“Maybe he went further—maybe he has returned home,” suggested Bruce.
“We could hardly miss him,” answered Hiram. “There’s the spot where Dave usually descends,” and he fixed his glance on a patch of stunted field poplars. “There’s something lying on the ground. A man? No, a coat, I think,” and the speaker strained his vision, and set the Scout on a sharp volplane.
He jumped out the moment the machine halted. He ran to the spot where the object lay that had attracted his attention. Bruce followed his example and dashed after him.
“It’s Dave’s coat,” declared Hiram, and he looked worried. “I can’t understand it! The coat is torn and some of the buttons are off—see, on the sand there. He wouldn’t leave it here. What can have become of him, and the machine?”
“There’s a smell of burned wood, or smoke,” here broke in Bruce, and following the scent he rounded the patch of brush and saplings. “Oh, Hiram!” he shouted. “Come here! Come here!”
The young pilot of the Scout reached the side of the staring Bruce to observe with distended eyes what his new friend had first discovered.
Upon the ground was a mass of charred and twisted wreckage. Only the metal parts of an airship remained. Hiram Dobbs recognized what was left of the buoyant Ariel!
CHAPTER XVI
IN DOUBT