Standing on the edge of the rocky forest, the young aviator raised his field glasses and began a study of the visible heavens, and within five minutes of doing so he made a startling discovery.
Far in the northern sky he descried an object that looked like a stupendous eagle, soaring through the air on its way southward. It was traveling fast and steadily increased in size. Careful scrutiny left no doubt that it was an aerocar, and a second look revealed that it was a monoplane!
“It is the Professor!” exclaimed Harvey, keeping the binoculars in place. “How fortunate that I hid my machine when I did! He doesn’t dream that I’m within hundreds of miles of him.”
The course of the car was toward the spot where the mysterious cabin stood in the woods. All doubt that the air man was going thither was removed. Harvey’s theory was verified. The crazy inventor was not yet ready to start on his momentous voyage and was experimenting before doing so. Now that he had driven his pursuer off the scent as he believed, he could complete his investigations in his own shop where no one dared disturb him.
As the monoplane coursed swiftly through the air, a faint fear that it might not be the Dragon of the Skies caused Harvey to listen intently. Had the machine been of the ordinary kind he would have heard its racket some minutes before, but his straining senses caught no sound.
“It’s the Professor and no mistake; I can see his erect body in his seat and almost recognize those long, grizzled whiskers.”
But now when the monoplane had come still nearer, Harvey Hamilton made the alarming discovery that the crank inventor was alone in his flying ship.
Where was Bohunkus Johnson?