E-text prepared by Al Haines

THE AIRPLANE BOYS AMONG THE CLOUDS

or,

Young Aviators in a Wreck

by

JOHN LUTHER LANGWORTHY

M. A. Donohue & CompanyChicago ——— New York1912

CONTENTS

Chapter

I. TRYING OUT THE NEW BIPLANE II. A RESCUER FROM THE SKIES III. THE MEN IN THE TOURING CAR IV. SUSPICION V. FIGURING IT ALL OUT VI. AN UNKNOWN ENEMY VII. SEEN FROM THE EAGLES' EYRIE VIII. MYSTERIOUS MR. MARSH AT IT AGAIN IX. STARTLING NEWS OVER THE WIRE X. IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CHIEF XI. A NEW ALARM XII. SANDY DROPS SOMETHING XIII. THE CHALLENGE XIV. SOMETHING DOING XV. THE AWAKENING XVI. THE CHIEF MEETS AN OLD FRIEND XVII. GALLANT ANDY XVIII. AT THE FOOT OF THE LIBERTY POLE XIX. THE MYSTERY STILL UNSOLVED XX. THE RIVAL AVIATORS XXI. THE RACE WITH THE STORM XXII. A TERRIBLE MOMENT ON OLD THUNDER TOP XXIII. THE BIRD BOYS' TRIUMPH—CONCLUSION

THE AIRPLANE BOYS AMONG THE CLOUDS

or, Young Aviators in a Wreck

CHAPTER I

TRYING OUT THE NEW BIPLANE

"I tell you, Elephant, it's the Bird boys, and nobody else!"

"But they had a monoplane last summer, Larry; and you can see foryourself it's a biplane out yonder over the lake. So that's why Ithought it must be Percy Carberry and his crony, Sandy Hollingshead."

"Shucks! stir up your think-box, Elephant. Get a move on your mind,and look back. Don't you remember Percy lost his old biplane when hetook that trip down to South America, and had some trouble with therevolutionists in Colombia?"

"Say, now, that's right. You mean the time Andy Bird found hislong-lost father, whose balloon left him a prisoner in such a queerway? Yes, but tell me, where would Frank and Andy Bird get a biplanenow?"

"Oh! rats, what ails you, Elephant? Didn't they make the other; anddon't you know they've been busy all winter, in that shop Old ColonelWhympers fitted up for them out in the field? And not even such bullygood friends as you and me were allowed to take a peep inside. That'swhat they were working on—building this new biplane, after sending forthe parts."

"Don't it just shine like fun in the sunlight, though?" declared thelittle "runt," who had been nicknamed "Elephant" by his chums, possiblyin a spirit of boyish humor, and which name had clung to him ever since.

"It sure does look like a spider-like craft," Larry Geohegan went on."Just see that white-headed eagle up in the blue sky. I bet you he'slooking down, and wondering what sort of thing it is."

"Huh! don't you fool yourself there, Larry," chuckled the other. "Thatwise old chap knows all about aeroplanes. He's had experience, he has.You forget that last summer, when the race was on between the Bird boysand Percy, to see who could land on the summit of Old Thunder-Topfirst, from an aeroplane, those same eagles had a nest up there, andtackled the boys for a warm session."

The two lads had come to a halt on the road about half a mile from theborders of Bloomsbury where they lived. From where they stood, holdingtheir fishing rods, and quite a decent catch of finny prizes, theycould look out over the beautiful surface of Lake Sunrise, which wasover fifteen miles long, and in places as much as three or four wide.

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