CHAPTER XXII

THE OLD CISTERN

As the days went by the owners of the _Skylark_ became more proficient in running the biplane. They went up singly and in pairs, and covered the territory for several miles about the town. Once Joe flew to Brookside and landed in the field that George Dixon and his chums were using for their flying machine.

“Hurrah!” cried George, as Joe came down. “That’s the way to pay us a visit!”

“Well, see that you return it the same way,” answered the elder Westmore youth.

“Sure thing, Joe--only you’ll have to allow us a little more time for practice.”

“You see, we don’t want to sail down to Lakeport and take off a chimney or a church steeple,” said Andy Brown, with a grin.

The boys of Brookside were using their biplane, and Joe watched several flights with interest.

“Good for you!” he cried, after a particularly good flight by George. “That’s the way to go at it. Before long we can have some races and other contests.”

“Just the thing!” answered Andy.

One day Harry and Fred took a flight to the end of the lake and back. This was the longest yet, and all of the others watched the departure and return with interest. On the return the wind increased and the young aviators had their hands full, to keep the biplane from “turning turtle,” as it is called,--that is, turning upside down.

“Hope they get back all right,” said Joe, anxiously, as the wind kept growing stronger.

“Here they come!” shouted Matt. “My! just see them scoot along!”

“I guess they’ve got all the power on,” added Paul, and he was right. With a daring swoop the boys came down, landing at one end of the big field.

“Glad to get back, I reckon,” remarked Joe, as he ran up, to help hold the biplane.

“That’s what,” answered Fred. “Say, it’s blowing something fierce up there!”

“It was certainly a thrilling run back,” said Harry, who had been managing the aeroplane. “I can tell you, fellows, it is no fun being up in a big blow.”

The wind was increasing, and all the aircraft boys had to pitch in to get the _Skylark_ back to the Darrow carpenter shop, Matt and Paul assisting their chums. Then the doors were tightly closed and locked, so that their precious machine might be safe.

That evening Link had to go on an errand for his mother, and for company he took Harry along. The errand took longer than anticipated, so that the two lads did not come back until nearly eleven o’clock.

“Rather late for you, Harry,” remarked the carpenter’s son, as they approached the Darrow home. “If you wish, I’ll walk around to your house with you.”

“Think I’m afraid on this moonlight night?” asked Harry, with a smile.

“Oh, no, I only thought I’d do it to keep you company, since you went away over to Reeger’s with me.”

“Thanks, Link, you’d better get to bed. I’ll be home inside of five minutes.”

As Harry spoke the boys turned a corner. Close by was the modest house in which the Darrows dwelt, and behind it, at the foot of a small garden, was the carpenter shop which had once been the meeting place of their baseball club and which now served as a hangar for the _Skylark_.

“Hello! who’s that?” cried Link, as he came to a halt and looked down the driveway towards the barn.

“What did you see, Link?” questioned his chum.

“Thought I saw two men walk around the end of the barn.”

“Two men? This time of night?” exclaimed Harry. “Can it be your father and somebody else?”

“I don’t think it was dad. I’m going to look.”

“I’ll go with you,” returned Harry, readily. “Maybe they are tramps, looking for a place to snooze. Well, if so, they can’t sleep in there with the _Skylark_.”

“Ma would have a fit if she thought tramps were around here,” answered Link.

The boys turned into the driveway leading down to the carpenter shop. It was clear moonlight, so they could see things quite plainly. Nobody was now in sight and all was quiet.

“Maybe you were mistaken, Link,” said Harry as they reached the front of the shop. “Nobody seems to be around.”

“I am sure I saw somebody,” insisted the carpenter’s son. “I’m going to walk around and make sure.”

“You go that way and I’ll go this,” said Harry. “Wait, take this, you may need it,” and he caught up two sticks from a pile that was handy and gave one to his chum.

Cautiously the two boys walked around the structure, peering into the windows as they went, and trying the doors. Harry had just reached one of the back corners when he heard Link raise a cry.

“There they are! Stop! Who are you?”

“Come on, we’ve got to get out of here!” came in a low voice from somebody at the rear of the shop. “Hurry up, before they catch us!”

“All right. Let’s run for the back alley,” came from another person.

Two figures darted out from where some tall weeds grew close to the back of the carpenter shop. Then the two intruders started to run towards a narrow back alley that led to a side road of Lakeport.

Now, as my old readers know, there was a large cistern located at the back of the Darrow shop, that same cistern into which the baseball outfit of the Lakeport club had once been thrown. This cistern had not been used for a long time, but Mr. Darrow kept it filled with water, for possible use in case of fire. The box on top had rotted away and the cistern was now covered with several old boards.

As the two runners started for the back alleyway they came to the cistern. They were side by side, and both trod heavily on the old boards, half-rotted by the dampness. The next instant came a sudden cracking, followed by several exclamations of alarm, and then a big splash.

“Hello! they’re in the cistern!” yelled Link.

“That’s right,” answered Harry.

“Help! help!” came from the opening. “Help us out, or we’ll be drowned!”

“It’s Si Voup!” exclaimed Harry.

“Yes, and Ike Boardman,” added the carpenter’s son. “Serves ’em right,--for sneaking around here this time of night.”

“But, Link, they may drown!”

“Not much, Harry. I happen to know that the water in that cistern just now isn’t over four feet deep. And it’s mostly mud at that,” added Link, with a chuckle.

“Mud?”

“Yes. You see, the mud drains in from the garden and the chicken house, and we haven’t cleaned the cistern out for some time--in fact, I guess dad is going to let it fill up. So they can’t drown.”

“All right then, we won’t worry,” said the younger Westmore boy, and now he, too, commenced to grin.

“Say, help us out, won’t you?” came pleadingly from Ike Boardman. “I’m wet to the skin, and covered with mud.”

“What are you doing around here?” demanded Link, coming up to the edge of the cistern and peering down at the two unfortunates.

“That’s our business,” returned Si, with something of his usual sourness.

“I guess it’s my business, as this is our place,” retorted the carpenter’s son.

“We were taking the short cut to the back road, that’s all,” grumbled the rich youth. “Help us out of this mess, and be quick about it.”

“We’ll not help you at all if you are going to talk that way,” replied Link.

“I don’t think you were just going to the back road--not this time of night,” remarked Harry. “I think you came here to see if you couldn’t do something to our biplane.”

“Nothing of the kind!” howled Si. “Help us out and be quick about it, Link Darrow, or I’ll have the law on you for allowing such a dangerous place as this. I might have broken my neck!”

“If you had it would have been your own fault, Si,” answered Link. “This is private property, and you know it. Maybe my dad will make you pay for the boards you broke.”

“Oh, stop chinning and help us out, won’t you?” pleaded Ike. “The smell down here is something fierce!”

“Our clothing is ruined,” went on Si. “Who is going to pay for that?”

“Oh, never mind that now,” interrupted his crony. “Let us get out first.”

The cistern was rather deep, so that to climb out without aid was difficult if not impossible. Both boys stood in water and mud up to their armpits, and each had his face well covered with the contents of the cistern.

“We might get the ladder,” suggested Harry.

“Hurry up, please!” pleaded Ike.

“If we help you out, will you promise to keep away from our biplane in the future?” questioned Link.

“Yes! yes!”

“How about you, Si?”

“I wasn’t going to touch your old flying machine,” growled the rich bully.

“I don’t believe you, and you’ve got to promise to keep away from here, or we won’t help you out,” went on the carpenter’s son.

“Oh, go on and promise,” said Ike, in a low voice. “Why, this place is enough to give a fellow typhoid fever, or something like that.”

“All right, you help us out and we won’t come around here again,” grumbled Si, who, truth to tell, did not like being down in that vile-smelling place any more than did his crony.

There was a short ladder in a shed close by and this Link and Harry procured, and after one end had been thrust down into the cistern, it was an easy matter for Si and Ike to crawl out. They came up dripping water and mud at every step they took.

“You just wait--we’ll get square for this!” grumbled Si, as he tried to wipe the mud from his eyes.

“Now don’t you threaten us, Si Voup!” cried Link, doubling up his fists. “Why, don’t you know we could have you locked up for prowling around here? You clear out, and keep away in the future.”

“Come on, Si,” said Ike, and backed away. “I’m going home and get washed up.”

“Just you listen to me, Si, before you go,” cried Harry. “I am sure you came here to see if you couldn’t damage our flying machine. Now, if anything happens to the _Skylark_ after this, remember that you are under suspicion, and I’ll tell the authorities, and your father, how we caught you and Ike here.”

“Bah!” muttered Si, and walked away, following his crony out of the Darrow yard. Both slunk away in the moonlight and Link and Harry watched them out of sight.

“What a pair!” murmured the younger Westmore youth.

“And what a beautiful sight they are just now!” chuckled the carpenter’s son. “I think I know two suits of clothing that will have to go to the cleaners.”

“They’ll have to explain matters to their folks. Wonder what they’ll say?”

“Oh, they’ll crawl out of it somehow--they always do. But I don’t think they’ll dare to blame us--they know we can report them for having been around the shop at this hour of the night.” And there the matter was dropped for the time being, and Harry went home. Joe was still awake and laughed heartily over the story his brother had to tell, and the next day Fred and the others had a good laugh, too.

As for Si and Ike, that unworthy pair sneaked home by a back way and lost no time in getting their dirty clothes out of sight and in taking a bath. They felt so humiliated by their experience that for over a week they took good care to keep out of sight of the owners of the _Skylark_.