"That's right," cried the sheriff. "Fight's the word! They're breaking from cover now," he added, as he looked over the side of the cabin, from one of the windows. "The rascals1 have taken the alarm!"
The airship was descending2 toward a little glade3 in the woods surrounding the old picnic ground. Men, mostly of the tramp sort, could be seen running to and fro.
"I hope my deputies close in promptly," murmured the sheriff. "There's a bigger bunch there than I counted on."
From the appearance of the gang rushing about it seemed as if there were at least fifty of them. Some of the fellows caught sight of the airship, and, with yells, pointed4 upward.
Nearer and nearer to the earth settled the Red Cloud. The criminals in the camp were running wildly about. Several squads5 of them darted6 through the woods, only to come hurriedly back, where they called to their companions.
"Ha! My men are evidently on the job!" exclaimed the sheriff. "They are turning the rascals back!"
Some of the gang were so alarmed at the sight of the great airship settling down on their camp, that they could only stand and stare at it. Others were gathering7 sticks and stones, as if for resistance, and some could be seen to have weapons. Off to one side was a small hut, rather better than the rest of the tumbledown shacks8 in which the tramps lived. Tom noticed this, and saw several men gathered about it. One seemed familiar to the lad. He called the attention of Mr. Damon to the fellow.
"Do you know him?" asked Tom eagerly.
"Bless my very existence! If it isn't Anson Morse! One of the gang!" cried the eccentric man.
"That's what I thought," agreed Tom. "The bank robbers are here," he added, to the sheriff.
"If we only recover the money we'll be doing well," remarked Mr. Sharp.
Suddenly there came a shout from the fringe of woods surrounding the camp, and an instant later there burst from the bushes a number of men.
"My posse!" cried the sheriff. "We ought to be down now!"
The airship was a hundred feet above the ground, but Tom, opening wider the gas outlet9, sent the craft more quickly down. Then, just as it touched the earth, he forced a mass of vapor10 into the container, making the ship buoyant so as to reduce the shock.
An instant later the ship was stationary11.
Out leaped the sheriff.
"Give it to 'em, men!" he shouted.
With a yell his men responded, and fired a volley in the air.
"Come on, Tom!" called Mr. Sharp. "We'll make for the hut where you saw Morse."
"I'll come too! I'll come too!" cried Mr. Damon, rushing along as fast as he could, a seltzer bottle in either hand.
Tom's chief interest was to reach the men he suspected were the bank robbers. The lad dashed through the woods toward the hut near which he had seen Morse. He and Mr. Sharp reached it about the same time. As they came in front of it out dashed Happy Harry12, the tramp. He was followed by Morse and the man named Featherton. The latter carried a black valise.
"Hey! drop that!" shouted Mr. Sharp.
"drop nothing!" yelled the man.
"Go on! Go on!" urged Morse. "Take to the woods! We'll deal with these fellows!"
"Oh, you will, eh?" shouted Tom, and remembering his football days he made a dive between Morse and Happy Harry for the man with the bag, which he guessed contained the stolen money. The lad made a good tackle, and grabbed Featherton about the legs. He went down in a heap, with Tom on top. Our hero was feeling about for the valise, when he felt a stunning13 blow on the back of his head. He turned over quickly to see Morse in the act of delivering a second kick. Tom grew faint, and dimly saw the leader of the gang reach down for the valise.
This gave our hero sudden energy. He was not going to lose everything, when it was just within his grasp. Conquering, by a strong effort, his feeling of dizziness, he scrambled14 to his feet, and made a grab for Morse. The latter fended15 him off, but Tom came savagely16 back at him, all his fighting blood up. The effects of the cowardly blow were passing off.
The lad managed to get one hand on the handle of the bag.
"Let go!" cried Morse, and he dealt Tom a blow in the face. It staggered the youth, but he held on grimly, and raised his left hand and arm as a guard. At the same time he endeavored to twist the valise loose from Morse's hold. The man raised his foot to kick Tom, but at that moment there was a curious hissing17 sound, and a stream of frothy liquid shot over the lad's head right into the face of the man, blinding him.
"Ha! Take that! And more of it!" shouted Mr. Damon, and a second stream of seltzer squirted into the face of Morse.
With a yell of rage he let go his hold of the satchel18, and Tom staggered back with it. The lad saw Mr. Damon rushing toward the now disabled leader, playing both bottles of seltzer on him. Then, when all the liquid was gone the eccentric man began to beat Morse over the head and shoulders with the heavy bottles until the scoundrel begged for mercy.
Tom was congratulating himself on his success in getting the bag when Happy Harry, the tramp, rushed at him.
"I guess I'll take that!" he roared, and, wheeling Tom around, at the same time striking him full in the face, the ugly man made a grab for the valise.
His hand had hardly touched it before he went down like a log, the sound of a powerful blow causing Tom to look up. He saw Mr. Sharp standing19 over the prostrate20 tramp, who had been cleanly knocked out.
"Are you all right, Tom?" asked the balloonist.
"Yes—trifle dizzy, that's all—I've got the money!"
"Are you sure?"
Tom opened the valise. A glance was enough to show that it was stuffed with bills.
Happy Harry showed signs of coming to, and Mr. Sharp, with a few turns of a rope he had brought along, soon secured him. Morse was too exhausted21 to fight more, for the seltzer entering his mouth and nose, had deprived him of breath, and he fell an easy prisoner to Mr. Damon.
Morse was soon tied up. The other members of the Happy Harry gang had escaped.
Meanwhile the sheriff and his men were having a fight with the crowd of tramps, but as the posse was determined22 and the criminals mostly of the class known as "hobos," the battle was not a very severe one. Several of the sheriff's men were slightly injured, however, and a few of the tramps escaped.
"A most successful raid," commented the sheriff, when quiet was restored, and a number of prisoners were lined up, all tied securely. "Did you get the money?"
"Almost all of it," answered Tom, who, now that Morse and Happy Harry were securely tied, had busied himself, with the aid of Mr. Sharp and Mr. Damon, in counting the bills. "Only about two thousand dollars are missing. I think the bank will be glad enough to charge that to profit and loss."
"I guess so," added the sheriff. "I'm certainly much obliged to you for the use of your airship. Otherwise the raid wouldn't have been so successful. Well, now we'll get the prisoners to jail."
It was necessary to hire rigs from nearby farmers to accomplish this. As for Morse and Happy Harry, they were placed in the airship, and, under guard of the sheriff and two deputies, were taken to the county seat. The criminals were too dazed over the rough treatment they had received, and over their sudden capture, to notice the fact of riding through the air to jail.
"Now for home!" cried Tom, when the prisoners had been disposed of. "Home to clear our names and take this money to the bank!"
"And receive the reward," added Mr. Sharp, with a smile. "Don't forget that!"
"Oh, yes, and I'll see that you get a share too, Mr. Durkin," went on Tom. "Only for your aid we never would have gotten these men and the money."
"Oh, I guess we're about even on that score," responded the official. "I'm glad to break up that gang."
The next morning Tom and his friends started for home in the Red Cloud.
They took with them evidence as to the guilt23 of the two men—Morse and Happy Harry. The men confessed that they and their pals24 had robbed the bank of Shopton, the night before Tom and his friends sailed on their trip. In fact that was the object for which the gang hung around Shopton. After securing their booty they had gone to the camp of the tramps at Shagmon, where they hid, hoping they would not be traced. But the words Tom had overheard had been their undoing25. The men who arrived at the camp just before the raid were the same ones the young inventor heard talking in the office building. They had come to get their share of the loot, which Morse held, and with which he tried so desperately26 to get away. Tom's injuries were not serious and did not bother him after being treated by a physician.
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1
rascals
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| 流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人 | |
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2
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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glade
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| n.林间空地，一片表面有草的沼泽低地 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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squads
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| n.（军队中的）班( squad的名词复数 )；（暗杀）小组；体育运动的运动（代表）队；（对付某类犯罪活动的）警察队伍 | |
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darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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7
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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shacks
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| n.窝棚，简陋的小屋( shack的名词复数 ) | |
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outlet
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| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
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vapor
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| n.蒸汽，雾气 | |
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stationary
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| adj.固定的，静止不动的 | |
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12
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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13
stunning
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| adj.极好的；使人晕倒的 | |
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14
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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15
fended
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| v.独立生活，照料自己( fend的过去式和过去分词 )；挡开，避开 | |
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16
savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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17
hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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satchel
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| n.(皮或帆布的)书包 | |
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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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prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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21
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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23
guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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24
pals
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| n.朋友( pal的名词复数 )；老兄；小子；（对男子的不友好的称呼）家伙 | |
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25
undoing
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| n.毁灭的原因，祸根；破坏，毁灭 | |
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desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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