BROUGHT TO BOOK—CONCLUSION

"What time is it, Frank?" asked Andy, who w as breathing very hard after his recent exertions in helping both men to get a footing on the hydroplane.

"I think pretty close to four o'clock," replied the other, though he made no attempt to take out the little nickel watch, he always carried nowadays.

The fact of the matter was that Frank did not dare trust Casper Blue. He could see that the little man was a desperate character, and that he did not view the prospect of being made a prisoner, and taken back to Bloomsbury with any great show of enthusiasm. In fact, it was a most unpleasant proposition for the bank thief to contemplate at all.

And so Frank was watching him closely. He had, before starting on this dangerous air flight that had ended so far from home, and under such singular conditions placed a little pistol in his pocket, though hardly under the belief that he would have any occasion to make use of it.

But he was now determined not to let this man get the upper hand. He could see that various desperate plans must be forming in that scheming brain of the one-time aviator, and now yeggman; and Frank was constantly on the watch so that he might not be caught napping.

"Four o'clock!" repeated Andy; "that would mean at least two more hours before the sun set, wouldn't it; and even after that it might stay light enough another hour for them to see us if they steamed along?"

"You mean the people aboard that tug, don't you?" asked Casper Blue, sneeringly.

"Yes, they seemed to be chasing after us, and I only hope they do keep moving," replied Andy, "because they must have seen the accident, that is if they had any sort of a marine glass aboard, which I reckon they did."

"And I suppose, now, you think there might be officers aboard that same tug?" the other went on to say.

"Oh! we don't know anything about that," Andy remarked, carelessly. "But if they came along after a while it'd save us from a lot of worrying. Just think, if the night set in, and the four of us weighing this poor old hydroplane down like we are what a time we'd have before another morning came around."

"It would like as not rise, if there was only two aboard, wouldn't it?" Casper asked quickly, and before Andy could understand what his question meant he had replied to it.

"Sure thing, Frank and myself have left the water many a time in a less powerful hydroplane than this, haven't we, Frank?"

"Well, turn about is only fair," said Casper, fiercely.

"Why, I don't understand what you mean by that," complained Andy.

"Two's company, four a crowd; so please skip out of this, both of you boys. My pal and me can run this shebang, and just take my word for it, we mean to do the same. Get that straight, both of you? Now, jump, I tell you, and lively, or I might be tempted to let her go; and that would be a shame after the way you rescued the two of us. Overboard with you!"

Andy gaped when he saw that the man had actually drawn out a revolver, and was aiming the same directly at him.

"Here, quit that, will you?" he demanded, feeling a flush of alarm, for even a seasoned veteran of many battles does not fancy having such a threatening weapon thrust under his nose.

"Jump, then, d'ye hear, consarn you?" shouted the man, menacingly waving his pistol; "take a header, and over you go, both of you! I'm a desperate man, and not to be fooled with. P'raps you c'n keep afloat on that wreckage long enough for the tug to come up, and pull you in. But no matter, over you go, one way or the other!"

"Just wait a bit, Casper," said a quiet voice, and turning his head the man saw that Frank had him covered very neatly, "you must know that your weapon has been soaked, and wouldn't go off, the chances are. Besides, I don't believe there's a single cartridge in the chambers. Throw it overboard, do you hear, Casper, or I may be tempted to cripple that other arm of yours!"

No doubt Frank was speaking the exact truth when he declared his belief that the revolver had not been charged since the time when Casper emptied it at the pursuing airship, in the hope of either frightening the boy aviators; or else doing some sort of damage.

He stared hard at Frank for half a minute; then with some muttered words, as if he realized the folly of butting up against fate, threw the useless weapon far out on the heaving surface of the lake.

After that a dense silence fell upon them. The men were too down-hearted to want to talk; and there was little that the boys had to communicate, because they were now in a position where they could do absolutely nothing to help themselves; and must depend entirely upon the coming of the tug.

An hour passed, and it seemed very long. All of them were more or less wet because of the splashing waves; but as the air was balmy, they cared little for such a thing as that, if only the tug would show up.

Innumerable times did Andy stretch his neck, and look toward the quarter in which it must appear, if it came at all; but the hour began to extend far into a second one, and as yet there was nothing seen that brought with it a ray of hope.

Worse still the sea was gradually getting more and more tempestuous, it seemed to Andy, though the sky remained absolutely clear, and, there was not a sign of a storm.

If that had been a fog in the far distance which Frank had sighted, the breeze must have long ago dissipated it entirely.

Lower sank the sun, until it was now not more than half an hour above the horizon, if its stay could be measured in the way of minutes and seconds. Oh! if only the friendly tug would come in sight amidst the foam-crested waves! It was really getting to be too much of a good thing, trying to keep the hydroplane from keeling over, with those waves breaking against the frail planes. If this kept up much longer, Frank was very much afraid that Percy Carberry would not be the only boy in Bloomsbury to mourn the loss of an airship.

When, therefore, Andy gave a sudden shout, and announced that he believed he had seen the smoke of the tug wreathing above the waves, all of them looked considerably relieved, even Casper himself; for on second thoughts the yeggman must have decided that it was better to be alive and in prison, than dead, and under the waters of Lake Ontario.

In five minutes they could all see the smokestack of the powerful tug, and for fear lest it should pass by and not do them any good they shouted hoarsely in unison.

"They hear us!" exclaimed Andy, whose position, somehow, allowed him to see better than any of the others, "yes, they've changed their course, and are heading this way now. It's all right, Frank; we've won out, I guess!"

But Frank was keeping an eye on the two men. He did not mean to give them even the slightest chance to play a trick in the eleventh hour. Frank Bird was a pretty hard fellow to catch napping, he usually had his eyes open, and especially when he knew there was danger around.

The tug came booming on, and they could see that there were quite a number of people aboard.

"What if some of them are from Bloomsbury?" suggested Andy. At which his cousin laughed.

"You didn't stop to think twice before you made that break, Andy," he remarked. "Tell me, by what conveyance could they have got to the lake ahead of us, when we came through by lightning express at the rate of nearly a hundred miles an hour at times? But I can see they are expecting to take charge of our friends here, because there's an officer aboard. Just keep where you are, Casper; your goose is cooked, and there's no need of making matters worse."

The man settled back again with a growl, and then burst out into a reckless laugh.

"Small difference it makes, I guess, boys, how the thing's done, so long as we've got to go to the lock-up. You might just as well have the credit for the job as anybody; and man to man, now I want to say that I'm full of admiration for the fine way you handled that hydroplane of yours. If so be you're the Bird boys I've been hearing so much about, you've got the making of crack-a-jack aviators in you. That's about all from me now."

The tug came alongside, and the two men were assisted aboard, where the police officer saw that they were promptly ironed.

"We got the word from Bloomsbury, and your father hired this tug right away, Andy Bird, to follow you out on the lake, if so be you kept after the rascals," said a tall gentleman with a white mustache, who, they afterwards learned, was the mayor of the city on the lake shore. "Now what can we do for you?"

"Please stand by, and let's see if we can get away," answered Frank, "if not we'll have to go on board, and tow the hydroplane behind, but since relieved of so much extra weight the pontoons have risen again; and I expect she'll go."

And she did, with the very first effort, beginning to move over the surface of the water in the lee of the tug; then, as Frank hastened to elevate the planes, the airship started to mount and when free from the lake a mighty cheer broke from the lips of those aboard the small vessel, even Casper Blue joining in giving the brave lads their just dues.

Frank carefully started back toward the American side of the lake. He did not know whether the capture had been made on the Canadian side or not, and as the question was never raised, even in the trail of the bank robbers it was never wholly clear in his mind.

When they reached land it was early night; and save that the wind had lulled considerably, they would not have been able to get in for a long time after that. As there was no need of their hurrying homeward, Frank and Andy consented to stay over as the guests of the mayor, who was more than pleased to have the famous Bird boys stop under his roof.

But first Frank made sure to send a message to each of their homes; as well as to Chief Waller, who would have to come on and get the two bold men who had broken into the Bloomsbury bank and about cleaned out the vault; and not content with one haul, were planning to rob the pay-car when it stopped in Bloomsbury to settle with a large number of employees centering there.

Doubtless that must have been a season of considerable excitement in the home town; and the names of Frank and Andy Bird were cheered to the echo by the crowds of town boys Larry and Elephant would lead around, burning red lights and firing off Roman candles purchased with money supplied by Dr. and Professor Bird, the happy fathers of the two young heroes.

On the following day Chief Waller was on hand with one of his men to escort the prisoners back to the town where their latest crime had been committed. Frank had already sent the little camera box with its valuable contents, just as he had received it from Casper Blue, to the president of the bank by express, not caring to hold it any longer in his hands than was absolutely necessary.

About noon, the conditions being favorable, the Bird boys sailed away amidst the cheers of half the little city, and headed directly south on a bee line for home.

Fortunately enough no further adventures overtook them on their way there, and as their coming had been announced they found the whole town in an uproar, and came near being mobbed, such was the desire of every man, woman, boy and girl to have the honor of shaking hands with them.

Percy was on hand too, with a thousand questions concerning the fate of his precious biplane, and bemoaning the fact that he seemed to be the most unlucky fellow who had ever attempted to bring honors to Bloomsbury. But there were precious few who sympathized with him; and everybody knew that all he had to do was to demand that his mother advance the ready cash to buy another flier, and it was sure to be forthcoming.

But there were other lively times in store for Frank and Andy Bird, although neither of them suspected it just then, and believed that a period of calm would likely follow their hydroplane round-up. What the nature of these exploits were the reader who has accompanied us in our voyage through the pages of this book, will learn when he purchases the next story in this series, now on sale under the title of "The Bird Boys' Aeroplane Wonder or, Young Aviators On a Cattle Ranch."

The End.