“To git you to pay me that two dollars you borrered t’other day.”
Smithers joined in the laugh at his expense and Harvey inquired whether any one else wished to take a ride with him. But the panic of the only passenger at liberty to accept the invitation seemed to have its effect upon the others, and no one went forward.
Harvey now engaged one of the bystanders to bring him a supply of oil and gasoline and filled his tank. Then he bade his new friends good-bye and sailed away.
His plan was to go as near as was safe to the shop of Professor Morgan, then descend, leave his aeroplane and make his further investigations on foot. He could do this so guardedly that there was little danger of detection. To attempt it with his machine would bring certain discovery.
As before, he rose only high enough to clear the large trees, many of which were taller than any of the buildings. The surrounding country was wooded and mountainous. To the northward he made out two peaks with a hazy ridge in the horizon and knew that many miles of craggy wilderness stretched beyond. He was all nerves while drawing near the workshop, a half mile to the north of Dawson, for necessity drove him forward fast and the danger of detection increased with every hundred yards he advanced.
Convinced that he had gone as far as was prudent he sought out a suitable landing place, fixing upon what had once been a cultivated field of several acres, but was now lush grass, inclosed on all sides by woods and matted undergrowth. As nearly as he could tell he was within less than a mile of the building from which all trespassers had been warned under peril of death. He had no time now to give to anything except the work of landing and he did that with a skill that would have won the praise of Professor Sperbeck, his old instructor in the difficult science of aeronautics, could he have seen it.
As soon as the wheels stopped running over the ground, Harvey stepped out and pushed the aeroplane to the side of the meadow and as near the forest as possible. He even shoved it a little way into the brush and under the limbs of the trees, taking care to injure none of its parts. The reason for this precaution he explained to himself:
“Professor Morgan has the eye of a hawk, and if I leave the machine in the open, he will catch sight of it if he passes within a mile. He will hardly see it, now that it is so well screened.”
There was risk of another nature in all this, but he could think of no way to avoid it. If the weather should turn bad, the apparatus was not well protected. He would have given a good deal for the verdict of Uncle Tommy Waters, but made himself believe that no change of the character feared was likely to occur.
If any persons had observed the descent, they might make their way to the spot and wreck the machine or disable it through their curiosity, but he had to take the chances in that respect also, and since there was no choice he did not hesitate. He had located the shop of the Professor so clearly while in the air that he was in no doubt as to the course to take. He saw no signs of a path or trail, and travel was as rough as that encountered on his former visit.