Professor Scudmore was chuckling to himself, as he worked at the apparatus which controlled the sails and rudders.
"It is a success, and my fortune is made!" he was saying. "I shall become richer than Jay Gould ever was! Ha! ha! ha! I shall not only be rich, but I shall be honored!"
"Oi don't loike th' way he is actin', Frankie," whispered Barney. "Thot laugh does not sound natural at all, at all."
"You are right," admitted Frank. "Is it possible we have started out on this kind of a cruise with a man whose brain has been turned?"
"It may be thot."
"The situation will not be at all pleasant if it turns out that way."
"He is getting control av th' ship. See how he handles her now, me b'y."
It was true that the inventor was getting control of the Eagle, and he was beginning to "put her through her paces," as it were. He ran before the wind, then luffed and took first one tack and then the other. The remarkable craft behaved very well.
"Ha! ha! ha!" laughed the professor, wildly. "I am the king of the air! I am the first man to make a successful air ship. The world and all its countries are mine! I can destroy armies and change the destiny of nations! I am the greatest man who ever lived!"
"By Jove!" muttered Frank, in alarm; "I believe the man is going mad!"
"It looks loike thot," admitted the Irish boy.
"In which case, this will be the worst scrape we ever got into, Barney. That is plain enough to see."
"Roight, me laddybuck! An' th' professor will soay it wur judgment on us fer runnin' away."
"He will. But we ought to be able to handle this man between us, if it comes to a struggle with him."
"We can; but can we handle th' ship afther thot, Oi dunno?"
"That is a question we cannot answer till we try the trick. But there may be no trouble at all with Scudmore if we do not anger him."
Below them lay a wild panorama of broken country, through which ran Green River to plunge deep into the winding mazes of Labyrinth Canyon, away to the southward.
Away to the west, beyond the San Rafael Swell, rose the Wasatch Mountains; being much nearer than the Rockies to the eastward, and, therefore, looking nearly as lofty.
To the north were Desolation Canyon and the Roan Cliffs, the latter rising brown and bleak at the southern boundary of the Ute Reservation.
To the south of mighty Colorado, rolling through the dark depths of canyons which seemed to sink deep into the bowels of the earth. Farther to the south, beyond the Fremont, which as yet could not be seen, Mount Pennell lifted its snow-capped summit eleven thousand feet in the air.
Mount Pennell was in the very heart of the mountain region in which the last of the Destroying Angels had found homes.
"Professor!" said Frank, speaking gently.
"Ha! ha!" muttered the inventor, as he threw over a lever and sent the Eagle scooting in a breathless sweep toward the earth. "She is like a bird! Up or down, to the right or left, she will sail in any direction."
"Professor!"
"Don't bother me now—don't bother me!" he almost snarled.
"I was a fool to take you along! I should have retained all the honor for myself. Now you will share it. It will be published all over the world that you accompanied Professor Scudmore on his trial trip in his wonderful air ship."
He glared at them a moment, as if he longed to cast them overboard, and then the handling of the craft claimed his entire attention.
"How do yez loike it, Frankie, me b'y?" asked Barney, with a sly nudge at his companion.
"It is decidedly uncomfortable."
"Phwat shall we do—jump th' son-av-a-goon at wance?"
"Nothing of the sort. We will keep still, as if we are quite satisfied and content. I will draw him into conversation when I think it proper, and he may be brought round all right."
So the boys remained silent and passive, one of them constantly watching Scudmore, so that they might not be taken by surprise, in case he took a fancy to attack them.
He continued to mutter and talk to himself, now and then laughing in a way that was not pleasant to hear.
The boys fell to wondering what the various bundles contained. Opening one of them, covertly, they found it was a supply of dried beef.
"Great shmoke!" gasped Barney. "He has laid in a supply av provisions to larrust a wake!"
Frank nodded.
"It looks that way; but these things are not all provisions. See there at his side—one of those bundles contains firearms, for you may see the muzzles of two rifles protruding. I fancy the bundle next to that contains ammunition."
"Whoy, thot's enoogh to shtock a small arumy, Frankie!"
"A man like Professor Scudmore has very little notion as to what he needs or desires, and so he is liable to obtain four or five times what is necessary."
"Are you talking of me?" harshly demanded the inventor. "Then speak up distinctly. I may think you are plotting against me—plotting to keep me from reaching the land beyond the ice."
"The land beyond the ice?" cried Frank.
"That is what I said."
"Well, what did you mean? Whither are we bound?"
"For the South Pole," was the answer. "Ha! ha! ha! We will pass over the ice floes and reach the land beyond them!"
* * *
CHAPTER XVII.
GONE.
All that day and far into the night the mad inventor held control of the flying-machine, refusing to listen to reason or argument, and keeping the boys at bay.
Some time in the night he fell asleep, and, when he awoke, he was enraged to find himself bound hands and feet, while the boys were trying to handle the Eagle.
"Let me go!" howled the mad professor. "You will send us to destruction! You will plunge us to ruin!"
"Keep still!" commanded Frank, sternly. "You are no longer master here."
"Villain!" screamed the helpless man; "I know your scheme! You mean to steal the Eagle! You mean to get rid of me, and then you will steal the work of my brain and hands!"
"Don't fool yourself. If I ever get to solid ground again, you may have your old air ship and sail away to the South Pole with it. I am figuring on getting back to Blake."
"Te, he!" laughed the madman, suddenly. "Is that all you ask? Why, it is very easy to fix that matter."
His voice was full of craft and deception.
"How would you fix it?" asked Frank.
"Set me at liberty, and I will take you back there."
"That sounds all right, but it is plain enough that you cannot be trusted. I prefer to experiment a little myself, before letting you have charge again."
"And you will bring us all to destruction!"
"Possibly I may. Keep still now, while I study out the working of these levers and wheels."
But Scudmore would not keep still. He shouted and talked, urging them to release him, begging and threatening by turns.
Meanwhile Frank and Barney were studying over the levers and wheels, and they finally discovered how to send the air ship down toward the earth, which lay asleep in the white moonlight.
They were directly over a mountainous region, having been soaring over the loftiest peaks. The boys were somewhat benumbed by the chilly air, but, as they came nearer to the earth, this numbness passed away.
"Are yez goin' ter land here, Frankie?" asked Barney, anxiously.
"I don't know," was the answer. "If we should happen to see a town——"
"Where do yez think we are?"
"That is another thing I don't know."
Down they went until Frank conceived a notion that they were near enough to the earth; but when he tried to reverse the lever and ascend again, it would not work.
"Ha! ha! ha!" laughed the inventor. "It is retribution! We shall be smashed into a thousand pieces when we strike. You will never steal the Eagle from me!"
Frank worked with all his energy, for they were sweeping toward the earth at an alarming rate of speed.
The la
ughter of the deranged professor rang out louder and wilder than ever.
"Oi think we're in fer it, me b'y!" gasped Barney.
"It looks like that," confessed Frank, as they barely cleared the crest of a mountain and went diving down into the unknown depths of a valley. "This confounded thing——"
Snap!—something broke, and their swift descent was suddenly checked, but they continued to settle gently.
"Ah!" breathed Frank, with relief. "If this keeps up, we'll come down all right."
"But it's nivver a bit can we tell where we'll land, me laddybuck."
"We'll have the satisfaction of getting on solid ground again, at least. I am yearning to feel it beneath my feet once more."
It was not long before the Eagle sank gently into the valley, settling to the ground as lightly as a bird.
Out leaped the boys, ropes in their hands, and they quickly made the air ship fast.
"Well, we are still living," said Frank.
"It's mesilf thot belaves we've much to be thankful fer," declared Barney.
"I wonder where we are, and how near we are to civilization. I am inclined to believe we cannot be far from the very region where the colony of Danites is said to be located."
"Suffering cats!" gasped the Irish boy. "If thot is the case, how are we ivver goin' to get out av here?"
"We'll have to trust to luck."
"Oi'll nivver thrust mesilf to thot air ship again."
"I do not care to do so, but we may have to do so whether we want to or not."
"Well, we have enough to ate, an' some guns to protict oursilves with. Oi am fer ixplorin' th' country before we do anything ilse."
"We can't do any exploring to-night."
"But we can early in th' marnin'."
So they provided themselves with two of the rifles, plenty of ammunition, and much of the provisions in the car.
In the shelter of the valley the night was no longer cool, but was warm and pleasant.
They found an overhanging shelf of rock where they could get close up under a bluff, and it made quite a satisfactory camp.
For some time the boys lay and talked over their adventure, wondering if they would get out of the predicament all right. At last they became drowsy, and finally fell asleep.
They slept soundly till morning. Frank was the first to awaken, and he shook Barney to rouse him.
"Come, you bit of the Old Sod," called Frank. "Turn out and pay for your lodging."
"Begobs! Oi fale loike th' bed had been shtuffed with bricks. Hurro! Oi must have fell out av bed in th' noight, an' dropped clane out av th' windy. It's a bit av a kink Oi have in th' small av me back."
Barney sat up, making a wry face, and staring about in a bewildered way.
"Phwat howtil is this, Oi dunno?" he cried. "Have Oi been slapin', or have Oi been in a thrance?"
"We came here in a flying-machine, you will remember."
"In a floying-machine? Oi thought Oi dramed it."
"It was no dream."
"Well, may Oi nivver live to see th' back av me neck!"
It took some time for the Irish boy to recover from his amazement.
"Where is thot floying-machine, Frankie?"
"It is just beyond this line of bushes, where we left it last night. Professor Scudmore is tied up in the car, and I fancy he must be a bit uncomfortable by this time. I did not mean to leave him that way so long. It was rather heartless."
"Ye can't be aisy wid his koind, me b'y. There's no tellin' phwat they'll do."
"That is true; but it is our duty to handle him as gently as possible. He is a most unfortunate man. His air ship seems an assured success, and yet he has lost his reason working over it."
The boys arose and passed round the bushes, Frank being in advance. A cry of wonder and amazement broke from Merriwell's lips.
"The air ship!" he gasped.
"Phwat's th' matter?" asked Barney, quickly.
"It's gone!"
* * *
CHAPTER XVIII.
MISKEL.
"Gone!"
"That's what!"
"Where?"
"Sailed away."
It was true that the Eagle was not where they had left it the night before, and, looking all around, they could find no trace of it.
"Thot bates me!"
The knees of the Irish boy seemed to weaken beneath him, and he sank in a limp heap on the ground.
"It beats the band!"
Frank was scarcely less broken up than his companion.
"How did it happen, Frankie? Th' ould thing didn't go off av itsilf, did it?"
"Not much!"
"Phwat thin?"
"Professor Scudmore must have succeeded in releasing himself."
"Roight, lad; an' thin he skipped."
"As soon as he was free, he sailed away in the Eagle, and we are left here in the heart of this mountainous region."
"Oi'm homesick! Oi wish Oi hadn't come!"
Frank laughed.
"This is not the worst scrape we have been in, by any means. We'll pull out of this, with our usual good luck."
But a feeling of loneliness and desolation did settle heavily upon them, for all that Frank made an effort to throw it off. The mountains lifted their heads on every hand like mighty sentries that hemmed them in, and they felt shut off from all the rest of the world.
When they fully realized that Professor Scudmore had released himself and escaped in the air ship, they walked round the place where the Eagle had been left the night before, but they discovered nothing beyond some severed bits of rope.
Then Frank became philosophical.
"We may as well take it easy," he said. "It is useless to make a fuss about it. Here we are, and—-"
"Where we are Oi dunno!"
"You know quite as well as I do, old man."
"All roight. Phwat will we do?"
"Find some water to wash down our breakfast to start with. After we have eaten, we will feel better. Then we can settle on what we'll do next."
By rare good luck, they were near a spring of clear water, and it was found without trouble.
"It was fortunate we took the rifles and provisions out of the car last night," said Frank.
"Thot it wur," nodded Barney.
For all of their situation, they ate heartily, and, breakfast over, they felt better. Then they sat and talked the matter over a while, finally deciding to make an effort to get somewhere, and trust to fortune.
With the aid of the pieces of rope, they tied the provisions into bundles, which were easily carried, and before long they struck out.
Barney trusted everything to Frank who took the lead, and they headed for what seemed to be an outlet to the valley, away to the west.
During the next five days the boys passed through a few adventures, none of which, however, have any bearing on this story. They wandered round and round amid the mountains, finally coming back to the valley from which they had started.
This was discouraging, but they started over again, and they finally came to a narrow cut that seemed to lead into the very heart of the mountain that loomed before them.
"We will try it," said Frank, leading the way.
They passed through the cut, after traveling many miles, and came into a vast basin, with mountains looming on every hand.
"Pwhat do yez think, me b'y?" asked the Irish lad.
"It is not easy to tell what to think," was the reply. "However, I fear we are in Water Pocket Canyon."
"Phwat about Water Pocket Canyon?"
"It is said to be fifty miles in length to ten or fifteen in width, and to have no outlets."
"Well, this can't be th' place, me b'y, fer it has an outlet roight here."
"But one that would not be easy to find, and so it might go forth there were no outlets to the place."
"Begorra! it looks loike we naded Profissor Scudmore's floying-machane to git out av this scrape."
"It does look that way. We seem to be gettin
g tangled more and more. All we can do is to make the attempt to get out."
"Av this is Warter Pocket Canyon, we may not be able to foind this pass if we lave it."
"We will mark the spot some way."
"How?"
"That is the question. Wait till I find a way."
It was not easy, but Frank finally decided that he could tell the mountain through the base of which the pass had seemed to wind.
Then they went into the wild and picturesque valley, while Frank continued to look back at intervals in order to impress the appearance of the mountain on his mind.
That night they camped beside a little stream that bubbled out from beneath the base of a cliff, and it was found that their stock of provisions was getting very low, even though they had preserved it as far as possible by shooting and cooking wild game.
"We have got to get out av here soon, Frankie," said the Irish boy, soberly.
Frank nodded.
"That is evident; but we are doing our best, and so we can do no better."
Frank was somewhat disheartened, but he did not wish Barney to know it, and so he pretended to be cheerful.
Darkness settled over the canyon, and the light of a tiny fire shone on the faces of the young adventurers.
Frank seemed to be dreaming, for, with a far-away stare, he was gazing straight into the flames, apparently quite unaware of his surroundings.
In the flaring fire he saw strange pictures of events in his own career—a career such as had never before fallen to the lot of a boy of his years.
He seemed to behold the scores of perils through which he had passed, and before him seemed to flit the faces of the many friends and foes he had made.
He saw the foes of his school days—Snell, Bascomb, Gage, and all the others—skulk past in procession. Snell had a sneaking, treacherous look on his face, Bascomb swaggered along in the old bullying manner, and Gage seemed to be driven along by the Evil One, who was constantly goading him to rash and desperate things. Then he saw the face of his most deadly enemy, his own cousin, Carlos Merriwell; but it no longer bore a look of malignant hatred, for it was white and cold in the last long sleep.
There were other enemies who had sprung up along his path, but they seemed like shadows in comparison to the ones of his school days.
Frank Merriwell's Bravery Page 9