Chapter XXVIII: Nat Shaley Gets a Jolt

The start of the homeward flight was auspicious. Fate, that had been so harsh to the voyagers on their outward trip, made amends by the fair winds and favorable weather that accompanied them on their flight over Davis Straits to the mainland of the American Continent.

The voyagers had planned to make their first stop at Montreal for two reasons. One was to replenish their stock of gasoline, which was running low in each plane and would not suffice for the entire trip.

Another was to drop off Dick Mylert so that that enterprising young man could rush to the telegraph office and send his great exclusive news story over the wires to his New York paper before the rest of the world should have any inkling that the intrepid Greenland adventurers were safe and sound and on their way home.

For the greater part of the flight over the Canadian wilds the planes kept each other in sight. Twice they were separated, once in a fog and again in a storm of moderate violence, but they managed to rejoin each other and came down to refuel at Montreal only a few minutes apart.

"Not a word now to anybody," implored the young newspaper man, as he bade his companions a cordial farewell before hastening to the telegraph station.

"We'll be as dumb as oysters," promised Dave Boyd, and the rest nodded assent. "Wouldn't spoil your story for anything. If it isn't going to take you too long, we'll wait here for you."

"Thanks just the same," replied Dick. "But there's no knowing how long it will be before I can get a clear wire for a story of this length, and you'd better go along. I'll take a train for New York as soon as I get through."

"Run up to North Elmwood as soon as you get a chance," urged Slim.

"If you don't, we'll come down and kidnap you," added Jerry.

"You bet I'll come!" promised Dick. "And out of that jump in salary I'm going to get I'll blow you to the best dinner that your hotel there can furnish."

"Or better yet, we'll clean out Carl Stummel's hot dog stand," laughed Slim.

"That wouldn't be so bad either," replied Dick, chuckling. "The memory of his hot dogs lingers."

The newspaper man hurried off with a wave of his hand, and Slim Tyler and Jerry Marbury looked after him with keen regret at losing him. He had been a staunch, courageous comrade, always bright, always jolly, a "regular fellow" in the fullest sense of the word.

The party had to parry many questions from the mechanics and pilots on the field while the planes were being refueled, but they avoided revealing their identity, and when they rose again into the air for the final lap home Dick Mylert's secret was still his own.

"In Uncle Sam's country once more!" exclaimed Slim a little while later, as the _Hope_ swept over the Canadian border.

"It sure looks good to me!" ejaculated Jerry. "There have been times on this trip when I wouldn't have given a plugged nickel for my chance of ever seeing it again."

It was with a thrill of exultation impossible to describe that, at about noon on the next day, they found themselves hovering over the old familiar field of North Elmwood.

"Great Scott!" exclaimed Jerry in amazement. "Here we thought we'd take them by surprise, and the field is black with people."

"So it is," replied Slim. "Dick got his story through all right, and after his paper got the first hack at it I suppose the news was flashed all over America."

As indeed it had. The big New York newspaper had electrified the world by its great first-page story with screaming headlines about the finding of the Greenland adventurers, and instantly the press associations had sent the news to every town and hamlet of America and to the capitals of Europe.

Long before, the voyagers had been given up for lost and now it was like a return from the dead. It was the sensation of the day, and from every part of the country reporters in shoals and the populace by thousands were hurrying to North Elmwood.

So it was a tremendous reception that was accorded the daring explorers when the planes descended like weary birds to the home field. The voyagers were fairly mobbed by the crowds, whose enthusiasm could not be held in check.

There was glory enough for all, but Dave Boyd and Slim Tyler were the special heroes of that great homecoming, Boyd because of the admiration in which he was held as the greatest aviator in the world and Slim Tyler because of his intrepid daring in leading the mission of rescue.

But better than all the applause and admiration showered on Slim was the meeting with his old friends. They were all there, rotund Henry Cusack, his face beaming like a full moon; Tom Ellsworth, who nearly wrung his hand off; Henry Traut, with his little boy whose life Slim had saved, well and rosy now, who squealed with delight as Slim took him up in his arms; and Carl Stummel, good old Carl, who fairly blubbered as he threw his arms about Slim.

"Und it vos deadt dot I beleefed you vos, alretty!" he exclaimed. "Und here you iss alife yet!"

"You couldn't kill me with an axe," declared Slim. "I'm----"

He broke off suddenly, for he saw a familiar figure edging away through the crowd.

"Just a minute, Carl," he excused himself. He turned to Cameron Flood, who had been standing by, smiling. "Come with me a minute, Cam." He had long dropped the more formal "Mr. Flood." "You'll meet a mutual friend of ours."

The two slipped away in the wake of the retreating figure.

"It's Nat Shaley," Slim explained, as they hurried along. "I want to give him a shock by introducing you. He may let slip something that will help us."

They overtook Shaley just after he had turned into a side street, passed him and turned about, blocking his path.

The old rascal started violently as he recognized Slim Tyler.

"How are you, Mr. Shaley?" said Slim. "I'm back again, you see."

"What's that to me?" snarled Shaley. "I wouldn't have keerd if you'd never come back."

"I don't doubt it," replied Slim. "You might have been saved a lawsuit later on. Speaking of lawsuits, I want to introduce you to a friend of mine."

"I don't want no truck with you nor your friends," growled Shaley.

"I'm surprised," returned Slim. "Don't you want to meet Mr. Cameron Flood?"

The name struck Nat Shaley like a blow. He turned pale and looked with fear in his eyes at the stranger.

"You seem to know the name," said Flood. "Yes, I'm the son of Cameron Flood, who was associated with you at one time in the Mt. Sunwa lumber deal."

Nat Shaley staggered. He licked his lips, tried to speak.

"Never heerd of him," he managed to get out at last. "Never heerd of that outlandish Mount somethin' or other you're gabbin' about. Never wuz in Oregon----"

"Who said anything about Oregon?" asked Flood quickly.

Shaley could have bitten his tongue off for the slip. He took refuge in bluster.

"If you fellers is tryin' any blackmailin' on me, you'd better look out," he fumed. "There's laws ag'inst that kind o' thing an' don't you fergit it."

"There are laws against many things," agreed Flood. "One of those things is swindling. My father had a claim against you for forty thousand dollars. Mr. Tyler had another for twenty thousand. That's sixty thousand in all, and the interest to date will be almost as much more. Those claims are going to be pressed, Mr. Shaley--do you get that? pressed--and you'll pay every cent!"

"You ain't got proof," Shaley was beginning, when a throng of departing spectators from the field came round the corner and Shaley, thankful for the opportunity, lost himself in the swirl.

"Gave him a jolt, anyway," remarked Slim.

"He'll get more of a jolt before we're through with him," averred Flood, setting his jaw hard. "We'll press this thing to the limit, and I'm pretty sure that we're going to win."

That night for the first time in many weeks Slim Tyler slept between sheets. It had been a crowded day, full of glory and triumph, and he was still tingling with the excitement of it as he slipped into bed.

"That was the top notch," he murmured to himself. "Afraid things are going to be rather dull after this."

But he was mistaken. Other thrilling experiences were in store for him, and what they were will be told in another volume, entitled: "An Air Cargo of Gold; or, Slim Tyler, Special Bank Messenger," in which we shall meet Slim in some of the most daring adventures of his life.

A breezy night letter from Dick Mylert reached Slim the next morning.

"Did you read my story? Wasn't it a knockout? And, say, didn't it hit the boss hard! He all but gave me the business. I'm the salt in his gravy. Doubled my salary! Five thousand bonus! Biggest scoop in years! And he thinks you're the ace of all aviators. Told him how your endurance flight was knocked cock-eyed by that Shaley fellow. He's going to offer a big prize for beating the present refueling endurance record. There's your chance and Jerry's. Go in and win."

There was more of the same tenor, but Slim's special interest was caught and held by the publisher's offer. What he and Jerry did regarding that offer is another story.

"Vell, Shlim," said Carl that night, as the two were hobnobbing over the hot dog counter, "ain't id aboud time dot you vos down settling? Vot mit der wolfs und der bolar pears, und der shtorms in der skies und der smashin' der mountains against, ain'd it dot you haf enough ockcitement got alretty?"

"I'll never have enough excitement," replied Slim. "Excitement is life. I can't do without it. I thrive on it. I eat it up."

"Veil, eat id on der groundt den, vere you can put your feets down," urged Carl. "Gif up dot flying."

"Give up flying?" cried Slim Tyler, his eyes shining. "Never, Carl! Never! The air is my home!"

THE END

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SLIM TYLER AIR STORIES

By RICHARD H. STONE

_A new group of stories for boys by a new author whose excellent air adventures are so realistically written and so up to the minute in all their implications as to win ready admiration from all readers._

1. SKY RIDERS OF THE ATLANTIC

_or Slim Tyler's First Trip in the Clouds_

Slim Tyler though but a boy, finds himself confronted by troubles and by enemies that might well have dismayed a man. By pluck and straight thinking he fights clear of entanglements and gains a place he has long coveted among flyers.

2. LOST OVER GREENLAND

_or Slim Tyler's Search for Dave Boyd_

Slim Tyler sets out in search of his friend and patron who is lost over Greenland, and in so doing has many hair-raising adventures that make an absorbing story.

3. AN AIR CARGO OF GOLD

_or Slim Tyler, Special Bank Messenger_

Quick-witted and resourceful, Slim, after strenuous efforts to gain the world's endurance record, faces more odds when he makes a perilous trip carrying a cargo of gold.

4. ADRIFT OVER HUDSON BAY

_or Slim Tyler in the Land of Ice_

Blazing the great Northeastern trail against great odds, this story will captivate the hearts of the boys.

5. AN AIRPLANE MYSTERY

_or Slim Tyler on the Trail_

The story of the rescue, after the flyers had been given up for lost, was a "whale of a story."

6. SECRET SKY EXPRESS

_or Slim Tyler Saving a Fortune_

A story of many episodes and thrills against great odds.

CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York

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MYSTERY AND ADVENTURE BOOKS FOR BOYS

SOUTH FROM HUDSON BAY, by E. C. BRILL

A thrilling tale of the coming of settlers from France and Switzerland to the wilderness of the Prairie country of the Red River district, and the adventures of three boys who find themselves entangled in the fate of the little colony.

THE SECRET CACHE, by E. C. BRILL

The father of two boys, a fur hunter, has been seriously injured by an Indian. Before he dies he succeeds in telling the younger son about a secret cache of valuable furs. The directions are incomplete but the boys start off to find the Cache, and with the help of men from a nearby settlement capture the Indian and bring him to justice.

THE ISLAND OF YELLOW SANDS, by E. C. BRILL

An exciting story of Adventure in Colonial Days in the primitive country around Lake Superior, when the forest and waters were the hunting ground of Indians, hunters and trappers.

LOST CITY OF THE AZTECS, by J. A. LATH

Four chums find a secret code stuck inside the binding of an old book written many years ago by a famous geologist. The boys finally solve the code and learn of the existence of the remnant of a civilized Aztec tribe inside an extinct crater in the southern part of Arizona. How they find these Aztecs, and their many stirring adventures makes a story of tremendous present-day scientific interest that every boy will enjoy.

CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York

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THE BOMBA BOOKS

By ROY ROCKWOOD

_Bomba lived far back in the jungles of the Amazon with a half-demented naturalist who told the lad nothing of his past. The jungle boy was a lover of birds, and hunted animals with a bow and arrow and his trusty machete. He had only a primitive education, and his daring adventures will be followed with breathless interest by thousands._

1. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY
2. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AT THE MOVING MOUNTAIN
3. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AT THE GIANT CATARACT
4. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY ON JAGUAR ISLAND
5. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY IN THE ABANDONED CITY
6. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY ON TERROR TRAIL
7. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY IN THE SWAMP OF DEATH
8. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AMONG THE SLAVES
9. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY ON THE UNDERGROUND RIVER
10. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AND THE LOST EXPLORERS
11. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY IN A STRANGE LAND
12. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AMONG THE PYGMIES
13. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AND THE CANNIBALS
14. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AND THE PAINTED HUNTERS
15. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AND THE RIVER DEMONS
16. BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY AND THE HOSTILE CHIEFTAIN

CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York

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THE GREAT ACE SERIES

By NOEL SAINSBURY, JR.

Author of THE CHAMPION SPORT STORIES

_Here is a series of rattling good flying stories told by an expert. A boy-aviator's adventures in the wilds of New Guinea, Arabia, South America and other strange lands. Billy Smith, son of an eminent explorer, learns to pilot a seaplane aboard a Naval Air Station, and immediately fares forth upon a series of the most exciting cruises and mysterious quests by air, by land and by sea that have ever fallen to the lot of man. The author, a traveller and ex-naval aviator, brings many of his own adventures into these tales. Every boy with a drop of red blood in his veins will want to join Billy Smith in his thrilling quests._

1. BILLY SMITH--EXPLORING ACE

_or By Airplane to New Guinea_

The story of a fourteen-year-old lad, taught to pilot a seaplane by his uncle, Lieut.-Commander on a Naval Air Station. Together they are forced down at sea, and Lieut.-Com. Smith is so impressed with the lad's courage in this trying situation that he takes Billy with him to New Guinea to help search for Billy's father.

2. BILLY SMITH--SECRET SERVICE ACE

_or Airplane Adventures in Arabia_

Billy Smith again proves his mettle in a series of adventures that take him to Port Sudan on the Red Sea and the Holy City of Hejaz.

3. BILLY SMITH--MYSTERY ACE

_or Airplane Discoveries in South America_

Doctor Stanton, bird man of the Natural History Museum disappeared in the Amazon Jungles. The Smiths, father and son are ordered to find him, and the trail leads to an outpost rubber plantation, where Billy is lost in the jungle and captured by the cannibal Mangeroma Indians.

4. BILLY SMITH--TRAIL EATER ACE

_or Into the Wilds of Northern Alaska_

Another exciting story. Billy Smith and his pal, Nuky, with the aid of Billy's father set a trap to catch desperate gangsters which they succeed in doing after many thrilling adventures.

5. BILLY SMITH--SHANGHAIED ACE

_or Malay Pirates and Solomon Island Cannibals_

Billy shanghaied while on a search for a missing steamer and one passenger in particular, escapes in time to be of vast help, after all, and bring off a famous rescue in the South Sea Islands.

CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York