CHAPTER II
THE COLONEL'S OFFER
Two more surprised youths than Dick Hamilton and Innis Beeby would havebeen hard to find. That the young millionaire should meet LarryDexter, a newspaper reporter with whom he had been acquainted sometime, in this startling fashion was one thing to wonder at, but thatInnis should help in the rescue of his cousin, of whom he had just beenspeaking, was rather too much to crowd into a few strenuous moments.
"Whitfield!" gasped Innis, when his cousin had been safely gottenaboard. "How in the world did you get here? And was that your craft?"
"Yes. But don't stop to talk now!" gasped the rescued aviator. "Mymachinist, Jack Butt, went down with us! Can you see anything of him?"
Eagerly the eyes of the cadets searched the waters that had nowsubsided from the commotion caused by the plunging down of the wreckedaircraft. Then Dick cried:
"I see something moving! Right over there!"
He pointed to where the water was swirling, and the next moment hethrew in the clutch of his motor. The propeller churned the water tofoam, and the craft shot ahead.
The next instant a body came to the surface. A man began to strike outfeebly, but it was evident he was nearly drowned.
"That's Jack! That's my helper!" cried Mr. Vardon. "Can you save him?"
"Take the wheel!" shouted Dick to Paul. And then, as the motor-boatshot ahead, the rich youth leaned over the gunwale, and, holding on toa forward deck cleat with one hand, he reached over, and with theother, caught the coat collar of the swimmer, who had thrown up hisarms, and was about to sink again.
"I'll give you a hand!" cried Innis, and between them the cadets liftedinto the boat the now inert form of Jack Butt.
"Stop the motor!"
"First aid!"
"We've got to try artificial respiration!"
In turn Innis, Paul and Dick shot out these words. And, seeing thatthe other two rescued ones were in no need of attention, the cadetsproceeded to put to practical use the lessons in first aid to thedrowning they had learned at Kentfield.
And, while this is going on I am going to take just a few moments, inwhich to tell my new readers something about the previous books in thisseries.
The only son of Mortimer Hamilton, of Hamilton Corners, in New Yorkstate, Dick was a millionaire in his own right. His mother had lefthim a large estate, and in the first volume of this series, entitled,"Dick Hamilton's Fortune; Or, The Stirring Doings of a Millionaire'sSon," I related what Dick had to do in order to become fully possessedof a large sum of money. He had to prove that he was really capable ofhandling it, and he nearly came to grief in doing this, as many abetter youth might have done.
Dick's uncle, Ezra Larabee, of Dankville, was a rich man, but a miser.He was not in sympathy with Dick, nor with the plans his sister, Dick'smother, had made for her son. Consequently, Uncle Ezra did all hecould to make it unpleasant for Dick while the latter was paying him avisit of importance.
But Dick triumphed over his uncle, and also over certain sharpers whotried to get the best of him.
My second volume, entitled, "Dick Hamilton's Cadet Days, Or, TheHandicap of a Millionaire's Son," deals with our hero's activities atthe Kentfield Military Academy. This was a well-known school, at thehead of which was Colonel Masterly. Major Henry Rockford was thecommandant, and the institution turned out many first-class young men,with a groundwork of military training. The school was under thesupervision of officers from the regular army, the resident one beingMajor Webster.
Dick had rather a hard time at Kentfield--at first--for he had to getover the handicap of being a millionaire. But how he did it you mayread, and, I trust, enjoy.
In "Dick Hamilton's Steam Yacht; Or, A Young Millionaire and theKidnappers," Dick got into a "peck of trouble," to quote his chum,Innis Beeby. But the rich youth finally triumphed over the designs ofUncle Ezra, and was able to foil some plotters.
"Dick Hamilton's Football Team; Or, A Young Millionaire On theGridiron," tells of the efforts of Dick to make a first-class elevenfrom the rather poor material he found at Kentfield. How he did it,though not without hard work, and how the team finally triumphed overthe Blue Hill players, you will find set down at length in the book.
"Dick Hamilton's Touring Car; Or, A Young Millionaire's Race for aFortune," took our hero on a long trip, and in one of the largest,finest and most completely equipped automobiles that a certain firm hadever turned out.
I have mentioned Larry Dexter, and I might say that in a line entitled,"The Young Reporter Series," I have give an account of the doings ofthis youth who rose from the position of office boy on a New Yorknewspaper to be a "star" man, that is, one entrusted with writing onlythe biggest kind of stories. Dick had met Larry while in New York, andLarry had profited by the acquaintanceship by getting a "beat," orexclusive story, about the young millionaire.
On the return of Dick and his cadet chums from a trip to California,the rich youth had again taken up his studies at Kentfield.
And now we behold him, out in his motor-boat, having just succeeded inhelping rescue the master and "crew" of the aircraft that had plungedinto the river.
"There; he breathed."
"I think he's coming around now."
"Better get him to shore though. He'll need a doctor!"
Thus remarked Dick, Paul and Innis as they labored over the unfortunatemechanician of the biplane. They had used artificial respiration onhim until he breathed naturally.
"I'll start the boat," announced Dick, for the craft had been allowedto drift while the lifesaving work was going on. "We want to make timeback."
"This certainly is a surprise," remarked Larry Dexter, as he tried towring some of the water out of his clothes.
"More to me than it is to you, I guess," suggested Dick. "I supposeyou birdmen are used to accidents like this?"
"More or less," answered the cousin of Innis Beeby. "But I neverexpected to come to grief, and be rescued by Innis."
"Nor did I expect to see you," said the cadet.
"We were just speaking of you, or, rather I was, as we saw your craftin the air. I was wondering if you had perfected your patent."
"It doesn't look so--does it?" asked the airship inventor, with arueful smile in the direction of the sunken aircraft. "I guess I'm atthe end of my rope," he added, sadly. "But I'm glad none of us waskilled."
"So am I!" exclaimed Dick. "But how in the world did you come to takeup aviation, Larry?" he asked, of the young newspaper man. "Have yougiven up reporting?"
"No indeed," replied Larry Dexter. "But this air game is getting to beso important, especially the army and navy end of it, that my paperdecided we ought to have an expert of our own to keep up with thetimes. So they assigned me to the job, and I'm learning how to managean aircraft. I guess the paper figures on sending me out to scout inthe clouds for news. Though if I don't make out better than this,they'll get someone else in my place."
"Something went wrong--I can't understand it," said the aircraftinventor, shaking his head. "The machine ought not to have plungeddown like that. I can't understand it."
"I'd like to send the story back to my paper," went on Larry.
"Always on the lookout for news!" remarked Dick. "We'll see that yousend off your yarn all right. There's a telegraph office in theAcademy now. I'll fix it for you."
The run to the school dock was soon made, and the arrival of Dick'smotor-boat, with the rescued ones from the airship, which had been seenflying over the parade grounds a little while before, made somecommotion.
"We've missed guard-mount!" remarked Innis, as he saw the other cadetsat the drill.
"Can't be helped. We had a good excuse," said Dick. "Now we've got toattend to him," and he nodded at Jack Butt, who seemed to havecollapsed again.
With military promptness, the mechanic was carried to the hospital, andthe school doctor was soon working over him. Meanwhile, dry garmentshad been supplied to Larry and Mr. Vardon. A messenger cam
e fromColonel Masterly to learn what was going on, and, when he heard of therescue, Dick and his chums were excused from taking part in the day'sclosing drill.
"He's coming around all right," the physician remarked to the youngmillionaire, on the way from the hospital, where he had been attendingJack Butt. "It seems that he was entangled in some part of theaircraft, and couldn't get to the surface until he was nearly drowned.But he's all right now, though he needs rest and care."
"I wonder if he can stay here?" asked Dick. "Oh, yes, I'll attend tothat for you," the doctor promised. "I'll arrange with ColonelMasterly about that. And your other friends--I think they shouldremain, too. They probably are in rather an unpleasant plight."
"I'll look after them," said Dick. "I can put them up. One is anewspaper man, and the other a cousin of Beeby's. He's an airshipinventor."
"Is that so? Colonel Masterly might be interested to know that."
"Why?" asked Dick.
"Because I understand that he is about to add a course in aviation tothe studies here. It has been discussed in faculty meetings, so it isno secret."
"An aviation course at Kentfield!" cried Dick, with shining eyes.
"Yes. Are you interested?" the doctor asked.
"Well, I hadn't thought about it, but I believe I should like to havean airship," the young millionaire went on. "Down, Grit, down!" hecommanded, as a beautiful bulldog came racing from the stables to fawnupon his master. I used the word "beautiful" with certainrestrictions, for Grit was about the homeliest bulldog in existence.
But his very hideousness made him "beautiful" to a lover of dogs. Hejumped about in delight at seeing Dick again, for he had been shut up,so he would not insist on going out in the motor-boat.
Quarters were provided for Larry Dexter, who sent off a brief accountof the accident to the airship, and Mr. Vardon was looked after byInnis. Butt, of course, remained in the hospital.
Dr. Morrison was right when he said that Colonel Masterly would beinterested in meeting the luckless aviator. Innis took his cousin tothe head of the school, and Mr. Vardon told of his invention, briefly,and also of the mishap to his biplane.
"Perhaps this is providential," said the colonel musingly. "For sometime I have been considering the starting of an aviation course here,and it may be you would like to assist me in it. I want the cadets tolearn something about the fundamentals of heavier-than-air machines.Will you accept a position as instructor?"
"I will, gladly," said Mr. Vardon. "I might as well admit that I haveno further funds to pursue my experiments, though I am satisfied that Iam on the right track. But my machine is wrecked."
"Perhaps it can be raised," said the colonel, cheerfully. "We willtalk about that later. And we may find a way to have you conduct yourexperiments here."
"I can not thank you enough, sir," returned the aviator. "And I amalso deeply indebted to my cousin's chum--Dick Hamilton. But for him,and the other cadets in the boat, we might all have been drowned."
"I'm glad we were on hand," said Dick, with a smile.
Dick Hamilton's Airship; Or, A Young Millionaire in the Clouds Page 2