CHAPTER XXV

PLANS FOR AN AERO MEET

“Who told you about the strange man?” asked Joe, quickly.

“Bill Hickson, my milkman. Bill saw Mr. Akers at the cottage several times, an’ when Bill came over here he said he saw a man wanderin’ around in the woods as looked like Akers. So I came over to look into the matter,” went on Joel Runnell. “But I didn’t calkerlate to drop into no sech thunderstorm as we had,” he added, with a grin.

“And have you discovered anything of Mr. Akers yet?” questioned Fred.

“Not a thing. But I ain’t had much o’ a chanct to look, on account o’ the storm. I’m going to tramp around the island now.”

“I wish we could go with you,” said Joe. “But we had better get home, now the storm has cleared away. Our folks will be worrying about us.”

“Yes, that’s true. Tell you what I’ll do, boys. If I learn anything about Mr. Akers I’ll send you word,” said the old hunter.

“I wish you would!” cried Joe. “We are very much interested in that case. I wish we could find him, and find his missing papers and stocks too.”

“It sure is a curious affair,” and Joel Runnell shook his head slowly. “I think them men, Mason an’ Chase, had somethin’ to do with it. But thinkin’ ain’t provin’, so it won’t do no good to say anything.”

A little more talk followed, and then the boys prepared to fly away in their biplane. As Fred had had such a strenuous time fighting the storm, he was perfectly willing to let Joe take the wheel. Joel Runnell assisted them in getting away, and waved his cap after them when they were above the trees.

The storm had now died away completely, and the setting sun shone brightly over the surface of the lake. There was still a little wind, but it came steadily instead of in gusts and was in the right direction, so that it caused the aircraft boys little trouble. Joe steered a straight course for Lakeport, and they made fairly good time on the return and came down in the usual spot without trouble.

Their aircraft had been seen from afar, for many were watching for them, fearing they had been wrecked in the thunderstorm. As they came down a crowd rushed forward to greet them, including Mr. and Mrs. Westmore and Mr. and Mrs. Rush.

“Are you safe, Joe?”

“Were you up when it blew so, Fred?”

“Oh, what an awful storm that was!”

“Why, the flying machine doesn’t seem to be damaged in the least!”

Such were some of the remarks made and questions asked. The two lads soon proved to the satisfaction of everybody that they were uninjured and then related their story. As Fred told of how he had struggled to land in the storm his mother and Mrs. Westmore shuddered.

“Oh, you must never go up in such a storm again, Fred!” cried his mother. “Promise me!”

“Not if I can help it,” he answered, quickly. “Once is enough!”

“That’s right,” added Joe. “After this I want to do my flying in fair weather only.”

“It’s a great wonder the _Skylark_ wasn’t wrecked,” was Link’s comment.

“We were out in the sloop,” said Paul, “Bart and Frank and I, and we had all we could do to keep her headed to the wind and off the rocks. We thought of you, and once Bart imagined he saw the biplane, but he must have been mistaken.”

As soon as the boys could get the flying machine to a place of safety they told their chums and their folks of what Joel Runnell had said about the strange man seen on Pine Island.

“Do you think it really was Mr. Akers?” questioned Harry, with interest.

“There is no telling,” replied his brother. “If it was, and he is found, Runnell will let us know.”

Several days passed and at last came word that the old hunter had been unable to trace the strange individual, whoever he might have been. That he had left Pine Island, Joel Runnell was certain. He had found several traces of camping parties, but that was all.

For the time being the aircraft boys of Lakeport were so interested in the proposition of holding an aero meet that the mysterious disappearance of Andrew Akers was well-nigh forgotten. The lads received a letter from the boys of Brookside who owned the _Swallow_, stating that they would be pleased to enter the contests. Then came another letter, from the Bartley boys, of Haverford, which our friends perused with much interest. In part this communication ran as follows:

“As you have a biplane and as that is the kind of a flying machine the fellows of Brookside have, too, it seems to us that races against our monoplane would not be exactly fair. We might go into some of the contests together, but we would suggest that you invite Mr. Samuel Barnes, of Bralham, to join in the meet. He has a monoplane similar to ours, and is a young man you will like to meet. He used to back up the Bralham football club, so you probably know him. All four flying machines might go into some of the contests, and for long distance flights we could have two runs--one for the monoplanes and one for the biplanes.”

“That’s the talk!” cried Fred. “I know Sam Barnes, but I did not know he had a flying machine. Let’s invite him by all means.”

“Say, if we keep on we’ll be getting up a regular aero meet,” came from Link. “We’d better fence in the field and charge an admission fee.”

“I’ve got an idea,” said Joe. “If we can really make it worth while, we could wire off a big part of the field and charge, say twenty-five cents, or fifty cents, admission and then use part of the money for paying for prizes and divide the rest among the charitable societies of Lakeport, Brookside, Haverford, and Bralham. By advertising that part of the money was to go to charity we might draw a big crowd, and do a lot of good, besides having a grand meet.”

This idea took like wildfire, and that very night a number of letters were written, one inviting the young man from Bralham to participate in the proposed aero meet and the others outlining the scheme for paid admissions, with prizes for various contests, and with a certain percentage of the receipts for charity.

The suggestion to give something to charity caught the favor of the ladies, who for years had been struggling with the question of what to do for certain poor and worthy folks of their localities. The boys agreed to give sixty per cent. of the money taken in to the cause--fifteen per cent. to each of the four towns to be represented--for Sam Barnes, of Bralham, came over to Lakeport in his monoplane, to say that he would accept the invitation to participate. The other forty per cent. was to be used to pay necessary expenses and in the purchase of suitable prizes.

“Now the question is, Where are we to hold the meet?” said George Dixon, at a meeting held by invitation in Brookside, a few days later.

“Well, I don’t know,” answered Joe. “Of course we’d like to make it Lakeport, but I suppose you’d say Brookside and you other fellows would say Haverford and Bralham.”

“We have no very good field in Haverford,” answered Bill Bartley. “Almost every place is too stony and uneven. I have only one fairly good landing spot for my monoplane.”

“We can use our old football field,” said the Bralham aviator. “But for an aero meet I am afraid it will prove rather small.”

“Well, we have room enough at Brookside,” answered Andy Brown. “But as the Lakeport fellows issued this invitation I rather think it ought to be their privilege to name the field.”

At that moment came a knock on the door of the clubroom where the meeting was being held, and Fred, who was nearest, opened the portal. There stood James Slosson, with a letter in his hand.

“This is from Mr. Corsen,” said the aviator and chauffeur. “He heard that you were going to hold this meeting and he wanted to make you an offer.”

The letter was addressed to Joe, but it proved to be for the benefit of all present and ran as follows:

“I understand that you are to hold an aero meet and donate part of the entrance money to charity. Mrs. Corsen and my daughter Violet are much interested, and so am I, and if you have not yet selected a place for the exhibition I hereby offer you the free use of the big fields in the back of my estate, with the free use of two of the barns for hangars. As you know, the fields are well fenced, and I have the lumber on hand for a new barn, and I will have my carpenter, Mr. Darrow, put up a small grandstand for you free of expense.”

“Hurrah for Mr. Corsen!” cried Harry, enthusiastically.

“This is the best yet!” cried Fred.

“It is certainly a very generous offer,” said George Dixon. “Having the meet on the Corsen estate ought to draw quite a fashionable crowd.”

“Especially if Mrs. Corsen and some of her rich friends will play patronesses for us,” said Bart.

“And I’ll get my dad to put up just the dandy grandstand!” cried Link. “And he can put up pylons, and all the other things, too.”

The matter was talked over and all present were in favor of accepting the rich gentleman’s offer, and a letter was written to that effect and given to James Slosson. The date of the meet was placed on a Saturday nine days later, in the afternoon.

“Now, with such a place to meet, we ought to advertise this affair,” said Sam Barnes. “Folks won’t come unless they know about it.”

“I’ve got an advertising scheme that I think will produce good results,” said Bart. “Of course we can hang up bills in each town, at the post-offices and stores, but my plan is to get small and cheap handbills printed in big quantities. Then each of us can go up, day after day, and fly all around the country hereabouts, dropping the handbills wherever we go. We can put a line on each bill, ‘This Handbill Delivered by Aeroplane.’ That will cause folks to keep the handbill and talk about it, and I am sure lots of them will drive in to the meet.”

This proposition met with instant approval from all sides, and as there was a big printing establishment at Haverford it was left to the Bartley boys to find out how cheaply the handbills could be obtained and also some good-sized posters. Half an hour was spent in writing the advertisements.

“Well, that surely will be a real aero meet, if everything goes through as planned,” said Harry to his brother, when they were on the way home.

“It was fine of Mr. Corsen to let us use his fields,” answered Joe.

“Yes, and fine for Mrs. Corsen and Violet to take an interest,” added Harry. “Wonder what Si Voup and Ike Boardman will say to this when they hear of it? I’ll wager they will be more sour than ever, Joe.”

“Don’t notice them if they are, Harry. With all our good fortune we can afford to drop all thoughts of those two chaps.”

“Oh, I am willing to let them alone if only they will let us alone. But it isn’t in ’em to let this go by unnoticed. As sure as fate Si and Ike will try to do something to spoil the affair,--or at least our part in it.”

“Well, we’ll have to keep our eyes open. But I don’t think they’ll go down to Darrow’s barn again--not as long as the old cistern is there.” And Joe laughed over the recollection of what had occurred.

“What do you think about the contests--can we win?” asked Fred, who was with the brothers.

“Oh, we’ve got to win, Fred! Of course, I don’t expect we’ll win everything. But I hope we win the most of the points.”

“Yes, and especially the long-distance flight,” added Harry.