CHAPTER XXI

OFF FOR THE CANYON

Jerry, who was in the lead of the chase after Noddy and his cronies, came to a sudden resolve. What was the use of capturing the bully, when the recovered airship might need attention? Clearly it would be more profitable to look after their craft, and let Noddy escape, for the time being. So Jerry shouted:

“Hey, fellows, never mind. Let ’em get away. We’ll only have a fight on our hands, and it isn’t worth while. Let’s see how much damage they’ve done.”

“But, don’t we want to catch ’em?” demanded Bob, who, though much out of breath, had managed to catch up to Jerry and Ned.

“No; what’s the use?” asked the tall lad.

“But look what he did to our airship!”

“That’s just what I want to find out--what he did do to the _Comet_. That’s why I say don’t let’s chase after ’em any longer. It will only mean more trouble, and we’ve had enough. Come on back.”

Accordingly, the three chums ceased running, and turned back toward the two airships. Noddy, with a backward glance, had ascertained that Jerry and his two friends were no longer in pursuit, and so the bully slackened his pace. His companions did likewise and, a sorry-looking trio indeed, they made their way across the plain above which the air game had taken place.

“Don’t you want to catch Noddy?” asked Ned.

“No; what’s the use?” inquired Jerry. “He’s done all the harm he can. The thing for us to do is to remedy it. We must see to our own airship, and then get back, pick up the professor, and head for Snake Island.”

“But what will we do with Mr. Montrose’s aeroplane?” Bob wanted to know. “We don’t want it to keep.”

“We’ll have to take that back to Denver with us. We can easily do it, as the side planes are detachable. Let’s get busy at that, and we may be in Denver to-morrow.”

“And then for the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, and Snake Island!” added Ned.

Giving a last glance to Noddy and his cronies, who were still fleeing across the plain, our heroes made their way to the _Comet_. Aboard they found a scene of confusion, but no serious damage had been done.

True, a number of the machines were out of order, and the gas generator was badly clogged, but these were defects easily repaired. In general the stolen airship was in almost as good condition as when the conspirators had taken her.

Beyond securing a few articles of clothing and personal effects, Noddy and his cronies had brought away nothing from the airship. It looked as if they had boarded her hurriedly with very little preparation, and had rushed away, without even enough provisions for a long trip. They must have stopped somewhere to get food, for some was found on board.

It did not take the motor boys long to decide what to do. They soon ascertained that the _Comet_ was in comparatively good running order. The clogged gas machine was fixed, and then, having enough food in the lunch basket, together with what they found on their own craft, to last them a day, they decided to sleep on board, even though they were in a lonely place, and start back for Denver in the morning.

As for what became of Noddy and his cronies, they neither knew nor cared. The bully and his conspirators had disappeared, and were doubtless seeking shelter for the night.

“We caught them just in time,” remarked Jerry, as they sat in the cabin of the _Comet_. “A hundred miles more and they would have been over the canyon of the Colorado. Then they might have reached Snake Island, and it would have been all up with our chances.”

“But now we’ll get ahead of him,” declared Bob.

“If Noddy doesn’t do something else,” spoke Jerry.

They spent the rest of the afternoon in taking apart the _Chaser_ for transportation back to Denver aboard the _Comet_. Then they went to bed, tired out from the day’s chase.

By pushing the _Comet_ to her limit, and by making an early start, our friends were able to reach Denver the next night. Mr. Montrose was exceedingly glad to see them, and he and his wife and little girl listened with interest to the account of the adventures of the motor boys in the chase after Noddy.

As for Professor Snodgrass, he was so busy classifying and making notes of the specimens he had caught, that it is doubtful if he heard much of what Jerry and his chums said.

“And what are you going to do next?” asked Mr. Montrose, as the boys finished telling him they had brought his aeroplane back on their own craft.

“Start for the Grand Canyon as soon as we can,” replied Jerry.

“But if this Nixon young man takes after you again?” inquired Mrs. Montrose.

“We’ll have to do the best we can,” answered Jerry. “But I think it will be some time before he catches up to us this time. It was a very lonely spot where we left him.”

“And the walking wasn’t very good,” added Ned with a laugh.

“Still, after what he had done in the past, I would be on the watch,” advised Mr. Montrose.

“Oh, we will be,” declared Jerry; and then, after a good night’s rest, they put in the next few days getting ready for their trip to the canyon.

The _Comet_ was thoroughly overhauled, and some needed repairs made. Though Noddy and his companions had not been careful in their treatment of the craft, still they had done no serious damage.

“Well, I think we are ready to start for the canyon to-day,” remarked Jerry one morning, after about a week spent at the Montrose home. “We can make it in two days, though it may take us a little longer to pick out Snake Island, and have the conditions favorable for a descent into the big gorge.”

“Then you are really going down into it?” asked Mr. Montrose. “You know it is quite a fearsome place.”

“From all accounts it must be,” admitted Jerry.

“Think of it!” exclaimed Mr. Montrose. “I have seen it many times, but no one can ever describe it. A great trough or cut in the earth, over a mile deep, twenty miles wide, and many hundreds of miles long, winding in and out, and, at the bottom a river rushing along resistlessly, with waterfalls, rapids, calm stretches and vast depths of black, silently moving water. And the walls of that canyon! All the colors of the rainbow cannot compare with them. They are wonderful! Down in it are mountains, great in themselves, but which look small in that vast gorge. There is the glow of the Alps, the cold fogs of the Rockies, there are purple shadows, shifting lights, snowstorms and rainstorms. It is a place of terrific grandeur.”

“And we are going there,” said Jerry quietly.

“Yes, to an unknown island,” went on Mr. Montrose. “On what may be a fruitless quest. Oh, boys, think twice before you go!”

“We have thought,” went on Jerry. “We are going. We will start in the morning for the Grand Canyon of the Colorado,” he added.

“And all for a bit of radium--a fortune though it may be,” proceeded Mr. Montrose.

“No, not alone for the radium,” said Jerry solemnly. “I have not spoken of this before, as it seemed such a slim chance. But there may be, on that island, the missing scientist, whose body was never recovered. He may be there--in need--starving. We are going to try to rescue him, as much as to find the radium.”

“Jerry!” cried Ned. “You never hinted at this.”

“No, because I did not want to raise false hopes. But, now that we are at the last stage of the journey, I must speak of it. I hope we can rescue that unfortunate man. For the mere treasure I would not risk so much. But a life is at stake!”

“Then go,” said Mr. Montrose softly. “I would be the last one to hold you back. And, boys, from what I have seen of you, I believe you will succeed. I wish you all success! But, do not be deceived. You have a hard task ahead of you. The Grand Canyon does not like to be conquered.”

“We have the _Comet_,” replied the tall lad, as if that was much, as, truly, it was.

“Well, we will always be thinking of you,” said Mrs. Montrose, solemnly.

“And I want you to come back,” added little Gladys. “I may have a new doll by then.”

“We will come back,” said Jerry, and his voice had a new tone in it.

Early the next morning, having said good-bye to their good friends, the motor boys and Professor Snodgrass set off in the airship for the Grand Canyon.

As they waved their hands in farewell many thoughts came to them. Would they find Snake Island? Would they be able to discover the radium fortune? And, more than this, would they be able to find and rescue Mr. Hartley Bentwell, the daring scientist who had been missing for nearly a year? Was he, by any chance, on Snake Island?

“If he is, we’ll get him,” said Jerry grimly, as he pointed the nose of the _Comet_ toward the clouds.