[“THE AEROPLANE WAS NOW WITHIN TEN FEET OF THE PLATFORM.”]
THE MOTOR BOYS
IN THE CLOUDS
Or
A Trip for Fame and Fortune
BY
CLARENCE YOUNG
AUTHOR OF “THE MOTOR BOYS,” “THE MOTOR BOYS OVERLAND,”
“THE MOTOR BOYS AFLOAT,” “JACK RANGER’S SCHOOLDAYS,”
“JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE,” ETC.
ILLUSTRATED
NEW YORK
CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY
BOOKS BY CLARENCE YOUNG
THE MOTOR BOYS SERIES
(Trade Mark, Reg. U. S. Patent Office.)
12mo. Illustrated
Price per volume, 60 cents, postpaid
THE MOTOR BOYS
Or Chums Through Thick and Thin
THE MOTOR BOYS OVERLAND
Or A Long Trip for Fun and Fortune
THE MOTOR BOYS IN MEXICO
Or The Secret of the Buried City
THE MOTOR BOYS ACROSS THE PLAINS
Or The Hermit of Lost Lake
THE MOTOR BOYS AFLOAT
Or The Stirring Cruise of the Dartaway
THE MOTOR BOYS ON THE ATLANTIC
Or The Mystery of the Lighthouse
THE MOTOR BOYS IN STRANGE WATERS
Or Lost in a Floating Forest
THE MOTOR BOYS ON THE PACIFIC
Or The Young Derelict Hunters
THE MOTOR BOYS IN THE CLOUDS
Or A Trip for Fame and Fortune
THE JACK RANGER SERIES
12mo. Finely Illustrated
Price per volume, $1.00, postpaid
JACK RANGER’S SCHOOLDAYS
Or The Rivals of Washington Hall
JACK RANGER’S WESTERN TRIP
Or From Boarding School to Ranch and Range
JACK RANGER’S SCHOOL VICTORIES
Or Track, Gridiron and Diamond
JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE
Or The Wreck of the Polly Ann
JACK RANGER’S GUN CLUB
Or From Schoolroom to Camp and Trail
Copyright, 1910, by
Cupples & Leon Company
The Motor Boys in the Clouds
[PREFACE]
Dear Boys:
In this, the ninth of the books in the “Motor Boys Series,” Jerry, Ned and Bob decide that as they have had a number of adventures on land and water, the only place left for them to see sights is up in the air, above the clouds. At first this plan was considered rather dubious, as, though considerable progress has been made toward men sailing about in the upper regions by means of dirigible balloons or aeroplanes, the science is still far from perfected.
But when the boys had attended an aero carnival, and witnessed the flight of a large dirigible balloon, they decided there was nothing for them to do but to attempt a trip that way themselves.
They formed the acquaintance of a veteran balloon constructor, who had a plan for a novel motor ship. This combined a dirigible balloon and an aeroplane, and after some consideration the boys furnished him the money to build one.
All was not smooth sailing, literally as well as figuratively speaking. They had a number of difficulties, not the least of which were caused by their old enemy, Noddy Nixon. How they finally started, the accidents that befell them, and the long trip they made for fame, and not a little fortune, in the shape of a substantial prize, you will find set down in the succeeding pages.
The welcome you boys have accorded the previous books in this series makes me hope that you will also like this one. The conquest of the air is coming nearer every year, and who knows but that the Motor Boys may be the ones who will be among the first to solve it.
Yours cordially,
Clarence Young.