The Flying Boys to the Rescue

Harvey Hamilton, the young aviator, found himself in the most distressful dilemma of his life. He and his devoted friend, the colored youth Bohunkus Johnson, had left their homes near the New Jersey village of Mootsport, and sailing away in the former's aeroplane had run into a series of adventures in eastern Pennsylvania, which have been related in "The Flying Boys in the Sky." It was the good fortune of Harvey to help in the recovery of the little girl who was kidnapped from her home in Philadelphia some weeks before. All having gone well down to the time of her rescue, he was awaiting the return of "Bunk" to continue their outing, when to his consternation he learned that his dusky comrade had gone off with Professor Milo Morgan in his unique monoplane, which bore the fantastic name "The Dragon of the Skies." To add to the annoyance of the situation, the couple had started on the maddest enterprise of which a mortal has ever been guilty, -a trip across the Atlantic Ocean to the continent of Africa. That fact of itself would have stamped the gaunt, grizzled aviator as the veriest lunatic outside of a hospital for the insane.Two remembrances caused Harvey Hamilton keen regret: one was his hasty words to Bunk, which were the indirect cause of this astounding venture, and the other his failure to warn him of the mental weakness of Professor Morgan. Had he done as he ought to have done, in either instance, the lad would have been saved from the terrifying peril into which he had rushed.But while our young friend condemned himself without stint, it was now too late for mere grief. The momentous question was whether he could do anything to save Bunk, and if so, how should he go about it?The Dragon of the Skies was not only much swifter than his biplane, but it had a start of at least two days. If the owner had headed for the Dark Continent, he was already well advanced upon the fateful journey. In that event Harvey could do nothing but wait through the long days and weeks for the news that might never come to him.The more he strode up and down the hotel porch and thought of the matter, the more he was puzzled. He must attempt nothing without good counsel and the best man to give it was Simmons Pendar, the detective, who had been the means of rescuing little Grace Hastings from the band of kidnappers. Although inaction was torture, he stayed in Chesterton, with his aeroplane in the primitive hangar, until Pendar, having finished the rush of business, found time to greet him. When Harvey asked him for a few minutes, the officer, who naturally was in high spirits, replied in his hearty manner: "My dear boy, you shall have all the time you want; I can never forget the obligations under which you have placed the Hastings and me; let me know how I can serve you." More