos uttered a cry of dismay, as though he had received a sudden shock. “Oh! Jack, they did get that second pilot, you see!” he exclaimed. “He’s volplaning down now like everything, and will fall inside the German lines perhaps!” “No, he’s heading this way!” declared Jack. “From the fact that they’re still keeping up their fire I reckon they fear he’ll escape them. The pilot couldn’t have been badly hurt when his ’plane was struck, because I can see him sitting up and managing his machine. It was only his motor that was put out of commission, and if “There, he’s disappeared behind that line of trees!” cried Amos, “but the firing has nearly stopped, so they must think it’s no use wasting any more ammunition on him. Let’s hurry, Jack! I’m wild to know if that was my brother. Something just seems to tell me it must have been. Ten minutes more ought to take us over there where he came down. Just to think of it, only that short time, and I’ll see him, if I’m lucky!” Apparently Jack was as intent upon settling the question as Amos himself could be. He put on more speed, and side by side they broke into a run, such was their eagerness to cover the intervening ground. Men in khaki looked after them in bewilderment, not knowing who these two boys were, or what object they could have in thus braving the fearful ordeals to be encountered on a battlefield. Amos was caring little for all this. He had but one object in view, and that the settling of Whether Amos and his faithful chum Jack were to be rewarded with immediate success after their eventful hunt for the missing Frank, or meet with still further disappointment, must, however, be left to another story, which the reader will find ready for his perusal later on. THE END. BOY AVIATORS’ SERIES By Captain Wilbur Lawton Absolutely Modern Stories for Boys Cloth Bound Price, 50c per volume The Boy Aviators in Nicaragua The launching of this Twentieth Century series marks the inauguration of a new era in boys’ books—the “wonders of modern science” epoch. Frank and Harry Chester, the Boy Aviators, are the heroes of this exciting, red-blooded tale of adventure by air and land in the turbulent Central American republic. The two brothers with their $10,000 prize aeroplane, the Golden Eagle, rescue a chum from death in the clutches of the Nicaraguans, discover a lost treasure valley of the ancient Toltec race, and in so doing almost lose their own lives in the Abyss of the White Serpents, and have many other exciting experiences, including being blown far out to sea in their air-skimmer in a tropical storm. It would be unfair to divulge the part that wireless plays in rescuing them from their predicament. In a brand new field of fiction for boys, the Chester brothers and their aeroplane seem destined to fill a top-notch place. These books are technically correct, wholesomely thrilling and geared up to third speed. Sold by Booksellers Everywhere HURST & CO. Publishers NEW YORK BOY AVIATORS’ SERIES By CAPTAIN WILBUR LAWTON ABSOLUTELY MODERN STORIES FOR BOYS Cloth Bound Price, 50c per volume The Boy Aviators on Secret Service In this live-wire narrative of peril and adventure, laid in the Everglades of Florida, the spunky Chester Boys and their interesting chums, including Ben Stubbs, the maroon, encounter exciting experiences on Uncle Sam’s service in a novel field. One must read this vivid, enthralling story of incident, hardship and pluck to get an idea of the almost limitless possibilities of the two greatest inventions of modern times—the aeroplane and wireless telegraphy. While gripping and holding the reader’s breathless attention from the opening words to the finish, this swift-moving story is at the same time instructive and uplifting. As those readers who have already made friends with Frank and Harry Chester and their “bunch” know, there are few difficulties, no matter how insurmountable they may seem at first blush, that these up-to-date gritty youths cannot overcome with flying colors. A clean-cut, real boys’ book of high voltage. Sold by Booksellers Everywhere HURST & CO. Publishers NEW YORK BOY AVIATORS’ SERIES BY CAPTAIN WILBUR LAWTON Absolutely Modern Stories for Boys Cloth Bound Price, 50c per volume The Boy Aviators in Africa In this absorbing book we meet, on a Continent made famous by the American explorer Stanley, and ex-President Roosevelt, our old friends, the Chester Boys and their stalwart chums. In Africa—the Dark Continent—the author follows in exciting detail his young heroes, their voyage in the first aeroplane to fly above the mysterious forests and unexplored ranges of the mystic land. In this book, too, for the first time, we entertain Luther Barr, the old New York millionaire, who proved later such an implacable enemy of the boys. The story of his defeated schemes, of the astonishing things the boys discovered in the Mountains of the Moon, of the pathetic fate of George Desmond, the emulator of Stanley, the adventure of the Flying Men and the discovery of the Arabian Ivory cache,—this is not the place to speak. It would be spoiling the zest of an exciting tale to reveal the outcome of all these episodes here. It may be said, however, without “giving away” any of the thrilling chapters of this narrative, that Captain Wilbur Lawton, the author, is in it in his best vein, and from his personal experiences in Africa has been able to supply a striking background for the adventures of his young heroes. As one newspaper says of this book: “Here is adventure in good measure, pressed down and running over.” Sold by Booksellers Everywhere HURST & CO. Publishers NEW YORK BOY AVIATORS’ SERIES BY CAPTAIN WILBUR LAWTON Absolutely Modern Stories for Boys Cloth Bound Price, 50c per volume The Boy Aviators’ Treasure Quest Everybody is a boy once more when it comes to the question of hidden treasure. In this book, Captain Lawton has set forth a hunt for gold that is concealed neither under the sea nor beneath the earth, but is well hidden for all that. A garrulous old sailor, who holds the key to the mystery of the Golden Galleon, plays a large part in the development of the plot of this fascinating narrative of treasure hunting in the region of the Gulf Stream and the Sagasso Sea. An aeroplane fitted with efficient pontoons—enabling her to skim the water successfully—has long been a dream of aviators. The Chester Boys seem to have solved the problem. The Sagasso, that strange drifting ocean within an ocean, holding ships of a dozen nations and a score of ages in its relentless grip, has been the subject of many books of adventure and mystery, but in none has the secret of the ever shifting mass of treacherous currents been penetrated as it has in the BOY AVIATORS’ TREASURE QUEST. Luther Barr, whom it seemed the boys had shaken off, is still on their trail, in this absorbing book and with a dirigible balloon, essays to beat them out in their search for the Golden Galleon. Every boy, every man—and woman and girl—who has ever felt the stirring summons of adventure in their souls, had better get hold of this book. Once obtained, it will be read and re-read till it falls to rags. Sold by Booksellers Everywhere HURST & CO. Publishers NEW YORK BOY AVIATORS’ SERIES BY CAPTAIN WILBUR LAWTON Absolutely Modern Stories for Boys Cloth Bound Price, 50c per volume The Boy Aviators in Record Flight The Chester Boys in new field of endeavor—an attempt to capture a newspaper prize for a trans-continental flight. By the time these lines are read, exactly such an offer will have been spread, broadcast by one of the foremost newspapers of the country. In the Golden Eagle, the boys, accompanied by a trail-blazing party in an automobile, make the dash. But they are not alone in their aspirations. Their rivals for the rich prize at stake try in every way that they can to circumvent the lads and gain the valuable trophy and monetary award. In this they stop short at nothing, and it takes all the wits and resources of the Boy Aviators to defeat their devices. Among the adventures encountered in their cross-country flight, the boys fall in with a band of rollicking cowboys—who momentarily threaten serious trouble—are attacked by Indians, strike the most remarkable town of the desert—the “dry” town of “Gow Wells,” encounter a sandstorm which blows them into strange lands far to the south of their course, and meet with several amusing mishaps beside. A thoroughly readable book. The sort to take out behind the barn on the sunny side of the haystack, and, with a pocketful of juicy apples and your heels kicking the air, pass happy hours with Captain Lawton’s young heroes. Sold by Booksellers Everywhere HURST & CO. Publishers NEW YORK BOY AVIATORS’ SERIES BY CAPTAIN WILBUR LAWTON Absolutely Modern Stories for Boys Cloth Bound Price, 50c per volume The Boy Aviators’ Polar Dash If you were to hear that two boys, accompanying a South Polar expedition in charge of the aeronautic department, were to penetrate the Antarctic regions—hitherto only attained by a few daring explorers—you would feel interested, wouldn’t you? Well, in Captain Lawton’s latest book, concerning his Boy Aviators, you can not only read absorbing adventure in the regions south of the eightieth parallel, but absorb much useful information as well. Captain Lawton introduces—besides the original characters of the heroes—a new creation in the person of Professor Simeon Sandburr, a patient seeker for polar insects. The professor’s adventures in his quest are the cause of much merriment, and lead once or twice to serious predicaments. In a volume so packed with incident and peril from cover to cover—relieved with laughable mishaps to the professor—it is difficult to single out any one feature; still, a recent reader of it wrote the publishers an enthusiastic letter the other day, saying: “The episodes above the Great Barrier are thrilling, the attack of the condors in Patagonia made me hold my breath the—but what’s the use? The Polar Dash, to my mind, is an even more entrancing book than Captain Lawton’s previous efforts, and that’s saying a good deal. The aviation features and their technical correctness are by no means the least attractive features of this up-to-date creditable volume.” Sold by Booksellers Everywhere HURST & CO. Publishers NEW YORK BORDER BOYS SERIES Mexican and Canadian Frontier Series By FREMONT B. DEERING. Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 50c. per vol., postpaid Border Boys on the Trail. THE BORDER BOYS ON THE TRAIL. What it meant to make an enemy of Black Ramon De Barios—that is the problem that Jack Merrill and his friends, including Coyote Pete, face in this exciting tale. THE BORDER BOYS ACROSS THE FRONTIER. Read of the Haunted Mesa and its mysteries, of the Subterranean River and its strange uses, of the value of gasolene and steam “in running the gauntlet,” and you will feel that not even the ancient splendors of the Old World can furnish a better setting for romantic action than the Border of the New. THE BORDER BOYS WITH THE MEXICAN RANGERS. As every day is making history—faster, it is said, than ever before—so books that keep pace with the changes are full of rapid action and accurate facts. This book deals with lively times on the Mexican border. THE BORDER BOYS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS. The Border Boys have already had much excitement and adventure in their lives, but all this has served to prepare them for the experiences related in this volume. They are stronger, braver and more resourceful than ever, and the exigencies of their life in connection with the Texas Rangers demand all their trained ability. Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. HURST & COMPANY—Publishers—NEW YORK DREADNOUGHT BOYS SERIES Tales of the New Navy By CAPT. WILBUR LAWTON Author of “BOY AVIATORS SERIES.” Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 50c. per vol., postpaid Dreadnought Boys on Battle Practice. THE DREADNOUGHT BOYS ON BATTLE PRACTICE. Especially interesting and timely is this book, which introduces the reader with its heroes, Ned and Herc, to the great ships of modern warfare and to the intimate life and surprising adventures of Uncle Sam’s sailors. THE DREADNOUGHT BOYS ABOARD A DESTROYER. In this story real dangers threaten and the boys’ patriotism is tested in a peculiar international tangle. The scene is laid on the South American coast. THE DREADNOUGHT BOYS ON A SUBMARINE. To the inventive genius—trade-school boy or mechanic—this story has special charm, perhaps, but to every reader its mystery and clever action are fascinating. THE DREADNOUGHT BOYS ON AERO SERVICE. Among the volunteers accepted for Aero Service are Ned and Herc. Their perilous adventures are not confined to the air, however, although they make daring and notable flights in the name of the Government; nor are they always able to fly beyond the reach of their old “enemies,” who are also airmen. Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. HURST & COMPANY—Publishers—NEW YORK |
|
