THE BOY AVIATORS' TREASURE QUEST

CONTENTS.

Chapter
I. The Eagle and the Buzzard
II. Billy's Strange Tale
III. A Trial Flight
IV. Eben Joyce Appears
V. A Strange Story
VI. The Golden Galleon
VII. A Fire Alarm By Aeroplane
VIII. Nearly Out of the Race
IX. The Grasshopper's Mishap
X. The Aero Race
XI. Lost in the Fog
XII. Billy Hears an Interesting Conversation
XIII. Luther Barr's Trap
XIV. Mr. "L. B.'s" Dirigible
XV. Off for the Sargasso
XVI. In Dire Peril
XVII. Billy's Narrow Escape
XVIII. Into the Sargasso
XIX. The Rat Ship
XX. The Golden Galleon
XXI. Dirigible vs. Aeroplane
XXII. On Board Barr's Ship
XXIII. Prisoners in Dire Peril
XXIV. The Inventor's Treachery
XXV. The Fight on the Island
XXVI. The Boys Win Out

CHAPTER I.

THE EAGLE AND THE BUZZARD.

"Hurrah!"

The shout went upward in a swelling volume of sound as a thousand
voices took up the cry.

"Say, those boys can fly!"

"I should say so."

"Did you see that swoop!"

"Did I? I thought they were goners sure."

"They handle that sky-clipper like a bicycle."

These admiring exclamations came in a perfect hailstorm as the big
biplane air-craft, which had called them forth, swept earthward,
bearing her two young occupants downward in a long graceful glide, and
landing them at the door of their red aerodrome with the precision of
an automobile being driven up to its owner's front steps.

The drone of the engine ceased and little spurts of dust shot up from
the landing wheels as the young aviator at the helm of the beautiful
craft applied his brakes, threw out the spark and cut off the engine.
The plane ran about one hundred feet on its wheels and then came to a
standstill.

"Hurrah for the Golden Eagle!" shouted a voice. The enthusiasm was
echoed all over the crowded field. From the long rows of autos, parked
at the edge of the field and crowded with applauding men and women,
came the "honk! honk!" of horns in a deafening clamor.

Smilingly making their way through the enthusiasts who swept down on
them, Frank and Harry Chester, the Boy Aviators, who had just
concluded a tuning up flight for the Hempstead Plains Cup--the contest
for which was to take place in a week's time--entered the shed and,
making their way to a screened-off room in the corner, shed their
leather coats and woolen caps and removed the grime from their hands
and faces. Their mechanics, in the meantime, had shoved the Eagle into
the shed and closed the doors on the horde of the inquisitive.

The boys' flight had taken place above the aviation grounds of the
Aeronautic Society, situated at Mineola, on Long Island, a few miles
outside New York city. For several days they, and several others who
had announced their intention of competing for the coveted Hempstead
Plains Cup, had been making flights that had attracted vast crowds
from the metropolis and filled the papers with air-ship news. The city
was aviation mad.

THE BOY AVIATORS' TREASURE QUEST