Both boys lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In the suburbs of this town they had their a?rodrome from which, on an evening early in June, they had ventured on this flight. The Loon had already made many successful flights by day; but Frank and Phil, not satisfied with these, had at last carried out a flight by night.
“It’s goin’ to rain,” Phil had predicted that afternoon. “Hadn’t we better wait? It’s bound to rain after such a muggy2 day.”
“Well,” conceded Frank, “we’ve figured out that rain can’t hurt us. The plane is[24] waterproof3 and curved so that it can’t hold water. We’ve put holes in the flat planes on the rear. Water can’t collect there. And, as far as personal comfort is concerned, our glass covered car ought to give us plenty of that.”
“All right,” answered Phil laughing, “but if we do go up I’ll bet we don’t get back home to-night.”
How his prediction was fulfilled has just been seen.
The boys met at their a?rodrome, erected4 in a corner of a lumberyard owned by Frank’s father, soon after seven o’clock in the evening. Not until nearly eight o’clock was it wholly dark; then the sky grew suddenly black. Phil was still somewhat skeptical5 but neither had ever stopped when the other led the way and, a few minutes before eight o’clock, the monoplane shot out of the shed and was instantly out of sight—had there been spectators.
The yard watchman, Old Dick, fast friend and open admirer of the two boys, stood shaking his head and lantern for some minutes. Finally, when the rain began to fall and the wind broke into a half gale6, he hastened to his shanty7 ’phone and called up Mr. Graham.
[25]
“Misther Graham,” reported Dick, “thim byes is off ag’in in that flyin’ machane.” Evidently there was some excited comment or question at the other end of the ’phone. “Yis,” Dick continued, “they’ll be not over five minutes gone, but ’tis rainin’ somethin’ fierce an’ I’m seem’ nather hide nor hair o’ thim since.”
By the time Mr. Graham reached the a?rodrome in his automobile8, Frank and Phil had arrived at the southern end of their flight and turned for their return. They had not been running at top speed and were not over twenty-five miles from home. This was partly due to the fact that they had been climbing to the two thousand foot level.
When they came about, carelessly neglecting to note their precise compass bearings, they were in a position to make a rapid glide9. This for a few moments they did, reaching a speed of sixty-two miles an hour for a short time. Then they discovered that they were not sure of their course.
“The trouble was,” explained Phil later to his mother, “that you can’t tell anything about[26] your real movements in an airship when you are flying in a heavy wind and have no landmarks10. You’ve got to remember that you don’t feel the wind at all—except that caused by your own flight. In a heavy wind, you move with it; the airship vessel11 is buried in the fluid of the wind, and moves with it, just as a submarine in a deep river wouldn’t feel the current. It would be a part of it.”
“I’d think you’d tack12 just like you do in a sailboat,” suggested his mother.
“That’s what every one seems to think,” Phil explained, “but you can’t. You are carried away just as rapidly as if you were directly in the teeth of the wind. The best way is to head right up in the wind. If your engine is stronger than the wind, you’ll advance; if it isn’t, you’ll go back.”
“I hope this cures you of your venturesome ideas,” commented his mother earnestly.
“Not at all,” answered her son. “It gives us just the experience we need. We were over the trees when Frank tried to tack. He drifted back more than he moved sideways. But we know now.”
[27]
This conversation occurred the next day. That evening, Mrs. Ewing did not become alarmed until a late hour. Then, in her concern over Phil’s failure to return home, she telephoned to the Graham home. Mrs. Graham could only tell her what Old Dick had reported; that Mr. Graham had gone to the a?rodrome and failed to get any information; that her husband had hastened back and telegraphed to the authorities of several towns on the probable course of the boys and was now, with two friends, scouring13 the country roads to the south.
At two o’clock Mr. Graham returned assuring his wife and Phil’s mother that the boys were undoubtedly14 all right. For the next two hours Mr. Graham sat in the office of the Herald15 and then, no word having been received of the missing boys, he drove home for breakfast and a renewed search.
“Now,” he said with assumed confidence to his wife, “we’ll soon have ’em back. It’s daylight and they will soon reach some town and a ’phone. I’ll get the automobile out and be ready to go for them.”
[28]
Mr. Graham had just left the house on his way to the garage when his wife called him excitedly.
“They’re at Osceola—they’ve been asleep in that thing all night,” she screamed, bursting into tears; “but they’re all right.”
“Is he on the ’phone?” called back her husband in a peculiar16 tone.
“No,” she answered, “they’re coming in on the electric car.”
“There’s no car till six o’clock,” exclaimed Mr. Graham. “Osceola is only twelve miles out. I’ll have ’em here in an hour,” and in a few minutes his big roadster was humming south toward Osceola.
It was fortunate that Frank had walked two miles to Osceola in the early dawn, for scarcely had Mr. Graham started on the rescue of the castaways, before Mrs. Graham saw the result of her husband’s two hours’ vigil in the newspaper office. The newspaper carrier even ran up the walk to hand Mrs. Graham the Herald. Alert journalism17 had quickly turned Mr. Graham’s apprehensions18 into an almost certain tragedy.
[29]
Under a two-column head the disappearance19 of the boys was narrated20 in detail. The failure to hear from them; the violence of the wind and rain, and the conceded risk of all a?roplane flights, were all used as justification21 that the boys were undoubtedly dead.
Old Dick, the watchman, had been called by ’phone and his description of the start was made the foundation of a graphic22 story. Then followed an interview with Mr. Graham. Next came a promise from the Herald that the bodies would be found if every river, lake and forest in Michigan had to be searched.
“No cleverer, more intelligent or better liked boys were to be found in Grand Rapids,” the article read. “And their reputations are not confined to this city. The ill-fated airship on which they have probably lost their lives, was the product of their own hands and minds. It has been described in a?ronautical journals, and the last number of the English ‘Flight’ draws attention to its novel features.
“The airship was the outgrowth of an ordinary a?roplane built by the two young aviators24 last summer, and its construction occupied[30] the entire winter. This ascent25, which is probably the last and fatal flight of the new monoplane, is the tenth ascent made by the Loon this spring. It is needless to say that Mr. Graham, the father of one of the young aviators, is shocked beyond description. Former successes of the two boys allayed26 his fears as to the dangers of their experiments. The grief he expressed last night, over the fact that he had freely and amply provided funds for the construction of the Loon, is easily appreciated.”
The article finally concluded with a description of the Loon taken from “Flight,” the English a?ro-journal. This was:
“The Graham-Ewing monoplane adds to the efficiency of previously27 built machines by development in accordance with the changeable factors in the ‘law of the a?roplane.’ These are the speed and the angle of incidence to the line of flight.
“In this machine the plane is mounted so that it may be moved to any angle, adapting itself to speed and lifting at will, and offering opportunity for use as a steady device. It avoids longitudinal oscillation by means of a[31] large nonlifting tail surface, and the front of the fuselage is enclosed with glass to protect the aviator23.
“When starting, a large angle of incidence is essential to get more lift and rise. Then, one wants a small angle to fly fast enough to dodge28 through the air eddies29. With the Graham-Ewing monoplane this can be done. If the machine tips, the main planes can be tilted30 to correct the trouble. They also can be used as a brake.
“Putting the center of gravity below the center of lift has always caused trouble in this manner: If a puff31 of wind hits the craft head-on the wings were retarded32, while the small weight below was not, and its momentum33 carried the machine ahead, making the rear end of the plane whip down. This has been corrected by putting on a long tail with large tail-surfaces which check this movement. It adds to buoyancy, since the unmovable tail causes wind puffs34 to raise the whole machine in the air. The low center of gravity, at the same time, helps keep the machine level from side to side.
[32]
“Here is a description in figures of the airship:
“Breadth of wing, 39 feet; length over-all, 44 feet; chord of wings, 8 feet; center of gravity, 7 feet below the center of pressure; wings mounted on framework above front end of fuselage, which is enclosed in glass and aluminum35; enclosed car has room for pilot, passenger and motor; two 8? foot propellers36 driven from gearing at 800 revolutions per minute; nonlifting tail surface of 50 square feet, in addition to a plane lifting surface of 546 square feet; rudder, 25 square feet; the car is 4 feet high, 30 inches wide and 14 feet long; beneath it an aluminum boatshaped body is arranged to enable the operator to alight in the water; two wheels in front and one in the rear form the running gear.”
Of the two boys, Frank was the son of J. R. Graham, a wealthy furniture manufacturer. Phil Ewing, a few months older than Frank, was employed in Mr. Graham’s factory. Frank, always a great reader, was of a romantic turn. He had a love of adventure which ran to distant lands, hunting and wild animals. This he had[33] from books, the stories of Du Chaillu, Stanley, Selous and other great hunters. His actual experience extended little beyond books and he owned neither rod nor gun.
Phil was just the opposite. He was a fly fisherman, had shot his deer in the northern Michigan woods, was familiar with camp life and was a young naturalist37. He owned his own gun, had made his own split bamboo rod, could tie a trout38 fly and, with a talent for drawing and coloring, could skin and mount birds and animals.
In the factory, Phil assisted in the machine carving39 department. His familiarity with tools made him the chief worker on the airships, but it was Frank’s digging into aviation history that produced many of the advanced ideas of the monoplane.
The first rays of the sun pouring through the glass of their cabin roused the boys to early activity. Apparently40 the monoplane was uninjured, but its big pneumatic landing wheels were deep in the mud of the field and the nearest house was a quarter of a mile away.
“Whatever we do,” said Frank, “I’m goin’ to get word to the folks.”
[34]
“Go to that house,” suggested Phil. “Maybe they have a telephone. You can buy something to eat.”
When Frank reached the farmhouse41 he saw, around a bend in the road, a village about half a mile ahead. This was Osceola and, from the biggest house in the place, he called up his home. He did not care to tell of his plight42 and, when he set out to rejoin Phil, he did so breakfastless.
Reaching the bend in the road at the farmhouse, he forgot his hunger. An unmistakable sound had fallen on his ear—the engine of the Loon working at half speed—and he hurried forward on a run. Phil wasn’t thinking of breakfast. He was attempting to get the monoplane to the edge of the field. Tugging43 at the car, he was using the engine at half speed to pull the airship through the mud. That he was succeeding, was shown by three deep tracks stretching out behind the Loon.
At Frank’s breathless approach Phil scarcely looked up. Much less did he ask for food. The trousers of each boy were encased in black mud to the knees. Phil had discarded his shoes and having fallen on the oozy44 ground, he had an individual coating of mud.
[35]
“Gimme a hand here,” he ordered. “If we can get this thing to the road, we’ll get home for breakfast.”
“Isn’t that landing wheel bent45?” asked Frank.
“I’ve fixed46 her,” grunted47 Phil. “Get busy.”
The small addition of Frank’s energy seemed all that was needed, and the Loon was slowly forced toward the edge of the field.
“How you goin’ to get her over the fence?” panted Frank.
“It’s a stone fence,” was Phil’s answer. “The Loon stands four feet above the ground. All we got to do is to make two openin’s through the fence—it ain’t four feet high—one for each wheel and run her through. We can lift the tail over.”
At twenty-five minutes past five o’clock two bedraggled boys were returning the last of the rocks to close up the openings in the fence. The Loon, also bespattered, stood in the middle of the deserted48 highway.
Phil took his turn at the wheel, and lowering the plane, started on half speed with Frank crouching49 at his side. As the monoplane gave[36] no signs of weakness the pilot advanced his engine to full speed. There was a bound or two on the smooth roadway and the Loon began to lift.
Five hundred feet in the air, Osceola was passed. Frank, giving the hamlet a parting glance saw, standing50 before the general store, a well-known automobile. In it a man had arisen and was waving his arms violently. As the monoplane sped on the man dropped to his seat, started the car and hurried along the road in the wake of the airship.
“Say, Phil,” chuckled51 Frank, “father’s below us in his car. He can do sixty miles. Hit her up—let’s beat him home!”
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1
loon
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| n.狂人 | |
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muggy
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| adj.闷热的；adv.（天气）闷热而潮湿地；n.（天气）闷热而潮湿 | |
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waterproof
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| n.防水材料；adj.防水的；v.使...能防水 | |
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ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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skeptical
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| adj.怀疑的，多疑的 | |
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gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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shanty
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| n.小屋，棚屋；船工号子 | |
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8
automobile
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| n.汽车，机动车 | |
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glide
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| n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝 | |
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landmarks
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| n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址） | |
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11
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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12
tack
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| n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝 | |
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13
scouring
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| 擦[洗]净，冲刷，洗涤 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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herald
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| vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎 | |
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16
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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journalism
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| n.新闻工作，报业 | |
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18
apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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19
disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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20
narrated
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| v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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justification
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| n.正当的理由；辩解的理由 | |
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graphic
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| adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的 | |
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aviator
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| n.飞行家，飞行员 | |
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aviators
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| 飞机驾驶员，飞行员( aviator的名词复数 ) | |
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ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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allayed
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| v.减轻，缓和( allay的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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dodge
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| v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计 | |
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29
eddies
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| （水、烟等的）漩涡，涡流( eddy的名词复数 ) | |
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30
tilted
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| v. 倾斜的 | |
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31
puff
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| n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气 | |
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retarded
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| a.智力迟钝的，智力发育迟缓的 | |
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momentum
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| n.动力，冲力，势头；动量 | |
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34
puffs
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| n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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35
aluminum
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| n.(aluminium)铝 | |
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36
propellers
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| n.螺旋桨，推进器( propeller的名词复数 ) | |
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naturalist
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| n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者) | |
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trout
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| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
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carving
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| n.雕刻品，雕花 | |
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40
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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41
farmhouse
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| n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房） | |
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42
plight
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| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
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43
tugging
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| n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 ) | |
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44
oozy
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| adj.软泥的 | |
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45
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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46
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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47
grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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48
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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49
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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50
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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51
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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