an

reamed at the loud report, a dozen air-craft shot forwa

d they scudded-fas

ke the tail of a comet. After a run of about five hundred feet a shout arose from the crowd as the Buzza

ough the throng as the two aerop

the first two. It was a magnificent spectacle and the roar of the crowd showed

raft with flopping wings instead of a propeller, piled on top of them and they were soon tangled in an inextricable mass of wires, torn

Harrowbrook Country Club, where a big delegation of enthusiasts awaited to watch the

, as Harry excitedly cried to him to put

d" cried the younger bo

rged about half a mile to the fore. From time to time the boys could see the black

e heard now, as the Golden Eagle swept along at a height of five hundred feet or

struction of his machine, the wind was sweeping him more and more off his course as he rose, and the boys saw they had little to fear from him. The others were in a bunch,

or the Buzzard; for the black craft, swiftly as she was going, was now giving occasi

, men and women on horseback, and boys and men on motorcycles, but fast as the people following

engine warmed up and Frank speeded up the spark and found a favorable air

e buildings, with their red roofs that marked the half-way point of the race-namely, the Harrowbrook Club. So swift

the wide sweep of green lawn in front of the club-house, followed almost in the same b

y had the only 'plane in the race occupied by two; but of course they could not both go to the veranda. Frank, therefore, dashed off, leaving Harry standing by the Golden Eagle. He was kept busy explaining its points to the admirin

astily poured into it. Malvoise had been scalded worse than the boy aviator, but he had manfully cho

boys climbed back into their seats. At the same instant Malvoise prepared to start. There was not a second between them in the mak

is engine first into neutral, then

olunteers holding back the big 'plane, and the next in

hem and the black aeroplane swept by them, seemingly

achine," exclaime

better one," ex

joined his brother, "he's a mi

down," exclaimed

" replied Frank. "I think we have a better machine, and th

s the two machines tore onward

Harrowbrook grounds that they were practically out of the r

t showed far below them like a bit of white ribbon.

rank gazed downward for a fraction of a second he saw a man, s

-i-

ed like a big bee sa

t!" crie

ting at us!" e

," suddenly cried Harry

it

lasses to bear on the car, "the man

d reply another b

plane, but fortunately a hole of s

cried Harry the next minute as a th

the fuel tank,"

" cried the i

d them to turn off almost at right angles from the course taken by the air-craft. As a last farewell bullet whizzed harmlessly

Luthe

d and gray with rage. He seemed to be furiously berating Sanborn, whose rifle, Harry now observed, was equipped with a silencer.

nd had suddenly become gusty and the Buzzard was behaving in a most eccentric manner

plainly in view, and the boys could see the blac

anding if they don't ke

w this. "Someon

by using his ailerons. These balancing devices are almost automatic in their control, and usually can be depende

ight as a plummet,

uiding wheel. But his efforts were of no more a

er occupant could do was to check the awful speed of her

y below him in his fall and the Buzzard crashed into these, throwing him ou

end of the

old Eben Joyce and Bluewater Bill rushed excitedly forward to greet the young aviators. Madly the excited crowd pressed about t

ered and angry clear through. He cast a malevolent scowl at the boys as he passed their aerodrome, in front o

selves away, a blue-garbed messenger boy pushed his

ent. He had no idea whom it could be from. The look of astonishment on his face

ime you will not be so fortunate. I'

er B

rnes, as he in his turn conned the remarkable document from the ol